Titans recap: Go your own way
Why does it feel like this Titans season is just going around in circles? We cut back to the present after last week’s flashback episode (the second of this season) and everyone gets mad at Dick, again. Apparently, he originally told them that he went to the church and found Jericho dead. That story was enough to get everyone to leave the Tower years ago, but now that they know the truth, that Jericho sacrificed himself to save Dick…they also all leave the Tower. Even Dick leaves! Only Gar and the unconscious Superboy remain.
Some of them have unfinished business to take care of. Shortly after leaving the Tower, Kory runs into Faddei, who has not only gotten himself out of her ship but also picked up a cool new car. He’s also got a scar on his face, which he attributes to a fight with someone working for Kory’s sister Blackfire. If you remember, the last time we saw Faddei I wondered if his presence signaled the imminent arrival of Blackfire. I was even more correct than I could have anticipated!
Having now left the Titans, Kory is more amenable to returning to Tamaran with Faddei. But as they pal around getting food and filling up on gas, Kory notices that something is off. When she mentions an incident that Faddei would not have known about, she figures it out. Faddei has become a puppet of Blackfire. Kory incinerates him, leaving only a hologram of her sister in his wake. In the time Kory has spent chasing after Rachel and trying to prevent the Trigon apocalypse, Blackfire has managed to seize power on Tamaran. Their parents are dead, as are any remaining members of court loyal to Kory. Blackfire taunts her sister, destroys Faddei’s ship, and then vanishes. If I’m being honest, I have no idea how this plotline is going to play out. The implied next step would be for Kory to return to Tamaran and start some kind of revolution, but a power struggle on an alien planet feels a little beyond both the budget and scope of this show. Plus, there are plenty of things that still need to be taken care of on Earth.
Superboy, for instance! Naturally, the Kryptonian clone only wakes up once everyone but Gar has left the Tower. Gar’s time spent dancing around the Tower on his own comes to an end as he’s suddenly forced to try to integrate Conner into Titans life. It’s not an easy fit: Superboy destroys one of the gym’s punching bags by hitting it once. But things soon get worse from there. While they’re out and about, Superboy hears a cry of distress from someone being arrested and shoved against a cop car. Superboy instinctually throws himself into the fray, and soon appears to be fighting the entire city’s police force on his own. I think this moment is fun because it manages to pay homage to Superboy’s dueling halves. On the one hand, his Superman genes are telling him to help someone in distress. But it has to be the Luthor genes encouraging him to beat up cops.
Gar enjoys the spectacle a lot less than I do, however. He freaks out, and retreats to Titans Tower to whimper. He does the only thing he can think of: He calls Dick for help.
Dick left the Tower to go meet Jericho’s mom and apologize to her for his role in causing Jericho’s death. She doesn’t forgive him, of course, but fun fact she also literally has Slade crashing on her couch. Someone is going to need to explain to me how Dick gets the majority of blame for Jericho’s death when Deathstroke is the one who literally stabbed him. Slade brags to Dick that he won and broke up the Titans, but the brag is lessened a bit by the fact that Slade can barely move due to ongoing recovery from their last encounter.
After that, Dick heads to the airport and buys a one-way ticket to Greenland, the farthest place he can think to go. He misses Gar’s call, but has a change of heart anyway. He suddenly drops his bag in the middle of the airport and attacks a cop. The episode ends with Dick on his knees, getting arrested. No idea what to make of that.
Related content:
