Titans “The Call Is Coming From Inside The House”

Well, that Jonathan Crane guy is gonna get it.  Here he is messing up Bruce Wayne’s house, shaving off his beard to reveal Vincent Kartheiser’s generally youthful face, and…wait, why is no one stomping this guy into paste?

That’s something I am having a hard time figuring out.  Now, arguably, Jason is the only one who knows where Crane is, and he’s got his own issues, but by the end of this episode, it sure does seem clear that Jason knows Crane ain’t right in the head.  That comes from witnessing the remains of a pizza delivery man in the Batcave.  Crane decided to cut the guy open to prove Bruce’s files were wrong and Crane isn’t a manipulator whose second Scarecrow personality needs to do all the dirty deeds and…

Wait, Crane has a split personality?  I thought that was Two-Face’s schtick.  Granted, the episode goes whole hog on that concept, but I think the point stands.

Still, Crane is just a guy, and half the Titans are superhuman tanks that should plow through, oh, everything Crane could throw at them.  Heck, with Hawk and Dove out, the only regular human left is Nightwing, the target of all of Crane’s propaganda promoting the Red Hood over the Dark Knight’s Understudy.  Dick figures he will need to take the bait when Jason challenges him to a one-on-one fight.  At this point, the only ones with him are Conner and Krypto, neither of whom seems inclined to let Dick go handle Jason alone.

I mean, that’s the problem here.  The other Titans are off dealing with their own problems.  Rachel and Gar go looking for and find…a Lazarus Pit?  There’s a Lazarus Pit under Gotham?  That sure is convenient.  Regardless, that’s two superhuman Titans down that could be looking for Crane in the place they were calling home only one episode ago.

What about Kori and Blackfire?  Blackfire seems to have accidentally stolen Kori’s powers, but when Kori goes out to clear her head, she stops to defend an immigrant woman with a sick baby from a mugger, resulting in Kori’s getting shot.

Man, Kori sucks at dodging.

Oh wait, now she’s giving off blue energy and having flashbacks to when her parents on Tamaran stole Blackfire’s powers and gave them to Kori.  Funny how no one on Tamaran calls Blackfire by that name.  It’s almost like they know she has another one, something no on Earth including Kori seem to remember.  That said, Tamaran had a nice aesthetic to it that I wouldn’t mind seeing again even though I know full well that isn’t likely.

Hey, remember when the series set Blackfire up as a villain?  She sure didn’t go that route.

What about Donna?  She’s smart and capable.  Oh, she found Tim and is helping him help their neighborhood set up defenses against the crooked cops they all know are coming.  I am sure Donna could handle a few crooked cops by herself, but never mind.  Empowering others is also important.  Besides, Tim has the only working computers in the city outside of Wayne Enterprises from the looks of things, and Dick’s attempts to get some information there don’t seem to bear fruit, so he’ll just have to go deal with Jason and Crane with Conner and Krypto.

Or he would if he didn’t dose both of them with some kryptonite powder to…what, keep the indestructible kid and his equally indestructible dog from getting hurt?

See, Dick, this is why nobody likes you.

Alright, Nightwing vs the Red Hood it is.  And hey, Dick won!  Or he would have had a crowd of as many as eight people not rushed him and started to give him quite the beating.   Because clearly these people believe Crane’s videos more than, I dunno, years of experience dealing with Batman and Batman-related crimefighters doing the right thing by the people of Gotham.  If Jason looked sick before, he looks worse when he gets back to the Batcave to find out Scarecrow, not Crane, did something to some poor slob who is going to be missed…though I do find it a little odd that in a city that seems to be a bit shut down at the moment, it was still possible to order a pizza.

I clearly think more about these things than this show does.  And yet…still the best season of Titans so far.