Garth is left alone to deal with the aftermath of Conner’s meltdown in which Superboy beat up a ton of San Francisco’s police officers, Rachel comes to the aid of a runaway girl, and Dick finds himself in prison, determined not to help anyone until he does.
Not a lot happens in this episode to advance the plot. Sure, Superboy and Beast Boy end up in some hot water and, I guess, Dick self-assesses his decision to isolate himself because of Deathstroke’s threat to kill the Titans if the former Robin doesn’t live alone, but to be honest, the episode drops enough meaty plot tidbits for the future that it ultimately doesn’t feel like a waste of time.
For one thing, the show is finally hinting at Dick’s future as Nightwing almost a season too late… but at least it appears it’s finally at least thinking about maybe starting to happen perhaps.
Rachel actually using her powers to help people is nice. I’ve often complained about Titans’ annoying resistance to commit to being a superhero show despite the fact that it’s a goshdarned show about dadgum superheroes, so to see Raven be a hero on her own was very satisfying and the tease that her powers may be a tad more murdery than she even realizes is interesting as even her best intentions pave the road to Hell.
Finally, Garth and Conner… Can I just ask why the writers are seemingly determined to limit Beast Boy? I know those terrible CGI effects must be expensive for some reason, but the only animal he ever turns into is a tiger (and a snake once). That’s like Batman only using one item from his utility belt or Superman choosing only to use his freeze breath. It’s bad enough that, despite years and seasons of television to the contrary, the writers and producers of this show still somehow think that comic book fans won’t accept a green-skinned comic book character as a member of a comic book superhero team, but do we have to continually make this guy continue to use his powers in the most unoriginal and boring fashion possible?
Hey, Ryan Potter is awesome as Garth. He can sell it, the fans will love it… stop with this Tiger Lad nonsense and let him actually be Beast Boy!
Jason Gaston 