Nostalgia is Not a Substitute for an Actual Story

"Nostalgia is Not a Substitute for an Actual Story" is the nineteenth episode of the fifth season of Teen Titans Go!, and the two-hundredth-twenty-eighth overall episode of the series.

Summary[]

The Titans time travel back to the 1980s to determine whether or not it was the best decade ever.

Plot[]

We're back at it again...Cyborg talking about the 1980s! While watching the show Unusual Stuff that is playing on their TV, Cyborg starts to describe the animation style, and how it looks like it was made in the 1980s. Robin on the other hand, calls the show "terrible" and turns off the TV. Then he goes on to say that the 1980s wasn't "that great". This gets Cyborg all worked up, and him and Robin have an argument. Cyborg talks about the pros of the 1980s, while Robin talks about the cons of the 1980s. They settle this argument by Robin making a bet. Robin says that if Cyborg can buy an album, then Robin will take back what he said about the 1980s and disclose that it is the best decade ever. Raven then says "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" and the spell is cast for the Titans to travel back into the 1980s.

After Raven finishes casting the spell, the Titans and Tower look incredibly different. The style of the Titans' clothes and hairstyle look different, and so does the Tower. The Titans are checking each other out, as they have never seen the 1980s dress fashion like this before in person.

The Titans plan their trip to the mall shortly after, only to find out that phone service isn't available. Cyborg reminds them that bikes are the most iconic way of getting to one place to another. After the Titans hop on the bikes they start doing wheelies, and other bike tricks. Robin reminds Cyborg that him and the other Titans are going to the mall. Cyborg asks the "where is that mall?", and Raven attempts to go on her Communicator for guidance. Unfortunately, once again, there are no cellphone indications in the 1980s. Cyborg then reminds the Titans that they've still got the map. After grabbing the map out, Cyborg is unable to unravel the map, so he gets frustrated and crumples the map and throws it away. Starfire questions, "How will we know which of the roads to take?" Cyborg responds with, "Where we're going, we don't need roads." The Titans take a shortcut through a downhill forest, and end up crashing into the mall. They get hurt in the process, but they have arrived at their destination.

The Titans start observing the mall and what it had to offer. While checking out the mall, these two girls are spotted next to the Titans. One of them says "I would, like, totally kill for that girl's hair." Starfire hears them, and since she doesn't understand the 1980s slang, she interrogates the two girls. Raven interrupts Starfire to explain that those girls wouldn't really 'kill for hair', so when Starfire finally understands, she returns the compliments to the girls, "I would gladly destroy your bloodline and take your lovely eyes for my own."

The Titans are still on the search for the record store, and Cyborg eventually finds it. The Titans are amazed of the store, and they see lots and lots of records everywhere. Beast Boy encourages Cyborg to find his album but Cyborg doesn't know how to due to not knowing how to search for records in the 1980s. Eventually, Cyborg finds his album by the looks of the album cover. Cyborg tells Robin that he completed his mission into getting his album in the 1980s and wants him to finally admit that the 1980s were the best, but Robin reminds him that the worst part of the 1980s are the Jerks. They are spotted behind the Titans. They interrogate the Titans and then they steal Cyborg's album. Cyborg gets back his album by tricking them into thinking something's at the shelf. He then tells the Titans to run.

The Titans hop on their bikes and start running away from the mall, as the '80s Jerks get on their own bikes and start chasing the Titans. The '80s Jerks chase the Titans throughout the neighborhood. Starfire and Raven are concerned that the '80s Jerks will catch up to the Titans soon. Cyborg says once again, "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!" Robin recalls the last result of going down a downhill forest, but Cyborg insists that Robin and the other Titans follow him.

At the start of going downhill, it doesn't look so good. The Titans looks like they're going to crash into something again just like last time. Luckily, there is a huge mountain edge for the Titans to fly off of (E.T. reference!) The Titans glided off, whilst the '80s Jerks fell into a mud pit. While in the air, Beast Boy asks how they're flying in the air with bikes. Raven responds that they're superheroes, Robin says that he can't and he falls with the bike.

Vlcsnap-2019-01-08-23h53m53s28 — You should've believed you can fly, Robin.

Vlcsnap-2019-01-08-23h54m03s124 — The Titans enjoying themselves after their 80's adventure.

Back at the Tower, the Titans are seen to be chilling on the couch while playing some music through a disk (although, Robin has casts all over his body due to the fall.) He finally admits the 1980s was the best decade. The ending consists of the credits displaying like how it would be in the 1980s.

Characters[]

Robin
Cyborg
Starfire
Raven
Beast Boy
80's Jerks (debut)
80's Teens (debut)
Sea Snail (cameo)

Trivia[]

This episode was nominated for the Creative Arts Short Form Animated Emmy Award 2019. Other nominated episodes are "The Witness" (Love, Death & Robots), "Why is it Wet?" (Robot Chicken), "Plankton Paranoia" (SpongeBob SquarePants) and "Reunited" (Steven Universe).

Continuity[]

Raven is seen unhooded for 89th time in the series.
Starfire is seen with her '80s New Teen Titans hairstyle again in the series since Season 2's "Baby Hands".
The album insert for The Night Begins to Shine is seen a few times throughout the episode.
An instrumental version of the song Crane Kick from the Season 3 episode "Hey You, Don't Forget About Me in Your Memory", is played when the Titans transform into their '80s styles.
Robin is once again being labelled as the only Titan who has no superpowers.
Cyborg's love for the '80s is shown once again.

References[]

Robin mentions the Cold War when he talking about the banes of the 80's.
The show, Unusual Stuff, that the Titans are watching at the beginning is an obvious reference to the Netflix series Stranger Things, an '80s-set Netflix web television series.
Starfire's '80s hairstyle is very similar to her hairstyle from the New Teen Titans comics (which debuted in the early '80s), created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez.
The title screen and the scene where the Titans are riding their bikes in the sky is a reference to the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
The "'80s Jerks" blonde guy in the karate uniform has similar physical characteristics to Johnny Lawrence from the 1984 film The Karate Kid.
The Girl 80s Jerk is loosely based off of Heather Chandler, the mean girl antagonist from the 1989 black comedy cult classic Heathers. The giveaway is the croquet mallet that she carries, a reference to the scene where the “Heathers” clique plays croquet, and also in the red stripes on the mallet, which is similar to Heather Chandler’s mallet with red as her signature color.
Near the beginning of the episode, Cyborg is seen dressed up as the boxer Apollo Creed in Rocky IV.
Cyborg's nerdy character is based on the character Steve Urkel from the '80s sitcom Family Matters.
When Cyborg talking about how great things the '80s have, you can see Beast Boy as ALF from the series of the same name.
Raven is depicted as a "Trashheap Kid" on a "Rotten Raven" card, a parody of a popular series of collectible trading cards called "Garbage Pail Kids". Interestingly, her actress, Tara Strong, once lent her voice to a short-lived animated GPK series back in the '80s.
The music in the beginning of the '80s part sounds almost exactly like "Sunglasses At Night" by Corey Hart.
The instrumental music used in the scene where the Titans ride their bicycles sounds very similar to that of the New Kids on the Block song "You Got It (The Right Stuff)".
The line repeated by Cyborg, "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads..." is from the 1985 Robert Zemeckis film Back to the Future, used by Doc Brown.
- Cyborg's favorite '80s car is the DeLorean DMC-12 sports car, which is also from Back to the Future.
- The scene in which the '80s jerk gang leader gets covered in mud, and starts yelling how much he hates it, is similar to the scene from Back to the Future, in which Biff Tannen gets manure all over himself, and does the same thing.
This episode ends with a closing logo card called "Fennimore Frog Productions" and the announcer (possibly Greg Cipes) says "Stay froggy stay, nice froggy", and it responded with a "ribbit" is a reference of a company named Ubu Productions.
The music and gameplay of the Album Hunters arcade game Robin plays is a reference to the Super Mario Bros. series of video games, and similar games made by Nintendo.
In the scene during Cyborg's, Beast Boy was depicted as the ALF, the protagonist from the TV series with the same name.
When Cyborg says "The 80s were the greatest decade in human history", four vehicles appear, these vehicles reference television series and movies that were famous in the1980s:-
- The sports car resembles cars that have been featured in action crime drama television series, such as KITT in Knight Rider. Also, it references Magnum, P.I. and Miami Vice.
- The chopper resembles Airwolf in the eponymous television series and movie. Also, it resembles Blue Thunder in the titular film and television series.
- The van could be a reference to The Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo. Another possibility that the van is a reference to the 1983 GMC Vandura van used by the A-Team.
- The motorcycle references Street Hawk.
Beast Boy mentions Juan Ponce de León, a Spanish explorer during the Renaissance's Age of Discovery.
When Cyborg says "The coolest cars, the best TV shows, the raddest trading cards. Those are the facts of life baby!", the background music sounds similar to the song Funkytown by Lipps Inc.
Cyborg's 80's outfit resembles Steve Urkel's from Family Matters.

Errors[]

Robin claimed that the internet was non-existent in the '80s, but the truth is the internet, along with the prototype of smartphones and numerous technologies, were invented at the end of the '80s.
It should be noted that in "Stockton, CA!", Jump City was founded in 2003, so the Titans pretty much won't be able to travel back to see what it looked like during the 80's.
Raven has her hands in the air, when she says "We're superheroes we can fly!". But instantly she is holding onto the brakes in the next scene.

Running Gags[]

Robin and Cyborg arguing about which decade is better.
The Titans having trouble riding their bikes.
Cyborg quoting the line "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads..." from the 1985 movie Back to the Future.
Raven forgetting that the Communicator can’t function/receive signal in the 80s.