The best Titans episode from last season took us straight into the mind of Dick Grayson. Although, ‘Bruce Wayne’ is not quite on the same level as last season’s ‘Asylum’, the episode proves once again that the main focus of the show is and always should be it’s central hero and self appointed team leader.
It’s all in his head
At first, when Bruce first appeared I actually believed that he was there to check on Jason. I even thought, ‘oh how nice, dad’s come to check on his sons’. Then he spoke and I quickly realized it wasn’t Bruce that was there. This was just a figment of Dick’s imagination. Throughout the entire episode, the way Dick envisioned Bruce was so judgmental and negative. He made Bruce appear like a shadow figure who’s looked down on him his entire life.
But then there was a shift and only the truest Bat Family fans probably caught it. Bruce started to sound more like his father and less like Batman. Especially the way he started calling him ‘son’ every time he acknowledged him.
It all leads to the moment fans of the series have been waiting for since Deathstroke first appeared. On a rooftop, with Jason standing on the literal edge and with the help of his father’s presence, Dick finally confessed the secret he’d been carrying around for five years: he’s the one that killed Deathstroke’s son.
The monster in the tower
While Dick was on a one man mission to find Deathstroke, the rest of the team stayed behind. Everyone, except Gar it seems, was being tormented by past ghosts. Hank found a bottle of bourbon in his room, Donna a soda that reminded her of Garth in hers, Dawn a photo of a friend who died and Rachel had black crosses painted all over her room.
Elsewhere, Jason’s torment was internal. He saw himself falling continuously. And Rose found her dead brother’s record in the tower.
All signs lead to Deathstroke sneaking around spying on them but how? Part of me felt it could have been Rose but then she found the record and now I know that daddy dearest is messing with her too.
Deathstroke wasn’t kidding about this being personal. Dick went after his family so Deathstroke is now going after Dick’s. No one is safe. Not even in their tower.
Another Last Son of Krypton
Conner is still recovering from the kryptonite bullets but he’s fading fast. Kory has done everything she thinks she can but she doesn’t know how to save him. She quickly realizes he’s Kryptonian though when he speaks the dead language to her.
However, it’s not until Krypto brings Dr. Eve Watson to the tower that they figure out how to save Conner.
Eve tells Kory that he needs the radiation of the sun. Not at all shocking because that’s how Superman heals. Honestly, if Dick had called Bruce or Donna had called Diana, they could have figured this out pretty quickly.
They obviously can’t fly Conner to the sun but lucky for him, Kory has a pretty cool power.
With Rachel’s help in containing the blast, Kory uses the radiation from her powers to heal Conner completely. After that, Dr. Eve (or mom, as Conner likes calling her) exits stage right. The two share a heartfelt goodbye and I really hope it’s not the last time we see the good doctor.
Krypto and Conner are staying in the tower for now. I just hope they don’t keep his existence a secret for too long. We all know from past incarnations that Superman hates being kept in the dark about Conner. Plus Conner and Clark end up having a really great sibling relationship eventually. Don’t deny me the Super Bros, writers!
What’s next?
Now that Dick’s secret is out, the rest of the team is sure to find out. And they’re not going to like it. Obviously. They may even resent him and reject him as their leader after this. Either way, it’s clear that this is Dick’s way to hit rock bottom. And when you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up. Actor Brenton Thwaites has been teasing that Nightwing is coming. And we know from behind the scenes set photos that he’s coming soon. How soon, is still unclear but I know that I am not alone when I say that I cannot wait!
Highlights
- Bruce Wayne’s cabaret dance in Dick’s head. Classic. Iconic. Perfection. I hope there’s gifs of that on the internet soon.
- I love when we go inside Dick’s head. It’s fascinating. I wish they did it more often.
- Rachel’s learning to control her powers. Good. It’s about time.
- Kryptonian is a dead language? I mean, duh. But damn Kory! Soften the blow would ya!
- Is it me or is there sparkage between Kory and Conner? Just me? I don’t mind giving Kory multiple love interests. My girl is gorgeous and she deserves all the attention. Plus Dick’s been a jackass lately.
- Jason and Rose was a nice surprise. Their dance was surprisingly sexy. I say surprisingly because we’ve barely seen them interact with one another. Shouldn’t we have seen some more flirting before they kissed?
- I love how Bruce called Dick his son. And how he literally talked him off the ledge. What a great mental dad figure.
- I still don’t know that Deathstroke is in the tower. Maybe they meant that he had been there. Dick left the others kind of fast to run after Jason. Suddenly Deathstroke didn’t seem like such a priority. Maybe that was the point though. Character development is a beautiful thing.
- We’re finally going to find out what happened to Joey. Thank. God. I’ve been waiting an eternity for that.
- Also, do we know if Dick quit his job as detective or is he just on a really extended leave? Can anyone answer that for me? Please tweet me if you can! 🙂
A new episode of Titans is available to stream every Friday on the DC Universe app.