If there has been a series that has really surprised me this year, it's the show Titans for the exclusive streaming service app: DC Universe. What I thought was going to be an utter disaster has turned out to be one of the best live action superhero shows in quite some time. With its only real faults being a poor production budget, and the same guy in charge of lighting for the Snyder led DC films, Titans has continued to deliver quality storytelling and character growth in a way where each episode seems to outdo the last. I was initially intending this to be my review of the series overall as a whole, giving a glowing endorsement to watch it, however, since the release of season finale trailer, and the controversy that has sparked from it. I have decided on a new direction for this piece.
This trailer teases quite the action-packed finale as Dick Grayson faces off against his mentor in the episode titled "Dick Grayson." This confrontation is a long time coming in the series as Dick has been working to distance himself from his former mentor and has constantly called the Dark Knight's methods into question. However, where the controversy is, if you couldn't already guess, is that Batman has snapped and is now killing some of the most iconic members of his rogues gallery. Dick has been appealed by a wheelchair-bound Jason Todd to try and reason with Bruce and try to stop him from committing this rampage. Many people have issues with this after the many complaints on the murderous side Ben Affleck's Batman showed in BvS being a key criticism of the film. However, what I am having a big issue with is the lack of journalistic integrity that has been shown by sites like Comicbook.com and Heroic Hollywood, who have written pieces that are only fuelling the rampage rather than informing people with context, because if any of their writers had actually been watching the show, they'd know that this whole set up is not real.
Now before you read any further, I wish to warn people that there will be spoilers here from the most recent episode of the show "Koriand'r." Throughout the episode, Dick, Donna, and Kori are uncovering the truth about Rachel (Raven) and uncover that Rachel's mom is, in fact, another agent of Trigon who is planning on manipulating Rachel into returning her father to Earth. Without giving away too much, the mother succeeds and Rachel does indeed summon Trigon to this earthly plane, and with his arrival come some pretty bad omens. At the end of the episode, Dick, Donna, and Kori have returned to the house where they had left Rachel and her mother, and find nothing. Dick recognizes it to be an illusion and rushes through it, however, when Donna and Kori try to follow they cannot pass through. Simultaneously, Rachel's mother is celebrating the return of her lover and inquires Trigon if it is time to "devour this world" to which Trigon insists that they must wait for Rachel's heart to break. With this piece of information now available for context, it's pretty easy to see where they are going with this, but just in case I'll spell it out.
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| Lacking an Actual Look From the episode, Seamus Dever (left) plays Trigon (Right) |
Throughout this season, Dick Grayson has established himself as a brother figure to Rachel and has earned a place as someone she can truly depend and lean on. His belief in her overcoming her own darkness and the hope he has in her has been a driving force for his own redemption. Trigon has allowed Dick through because he knows this. Trigon is going to try and corrupt Dick Grayson to the dark and have him fully submit to shatter Rachel's hope in the light in this world. In other words, if Dick Grayson couldn't overcome his darkness, what hope does she have against hers?
While I can understand not wanting to spoil the episodes for the viewership, I can't really see this as a viable excuse considering sites like Heroic Hollywood and Comicbook.com spoil movies and shows all the damn time. Ultimately this comes down to the fact that they are more interested in getting clicks and views than informing their readers of what's going on. It really is tragic that this is the state of things, that industry media outlets are fine printing half-truths and using headlines like "Major Batman Support Character Confirmed Dead in Season Finale" or "Titans Season Finale Teases Death of the Joker" just for clicks and likes. Don't get me wrong, they aren't exactly incorrect, because the show does technically promo those things, but they are far from the whole truth.
At the end of the day Titans will continue to do what they have done throughout the show, deliver a different, but very enjoyable take on these iconic characters. It may be a bit on the darker side in tone, but at their core, these characters are still very much Titans at heart.
This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we'll see you again soon!
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