Titans season 3 episode 8 review: Can you go “Home” again?

When Titans season 3 premiered, I wondered whether the show could keep up the incredible momentum it built through the first three episodes. The answer is yes, yes it can. “Home” takes everything that has been established earlier in the season and raises the stakes tenfold.

Garth is trying to track down Jason by recruiting Molly to help. Blackfire and Connor are sleeping together and Kory’s visions are back with a vengeance. Barbara and Dick’s relationship is falling back into place as they flirt and plan to go to a gala together. The plan is thwarted when Tim Drake shows up at Wayne Manor and reveals that he knows Dick was Robin and Nightwing.

Scarecrow kills his own mother and once again uses Jason to lure the Titans into a trap. Jason is trying to undo the damage he’s caused, but it’s getting harder and harder because Scarecrow is always one step ahead of him. Scarecrow’s plan to release his new toxin into Gotham’s water supply has come to fruition and things are about to get even more complicated.

Tim Drake enters the chat in the new episode of Titans

Jay Lycurgo plays Tim Drake in Titans season 3, although we don’t know if we’ll see him in a Robin suit yet. As with many of the characters on the show, there is a bit of retconning going on with Tim’s history. He showed up in the season premiere as the delivery guy for his family’s restaurant, and at the end of Episode 6 his family came under attack when Jason led a team of rogues on a night of terror across Gotham City.

Since Batman is out of the picture for now, Tim goes to Dick Grayson and reveals that he’s been studying Robin and Batman since the night he saw Dick’s parents die at the circus. He’s put all of the pieces together, even going as far as guessing that Jason Todd is the second Robin, and the only reason he’s second guessing himself is that he saw Jason alive recently, which is a huge tip-off for Dick as he continues his search for Red Hood.

Though the title of the episode is “Home,” this is an episode about family. Blackfire is integrating into the team surprisingly well. Garth reminds everyone that they took him back after he did terrible things under mind control so if they can help Jason, they should.

Now that the toxin is in Gotham’s water supply, it’s a race against time to slow the effects it will have on residents. The Titans are divided on what to do with Jason once they find him, but finding him isn’t as critical as stopping Scarecrow.

It’s always hard for shows to keep up their momentum over several consecutive episodes, but Titans shows no signs of slowing down. “Home” in particular has some powerful moments sprinkled throughout to help create drama and tension, and also to reveal how the characters are struggling under the weight of recent events.

Jason goes to an adult store and uses a role-playing couple as a means to apologize to Hawk for what happened. There’s a moment when a man offers Scarecrow his pudding cup, believing him to be homeless, and Crane can’t believe the selflessness of the action. (Sadly, this doesn’t stop him from killing the man moments later.) Barbara and Dick are getting close again, and Tim Drake attempts to prove his worth by tracking down Jason and Scarecrow, even though it could cost him his life.

The Titans have been through a lot, but they’ve come out stronger for it. They are closer than ever and they’re not going to stop until Scarecrow is back in custody and justice is served when it comes to Red Hood and the crimes he committed. Whether they will be able to take him back into the fold is undecided.

Titans season 3 has been the best season of the series by far, and “Home” just might be the very best episode yet. Each episode has been top shelf, delivering stories full of drama and emotion. The Titans are more cohesive than ever before and the story is compelling enough to keep viewers coming back for more.

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