Titans review: Season 3, Episode 4—”Blackfire”

The Titans are left reeling following the shocking death of Hawk in the third episode of the HBO Max series’ third season, but life in Gotham City never slows down. In “Blackfire”, Kory and Gar work to find the source of Kory’s dangerous visions while Dick works to keep Jonathan Crane safe from Red Hood.

After four episodes, Titans isn’t slowing down. Each episode this season has managed to one-up the previous one, and there’s no sign that things are stopping any time soon.

As the tension builds between the team and Red Hood, tempers flare and stress bubbles over until it becomes the ultimate enemy.

Dick and Kory take very different rides in the new Titans season 3 episode 4

Each of the Titans deals with their grief in different ways. Gar has been cooking and cleaning like crazy while Connor blames his half-blooded physiology for failing to save Hawk. Superman would have saved the day, he muses.

Dove needs to get away from Gotham so she heads to Paris. Before she leaves, she issues a reminder to Dick, who is hell-bent on avenging Hawk’s death: “How he’s stopped matters.” It’s a subtle reminder that even amid the Titans’ grief and sorrow they cannot succumb to the same darkness that took Jason from them and turned him into Red Hood. With Batman gone, it’s a very prescient reminder of how Gotham City can suck the life out of people.

Red Hood stages an attack on Jonathan Crane at Arkham. Crane survives, leading Barbara to transfer him to Blackgate Prison. Dick learns of her plan and decides to intercept the transfer because something doesn’t add up. He gets more than he bargained for once the Scarecrow becomes his traveling companion.

Kory and Gar trace the source of Kory’s visions to a lab where her sister Blackfire is being held by the government. They have her in a chamber that suppresses her powers and Kory makes the difficult decision to take control of her because leaving her in the hands of the government is not an option.

There are two big stories in “Blackfire” that will continue to play out through the course of season 3: The return of Kory’s sister Blackfire, and the revelation that Dick knows that Crane and Red Hood are actually working together.

Kory and Blackfire have a much-needed heart to heart that spins out into a knock-down drag-out fight. Blackfire is so tired of being a prisoner that she begs her sister to kill her, but Kory realizes that she can’t do it; she believes justice must run its course. When she learns that her sister will be kept “like a pet” for the rest of her life, she decides that she can’t abide by those rules.

Blackfire realizes that all of her life’s decisions, from killing their parents to killing Kory’s lover, were based on having to live in Kory’s shadow. Now that Blackfire will be sticking around for a while, Kory will be forced to reconcile her past with the person she strives to be in the future, but that may not be easy.

The depths of Crane’s depravity really start coming to the fore in “Blackfire” as he attempts to manipulate every situation he’s in. Whether he’s trying to control the prison guards or using his knowledge of the Bat family to get under Dick’s skin, there is no question that Scarecrow is cooking up something big.

Dick’s already tenuous relationship with Barbara starts to splinter even further after he kidnaps Scarecrow, which sets up a lot of tension in their future. Dick will also be forced to reckon with the fact that the Scarecrow escaped on his watch.

“Blackfire” sets up the rest of Titans season 3

Hank’s death was a turning point for the group, and it helped close the door to the past so that season 3 can really take off. With “Blackfire” the foundation has been set for the rest of the season, and things are about to get interesting now that Scarecrow and Blackfire are out and about.

One of the things I really like about season 3 thus far is that everything is framed around the notion of personal responsibility and accountability, and how to live with decisions once they’re made. The Titans are all being tested right now, at their lowest point, and things will get worse before they get better.

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