Review: Teen Titans GO! “A Holiday Story”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Santa Claus enlists Beast Boy’s help in getting him back into the Holiday Mob, which is run by Baby New Year.

Our Take:

The Titans just love to fool around during the holidays, do they? Teen Titans GO! offered plenty of moments that usually outweigh its juvenile nature throughout its run. You have the “Night Begins to Shine” specials, the theatrical film (which I surprisingly enjoyed), and, of course, its holiday episodes. Amid their duties as superheroes (or lack thereof), the Titans celebrate their favorite holidays in typical goofy fashion, especially Christmas, and this episode is no exception.

“A Holiday Story” is best described as The Sopranos with holiday mascots, with Beast Boy helping Santa make amends with the Holiday Mob. Led by Baby New Year, the mob only consists of a turkey and the Easter Bunny with a creepy-ass face. So it’s more like a Holiday Club rather than a Holiday Mob. As usual, the show didn’t slow down on providing referential humor in the genre it’s spoofing, especially crime drama. If that’s your cup of tea, then there’s plenty to enjoy in its latest holiday-themed adventure.

As far as holiday episodes go, this is, unfortunately, the weakest one of the bunch. Despite some decent gags, visual and dialogue-wise, they didn’t pack enough punches to get me ho-ho-ho-ing. On the other hand, the moments involving Beast Boy and Santa interrogating other holiday icons were pretty entertaining, even though the plot’s ending was undoubtedly predictable regarding Santa’s cunning nature.

The episode also marks the latest appearance of the Titans’ reoccurring nemesis, Santa Claus (Robert Morse), who’s constantly plotting to take over the holidays. Santa’s unique and sour personality has made the character a fun addition to the Teen Titans GO! cast in its previous Christmas episodes. Fortunately, “A Holiday Story” once again showed that Santa is still on the naughty list for the right reasons. Regarding Morse’s performance and the dialogue, this villainous take of the jolly fat man is still joyful to watch. The episode also proved that Beast Boy has enough charisma to lead more solo miniature adventures without the Titans’ assistance.

Overall, “A Holiday Story” united the holiday icons to deliver a joyful jab at the crime drama elements. While I wouldn’t call it one of the best episodes of the show’s seventh season, it’s still another diverting adventure featuring the Titans’ comical member. Then again, all of the Titans are comical, so who am I to judge? Thankfully, the Titans have another year to relax until they cross paths with the Christmas legend yet again.