Moving The Pieces
I wasn’t a fan of last week’s episode. I thought the ill-placed music and strange pacing really took the wind out of Titan’s sails and hoped this was simply a blip to get back on track this week. While the lack of Deathstroke and Kory is a bit of a disappointment, Titans returns for a much more driven episode this time around, one that works to move the pieces but fails to progress the main plot of the series. We begin the episode with Dick Grayson arrested after his altercation at the airport. At the same time, word of Subject 13 being released gets out to Mercy and the team working with Lex Luther, prompting them to go after Connor and bring him in. While Dick settles in for a rough ride in prison, stuck in a cell with some dangerous men, Gar continues in vain to phone through to him. After Connor decides it’s too dangerous for Krypto and leaves him alone, the dog hurries back to Titan Tower and sets off the alarms to get Gar’s attention. Back in prison, Dick refuses help from one of the officers and instead spends his time training, punishing himself for what happened with Jericho. After going AWOL last episode, Rachel begins in a homeless refuge where she makes friends with one of the girls. However, the girl’s abusive boyfriend arrives and takes her outside, prompting Rachel to hurry after them. As he raises his fist to hit her, Rachel uses her powers to hold him up against the wall. Unfortunately these manifest into a gargoyle which rushes down the road and kills him while she’s not looking. Connor and Gar reconvene thanks to Krypto but find themselves on the run from the authorities again when they show up. Eventually they make it back to Titan Tower but it quickly comes under attack by armed guards who rush the place with kryptonite and tranquilizers. Krypto and Gar are quickly taken before Mercy Graves, the ringleader in this whole operation, approaches Connoe and promises to help. Reluctantly, he agrees to go with her. At their facility, Mercy speaks to Gar about his power and offers him the chance to explore this and make him the best version of himself while Dick learns his inmates are plotting a prison break. Despite his pleas for them not to, they go ahead with it after the death of one of their own. Partway through being transported, they break free of their cuffs but are beaten down by guards. Dick interjects though and fights them off, allowing the two Mexicans to escape. Unfortunately he ends up beaten down to the ground himself as he watches the van they’ve commandeered drive away. Meanwhile, Donna arrives at Titan Tower and sees the devastation firsthand. As she spots the blood on the walls, we cut to Mercy who discusses releasing Gar back to the Titans. As we approach the end of the season, things are complicated further by the introduction of several key subplots at work. Personally I preferred the simple Deathstroke VS Titans angle and the lack of key characters this week does hurt the momentum of the show slightly. However, seeing Rachel use her powers is a welcome sight but how exactly this will tie into the overarching plot remains to be seen. While the show is still enjoyable, I hope this one picks up the conflict between Deathstroke and the Titans again soon and sees this erupt into all-out carnage like many fans may be waiting for. Still, we’re reaching the end-game now and quite what Titans has in store for us going forward remains a mystery.
