Teen Trash Talk

Content warning for discussions of violence, specifically gun violence and violence against teens at schools, and discussions of suicide and suicidal ideation. Heather, Heather, and Heather! Hannah and Kyle fight with nihilism while talking about Heathers, the 80's cult classic starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. We love Heathers and think it has a lot say about power dynamics, toxic male behavior, and the struggles of being a young person. But, since this is a trash podcast, we also dig into the Heathers musical and the Heathers inspired Riverdale episode. Listen to our hearts break for Martha and Heather McNamara, praise Lili Reinhardt and Winona Ryder, and argue about JD. It's a lot of fun. BIG FUN! Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

It's The Titans vs. Slade in the two-part season 1 finale, The Apprentice. Slade takes advantage of Robin's trust issues and forces him to fight his friends. And Hannah and Kyle are all about it. While not a perfect finale, we love seeing Robin forced to confront the things he likes and doesn't like about himself, and learn to become a better friend in the process. It's hard when there's the voice of a negging boomer in your ear! Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

Content warning for discussions of violence throughout, and violence and sexual assault between 56:08-56:58. We discuss the content of The Killing Joke in relation to this episode. Kyle and Hannah have finally finished Titans. And they’re fighting now because of Krypto. Surprise! Krypto shows up for a hot minute! The season one finale of Titans, Dick Grayson, is definitely a Titans episode: obsessed with meaningless hyper-violence, empty talks of justice, and what’s going on in Dick’s brain. The show is at its best when it focused on Dick Grayson and his struggles to be more than what Batman taught him to be but Dick is never allowed to be anything more than what Batman taught him. Titans is committed to staying in the darkness without recognition of the potential for change or growth outside of some empty platitudes. Ultimately, what Titans is we don’t like. It’s an aggressive, conservative, punitive show that views everyone as committed to being the worst versions of themselves. It does not have time for Dick to do anything other than hurt people, let alone allow him to grow with the other Titans. We’re glad to be done and on to better things! Also, we saw what Jeremy Renner looked like during his time on Angel. Feel free to see that here.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

We get a bit wild while talking about the eleventh episode of Teen Titans, Car Trouble. Cyborg and Raven (supposedly) are the center of this episode about Cyborg's love of his car and Raven coming to understand that love. Unfortunately Raven doesn't get as much attention as she should and the episode feels rushed as a result. Too much villain time and not enough heroes being friends time! We make some good Riverdale comparisons though. We sure talk a lot about Riverdale.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

Even when Titans is alright it’s still its absurd self. Mysteries are revealed in episode 10, Koriand’r. We learn that Kory is an alien! That Rachel’s dad is Trigon, an inter-dimensional demon! You know, things we definitely didn’t know before this episode. For its penultimate episode Titans commits to a Sabrina/Ari Aster knockoff instead of interesting character work or plot developments. We’re not too surprised by this. We get to see how far Angela is willing to go for hot demons. That's something, I guess.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

We really don't have that much to say about Mad Mod, episode 10 of Teen Titans. It's light, fun, and goofy and not much else. We talk about our experiences with school, generational divides, and why this is a poor follow up to Masks. And we talk about how cool and competent Robin is. Well, one of us does. Note: At the end of the episode we talk about "The Clinic," a staged reading benefiting the ACLU SoCal and WRRAP to raise funds for reproductive rights. If you're interested you can get tickets here: https://www.gofundme.com/039the-clinic039-staged-reading Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of domestic abuse, child abuse, and child sexual abuse.  If we've had any questions while watching 2018's Titans it's been what have Hawk and Dove been up to since we last saw them. And wow does "Hank and Dawn" answer that question. Hannah and Kyle are pulled into a recap about Hank and Dawn's past trauma and we did not have a good time. Through providing additional details about an unhealthy relationship, the episode flows like a Wikipedia entry that we didn't want to read.  We groan at the authoritative and punitive politics of Titans while wondering how an episode about two side characters got priority over Kory, Gar or Rachel. Seriously, what the hell?! Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

Who is Red X? Every Titan but Robin wants to know. While Robin's off trying to find Slade, the rest of the Titans are trying to stop Red X from stealing important tech that Slade wants. Could they be working together? Why is Robin so aloof? Could those be related? Young Kyle and Hannah had very different responses to "Masks" and we dig into why. We talk Slade, trust, and why we're drawn to stories about people making bad decisions. We're also filled with youthful, messy energy so please enjoy us being teens again.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

We're back! And we're with Donna Troy, Dick Grayson's older, smarter, prettier sister. It's remarkable that Titans has the first live action adaptation of Donna Troy, despite the fact that she's a founding member of the Teen Titans and a key character in Wolfman and Perez's New Teen Titans run. Donna's a great character and a great addition to the show but she can't save Titans. Hannah and Kyle talk about their favorite problematic ships and dive into Titan's commitment to the Gar/Rachel ship. Even Kory gets pulled aboard and we really wish the show would stop. Donna and Kory are great but Titans's problems with pacing, empty violence, and character motivation are greater. Only three episodes left! Note: We apologize for our use of binary gendered language at the beginning of the pod. We're working on excising it from our vocab but it slipped through. We will be better! We're sorry. Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

Yikes! Deep Six, episode 8 of Teen Titans, is a rough one. Despite being written by Marv Wolfman, the writer of the New Teen Titans, the episode is a really shallow interrogation of insecurity and competitive behaviors. We start off by asking if we've ever been jealous of someone and immediately turn on each other. We then turn to Aqualad's lack of characterization. Why do the girls like him? Why is Beast Boy jealous? Why is this episode so boring? Who's to say?   Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

Episode 7, Asylum, traps Kyle and Hannah in an episode that washes away all the good will of the previous episode. We hoped that "Jason Todd" marked the start of a string of character focused episodes that built out the rest of the team, but nope. Instead it's a Titans episode with repeat beats, character moments that don't land, and some violence. It's a rough one. Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

Nothing makes us happier than talking about Starfire and Raven. Episode 7 of Teen Titans, Switched, is a wonderful and sweet episode about Starfire and Raven learning to understand each other. They're the best among the Titans and this episode shows what makes each of them special. Kyle and Hannah talk unbridled joy, magic, boundless confidence, what TV Hannah is watching, righteous fury, and how annoying Beast Boy can be. Kyle also shares some comic history he missed in the previous episodes. Email in if he missed anything else! Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

Sup, dudes. Jason Todd, Robin 2.0, is here to make Dick Grayson feel bad and stuff. The sixth episode of Titans is probably the first one Kyle and Hannah really enjoy. Jason's presence allows Dick to open up a bit about his life with Bruce and his own sense of self. It genuinely leads to some great character moments with Kory and Jason. We're all about it. We also get to act out The Last Jedi because of it and that's cool. Also there's the Melting Man and hydrofluoric acid. So we're still safely in the trash. We end the episode by wondering if the show is actually being critical of the police or just deferring to the assumed morality of the police. And if Rachel is a super freak.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

It's Endgame week! And Hannah watched Infinity War for the first time so we decided to pod about it! We're taking a break from our Titans talk to talk about the other big superhero team. We talk through Infinity War, which we're mixed on, and what we hope and think will happen in Endgame. We've got a lot of feelings on who should live, die, and kiss.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

Content warning for discussions of sexual assault. Discussions begin at minute 11:30 and end at 18:40.  Kyle and Hannah delve into the darkness of Raven's mind in episode 6 of Teen Titans, Nevermore. We love Raven and we love this episode. It wonderfully establishes Raven, her conflict with Trigon, and what it means for her as a person. Some other shows should take note. Hannah and Kyle talk about what they do when they're having a bad time and how to support friends who need space. And Hannah connects plot beats to 1986's Labyrinth, a nice break from Buffy.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter

Episode 5 of Titans, Together, finally brings the Titans together and Hannah and Kyle are so happy it happened. We just wish that it happened sooner. Hannah and Kyle talk sugar about Anna Diop, give Rachel some much needed characterization, and lose their minds about Dick and Kory hooking up. And they share powers they'd like to have. It's all a bit questionable. Except Anna. She's great.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow Kyle on Twitter Follow Hannah on Twitter Follow Teen Trash Talk on Twitter    

If you're wondering where Kyle and Hannah spent Valentine's Day 2019 then you're in luck. All is revealed. We enter the sewer and think deep thoughts in Teen Titans's fifth episode, Sum of His Parts. Cyborg takes center stage and the results are mixed. The episode introduces a fun B-plot with a fun villain but they ultimately serve as a distraction from Cyborg and questions of identity. Hannah shares some of her own struggles with Celiac and how she'd really like to not poop or pee all the time. Kyle agrees. We're really looking forward to robot bodies. They end the episode by discussing how to be a good ally and some hypothetical Titans PSAs.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow us on Twitter @teentrashtalkpod1 @HannahCLangley and @kyleruiz54

It's time to meet Gar Logan's family(?) in the fourth episode of 2018's Titans, Doom Patrol. The episode serves as a wonderful introduction for the cast of the other DC Universe show but a poor one for the Titans. Except Beast Boy. Hannah loves Beast Boy and his room with a bar. And his brother-dad Cliff. And his cool uncle Larry. And his hot aunt Rita. Hannah has love for everyone. Meanwhile, Kyle figures out that Rachel is a Disney Princess and also Dawn from Buffy. It's a choice. Listen to us shower Cliff, Larry, and Rita with praise! Production Note: We're going to be releasing new episodes only on Mondays from now on. Releasing an episode on Monday and Friday was a bit too much for Kyle. Apologies! Kyle briefly mentioned a piece of critical writing by Yussef Cole on Cuphead, the game Beast Boy is playing. You can read it here.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow us on Twitter @teentrashtalkpod1 @HannahCLangley and @kyleruiz54

The Titans are up against Thunder and Lightning in Forces of Nature, the fourth episode of Teen Titans. Hannah and Kyle discuss sincere apologies and how to talk your friends when they've hurt you. Somewhere along the way, Kyle drags the men of Avatar the Last Airbender and Hannah displays a jealousy of twins. They also talk about their high school experiences and how they could have been friends back then. Weird, right? Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow us on Twitter @teentrashtalkpod1 @HannahCLangley and @kyleruiz54

Hannah and Kyle don't know about Origins, the third episode of 2018's Titans. The Titans are sorta together? Dick meets Kori. Rachel meets Gar. Kori steals Dick's car. Unfortunately the Titans spend the majority of the time asking questions that nobody has the answer to. Hannah and Kyle wonder about orphans, flashbacks, and what informed the creative direction of the show. We think Riverdale. Maybe. Who could say?  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow us on Twitter @teentrashtalkpod1 @HannahCLangley and @kyleruiz54

Kyle and Hannah's pizza plans are interrupted by a HIVE attack in the third episode of Teen Titans, Final Exam. This excellent episode introduces a rival team for the Teen Titans while also highlighting what makes the Titans special. The enemies are fun. Our heroes are sweet. It's nice when things are good.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow us on Twitter @teentrashtalkpod1 @HannahCLangley and @kyleruiz54

Hannah and Kyle are tricked into a trip to Washington D.C. in the second episode of 2018's Titans, Hawk and Dove. They meet Hank and Dawn, two old friends of Dick Grayson that the show pretends are important. It's a long episode where not much is revealed other than that Dick's friends are worse at communicating than he is. We apologize for all the groans.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod AT gmail DOT com Follow us on Twitter @teentrashtalkpod1 @HannahCLangley and @kyleruiz54

Blackfire is here! And she's coming to All-About-Eve her sister. Growing up, Hannah just wanted friends and to be liked. So naturally, the second episode of Teen Titans, Sisters, is an attack on her specifically. Hannah discusses why Starfire's dreams and fears spoke to her while Kyle mostly snickers. Kyle is a Robin so he's cool with Blackfire.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod @ gmail.com Follow us on Twitter @teentrashtalkpod1 @HannahCLangley and @kyleruiz54

Kyle and Hannah work through the pilot of 2018's Titans, the flagship show on DC's new streaming platform. The Titans' departure from the fun and friendly Teen Titans to the gritty world of DC's movie universe largely left them cold. Hannah pulls apart the structure of the pilot and Kyle expresses disappointment with this adaptation of Dick Grayson. Luckily Starfire saves the day. Thank God for Anna Diop. Also Beast Boy was there.  Email us at teentrashtalkpod @ gmail.com Follow us on Twitter @teentrashtalkpod1 @HannahCLangley and @kyleruiz54

Welcome to Teen Trash Talk! Kyle Ruiz and Hannah Langley introduce themselves, the podcast and the two shows they will be talking about for the first season. They go over some background history on Marv Wolfman and George Perez's New Teen Titans run and the first episode of 2003's Teen Titans, Divide and Conquer.    Email us at teentrashtalkpod @ gmail.com Follow us on Twitter @teentrashtalkpod1 @HannahCLangley and @kyleruiz54

When we say something is "trash", it is a term of endearment. It means it may not be high culture but it's definitely ours. If you agree, you might want to stick around to see what we have to say. Join Kyle Ruiz and Hannah Langley walk through the teen trash content they love, starting with Teen Titans and DC's Titans!