The series is based on the revamped version of the silver age super-hero group The Teen Titans that came out in 1982.  The Titans are five teenagers living together in Titan Tower.  Batman's sidekick Robin is the unofficial leader of the group. (Batman is never mentioned in the series though.)  Cyborg, half machine and half human, provides the muscle of the group, and Beast Boy, who can change into any animal, (previously a member of the Doom Patrol,) provides a lot of the comic relief.  The group is rounded out by a pair of women; Starfire an alien who can fly and shoot power blasts from her hands, and the contemplative Raven, a mystic with the power to levitate objects and create solid shapes with her mind.  From their base in Titan's Tower, a giant T shaped dwelling located on an island in the middle of a river, the group protects their city from whatever evil may befall it and bicker amongst themselves.

Like the previous two seasons, there is a reoccurring villain that loosely ties together this set of shows.  While this story line isn't quite as engaging as last year's adaptation of The Judas Contract, there's enough continuity to give this season a nice feel.

That's not to say that this season is bad, it's actually quite good though just not as strong as the first two years.  The season starts off with the introduction of the Titan's newest nemesis:  Brother Blood.  He has resurrected the H.I.V.E. Academy and is using it to recruit and train superpowered teens.  Training them to become villains.  Robin sends cyborg (equipped with a holographic projector that hides his real appearance) in as the academy's newest student.  While he's there, he hacks into Blood's mainframe to see what the headmaster is up to.  While he's connected Blood manages to download all of Cyborgs schematics and plans.  With this advanced technology, Blood becomes a much more formidable villain and is someone the Titans will battle several times.

The highlight of the season is an episode that features Raven, Spellbound.  Raven's never really become close friends with the Titans, she's just too different.  No one understands her or her magical background.  When a magic knight from a book she's reading, Malchior, starts talking to her however, she feels that she's found a true friend.  Having been trapped in the book by an evil spell over a thousand years ago, Malchior starts to teach Raven the magic she'll need to free him.  The more she learns however, the harder it is to control her powers.

The Titan's main villain, Slade, perished at the end of season two.  Or did he?  Having fallen into a pool of lava, his body was never found.  Robin isn't so sure Slade's really dead though, and the thought that he could still be alive troubles the young hero.  In the episode Haunted Robin sees Slade again, he's sure his worst fears have come true.  The other Titans aren't so sure however, since they can't see him.  Has the Titan's leader lost his mind or did Slade manage to cheat death?

While many of these shows were great, this season had a few more dogs than the previous two.  Crash, where Beast Boy downloads a bootleg copy of a hot new game and ends up giving Cyborg a computer virus was played for laughs...the only problem is there aren't too many of them.  Mad Mod also make a return appearance in Revolution and (get this) hypnotizes the citizens of the city into believing that the American Revolution never happened and then steals Robin's youth with his cane.  There were a couple of cute gags, but the episode on a whole was rather lame.

The season ends on a high note with a two part story, Teen Titans East.  Rumor has it that Brother Blood has moved to Steel City to set up another school.  Aqualad (sporting some new unexplained powers), Bumblebee, Speedy, and new heroes Mas Y Menos (who are two of the more irritating and idiotic heroes to come down the pike in a while) have decided to form Titans East to battle whatever Blood is up to.  Cyborg, still fuming that Blood stole his technology, heads out to help them set up shop.  He finds a group of people who not only aren't working as a team, they are barely communicating.   With Cyborg's guidance they start to come together however, and even manage to win their first battle.  He's helped them so much that these new Titans ask Cyborg to stay.  As their leader.  Will Cyborg be willing to abandon his friends back home?  Or is this just part of Brother Blood's plan?

Even after three seasons this is still a great show.  Though some viewers may dislike the strong anime influence in the style of the show, it fits the stories well.  This isn't a serious show like Batman:  The Animated Series, the program has many tongue-in-cheek episodes and comedy is a large part of the series.  Like the previous seasons, these shows are entertaining and fun.  They are action filled, but the characters have real personalities.  There is a good amount of humor and the occasional touching scene that works well.  A very enjoyable show that both kids and adults can enjoy.

This set includes all 13 episodes from the third season on two DVDs in a single width keepcase.

There is one odd thing about these discs.  There are no chapter stops in the middle of the episodes. It would have been nice if they had included one after the opening credits and again half way through the show.

Audio:

There is an English stereo track on this DVD as well as stereo a dub in Portuguese.  (I'm not sure why they replaced the Spanish and French audio tracks that the earlier seasons had with Portuguese.  Surely there are more Spanish and French speakers in region one.)  The sound was very good for a TV show.  The explosions and fight scenes were fairly dynamic and there was some use made of the front soundstage.  There wasn't any noticeable hiss or other common audio defects.  There were also subtitles in English and Portuguese.

Video:

This show looked pretty good.  The fullscreen image was bright and clear, with nice looking colors and sharp lines.  There was a little bit of aliasing, causing some curving lines to have a stair-step effect, but this was minimal.  A nice looking show.

Extras:

The only bonus this time around is Teen Titans:  Know Your Foes, a fifteen minute look at some of the Titans more powerful villains.  Clips from episodes are interspersed with comments from the producer and writers.  Not that enlightening if you've seen the shows, but it's a nice recap.

Final Thoughts:

The show continues its run of strong shows in this season.  There's a lot of action, a good amount of humor, and even a few touching scenes.  A fun show that's guaranteed to bring out the comic geek in everyone.  Highly Recommended.