Titans: the fourth and final season (TV series review).

I’m going to have to be careful of spoilers for the final season of the ‘Titans’. After all, they are off to Metropolis, so Conner Kent (actor Joshua Orpin) can meet one of his fathers, Superman, at the S.T.A.R. Labs. Unfortunately, Superman finds himself in space, rescuing a planet from the gravitational pull of a distant sun. Quite how they can see this in real time for Supes to get there in real time beats me. Even his telescopic vision must have some limits. The greater mystery lies in the fact that the Titans arrive in civilized areas, and the scientists are able to identify them.

Considering how Bruce Wayne distances himself from his Batman identity, the arrival of Dick Grayson (actor Brenton Thwaites) must be extremely disconcerting. Connor gets an invite to meet his other father, a bearded Lex Luthor (actor Titus Welliver), who originally cloned him, although Starfire does the checking out, happily demolishing his bodyguards first. Luthor explains he wants to hand Connor his business empire as he’s dying, although she and Robin think there is more to it than that. The truth is, Luthor also knows Superman is Clark Kent. While supervillains may not be as stupid as they used to be, they can still defeat or frustrate super heroes by revealing their true identities.

It’s also slightly weird that Conner Kent is taken into custody without being given his Miranda rights, let alone a lawyer. Conner Kent’s confinement area is made of green kryptonite, which not only poisons him but also controls his powers. Dick Grayson, an ex-police officer, should know all of this, but he doesn’t act on it.

Trigon claims to be a nice guy, despite his current snake-like nature, and he longs for freedom to roam the Earth. He has two offspring on Earth, but his focus is not on Raven, but rather on his son, Sebastian Sanger (actor Joseph Morgan). His mother, Mother Mayhem (actress Franke Potente), and her organisation want to transform him into his evil self, Brother Blood, and release his power. That’s basically the plot of the Who season.

The Doom Patrol has a guest appearance in two of the latter episodes. Oddly, apart from Cyborg and the absence of Elasti-Woman, The Doom Patrol resembles the Arnold Drake/Bruno Premiani version. I bring this up because their first episode concludes with a tribute to Grant Morrison, a significant turn of events not seen in their own series. Incidentally, since Cyborg has his mechanics in place, this probably fits in with Doom Patrol’s season 3 continuity.

There is an odd puzzle: how can Garfield Logan (actor Ryan Potter) be a vegan when he can turn into carnivorous animals? Turning into a virus does seem odd, so I wonder what he does with his mass, considering he only turned into a tiger in earlier seasons.

A significant portion of the previous season contains spoilers. I did wonder how Nightwing could take on Sebastian Sanger, considering how powerful he is. His twin batons would surely have carried the charge back to him.

Should they want another season, the Titans are easier to revive than the Doom Patrol. In the most recent season, their attire closely resembled that of their comic book counterparts, despite its briefness. I was a bit worried about the horn in the series because, obviously, the Americans don’t know its British usage. This is a musical instrument.

There are three extras. ‘Mystical Women’, which lasts just over 4 minutes, does what it says on the box: looks at the ladies from the actress’s point of view. ‘Welcome to Metropolis’, running for about 5 minutes, is a look at the new sets. It emphasizes its role as the beacon of light amidst Gotham’s darkness. The 3-minute film ‘Baptism of Blood’ centers on Sebastian Sanger/Brother Blood and the creation of the blood pool.

This season is likely the darkest yet, culminating in a complex finale before the epitaph, where the Titans decide to part ways.

GF Willmetts

September 2024

(pub: Warner Bros/DC Comics. 3 blu-ray disks 12 * 50 minute episodes with extras. Price: varies. ASIN: 8392981535)

cast: Brenton Thwaites, Mame-Anna Diop, Ryan Potter, Teagan Croft, Joshua Orpio, Curran Walters and many, many more.

check out website: www.dc.com