Things Change (Teen Titans)

Things Change
"What? That’s how it ends? And there is no sixth season to resolve the plot’s hanging from the cliff? You, ended that show?! You monster!" - Beast Boy Starfire and Robin, in the Teen Titans Go! episode "The Fourth Wall"
Series: Teen Titans Part of Season: 5 Episode Number: 65 Air Date: January 16, 2006 Writer: Amy Wolfram Director: Michael Chang Previous episode: Titans Together Next episode: Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo

"Things Change" is the sixty-fifth and final episode of Teen Titans. It is the thirteenth episode of Season 5. It is also the last episode before the series finale movie, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo.

Premise

Beast Boy suddenly sees Terra again but is saddened to realize that she has no memories of her abilities and becomes obsessed with helping her. Meanwhile, the other Titans fight and pursue a monster thats terrorizing the city.

Bad Qualities

1. What's probably the main reason for this episode being disliked is because it's a massive cliffhanger episode, making it feel more like an unfinished multi-part episode. As doesn't help it didn't resolve the finale issues, with the TV film finale Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, which was focusing on tying up the Robin x Starfire shipping, was building up throughout the original series.
   • The second Teen Titans Go! movie Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans made the cliffhanger even worse, making us want less of it, which is just sad.
2. This episode sounds as if it was a poorly written Beast Boy x Terra fan-fiction.
   • Even the "Nothing Is the Same Anymore" trope is somehow badly handled here. Sure, it takes place days after the events of "Titans Together", but the trope is only used when it affects only the Teen Titans' interest (including the major plot point of this finale), rather than actual big changes (setting/lore-wise) in Jump City when the Titans were gone. (i.e., like a few more new original but unnamed Villains attacking Jump City, instead of just only one, as we got)
3. The fighting between the Teen Titans (except Beast Boy) against the unnamed White Monster (or called by the fanbase as either "Thing" or "Periodic Table of Mayhem") is used only for sub-plot filler.
4. Beast Boy seems to only care about Terra instead of helping his team defeat the monster at the beginning and in the middle of the episode, he constantly follows her around and invades her privacy, despite her pleas to be left alone.
   • While it's understandable that Beast Boy wants Terra to be herself again, it doesn't help that he doesn't seem to care about his team or the fact that he is invading her space and trying to force her out of her current life. Even Slade, the archenemy of the Titans, calls him out for his actions.
5. It is never explained or revealed how Terra returned or if it's really her.
   • Additionally, it is never revealed what the White Monster is, what its intentions are, or if it was ever defeated by the Titans.
6. The other Titans spend the entire episode chasing and fighting the Monster and do nothing else outside of that.
7. Despite it being the last episode before the finale movie, this episode barely has anything that feels like it. Even the random monster that appears in this episode feels more like a basic monster that normally appears in normal episodes.

Good Qualities

1. Despite (BQ#3), the action scenes are still fun.
2. The moments of Beast Boy with Terra in this episode are emotional.
3. Despite the unexplained questions, fans may still be happy to see Terra again.
4. The show's comics (Teen Titans Go!) (not to be confused with the show with the same name) will help pick it up where it left off.
   • Same goes to the 2017 movie, "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract". (despite not animated the same style as the original Teen Titans series did)
5. The episode's overall message of how sometimes when things change, they simply can never go back to the way they were initially and how some questions or situations will never gain resolutions are correct morals, and ones you don't often see portrayed in kid shows.

Reception

Things Change received mixed-to-negative reviews from Teen Titans fans. Although some of them praised the episode for its portrayal of how some things simply change and can never go back to the way they were and how some things never get resolutions to them, others criticized it for its lack of solutions to many questions and an unsatisfying ending. The episode is considered to be one of the worst cartoon show finales of all time, and while Teen Titans does end on the high note with its series finale film, many fans are still waiting for a true conclusion as of right now.

When The MysteriousMrEnter reviewed this episode as his 158th Animated Atrocitities video, he also gave this episode a negative review and stated that how this "finale" was made, was like if Avatar: The Last Airbender's series finale was "Sozin's Comet: Part 1", he also criticizes the Slade segment, too many questions left unanswered, Terra's out-of-nowhere appearance and the episodes' lack of any finality despite it being the final episode.

Trivia

• This is the only episode where Slade appears in season five. Also, his last appearance in general.

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