Artful Dodgers

"Artful Dodgers" is the twenty-second episode of the first season of Teen Titans Go!, and the twenty-second overall episode of the series.

Synopsis[]

The Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy confidently expect to win an upcoming dodge ball championship, even though the only thing they 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

Teen-Titans-Go-Episode-18-Artful-Dodgers — Dodge ball Style!

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-superpowered kids, including the Little Girl).

Raven (Artful Dodgers) — Raven is not playing.

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 how Starfire ate the dodgeballs. However, they will let them help out with their intro song and be their cheerleaders on the bench.

The Titans enter the dodgeball arena with Starfire and Raven singing

Team Titans.

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 that they'll win. However, the H.I.V.E. managed to take them down 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 since 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 Doctor 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 points 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 making the Titans upset that they lost for the third time in a row. Robin however calls the police to arrest the H.I.V.E. so the Titans win by default, which upsets the crowd. The episode ends with them celebrating with their victory dance with Starfire, Raven, and even Silkie, each with their dance.

Characters[]

Robin
Starfire
Beast Boy
Cyborg
Raven
Jinx
Gizmo
Mammoth
See-More
Billy Numerous
Generic Jump City Citizens
- Susan (cameo)
- Little Girl's Unnamed Male Teammates (debut, only appearance, cameo)
- Police Officer #2 (cameo)
Cinderblock (cameo)
Doctor Light (cameo)
Silkie (cameo)

Song[]

Team Titans

Trivia[]

This episode is the first time that the Titans have directly saved innocent people's lives 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" is the name of an actual DC Comics superhero team, which was a short-lived spin-off of the New Teen Titans series.
This is the first episode where the Titans play a sport.
This is a parody of 2004 film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.
If you listen closely, you can hear booing in the background at the end of the episode.
- They were probably booing both the Titans and the police since the H.I.V.E. won the tournament fair and square.
An alternate scene was shown during Garage Sale
- The Titans are having a stand off against H.I.V.E. as Raven from the future stole the dodgeball from her present self, causing the opponents to hit her with dodgeballs and win.

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 realize that they need to practice.
This is the second episode where the male Titans have an awkward dance scene. ("Girl's Night Out")

References[]

During the scene when the Titans fight against the teams led by Cinderblock and Doctor Light, the background song sounds very similar to Van Halen's classic song "Jump".
Starfire and Raven sing a parody of the original "Teen Titans" theme song by Puffi AmiYumi, changing the chorus, "Teen Titans" into "Team Titans." The original footage intro is also changed, with dodgeballs instead of the Titans.
The Team Titans is also an alternate Titans team from the future in the comics, who consist of members like Kilowatt, Battalion, and Terra II.
The title is a reference and a pun on the character Jack Dawkins, known as "The Artful Dodger," from the book "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens.
The way Cyborg refers to practice is similar to how NBA player Allen Iverson talked about practice in a press conference.
At the beginning of this episode, Jinx whistles the Harlem Globetrotters theme song.
Cyborg's victory dance is similar to one of the kids dancing from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
During the presentation of Mammoth, the announcer calls him King Kong.

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, and the other becomes a calf sock.
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 are 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 he has armpit hair. But every other time he lifts his arms, it's 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. (This is most likely supposed to be ironic).
In this episode Dee Bradley Baker voices the announcer, but he's uncredited.
Starfire uses a contraction when she 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".
Cyborg Said "Come and See the New Suits" and after that they said that they must practice on the Victory Dance.. now when they were remembering last year dodgeball battle.. they were with the New suits and I Don't Think that they will keep Dancing the Same Victory dance for a year or more.

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 wanting to play, and the boys denying them. (Although Robin does ultimately let them play so they'll support Team Titans' cheating).