Artful Dodgers

"Artful Dodgers" is the 22nd episode of the first season of Teen Titans Go!, and the 22nd overall episode of the series.

Summary
The Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy confidently expect to win an upcoming dodge ball championship, even though the only thing t ever practice is their victory dance. Then they come up against an unbeatable dodge ball team – the H.I.V.E Five.

Plot
The episode begins with the H.I.V.E. Five robbing a bank and the Titans confronting them. Gizmo gives the Titans a choice, stop the H.I.V.E. or save the citizens from blowing up. The Titans believe this is unfair, but the H.I.V.E. doesn't care. The Titans point out that cheating is wrong and end up both stopping the H.I.V.E. and saving the citizens. Robin tells them "Cheaters never prosper", followed by Beast Boy stating, "Never ever".

Back at the Tower, the Titans prepare for the upcoming dodgeball tournament by practicing their victory dance. They reflect on last year how they destroyed the competition (which was made up of much younger, non-super powered kids including the Little Girl).

Then Raven and Starfire wonder why they won't be playing. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy explain to them it's because Raven had demonically eaten the competition last year after she got hit, and Starfire ate the dodgeballs. However, they will let them help out with their intro song and be cheerleaders on the bench.

The Titans enter the dodgeball arena with Starfire and Raven singing the Team Titans Theme Song. As the Titans are overconfident and ready to play, they see that their opponents are the H.I.V.E. Five with See-More and Billy Numerous on the sidelines. The Titans are still confident they'll win. However, the H.I.V.E. destroys them in a matter of seconds. The Titans are annoyed by this due to that they apparently never lose.

Disturbed by this, the Titans confront the H.I.V.E. Five again as they rob a bank. They don't want to stop them (at least not yet), they just want a rematch, with Starfire and Raven still on the sidelines. Again, the Titans are defeated by the H.I.V.E. in a matter of seconds. The Titans are even more agitated that they've been beaten twice now. They even consider actually practicing, but think that would be too much work. Robin decides that they will resort to cheating which all the Titans agree with after a brief argument. Their form of cheating involved using their powers to enhance their dodgeball skills. They easily defeat teams consisting of Dr. Light and Cinderblock. Then the Titans go up against the H.I.V.E. Five for one final time. Despite the Titans' cheating, the H.I.V.E. were able to dodge most of their attacks. Then Jinx point out that the Titans are cheating, but the Titans don't seem to care. Then, while the Titans are distracted, the H.I.V.E. Five take out all five Titans in a matter of seconds. The H.I.V.E. are the dodgeball champions and receive the championship trophy. However, Robin makes a call and the police arrest the H.I.V.E. Five and the Titans win by default, which upsets the crowd. They celebrate with their victory dance, which now includes Starfire, Raven, and even Silkie, each with their own dance.


 * Jinx
 * Gizmo
 * Mammoth
 * Plasmus
 * Cinderblock

Trivia

 * This episode is the first time that the Titans have directly saved innocent people's lives in the series on screen.
 * This is the first episode to have a close caption and the first episode to focus on all of the Titans.
 * "Team Titans" are the name of an actual DC Comics superhero team, which was a short-lived spin-off of the New Teen Titans series.
 * This was the first episode that the Titans play a sport.

Continuity

 * This is Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth's third appearance (See-More and Billy Numerous' second) in the series as the dodgeball team the Titans face.
 * The highly reoccurring music from "Legendary Sandwich," "Starliar," and "Staff Meeting" plays when Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy realizes that they need to practice.
 * This is the second episode where the male Titans have an awkward dance scene. ("Girl's Night Out")

Errors

 * In the scene where the H.I.V.E win the dodgeball championship game, look closely and you can see that Jinx's nose isn't there.
 * When Raven tells the boys that they should practice Dodgeball rather than their victory dance, one off her knee socks becomes a thigh sock, the other becoming a calf sock. Capture-0.JPG
 * The announcer states that Mammoth weighs 2,500 Ibs, but the statistics board says he weighs 2,800 Ibs instead. This may be a writing error.
 * When the camera looks down at the final match, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and the bench that they were sitting on were gone.
 * If you look at Mammoth when he and H.I.V.E. are in the street along with the Titans wanting a rematch, you can see Mammoth lift his arm to scratch his head and there is armpit hair. But every other time he lifts his arms there is it bald.
 * Despite Robin saying that cheaters never prosper, they cheated in the championship game. Although Starfire and Raven still knew it was bad yet fell to peer pressure when Robin asked if it would be "cool" if he let them join.
 * In this episode Dee Bradley Baker voiced the announcer, but he was uncredited.
 * Starfire uses a contraction when her and Raven simultaneously say "We're in" after Robin agrees to let them play if they can cheat.
 * When the announcer introduces See-More and Billy Numerous, the closed-captions for the episode mistakenly read "Villain Humorous" instead of "Billy Numerous".

Running Gags

 * When the other Titans get hit, Beast Boy is the only one left standing. He flinches, only to realize that he wasn't hit, then a ball hits him once he looks up.
 * The Titans saying "Dodge-ball-Style" together, where they appear in chibi form.
 * The Titans doing their victory dance.
 * The girls keep wanting to play and the boys keep denying them.
 * Although Robin does ultimately let them play so they'll support Team Titans' cheating.