Barbara Gordon
Episode 1 of Titans Season 3 begins with Jason tracking down the Joker. He rings Bruce and tries to encourage a coup but Bruce is having none of it. Instead, Jason decides to head out alone. After what happened with Deathstroke, that definitely doesn’t seems like a good idea. “F*ck the Joker,” Jason rasps, donning his outfit and heading out to the amusement park alone. It doesn’t take long though for Jason to be knocked out and left at the Joker’s mercy. Meanwhile in San Francisco, a serum is concocted up in Dayton Labs. Nightwing, Gar, Kory and Conner are there though, and the group make short work of the armed goons. It also gives them an opportunity to show off their powers too. Even Krypto gets involved, barking at this supervillain Gizmo. Their victory is short-lived though when word of Jason’s issues in Gotham City break out. For now, we follow a delivery boy called Tim in Gotham as he heads back to work after an altercation involving two officers. Anyway, when he heads inside we learn Robin has actually died and although Joker has been brought back to Arkham, Jason’s death is a real shocker. It hits Bruce hard too, as Dick heads back to Gotham to see his old mentor. Apparently the funeral has already happened and Bruce had Jason buried next to Alfred outside. His nonchalant attitude certainly doesn’t sit well with Dick, who heads out into the City to see Commissioner Barbara Gordon. Dick’s worried about Bruce’s behaviour and believes this could well manifest in destructive ways. In order to quell any doubts, he convinces her to head over to the mansion that night. Bruce is more fixated on his work though or, as he calls it, a war. Barbara questions Bruce’s motives, calling him out for weaponizing the kids. In fact, she slams him for what happened to Jason and tells him there should be no more Robins. Before she leaves, Barbara drops the bombshell that Bruce is as crazy as the Joker. Given we saw Jason inhale that strange yellow liquid earlier in the episode, Dick goes searching for clues. He finds the chemistry set Jason has been using and even beats up a shady man who shows up sniffing around the warehouse. With a sample in hand, Jason heads back to Wayne Manor. While the compound composite is unknown, Dick does notice that Bruce is trying to recruit new kids to his cause on an adjacent monitor. Less than a week has passed and Bruce is already trying to find a replacement. Dick refuses to be Robin when asked and even tells Bruce to hang up his cape. Well, Bruce decides to hand over Gotham City to Dick and walks away. Back at Titans Tower, Kory ends up hallucinating which suddenly transports her out into a busy sidewalk. How? Well, that’s still unknown at this point.
The Episode Review
Titans roars back onto screens with a solid opening chapter and an enticing mystery to start things off. The deeper examination of Bruce Wayne and how he weaponizes his sidekicks is a fascinating concept and one that sadly wasn’t explored too much in the past few seasons. This time though, the focus is squarely on this and it makes for a really fascinating character examination. Some of the song choices for the montages are a little whack though, especially for Tim the delivery boy on his bike. However, it’s a minor point in what’s otherwise a pretty solid opener. This chapter actually does a pretty good job setting the scene for the show to follow. With three episodes available to watch right now, the stage is set for a much-improved third season. Let’s hope it stays that way!
