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
Dick and Kory try to track down Rachel while Gar takes her to the house of the Doom Patrol for safety.
Review
This week Titans took a break from being dark and dreary to be… less dreary and a little more colourful. Finally the series has a chance to show that it can be funny but also meaningful.
Whilst the four leads are forming the Titans there’s little emotional resonance to their relationships. It’s entirely to be expected as they have only just met. But it does leave the show lacking in some respects.
Back in episode two (reviewed here) it was Hawk and Dove who brought that added depth to the series. Here it is the Doom Patrol. Despite their equally tragic backgrounds the Doom Patrol add some much needed levity to this episode.
It’s easy to see from this episode that the Doom Patrol series will have a different tone. The introductory scenes for Robotman (Brendan Fraser) and Negative Man (Matt Bomer) bring genuine laughs. Both also give Tegan Croft a chance to show a different side of Rachel/Raven.
What I also found interesting was that despite this episode giving Gar (Ryan Potter) an origin story it is Rachel who has the most development.
An intriguing opening flashback shows us how Gar came to be with the Doom Patrol. Throughout the episode we also learn he’s rather trapped in the mansion. By the end of the episode he’s freed from captivity to join the Titans. It’s a short, sharp arc for him but at least places the character where he needs to be.
After three episodes of running away from the man who killed her mother and her inner demons, Rachel finally gets to open up in “Doom Patrol”. We get to see her laugh, we also get to see her empathise with each member of the team in ways we have previously only seen her do with Starfire.
By the closing moments of the episode her powers have begun to grow but she has also become a fully realised character. She has easily come the furthest from the pilot, leaving the rest of the team to catch up.
Critics of Dick Grayson’s (Brenton Thwaites) new dark personal will be happy with this episode. He appeared to hit rock bottom in a scene which felt generic but should be a turning point for this character. Forcing him to see himself as a monster and for Kory (Anna Diop) to see it at the same time hopefully signals that a change is coming.
Verdict
“Doom Patrol” is easily Titans lightest episode. Whilst it does interrupt some of the on-going narrative of the season it does so to introduce a charming set of characters. It also features just the right amount of intrigue to avoid becoming a slog to watch.
6/10
Next week on Titans…
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