Titans stars Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson/Robin, Anna Diop as Starfire, Teagan Croft as Raven, Ryan Potter as Beast Boy, Alan Ritchson as Hawk and Minka Kelly as Dove.
Titans is available to watch now on DC Universe in North America. The series will arrive on Netflix in international markets soon.
Synopsis
In order to prepare themselves for the Nuclear Family’s next attack, Dick decides to put Kory, Gar, and Rachel through special training.
Review
If you have been watching Titans and longing for the titular team to finally come together then this is the episode for you. Finally the plot of the series has begun to move on from keeping the team separate and we’re able to see the true foundations of the Titans being formed.
Clocking in at only 40mins this is the shortest episode of the series so far. But what it is able to pack in makes for some of the most exciting scenes to date. Not least the first shot of the team suited up for action.
“Together” gives Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) the opportunity to finally take the lead. As he puts the team through some training it’s interesting to see the Batman in him come to the fore. It was a particularly interesting choice by writers Bryan Edward Hill and Gabrielle Stanton to have Dick hold back on revealing his secret identity.
Dick’s arc is really starting to take shape and there’s a tangible development over the course of these five episodes. Where we find him in “Together” he is clearly dealing with trust issues. By the episodes close he is able to deal with those issues in a satisfying (and violent) way. What is utmost here is that it feels organic to this version of the character.
Naysayers be damned, I love this version of Grayson!
Thats not to say the rest of the characters play second fiddle here. The romantic connection between Dick and Kory begins to flourish in this episode. But perhaps the most touching (emotionally and certainly not physically) goes to Rachel and Gar.
The two share a sweet moment outside of the motel which really plays to the idea of the two having a brother-sister relationship. All-in-all this episode has really cemented these characters as human beings rather than simply live-action representations of their comic book counterparts.
I do have a grip though. At almost half way through the season we haven’t developed a ‘big bad’. There is, of course, Rachel’s father looming off screen but his presence is so small he isn’t at this stage a credible threat.
This episode dispatches the Nuclear Family is genius fashion in a moment which leads to Kory’s funniest moment yet. With Dr. Adamson also seemingly out of the picture somebody needs to step in and become a credible threat to the Titans.
All that leads us to the cliffhanger ending. Having expected Jason Todd to appear in the next episode it was a pleasant surprise for him to turn up in the closing moments of “Together”. Although his appearance my drag Dick away from the Titans for an episode it’s still going to be a great watch.
You can already feel the tension between the two as in the final shot of the episode it dawns on Dick that Batman has moved on with a new partner.
There are some great action sequences in this episode. The fight with the Nuclear Family at the motel could easily have taken up the full episode. Well choreographed and well executed. It certainly doesn’t contain the level of gore of Robin’s alley fight in the pilot but it definitely comes close.
This show is brutal!
Verdict
“Together” is true beginning of the Titans. Each of the members is finally starting to fall in to their role and the plot, at least surrounding the leads, is continuing to come on leaps and bounds.
8/10
Next week on Titans…
https://youtu.be/xA8iZRmEOGQ
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