Season 3 Episode 9 “While Rachel struggles for a chance to use her magic to resurrect Donna on Paradise Island, Tim Drake encounters Donna in the Underworld and searches for a way back.”
What I Liked?
1. The episode begins with a beautiful shot of a manor on the side of a cliff, we see this is another Wayne manor, with Bruce inside dealing with a lawyer of some sorts, Bruce is obviously deeply troubled, you can see that this man is broken mentally, he’s signing his last will and testament.
2. We then go to Themyscira, the body of a fallen Amazonian, Donna Troy is laid on the memorial table with Amazonians around her as well as Rachel, we see that the Amazonians have been training and teaching Rachel ways to fight, which is cool to see, honestly, I never once thought we’d see this in Titans.
3. This is where the episode becomes unique, we pan to Tim Drake waking up on a train, the episode switches from color to black & white, a ticket warden is asking if this is Tim Drake, Tim begins to run through the train, running past Donna Troy, who makes her way after him and after a brief conversation, she tells Tim that this is the “next place”, Tim gets scared and jumps off of the train, with Donna following behind.
4. Donna runs after time, after using her speed to catch up in front of him, they speak more, until some blacked-out characters appear and start attacking Tim and Donna until the two-run and eventually someone in a muscle car pulls up blasting a great song, it’s Hank Hall. Of course, Hank is out in the “Underworld” rocking about in a muscle car, I wouldn’t expect anything less.
5. Hank informs Donna that there are rumors of a mystical bridge back to Earth, Donna asks him what he’s still doing here and what the blacked-out figures were, Hank tells her that they are ghouls who take souls, he mentions that they can get a second chance on Earth, and to my shock, Donna tells Hank that she doesn’t want to go back, she also mentions that she got killed at a carnival, not destroying an asteroid or anything.
6. This next point came from Tim, I absolutely loved the realization from that about many things, how he got here, how he died, that all he ever wanted was to be a hero, but at the moment, he froze, ran, and died a coward, this was such an emotional, and powerful scene.
7. This next point reminded me so much of the Arkham Knight video game ending where we see Wayne Manor on fire and Bruce “killed”. We see Bruce, obviously still broken, pouring gasoline around his room, and then we get the resurrection of Donna Troy who comes to Bruce, he asks her if he’s dead, she tells him no, he responds with “but you are”, to which Donna says “not anymore”, you just know Donna is going to be a huge deal in the final few episodes of this season.
What I Disliked?
I didn’t really have anything to dislike this episode, I mean there was no Dick, Gar, or anyone like that but they were not needed at all.
Favorite Moment
The trio of Tim, Donna, and Hank manage to find their way to the mystical bridge, when they are about to cross it, the ghouls appear and begin attacking them, Donna and Hank begin to protect and fight the ghouls, with the duo manifesting different weapons from broken bottles, to Hank keep getting Robin related weapons, the bridge falls apart and there is a big gap which Tim jumps across, although Donna is busy fighting ghouls, Tim is beginning to get attacked, Hank throws his only weapon to save Tim, he tells Donna and Tim to leave, Tim and Donna disappear while Hank looks back at the bridge, someone speaks to Hank and it’s no one other than his brother, Don, Hank’s story comes to a happy end.
Standout Character
I was fully prepared to give this to Tim, he is a standout in each episode he’s in, however, I just couldn’t after this episode and the development for Hank, he wanted a second chance, he sacrificed that second chance to save Tim and Donna, he told Donna to tell Dawn he loves her and ultimately got rewarded by finding Don.
The Verdict
A unique and different spin on an episode of Titans this week with half of it being in black and white. The story was perfect, the action was great and the characters we got to see again were great. The incredible journey of Hank Hall came to an end this episode with this being Alan Ritchson’s finale appearance in Titans.
Rating: 9.5/10
Photo: Titans, Season 3 Episode 9 “Souls”.
Rating
Story - 10
Action - 8
Characters - 10
Entertainment - 10
9.5
Amazing
A unique and different spin on an episode of Titans this week with half of it being in black and white. The story was perfect, the action was great and the characters we got to see again were great. The incredible journey of Hank Hall came to an end this episode with this being Alan Ritchson's finale appearance in Titans.
While a good episode, I’m surprised none of the reviews have mentioned the flaw with Donna coming back from the dead — Raven has nothing to do with it. Then why all that stuff on the island? Raven doesn’t really do anything or learn anything. And then how does Donna find Bruce? She just shows up? Those last few minutes of the show just seemed pushed together for the sake of getting Donna back but seemed unearned for Donna and for Raven. You could argue that Tim makes it back simply by making it to the other side of the bridge so Donna does too but again, it questions Raven’s function in this episode. Coudn’t she actually use her powers to bring Donna back and maybe because Donna’s holding on to Tim, he comes back too? I mean the idea of crossing a bridge to get out of the afterlife seems a bit contrived anyway. And easy for both the characters and the writers. Lastly, does anybody else have a problem with Bruce Wayne attempting suicide? Not sure if that works with the character, but I admit, I have not seen every Batman show, movie or read every comic. Just feels wrong though. Again, I liked the episode. Seeing Donna and Hank banter was great and seeing the beginnings of Tim Drake on his way to becoming the next Robin was great and seeing Raven was great too but that ending just felt wrong. Thoughts?