Titans - "Trigon" - Episode 12 Review
Titans are back and so am I. I've been traveling the known and unknown universes picking up intergalactic bounties on some nasty space baddies and I plumb near missed the premiere of our favorite DC Universe show. Much apologies. We've got a lot to catch up on so lets dive right in....
First off lets recap. The season finale for last years Titans did not suit me well and boy am I glad we're moving on to other storylines. The end.
We begin in the living room with a most awkward family reunion. Daddy Trigon, in human form, won't release Dick from his thrall? and that upsets Rachel to the point where she turns and unleashes Venom on her Dad but Daddy's not having any of those shenanigans. He cancels out her attack and tells her she's grounded, no more magic. He lays out how all of last season was set up for this exact moment, his arrival and the downfall of the world as we know it always being the master plan. Rachel begs for Dick to be let go but Daddy tries to explain how murdering the world is actually helping the world and for some strange reason Rachel doesn't buy it. And thankfully neither does Gar. Bam! Perfect timing to save us from that scene and the monologuing as Gar grabs Rachel and runs off with her. Trigon sends possessed Dick after the pair and then looks up at his beautiful wife and assures her that Rachel's heart will break and all will be alright. Roll Title Card
Inside Wayne manor Jason Todd is hilariously riding his motorcycle and crashing his motorcycle as Hawk and Dove look on. They meet, explain who they are, and tell him Rachel sent them to find him. She needs their help. In a nice name drop Jason explains Bruce is halfway around the world with the Justice League, Alfred too, so he's all they get. They try to blow him off but he tells them that Dick has another secret, convenient, tracking device implanted in him that he can use the Batcomputer to locate him. Hawk and Dove reluctantly allow the brash youngster to tag along.
Kory and Donna are still outside Trigon's invisible barrier and Kory blasts at with her alien fire until Donna gets her to give it up. They bicker and argue and posture and almost fight until Hank and Dawn and Robin show up. They explain to Donna he's the annoying new Robin and she bluntly tells them Kory is an alien. She brings them up to date on the space demon Daddy. OK we're all caught up. I like the quickness. Best line...."kid should've asked us to get fucking Superman." Nice Hank.
Gar and Rachel run through the Trigon funhouse until Dick corners them and begins to smash his way to them in his best Jack Torrance imitation. Trigon lets the other Titans in through the force field and more mind games begin. And I'm sorry but I couldn't help but notice they left their truck's lights on. Hope they can get AAA all the way out on the demon farm.
First off is Kory's storyline. Rachel begs her to kill her and she gets talked into it. The green eyes flare, she punches Gar and then she flames Rachel to death! But of course not really, its only a dreeeeeeaaaaaamm. And now she belongs to Trigon. Next up Donna watches a vision of herself as a young girl, walking with her Dad, getting some ice cream from a smiling Trigon. Big Donna recognizes the day and after her father is killed in a fiery explosion she tosses the firebug arsonist who was responsible out a window! Nice evil revenge Donna! As a reward you get possessed by Trigon, thanks for playing. Jason finds himself in a collapsed Batcave with Batman dead on the floor. Dick is there and tells Jason he needs to be put down, just like Batman. It's on. Robin versus Robin. Dick kicks his ass around a bit, monologuing as he does until Jason turns the tables and gets a hold of the gun that killed Bruce's parents. Jason of course keeps it loaded and puts a bullet into Dicks head. Welcome to team Trigon! Hank and Dawn are now drug addicts who get their smack from Trigon and Bam! two more for the team.
The evil squad gathers and threatens the captured Gar and Rachel. The final betrayal begins and the squad starts to beat Beast Boy down. Like hard. Like he owed them money. Dick walks over and messes with Rachel by picking Gar up and tossing him against the wall. This displeases her greatly so when she screams at her father, even though she should have no magic, she breaks the mirrors and glass in the room. Daddy still says no to saving Gar and tells Rachel she's bad to the bone just like him and that she's the reason her friends are murderers. He tells her this breaks her heart and he pulls a Temple of Doom and pulls her heart right out of her chest. Trigon transforms the bloody dripping thing into a crystal as he reveals his true, four eyed form. He shoves the crystal into Raven's forehead giving her incredible power. She rises up, under his control. Demon Daddy heads outside, snaps his wife's neck, and begins his ravaging of our world.
In the best moment of the episode so far, a green snake slithers silently along the floor. OOOOoooohhhh our boy Gar is still alive and kicking! In snake form no less! After transforming back into human form he takes Rachel's hand and through the magic of friendship he brings her back from the darkness. She decides to try and reach Dick so she plunges into his nightmare to talk. He stays bad so she sets up a dream within a dream. She pulls the old family circus trick and he falls for it, catching her at the last minute, saving her dream life. Cheesy, but nice. Back in the real world Dick wakes up and Rachel heads outside to chat with her father. She powers up and unleashes her black cloud monster on Daddy, nuking him back to wherever he was before without him even so much as throwing a punch. Of course the others snap out of their walking nightmares and Rachel catwalks out of the smoke with another new look. She and Dick hug it out as the others look on. Then in a super short scene that only exists for one reason, Jason reveals to the world that the Titans are back.
Later on a dirt road the Titans chit chat, make up, and head in their separate directions and THANKFULLY the Trigon era comes to an end. Dick takes Jason, Rachel, and Gar with Kory heading off with Donna. Something tells me they all might be seeing each other again sometime soon.
Deep in the woods and off the grid, someone who could only be the one and only Deathstroke!! takes a hobo shower. He heads to general store to get his fancy tea and sees a news report on tv. It is showing the footage from the Trigon farm and reveals Jason announcing the re-emergence of the Titans. This shocks Deathstroke and he leaves the store and the tea behind. At a different location Deathstroke and an employee? walk through his house until they get to the weapons vault. There an assortment of weaponry that would make John Wick proud is on display but the men stop and stare at the true special item in the room. Deathstroke's uniform. Awww damn, those brats are in trouble. Here is revealed one of the comic book Teen Titans greatest villains. Someone who has a long history with the group. Fun fun fun.
Dick goes to see Batman! And it's Ser Jorah! Sweet! Dick clears the air and discusses his darkness and his therapist Trigon helping him move beyond it. He brings up San Francisco and putting the Titans back together. Batman agrees but only if he brings Jason with and he sands down some of Jason's rough edges. They head to the bay area and take residency in a fancy new apartment where Gar imagines all the other Titans there with them, in costume. Jason checks out the gym while Rachel is awed by the view from Teen Titan Tower window. And with that a new era of Titans has begun.
I really enjoyed the first season of Titans and was very disappointed by the season finale. It felt like they had overreached. Trigon is a huge multi-dimensional threat, like a serious Justice League level villain. With the DC Universe budget limitations on the show though, inevitably all of the end game just felt like a let down. It was a good decision to quickly wrap up the Trigon story line half way through the second season's first episode. This way they can get to all of the new juicy Tales that they can draw upon from the comic books. It's definitely a positive sign with the addition of other Titans and Deathstroke that we are going to get some awesome comic book story telling. Which is definitely what we signed up for.
