The newly re-formed Titans must deal with the return of Doctor Light as Donna, Hank, and Dawn return to Titans Tower to help put a stop to him. Meanwhile, Starfire is pressured to return home.
Okay, so… Am I the only one counting down to the inevitable day when Jason Todd is finally killed off? Listen, if they’re setting him up for a fall and want the audience to break out in celebration when the kid is beaten to death with a crowbar, they are doing a bang-up job. Titan’s Jason Todd is an irredeemable a-hole, a character who is unpleasant to have around, a punishment to listen to, and whose soul purpose seems to be nothing than to piss off everyone around him. He’s grating, he’s awful, and he’s probably one of the most over-the-top likable characters in recent history… all for the benefit of some kind of perceived “edge” that just isn’t there. He’s not edgy… he’s a jerk and I hate him.
To the show’s marginal credit, at least things are actually happening now even if those things aren’t that interesting. Doctor Light is another terrible character with a terrible costume, and another terrible character acting “edgy” to appeal to a young audience even if it is transparent and desperate.
Who knows… maybe this is intentional. Even though he hasn’t done much, I am digging Esai Morales as Deathstroke. Maybe I like him because he is sinister, like a master chess player, and stupid artificially edgy dialogue doesn’t pour out of his mouth like a snapchat rainbow.
Come to think of it, at this point… I’m actually rooting for Deathstroke.
The rest of the episode is the padding that we’re used to. Jason Todd puffs out his chest and cries because he doesn’t get what he wants. Raven acts all dark and scary, almost getting people killed. Hey, at least Beast Boy is being useful as the resident computer geek, even though later, he’s stupid enough to allow Jason Toad to talk him into going after Doctor Light solo… even going so far as to call out Jason Todd for wearing his Robin costume on what is supposed to be a covert mission and yet… continues to go along with it!
This is the kind of stupid that doesn’t just happen… it takes planning.
I would be okay with this if Jason was painted as some kind of master manipulator, but he’s not! He’s literally a bully and a moron and that’s it. He’s shallow and stupid and I have no idea why the other Titans put up with him.
Oh, God… please just kill him off.
The story with Starfire is mostly filler. It goes exactly the way we expect it to go and serves no purpose except to keep Kori away from the other Titans and break up the dynamic that actually made the first season work.
My gosh… this season has been bad so far. The characterization is off, the plots are boring, the show has lost its focus… When is Superboy going to show up and (hopefully) give Titans some direction again!?
Jason Gaston 