Titans S02E07-08 Review: A Poisonous Robin

Titans, Season 2, Episode 7: Bruce Wayne; Episode 8: Jericho

Episode 7: Bruce Wayne

Episode 7, "Bruce Wayne", is a very, very interesting one. What I originally thought was going to be the obligatory Batman guest star episode with Bruce Wayne showing up to give some important advice... doesn't actually star the real Bruce Wayne himself. Instead, we get the glorious Iain Glen... as Dick's imagination of Bruce Wayne, mocking and judging every single thing he does with some particularly hilarious choice words that the real Bruce Wayne (probably) wouldn't make, basically combining both the angel and the devil on Dick's shoulder into one sarcastic package. And it's pretty fun! As always, Dick ends up being the focus of this episode, and, unless something changes drastically in the next couple of episodes, his old sins and his guilt is going to be the focus of the season. Part of me really don't like it when stories sort of fall back into using a very dramaticized version of real-life mental disorders just to make a funky, unique episode... but on the other hand, these sort of episodes are almost always a delight to watch. And it's in no small part due to Glen's performance as Bruce Wayne, and between actually helpful advice, constantly talking about how everyone gets the amount of years since the flashback era wrong, or when he makes a gag about how Dick's superpower is knowing his cell phone; he's a delight to watch. Ultimately, Ghost-Bruce tells Dick that he needs to confess the truth to someone about the sins that only he (and Slade) know about. 

Granted, though, other than that... the episode is mostly just catch-up, and your mileage may vary whether seeing Ghost-Bruce talk shit to Dick is enough to carry the entire episode. Sure, there are some obligatory catch-up moments. Jason is having some PTSD and anger issues coping with his hostage situation; most of the old guard Titans are still not happy about Dick's recent decisions... and, well, the plot of the episode is mostly just Dick bouncing around talking to random secondary characters until it leads him to Wintergreen. Again, the fact that Bruce is commenting on Dick's behaviour is fun, but ultimately it doesn't really make for the most engaging episode of Titans.

The B-plot with Eve deciding to fuck LexCorp, free Krypto and eventually rendezvous with the Titans and help them cure Conner (via a combination of Kory's Starfire powers and Rachel using her soul-self to keep it from blowing up the building) is pretty neat. It's nice to see Eve have some character development, but ultimately it's... it's just there. 

Something that's perhaps a bit more depressing is the fact that Rose's attempt to befriend and flirt with Jason ends up in disaster because... Jason borrows Dick's records and Jericho's record is among the collection? Poor Jason. Also, Hank, Dawn, Rachel and Donna all find some sensitive micro-aggression beverages and photographs all over, and they sort of immediately assume that it's Jason that's being a douche... and Jason goes off to almost toss himself off of the rooftop because he thinks that he's "poisonous", corrupts everything and no one can help him. It's utterly depressing and I really wished that the buildup to this was actually done better -- I feel like Hank and company blaming Jason for it feels particularly immature and abrupt. And seeing poor Jason completely frazzled ends up with Dick confessing to Jason his crime of 'killing' Jericho, which is the next episode. 

The huge revelation is that apparently Deathstroke is the one sneaking around leaving beers and sodas and drawing angry goth crosses on Raven's room is... mostly unintentionally hilarious, I feel, and the fact that his huge plan is to have the other Titans be douchebags to Jason, and the immediate jump to Jason being suicidal feel very awkwardly handled. I dunno. I feel like if done properly this one could've been a home run, but instead it's just kind of a mediocre episode. 

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Episode 8: Jericho

And just like the previous episode, the second completely-flashback episode in Titans season two is kind of... it could've been better, really. Again, one of my bigger problems is perhaps just how the season handles pacing, because it's pretty inconsistent with multiple episodes just taking a huge, huge break from the main cast. Whether it's the two flashback episodes or the Conner spotlight episode, it does make the main cast (particularly Rose and Conner, who really didn't do anything after their respective debuts) feel kind of neglected. The thing is, though, the revelations about the specifics that only Dick and Slade knows is... pretty interesting.  We last left off the flashback with Dick meeting the cheerful, non-superhero Jericho in a records store, and turns out that in this disastrous first conflict against Deathstroke, the original Titans might've been a lot less forthright than they could've been. 

And it's... it's kind of interesting, really, to see how much they waver between wanting to use Jericho as a tool to get back at his dad and how much of them are uncomfortable with the prospect. The revenge-seeking Donna and the "be Batman" Dick are the biggest proponents for utilizing Jericho, but the show can't make its heroes too shady so at around the halfway mark they all decide to come clean to Jericho. 

A good part of the episode is mostly just exposition to the audience, and admittedly as someone who knows Deathstroke's backstory inside and out multiple times, it's perhaps not the biggest revelation... but it's still a pretty fun, compelling retelling of the dynamic that Deathstroke has with his son, who is completely removed from any shady stuff that Deathstroke does. They cut ties long ago... but then Jericho shows off his mutant body-jumping powers, the Titans decide to give all the information, and Jericho gets it in his head to help the Titans out and eventually has to choose between Dick and Slade. 

And... and honestly? Slade does have a point. Sure, the Titans are right to be angry at Slade after Aqualad's murder (and Slade brutally beats down Donna in this episode, and also kills her Amazonian museum curator mentor), but as Slade points out... they're basically just weaponizing Jericho in a way that's not too dissimilar from how Slade was worried the government people would treat his mutant son. And, yeah, they did eventually reveal everything to Jericho and didn't force him to do anything, but there's no small part of emotional manipulation in how and when they revealed the information to poor Jericho. 

The fight between Deathstroke and Robin is particularly nice to watch here; I feel like Titans is just a lot more comfortable with showing martial arts melees than trying to incorporate superpowers into a fight scene. The brief one-on-one scuffle between Donna Troy and Deathstroke earlier on is also pretty well-done. The fight in the church is set up pretty well (even if it's pretty obvious), and while Robin and Deathstroke are embroiled in fighting, Jericho ends up taking a killing blow from Slade and dies trying to protect Dick. It's a tragic, shitty death that could definitely be prevented if they had communicated better, and it's the huge event that both gnaws at Dick's conscience and also the event that caused the dissolution of the original Titans. 

And... you know what? This one is actually a very solid one. I wasn't too taken in with the episode the first time I watched it, probably mostly because a lot of the Slade/Jericho information are stuff I already know from prior comic-book knowledge, but incorporating it and making the Jericho situation feel pretty ambiguous, feeding into Slade's self-righteousness and Dick's guilt while not vilifying the Titans is a neat, delicate balance. It could've been done better, I feel, but it is still very solid.

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Bruce Wayne does the Batusi dance with the burlesque dancers, the infamous dance that Adam West's Batman did in the first episode of the 60's Batman TV series. 
• In the comics, Rose did flirt a lot with a Robin, specifically the third Robin, Tim Drake, actually sneaking into his room in an attempt to get intimate (albeit she was drunk at the time). 
• "Jericho" condenses a lot of Deathstroke's backstory in the New Teen Titans comics, having Slade be transformed into a super-soldier by a military experiment; him having a son with body-possessing powers; Jericho/Joey being wounded and rendered mute after having his throat slit when Slade refuses to tell his rivals some information; and Slade's ex-wife Adeleine forcing Slade to go away from his son. 
• That said, "Jericho" seems to be the given name of Slade's son instead of his superhero name, and while he does have superpowers, this incarnation of Jericho never actually donned a superhero suit and didn't know about his dad's supervillain tendencies until joining the Titans. 
• Comics Jericho displayed his power in the comics by taking over a body of a Teen Titan (Nightwing instead of Hawk in the comics) and making him dance. 
• While the circumstances are wildly different, both this Jericho and his comics counterpart were killed via Slade stabbing him with a sword. 
• Wintergreen was the best man at Slade's wedding in the New Teen Titans comics.