Starfire wins a goldfish at a carnival and vows to keep it alive.
Plot[]
The episode begins with the terrified screams of civilians in danger, but it's not from a supervillain rampage. They are just riding some poorly assembled carnival thrill rides. The Titans are at the carnival as well, looking for some amusement around the game booths.
Raven doubts they will win anything, though, since the games are operated by crooked carnies. Robin, who feels confident in his team, believes they can beat the odds and win some prizes. Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Robin each try to win at a classic carnival game but find that they have been rigged.
Starfire wants to try and win a goldfish at the goldfish toss game, but Raven warns her that it is the cruelest game at the carnival. She explains that it's the one game that's NOT rigged, but carnival goldfish have notoriously short lifespans.
Starfire feels she can defy the carnies and keep her fish pet alive with the power of her love. After a dramatic scene of her tossing a ball into a bowl, Starfire wins her goldfish prize, along with a plastic bag full of water. Starfire has an instant fondness for the goldfish and its water, which she drinks straight from the bag. At this point, the Titans have worn out their welcome, so they leave the carnival.
Back at the Tower, Starfire flies around with her goldfish while her friends worry she is getting too attached to it. Starfire reminds them that her fish, whom she has dubbed as "The Fish," will live for many years because of her love. Robin offers her some tips for extending a goldfish's life. Once The Fish is in a bowl, Starfire takes it on a night out on the town. Afterward, she tucks the fish into bed with her just before she falls asleep.
The next morning, Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven are eating cereal when they hear a shriek. Starfire enters the kitchen in tears. Her fish died overnight and is now floating lifeless in the bowl. The other Titans are not as concerned as Starfire, who feels it is her fault that The Fish died. Suddenly, the ghost of The Fish appears next to Starfire.
The ghost of the fish says the word "banunu," which Raven translates to mean "friend." She deduces that The Fish wants the Titans to rescue the other fish from the carnival. Starfire, feeling she failed The Fish once, promises she won't fail again.
Back at the carnival, the Titans find the carnies standing between them and the fish. Robin tells Starfire to liberate the fish while the other Titans deal with the carnies. With a big plastic bag of water in hand, Starfire tells the carnival goldfish to jump in. In the meantime, the rest of the Titans swiftly deal with the carnies by turning their carnival games against them.
Starfire is happy for Robin.
Once all the fish are in the big plastic bag, Starfire flies off to dump them in the ocean. But instead, she dumps the fish into a port-a-potty, thinking it will empty into an ocean. When Starfire finds out that she made a big mistake, she fears she has failed The Fish once again. Just then, ghost fish begin to appear all around her, flying happily. Even though they are ghosts now, it's still a better existence than being carnival fish. Starfire watches as The Fish and its ghost friends fly away. Then she starts drinking more fish water from the plastic bag. The other Titans have had enough of this sight, and they walk away. The episode ends with a belch from Starfire.
Starfire's butt had another close up for the second time in the series. The first episode was in the "The Fourth Wall".
This is the second episode to include the word "water" in the title. The first episode was "Hose Water".
Continuity[]
One of the food stands at the carnival sells the El Burdigato Supreme, as seen in Real Boy Adventures.
Old Starfire is seen again.
This isn't the first time that Starfire has mourned the death of a fish friend. There was also Chubby Chops in the episode "Secret Garden".
References[]
Among the Pretty Pretty Pegasus prizes, there are also stuffed toys of DC characters like Swamp Thing, Bat-Mite, and Joker Jr.
The water-squirting game features the likenesses of Aquaman and Black Manta.
Raven's Fish Dictionary book had an illustration of Aquaman and fish versions of two other DC characters, Azrael and Batgirl.
Raven explains that the fish word "banunu" means friend, and that "friend" means no one gets left behind. This may be a reference to a similar and well-known quote from Lilo and Stitch.
Starfire's song sounds a lot like "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor.
Errors[]
Starfire's fish was pink at some time, but later, it turned to gold. It's most likely just the effect of the water, with the blue making the gold look pink.
Running Gags[]
Beast Boy misleading Starfire into believing something about her fish, when it's actually about a piece of toast.
Starfire drinking the fish water.
The other Titans getting disgusted every time Starfire takes a sip of the fish water.
The fish saying "Ba nu nu".
Transcript[]
The transcript for "Fish Water" can be found here.
Gallery[]
The image gallery for Fish Water may be viewed here.
