Pig in a Poke

"Pig in a Poke" is the 4th episode of the seventh season of Teen Titans Go!, and the 316th overall episode of the series.

Synopsis[]

The Titans are worried when Starfire says she has sent all of her money to a prince online, especially when it could be the Clown Prince himself.

Plot[]

One night, Raven and the boys are lounging on the couch when Starfire excitedly flies in and announces that she has wonderful news, saying that she is going to become rich. Her friends wonder what happened and whether she won the lotto or had a check from a rich uncle until she tells them that a foreign prince wrote her an offer to share his vast fortune with her in exchange for the nominal fee. Cyborg quickly realizes that it is a scam email, and Robin advises her to delete it until she informs that she has already transferred the person the money, much to their anger. Worse, she has sent away her entire life savings! At first, she still believes that she can open an ice cream scoops shop with the person and live happily ever after with him until her friends tell and explain to her that she is dealing with a scam artist, and is furious with herself for how gullible she is. Her friends know that she wants to take revenge on the scam artist, so Robin deciphers the email and figures out that the sender is the Joker. The Titans all head to the Axis Chemicals factory in a convertible (because that's what scam artists use) in hopes of outsmarting the Joker.

After arriving at the factory, the Titans discover that they need a password to enter. Cyborg and Beast Boy decide to use a phishing scam to trick the guard into revealing the password. They both perform impressive impressions: Cyborg channels Jack Nicholson while Beast Boy takes on Heath Ledger. However, Robin nearly compromises their cover with his portrayal of Jared Leto. Fortunately, Beast Boy manages to save the situation by acting as Mark Hamil, which is convincing enough to persuade the guard to give the Titans the password.

The Titans successfully enter the factory area, but before they can further reach into the factory's interior, they realize there are some guards. Robin suggests doing the "pig in a poke" scam, but Starfire misunderstands it as poking Robin, so Raven demonstrates it by dressing herself as a hotdog vendor. Although the guards are confused by what she says, she still manages to swindle them and get them running in terror after they get scratched by the ferocious cats inside the bags. All five Titans rush inside after Cyborg blasts a hole with his cannon.

Inside the factory, however, there are even more guards than the Titans expected. Robin decides that the best way to deceive the guards is to hold a financial planning seminar by himself. By giving out examples of clients like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman and giving out the limited offer, the guards quickly fall for his scam and begin infighting among themselves, allowing the Titans to get past them.

Soon enough, the Titans reach the Joker's office. Joker is excited to see Robin and believes that he has brought some Batman business with him until he realizes that Robin is merely having a Teen Titans business with him and is annoyed about it. Robin tells him that they know that he is the scammer, which he gladly and shamelessly admits, and Starfire demands him to return her the money. But the Joker refuses, for he has spent all the money on the factory to fill a giant whoopie cushion filled with his patented toxin that can cause mass destruction. The Titans decide to stop his evil scheme by trying to scam him; Raven uses a crystal ball to predict his future, Beast Boy tries to trick him that he has dropped something, and Cyborg pretends to be his long-lost nephew. However, Joker is crafty enough to see through their tricks and defeat the three of them with countermeasures. Realizing none of their scams worked, Robin orders his team to retreat.

When the Titans are retreating though, Starfire slips and pretends to be in great pain, and that she is riddled with the aches and the pains. The other Titans blame the Joker for this incident, citing the poor maintenance of his facility. Despite the Joker's attempts to deny responsibility, Starfire threatens him, stating that she has a lawyer. In response, the Joker returns her the money and hands over the deed to the factory, allowing Starfire to buy all of his henchmen. Ultimately, the Joker falls for the Titans' scheme completely, even giving away his clothes to Starfire. When he finally realizes that he has been outsmarted, he discovers that Starfire had feigned her injury all along. By then, it's too late; Starfire has already deflated his gas-filled cushion. The Joker can do nothing but lament his own gullibility.

In the end, Starfire opens her shop, "Starfire's Scoops." She and the other Titans then remind the young audience to be aware of scams and encourage them to inform their trusted guardians if they ever encounter one. It is later revealed that Starfire has captured the Joker, and she laughs maliciously after referring to him as her gallant prince.

Characters[]

Major[]

Starfire
Robin
Beast Boy
Cyborg
Raven
The Joker (speaking debut)

Minor[]

Joker's Henchmen

Cameos[]

Seal

Trivia[]

The last time Starfire had anything to do online was purchasing a spotted yellow bikini in "Hey Pizza!".
The title is actually about a literal scam called "pig in a poke". In mid century Britain, some merchants who sold pigs would display a piglet at their stall for attracting the passerby to their stalls, while putting the rest of their pigs in sacks/bags. As most customers did not check the contents of their sacks/bags, they would only find out that they had bought a cat much later.
The Titans break the fourth wall at the end of the episode by telling kids to be aware of scams.
This is the first time Joker speaks in this show. Also, Jason Spisak reprises his role from LEGO DC Super Heroes: Gotham City Breakout and the DCAMU film, Batman: Hush.
- On a related note, the Joker has a paler color saturation in this episode when compared to previous episodes he appeared in.
The ending is similar to the ending of "Finally a Lesson", where the Titans talk to the viewers about the lesson they learned.
Eric Bauza did the Joker impressions of Cyborg's Nicholson, and Beast Boy's Ledger and Hamill.

Continuity[]

Raven is seen unhooded for the 130th time in the series.
Starfire's love for cats is shown in this episode.
Starfire's obsession of ice cream scoops returns from the episode, "The Scoop".
The music used during the fight between Robin and gorilla Beast Boy in "Gorilla" is used again when Beast Boy (as Mark Hamill Joker from 90s to 2016) threatens the guard to get the password.

References[]

Multiple references are made to past Joker roles when the Titans do impressions of the Joker to get into Axis Chemicals. Cyborg did an impression of Jack Nicholson’s Joker from the 1989 Batman film. Beast Boy did an impression of the late Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight film, and Mark Hamill’s Joker from DCAU shows. Robin did an impression of Jared Leto’s Joker from the DC Extended Universe movies.
- The only exceptions were Cesar Romero Joker from the 1960's Batman show and film, Cameron Monaghan Joker from the Gotham show, Kevin Michael Richardson Joker from The Batman (2004), Jeff Bennet Joker from Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008), John DiMaggio Joker from Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), and Joaquin Phoenix Joker from the 2019 film: Joker.
Axis Chemicals is the name of the chemical plant where Jack Napier became the Joker the 1989 Batman film.
Beast Boy said "Why so serious?" when he pretended to be Heath Ledger's Joker to fool the guard, which is a reference to the same line that Heath Ledger said in The Dark Knight.
The password Jinglebellsbatmansmells1939 is a reference to 2 things: Jingle Bells Batman Smells is a famous song, and 1939 was the year Batman first appeared in comics.
Raven mentioned Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of the USA, when she performs her scam.
Starfire's fantasy to live happily ever after with her prince is a reference to the 1991 film, Beauty and The Beast.

Errors[]

When Raven dresses herself as a hotdog vendor, she wears an apron. But for the rest of the sequence when she is selling hotdogs to the guards, her apron is nowhere to be seen.