A New Titans

Previously, the dark take on Teen Titans was an exclusive television show to the streaming service known as DC Universe before it was all taken on by HBO Max. On DC Universe the show was largely a mixed bag as it suffered from an identity crisis at times along with some serious issues on the page. The series would lose any traction by frequently going back in time to allow characters to catch up along with the main plot, it would be very jarring most of the time. Beyond that, it clearly wanted to be an ensemble but the focus would almost always be on Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson, which is certainly the highlight of the show as his portrayal of the fan favorite is pitch perfect. The show, however, struggled with characters such as Anna Diop's Starfire and Teagan Croft's Raven. At times even it seems as if the writers didn't know what to do with them, and would have been better off simply making a show focused singularly on Dick. So far, in this new season under the HBO Max umbrella, Titans seem to have a much bigger focus on Dick as the show even has moved from San Francisco to Gotham as they are even beginning to adapt the famous comic book storyline, A Death in the Family. It goes without say, but there will be spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the first three episode of the season.

HBO Max had released the first three episodes of the new season back on August 12th and the majority of it takes place in Gotham as Jason Todd (Curran Walters) is working alongside Bruce Wayne/Batman (Iain Glen) and finds that the cops have pinned their longtime nemesis down, The Joker. Jason, alone in the Batcave, explains this over the phone to Bruce, pleading with him to go after him once and for all to put him away. Bruce orders him to leave it alone until he arrives back in Gotham as he had been away, but the cocky Jason decides to go after him alone and pays the ultimate price, his life. The untimely death forces Dick Grayson to come back to Gotham, even despite his feelings of contempt for Bruce, but he feels a need to say his goodbyes to both his friend Jason and even his teacher in Bruce, who may need some help in grieving. Quickly, he comes to realize that Bruce is a shell of his former self and is hoping to find another Robin to take the place of Jason as the true hope that Bruce has is that someone will take his place as Gotham's protector. He then passes that mantle to Dick. Dick also finds that there is a new player in Gotham terrorizing the masses only to find out that it is that of Jason himself, this time under the moniker of Red Hood.

Red Hood is a character that is widely appreciated among the best of DC fans as in the comics that character presents a moral question to Batman. Instead of focusing on that relationship, Batman is replaced with Dick. The relationship isn't the same, but the feeling of failure is still there. Jason had been failed by his pseudo-family of the Titans, as they all believed him to be rash, and the lesser Robin under the shadow of Dick. This of course had led to some jealous feelings for Jason, but his transformation into Red Hood so far in the show is a bit fast. I'm sure that the show will explain it in time, as we've already been shown that he is seemingly on some sort of drug. On some level, making him into Red Hood this fast feels as if it is an attempt by the writers behind the show knowing that the inclusion of Red Hood will bring more viewers to the show, even if they don't do the character correctly according to his fans. Under the guise of the show, his introduction makes sense, but his reasoning and fast introduction will surely upset the most passionate of fans.

Speaking on the performance side of things and his threat to the Titans, Curran Walters does a great job in the role. Even before he went bad, in the previous seasons, his performance as Jason Todd always seemed to lend itself to a darkness that was laying dormant beneath the surface. Sure, he was brash and quick to violence but at his core he still had plenty of vulnerability. All of this has led to a great Red Hood so far. Not to mention how he has already thinned the ranks of the Titans in a memorable way as he may already be the best villain of the series. Surely, he is a physical threat to the Titans but more so he highlights the failures of the group. They all love to say they are a family, but yet Jason is the truth. They aren't a family because if they were he wouldn't have been alone. Jason killing Hank Hall was a powerful scene, especially considering of all the Titans, Hank was always the kindest to Jason as the two were similar in a lot of ways.

In the previous season, the show had begun to introduce too many characters. Joshua Orpin was introduced as Superboy, and while he does a great job in the role the cast was a bit too large. Thankfully these first three episodes have had the benefit of focusing on just a few Titans, with of course the big focus being on Dick and Jason. With Raven and Wonder Girl off in Themyscira, it has allowed the writers to focus in on characters that make sense within the darker world of Gotham. With all of his power, Superboy is still incredibly young and naive and within the darkness of Gotham, that power can be exploited. As for the otherworldly power of Starfire, the show has teased that she will have a threat of her own that she has already been dealing with as she has had flashes of her past life in Gotham. Seemingly that plot thread seems to be leaning to the impending arrival of her evil sister, Blackfire. All the other heroes present like Beast Boy and Dove have street level power that benefits to the setting of Gotham, much like that of Dick.

The show works best when centered on Dick, as stated before, and even better in darker settings such as Gotham. Even despite the hasty introduction of Red Hood, the show seems to be gaining traction unlike it had in previous seasons as it seems more singularly focused on one plot thread. Episodes 2 and 3 also introduced Doctor Crane, who some may recognize as the famous Batman villain known as Scarecrow. His introduction, I would assume, would be connected to that of Jason's dark turn to Red Hood. That assumption would be backed up by his use of drugs, knowing that Scarecrow's weapon of choice is frequently a fear toxin. If Jason's choice of drug is that fear toxin, his quick heel turn could make sense as he may or may not have known he was ingesting the fear toxin. Either way, the Titans will have their hands full between Jason, Scarecrow and Blackfire. Thankfully, under the umbrella of HBO Max, the show itself seems to be in better hands as well.