TV Review: Titans Season 3 Is So Good, You Need HBO MAX
Premiering August 12, watching Titans Season 3, was soooooo good, in part, because it is its best season yet. Titans has always thrived on the charm of its potential; mixing in intriguing episodes and characters with a tone that, at times, could feel too serious or noir. Yet, there was always one character that felt really layered and a humorous anchor through it all: Jason Todd (Curran Walters). With an adaptation of Death In The Family amidst, Jason Todd’s story takes a red-hooded twist that makes Titans’ return a worthy reason to subscribe to HBO Max.
HBO Max is KILLING IT with originals and movies that make its 14.99 a month subscription feel worth it, especially if you are a DC fan. For many, Titans felt like the “little engine” we knew could be a much bigger one, and this season is a fascinating watch, in part, because Red Hood’s character it the piece of dynamite this show needed to make us really care for its complexity. Don’t get me wrong! The cast is phenom, and, if you know the comics, you understand why Brenton Thwaites perfect portrayal of Nightwing hates Iain Glen’s suave Bruce Wayne. Yet, it is only in Season 3, particularly through flashbacks of Jason Todd and more conversation clashes between Dick Grayson and the retired Caped Crusader, that we understand their frustration: he is the most caring dad to treat his sons so coldly.
The family dynamic between the Titans is played up to new levels, and, frankly, I appreciated it. Connor (Joshua Orpin) and Gar (Ryan Potter) add a comedic, brotherly relief that breathes some light-heartedness to the series’ most violent season. BLOOD WILL BE SHED as the team returns to Gotham, and tries to reanalyze why, for being each other’s family, they can push each other away. This feels potent in the “Rachel-Ross” dynamic of Hawk (Alan Ritchson) and Dove (Minka Kelly), as we flashback and get to know the welcomed addition of Batgirl ( Savannah Welch), and the inclusion of the fierce Starfire’s (Anna Diop) mutually regal sister: Blackfire (Damaris Lewis).These are just a few of the “your toxic, but I love you” relationships making the series feel like an overall culmination that family gets you in trouble as much as it feels like your relief from it.
Just a few episodes in, I could easily binge-watch this season again and again, especially as it will dive into Donna Troy (Conor Leslie) and Raven’s (Teagan Croft) mysterious getaway to “fantasy island” and promises to develop a Tim Drake (Jay Lycurgo) storyline. Moreover, Vincent Kartheiser’s Scarecrow is the Hanninal Lecter proto-type this generation deserves; delivering a cool, calculatedly evil performance that makes you very worried for Gotham’s future. Yet, the season is anchored by the Red Hood-Nightwing-Batman dynamic, of which I could not get enough of. Honestly, if the scenes were only between Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, and Bruce Wayne’s “daddy-brother” issues, I would have happily grabbed my joy and some popcorn. Still, there are enough surprises, fatalities, and “F**k You’s” to mark Titans Season 3 as the show finally achieving its proper stride.
