Titans – Blackfire review S3 E4
Blackfire ironically was Titans’ cool down episode after an intense first three episodes.
Titans’ wonky pacing flared up again here. Hank’s death understandably is hitting Conner and Dawn the hardest. Still, in this case it would have been better to see how that loss of a friend and teammate affected everyone.
Dawn admits she was to blame for Hank’s death and doesn’t want Conner blaming himself for it. Then Dawn rolls out to head to Paris for a life away from Dove.
Granted there probably wasn’t enough of Hank left to put into a casket, but would Dawn really leave before his funeral?
The mastermind behind all of this, who casually gets revealed in this episode, couldn’t have picked a better time to disassemble the Titans.
Ravager is gone. Donna got sparked out and Raven is trying to find a way to revive her. Jason was susceptible to being manipulated. Hank is dead and now Dawn is off the board too.
Now that does just bring the team back to the four that comprised the team running in San Francisco of Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy and Superboy.
The team is a little lean and it’s time for new members. It’s too bad Cyborg, Speedy and Kid Flash aren’t viable options. They’re some classic members that could lend some old school credibility to the team.
And not that we need another Robin, this is the third consecutive episode without even a small scene with Tim Drake.
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Dick breaks Crane out of police custody, infuriating Barbara since he didn’t share any of his plan. Crane is as cocky and mysterious as ever while Dick drives to a secret Bat Family hideout in the woods.
“I shouldn’t have been afraid of the wolf. The wolf should have been afraid of me” was a strong bit of dialogue and a warning in case Crane jumps in there.
Having time to think it over, Dick starts drawing the threads that Crane has been the culprit all along. The writing wasn’t as clear as to how Dick pieced all that together or why Jason sought out anyone.
Crane is happy to do a little villain monologue without spoiling his end game. Red Hood eventually does arrive leading to another solidly executed Nightwing vs. Red Hood fight.
Barbara is able to relay the coordinates of the Bat base and a sniper team fails at taking out Red Hood so Dick is back to square one — finding out how to stop Crane and Jason before he does anything worse. It was telling that just like Bruce, Dick’s immediate response to a dead friend is to get back on patrols. Maybe Crane was right?
Kory keeps sleepwalking and attacking poor Gar. On the plus side if the superhero gig doesn’t work out for him, he totally should go into the brick oven pizza gig. That looked good.
It was cool to see Kory in more of the Teen Titans Go Starfire attire this week. And it was nice that Kory had her own subplot this week. Those visions she’s having stem from the psychic bond she shares with her sister, Komandir aka Blackfire (Damarius Lewis).
Gar tries to have Kory chill in Batman’s sensory deprivation tank in hopes of freeing her mind to gain a location. Gar was everyone’s punching bag this episode. His good natured heart made it easy to laugh at situations like getting knocked out and stuffed in her trunk’s backseat. They do learn the secret of Kory’s visions — a hatch. Wait, wasn’t that supposed to be the big reveal for Season 2? Or is that just Lost?
Blackfire is imprisoned at a clandestine government holding facility under the watch of a scientist who fanboys out upon seeing Starfire and Beast Boy. The government’s concern about aliens taking over is probably valid since Blackfire’s first act was to kill a guy.
But there’s still something about a black woman just stuck in captivity the rest of her life even if she’s an alien. Blackfire doesn’t help her cause much by blaming Kory for her predicament. While Kory really considers leaving her, she goes back to break her out and place her in the Titans’ custody.
I like the idea of Blackfire turning on the Titans again and then sending her to Amanda Waller’s jurisdiction with the Suicide Squad.
Blackfire was set up as the buffer episode to cool things down a little. Enough happened so it wasn’t a total waste though the episode needed more of the team grieving Hank’s death.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Photo Credit: HBO Max
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