“Bruce Wayne”
Dick is being haunted by a psychological Bruce Wayne as he tries to hunt down Slade.
It’s an old gimmick and not very well executed given that phantom Bruce Wayne is a wise-cracking comedian and, given that this is only three second time we’ve seen Bruce Wayne in the series, having a jokey version of the Dark Knight is jarring, not to mention that the entire gimmick makes Dick look like an insane person.
The Superboy story, while brief, was nice. I enjoy seeing this team actually act like a team and, strangely enough, I enjoy seeing a team of superheroes actually use superpowers.
Titans has never been the most wholesome show streamed into my living room, so seeing the Titans come together to save a life and simply help was heartwarming.
Also Krypto is okay!
Finally, the deconstruction of Jason Todd continues. I’ve made it no secret that I loathe this character, but I am enjoying the arch they sent him on in this episode. Having him psychologically scared from his near-death and full of doubt is such a great way to strip him of every irritating, annoying trait he has and allow him to be introduced again.
Heck, I was actually feeling sorry for him by the end of the episode. I didn’t see the foul-mouthed, nasty little punk we’ve been saddled with since his introduction… I saw a child, in over his head, desperate for help.
I finally saw someone I cared about.
“Jericho”
The next episode is another flashback to five years ago following the death of Aqualad. To hunt down Deathstroke, Aqualad’s killer, the 2014 Titans befriend Deathstroke’s son, Jericho to surreptitiously shake the kid down for information.
“Jericho” is probably my favorite episode of Titans so far. It was mostly self-contained and featured a very likeable guest star in a likable role.
The episode is a tragedy, well written and acted. It doesn’t seem afraid to actually be a superhero show as Titans usually seems to pull back from that kind of fun. I was pleasantly surprised that they allowed Jericho to have his signature powers after going so long without showing them and, as I said, I like the actor and the character… he seemed to represent the innocence that the 2014 Titans lost.
As I said, probably the best episode of the series so far.
“Atonement”
The latest episode finds Dick dealing with – or more accurately, running from – the fallout of revealing what happened to Jericho. This leaves Garth alone in the tower with Conner, Kori wrapping up business with the Tamaranian who came looking for her earlier in the season, and Dick looking for, you guessed it… atonement.
While I wouldn’t call this a terrible episode, especially given the sewer that this season started out with, it is definitely a step down from the last three episodes.
For one, as I said before, Dick up and leaves his responsibilities behind because he feels sorry for himself. I didn’t feel sorry for him and, as a met of fact, felt like he was the antagonist of this story.
Garth and Conner had a more enjoyable story, even if it was overly silly and predictable, but I will give the show major credit for Conner’s rampage and actually leaving the consequences up in the air… another weight put on Gar’s shoulders thanks to Dick running away.
Kori’s plot was interesting as well and set up things that I found much more interesting than anything else in the episode mostly because, hey… Kori is actually doing something and has a reason to actually be in the series again.
Jason Gaston 