OK, we’ve got 3 episodes to cover to draw this season to close, kind of.
Hank and Dawn
I know Hawk and Dove were in an episode this season but dedicating an episode to their origin this late in the game feels like filler to me. Perhaps in the Netflix world where you can binge an entire series at once, this might not come across as much of an issue, but this was released as a weekly series in the US, and waiting an extra week to resolve a cliff-hanger is just not right.
And that’s my review of this episode, moving on…
OK, this is still a retrospective and I shouldn’t not cover
something just because it doesn’t matter, so let’s begin
Brothers Hank and Don Hall spend their first night as the original
Hawk and Dove beating on a someone who posted indecent images of children. He’s
not been co-operative with the police and can afford decent lawyers. They want
to persuade him to plead guilty. I’m not an officiate with the law in the US,
but couldn’t this effectively ruin the entire case. He shows up beat to sh*t
and says he’ll plead guilty because the bad men will come back, he’s deemed to
be acting under coercion and the entire case gets dropped.
Similar events happened in Daredevil s2. Worse still they’re
recording it, if they’re livestreaming it then there’s no doubt of coercion,
the idea of a fair trial after that would be laughable. I guess that’s a
problem other superheroes have too. In the present, Hank is watching Dawn as
she recovers in hospital.
Hank sneaks off and manages to steal some sleeping pills or
something from their drug cabinet. As he sleeps, he flashes back to a football
game in his youth. He’s congratulated by his coach, who is momentarily
interested in hearing the cheers of Don in the audience. He’s not happy when he
spots the coach talking with Don. He’s going to show Don the “weight room.”
Hank tries to intervene but when he swears, the Coach uses that against him,
threatening to have him and Don expelled. Hank says he’ll see the weight room
and is rude enough to his brother to get him to go home.
We’re thankfully saved from seeing what happens next, but
it’s fairly apparent that the Coach is a sexual predator. We cut what I presume
is 2010 because G6 is playing in the background. Anyone remember that song? Pop
music really evolved last decade. Hank is knocked out during a match, Don heads
over to make sure he’s OK but it’s suddenly transitions over to a party. How long did it take
to get there?
Hank is already celebrating his victory with beer. He passes
out and it’s revealed he’s been having migraines for several months. The Doctor
advises he stop playing and gives him pills the down the pain. Don calls the
athletics director and gets Hank benched for the playoffs, which has Hank
royally pissed off.
Their shouting annoys some of the others and Hank punches
one of them. Don and Hank then proceed to beat up everyone in the place for the
egregious crime of telling Hank to be quiet. Naturally they’re in deep sh*t for
this, Hank especially as the cameras show he started the fight. Don decides
enough is enough, and gets them both kicked out.
They head to the crummy little shack and as Hank is getting
some pills, Rachel appears in his mirror. This presumably didn’t happen then.
Anyway, Don is old and smart enough now to put 2-and-2 together as to what
happened in the ‘weight room’ I’m holding off quite a lot of negative thoughts
right now, which I will get to.
But one negative thought I will get to, that party wasn’t in
2010, we’re pre Hawk and Dove at this point which means it’s 2009 at the
latest. HOW F*CKING LAZY ARE THESE PEOPLE! G6 was released in 2010, I found
that out in a google search. It shouldn’t have been used. There are plenty of
other songs about getting drunk they could’ve used.
Anyway, Hank still needs an outlet for his anger, and now
Football’s no longer an option, Don has a suggestion, pointing out how their
neighbourhood is rife with child sex predators that have been put on list but
never formally charged. Rachel is continuing to try and call her, to no avail.
We now see a little of Dawn’s origin. She was a ballet
dancer and seemingly quite a popular one it seems. But her mother is the cause
for concern here, as she reveals after the performance that she’s heading back
into the arms of her abusive husband. Yeah, it’s one of those, she thinks she
can fix him scenarios and thank god they treat this like it’s a terrible idea. Seriously,
F*ck 50 Shades of Grey.
As they head off they bump into an overly excited Hank and
Don, who are way to vocal about their secret identities. Then the worst looking
accident in history happens. Seriously, that’s Birdemic level special effects,
Don and Dawn’s mother are killed instantly.
Hank and Dawn meet again at a therapy session. Both refuse
to talk to the group but meet again in the bar afterwards and they open up to
each other. Hank doesn’t show up to the next session, but Dawn opens up with
her frustration that there was no fault in the accident. Which seems odd given
the nature of the accident but whatever, maybe someone had a stroke.
“Life isn’t fair” is probably a bad thing to say to people
undergoing grief counselling. Hank meets her outside after the session and the
two get to know each other through their shared tragedy. And speaking of
tragedy, you can’t have a cream tea without clotted cream, what kind of messed
up place is this.
Dawn drinks and dines on ice cream at Hank’s place when she
inadvertently discovers his mask and costume. He shows her the footage of them
beating on the sex offender. She’s not put off in the slightest but presses
further, we’re again spared the details but it’s made clear this wasn’t just a
1-time thing. I will give my thoughts on this at length at the end. Dawn asks
if they ever went after the coach but Hank reveals that he didn’t.
Taking this matter into her own hands, Dawn finds a photo of
the creep in his yearbook and uses the computer to look him up. Dawn arrives at
his house with no real plan other than to tell him to confess. Dove is supposed
to be the smart one of Hawk and Dove right? And yes, she’s not Dove yet but
unlike in the comics, she doesn’t have any powers.
He pulls a gun and whilst she’s able to disarm him, he’s a
sportsman and isn’t a slouch in a fight. She puts in some pretty brutal moves
but it’s only when Hank arrives the tables are turned. He faces his coach and
punches him violently with the mask off. Hank, I predict jail time in your
future. Dawn finds further incriminating evidence against him as Hank continues
to beat him. You know what this calls for, sex. And luckily the electricity is
out or something as there isn’t enough light for us to see any of it.
After the trauma of that night, she’s ready to call it quits
with Hank that night but before that can be resolved Rachel invades the
flashback again and she wakes up. She tells Hank they need to find Jason Todd
because…
This was not an easy episode to get through. It was written
by Geoff Johns, a guy who, for all his many faults, lives and breathes comic
books. And so I have to ask, WHAT THE FLYING FUCK WAS THIS? Screw censoring it,
I HATE THIS ORIGIN FOR HAWK AND DOVE
Let’s start with the biggest issue. The focus on child
molestation. This isn’t explored in any meaningful capacity; it doesn’t inform
any attributes of the character in the present. It’s there because they’re an
adult show and they can get away with it, and that’s fucking disgusting. I’ve
not held back previous criticisms of embracing adult themes but this is a far
more sensitive topic and much more care should have been taken around it. It’s
the kind of care that rather puts it out of the realms of a superhero show, or at least a team show that can't laser-point its focus. Add
onto that the practically glanced over element of spousal abuse, and just why?
What purpose did that serve?
The problem isn’t just that though. We see Hank and Don’s differing
personalities but the fact is in some ways it doesn’t go far enough. Their
fighting styles are practically identical, in the few scenes we actually see of
them fighting. We don’t see enough of them in the superhero guises, their
dynamic as a duo is entirely missing, which lessens the impact of Don's death. And the dynamic between Hawk and Dove is
the most interesting bit about them. And this goes for Dawn as Dove too. We
don’t even see them fight in costume.
And what Rachel thinks Jason Todd is good for under these
circumstances boggles the mind, frankly.
Rating 1.5/10
Koriand’r
We open with Rachel in a hospital where everything seems to
be mirrored, she see Hank and Dawn in the bed and tries to contact them as her
world is engulfed in flames, didn’t say anything about Jason Todd though, I wonder... Kory
still has Rachel by the neck. Gar tries and fails to save her. Dick and Donna
arrive, Donna gives as good as she gets and
manages to knock Kory down a peg.
Rachel is badly shaken from it all, although when Kory
recovers she seems more akin to her normal self. She apologises to Rachel but
damage was already done, she heads off and Donna throws a tracker on her car so she and Dick can follow without being obvious. Angela tends to Rachel’s wounds
and Rachel says she should feel Kory’s desire to kill her, the first time she’s
had any kind of read on her at all. But there was definitely conflict within
her on this decision.
As Gar helps tend to Rachel, Angela hears a distorted screech
on the other end of a phone. Angela tends to the garden she sees an old friend
named Tommy Carlson. He’s a sheriff who had come to investigate the train
incident. He invites her on a date and she accepts, after having a couple of
days to get herself set up.
Rachel is blaming herself for what happened to Kory and
although everyone tries to comfort her, it’s not much use. Rachel tells Gar he can’t
stay as she ends up hurting everyone she gets close to. Angela tells her she
needs to hold onto the people closest to her, no matter what happens. Gar is
walking around the house, seeing family photos, but then sees himself with the
mirror, his mouth coated in blood.
Gar tries to call Dick but is interrupted by bad cell
service. The next time he hears the same interference Angela did and suddenly he
sees an apparation of the doctor he bit back at the asylum. Rachel apologises
for earlier but Gar gets a funny feeling in his stomach, a precursor of worse
to come.
Kory arrives at some abandoned warehouse, she’s gaining back
her memories but can’t make sense of them, she only knows that answers are
within. Incidentally, Dick and Kory gave up any notion of being subtle and
present themselves. When they enter the 3 of them are scanned by something,
which then decloaks to reveal a spaceship, Kory’s. They enter the ship
Back at the house, Gar is fast asleep. Rachel wonders
whether her powers might’ve cause that. Kory’s memories continue to return when
she discovers a book called Death of Worlds and we get a bit of an exposition
dump as to who Rachel actually is. Her father is the demon trigon, he destroyed
a world before but was pulled back into his own dimension, through his daughter
he can take place in this dimension permanently and will destroy, at the very
least, both Earth and Tamaran. They also discover that Angela was in league
with Trigon the whole time.
Gar has woken up, breathing heavily and coughing. RED ALERT,
QUARATINE THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY! He walks to the bathroom, and this time his
face in the mirror doesn’t seem to be coated with blood. He quickly faints and
Rachel is called to his side. They’re briefly interrupted by the return of
Tommy, giving some flowers as a housewarming gift. He sees Gar’s situation but
can’t use his mobile as it’s dead.
Donna reads more into the book and finds that Rachel may
also be the key to stopping Trigon but to do so she must complete the trials, a
400-day long set of challenges that no-one has ever survived. Sure, why not. Angela
kills Tommy to stop him making any calls for help. Rachel tries to heal Gar but
it isn’t working. Angela suggests that only her father has the power now to
save him, so she summons him.
Trigon manages to save Beast Boy and Rachel and they hug.
Rachel, Kory and Donna arrive to find the house encased in a barrier. Dick
manages to make it through but the others can’t. Trigon says he can’t ‘eat the
world’ until Rachel’s heart breaks. You had the opportunity to do that with
Gar, just sayin.
I’ll give the episode this, the plot is actually moving
again the pieces all move into place.
Rating 7/10
Dick Grayson
Not exactly a promising title for the season finale but
we’ll see.
We open with Dick enjoying some poolside fun in California,
he’s living in suburban luxury with his wife Dawn and a child, Johnny. Rachel
and Gar hold call in, they’re having fun in college together. Everything seems
idyllic. But this is Titans and we know that won’t last. And the fun stops with
the arrival of a wheelchair-bound Jason Todd, come to warn that Batman is in
trouble.
How did Jason end up in a wheelchair, about the way you’d
expect but for the first time ever he sounds… humbled? But Gotham has not
improved in the absence of Robin. The Joker abducted, tortured and killed
Commissioner Gordon and it’s the straw that killed the camel’s back, Bruce is
now dead set on killing the Joker. Jason wants Dick to convince him not to
because… I have no f*cking clue, this is Jason ffs. Humbled yes, but still
Jason
Oh by the way, another counter-argument to “Batman exists to
punish the guilty” if he is, why doesn’t he kill? The city’s out of good cops,
good options are dwindling and if Batman does this, he can’t go back. Dick
might be the only person he’ll listen to. With Dawn’s blessing, he heads back
into Gotham and he’s not wrong, Gotham has gotten worse. He checks into a
hotel, a rundown sh*thole that charges extra for clean sheets.
The new Commissioner decides to reverse policy on vigilantes
and retires the Bat-signal. Dick gets a call saying that Tommy has gotten sick
which is more than what Dawn can cope with right now. But just as Dick is about
to give up, there’s a domestic violence incident next door the cops respond to
amazingly quickly. He overhears them get a dispatch to a vigilante incident.
The Joker has been found dead.
I swear half the police force would be celebrating and the
vast majority at best indifferent. The guy killed a popular Commissioner and
probably a fair number of officers along the way. But apparently the Joker is
somehow still alive, wait, what? Dick heads to Wayne Manor and breaks in. He
unlocks the entrance to the Batcave. He tries to talk to Bruce but they haven’t
actually cast him yet so…
It’s revealed Bruce was indeed monitoring him on CCTV. Joker’s
on life support but he’s going to live, at least according to the FBI Agent
Kory Anders. She asks him what happens if Batman does go where he almost did.
As Kory tries to convince Dick to give up, we see another flicker as Batman
shows up, having finished the job with the Joker.
Dick takes out his frustrations on the wife-beater from
earlier. But it’s about to get a whole lot worse. Batman didn’t just stop with
the Joker, he took out all the major foes in Arkham. A few no-names as well, we
specifically see references to Two Face and the Ventriloquist, who have items
on their person they probably shouldn’t. But Batman didn’t stop with the
inmates, he murdered everyone in his path. Kory says he’s gone too far now and
can’t be saved.
Dick outs Bruce as Batman to the GCPD and with Kory’s help
they run an operation to storm Wayne Manor and bring in Bruce Wayne, alive if
possible. The siege begins as officers storm Wayne Manor. Dick guides them
around the manor’s defences and into the Batcave. But Batman get the stop on
them and soon they’re all dead or very badly injured. Kory comes in on her own
to see Batman’s stunt double. She prepares to fire, but he has Mr Freeze’s gun
which he uses to knock her down.
With all options gone, Dick orders the explosives detonated.
Dick walks through the ruins of the manor seeing Kory die and places his boot
on Batman’s neck, capturing him and killing him. Through that Dick has finally
given into the Darkness. This is all part of Trigon’s trap, and now Dick is
under his control. After some credits roll, we get a teaser as in Metropolis
subject 13 escapes Cadmus labs. Subject 13 then opens a cage, and recues a dog,
the dogs eyes glow red and we see subject 13 has a superman tattoo.
This isn’t a finale, and it was clearly not intended as one
either. It’s not even all that interesting either, we’ve seen this battle play
out multiple times already.
By the way, this isn't how Batman kills = him becoming a psychopath works, because it's really stupid. He kills the Joker, then he sets a bar from which he's willing to kill, and over time that bar lowers until every criminal passes that bar.
Rating 4/10
The actual finale we will have a look at next week, because
I have some choice words to say about that one.
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