Titans season 2 episode 4 “Aqualad” review: Still dwelling on the past
Titans “Aqualad” focuses on a flashback, but its sluggish storytelling doesn’t push the main plot forward.
A new direction with an old Titans team gives us another glimpse into the past. The DC Universe has already introduced two former enemies. Yet, this week’s episode is designed to give us context into these threats and the stakes presently at hand. “Aqualad” is a love story between Garth (Drew Van Acker) and Donna (Conor Leslie) that outlines the latter’s character development; however, the slow pace suspends the momentum of the flashback and the central plot.
Though this episode misses the mark when it comes to what enthralled us, there were several elements that captivated our attention. Donna’s backstory, Jericho’s debut, and Deathstroke’s (Slade Wilson, portrayed by Esai Morales) day (and night) job all propelled the story. Hopefully, Titans will expand on these arcs in future episodes.
Scene-stealing runs in the Wilson family
From the introductory moments, Slade and Joseph Wilson (Joey aka Jericho, portrayed by Chella Man) are scene-stealers this week. Each of them only had two scenes in “Aqualad.” Even in their limited screen time, they have more captivating narratives. Like Rose Wilson (aka Ravager, portrayed by Chelsea Zhang), Jericho’s first scene offers a canon debut.
Without telling us anything about Joey’s powers or origins, his first few moments are riddled with comic accuracy, right down to the scar on his neck after being attacked by someone on Deathstroke’s bad side. Just like in the comics, Jericho uses sign language.
Seeing Jericho sign to his mother is such a beautiful moment. As a hard-of-hearing reviewer who relies on absurdly high-volume setting (at the peril of my tinnitus) to keep up with uncaptioned screenings, this was one of the few moments I could admire without adjusting my settings or relying on lip-reading.
Not everyone can relate to every onscreen moment. But for the hard of hearing and deaf, as well as the entire disabled community, there are so few moments in television that are both wholesome and representative of us. This moment was for us. Witnessing a deaf person of color sign on a DC Universe show is a special moment that will forever be apart of Titans canon, and we need a moment (or several) to appreciate this.
The natural rhythm of this scene is what ties these character interactions together. Man’s enthusiastic performance in the kitchen scene iterated how close Joey and Adeline (portrayed by Mayko Nguyen) are. As the scene moves from Jericho’s excitement, it paints a picture of a mother and son who are running from Deathstroke.
Slade isn’t getting any father-of-the-year mugs, but this scene implicitly shows that he cares about his ex-wife and son. Though he did indirectly put Joey in harm’s way (hence his neck), Slade still checks in on the two.
In fact, the nonchalant jazz music during Deathstroke’s opening scene set the tone for how he approaches his unorthodox work. It was a playful approach to the assassination gig. We simply wish more of this episode adopted a similar tone.
A retroactive love story
This episode takes an interesting approach to Garth’s demise. “Aqualad” kills off the titular character 40-ish minutes after it introduces us to him, which made his death lose its emotional appeal. Flashbacks aren’t foreign to this show or to DC Universe as a platform. However, we don’t know enough about Garth to be distraught over his death.
After watching Donna and Garth fall in love, it’s Wonder Girl’s reaction that pains us the most. She was ready to defy prophecy for Garth. His last words were his admission of love to her. On script, it’s a tragic love story. However, we’re more interested in Donna’s grief, vengeance, and how this love affair shaped her character development.
The abridged love story might be an intentional way to keep us whelmed for Donna’s ongoing character development. If so, the episode succeeded. Even their romance illustrates Donna’s growth. As she made the first move, she paid homage to Garth’s Atlantean roots. Despite being on the heels of her destiny, she allows herself to be spontaneous and kiss him. Dawn was right when she said opposites attract.
Theoretically, this episode should be tragic. We should feel devastated that Aqualad is gone and that Deathstroke killed him. The only personal connections we have to Aqualad are merely peripheral. If you’re a devoted comic fan, this episode will pull at the heart of your fandom. Because we don’t know much about this onscreen version of the character, the only connection we have is through Donna — a character we’ve known and grown attached to since the first season.
We only mourn Garth’s death because we had to see Donna lose someone she loves. Otherwise, “Aqualad” gives us a lackluster filler episode with sparse hints that tie it to the main continuity. Speaking of, can Donna’s side arc with Jillian continue outside of these flashbacks? We want to see her grow outside of her romantic connections to other characters (plus, we want to see her train to become a warrior).
Something doesn’t add up
If you want to count the forced flashbacks about Dick and Dawn’s situation, there was technically another couple featured in this episode. However, we’re tired of seeing Dick (portrayed by Brenton Thwaites) and Dawn (portrayed by Minka Kelly) in false, demon-spawned realities and past realities. Illustrating this overplayed ship serves no purpose to the plot or the emotional gravity of “Aqualad.”
Even on the surface level, Dick and Dawn’s past relationship doesn’t create any tension from the real ship in the current timeline (i.e. Dick and Kory). It’s a past relationship for a reason. Showing these cuddly clips drags the pacing even more. And at points, Dick and Dawn’s screen time together doesn’t even make sense — especially when you factor in Hank Hall.
Today, Hank (portrayed by Alan Ritchson) still harbors animosity toward Dick directly because of Grayson’s former fling with Dawn. Unless there’s a speedster mucking up the timeline, there isn’t a chance that Hawk and Dove weren’t a couple before Dick and Dawn started mingling in this flashback. After all, they weren’t just partners in do-goodery when Hank gave Dawn her blue-and-white suit.
Their plight in “Hank and Dawn” proved that they were dating (or somewhere in that pre-DTR stage) before the birds became Titans. So, why is Hank suddenly fine and, apparently, happy for Dick and Dawn in this flashback? It doesn’t make sense.
After the first season focused on assembling a team of heroes, it’s peculiar to ignore the strides Garfield (portrayed by Ryan Potter), Rachel (portrayed by Teagan Croft), Dick, and Kory (portrayed by Anna Diop) made together. It’s regressive to pivot back to the old team without incorporating the new team members in the narrative. It makes it seem like there wasn’t really a purpose in focusing on the new team in the first season because the narrative keeps dwelling on the past.
While this season’s plot continues, we’re hopeful the series will incorporate fewer (or less lengthy) flashbacks so that the current conflict can continue. As per usual, we noticed a few other things during this week’s episode:
- Does Jericho just go by Jericho in the DC Universe? Or will he reveal his name later on in the show?
- Did you catch Dick Grayson’s scheming smile in that final scene with Jericho? Because we did, and we’re almost positive that Jericho isn’t actually dead in the current timeline. Like the comics, he’s just playing dead. This time, it seems like Dick is helping him with this deception, which means Joey could become a Titan soon (once he breaks the news to the old Titans).
- While Deathstroke is a noteworthy foe (and sometimes ally) of Batman, we’re not sure why Dick and the rest of the old Titans would need to ping Batsy to fight Slade. However, we might still be bitter that Bruce in being crammed into a Titans narrative at all.
- Hello there, Themyscira (and Diana) namedrop.
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