Titans season 2, episode 2 review: Rose

“If I’m Robin, then who are you?” Spoilers for Titans season 2, episode 2 follow.

The Titans have finally found some peace and quiet within their new home of San Francisco. Unfortunately for some, that quiet lifestyle isn’t enough for them. In comes a mysterious silver-haired stranger into their lives.

As for the old team, they are trying to move on with their lives but are pulled back in by enemies on all sides.

The New Titans

If the end of the previous episode was any indication, the old team of Titans is out and the new team of Titans is in. Just like Dick has, the team has evolved beyond its original self, which this episode does a solid job of exploring. Dick is in a new territory and is constantly second-guessing himself, making his struggle all the more relatable. For as accomplished as he is, he still is unsure about the team, which is made even more believable by the subtle performance of Brenton Thwaites.

While still rough around the edges, this new generation of Titans looks to be filling out quite well. Gar and Jason have a nice budding dynamic, especially given Gar’s annoyance with Jason’s attitude. Plus, his relationship with Raven is pretty much rock solid at this point, so seeing them interact at all is a joy. Ryan Potter and Teagan Croft have wonderful chemistry together, which makes every scene they share feel natural.

Enter Rose, though, and an even greater wrench is thrown into the system. Dick is even more unsure than he was before, while the rest of the team begins to fight itself, at least partially. Honestly, the Rose aspects of the episode are both some of the strongest and weakest parts of the episode. There’s a lot of interesting things going on, and the dynamic between Dick and Rose is great, but it just feels like there isn’t enough. Not enough time with the rest of the team nor even with Rose herself. It’s supposed to be hard to get a read on her right now but, because this episode is so short, only 40 minutes, there’s really no definition to her character as of yet. She’s scared, and she can fight well, that’s about it. Hopefully, more will be expanded upon later.

The Old Regime

The old team also receives some play in this episode, as well, and we get to see where they’re at. Hank and Dawn have moved onto a farm, while Donna and Kori are detectives or something. It’s not really made clear what they’re doing. Regardless, it’s nice to see that these four haven’t been forgotten, as well as Donna getting more play. She was one of the best parts about the final couple episodes of season,1 and it was really fun to see her playing off Kori in this episode. More Donna is always better than less Donna.

Hank and Dawn, on the other hand, carry much of the emotional weight for the episode. It’s an interesting path that is taken here, with Dove being the one still wanting to fight and Hawk not wanting to, but it works, nonetheless. This is a couple that we’ve come to care about, even if we haven’t spent a long time with them so, to see them hurting, hurts viewers to watch. Like the rest of the team though, because this episode is so short, we don’t really get to spend enough time with them, which doesn’t let the emotions really hit home.

The Light is the Dark

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Just like we got our first glimpse at Deathstroke in the previous episode, we get our first glimpse of Doctor Light in this episode. Unlike, the comic version (unless you’re thinking of Identity Crisis), there is something profoundly unsettling about this version. He’s in maybe a minute of the entire episode, but his presence has an aura of menace to him. In the short time he’s on screen, it’s very clear that he’s a psychopath. Then, it’s shown that he’s able to create bombs of people and also knows the identities of the Titans, effectively making him a terrifying adversary. It’s too bad we didn’t get more of him.

And even though we don’t see Deathstroke in this episode, his presence hangs over it. Seemingly, it was he who caused the prison escape that let out Doctor Light. Plus, just like in the comics, Rose is Slade’s daughter, and this episode makes it seem like she’s running from him.

Despite its flaws, Titans goes into its second season with an episode that feels like a proper premiere and paves the way for the rest of the season.