Titans season 2, episode 9 review: Atonement

On the latest episode of Titans, Dick Grayson confronts the rest of the team about what happened to Jericho.

Taking place right after Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) told Jason Todd (Curran Walters) about what he did to Jericho (Chella Man), after he prevented the second Robin from committing suicide, as seen in “Bruce Wayne.” Now, Dick has finally confessed to the rest of the Titans what actually took place.

Segregation of the Titans

As shown in the last episode, the original Titans befriended Deathstroke’s son, Jericho, in an attempt to get back at their foe and avenge Aqualad’s murder. We learned that although Robin was responsible for drawing Jericho to the church, Slade Wilson/Deathstroke (Esai Morales) delivered the fatal blow.

Apparently, this is the part that Dick withheld from the entire group (which is understandable to a certain degree), though he lied. Dick told the old Titans “he [Jericho] died trying to save [me] from his father,” confessing that Jericho was alive instead of dead when he got to the church.

Hank (Alan Ritchson) stares at Dick, gets up from the stool where the majority of the Titans gather around, walks up to the former Robin and remains in speaking distance of Dick. He delivers a right cross to Dick, but the leader does not retaliate.

As Dick reels from the punch, covering his bloodied nose, Rose Wilson (Chelsea Zhang), Deathstroke’s daughter and sister of Jericho, blames Dick for her brother’s death and leaves. Jason goes with her. Donna (Conor Leslie) follows suit, then Rachel Roth (Teagan Croft), but not before Garfield “Gar” Logan (Ryan Potter) calls her back. Hank and Dawn also leave with Dick, Gar, Kory Anders/Koriand’r (Anna Diop) and Conner (Joshua Orpin), who is still in recovery, the only remaining heroes. Kory has to take care of a “loose end” involving her home planet, but assures Dick she will return.

“Keep the faith, Gar”

Both the old and new Titans go their separate ways. Dick leaves it up to Gar to “hold the fort” at Titans Tower, while he goes on a trip. Kory, meanwhile, rendezvous with Faddei (Robbie Jones), a romantic interest and royal guard from Tamaran, who has escaped her spaceship.

Gar spends the next four days looking after Conner while spending much of his activities, telling himself that he’s working towards a great cause. Elsewhere, Hank and Dawn return to Wyoming to pick up where they left off, living a normal life. When Conner wakes up, Gar explains to him where he is and what the Titans are supposed to be about. Gar then tries to reach Bruce Wayne, so he can be responsible for Conner.

First day back out in public and Deathstroke’s warning

Dick visits Jericho’s mother, Adeline (Mayko Nguyen), back in Kane, Nevada. He seeks forgiveness for the death of her son. Dick admits it was his fault and confesses to Adeline that he didn’t just conveniently bump into Jericho at the record shop; he made Jericho a target. Dick declares he is responsible, but Adeline does not accept his plea, though she offers someone who might.

Enter Slade. Dick enters the living room to find him watching a black and white film. Dick refuses to beg forgiveness to Slade. He confronts Slade, arguing he is a hired gun, who killed his own son without hesitation. Slade, observing Dick has not yet succumbed to his guilt, sentences him to a life of pain, sorrow and loneliness, and one without Titans.

Dick declares that Slade didn’t deserve Jericho and that “we all let him down” before Adeline saunters to the back of him, standing at the door side. Slade gazes at Dick and grunts in anguish and confusion. Adeline urges Dick to leave the house when Slade stands and declares that Dick won’t get forgiveness and threatens to kill every last Titan if he ever re-forms the team.

Back in San Francisco, Gar takes Conner, minus the black tee and House of El symbol, out in public. Gar and Conner develop a bond, as he tries to re-form what is left of the Titans. Conner asks Gar, about his abilities, and Gar briefly shifts into his tiger form.

When Conner witnesses a suspect and police officers roughing him up, he intervenes and gravely injures them. More cop cars move in and shoot at Conner without question, which triggers Conner’s memories of the day he was confronted by black ops at the Luthor’s. He then unloads absolute mayhem, and Krypto protects him.

This isn’t a particularly strong episode of Titans. While “Atonement”, should have been more than it delivered, especially with the fallout of the Titans dictating the plot, it doesn’t have much to offer.

The best parts are the interactions between Gar and Conner, even if the former was left to virtually do nothing but try to look after Superboy and somewhat give him a tour of Titans Tower.

Before discussing Dick in this episode, the little, if not any interaction between Kory and Faddei could have developed into something more, as it has been revealed that Black Fire (Damaris Lewis) has usurped Koriand’r’s position as the queen of Tamaran. Instead of a personal, secret mission from across the stars, it was deception, which could have had a lot more potential.

More from DC Universe

• James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy casts more major DC characters
• New Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom trailer pushes Arthur to his limits
• 7 actors who could replace Ezra Miller as The Flash in the DC Universe
• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will have a battle pass (and that’s a bad sign)
• Harley Quinn renewed for a fifth season on Max (and it’s well-deserved)

Dick and Slade’s surprise confrontation was appropriately tense. This was the moment that carried a lot more weight and begs the question: what is Dick going to do? And how is Gar going to hold out until he returns?

“Atonement” was by far the least tightly penned episode of this sophomore season. While the reactions from some of the characters following Dick’s secret reveal to the rest of the Titans were acceptable, they went on as though he literally had blood on his hands. Donna has no say (even Rachel called her on it), as she was the one who pushed Dick to go that extra mile in manipulating Jericho in the first place.

Of all the Titans, Gar and Kory were the most sympathetic towards Dick while Hank and Dawn had more expected reactions, as did even Rose and Jason. This is what brings me to my next dig on this episode. Director Boris Mejsovski is unable to manage all of the scenes he has to play with.

The Hank and Dawn scenes did not need to be there, and Dick should have served as a complimentary B-plot while Kory and Faddei’s scenes easily could have been given more screen time. Her mission was by far the most important story aside from Dick’s. In fiction, where characters work together for a common goal and are split for different reasons, it’s supposed to give them some time to reflect but not disregard the situation.

If anything, the fallout is supposed to induce more opportunity to give more depth to the characters and drive the plot, not veer off into unwarranted territory.

Titans Takeaways:

• Dick Grayson finally got the truth out and it results in the temporary disbandment of the Titans.
• There is a reference to Superman when Bruce Wayne is mentioned.
• Gar Logan and Conner Kent manage to do what they can with the majority of the Titans now gone.
• Conner has a long way to get in tune with heroism and society, and there are sure to be plenty of consequences as a result.
• Blackfire makes her first appearance this episode, and Kory Anders has a lot of soles to fill in her heels to step up the plate and nab her crown.
• Dick’s confrontation with Slade Wilson/Deathstroke may lead to further problems down the line, depending on what his next move is.