Five years in the future from the majority of the show's events and Dick is living a happy domestic life in California. He has a son, John, with Dawn who is heavily pregnant with another baby. Rachel and Gar call home from university. Jason Todd arrives after this, now paraplegic. Jason is happy for Dick to have achieved this domestic bliss and shares how he got too cocky in a mission against the Riddler and some of his men in a robbery. The Riddler shot a gun that injured Jason's spine and now he is in a wheelchair. Jason goes on to share how Jim Gordon is now dead, having been killed by the Joker. Now Bruce is determined to kill the Joker, having gotten worse since Alfred has also died. Jason implores Dick to return to Gotham, believing he is the only one that can convince Bruce not to do it. Dick is reluctant to go but after talking it over with Dawn, she convinces him to do it.

Dick returns to Gotham and is taken aback by how far the city has fallen. He stays in a bad motel and intervenes when a case of domestic violence breaks out in the room next door to him. He is shocked when another call comes through and the Joker is found murdered in cold blood by Batman. The lead detective on the case is suspicious of Dick and wants him to offer further information on how to bring Batman in. Dick is preparing to leave when the Joker jolts up and is revealed to actually still be alive, barely. Dick decides to return to Wayne Manor and try to reason with Bruce.

Dick sneaks into Wayne Manor and Bruce won't talk to him but listens while Dick gives a speech about being in a dark place and finding his way out because a kid needed him. Dick says it's not too late for Bruce to find his way back since Joker isn't dead, before leaving Wayne Manor once more.

Dick goes to the hospital to check on Joker and is reunited with Kory, who now works for the FBI. Batman then arrives at the hospital and kills Joker. Dick is horrified and calls home to Dawn to tell her what has happened and is jealous when he learns that Hank has come over to help Dawn paint the new nursery, something Dick had promised to do when he returned home.

Kory calls Dick to tell him to come to Arkham Asylum. Batman has attacked and killed practically every patient and staff member there. Feeling he has no other choice, Dick decides to reveal Batman's true identity to the police so he can be brought in before anyone else gets hurt. Dick works with the SWAT team set to raid Wayne Manor and speaks over the intercom to try to reason with Bruce so no one else gets hurt. But Bruce kills all of the officers in the raid, including Kory.

Dick orders the explosives to be set off, destroying Wayne Manor in the process. Dick goes into the rubble and finds Batman still alive but trapped in the debris. Dick kills him.

In the present, Dick is revealed to be trapped in darkness created by Trigon's power. Everything that happened in this prior storyline was a fantasy Trigon concocted to get Dick to embrace his inner darkness that he has long since struggled with. Dick's eyes have a dark marking branching out from them, showing his entrapment.

Some later in Metropolis, a man known has "Subject 13" has a tattoo of the Superman logo. He had been trapped in a some sort of containment chamber in a laboratory but has broken out. He frees a Laboratory Retriever from its own containment chamber. The dog's eyes glow red.

"Titans" airs on Fridays on DC Universe.

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Donna arrives in time to save Rachel from being killed by Kory, who seems to come out of whatever state she was in that caused her to attack Rachel in the first place. She leaves the house, and Dick and Donna follow her outside. She admits she's starting to remember and get into a truck to drive off. Dick and Donna follow her to an abandoned warehouse.

Rachel feels guilty for seemingly having done something wrong to trigger such a violent reaction from Kory. Gar tries to reassure her but she lashes out at him due to her volatile and vulnerable state. Angela encourages Rachel to hold on to the connections she makes with loved ones, prompting Rachel to reach out to Gar and apologise. He is shaken by some strange and ominous apparitions he is seeing in and around Angela's house.

Dick and Donna arrive after Kory at the warehouse where they all discover a spaceship that uncloaks itself for Kory. Her full name is Koriand'r and she is originally from the planet Tamaran. She was sent to Earth on a mission to destroy Rachel before she can trigger the destruction of Earth and Tamaran. Rachel's origins are finally revealed, as her father Trigon is a being from another dimension who devours worlds. Rachel exists as Trigon's doorway back to Earth's dimension but also as a potential means of destroying him. Dick, Donna, and Kory surmise that Angela has been working with Trigon this entire time.

Gar collapses from his sicknesses caused by the apparitions. He is dying and Angela convinces Rachel to summon Trigon in order to save him. All of this is done after Angela murders a local sheriff that had come over for a date. Trigon heals Gar and tells Angela that they will only be able to start destroying the world after Rachel's heart breaks. Dick, Donny, and Kory make it back to the house but encounter a mystical barrier around it that only Dick can go through.

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Hank sits with Dawn in the hospital while she is still in a coma. He reflects back on his childhood in which he tried to save his little brother Don from being sexually abused by the football coach. When the coach manipulated and blackmailed Hank by threatening to get both of them expelled, Hank lashed out at his brother to make him leave so that he could be the one abused instead.

When the brothers got to university, they got into fights on campus until they were kicked out. They decided to become vigilantes together and began to target sex offenders when they discover the high number of them living in their neighborhood.

While Dawn is in a coma, she recalls her earlier life during which she was a ballerina. This was also the last time that she saw her mother alive. Hank and Dawn met when they accidentally bumped into each other on the street and almost immediately after this a car crashed right by them and both Don and Dawn's mother were killed in the freak accident. Hank and Dawn continued to get to know one another as they are both part of the same grief counseling group.

As the two get closer through their shared grief, Dawn eventually accidentally discovers that Hank and Don were vigilantes. She does not judge him for it and he opens up to her about the abuse he faced as a child by the school football coach. Dawn leaves and goes after him and orders him to confess. He threatens her at gunpoint and the two beat each other up until Hank arrives. When Dawn finds child pornography on the man's computer, Hank tells her to leave so he can finish the job. Later that night, Hank and Dawn sleep together for the first time.

While both of these memories are unfolding, Rachel is trying to reach both of them to call for help. Dawn wakes from her coma because of Rachel's calls and she wakes a sleeping Hank to say that they need to find Jason Todd in order to help Rachel, despite neither of them knowing who Jason Todd is.

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This week's episode presents reuninns and revelations that will threaten the very bond that has been forged among the Titans. Rachel, Kory and Gar go with Angela by train in search of a house she own in Ohio that they will use as their new home base since their previous one was being used under shaky circumstances.

While on board, Kory gets into a tussle with a stranger making eyes at her. She is suspicious of his motives, despite his claims that he was only checking her out for being attractive. She is later proved correct when he is revealed to be an agent that calls in for back-up from other law enforcement that raid the train to apprehend Kory as she is wanted for previous crimes. Once again her powers prove beneficial and through some serious fire power and explosions, the gang escapes.

Meanwhile, Dick is reunited with an old friend, Donna Troy. They are shown to have met while both serving as sidekicks to members of the Justice League. While Dick had his tumultuous relationship with Bruce Wayne, Donna was aiding Diana Prince. The reunion offers a bit of levity to Dick after the traumas of last week's episode in the abandoned asylum. But more importantly, Donna is able to translate a text that Dick had photographed in Kory's storage unit which reveals that the ancient language used had shown Kory's mission to be that of killing Rachel.

Rachel gets to safety with Kory and Angela and offers to use her growing powers to help Kory work on retrieving her memories. But the session quickly turns south because as a flash of memory returns, Kory is prompted to grab Rachel by the throat. It's a fascinating direction for the show to take and how it plays into the dynamic of memory and identity. Is the real Kory the motherly figure that looked after the other Titans, or the hired killer tasked with murdering Rachel? How will her relationships with all of the Titans be effected moving forward?

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If you thought "Titans" was dark and violent before, you haven't seen anything yet. But beyond the physical violence, this is an episode that digs deeper into the psychological traumas of both past and present.

When Adamson slashes his own throat to literally force Rachel's hands so that she can use an empathic aspect of her powers to heal him. Dick and Kory are still the concerned parental figures and will not allow Rachel to be toyed with that easily. It's a dynamic that will be put to the test once the Titans head to an old asylum that is said to hold Angela Azarath, Rachel's birth mother.

Once the Titans have been captured, each is subjected to severe means of torture, except for Rachel who is being pressured by Adamson to summon her father. Rachel instead opts to undo the magic she used to save him, re-opening the throat wound so he bleeds to death.

There's a series of highs and lows with the emotional well-being of the Titans. Rachel's ongoing battle between her own morality and how it intertwines with her powers is even more significant to her story. The most important part of this story is not about a simple resolution to what side she will choose, but that she is able to learn to claim and maintain her own autonomy.

Dick's unresolved traumas are violently brought to the forefront when he is subjected to considerable means of torture. With only Rachel's pleas being able to bring him back from what a borderline catatonic state, the writers have presented the depth of this connection that has formed in the team members. It's something that will be particularly important in moving forward now that Gar is shaken to the core over having killed one of the asylum doctors that had been coming after them. Previews for next week show Dick opting to push the team away, indicating that despite the bond that has been forged among them he has much to learn about how to cope with having a family after being without one for so long.

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In true "Titans" form, the character focus has shifted once again. As the show and DC comics in general has a wealth of characters to work with, the evershifting content keeps the viewing experience dynamic and the world-building fresh. Jason Todd is the new Robin and the contrasts between him and Dick are repeatedly highlighted. Where Jason loves being Batman's sidekick, Dick takes a knife to his own arm to dig out a tracking device he didn't realise Bruce had put into him. Dick has taken up job as a police officer, whereas Jason's disdain for cops is so severe that he brutally beats up a batch of them at the episode's conclusion. This difference in philosophies speaks to a deeper and nuanced exploration of the Robin mythology. 'Robin' is not just one person, just as each of the DC characters are not obligated to exist as fixed entities, given the constant re-telling and new stories that have been created for them over the years.

What Jason Todd brings to the fold in relation to Dick is a contrast to what had otherwise been a darker live-action interpretation of the character. Dick has continued to grapple with the traumas of his past and the lack of health coping mechanisms. But having found a new family (albeit reluctantly) in the Titans, already he is starting to evolve and grow in his emotional development and maturity. From his private conversations with Kory, to the paternal care-taking energy he displays towards Rachel and Gar, the development of his character is truly picking up steam. Having explored more of his past, from his childhood to his time with Batman, now is the time for the show to jump back into the group dynamics. Based on previews of next week, it seems like this iconic foursome will have some serious foes to face off against together. We can't wait!

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Just as "Titans" hits the midway point of its premiere season, the episode title "Together" seems more relevant than ever. Not only have this iconic foursome finally met up, they have decided to work together as a team against the foes that are coming after them. Dick quickly assumes the position of team leader despite his reluctance to outright state that they are in fact a team. He has each of the supers show what they can do, from the fire-power that only works at night, the shapeshifting that requires nudity lest you ruin your clothes, and the power of unbridled darkness.

From these rough beginnings the writers are establishing a place from which to grow. It's not until the episode's conclusion that Dick reveals that he is Robin and what he is capable of in a fight. It's endearing how excited Gar gets, instantly recognizing him and afterwards asking if they will ever get to meet Batman, serving as a relatable perspective to the audience that is just as excited and curious.

The Nuclear Family attacks for one final time and goes down when Robin rises to the occasion to take them out. Unfortunately for the newly formed Titans there is no significant opportunity to extract information from or leverage back The Nuclear Family since the explosive implants in their heads are set off by their handler, Dr. Adamson whom Dick personally confronts. In a shocking turn of events their battle is interrupted by the arrival of the new Robin who takes out the other men and introduces himself to Dick.

There's many highlights of this episode, including the strengthening of not only the team's bond but the respective pairings of Rachel and Gar, and Dick and Kory. Gar and Rachel's relationship doesn't necessarily point towards a romantic pairing just yet but the possibility isn't gone either. What's especially important for them is their ability to help one another not only as super beings but as young adolescents trying to make sense of the nature of the world and their place in it. Dick and Kory's connection takes a far steamier turn and the unresolved conclusion following their consummation leaves things wide open for both their emotional and physical bond to be further explored in the future.

The action is better than ever, though it seems as if the stunt crew is just getting started since the Titans themselves have yet to figure out a cohesive way to work together, or in some cases to even manage their own abilities at their highest capabilities. The pacing is also great in regards to introducing new characters. There's enough to keep things exciting, particularly for the fans of the comics who will have a number of characters they're eager to see brought into the fold, but not so significantly as to derail from the main focus of the series, which is the lead four characters. The new Robin's surprise appearance is a perfect cliffhanger, and has us more enticed than ever to tune in next week!

"Titans" airs on Fridays on DC Universe.

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Now is where the fun begins. Dick and Kory are delving further into parental territory as they work together to track down Rachel's whereabouts. Upon encountering Gar in the woods after escaping the convent, Rachel goes with him to the home of Dr. Niles Caulder ("The Chief") who has set up a band of mutated residents in a luxurious hidden estate. Rachel is fairly unphased by Gar's shapeshifting ability, as he reveals his ability to turn into a green tiger.

At the house, Rachel meets Cliff Steel ("Robotman"), Larry Trainor ("Negative Man"), and Rita Farr ("Elasti-Woman"), all of whom have strange and interesting appearances and abilities that require them to stay hidden away from general society. Gar on the other hand can seamlessly go in and out of town as he pleases, since the only thing striking or unusual about his appearance in his human form is his green hair. Rachel bonds with the other housemates but it's Caulder who poses the greater threat to her well-being, as he is quickly intrigued by her powers to the point of wanting to experiment on her just as he had the other residents of his house.

Though Gar's origin is somewhat explained in this universe, it still begs the question of why a young boy like him would have been in the Congo and in the position to contract a strange disease that would require him to be treated with the strange serum that gifted him his shapeshifting abilities. Perhaps it's something that will be further explained this season, or even in a second season if the show is renewed.

The greatest theme that begins to emerge in this episode that will likely be a force across the rest of the series is found-family. Despite Dick and Kory, and Rachel and Gar having only just recently met each other the power of their connections to one another is crucial to the stories told in this episode. Kory pulls Dick out his darkness while Gar being threatened is cause for Rachel's darkness to emerge. This also marks the first time that we've truly seen Dick's darkness emerge when he's not in the Robin suit. There seems to be a clear line he's drawn in order to compartmentalise his trauma, in which he lashes out his anger and unresolved issues when he is fighting crime as Robin. But his fractured separation conveys the depth of his concern for Rachel's well-being, foreshadowing the formulation of the Titans team. Additionally, Kory's quick ability to read into Dick's behaviour presents the ease with which these two have synched their wavelengths. All these deep connections on description alone may seem hasty but the performer and filmmakers have done more than enough to make these developments translate as organic and authentic when the final product is presented.

"Titans" airs on Fridays on DC Universe.

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In this latest episode of "Titans" Kory finally meets some other members of her eventual squad. First up is Rachel, whom she rescues from the clutches of the evil Nuclear Family. The two end up back at a convent where Rachel had previously stayed though she doesn't recall much about the place. Memory loss and memory recollection is recurring theme, as Kory continues to struggle with filling in the missing pieces of who she was and how she came to be on this search for Rachel. Dick is also repeatedly flashing back to his time as a lost orphan taken in by Bruce Wayne.

These flashback sequences offer a more artistic neonoir flair on top of the deeper character exploration. Dick was a difficult and troubled adolescent prone to rebelling, though Bruce doesn't appear to be the type to keep him on a tight leash. Then again the flashbacks have yet to explore the indoctrination into vigilantism.

Though Rachel finally meets Garfield Logan, it's just a brief and sweet flirtation at an arcade. Once Dick shows up, the good times are over since he wants to take her back into safe custody after her kidnapping. It's quite the picture as Dick and Kory are already inching towards a parental-like role for the tormented Rachel as she lashes out with her dark powers and demands to be brought back to the convent. There's still no sign of further integration of Gar into the group but his introduction gives Teagan Croft her first chance to show the other side of Rachel's youth. She's not merely a tormented orphan, but a young girl who should be free to play arcade games and flirt with cute boys.

Dick's conversation with Rachel in the church following her outburst is an important dialogue, as it presses Dick further down the path of assuming a greater role of responsibility. But the question remains as to whether Dick will be able to do a better job helping a young orphan than Bruce Wayne did for him, given that Bruce was unequipped to teach anyone what healthy coping mechanisms are following a major trauma.

Rachel's story is particularly tragic, as the sisters at the convent opt to lock her in the basement after Dick and Kory leave. Dick had followed Kory who had stolen his car and gone off to a warehouse where she is able to finally get an insight into who she was before and what she was doing. There's a bunch of research that she had been digging into regarding doomsday prophecies. A Russian trafficking ring had supplied Rachel and her mother with new last names and Kory's research is what lead her to Rachel and to learn about a prophecy involving an apocalyptic "raven".

Once Rachel has been imprisoned, her dark self re-manifests and lashes out to cause an explosion which allows Rachel to escape from captivity. Though Rachel has been put in a position of feeling alone, it's interesting to see how the show has ben gradually weaving threads through the different characters as they are brought together. Rachel and Dick are able to connect through both the dreams she's had of him before they met and their shared loss and trauma from a young age. Kory has an unintentionally maternal aspect about her in how her protective nature towards Rachel, such as sending her out of a diner before Kory unleashes a can of whoop-ass on a violent abuser, enhances their connection. It also allows Kory to further parallel Dick, since they both have a reluctant parental dynamic towards Rachel in addition to their shared investigative prowess. Now all that's left is for the audience to wait to see how Gar will fit in to these developing parallels.

"Titans" airs on Fridays on DC Universe.

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When last we saw the Titans, they had yet to come together as a foursome and tonight's episode continues in that regard. However, in the place of further character content for Starfire and Beast Boy we learn more about masked vigilantes Hawk and Dove (Hank Hall and Dawn Granger) who not only fight crime together but are involved romantically. Their relationship may not be perfect but it's evident that their connection is real. After a sufficient amount of back story to their crime-fighting and the occasional domestic dispute, we are re-introduced to them in present day.

Dick struggles to take care of Rachel. From the audience perspective, he is every bit the tender caretaker that she needs right now. But Dick doubts his own abilities to look after her, particularly since he continues to wrestle with his complicated history with Bruce Wayne. He brings Rachel to Dawn, whom Rachel can immediately sense has a complicated, once-romantic history with Dick. Eventually, Dick and Hank end up in a fight over this shared history but Rachel's dark powers manifest and she separates them accordingly. Dawn is compassionate and understanding of Rachel being lost and confused regarding her powers. Dick wants to leave Rachel in the care of Dawn and Hank and when Rachel later discovers this she is furious at Dick having lied about promising to not ever leave her behind. But an ominous new threat arrives before they can resolve this fight.

A villainous group known as 'The Nuclear Family' is activated through the injection of some mysterious serums which they each inject into their arms. This leads to them having incredible strength and an even eerier disposition as they work together to hunt down Rachel, per the orders of their handler. They first attack Dick's new partner, Detective Amy Rohrbach, demanding to know where Dick is since Rachel is bound to be with him. Dick is busy helping Hawk and Dove take down an arms dealer that the pair have fought before. But Dick's manner of taking him and his crew out is far more brutal and impactful than the comparatively short-term damage Hawk and Dove had previously done. Fast-forward to Rachel and Dick arguing about Dick's attempted abandonment of her, The Nuclear Family shows up and attacks the group. Dick, Hank, and Dawn are all defeated. By the time Dick gets back up to the roof and regains his bearings he is horrified to find that Rachel has been kidnapped once again and that Dawn has been badly injured. The episode ends with him attempting to keep her alive via CPR.

Though it seems strange to veer "Titans" off course from the prior introduction of Starfire and Beast Boy, both of whom are entirely absent this week, it's still overall another solid episode. Robin's brutal style of action is a real feast for the eyes of those who enjoy the art of fight choreography and how filmmakers can artistically present it. On a deeper level, it's also a fascinating character detail for Dick considering how much of himself he keeps concealed within himself. But the internal pain and traumas he tries to keep hidden come exploding out of him when he battles various foes. This new villainous group "The Nuclear Family" was also well put-together in how menacing they came across. From the acting to the other filmmaking aspects that clearly communicate how much of a threat they are, it was all very effective. Hank and Dawn were also an interesting addition to the show, as the enhanced world-building made us all the more intrigued to see what other characters will be brought into the story.

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After great anticipation, the new DC Universe" "Titans" series, a darker, live-action take on characters best known to viewers from various animated adaptations premiered with a strong set of first impressions. Beast Boy is the main lead with the shortest introduction thus far, as he's saved for last with a shift from a green tiger robbing an electronics store for a game before shifting back to human once he's made it out into the woods. Mystery is the recurring story-telling mechanism in this premiere as each of these main character stories are drenched in lingering questions to draw the audience in hoping to learn more.

The episode is most closely focused on Rachel Roth ("Raven"), who is at the earliest stages of her hero journey. She doesn't understand her dark powers, their origins, or even have much of a sense of how to control them. They protect her from mysterious threats, in particular the man that kills her mother (who apparently wasn't actually her mother) and continues to pursue her throughout the episode until her darker manifestation emerges while Rachel is held kidnapped and kills him violently. Rachel's journey speaks to the lost and wandering feeling many young teens and adolescents feel particularly after a significant loss or trauma. Her story is also the catalyst to the entire story and seemingly the inevitable Titans team forming. Her nightmares show her a young Dick Grayson's worst experience, the loss of his parents at the circus. She recognises him immediately when her powers guide her to getting arrested off the streets of Detroit and he is the one to question her.

Dick Grayson ("Robin") may be the most popular character to entice DC fans in for this new series and the writers have wisely decided to keep more of his back story secret for the time being. He hints at his time with Bruce Wayne, whom we see as a comforting hand rescuing Dick from the virus after the loss of his parents in a flashback. He opens up to Rachel about his reasons for wanting to find his own way, but there's still plenty of room for the writers to give a greater context and exploration of his character as the season progresses. Brenton Thwaites offers a well-rounded portrayal, from the aggressive fight scenes with criminals in a dark alley, to the more tender moments when rescuing Rachel. It shows Dick growing into his own, and taking on more of a caretaker role, paralleling the way Bruce Wayne has brought him and other Robins (in the comics) to his life and family.

Kory Anders ("Starfire") is a very cool character. She's visually stunning to look out with all the bright colours from her hair, eyes, wardrobe, and that wickedly awesome fire power she packs when combatting her foes. She's first introduced with a bit of amnesia, offering new viewers the opportunity to get to know her at the same pace that she is rediscovering herself. She can speak German, for one, which certainly comes in handy since the show first has her operating out of a penthouse suite in Vienna Austria. We could go into further detail about the various European baddies she fights, kills, and incinerates, but the most important driving force that's revealed about her action is that she has also been searching for Rachel. This brings us right back to our previous point about Rachel being central to the show's beginning and the Titans team forming.

All of the main performances have been excellent, with Teagan Croft and Brenton Thwaites in particular having been able to show great range in this premiere episode. Anna Drop and Ryan Potter have also played their material well and have shown enough promise for us to be confident in their ability to expand their characters in future episodes as the writing develops them further. The action sequences are truly excellent, with Robin's alleyway fight scene being not only exciting but a more honest depiction and exploration of the character than what one would expect from studio films or network television programming that would be more inclined to water things down to chase PG-13 ratings or to meet standards and practices. Streaming platforms have truly been a gift to superhero live action content, as the nature of these services is such that writers and filmmakers don't have to dull the edges of their stories. The special effects are also very strong as evidenced by both Raven and Starfire's most bombastic displays of their powers. The verdict is still out on Beast Boy's since we've only had a glimpse at what he can and will do. With just twelve episodes in the season, we're expecting zero filler content from this show and could not be more excited to see these main characters all meet and team up.

"Titans" airs on Fridays on DC Universe.

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