Titans streams new episodes on Friday’s via the DC Universe platform. The second season will debut internationally on Netflix later in 2019.
Synopsis
Conner Kent and Krypto escape from Cadmus Labs. His search for the truth about his past leads him to Lionel Luthor and genetic scientist Dr. Eve Watson.
Review
Let’s just get the audacious Titans fanboying out of the way first: season 2 is absolutely killing it! I am hanging on every moment of this show.
Right… let’s move on to being objective.
“Conner” is an episode which is very much in the vein of season 1 episodes “Hawk & Dove” and “Hank and Dawn” in that it breaks away from the main narrative to introduce us to a new character.
That character is, of course, Conner Kent/Superboy (Joshua Orpin) so a huge chunk of the audience isn’t even going to notice this narrative distraction because it’s just too damn exciting to have Superboy join the cast.
That being said “Conner” is still able to show how much Titans has grown by telling a story which inevitably intersects with current events.
From the outset “Conner” treats its titular character like a super powered Frankenstein. The story is constructed in a very similar manner to that story, moving from his creation to his escape and giving us a glimpse of his first interactions with the outside world.
But what the episode, written by Richard Hakem (Grimm) and directed by Alex Kalymnios (Timeless), is also able to do is bring a levity to his story.
Despite learning of his creation in a lab and dealing with the conflicting memories of both his fathers, moments like Conner accidentally stealing a woman’s purse after rescuing her from a mugger bring some much needed laughs to the episode.
But “Conner” succeeds best in its more poignant moments. There’s a scene in which Conner literally opens the door to his past and in that scene he is the only one who can do so. It’s fairly obvious metaphor but one which really gives the episode some emotional resonance.
I’ve been heaping a lot of praise on the writers this season but to perfectly balance comedy, drama and horror in one episode is worthy of a standing ovation if you ask me.
This episode also massively widens the Titans world. Bringing in Superboy, Mercy Graves (Natalie Gumede) and Lionel Luthor (Peter MacNeill) alone is huge. Add in Eve Watson (Genevieve Angleson) who is already on our screens in Supergirl and plenty of Lex references and most of the Superman universe is now in play.
Not to mention Krypto who is the MVP of this episode for catching a rocket and repelling it back to its origin. That’s the kind of pooch you need on hand in a crisis!
The climax of the episode, which saw Conner predictably intersect with the Titans as we left them in episode 2×05, brilliantly brought him in to the fold.
I had expected him to initially connect with Kory given his lack of understanding of his past. His character reflects where we found her in the pilot and I hope it leads to an interesting dynamic between them.
That being said his dialogue with Jason was sparkier than I would have expected and bought something different to the scene.
Where “Conner” disappointed was in its ending. Once again we end an episode with a character on the verge of death. Titans has developed a penchant for leaving characters in serious jeopardy at the end of every episode and it’s a little unnecessary. Used sparingly it works but used weekly it gets old quite quickly.
Verdict
“Conner” throws as much DC Comics lore at Titans as it can in order to bring the character to life. It’s beautifully paced, emotionally charged and an instant classic for the series.
9/10
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.
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