- "You sound more like a fanboy than a nemesis."Aqualad
With the Titans scattered all over the world, Jump City is left without heroes. At the request of the main team, Titans East goes to the city and encounters Control Freak seeking the "real" Titans. Disappointed with what he considers to be the poor man's substitute, he sets up a series of tests for them.
Tropes:
- Badass Crew: Titans East eventually cement themselves as this in Jump City and Control Freak's eyes.
- Cool Sword: Remember Episode 297-494, with its parody of Star Wars and a Laser Blade with parallel blades? Control Freak either created or brought to the real world a Darth-Maul Double Weapon version of it. Sadly, he doesn't use it in combat.
- Crippling Overspecialization: When Control Freak first faces Titans East, he attempts to use all the stuff he prepared for the "real" Titans. But because they were all made to specifically counter each of the Titans powers, they have little to no effect on the Titans East.
- Cutting the Knot: How Titans East beats most of Control Freak's challenges. Can't shoot a rocket out of the sky with your arrows? Hijack one of the rockets themselves. Giant mechanical shark keeping you from reaching the main valve you need to plug up? Stick the shark in the valve instead. Can't stop a train before a bomb goes off? Short-circuit the trigger of the bomb. Need to be in two places at once to press two buttons at the same time? Use momentum to fling themselves across town at the buttons simultaneously.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Both the heroes and villains get this, ironically enough. Control Freak is upset that he was rated as less of a threat than Puppet King, and Titans East keeps getting mistaken for the original five.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Speedy is "Robin," Aqualad is "unitard guy".
- Eyelid Pull Taunt: Control Freak pulls this gesture on the Titans East after bailing on their first battle... via a TV screen.CF: I don't want to fight you anymore. Nyeh! [pulls down eyelid while sticking his tongue out]
- Failed Attempt at Drama: The episode opens with Control Freak invading Titans Tower while making a dramatic speech to the Titans about how their "number-one nemesis" has returned and has prepared the "Ultimate Titans Challenge" for them, before finally realizing they aren't there. He goes to several other rooms looking for them while trying to repeat his speech before finally realizing they aren't home and decides to just wait for them. When the Titans East arrive he once again begins his speech before quickly stopping when he realizes they aren't the "real" Titans.
- Fan Disservice: During his rundown of the core Titans, the fat and unattractive Control Freak appears dressed as each of them, including Raven and Starfire. His ugly body dressed in their clothes.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Control Freak's mechanical shark that he sends after Aqualad is named "Glen," after one of the show's producers Glen Murakami.
- Idiot Ball: After the Titans East successfully complete Control Freak's challenges, he begins geeking out over them and teleports himself in front of them while congratulating them. This leads to them quickly stealing his remote and arresting him. Speedy actually lampshades this as soon as it happens, which immediately gets an Oh, Crap! reaction from Control Freak.Speedy: I can't believe the bad guy just zapped himself in front of us.
- Improvised Weapon: Speedy's arrows are taken away for his challenge, so he ends up using himself as an arrow, and the bridge cables (plus tow truck to provide tension) as an improvised bow.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Control Freak gushes at Titans East for defeating his challenges. Of course, they take the opportunity to capture him, though he's a Graceful Loser about it.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: After reading the list of threats to the Titans, Control Freak gets irked that he's rated below Puppet King. He puts it best:Control Freak: They only fought him once! I'm a recurring villain!
- Lower-Deck Episode: This episode has most of the Titans absent, with the focus on the Honorary Titans.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: If Control Freak hadn't set the challenges for Titans East, they wouldn't have earned any respect. Not that he minds, actually.
- Opinion Flip-Flop: As soon Titans East actually begin winning their challenges, the Internet trolls change their tunes.
- Riding the Bomb: Speedy's method of completing Control Freak's challenge, by leaping and hijacking his missiles, turning them around mid-flight, and making them collide into each other. It works.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After the Titans East easily defeat all the equipment he brought for the "real" Titans, Control Freak zaps himself out of the tower while sulking.Control Freak: All these woulda worked on the real Titans. It's just, your powers are... stupid! (zaps himself away and appears on the screen) I don't want to fight you anymore.
- Shipper on Deck: A forum poster ships Starfire and Beast Boy together, and then later Aqualad and Bumblebee.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Despite once again claiming to be the Teen Titans' "number-one nemesis", the Titans apparently don't consider him a big enough threat to even put him on their list of villains. Making it even worse, their villains list even included the Puppet King, a Monster of the Week who had only fought the Titans once, while Control Freak had fought them twice.
- Take That, Audience!:
- When Control Freak is speaking to his online friends, the bizarre theories of the people Control Freak chats with ("Starfire and BB forever!") were apparently taken from actual forum posts.
- The episode is directed at people who were highly critical of the Titans East. We learn from this episode that no, Speedy is not useless if he doesn't have any arrows, Aqualad is physically strong even if he's at an aquatic disadvantage, Bumblebee's powers are awesome even when she's not in combat, and Más y Menos can come up with a way to overcome their "have to be touching" disadvantage.
- Tempting Fate: When Control Freak is explaining his challenges to the Titans East they each state their confidence that they can handle it, right before he finishes explaining one other stipulation that makes it even harder. In Speedy's case though, before he can even say anything Control Freak immediately takes his arrows away.
- Translator Microbes: Control Freak uses his remote to translate Más y Menos' Spanish, making them speak English.Control Freak: Spanish language converter.
- Wolf Whistle: One can be heard when Bumblebee introduces herself to Control Freak.
- Worthy Opponent:
- Control Freak is initially unimpressed with Titans East, considering them just a knock-off version of the "real" Titans he knows. After they beat all his challenges though he congratulates them, and says he'll make things even harder for them next time as he is being arrested.
- Le Blanc is initially disappointed when he is defeated and arrested by the Titans East, sulking that he thought he had a shot with the Titans out of town. He is later seen watching them in Control Freak's challenges at prison, and when they begin to beat each challenge he voices how they are clever, bragging that that's how they captured him.
