TITANS s3e10: Troubled Water

 

TITANS s3e10: Troubled Water

“Oh, come on, Lydia!”

“You gotta be fucking kidding me!”

 

This one starts out great enough: Scarecrow and Jason rapport: check and wonderful (love these guys even if they are very, very bad). Jason seems to want to have returned to the Titans but why? To infiltrate them? Then, we have the Titans sort of working as a team to stop some of the manic people who drank the Scarecrow poisoned water AND Scarecrow announcing that Nightwing poisoned the water. Okay, so it stretches credibility that anyone that didn’t drink the water would believe that but let’s go with that for a minute. All of that plot works. People start dying. A great dilemma and wonderful scenario.

 

So what does this show do? Intersperse all of that with Donna taking a cab from the airport, walking on a road, fighting old lady Lydia and losing, and then being tested in yet another illusionary situation. This is not what this episode needed. It needed----if you’re going to bring back the liability that is Donna---Donna to be WONDER GIRL and get ready to kick ass and get to Gotham through the road block that the National Guard (didn’t they do this in GOTHAM the series, too?) put up around Gotham (no one gets in or out; nice guys the National Guard in the DC universe). Instead of that, we get Donna alone in the woods cursing and fending off more tests that she’s not some zombie. Are they kidding me? Stopping the main action dead.

 

On the plus side it is nice to see real life martial arts guy Ryan Potter as Beast Boy (well, he rarely changes despite having touched a bat in Wayne Manor) kicking ass and still being a nice guy. And it is refreshing BlackFire doesn’t kill people challenging Titans and calling Titans the villains. I also like the Connor tries to let the people know the truth (they don’t listen) and in funny fashion puts an infected man to sleep with his forefinger hit.

 

And Starfire saying that the people have been manipulated into hating them is …just wow. Bad. SHE was manipulated by Crane into opening up the water supply with one of her off track blasts. That led to them hating Titans. Starfire is becoming …no, IS, a liability now, too.

 

All of that said, this episode ends where it started, with the situation critical and another Titan plan going south thanks to…let’s all say it together, “A crooked cop” and then Blackfire turning back to her nasty self and leaving the gang, even Connor who promised not to abandon her but when a bullet bounces off him and hits her, she seems to just forget him, too. Donna does get into Gotham as does Rachel, in a welcome return. Oh, and we get to see Ryan Potter shirtless and well, WOW! He’s amazing all over.

 

In any case, this episode is not a bad one and has its moments. Everyone ends up still in trouble and probably even worse trouble now that Barbara’s fun assistant has to arrest her, Beast Boy (how long ago did we see the tiger?) has been shot by a dart but found by Raven, Blackfire leaves the gang, Starfire has to find the others, Scarecrow had taken up residence in Wayne Manor and rechristened it Crane Manor, Jason rips up Bruce’s family portrait (would BATMAN allow any of this, even while being suicidal?) and Dick and Connor find the best they can do is HIDE?

 

Better than last episode but lots of upsetting things. At least this shows the emergency won’t be settled easily and we DO see parts of Gotham in real trouble as well as many citizens going nuts and feeling the repercussions, even if we see it briefly, it works. Seeing someone want Krypto dead is startlingly upsetting but this episode is meant to be upsetting. With this being ep 10 and them having three more, I want to trust they will wrap this up nicely but this is TITANS so I’m not sure that will happen, for better or worse as a situation like this or rather situations like this can’t be wrapped up nicely or wrapped up at all and I think that’s the point of this storyline and maybe the entire series. Dick’s plans suck. I wouldn’t want him leading me.

 

I’m glad they were given three extra episodes this season and hopefully the ending will be kick ass and maybe there will be some emotion into it, more than this episode though here there is some (Molly trying to get Jason to leave Gotham was one really well acted and written scene!).

 

Better and worth the time.