#441216
Dear Mr. Tufts, Kenneth,
It’s come to my attention/supposition that you haven’t been watching Titans. This would be moderately understandable in the States as it’s behind a paywall, but you are in Canada. If you’ve got Netflix, you set.
Yeah, I know, you’ve seen the trailer and were turned off by the “Fuck Batman.” Line. It plays better in the episode. Come to think of it, the trailer didn’t’ really do the series justice.
You’ll notice that they’ve removed the Teen from the title and it works really well, particularly with Dick Grayson. This isn’t Post Batman Robin, it’s Post Post Batman. He’s gotten his training, moved on and is trying to be his own person. The de facto leader of the group, plus the only one without obvious powers, he shines in this. Most familiar to mainstream audiences, he retains the tech and the training, but can’t escape Batman’s shadow. He’s a cop, but can’t shake his past. He broods a lot, but it works. He does get some genuine good moments that happen to him, but he has very much grown up.
It is to the production team’s credit that they don’t entirely dismiss Batman. He shows up as a stand in when we see pieces of Grayson’s past, but unlike Bruce falling down the well, we haven’t seen these scenes fifty billion times. It’s the most effective use of Batman in years, and he just stands there in the shadows.
They’ve removed the word Teen from the title, but that doesn’t mean that the cast is all thirty-somethings. Raven is going through normal orphaned teenage girl stuff, but she’s got this demon inside her. They duality is played a little one sided with her bad self coming out sparingly, but it is played well. Aside from her powers situation, you get a feel for her as a character. Bad things happen to her, both because of her power and otherwise. She may have a bit of Damsel syndrome, but she can handle herself.
The other half of the cast doesn’t come off so well. With Starfire, there is a certain aimlessness to her. She connects with Raven and eventually joins the team, growing into a mother figure, but for someone with amnesia who knows how to kick ass, she’s doing surprisingly little to find her origins. Yeah, they get the alien in, but she doesn’t do a whole lot beyond that. It’s played well, but it seems like the writers don’t know what to do with her.
We’ve seen the least of Beast Boy. Retaining his youthfulness, it’s as if the writers were including him due to contractual obligations. He shows up at the tail end of the pilot for all of five minutes to establish his powers, took time to join the team (because the script said so) and has the least control over his powers. He’s kind of just there. It’s telling that one of his best scenes is when the group happens to be in the same place at the same time but even then, he’s window dressing.
The show does an excellent job with the day players. We have Sympathetic Cop Who’s Really Evil and Overly religious Mom in the pilot and they sell their roles in spades. They appear only in that episode, but we got a very fleshed out Hawk and Dove plus a very fleshed out Nuclear Family. After years of the Arrowverse bringing in random duders of the week, this is refreshing. They are fleshed out and given stories. The Hawk and Dove dynamic is great and the Nuclear Family is just corny enough. This is a good use of digging deep into the DC vault.
Probably the best use thus far is the apparent backdoor pilot for the Doom Patrol. They get a lot of mileage out of these guys that we’ll see in their own series eventually, but it keeps them relevant enough to hold your interest. The guy with a metal face is especially expressive.
It’s not a perfect show, but it is worth your attention. It’s dark but not overly so and unlike the films, not too visually either. Greg Berlanti is involved as is Akiva Goldman and it takes the best of what they have to offer. Just give it a shot, even if it’s on while you’re cutting cards.
Sincerely,
Ross Fertel
It’s come to my attention/supposition that you haven’t been watching Titans. This would be moderately understandable in the States as it’s behind a paywall, but you are in Canada. If you’ve got Netflix, you set.
Yeah, I know, you’ve seen the trailer and were turned off by the “Fuck Batman.” Line. It plays better in the episode. Come to think of it, the trailer didn’t’ really do the series justice.
You’ll notice that they’ve removed the Teen from the title and it works really well, particularly with Dick Grayson. This isn’t Post Batman Robin, it’s Post Post Batman. He’s gotten his training, moved on and is trying to be his own person. The de facto leader of the group, plus the only one without obvious powers, he shines in this. Most familiar to mainstream audiences, he retains the tech and the training, but can’t escape Batman’s shadow. He’s a cop, but can’t shake his past. He broods a lot, but it works. He does get some genuine good moments that happen to him, but he has very much grown up.
It is to the production team’s credit that they don’t entirely dismiss Batman. He shows up as a stand in when we see pieces of Grayson’s past, but unlike Bruce falling down the well, we haven’t seen these scenes fifty billion times. It’s the most effective use of Batman in years, and he just stands there in the shadows.
They’ve removed the word Teen from the title, but that doesn’t mean that the cast is all thirty-somethings. Raven is going through normal orphaned teenage girl stuff, but she’s got this demon inside her. They duality is played a little one sided with her bad self coming out sparingly, but it is played well. Aside from her powers situation, you get a feel for her as a character. Bad things happen to her, both because of her power and otherwise. She may have a bit of Damsel syndrome, but she can handle herself.
The other half of the cast doesn’t come off so well. With Starfire, there is a certain aimlessness to her. She connects with Raven and eventually joins the team, growing into a mother figure, but for someone with amnesia who knows how to kick ass, she’s doing surprisingly little to find her origins. Yeah, they get the alien in, but she doesn’t do a whole lot beyond that. It’s played well, but it seems like the writers don’t know what to do with her.
We’ve seen the least of Beast Boy. Retaining his youthfulness, it’s as if the writers were including him due to contractual obligations. He shows up at the tail end of the pilot for all of five minutes to establish his powers, took time to join the team (because the script said so) and has the least control over his powers. He’s kind of just there. It’s telling that one of his best scenes is when the group happens to be in the same place at the same time but even then, he’s window dressing.
The show does an excellent job with the day players. We have Sympathetic Cop Who’s Really Evil and Overly religious Mom in the pilot and they sell their roles in spades. They appear only in that episode, but we got a very fleshed out Hawk and Dove plus a very fleshed out Nuclear Family. After years of the Arrowverse bringing in random duders of the week, this is refreshing. They are fleshed out and given stories. The Hawk and Dove dynamic is great and the Nuclear Family is just corny enough. This is a good use of digging deep into the DC vault.
Probably the best use thus far is the apparent backdoor pilot for the Doom Patrol. They get a lot of mileage out of these guys that we’ll see in their own series eventually, but it keeps them relevant enough to hold your interest. The guy with a metal face is especially expressive.
It’s not a perfect show, but it is worth your attention. It’s dark but not overly so and unlike the films, not too visually either. Greg Berlanti is involved as is Akiva Goldman and it takes the best of what they have to offer. Just give it a shot, even if it’s on while you’re cutting cards.
Sincerely,
Ross Fertel
New places for old(er) keywords: Continuing Mission
Cardassians and Federation posturing it out: Showdown: Four Lights
Cardassians and Federation posturing it out: Showdown: Four Lights
- By Mugato
- By GooeyChewie
- By jadziadax8
- By Enabran