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"Sending trouble your way, leaving cryptic clues for you to unravel. I was testing you. For some time now I have been searching for.. an apprentice. Someone to follow in my footsteps. And Robin - I've chosen you. Congratulations."
- Slade to RobinOriginally aired: Oct. 4, 2003 Written by Rob Hoegee
Directed by Michael Chang
Who is Slade? And what is he planning? The questions that have been keeping Robin awake at night are about to be answered. Sade contacts the Teen Titans and unveils his master plan: A Chronoton Detonator - a sinister-looking high-tech device has the ability to stop time... forever.The Titans spring into action on a mad hunt to find the Detonator before it freeze-frames the entire city. But furious Robin is so intent on foiling Slade's plot - -that his anger is taking control. As Robin destroys Robot commandos without mercy and shakes down and innocent civilian for information, the Titans begin to worry that stopping Slade might mean losing Robin. And in the end, that's exactly what it means.
Slade's "Chronoton Detonator" is a fake - a sophisticated decoy to lure the Titans away from Robin and infuse their bodies with sinister Nanoscopic Probes. Unbeknownst to the Titians, Slade now has the ability to destroy Robin's friends from the inside out. And the only way for Robin to stop him... is to serve him. Slade wants Robin to become his "apprentice" - and to save his friends, Robin has no choice to agree.
Ron Perlman as Slade
Dee Bradley Baker as Cinderblock
Slade finally reveals his sinister plan: Drafting Robin as his apprentice
Producer/Story Editor David Slack on APPRENTICE: "The main thing I'd say about it is that "Rob Hoegee wrote part one". He didn’t receive proper credit initially."Producer/Story Editor David Slack on developing Slade: "Originally, we didn't even know we would do an arc with Slade. We just decided Slade would be behind everything. He'd be our Dr. Claw [from "Inspector Gadget"]. But after looking a few episodes, we decided we were teasing something. And if we didn't pay it off, we were going to disappoint a lot of people. That's when we got into the psychology of Slade. We had a really hard time figuring out how MASKS and APPRENTICE were going to work. We went down a lot of blind alleys and dead ends - trying to find something that fit. It was actually Bruce Timm who helped us make the breakthrough on that one. We were actually discussing all the dead ends we had gone down, and Bruce was in Glen [Murakami]'s office that day. And Bruce said "It sounds like what the story is really about, is that Slade is trying to take Robin away from his friends."
"So we realized Slade was a father looking for a son... we knew we wanted that... we just didn't know how to crack it. So once Bruce said that, we realized we just needed a device that would literally take him away from his friends. So the show fell into place after that."
"The voice for Slade was pretty easy to find. I was writing him as this very detached, aloof, reproachful guy. An early description I wrote of Slade described him as "the monster under the bed made flesh." I just wanted him to be really, really frightening. Of course, getting Ron Perlman to do the voice made a huge difference. When we first heard Ron doing the reads, that really set the voice for Slade. That was true of all the voices. It became easier to write Beast Boy after hearing the way Greg [Cipes] was going to read him. That's true of all of them. Good voices make all the difference. And we've got a great cast."
Writer/Story Editor Rob Hoegee on APPRENTICE: "That was a fun collaboration. I wrote the first part and David wrote the second. We both used our brains together on that to make it track. Breaking that story was a real challenge. It took a few tries to get that story to work. Something that would be simple but at the same time, true to the characters and situations we had established. It was a lot of fun. It felt good to do a dramatic spin like that."
Writer/Story Editor Rob Hoegee on Balancing Dark Stories With Light Elements: "I think you always have to find that. I've found - as I've developed as a writer - that I tend to go dark instinctively. The comedy aspect doesn't come as naturally. I have to focus more attention on that. Being the first season, we were still trying to strike a balance between the funny and the dramatic. As we grew as a series, we did learn we could go darker and get deeper into the characters. But that just grew organically. Certainly in season one, we were still trying to strike that balance. "
In the comics, Slade respected Robin more than any other Titan; During the classic JUDAS CONTRACT storyline, Robin was the only Titan to avoid capture at the hands of the HIVE and Slade [Deatshtroke].For more information on the comic book versions of the characters - including many images - visit titanstower.com's meeting room page.
APPRENTICE dives back into some darker territory - once again proving TEEN TITANS can succeed equally with the funny or the dramatic. As Robin's obsession mounts, he's unwittingly playing right into Slade's hands.APPRENTICE has some interesting observations into the character of Robin. He's walked the edge of good and evil when he donned the Red X persona. And he's more like Slade than he cares to admit. It's nice to see the series take some risks with Robin - who is a lead character and is generally portrayed as moral and intelligent.
We also see a bit of Slade and what he is about. As the series progresses, he becomes even creepier in his apprentice obsession. The idea of this masked adult taking interest in young teenagers is more disturbing when you think about it. But the writers are wise not to focus on it too much. It's interesting that the apprentice angle also perfectly sets up Slade's role in season two.
APPRENTICE raises the stakes for both the characters and the series. A satisfying start to the end of season one. Grade: A-