Anyone who watches the DC television shows on The CW knows that it’s their modus operandi to use established shows to launch their new series (i.e. Arrow spawned The Flash, which spawned Legends of Tomorrow, etc). So it should be no surprise that Greg Berlanti is doing the same thing here using TITANS to introduce DC Universe appears to the DOOM PATROL, and he does so in an awesome way.
However, this is still TITANS, and the story picks up right where episode #3 left off.
After escaping her imprisonment by the nuns in explosive fashion, Rachel has run into the woods where she encounters Beastboy in his tiger form. They both tell each other they’re not afraid of one another and he says he has somewhere they can go where she’ll be accepted. He takes her to a mansion where we’re introduced to the Doom Patrol.
The characterizations of Robotman, Elasti-girl, Negative Man, and the Chief are all very consistent with their comic book interpretations. The writers give each one of them equal screen time and allow us to connect to each one. Since this is basically the pilot episode for their show I feel like they pretty much hit the mark.
The relationship between Dick and Kory is growing as well. Their mutual interest in Rachel brings them closer to trusting each other realizing they both share the same interest in protecting her. We also get more insight into Dick’s demons. There’s a scene where he loses his cool and Kory has to stop him from going too far. He is clearly dealing with anger, something she senses and tries to get him to open up about.
However, this episode is mostly about setting up the Doom Patrol and it succeeds in doing that. While all of them are included the most intriguing character is the Chief. He’s a mad scientist who has saved each one of them in one way or another, but his motivations don’t seem genuine. I am going to assume going forward the series will continue to explore this more deeply.
Also, while the Chief is credited with creating the Doom Patrol he is also inadvertently responsible for the creation of the Titans.
After a climactic ending that isn’t to be missed, the rest of the team tells Beastboy he should go with Dick, Kory, and Rachel. This bothered me because up until this point I feel like Titans was well paced. This just seemed a tad rushed to get the four of them together.
That being said, this was another solid show and I am looking forward to watching BOTH teams going forward. – Eric Holzmann
