Masks, the debut of Red X, is considered one of the best episodes of Season 1 - so why did we think it was so mediocre? The plot is bare-bones, questions go unanswered, there are so many opportunities for emotional fulfillment and character development that are just glossed over, and the twist, oh the TWIST! Who ever saw THAT coming??? What is this, a show for ten-year-olds? (It does have some VERY cool robots, however.)

Be warned that this episode is rife with Cat Behavior from a few usually-silent guests. Ness was indulging in a great many misbevaiors typical of his kind - the likes of which David is adjusting to - and we heard some input from Mike, and even the usually quiet Ike! 

===

Apologies for the impromptu break, everyone – we’re back and we’re ready to party! Or, uh, in this case, cringe, because despite being written by the original author of The New Teen Titans comics, this episode… isn’t all that great.

Of Teen Titans, I mean. WE, your humble podcasters, are in top form. And together we look on in horror as the Titans make one idiotic decision after another. Beast Boy develops an inferiority complex that actively hinders the mission, Starfire and Raven fawn over a boy and don’t do much else, and our villain is in MULTIPLE PLACES AT ONCE? HOW CAN THAT BE???

One way or another, we hope we can make this one more bearable for you. (Also, correction – the largest fungus in North America does not unfortunately cover the Pacific Northwest. Only about four miles of it. Sorry to disappoint.)

===

Alright, time to dive headfirst into that tried and true staple of western animation, the body swap episode! 

None of us had remembered this one very fondly, and it turns out Mary had never seen at all. But it turns out it rules - especially because it's an EXCELLENT character study. Behold as Starfire-as-Raven destroys everything in her path, Raven-as-Starfire struggles to even feel a single emotion on purpose, and the boys... well, they're pretty wooden in this episode. Ba dum pish!

This episode carries a content warning at about the 38:30-42:00 mark for discussion of rape, clarifying the misinfo about the character we spoke of in the last episode.

===

Click here for proof positive that Magilla Ice, the hip for the 90s version of Magilla Gorilla, actually exists: https://hanna-barbera.fandom.com/wiki/Magilla_Ice

===

In everyone's favorite Season 1 episode, Raven is subjected to too many puns and goes grimdark, prompting Beast Boy and Cyborg to venture into the Hot Topic dimension to save her.

While there, they encounter not one Raven, but several! Including Finger Guns Raven, a staple of forum avatars in the mid-noughties, but not including Lust Raven, who DOES exist - they saved her for the tie-in comics. Cyborg and Beast Boy help her fight her dad, who may or may not qualify as an orc (Ben has opinions), they all grow closer for it, and meanwhile Starfire and Robin... watch TV.

This episode carries a content warning for a discussion of rape in the DC comics universe between the 9:00-10:30 time stamps. It's come to our attention that we were wrong about the details, but the broad strokes are correct. More information is available on the character's Wikipedia page. 

===

Today, Titan Talk goes out and touches grass! Come join us for a brief interlude at the park, followed by a much longer interlude in a hole at the dump.

Points of curiosity: fine dijon mustard, five and a half pounds of baby back ribs, a nostalgic look back at Obama "scandals," and Tom Kenny in a dual role as a magical blue guy and another, less magical blue guy. And yes, we are sure it's actually him this time.

Apologies for all the coughing, by the way - David and Mary were both sick when we recorded! We hope we were able to delete most of them but there were some that were talked over that we couldn't take out. (We're feeling much better!)

===

We had a bit of confusion about what this episode was called, all the way up until nearly the end of the recording. Mary and Ben could have sworn it was called Thunder and Lightning. David has the clearest head of all of us and knew from day 1 that it was Forces of Nature, and so we stand corrected.

But Thunder and Lightning themselves weren't always forces of nature! Here we learn for the first time about just how different these two knuckleheads are from their comic counterparts, AND get a bit of a different sort of conflict where the antagonists aren't necessarily villainous, or even evil. 

Also Slade is in yellowface. He's wearing a mask over his mask that somehow has a working mouth. And is using magic?? What even is this. 

We discuss some later series spoilers between 50:00-55:00, so skip through that point if you're watching along with us for the first time. 

===

Here we are at the actual Teen Titans pilot episode - one that makes it readily apparent why they decided to air Final Exam first. Between underdeveloped characters, an inorganic conflict and a weak resolution, it definitely isn't the series putting its best foot forward. Which is funny because foot-related mishaps are what drive the plot.

Also, we get to witness what could have been - Slade with a butler! Poor Wintergreen, this version of Slade was just too brooding and antisocial for your services. 

This is also one of our shortest episodes in a long time. Maybe even the closest we've come to the vaunted "tight 45"! Think we can do it? Or will we lose ourselves in tangents about the cartoon institution of the toxic sludge factory?

===

Also, we DID in fact get two emails after we recorded this episode! Thank you so much, Ari and Alysa - we'll read them out next time! 

===

Uh oh, watch out everyone! Starfire's cool older sister is in town and she's here to tempt our heroes into the depths of depravity. Lock the spice cabinet because she WILL empty your oregano  into a baggie and sell it back to you.

We do talk about drugs a lot in this one, as a heads up.

But anyway! Not only is Sisters a fun episode, it's one of our first character study episodes in a show full of great ones. Not to mention a couple study, since this has the show's first big Robin and Starfire moments. Oh, if only Ulrich and Yumi had had this kind of open and honest communication...

===

After two long years and five even longer months, the dream lives again. Like three cockroaches crawling out of an irradiated crater, the Super Nuclear Group returns to deliver sweet, marketable cartoon nostalgia to your ear holes.

This time, we're bidding a temporary adieu to Avatar and starting fresh with a show all three of us remember with misty-eyed longing - just in time for its 20th anniversary. That's right, it's Teen Titans time! 

We're covering the episodes in release order, not production order, so we're starting with Final Exam. It's frankly a better introduction to the series, wherein we meet Raven and those other guys.

Anyway, welcome to Titan Talk!

This was recorded back in July while David and Mary (who live together now!) were visiting his folks in Texas. So view it with that context in mind - but we'll get closer to the present soon. 

Pardon our dust as we ramp back up - we have a lot of exciting things in store!

===

===

This episode of Avatar Recycle carries a content warning for description of animal mutilation of 30:45. As well as, uh, discussion of current events throughout.

===

===

Here are some of the best resources at hand right now to educate yourself, donate/generate ad revenue, and protect Black lives and Black safety:

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

Homeless Black Trans Women Fund -    https://www.gofundme.com/f/homeless-black-trans-women-fund?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

===

Follow us on Twitter at @super_nuclear, or send us your feedback at supernucleargroup@gmail.com ! Or you can support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/supernucleargroup. 

OR! You can join us on Discord at this link: https://discord.gg/tf9m6CM

Cover art by Ingram Jinkins! Find their work at @ingramjinkins on Twitter or at http://ingramjinkins.com.

Theme song is "Then Everything Changed" by Matt of Avana Music! Find more of Matt's work at https://soundcloud.com/avanamusic.