It seems fitting that we’re in the Halloween season and the title of the episode is a common horror movie trope, but it is a perfect description of what happens in “The Call Is Coming from Inside the House”.
The “house” here is representative of the personal demons our heroes and villains face. The focus here is mostly on Dr. Crane/Scarecrow (Vincent Kartheiser) and Kory/Starfire (Anna Diop) as we are taken on a journey into their minds.
With Crane and Jason/Red Hood (Curran Walters) now inhabiting Wayne Manor, they finally venture into the Batcave where we see Crane making himself rather comfortable. In an odd choice, he uses the Batcomputer to find out what Batman thought of him and it turns out it wasn’t much. Infuriated by the news, Crane begins to self-destruct in a brutally vicious fashion as the inner voice of his mother taunts him about it.
Jason on the other hand has fully embraced the Red Hood (again) and calls out (again) to Dick/Nightwing (Brenton Thwaites) to meet him so they can finally confront each other (again) and end things once and for all. I honestly hope they do because in a season where everything has been mostly strong this part of the story has dragged on.
It has been fun this season to watch the growth of most of the Titans, but the one character who hasn’t grown much at all is Dick Grayson. I am not sure if it is because he is supposed to be the steadying influence for the team but I feel like he’s the same character now that he was at the end of season 2. He is supposed to be the star of the show but I find him to be less and less interesting. He does, however, have very heroic moments in this episode and shows the leadership he has displayed all season.
As much as I am disappointed in the evolution of Dick Grayson I am equally as excited about the growth of Kory/Starfire. Her character has undergone a big transformation from the one we met back in season 1 and we have learned more and more about who she really is. “The Call Comes from Inside the House” gives us the final piece to that puzzle by giving us a payoff to the visions Kory has been having all season long. Show writer Stephanie Coggins crafted a beautiful story around Kory’s young life on Tamarind juxtaposed to that of a single mother caring for her child on Earth. It’s one of the strongest moments of the entire series and one I really enjoyed watching.
Reunions are ongoing with the rest of the Titans. Rachel/Raven (Teegan Croft) and Gar/Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) have joined forces to search for the Lazarus Pit that Crane used to resurrect Jason. We once again see Rachel’s powers take center stage and she again shows she is not one to be reckoned with. Donna/Wonder Girl (Conor Leslie) finds Tim (Jay Lycurgo) while she is trying to locate the Titans. Tim tells her what’s going on in the city and decides to help her. How he helps her is one of the cooler reveals of the show and gives us further insight into how Tim knows everything he knows.
“The Call Comes from Inside the House” seems to be a divisive episode for TITANS fans, but I really enjoyed it. I felt like every character had a chance to shine and the execution was clean and concise. There are no wasted scenes and it once again raises the stakes for our heroes. With only two episodes left in season 3, we once again will wait and see if TITANS can do something they’ve yet been able to do: stick the landing. I know I keep bringing that up, but it is really the only question I need to be answered in what has been a very strong season. – Eric Holzmann
