Superhero Media: Titans - Season 2

It's a shame that the reviews of the first season of Titans were so damning, as it seems no one is really willing to give the programme a shot now. The second season is much better, though far from perfect and shows signs of being something genuinely interesting, until it's hamstrung by studio oversight and budget constraints. The entire first episode of the second season of Titans is a proper conclusion for the first season and a retcon of the setting and characters. Honestly, it's really distracting to watch, especially because the costume budget is clearly smaller and Teagan Croft growing up a little between seasons and looking a lot different between cuts now. If you can get through the first episode, however, there's a lot of great stuff in Titans, including the first serious attempt at Krypto the Superdog in any DC production outside of the comics in probably forever. Yes, the gritty, in-your-face, "Fuck Batman" Titans features Krypto the Superdog as a character. Not even as a joke or a reference, but an honest-to-Rao Krypto with powers and everything. Best DC production this century, 10 out of 10, would watch again. 

As well as introducing Krypto, Superboy (Conner) and Ravager to the Titans, season two brings in Titans Tower, Bruce Wayne, Cadmus, Deathstroke and Mercy Graves pretty quickly, willingly embracing the broader universe in the exact ways season one seemed to want to avoid. Not that Titans doesn't still have a lot of problems, but this second season isn't afraid to take chances and have fun, which is exactly what a superhero programme should be doing. For example, Iain Glen is almost a baffling cast for Bruce Wayne, right up until he's following Dick Greyson around as a hallucination manifested from guilt (like the Purple Man scenes in the second season of Jessica Jones), where Glen can cut loose with the role and is one of the best Batmen in history without ever putting on the costume. Without ever really being there, Batman is able to reunite the Titans, guide Dick to the Nightwing identity and dance the Batusi; yes, Batman dances the Batusi and I'm pretty sure that scene also has a cameo from Tara Strong, but I can't confirm it, check it out! 

Someone on the writing staff, however, still seems intent on keeping Titans dark and gritty, so there's plenty of pointless arguments, flashbacks to the characters doing something "bad" and lots of moping. There's so much happening, in fact, that the second season is a little too plot heavy and several characters get sidelined in favour of Dick's unnecessary redemption arc or setting up Blackfire as the villain for the next season. Gar and Conner really suffer, as their blossoming friendship is one of the better series of scenes and the Deathstroke stuff is resolved so quickly that it feels almost like a last-minute re-write. The departures of Jason Todd, Raven and Donna Troy are tacked onto the finale, and really feel like the actors jumping ship while they still have intact careers, and, whilst I can't blame them, I'm disappointed that Titans will never really get a shot to be the great ensemble series it shows signs of wanting to be. It seems destined that this will be another also-ran, despite it's qualities, like Iron Fist or Agent Carter.