This week’s episode of TITANS had some intense moments of quality versus confusion. It features some of the series’ highest highs, yet at the same time I felt like I had never been more confused at the show’s decisions. I’ll give you an example of what I mean by this. This episode features one of the best Dick Grayson/Robin moments yet, where he finally shows off his secret alter ego to his teammates. Donning the Robin costume, he effectively saves everyone from the return of the Nuclear Family while also opening up to everyone else, breaking the hard outer shell he had put up in front of everyone else. The fight sequences feel like they’re encroaching on the level of the Marvel Netflix series, providing not only cinematic shots of the physical impact of Robin’s attacks, but also the emotional impact that comes with Robin stepping out of his comfort zone. He progressed as a character, and they portrayed it in a surprisingly violent, yet beautiful way.
So, there’s a particular high for the series. What precedes it, however, is a jaw- dropping moment that has little build up, little context, and little reason to it. Starfire, after purchasing a bottle of tequila, ventures to Robin’s room. Robin, who just so happens to have still been in a towel after taking a shower, answer the door and reluctantly lets Starfire in as she declares they need to talk. After they both take a one single shot of tequila, and after about 30 seconds of talking, they start to kiss. One things leads to another, and suddenly the pair who couldn’t stand each other now can’t get off of each other… Until they do. Then they suddenly can’t stand each other again. I understand the cliché of two people fighting to mask their feelings for each other, it’s pretty overplayed in television at this point, but Robin and Starfire acted differently. They genuinely fought, said cruel things to each other, and have spent most of their screen time together blaming the other for everything that’s happened. Yet suddenly they can’t get enough of each other. It comes out of nowhere, and almost feels ignored as the episode continues.
Outside of some of the crazily weird and weirdly crazy moments of the episode comes the appearance of one of the most classic moments of any superhero team formation: the showcase of powers. Now that the Titans are a team, they have to show each other what they can do to make sure that everyone has a weight they can pull, and that they can protect themselves and the others if the time comes. Beast Boy shows off his ferocious tiger side, Starfire shines her light for the rest of the team, and while Raven tries to show her powers, her struggle and loss of control reflects the exact danger the Titans are afraid of. While Robin doesn’t show off his powers in this moment, even his time to shine, as I mentioned, comes soon enough. This moment almost feels like a christening for TITANS, one that solidifies the importance of each member into the team.
Now, TITANS is obviously gearing towards a climactic final arc for these characters. They’ve formed as a team, they’re growing as individual heroes, and they’re even getting closer to what seems like the source of the never-ending trail of family assassins coming after the group. While all of this may be true, TITANS as a show has plenty of catching up to do. The end of the episode reveals that, to no real surprise, the assassins were coming from an organization that has something to do with Raven’s father, the assumed main villain of the series, but his name, his presence, and the threat he possess has been nothing more than teased or slightly mentioned. For any audience member who isn’t familiar with Raven as a character, it must be difficult to get through this much of TITANS without an inkling of what lies ahead.
As a viewer, I really do believe that TITANS is hiding something. They have an impending doom coming that they have barely gotten into, and as the next few episode begin to premiere, I think viewers are going to be just as surprised as the Titans themselves at what exactly is in store. We may have a few mishaps and small surprises left in store, like the appearance of Jason Todd as Batman’s latest Robin, but eventually we will get to the darkness that is creeping up on these heroes.
Written by William Staton, TITANS Beat Writer
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