S02.E12: Faux Hawk

[MarkHB]

Quote

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... and it's time to make a decision. Meanwhile, Donna and Dawn confront a Cadmus operative (guest star RAOUL BHANEJA) to gain information about Gar and Conner, as Cadmus initiates its Phase One plan, tapping into Gar's lethal abilities. Back in Gotham, Rose is overcome with guilt and reveals her secret to Jason. When Dick realizes that Jericho might have somehow survived his death at his father's hands, he escapes from jail in the hopes to rescue him. But first he'll need a new suit to replace the Robin suit he destroyed...

[phoenics]

Much better episode from a pacing perspective...

Man - they tugged all my heartstrings... Poor Jason, Poor Gar, Poor Kory, Poor Hank!

Jason - good grief Rose, you're lucky he didn't stab you. You set him up to get attacked by the whole team, he almost got killed by your father (who you're working with) and you slept with him?! Somewhere there is a place for you... in hell! I don't feel sorry for her at all.

GAR!! *sobs* I'm so glad to see him in a story about him but I'm heartbroken for him and wondering how the hell the team is gonna save him and break him free from the brainwashing... Conner too... I hope the show actually gives him space to grieve what's happened to him... the few tears he spilled in this episode killed me.

Kory - she is going through it! I think she's definitely grieving and feeling out of control because of losing her parents, family and court, plus Faddei... and she has no way back home and her Titans family is a mess... she must be wondering why she stayed and if she'd gone back home if she could have saved her family. Gah that's sad. But thank you show for delving into this! You could tell Kory was just about done with errbody else's problems and chasing after Dick Grayson because of a dream, while her entire world crashed down around her.

Hank - whew he really fell down the hole there. He created his own situation entirely on his own... what a "Don't do drugs" message... can't get it up, sells his own suit for blow, hunts down his imposter, and then realizes he's seen the enemy and it's who's looking back at him in the mirror.

Other thoughts:

I enjoyed Donna and Dawn's interrogation of the Cadmus dude... and Mercy is one sick bish. Damn. The devil himself would be like "Don't mess with that bish, she cray cray."

Rose's pink dress with the black ribbons was REALLY pretty. I think there were sparkles on the black ribbon - such the perfect amount of edge on an otherwise frilly dress. Perfect for Rose. Her Ravager suit was okay.

LOL.

I have never strained so hard to look around a camera angle as I did when they started the 360 spin on Dick's new suit... I let out the loudest scream of frustration when they cut away. AARGH!

Maybe Stu and Lily can make a suit for Gar and Rachel. I'm still holding out for Kor to get her actual Tamaranean armor.

Next week has far too many threads to tie together, imo.

One way Jericho could be saved is for Cadmus to create a clone of him and Jericho can inhabit that body? Would that work? What if Cadmus and Slade joined forces and Cadmus gave him the clone in return?

Can't wait to see Dick in the Knightwing suit. If they don't do a behind shot of him standing and looking over his shoulder, I will throw something.

[Jenniferbug]

So this episode was better for pacing, but it's not going to go down as one of my favorites of the series. 

Gar just breaks my heart. I really struggle to watch that sweet kid be put through this. All the credit to Ryan Potter for being able to convey such vulnerability and despair. I really, really want the team to fix him 😪

I did appreciate that they let Kory display struggles! She has been through a lot of shit, and we should see how she's coping with it (not not, like last episode) in the midst of all the current shit she's going through. She has had no time to really slow down and just breathe for a minute. 

Liked Dick and Adelaide (?) conversation. I thought it was interesting to see him show up to get his new suit, and Bruce already had one in development for him. The Bruce of his head and the Bruce of reality seem to be different, which is interesting if they choose to explore that more someday.

Which leads me to- I want more info about this universe. Does everyone know Bruce is Batman? Because the finale last year didn't indicate that, but it seems like it's the worst kept secret in the world. Everyone seems to know about the Titans team, but it didn't seem like they were active long or would have been doing press or PR. I wish the show would address this someday. 

I'm going to be honest. I fast forwarded through the vast majority of Rose. I just don't care about her. I watched her scenes with Jason and that was it. Totally agreeing with Phoenics that there's a special place in hell for Rose. 

I wasn't that engaged with Hank's story either. I'm glad it seems like he's going to get himself together, but his backslide into addiction and break up with Dawn was kind of abrupt and unearned so it was hard to really feel for him. Especially when with 1 episode left in the season, we knew it was going to be a pretty quick turnaround. 

Looking forward to next week! I wish this show had just a couple more episodes per season. 

[MarkHB]

"Only" snorting cocaine instead of shooting heroin is Hank getting himself together, I think.

I, too, feel horribly for Gar. He's breaking my heart. At the same time, I can't help but wonder if this Mercy Graves is going to go the way of all live action Mercy Graves after all... probably at Gar's hand / claws / mouth.

[Delphi]

Of course Bruce was already underway getting the nightwing suit made for Dick.   That's so... him.   And I loved the designer being petty about Dick destroying his last costume. 

Gahh, between Jason and Garfield my heart is breaking,  these poor kids!! Jason showed Rose his entire fucked up life and then realized he'd been played,  that's fucking awful.  

I want more Jericho,  that actor is great and his character is great.   Slade is a dick. 

[Lyanna19]

It's all moving way to slow for me! I absolutely can't wait to see Dick in his Nightwing costume! 

Can I say I don't care enough about Hawk to waste time and episodes on him? 😬

Poor Gar, there is no place in hell that will be bad enough for that Mercy woman! Grrr

[DeadlyEuphoric]

2 minutes ago, Lyanna19 said:

Can I say I don't care enough about Hawk to waste time and episodes on him?

Neither do I. Dont care for cage fighting, dont care for Hawk's sex problems, dont care for his drug problems. So was kind of zoning out during his scenes. Faux Hawk and his problems with his step-parent and how he is practically homeless and all alone at the age of 16 was much more touching for me and got more of my empathy.

Oh and I found it pathetic that Hawk had himself being announced as "undisputed leader of the Titans". He is such a loser. And says a lot about his problems with Dick.

It was nice to see Donna and Dawn actually manage to track the Cadmus guy down and be useful. Esp love that lasso got to shine. I was getting very upset when that idiot Dawn was trying to talk Donna into taking down Cadmus on their own just because she doesnt want to face her ex (and for some reason they were ruling out the rest of the Titans without even trying). Which is even more stupid and reckless than any one of them trying to face Deathstroke alone. Thankfully they got to their senses (or at least Donna did) and called the rest of the Titans.

Jason being played is bad, but on the other hand he shouldn't have been as gullible as to pour his entire heart out to basically a stranger he met 2-3 days ago just because she is pretty and has sex with him. It is not like Rose hasn't been shady and cold and rather closed off. Rose being more "Titans need us, we need to help them" than Jason was weird.

Rose, btw, is an idiot. She has a loving mother and stepfather. A nice life. And she left it all behind for an asshole of a father she barely knew who she knows is dangerous and showed no real love to her at any point. The fact he showed up to ruin her prom alone says a lot. And her prime date got stood up. She paid for that by losing an eye so far and was actually ok with even that till she fell in love with Jason, really? I am guessing her "leaving Titans" had to do with realizing her father has been playing her and not wanting to be a part of his plan anymore after finding out the truth about Jericho's death but might be giving her too much credit.

I think show does a good job of showing Bruce cares for Dick and tries to take care of him, even from a distance. And he knows Dick well. Hallucination!Bruce is more a manifest of Dick's self-hatred and doubts and fear of letting Bruce down and not being good enough. And Dick probably does judge Bruce a tad unfairly as kids tend to do with disciplinarian and demanding parents that are not easy to live with.

Loved the suit people being pissed off that Dick burned the suit and them calling him drama queen. Lol

Also glad that it turns out Jericho's mom purposefully said "they" and lead Dick to the room Slade is in, in an effort to get Dick clues in and get him to help save Jericho. She was trying to enlist the heroes her son believed in and wanted to be part of. Also glad Jericho has no bad feelings regarding Titans and doesnt blame them despite 5 years of Slade trying to influence him. Instead he has seen the real truth about his father and agrees with Titans - he needs to be stopped at all costs.

Cant wait for Slade to be taken down. He is a horrible person and father.

Poor Gar. I hope Mercy suffers a horrible death for everything she did to him and have him do to innocent people. 

Loved Kory and Rachel scene. Kory is just great.

[BaggythePanther]

I was a bit distracted that this is the second show I’ve watched this week with both a fight club and daddy/daughter training montage. I don’t mind Hank’s storyline, I just felt like it got too much screen time. One cage fight would have been fine, we didn’t need three or four.

9 hours ago, DeadlyEuphoric said:

I am guessing her "leaving Titans" had to do with realizing her father has been playing her and not wanting to be a part of his plan anymore after finding out the truth about Jericho's death but might be giving her too much credit.

Didn’t Rose just leave Titans with Jason when the group was splitting up? At that point her job was done, so there was no reason to stick around anymore. But rather than return to Slade, she went off with Jason. Most of her interactions with the Titans haven’t been that great, so I’m not sure why she’s so gung ho about rejoining the team. 

Adelaide was quite the exposition fairy. But it’s the penultimate episode so I guess we have to save time.

I like Mercy Graves. I know she’s a terrible person that should probably be dropped to the ninth circle of hell, but I like her accent and that she’s not maliciously evil, just doing her job well and if people have to die in the process so be it. 

[DeadlyEuphoric]

16 hours ago, BaggythePanther said:

Didn’t Rose just leave Titans with Jason when the group was splitting up? At that point her job was done, so there was no reason to stick around anymore. But rather than return to Slade, she went off with Jason. Most of her interactions with the Titans haven’t been that great, so I’m not sure why she’s so gung ho about rejoining the team.

Yes but not sure she was aware everyone was leaving by one by or that they wouldn't reunite immediately once they calmed down. She always had a foot out the door so Jericho story gave her the perfect excuse to bail. Was she really that instrumental in the Titans breakup after all? All she did was do some of the pranks that they all blamed Jason for with no good reason or proof at all, a Jason they knew full well was rather traumatized btw! They were simply horrid there and it had nothing to do with Rose, it was their own rottenness. And still don't know how and why Deathstroke knew about the soda thing with Donna but there was absolutely no reason for them to think Jason would have any such knowledge. In the end, the reason they broke up was their overreaction to Dick's confession, which is mostly on the original Titans and them jumping at the chance to have a scapegoat. They never seemed much into the idea of reforming the team and seemed to look for an excuse to call it quits anyway. So, don't think Rose gets any blame (or credit, as it is) for breaking up the Titans. They did a fine job of it on their own.

Actually, come to think of it, does make sense for Rose to be more interested in helping Titans out than Jason would be. Titans have been simply horrid to Jason so he has every reason to say eff them and want nothing to do with them. He can make up with Dick once he has calmed down, but the rest treated him horribly and he owes them nothing. Rose on the other hand, probably feels guilty and if she is also turning on her father, especially after finding out the truth about her brother's death, she may be interested in joining forces with Titans and helping them against Deathstroke.

Edited November 24, 2019 by DeadlyEuphoric

[Lyanna19]

@BaggythePanther

Graves may only be doing her job, but the fact that she takes great joy and pleasure at doing her job makes her a sadistic b**** in my opinion. She may be a great actress, but I can't wait until she gets whats coming for her (in the shape of one big green tiger perhaps) 😬😲

[Delphi]

1 hour ago, Lyanna19 said:

@BaggythePanther

Graves may only be doing her job, but the fact that she takes great joy and pleasure at doing her job makes her a sadistic b**** in my opinion. She may be a great actress, but I can't wait until she gets whats coming for her (in the shape of one big green tiger perhaps) 😬😲

I wanna cosign this... but I don't want Gar killing anyone else, it's so tough on him.   Maybe Connor can do the deed,  he seems to give zero fucks.

[DeadlyEuphoric]

5 minutes ago, Delphi said:

I wanna cosign this... but I don't want Gar killing anyone else, it's so tough on him.   Maybe Connor can do the deed,  he seems to give zero fucks.

I say let Rachel loose on her, tbh. Especially after the "horrific becomes our new reality" speech. See how she likes that particular horrific reality...

Agree it shouldn't be Gar, it tortures him to know he has harmed someone. Don't need to add to it.

Or even better, let Krypto blast her to oblivion. That way no one runs the risk of feeling guilty about it, and Krypto IS one of Mercy's victims too, so there is poetic justice in it still...

[Lyanna19]

Good point @Delphi and @DeadlyEuphoric Gar does have enough on him. But I'm willing to bet he is going to be the one. Poor Gar, of all the Titans who was the sweetest one, to have this happen to him. 

[BaggythePanther]

4 hours ago, Lyanna19 said:

@BaggythePanther

Graves may only be doing her job, but the fact that she takes great joy and pleasure at doing her job makes her a sadistic b**** in my opinion. 

I know, but I find her interesting. She deserves whatever is coming to her and I’m assuming taking her down will be a team effort mostly because most of the Titans will want revenge for Gar. How are they going to fix him though? Does he turn every time he hears classical music, or is it just a certain song?

@DeadlyEuphoric That’s a good point about why Rose would be more interested in returning to the Titans. Is it possible that Donna told Jericho about the soda thing and that’s how Slade knows?

[Sandman]

Did anyone else think one of Hank's costumed opponents in the cage match was dressed to look like the Bekka version of Wonder Woman (from Justice League: Gods and Monsters)?

Probably this would be an unlikely Easter egg, but I guess I needed a distraction from the grimdark follies of Hank's self-castigation.

As far as I can tell, they haven't been using the same bit of music as Gar's trigger each time. 

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Sandman

[Bruinsfan]

Man, that's going to make dining out in nice TV restaurants rather problematic for him, they always have muted classical music playing in the background!

[Ottis]

The best part of this episode was watching Deathstroke come in with the mail.