Titans season 3, episode 6 review: Lady Vic

Titans season 3 returns to the present so that Blackfire can begin an apparent redemption and Lady Vic is unleashed on Gotham.

After previously taking a trip to the not too distant past to show Jason Todd’s advancement and resurrection into the Red Hood persona, Titans season 3 switches things up by reverting back to the present.

We open with two State Troopers in a restaurant discussing their honeymoon following their wedding as Phil (Jon McLaren) proposes with a Hawaiian bobblehead to Diane (Susanna Fournier). Unfortunately, sitting by them in the same restaurant is a ruthless and sadistic assassin known as Lady Vic (Kimberly-Sue Murray)- who immediately disposes of the State Troopers with throwing knives and steals their bobble-head to add insult to injury.

Blackfire’s reform at Wayne Manor?!

Following Kory Anders (Anna Diop) and Gar Logan’s (Ryan Potter) prison break of Blackfire (Damaris Lewis) from a government facility, they bring the rebellious Tamaranean back to Wayne Manor where the rest of the Titans reside. Blackfire’s bedside manner makes Gar at best squeamish, while Conner’s (Joshua Orpin) is innocently intrigued by her.

Robin Days with Barbara Gordon

In a flashback to six years ago in Gotham City, Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) as the Boy Wonder intercepts Barbara Gordon (Savannah Welch) in a cat burglar get-up attempting to steal an expensive vase at a museum. However, she was only using her expertise in athletics and infiltration to test security.

Dick becomes romantically involved with Barbara, as both engage in a series of robberies in order to blur the lines between criminal justice ethics and objective moral duty. When Barbara and Dick ponder on what they are going to do with all the stolen items, they gain solace until the latter snaps back to reality.

Debrief with the other Titans

Dick regains consciousness back in his apartment and gets patched up by Kory, a.k.a. Starfire, with Gar following his fight against Red Hood two episodes back. Dick is still recovering from his injury at the hands of the Gotham City Police Department and his incessant drive to catch Red Hood and Scarecrow sends Gar into beast mode.

Elsewhere, Jason/Red Hood (Curran Walters) and Dr Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow (Vincent Kartheiser) have a talk at the Thomas and Martha Wayne Memorial Hospital as the former Robin is amped to get back at Dick. Lady Vic (under Dr Crane’s payroll) is watched as she quickly kills many doctors and retrieves medical equipment as part of his plans. Scarecrow lets Red Hood know if he does not play nice – meaning being a good lil’ foot soldier – he will be put down.

Meanwhile, at Wayne Manor, Dick reports to Kory about the attack at the hospital and the pair identify what the pieces of medical equipment stolen were before both of the Titans head to the scene of the crime, only to find that they have been benched under Barbara’s orders.

The plot thickens on Titans season 3

One thing this current season has done well compared to last season is focusing on the storylines that need to be provided with the most focus. Admittedly, this has caused some characters to feel neglected in the early part of the season, i.e. Donna Troy, Rachel Roth and the late Hawk, as a consequence, but this writer is hopeful that will be rectified.

The great aspects of this episode are that the show explores more of the relationship between Kory and Blackfire. Moreover, through Superboy, we get to understand from the entitled Komand’r that all she aspired to receive is validation for who she is and not of what she lacks. Blackfire may try being a party to the Titans, something that she may well exploit until she ultimately becomes a threat.

As the plot thickens, it becomes clear what Dr Crane is planning for the citizens of Gotham. He just needed The Bat out of the way to make it happen. Unfortunately, he may have miscalculated how much of a wild card Red Hood could be. Needless to say, Jason’s actions may have caused the birth of a new Robin in our midst.

We also would like to thank the brilliant Brian Ho for the inventive fight choreography between Savannah Welch’s Barbara and Lady Vic. It was fresh and quite novel, while also being visually pleasing to look at. In addition, the cinematography from Fraser Brown matched the dynamic color scheme and tones of Boris Mojsovski.

Admittedly, this writer is not the biggest fan of Titans‘ adaptation of Barbara, as she has been shown throughout to be unreasonably sullen, making stupid decisions and I am uncertain viewers will be sold on the romance between Dick and her. Also, the flashbacks between Dick and Barbara do not quite fit her present disdain for vigilantism when she was technically one herself – albeit a different kind of one than fans may be used to.

The dialog in “Lady Vic” can be clunky at points (they couldn’t have found a better alternative proto-alias of Batgirl than “Robin Girl”?) and Lady Vic was a disappointing addition, that didn’t offer much beyond her great fight scenes.

Despite this, Kartheiser as Dr Crane is great in every scene he is in and credit to Titans season 3 on a creative take on Scarecrow not seen before in live-action. Hopefully, Damaris Lewis’ Blackfire will receive more time to shine so that she too can thrive in the second half of the season.

Titans season 3 streams new episodes on HBO Max on Thursdays.

What did you think of Titans season 3, episode 6? Have you been enjoying Titans season 3? Let us know in the comments below!