DCE-Hulu: Titans- 'Hawk and Dove'

After a short break, I'm back to cover the Show proper.  Being a few weeks behind is good, as I can be more loose with possible SPOILERS.

Can they lighten and tighten after the Pilot?  Let's see...

This is Hawk and Dove.  They...weren't in the last Episode at all.

On the plus side, this is less of a 'Stop the Story Cold' Episode that it sounded.  It all ties together- unless you want more Beast Boy or Starfire.

We see in Flashbacks (and the Episode's best Action Scene) that Robin worked with the duo 4 years earlier and that something happened about six months after this.

This also reinforces that Robin is more kill-crazy than normal in the Present, which is nice.

Besides helping establish a vague past, this Photo also hints at someone else.  Donna Troy?

I should also mention that the Actor that plays 'Hawk' was 'Aquaman' on Smallville.

While Robin tries to find a way to help Raven, she has to deal with her inner demons.  Nice shot.

The Drama builds and builds until the arrival of some Villains puts a stop to that.  Who is this Nuclear Family and what do they want with Raven?

To find out, watch the Show.

A better step in one direction, but maybe a little misstep or two in another.  First off, the narrative is way more coherent here!  We don't cut from Detroit to Austria for long stretches, which I like.  That said, we also lose Beast Boy (what little we got) and Starfire this time.  I do like Hawk and Dove, but have many questions about them.  Do they actually have powers?  Why are the wings bullet-proof, but the chest plate on Hawk isn't?  Can we let them at least look fully-competent in the Episode named after them?  They are mostly used for Drama and to make Robin look good.  You can excuse a hard, In Media Res intro for Hawk, but the second time they can't do things on their own is a bit much.  At least they are a bit 'protected' in the third fight.  Speaking of which, the Villains are interesting, but also kind of vague.  In addition, what an odd choice for the first Villains, no?  You take a group of Nuclear-powered Villains and make them into some kind of Cult of Killers- alright then.  Granted- I know that we're building up to Brother Blood and/or Trigon & that many Villains would be costly to do Live-Action.  Can you imagine a Live-Action Monsieur Mallah and The Brain with the Show's tone?  Speaking of tones, the color tone is odd here.  It's only when I went to move the Screen Caps to a Folder that I noticed just how blue everything was tinted!  Lastly, I do appreciate them pointing out how violent Robin seems and calling it out as 'out of character.'  I'll forgive the Show more if they follow through with this Arc, but we'll see.  Episode 2 is stronger as an Episode, but still a bit off in many ways.  That said, nicely-dramatic blood splatter.

Next time, will we see the return of, well, half of the Cast?  What will happen to Raven and the rest?  See you then...