TV: Review: Titans Season 2 Episode 12

Titans Season 2 Episode 12 “Faux Hawk”

Director: Larnell Stovall

Starring: Brenton Thwaites, Teagan Croft, Anna Diop, Ryan Potter, Curran Walters, Conor Leslie, Minka Kelly, Alan Ritchson, Chelsea Zhang, Esai Morales, Joshua Orpin, Iain Glen

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 49 minutes

SPOILER ALERT: There may be some spoilers in this review. 

There’s been a lot of flashbacks on this season of Titans. I mean, a lot. There have been a few episodes that were just purely flashbacks. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they’re a bad thing. The context they provide are great, and the Aqualad episode is still one of my favorites in the whole series. But this episode has more flashbacks, and without thinking, I rolled my eyes and said “ugh” when they started. It doesn’t make this a bad episode, far from it, but it’s just the first time I’ve actively noticed it.  

There are two major plots running through this episode. There are scenes with the rest of the characters, but the scenes with Hawk and Rose Wilson are much more prominent. Breaking up with Dawn, Hank Hall finds himself in a downward spiral towards rock bottom. He’s spending his nights in costume in a fight club, and back drinking and doing drugs. Meanwhile, Rose Wilson explains to Jason Todd how she infiltrated the Titans to help her dad, Deathstroke.

I like Hawk in this show. I think I’ve only ever read one or two comics with Hawk and Dove in them, but I like the version in this show a lot. Alan Ritchson is great as the tough guy/drug addict. In this episode, you think “oh man, this is Hawk’s rock bottom moment” a few times. And then when you actually see the rock bottom moment, you can see the hurt on his face. In my never mentioned before “best performance of the week” award, Alan Ritchson takes it in a landslide.

We see Rose Wilson’s backstory through some flashbacks. Despite my earlier complaints, I do like what we see in these flashbacks. Rose has special abilities and meets seeks out her real father. Initially hostile, Slade takes her under his wing and trains her to be a mini Deathstroke. I like Chelsea Zhang and Esai Morales, but this is where I do have a complaint. For the most part, the costumes on this show stay super faithful to the comics, this includes Ravager. I’m not a fan of the costume in the comics, it looks goofy to me, specifically the half mask. Oh man, that goofiness transfers over to live-action. It’s not a cloth or fabric, it’s like a helmet/armor and it just doesn’t work.

The other Titans get some screen time in the episode too. Not as much, but they’re there. In the final tease, Dick Grayson goes to get a new costume, and we get a small glimpse of the suit. Donna Troy and Dawn are tracking down leads to find Conner and Gar. And then Conner and Gar get brainwashed. I still feel bad for Beast Boy in this show, he’s done nothing this season but get beat up and captured when he just wants to be a superhero. 

My biggest take away from this episode is that the Ravager costume is as goofy as I’ve always thought it was. And that Beast Boy is in for probably another beating from his friends in the finale. This is a good episode though. We’re knocking on the door of the finale, and the stakes are set up for everything to come. Will we see Nightwing? Is it going to be as goofy as the Ravager costume? Will they throw Beast Boy a break and let him win for once? I don’t know, but we’ll find out next time on Dragon Ba- Titans. Definitely Titans.  

Click here for more TV reviews