Episode 5: The Sum of his Parts

UGH!!! Sorry if this review seems a little rushed, I HAD a full and nice review written but then while trying to edit it from my iPod the WHOLE THING got deleted JUST as I finished writing it, and now I have to start ALL OVER. So if I'm a little short with this episode on the second viewing, I apologize in advance.

She drinks mustard.

The episode opens with the Titans having a picnic at the park. Cyborg eats ribs, Robin eats a hamburger Starfire eats...uh...mustard. No, really. Beast Boy eats tofu dogs. Some of the humor here is actually pretty funny (I love the line "I respect that you don't eat meat, please respect that I don't eat fake meat." Also Starfire and mustard, what more do you need?) After eating they decide to play football. During the game Cyborg's batteries die and he falls over. After the opening credits he reboots and wakes up, the titans looking on worriedly  He explains that  he just needs a new power cell and that they should keep playing.
He begins to walk home, on the way he is interrupted by a boy with a prosthetic hand who thinks Cyborg is cool. On his way home, he gets a distress signal from the titans, he decides to join in on the fight.

Would any NORMAL villain throw bunnies at people?
THAT'S why I love Mumbo

Our villain of the week is Mumbo Jumbo! I love this guy, he's just so crazy and weird that it's fun to watch. Cyborg has a backup external battery pack he strapped on so that he had enough power to join in on the fight. Unfortunately during the fight his battery pack gets knocked off and he turns off and falls into a hole in the junkyard. The titans think Mumbo has taken Cyborg and give chase.

Our minor villain:
You can't NOT love this guy

Meanwhile Cyborg is dragged into the darkness by lots of tiny, creepy little robots. When he wakes up he discovers that a robot called 'Fixit' has found him and repaired him. Fixit has thousands of little robots all around.

Our actual villain:
He's pretty dang creepy

The Titans still can't find Cyborg and keep going after Mumbo.

Cyborg thanks Fixit and tries to leave. Fixit however, insists that he stay, while Cyborg was knocked out he discovered many 'serious flaws' in his system and asks Cyborg to stay while he repairs him. Cyborg tries to call his friends to tell them where he is, but Fixit blocks his signal, making Cyborg think that something really is wrong with him.

The Titans have an easy time finding Mumbo by following the trail of weirdness. (hoping mailbox with bunnies in them, flying people). It's funny but Mumbo is actually a somewhat effective villain and he does manage to slow down and avoid the Titans for some time, it's just that everything he does it played for laughs so it's not effective for very long. They continue chasing him while MEANWHILE back at the creepy underground lab, Fixit asks why Cyborg would ever want to leave, there's enough power and spare parts. Cyborg replies that he couldn't live down there without sunlight, fresh air or food. Fixit omniously claims that he doesn't need those things "and when repairs are complete-neither will you.". As Cyborg tries to leave, Fixit's robots shock him into submission and tie him to the operating table again. Fixit believes his 'biological components' are imperfect and must be replaced by full robot parts.

For a horrifying moment it looks like Cyborg has gone full robot-then it's revealed to just be a dream, Fixit is calmly preparing the robot parts to be grafted onto Cyborg.
The Titans catch up to Mumbo and discover that he didn't do anything to Cyborg. They almost run straight to the junkyard, but decide to drop Mumbo off at the jail first.
Just as Fixit is about to begin, Cyborg makes another escape attempt, only to discover that his weapons have been disabled. As he struggles to free himself from the robots, he rips off Fixit's cloak.

....What the hell?

 Fixit is...uh...something....Anyway, he has biological parts too!
The Titans have found Cyborg's battery pack and follow it down to where Fixit's lab is, being attacked by his robot minions along the way.
OK, I have to talk about this fight scene for a little bit. It was short and only a sideshow for Cyborg's struggle with Fixit in the lab, but it was awesome. It was very different from any of the other fight scenes we've had so far, and so I must post pics. Fighting underground, the only light source they had was Starfire's starbolts. The only thing you can really see are the Titan's eyes and the robot's eyes. Admittedly you can't actually see much of the fight because of this, but I liked the effect and thought it was done very nicely.
Anyway...back to the plot!

Trust me, it was cool. 

Cyborg tells Fixit that his human side is the best part of him, the part that made him who he is. As Fixit starts to download Cyborg's memories, he sees him with the other Titans at the park. Playing, laughing, having fun. He falls to the ground, elsewhere all his robots stop fighting the other Titans. The Titans find Cyborg, and Fixit apologizes. He had forgotten how beautiful the world was, it ends on a sweet and sappy note with Cyborg seeing the kid from earlier and a friend. He tells the kid that it wasn't their machines that made them similar, it was their humanity. (paraphrased, just restate that so that a child could understand.)

This episode illustrates some of Cyborg's inner fears, that he will lose his humanity and become more machine than man. Thinking about it, he's lost almost his entire body, it's got to be strange waking up and seeing over half a robot in the mirror every morning. Of course, it's fluffed up behind a funny fight between the Titans and Mumbo to break up the tension and played down to a kid's level, but this was still a fairly entertaining episode (more so than the last one...).

Also a MIRACLE occurred in this episode. Yes, a miracle. These past few episodes seemed to show that if missing a single member of their team, the titans are basically useless. However, with only four, yes four, Titans, they got Mumbo!

You see? I knew you could do it!
I knew you all weren't completely useless!

I am so proud...*sniff* They grow up so fast.