Titans season 3, episode 8 review: Home

Just when things finally start going well, the young heroes suffer a setback, as does Titans season 3.

Last week on Titans season 3, the Titans scored a major win against Dr. Crane/Scarecrow (Vincent Kartheiser), destroying the bulk of his supply of anti-fear inhalers. With both Crane and Jason Todd/Red Hood (Curran Walters) on the run, the young heroes returned to Wayne Manor to celebrate. In the case of Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) and Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Savannah Welch), that meant a private celebration of their own, thus rekindling their former romance.

Only Gar (Ryan Potter) wasn’t quite in the celebratory mood, as he tracked down Jason’s friend, Molly Jensen (Eve Harlow), hoping she can aid him in doing what his teammates have given up on: get Jason some help.

Of course, we all know that having achieved a semblance of victory, the Titans will be given a crushing defeat by the end of this season’s eighth episode. Yet “Home,” forces Titans’ third season to have a setback of its own when it comes to the overall narrative.

Even as individual character arcs seemingly move forward, it also feels like they’re taking big steps backwards. But hey, at least the Titans have appropriated the Bat Signal for their own, so… progress?

A Round of Robins in Titans season 3

That Dick tries to pull the whole “It wasn’t me” is completely ridiculous…Even more ridiculous is how Tim uses this information he’s collected as means of begging Dick to make him the next Robin. One minute, this kid has deductive powers to rival Sherlock Holmes, and the next minute he’s a clueless, naïve Batman fanboy.

“Home” is also the episode in which Tim Drake (Jay Lycurgo) finally starts getting involved with the season’s main story. As his father was shot two episodes ago, Tim shows up at Wayne Manor, insisting on seeing Dick. It’s then that Tim reveals he knows that Bruce Wayne was Batman, and that Dick is the former Robin turned Nightwing.

How? Just like in the original comics, Tim happened to be at Haley Circus the night Dick’s parents were killed (though this would make him three years old at the time, at best), and figured out the orphaned Dick was the Boy Wonder based off Robin, and later Nightwing, doing an acrobatic move only the Flying Graysons could perform. That Dick tries to pull the whole “It wasn’t me” is completely ridiculous considering how cavalier he’s been about maintaining his secret identity all season, including being seen in public with his fellow Titans out of costume.

Even more ridiculous is how Tim uses this information he’s collected as means of begging Dick to make him the next Robin. One minute, this kid has deductive powers to rival Sherlock Holmes, and the next minute he’s a clueless, naïve Batman fanboy. Since Tim also insists he can help Dick again later in this episode, you just know the writers are setting him up to get badly hurt and almost killed at the end.

One thing Tim’s sudden ability to read people’s body language does accomplish is give Dick an idea for how to find Jason. Thanks to Barbara’s computerized desk, Dick is able to locate Jason based on the way he walks. However, as he calls out to him, Dick gets hit by a truck and taken to the hospital. Sure, it ruined his and Barbara’s planned date, but we know she loves him because she stayed at his bedside all night. And fortunately, Dick seems fine, except that he’s now experiencing hallucinations, like bat symbols appearing in eye charts or himself as a boy (Viktor Sawchuk) giving him cryptic warnings. Also, it seems that there’s a large structural leak in the ceiling in Barbara’s office right over her fancy desk. And (as if we needed more ominous foreshadowing) it’s growing bigger.

Tamaran Tango… and visions

Speaking of relationships, Conner (Joshua Orpin) and Blackfire (Damaris Lewis) are already sleeping together to the surprise of absolutely no one. What is surprising, though, is how suitable they are together as a couple, despite Blackfire’s obligatory “We don’t have anything in common” speech. She certainly doesn’t want emotions brought into their bedroom antics, but it’s clear she likes him way more than she’s letting on. There’s also an innocence on Conner’s part that Orpin portrays particularly well, as he reveals to Blackfire that she’s his first. It also reminds us that Conner is also a clone of Lex Luthor as well as Superman, so there’s a bit of “bad” in him just as there’s a bit of “good” in Blackfire.

Their new relationship also winds up as the precursor for bringing back what we thought had already been resolved: Kory’s (Anna Diop) psychic visions. As Conner and Blackfire are vigorously “getting busy” – and a strange purple mist appears under their bed – Kory appears in their room, in a trance, embarrasses Connor, and is about to incinerate her own sister until Blackfire wakes her up. Adding to the mystery is that Blackfire claims she’s not the one causing Kory’s visions this time. With her sister and Conner’s help, Kory decides to take another nap in the Batcave’s sensory deprivation tank.

When she does, Kory dreams that she’s in an abandoned theatre, holding a playbill that reads “The Crown of Tamaran.” Then a baby carriage descends onto the stage, while a woman from way back in the gallery screams “My baby!” As Kory approaches the carriage, she sees a baby with glowing green eyes. It’s then she wakes up in the middle of downtown Gotham. Even more bizarre, Conner and Blackfire tell her she drove around this particular block multiple times. What does this have to do with anything that’s going on this season? Who knows, because “Home” seems to have other priorities.

Fear and loathing in Gotham

As for our two villains, it seems their partnership has come to an end. Jason, with his anti-fear drug gone, starts seeing Crane for the psychopath that he is. Course it also helps that Crane is attempting to drill into the city’s watermain to poison Gotham with a more virulent, unrefined version of his fear toxin, too. In any case, after some back-and-forth bickering, Jason beats the snot out of Crane and leaves.

Problem is, Jason is also afraid to go back to the Titans. Thus we get a rather bizarre scene where he goes to (I kid you not!) a pair of peep show sex workers. Aside from being an excuse for the episode to indulge in some of Titans and HBO’s patented gratuitous nudity, Jason has this couple roleplay as Hank and Dawn. When Jason apologizes to “Hank” for killing him, “Hank” is all “this too crazy for me” and leaves. “Dawn,” on the other hand, gently tells Jason that if he wants forgiveness, there’s only one place he can go: home.

The ceiling in Barbara’s office collapsing seems like an appropriate metaphor for “Home” as a whole. No matter how well the actors perform, the writing undermines them, resulting in unnecessary scenes, underdeveloped and out-of-nowhere storylines, and characters acting like total idiots just so this episode can have a plot. Little wonder, then, why this episode of Titans falls apart.

Meanwhile, with Jason gone, Crane is suffering an out-of-the-blue crisis on confidence. After killing a maintenance inspector (who also inadvertently points out how Crane’s plan is stupid because he was using the wrong type of drill), Crane goes to see his psychiatrist mother (Debra Hale). It’s a decently acted but ultimately pointless scene, as “Home” tries to sell us on the idea that Crane always had this “terror” about feeling inadequate and not living up to his full potential. It’s also not helped by his mom no longer wanting anything to do with him because, you know? he’s a criminal. In any case, once Crane realizes the cops are staking out her office, he kills her, too.

Things come to a head when Jason via Molly via Gar arranges a meeting with Dick in a vast network of sewer tunnels that Bruce used as part of their Robin training. Jason tells Dick that he wants to turn himself in. Dick agrees, but only if he also gives up Crane, which Jason agrees, and sets up another meeting at the place at the water treatment plant where Crane is hiding.

This spurs a debate within the Titans ranks on what they should do with Jason. Connor points out the absurdity of letting Jason stay at Wayne Manor with them considering how he’s responsible for Hank’s murder. Kory, oddly enough, seems all in favor of killing Jason (no doubt still riding high on how she incinerated Valeska last episode). Gar, though, reminds them how they forgave him after Cadmus brainwashed him, so why not forgive Jason as well? Weirdly enough, none of them entertain the obvious third option: sending Jason to jail!

But unbeknownst to the former Robins, Crane was spying on them. Even worse, as Jason goes to Crane’s hideout, Tim, still thinking he can make a great Robin despite zero training, decides to follow him. And wouldn’t you know it? Crane surprises Tim and shoots him in the back. Jason tries to help, but runs away once the Titans appear. As Connor stays behind to give Tim medical attention, the other Titans looks for Crane and Jason, thinking they’ve been double-crossed.

Things get even worse when Kory spots Crane and then goes full Starfire to try and roast him. Unfortunately, she ends up blowing up the water treatment plant, which was Crane’s plan all along. Because this somehow allowed him to quickly pour fear toxin into the water supply. And remember that leaky ceiling in Barbara’s office? Well, it also bursts, damaging her fancy computerized desk and flooding the GCPD. And it seems Crane’s fear toxin is already working as Barbara sees the Titan signal turn an ominous blood red.

The ceiling in Barbara’s office collapsing seems like an appropriate metaphor for “Home” as a whole. No matter how well the actors perform, the writing undermines them, resulting in unnecessary scenes, underdeveloped and out-of-nowhere storylines, and characters acting like total idiots just so this episode can have a plot. Little wonder, then, why this episode of Titans falls apart.

New episodes of Titans season 3 debut Thursdays on HBO Max.

What did you think of Titans‘ eighth episode for season 3, “Home?” Did you agree with this review. Share your own thoughts on Titans season 3 down in the comments section below.