DC's Titans Season One Review
Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please proceed with caution.
The first season of Titans wrapped up last month. For the most part, the show introduced a lot of potential storylines that could go nowhere in 10 episodes. While the name Titans refers to the superhero team lead by Dick Grayson, also known as Robin / Nightwing, the series mainly focuses on its leader and a 14-year-old Raven, who goes by the name “Rachael”.
My major issue with this season was how the episodes were structured. The pattern would go main plot, then side characters, back to the main plot, then Dick would find an excuse to run off and meet another important DC character, etc. The flow was messy and unbalanced to the point that I had forgotten this show was trying to set up Trigon, Raven’s father, until the very end.
Although, I did appreciate all the Easter eggs and side characters that did get introduced like Hawk and Dove, Doom Patrol, Wonder Girl, Jason Todd, Batman (?), and the post-credit scene with Superboy and Krypto the Superdog. The issue was that Dick would find ways to leave his new allies behind, or the show would abruptly center back to Hawk and Dove towards the end of the season.
The sheer violence on this show and Robin’s “Fuck Batman” mentality is connected to Dick’s character journey, and how he is afraid of becoming like the Dark Knight someday. Other characters like Hawk, Dove, and Wonder Girl have commented on his brutal approach. Wonder Girl even gives Dick some advice on stepping back without actually quitting the job.
The introduction of Jason Todd / Robin furthers this idea, especially with him following Batman’s violent approach to crime fighting with glee and excitement. However, this only asserts how messed up Dick is, and doesn’t really push him to change his ways yet. The same can be said about Rachael, who learns a lot about her past through plot, but her character development does not budge.
Starfire and Beast Boy are not developed much either, and hang around more like a supporting cast than major characters in this story. I think the writers have to take a step back from their neck-breaking pace to work on their characters, especially Starfire and Beast Boy, who are more disconnected to the plot than Dick and Raven.
Overall, the show has potential to become something, but the characters need work. Yes, the plot needs to move too, but the point of watching television is for the characters in the story… we have to invest in them, and if the show can’t even invest, how do they expect the audience to?