Rose
After last week’s season finale (because let’s face it, that’s pretty much what it was), Season 2 kicks into high gear with more urgency and a look to the future with this action-packed episode. With a slightly shorter run time, Titans backs up its urgency with a deliberately quick paced feel, ending with a big twist and plenty of questions hanging over the series. Settling in to their new base, the Titans begin training for new threats ahead. Dick takes charge and explains to Jason that he needs to learn to be quiet and master his surroundings. It’s been 3 months since he left Gotham and as Dick tells him, he’s the new Robin now and the others look up to him so he needs to be living up to that expectation. Meanwhile, Dr Light escapes from his prison cell, leaving a string of dead bodies in his wake while Donna and Kory head out on a stake-out, pausing momentarily to discuss the new Titans hideout. Unfortunately, things go awry quickly as the Titans overhear a ruckus involving a high speed police chase and a strange lady named Rose. It turns out she has moves, single-handedly flooring police officers while Dick watches the action unfold on TV. Clearly he sees some potential there too, as he tells the other Titans he’s heading out to the chaos. Meanwhile, Dawn busts a meth lab alone, much to the disdain of Hank who tells her it’s too dangerous. She bites back though, telling him it’s his pain and his problem as to why they aren’t using their powers more. He turns and restrains himself from completing losing his cool, telling her that if she doesn’t put down the mask and persona, he’ll leave her. Just as things look to be kicking off in a big way, Ellis shows up spewing light from his orifices. As they scramble to leave their house, he, and the house itself, erupts in a ball of flame as they realize Dr. Light has been after them. It’s an interesting segment too and one that’s well acted and acts as a catalyst for bringing our two heroes back into the fold. After tracking her down and bringing her back to the headquarters, Dick asks the new girl who she is but she rejects his hospitality and tells him she needs to leave, otherwise “he” will find then. While Dick continues to speak to her, the trio of Titans in the headquarters debate just whether she’s one of them and what her powers may be. Taking the initiative, Rachel speaks to Dick and tells him she thinks it’s a good idea taking her in. Meanwhile Kory finds what she’s looking for when she comes across Shimmer during her stake-out operation. After a brief fight, they manage to apprehend her. Sensing the opportunity to catch Kory off-guard, a strange man from her home planet appears and stuns her, knocking her out and taking her away. Back at the Tower, Dick phones Bruce for some advice over the new girl where he offers him some encouragement and motivation – just what he needs to pursue this. After offering her some food, he tells her the truth and admits that she’s special and wants to train her. It’s here she reveals her name is Rose but before they can continue, Dr. Light gets to them first and the car explodes, narrowly missing them. At Titan Tower the group stumble upon a big plot twist to close the episode out – it turns out Rose’s Father is Slade Wilson. aka. Deathstroke. With the promise of Deathstroke on the horizon and plenty of action to digest, Titans stuffs its episode full of interesting plot reveals and action. Rose adds an extra dimension to the show too and all of this looks set to build up to a big fight at the end. Given how dangerous Deathstroke is to the Titans, it’ll be interesting to see how the show handles that dynamic and it’s something I’m particularly intrigued to see play out. For now though, Titans bounces back from last week’s polarizing episode to deliver a well paced, dramatic slice of superhero action. Quite what next week holds in store for us remains to be seen, but for now Titans gets back to winning ways.
