4x05 Inside Man

04x05 - Inside Man: 6.6/10 (Fair, Above Average)

This season is shaping up to be the most consistent one yet; that is, consistently okay. It doesn’t reach the high points of the previous seasons, but it also doesn’t sink low and come off as a disaster, so it’s an improvement in some respects. This season has finally found a tone appropriate for the “Titans,” and it’s encouraging to see how the characters have matured and learned from their past experiences. Injecting just the perfect amount of humour, Jinx is a great addition, and unlike before, there is stuff for Gar to do, and he is not neglected.

With the positives out of the way, though, I must address the negatives. Lingering issues from the season’s outset are now creeping their way to the forefront. Dick and Kory’s relationship lacks any real depth. If they want to make it believable, they’ll have to do more than the casual interactions between the two we’ve seen so far. The dialogue is quite basic and lacks depth. It’s a major gripe of mine that, although the DC animated shows have fantastic dialogue, the live-action adaptations never seem to measure up. The acting, especially that of the cult characters, is so dreadfully unnatural that it breaks your immersion.

Tim hasn’t been very likeable this season, but the “superhero moment” scene made me laugh out loud at the writers’ competence. He nonchalantly smacked the snake on the head, killing it. And then Dick says that all his hard work in training has paid off, and he’s finally accomplished his goal. Isn’t that something simple enough that anyone could do it? It had such a lacklustre impression on me that I was trying to figure out what the writers were thinking. Extremely disappointing stuff. With his bizarre decisions, Tim has been the worst-written Titans character this season. I hope they can turn it around, since it’s getting on my nerves. The lack of visual portrayal of Gar’s transition was also a letdown for me; even a brief CGI sequence showing his new form would have been adequate.

It’s not a terrible episode by any stretch, but some underlying problems drag it down and ultimately drag the season down. Let’s wait and see what the rest of the season has in store.