What do you know… it’s the second episode in a row that’s left Jason Todd’s fate teetering in the balance, but preempts it for another episode all entirely and… I completely forgot the little dude was falling from a building.
It’s almost like continually leaving this kid in danger doesn’t matter and he’s almost a dispicable and annoying person and no one cares if he lives or dies, ain’t it?
Well, this week we cut away from Jason Todd’s possible but not probable death to jump into the secret origins of Superboy or, as he’s referred to here, Conner. Yes, folks, we’ve got a genuine superhero wearing a comics accurate superhero costume and actually using his superpowers and, best yet… he’s got a dog who also has superpowers!
Wow, it’s almost like Titans wants to have fun all of the sudden!
For all of my kidding, in a season of underwhelming dissapointments, “Conner” is truely a hightlight not only bringing Superboy into the Titans universe, but presenting us with a character that we love and, surprisingly, don’t know at the same time.
Yes, it’s great that shows like Titans want to adapt characters and comic book archs, but it’s also great when they put their own little spin on the characters without making them completely stupid. Superboy, in this iteration, has the body of a twenty-something, the intelligence of Superman and Lex Luthor, and yet has the morality and reasoning power of a two year-old. On paper, it sounds terrible but, in execution… it works. Conner is an innocent grappling with his place in a world he doesn’t understand and, while honestly and with apology, Joshua Orpin does not exactly slay it as Superboy, he’s got the potential to grow into the role and, honestly, I’m rooting for him. I like the character.
While “Conner” was a simple episode, I did enjoy it emmensly and pray to Rao that this and the previous episode mark a turnaround in what had been a fairly terrible season. I enjoyed seeing Superboy actually be Superboy, I enjoyed the clever use of his powers and the action scenes that same with it, I like the character and I can see him injecting some much needed levity into the Titans mix, and would it be mean of me to say that leaving Krypto’s fate uncertain was a much more effective cliffhanger than dropping Jason Todd from a building?
You know, though… to Jason Todd’s credit, his brief appearance at the end of the episode was probably the most not-horrible I’ve seen him since his introduction. It was nice to seem him humbled, grateful, and then genuinely concerned and horrified.
I actually think that this is the first time I’ve watched a Titans episode in a long time where I’m actually more than curious to see what happens next and… wait… is that hope? Am I feeling actual hope for this season?
Chalk that up to another one of Superboy’s powers.
Jason Gaston 