In Review: Titans – Faux Hawk

Synopsis: Finding himself at a new low, Hank is cage-fighting for money to support his unhealthy habits. But when he wakes to find his Hawk suit gone – and an imposter acting in his stead – he realizes how far he’s fallen.

Review: This series continues to expand the various character arcs while at the same time laying out the foundations for the Titans to come back together.

The Story

The episode starts with Gar murdering a bunch of people in a diner and leaving only to enter the back of a truck where he meets a very pleased Mercy Graves. We later find out that this is phase one of an experiment she is running under Cadmus and she has manipulated the brain chemistry of Gar and Connor. Elsewhere Wonder Girl and Dove have followed one of the Cadmus operatives home and learned about what the plan is for Gar and Connor. The proceed to make plans to go after them and try to bring the rest of the Titans back together, which is likely to be quite difficult.

Meanwhile, Jason Todd aka the second Robin has been shacking up with Rose Wilson and they have become quite intimate. When they get a text message from Raven asking to meet back up at Titans Tower Jason ignores it, but Rose who now seems to feel some loyalty if finding it difficult to ignore. So difficult that she opens up to Jason about how her coming to be with them was all staged as part of a plan that her father Deathstroke had concocted.

Back out in the boonies Hank AKA Hawk has been cage fighting as Hawk to make ends meet, but he meets a woman winds up selling his suit for some drugs and has no memory of it. Once he finally puts the pieces back together he manages to get the suit back.

Also adding to what we learned last week. Jericho is still alive. Sort of. When he was stabbed by his father’s blade he transferred his consciousness into his old man and has been trying to get out for five years.  Thankfully Dick Grayson has figured this out and has taken some steps to become Night Wing in order to lead the Titans on a mission to get Jericho back.

The Acting

There were a lot of fun performances in this episode. One scene in particular that made me chuckle was where Conor Leslie and Minka Kelly did their interrogation double act as sushi girls. The absolute relish with which Wonder Girl used her rope and lasso on the Cadmus dude was funny. Addin to the fun was the banter between Wonder Girl and Dove as they basically got a confession from the guy. It’s not all good though. I now have a mental block from ordering sushi for delivery.

Also really good was Natalie Gumede as Mercy Graves. This character is unapologetically obsessed with the end game and the way Gumede portrays it is as someone that is devoid of a conscience or any empathy. She is not interested in who she hurts. Just results.

Overall

This was a pretty solid outing for the series, but I do hope they are all back together by the close of next week’s episode because I am kind of missing seeing the Titans operate as a team, but like everyone else. I want a better look at the new Night Wing suit that Dick will most likely put on for his rematch with Deathstroke.

There was a lot to like in this episode, but one of the main highlights was seeing Dove beat the crap out of Hawk in a cage-fighting match, which turns out to be a bit of a nightmare and a wake-up call for Hank.