Decided to rewatch the whole show and yeah season is still as based as ever. I’m not gonna deny that there is some stuff I’m a little indifferent on since said stuff can sometimes bring me back to worse shows like Young Justice. However what makes Teen Titans a far superior show is its character work for the main five. Robin gets the main arc in the first season and while I think the theming could’ve been more subtle, there’s plenty of scenes where characters talk about how similar Robin is to Slade, it’s a very effective arc that shows how Robin can become the worst version of himself once he succumbs to Slade’s ruthlessness. Their motivations are different but their methods aren’t that much different at first especially when Slade enters the picture. The main difference between the two is that Robin has the Titans, he has friends and family and he makes the decision that he’ll stand up for them and the city no matter what even if it puts himself at risk, something that the series explores really well later on.

The other episodes are also great as they flesh out the other Titans has likable characters. None of them are that stupid at all and every decision they make is logical and in character. Beast Boy is a goofball that’s really naive of a lot of scenarios but still wants to be seen as a valuable and needed member of the team, something that’s expanded upon very well in season 5, Starfire always has faith in her friends and is pretty much the optimist of the team (also no, her learning more and more about Earth culture and being clueless at first doesn’t make her dumb screw you), Raven hides herself to keep her powers in check but learns to open herself to her teammates more and more and Cyborg, despite the fact that he’s mostly machine, is probably the most human character in the show. He enjoys eating, playing sports, building his car, and always strives to be human. This is my absolute favorite version of Cyborg and one of my favorite characters in the show because even after the hardships he’s faced he learned to push forward and accept the fact that he is human, which is also expanded upon well in later seasons.

Aside from Slade being a solid main antagonist, season 1 also has a slew of rogues for the Titans to fight, some of them actually being exclusively made for this show. Cinderblock is Slade’s loyal and skilled yet mindless crony, Mumbo Jumbo is DC’s best magic villain hands down and Puppet King is basically Puppeteer just better in every way. And all of the adapted villains are miles better than their comic versions. Instead of being just a Clayface and Parasite combo, Plasmus is actually a radioactive symbiote, Gizmo, Jinx and Mammoth are definitely more noteworthy than their comic counterparts (though I wish Jinx was handled better and I wish Shimmer was here as well), Trident is an egotist that clones himself because he thinks he’s that good, Dr. Light… isn’t that great especially how he’s treated later on but it’s still better than how the comics handle him and Mad Mod is easily the best of the bunch, a master of traps and illusions with Malcolm McDowell giving it his all.

Finally I wanna touch the dialogue. There’s definitely a lot of scenes where our main characters actually open up to how they feel about the situation at hand, but it’s not like modern Young Justice where it’s all the show has. Teen Titans also uses visual elements to convey character personalities and motivations, I think Fixit especially is a great example as he looks human but obviously technology has consumed him and he comes off as very robotic. And when characters are primarily talking in Teen Titans the dialogue is actually good and not just characters telling me about how cowardly Cheshire is or Black Spider making testicle jokes or NON STOP MCU QUIPS EVEN OUTSIDE OF ACTION SCENES. Teen Titans primarily keeps that cheese in the action… when it’s appropriate for the scene and not the HIVE or Mumbo kicking their asses constantly. And most of the dialogue comes from the character chemistry, something that’s far better in TT than YJ for obvious reasons. And if I had to choose the primary example of excellent dialogue in Teen Titans, look no further than Forces of Nature. Thunder has completely disagreed with Lightning at this point and as Lightning is about to deliver the final blow, Thunder says “Tell me brother… are we still having fun?”

This show is so much better than most DC shows nowadays it’s not even funny.

Season 1