Titans
"Titans" set up a pretty great cliff hanger. Kory is going to kill Rachel! We are finally going to get some answers. I was excited to fire up the next episode and... learn more about Hawk & Dove's backstory. Groan.
So, no resolution on that big cliffhanger this episode. Instead, we check back in with Hank Hall and Dawn Granger and see how they are doing since the Nuclear Family's attack. Spoiler alert. Not great. Hank is sitting steadfast by Dawn's bedside and he ruminates on his past. It turns out that the original Dove was Hank's brother, Don. Hank and Don have a very close relationship filled with tragedy beginning with Hank offering himself up to a local pedophile in exchange for Don. And Don getting expelled from school to save Hank from the ravages of football. Dawn Granger is a ballerina with a promising career who is desperately trying to get her mother away from her abusive husband. After a tragedy kills both Don and Dawn's mother, Hank and Dawn strike up a relationship that will lead them to vigilantism. Oh and Rachel keeps calling for help.
As I've said, the placement of this episode is super jarring. I'm not sure who thought this was a good idea. I can sort of understand putting some sort of flashback episode in, but maybe one that applies to the people involved in the cliffhanger rather than one on two characters that showed up like 8 episodes ago. This feels more like an episode that should be in season 2 once Hawk and Dove are more of a presence in the series. It just feels really, really disjointed. Why is this important at this time in the series? What does it have to do with the ongoing narrative about Rachel? Right now, it feels like nothing. And with two episodes left after this, I can't imagine there being any direct impact.
All that being said, this episode isn't terrible. It's interesting to see the relationship with Hank and Dawn. Showing Hank be the doting brother, helps to round out his character. The scene with Hank, Don and the pedophile coach is genuinely wrenching and uncomfortable. I also love that the episode addresses the risks that young men face when they play football. Yes, it's really quick and kind of discarded as quickly as it's brought up, but still. It's nice to see it brought up in a mainstream superhero show.
Where the episode stumbles a bit is in it's pacing. It feels like a whole lot of set up and then kind of a rush job towards the end of the episode. The creation of Hawk & Dove is also a little muddied. Like, Don doesn't want Hank playing football because of the damage it's doing, but he's totally fine with him beating up pedophiles? Dawn's easy acceptance of Hank's vigilante lifestyle and gung ho takedown of Hank's abuser is a lot to swallow. I get what they are going for, Dawn needs someone to pay for the senseless act that killed her mother, so this is taking the place of that, but it's a stretch.
Like I said, not a horrible episode, just odd. I'm ready to get back to the main action.
Grade: B
Episode 9: "Hank and Dawn"
So, no resolution on that big cliffhanger this episode. Instead, we check back in with Hank Hall and Dawn Granger and see how they are doing since the Nuclear Family's attack. Spoiler alert. Not great. Hank is sitting steadfast by Dawn's bedside and he ruminates on his past. It turns out that the original Dove was Hank's brother, Don. Hank and Don have a very close relationship filled with tragedy beginning with Hank offering himself up to a local pedophile in exchange for Don. And Don getting expelled from school to save Hank from the ravages of football. Dawn Granger is a ballerina with a promising career who is desperately trying to get her mother away from her abusive husband. After a tragedy kills both Don and Dawn's mother, Hank and Dawn strike up a relationship that will lead them to vigilantism. Oh and Rachel keeps calling for help.
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| OG Hawk and Dove |
All that being said, this episode isn't terrible. It's interesting to see the relationship with Hank and Dawn. Showing Hank be the doting brother, helps to round out his character. The scene with Hank, Don and the pedophile coach is genuinely wrenching and uncomfortable. I also love that the episode addresses the risks that young men face when they play football. Yes, it's really quick and kind of discarded as quickly as it's brought up, but still. It's nice to see it brought up in a mainstream superhero show.
Where the episode stumbles a bit is in it's pacing. It feels like a whole lot of set up and then kind of a rush job towards the end of the episode. The creation of Hawk & Dove is also a little muddied. Like, Don doesn't want Hank playing football because of the damage it's doing, but he's totally fine with him beating up pedophiles? Dawn's easy acceptance of Hank's vigilante lifestyle and gung ho takedown of Hank's abuser is a lot to swallow. I get what they are going for, Dawn needs someone to pay for the senseless act that killed her mother, so this is taking the place of that, but it's a stretch.
Like I said, not a horrible episode, just odd. I'm ready to get back to the main action.
Grade: B
Episode 10: "Koriand'r"
Donna: "I almost took you down with one hit."
Kory: "I won't make that mistake again."
Back in Angela's living room, Kory has Rachel by the throat. Thanks to some timely intervention by Donna and her glowing magic lasso, Rachel is saved and Kory is seemingly back to her sense. She is getting her memory back and she bolts. Gar is getting bad vibes from Angela's house and they are confirmed when he starts getting ill to the point of death. Dick and Donna follow Kory to an abandoned warehouse that houses her spaceship. Turns out that Kory is Koriand'r from the planet Tamaran. Rachel's father is the demon Trigon and with Rachel he has the power to destroy both Earth and Tamaran. And it looks like Angela is very close to convincing Rachel to let Trigon out of his demon dimension.
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| This iPhone facial recognition is getting ridiculous. |
I was super excited about this episode, because as you all know, Kory is my favorite Titan. I was ready for a full episode dealing with her origin, where she came from, Tamaran. All of it. Clearly my expectations where too high. for an episode named after her, "Koriand'r" is pretty light on Kory. That is a bummer because Anna Diop is the breakout star of this show and her performance as Starfire is the main reason I would recommend this show to anyone. Now, if Conor Leslie's Donna Troy gets bumped up to a series regular for season 2, as she should, then it would be both of them that would give you the thumbs up to pony up that dough for a DC Universe subscription.
The majority of the episode is focused on Gar's illness and Angela's stranger and stranger behavior. I can't be the only one who figured that Angela would end up being awful from the moment they freed her from the asylum, right? She's acting super shifty this whole episode so the everything is pretty telegraphed including the moment she murders that sheriff and convinces Rachel to free Trigon from his dark dimension to heal Gar.
It's great to finally get confirmation on Kory's alien origin. I was afraid they might shy away from that. I shouldn't have worried since they are dealing with full on demons and haven't been shy about it, but with the other off the wall decisions the writers have been making, you can never be sure. That being said, where is the Kory in this episode? No flashbacks? At all? I can understand no flashbacks on Tamaran. They probably don't have the budget for all of that, but nothing from when she first go to Earth? It's really frustrating. You had enough time to do a whole episode flashing back to Hawk & Dove's beginnings, but Kory gets 10 minutes maybe in her own episode? Grrr.
We will always have that badass moment in the opening where Donna took Kory down. She used the lasso! I was legitimately freaking out and loved it so much. Seriously. Please make Donna a full-time part of the cast. With Dick the only one able to enter Angela's house, things seem to be coming to a head and we may have a pretty satisfying finale on our hands.
Grade: B
Well, if you can believe it, next up is the "Titans" first season finale. It's been picked up for a second season so if the next episode ends on a cliffhanger, we won't have to worry about there being no resolution. What did you all think of these episodes? Were you kind of disappointed about Kory's big episode too? Let me know in the comments.
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