Titans Season 3 Review

Overview

Seemingly the show that everybody loves to hate had the best season yet. The general consensus was for the show to bring in multiple new faces and continue growing as a fully-fledged show and it definitely did that for me. The show continues directly from the ending of season 2 with Connor becoming a full-time member, Donna Troy is dead and Rachel has taken her body to Themyscira in order to revive her, Dick is now fully Nightwing, and more. The season starts off with a bang immediately, something we needed.

With a 13 episode run which is pretty standard for HBO Max shows I felt satisfied with the content. A lot of shows that have 23 or so episodes tend to be filled with many fillers which gets boring, Titans never seems to suffer from that. Yes, it does have a couple of episodes that feel like filler but more often than not it tends to increase character development for a specific character. 9 out of 10 times it works wonders and fits into the overall picture.

I understand a lot of people want similar content to Teen Titans Go! but I think at this point we need to realize that Titans is not following a proper formula. This is further showcased with the way Jason was brought back to life after the Joker battered him with a crowbar. The crowbar part is in the comics but the way he was brought back in the Lazarus Pit by Scarecrow isn’t (in the comics it’s Talia Al Ghul that brings him back). It’s something I admire by the showrunners, they’re not scared whatsoever to take risks on specific arcs. Granted, they don’t always get it right but when they do, it truly pays off.

Obviously, the R-rated parts of the show continue through season 3, another that’s 50/50 among fans but for me, I prefer it. I always have done. There are only 2 other shows I know of that are R-rated which is The Boys and Doom Patrol, it works well. A lot of superhero shows tend to only ever showcase the light, whereas Titans go to the darkness it needs to. The swearing, the brutality, the edginess, it’s even better this season.

The one thing I will knock ever so slightly about Titans is that it did take some time to get into the proper storyline of Red Hood and Scarecrow vs the Titans, but I can understand why. I.e, after the scene where Dick Grayson is shot by the police, the next episode goes onto something different in order to give the story a break. However, when something that impactful happens, people don’t want to be waiting 2 weeks to see the progression in that regard. That’s one of my gripes with Titans on an overall scale, but it does it twice during season 3.

I honestly did really like Titans season 3. Even my wife wasn’t a fan of the show and she decided to give season 3 the benefit of the doubt. By the end, she was also thoroughly impressed and this comes from someone who was completely against watching it. I know the show gets a lot of hate, some of it warranted, some of it not. Overall, I definitely recommend the show, especially if you’re unsure after the end of season 2.

Characters

As you can see by the above table we got some serious changes to the cast. Hawk was killed off by Red Hood, Dove left because of guilt as she was the one that technically pulled the trigger. Scarecrow was our season villain alongside Red Hood (Jason Todd). Barbara Gordon was introduced as the GCPD Commissioner. Tim Drake is pretty much our next Robin, and Lady Vic was a waste of time. You could theoretically add her onto the left section of that table as well. The rest of the cast remained the same.

One of the reasons why I was majorly excited for season 3 was simply put, Nightwing. We saw him go full Nightwing in the season 2 finale. I love the character in any form so seeing Dick Grayson as Nightwing for a full season was something that was always going to interest me.

Now, I like tables, so let me throw another one at you as to who stood out and who didn’t and I will explain;

Let’s discuss the flops. Lady Vic was a waste of time, let’s be honest. She was in the show, made an impact then never discussed or seen again. Dove was only in the beginning, she was more of an annoyance to the story than anything. Scarecrow I put on the flop, now let me explain. I didn’t like this version of Scarecrow at all. Red Hood stood out more for me as the main antagonist. This stoner, edgy, incapable version of Scarecrow did not do it for me. Crane is supposed to be intelligent, calculated, and whilst we got parts of that, ultimately he just annoyed me on screen more than anything else. Plus, reports of how the actor was behaving on set made me dislike him a little bit more if I am being brutally honest.

Tim Drake had a good introduction but never did anything to make him stand out, however, I believe that will change next season. Donna Troy only came back in the final part of the season. Raven didn’t do an awful lot. Starfire was outshined by her sister. Bruce Wayne wasn’t in it a lot but made an impact when he was. Beast Boy needs more development, if a Red Hood spin-off happens, he needs to be in there. After 3 seasons we’ve only seen 3 transformations.

Now onto the standouts, Dick Grayson needs no explanation, he was fantastic this season and he showed more Batman traits which were always going to be welcomed. Superboy was involved in some amazing scenes, more notably the police station. Red Hood’s introduction was done perfectly in my opinion. Blackfire outshined Starfire for me this season and she actually got a standout character on a few of our reviews. Hawk’s death was sad, as was the afterlife episode, and for me, this season showed him in the best way possible.

Standout Character

It has to be Red Hood for me. Red Hood is one of my all-time favorite characters in the first place so to see him finally come to live-action was perfect. Curran Walters showed that he is an exceptional Red Hood and deserving of the character.

The showrunners did a very good job with the story and character. We all know pretty much how it goes down in the comics, the writers managed to ensure it played close to the comics but with a spin that makes sense to the story, we’re in. I really enjoyed him this season and he’s one of the major ones that is rumored to be getting a spin-off, he definitely deserves it.

Favourite Episode

There was one moment in the entire season that puts this episode at the top for me, despite having one of the lower-rated episodes of the season. Troubled Waters stands out for me, simply due to the scene within the GCPD. This entire scene is one that I’ll remember forever and the reason why this was my favorite episode.

Worst Episode

This episode became my worst at the end of the season, and there’s a major-specific reason why — it was a complete waste of time. “Lady Vic” – This episode focused on Lady Vic. Gave her an entire episode to shine and make an impact, yet it did the polar opposite come to the end of season 3. She was nowhere to be seen, nobody spoke of her, nobody cared. In fact, I actually forgot about her until after when I looked back on our previous reviews. So because of that, that was an episode I feel like most people could easily skip out and it wouldn’t even matter.

Episodes & Their Ratings

Episode 1: Barbara Gordon – 10/10
Episode 2: Red Hood – 9.8/10
Episode 3: Hank & Dove – 9.5/10
Episode 4: Blackfire – 9.3/10
Episode 5: Lazarus – 8/10
Episode 6: Lady Vic – 9.3/10
Episode 7: 51 Percent – 9.3/10
Episode 8: Home – 8/10
Episode 9: Souls – 9.5/10
Episode 10: Troubled Waters – 8.8/10
Episode: 11: The Call is Coming from Inside the House – 9.4/10
Episode: 12: Prodigal – 9.3/10
Episode: 13: Purple Rain – 9.5/10

Average rating – 9.2/10

Our Overall Rating 9.4/10

Average hit a 9.2, but in our overall scores, it hit a 9.4 which is quite close. We definitely agree with the ratings, as we’ve mentioned season 3 was the best season thus far. 9.4 is more than fair.

Does It Deserve Another Season?

It absolutely does. We already know season 4 is confirmed. Brenton Thwaites confirmed this as DC’s FanDome 2021 and has also seemingly confirmed season 5. I’m not surprised if I’m being honest, Titans is one of the better shows that is airing at present.