Review: Titans Episode 1

Â Okay so it’s finally here the debut of original programming from the DC Universe streaming service and if you are like me this is the main reason for ponying up for the service. Certainly it’s nice to have all those old DC movies and television shows, live action and animated, together in one convenient locale, but with all the other streaming services competing for our cash DC had to raise the stakes, and boy did they ever.

Titans begins with the story of Raven, a young girl named Rachael Roth who appears to be extremely tormented by dreams featuring her future team-mate, Dick Grayson aka Robin. In her dreams she witnesses the death of Grayson’s parents who are shot while performing in a circus trapeze act. The girl seems to share an ethereal connection with Grayson and after her mother (brilliantly portrayed by Sherilyn Fenn) is brutally murdered right in front of her, she sets out on the road leaving behind her more questions than answers. From this pointÂ on the object of the show is to get the team together, however it is done in a slow methodical fashion. Despite this deliberate approach to uniting the Titans, the show wastes little time in getting to the action. The fight scenes explosive and full of kinetic energy if more than a little violent. The first time we see Robin he is beating the living daylights out of a gang of would-be drug dealers led by a child abusing scumbag who earns special attention from the one-time sidekick of the Dark Knight. Portrayed by Brenton Thwaites, Robin seems to be somewhat disillusioned with his former mentor, although obviously still greatly influenced by Batman.Â Grayson’s body is scarred and bruised as is apparently his psyche, which has given him reason to leave Gotham and come to Detroit where he is now a police detective. Much of this aspect of Titans feels like a Law and Order episode in ways that The Flash, also produced by Greg Berlanti, doesn’t despite Barry’s employment as a CSI investigator. The police work in Titans has a true procedural feel to it, from Grayson’s interaction with the uniformed officers to his reluctance to help Raven until he verifies her story, it feels like a cop show. However, Robin is not Detective Grayson; Thwaites plays two very distinct roles and that is where his performance shines. Robin is a dark super hero story, the violence is brutal and in your face, but there is an element of comic book action at work here that keeps the violence from being “too Real”, while Grayson is a police drama.

The journey toward becoming a super hero team show is far from complete after this first episode, in fact Starfire is not even in the same country as the other Titans. Her story has a kind of John Wick 2 feel to it complete with European mobsters and a mysterious hotel setting. Beast Boy’s appearance comes in the final minutes of the episode and has a far lighter feel to it than the other Titans’ tales. He makes his screen debut in the form of a huge tiger who has apparently just broken into a video game store and made off with a much sought after game.

As an ensemble cast the young actors do a fine job collectively. It remains to be seen just how much chemistry they will have as a team since only Robin and Raven have shared the screen as of the end of the first episode. That being said, Titans is an exercise in character development; Dick Grayson steals the spotlight so far, with his brooding darkness, juxtaposed with his empathetic policeman’s heart, he’s part Oliver Queen and part Barry Allen. His partially severed ties to Batman will hopefully be explored further in coming episodes so we can more fully understand his character. Raven is the most fully explored character in this opening episode and she obviously benefits from the amount of attention given to building her back story. There is an element of goth/horror at work with her character that I’m sure will appeal to the Hot Topic crowd, but as someone old enough to be the father of most Hot Topic shoppers, I still found her character engaging. Starfire seemed the most out-of-place to me, however her story was definitely intriguing.

Titans Ep. 101–Photo Credit: Steve Wilkie / Â©2017 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved

The noir elements to her story are extremely engrossing and I am looking forward to seeing her path cross with the other Titans. I’m assuming Beast Boy will figure predominately into the second episode since he was so short-changed in the series opener. I can say the my interest in him is definitely piqued, especially as he relates to the Doom Patrol series due to follow.

The Series premiere is an intricately woven tapestry made up of diverse story elements that somehow come together to tell a cohesive chapter in a larger story. It isn’t the easiest task to get a solid read on this show, however it is one heck of a lit of fun trying. There is truly something for everyone in Titans, it’s heavy on the darker tropes and light on the humor, bit not to the point of being oppressive. Robin’s violent behavior I hope will be address in the coming episodes because I feel like we are only getting the smallest glimpse of his character. Titans didn’t knock it out of the park for me, but it certainly swings for the fences and in so doing loads the bases for future episodes to bring it on home. 3.75/5

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Robin/ Dick Grayson- Brenton Thwaites

Raven/ Rachael Roth- Teagan Croft

Starfire/ Koriand’r- Anna Diop

Beast Boy/ Gar Logan- Ryan Potter

Created by- Greg Berlanti, Geoff Johns, Akiva Goldsman

Written by-Greg Berlanti, Geoff Johns, Akiva Goldsman

Directed by- Brad Anderson