The third episode of Titans finally has all our heroes meet one another — plus five more teasers to get you excited for the upcoming episode, “Origins.”
The official synopsis of Titans “Origins” tells us that:
Rescued by Kory from the Nuclear Family, Rachel travels with her to the convent where she was raised – a destination that might provide answers about Rachel’s past and Kory’s identity. Meanwhile, Dick goes in pursuit of Rachel and Kory, the mysterious woman who rescued her – and the journey awakens memories of his own orphanhood and his unorthodox upbringing in the shadows of Bruce Wayne. When Dick finally reunites with Rachel and Kory, he realizes that Rachel’s found a new protector in Kory. But the convent is not everything it seems to be and Rachel might have to rely on her guardians as well as a new friend, Gar Logan, to keep her safe.
Here are five screener secrets to get you excited for the upcoming episode, which was my personal favorite by far out of the three screeners that were made available to critics.
The Nuclear Family isn’t as formidable in this episode
We met the creepy as hell Nuclear Family (a mostly obscure antagonist from The Outsiders, who you can read about here) in the last episode of Titans, where they managed to kill and kick a lot of ass in a very short amount of time. Their weird ass children of the corn kids, Stepford Wife and murderous father dispatched Detective Rohrbach with frightening efficiency and managed to kick the asses of Dick, Hank and Dawn in quick succession before taking off with Rachel.
This episode, we get to see that they’re definitely not invincible and that there’s someone they report to who is so creepy, even the Nuclear Family is afraid of him.
Kory has the best fight scene
There have been a lot of really great fight scenes in the past two episodes, but the one in this episode featuring Kory in a roadside diner is by far my favorite of them all. It’s not as brutal as the others in the show have been, but it’s still just as exciting — plus, there is one part that made my eyes go wide and where I yelled, “Oh damn!” If you haven’t fallen in love with Kory already (which, what is wrong with you?), you will after this scene.
Rachel immediately realizes how badass and amazing Kory is
Some of my favorite parts of this episode were the scenes between Rachel and Kory. If Dick Grayson is the awkward, slightly out of touch dad (which he totally is, given what we saw last episode), then Kory is the incredibly cool mom who all your friends wish was theirs. She rescues Rachel is what is the absolute coolest way possible (hint: we get to see her powers again), then rolls around kicking ass, treating Rachel with respect while also taking into account that she’s a scared 13-year-old girl. There are multiple times where Rachel just looks at her with something akin to hero worship and all I have to say is, me too, Rachel. Me too.
There’s a lot of Bruce Wayne silhouette in this episode
The title of the episode could be seen as a reference to the fact that this episode might be considered the origin of the Titans, since this is the first one where all four members meet. However, it’s probably also — or mostly — in reference to Dick Grayson’s origin, of which we see a lot of in this episode of Titans. There are numerous flashbacks that show what happened in the days and weeks following the death of his parents, and the episode makes good use of Bruce Wayne’s hand, head from the back, and silhouette from the window.
Dick and Kory try to figure out their co-parenting relationship
While Dick isn’t exactly thrilled with Kory taking care of Rachel when he first comes across the two of them, it’s also immediately obvious to him that Kory both legitimately cares for Rachel and that she’s more than capable of taking care of her. If my scenes with Kory and Rachel were my favorite, the slightly antagonistic moments between Kory and Dick run a very close second. Both characters are concerned for Rachel’s well-being and attempt to navigate their concern for her with their suspicion (on Dick’s part) and exasperation (on Kory’s part) with one another.