Teen Titans – Review: Every Dog Has His Day

A strange alien green dog comes to Earth with a mysterious flying saucer chasing after it. But when the alien dog bumps into Green Dog Beast Boy (who’s hanging out at the dog park, looking for attention), the flying saucer accidentally abducts the wrong pooch. And when the Titans spot the alien dog, they mistakenly think it’s Beast Boy! Can our heroes clear up the confusion before the alien ship carts Beast Boy off to the far side of the galaxy?

Review by Bird Boy
Media by Bird Boy

Titans Voices
Greg Cipes as Beast Boy
Scott Menville as Robin
Khary Payton as Cyborg
Tara Strong as Raven
Hynden Walch as Starfire
Dee Bradley Baker as Alien Dog / Soto

Occasionally you get an episode of a show that really has nothing to do with anything else you’ve seen in it before–Batman: The Animated Series,
Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League…they’ve all done it. Some will argue that the episode in the first season, “Mad Mod” is the Titan’s “irrelevant” episode–I may agree with that, but I also have to say this one is a strong contender too.

When I first saw Mad Mod, it was right after the power-house episode “Masks”–so when you fall into an episode with some of the most absolute silly visuals this side of the DC Animated Universe, you feel sort of cheated. You expected something more than that–you expected more Slade, more…well, action and seriousness. Instead you get a Wizard of Oz type villain who throws optical illusions at our heroes. This time we get a giant alien baby who lost his “doggie” and will go after it at any cost. It sounds just as pointless and silly as Mad Mod, but it was still alot of fun.

I’m not, and never was to be honest, the biggest fan of Beast Boy. He’s the practical joker of the series, pulling pranks, making jokes, and generally just being a nuisance–I just really didn’t care for his character. So, when
I hear that only the second episode of Season 2 was a spotlight on him…well, I didn’t care to watch it. I was pleasantly surprised by the episodes ability to throw in great visuals (the fight between Soto and
Titans), superb animation (the whole episode), and keep the jokes (Cyborg being used as a fire hydrant for the alien dog)  going throughout, without it ever getting dull.

I can’t speak enough about how awesome the final fight scene with Soto was.
Lotto really showed what they could do here–between the action "panels" that we got with Starfire, Cyborg, and the Star/Raven combos, that was enough to make me drop my jaw in awe. Then we have the Starfire/Robin team, where she flies him in, he flips out of her grasp, throws a couple bird-a-rangs at Soto, they slice up his weapon, and return to Robin–it may not sound as cool in writing as it is visually–something you really have to see to believe it.

Another great moment would be the first time the Titans hear the Alien Dog talk—with the giant exclamation point, enlarged Titan’s heads and general looks of confusion about their faces–it was just flat out hilarious. I was once against all of the anime effects they throw in this show, but now I’m convinced it only helps it. It’s not a show trying to be anything more than
20 minutes of fun, and I really wish people would start seeing it as that, instead of wanting it to be something as series as the other DC shows we’ve been treated too.

If you’re a Beast Boy fan, then you’ll undoubtedly love this episode–if not, give it a whirl anyway. The excellent visuals and outstanding animation do more than enough to make this episode one of my favorites.