Titans

How did I miss knowing about this? Ok, only got Netflix a few months ago, and enjoying a few series very much (Sandman, Umbrella Academy, the Viking one whose name has suddenly escaped me) I STILL missed knowing about this. Then Series 4 was advertised and eureka. Also, as a fan of Comic Book series and having once read Teen Titans many years ago, thought yes, I Know what is coming, may be fun in a gentle, inoffensive way, if done well. WRONG. Incredibly dark, violence not far behind Marvels Punisher series. So I was blindsided, but in a good way. Really enjoyed, extremely well done, excellent cast, and layered storyline. Really takes the 'Dark' inherent in Batmans Gotham, literally. Have to say, enjoyed much more than the Arrowverse attempts at DC. Bring on the next one.

It wasn't as edgy as I thought it would be. Actings wasn't as weird as I thought it would be. The choreography wasn't as fake as I thought it would be. CGI didn't look as bad as I thought it would be. Production didn't look as cheap as I thought it would be. Editing wasn't as sloppy as I thought it would be. Dialogues weren't as cheesy as I thought it would be. Interactions are promising. Narrating is captivating. The build-up is looking good. Developments are on point. The episodes actually make sense. The show isn't overly edgy. It has a gritty and realistic take on and it works. I really didn't expect this. I hope they won't spoil this in the future, and raise their bar, it has really good potential. Just don't be fooled by the trailers like i was.

So, just finished the last episode of the first season. And they delivered. There were some awkward moments throughout the season, some scenes definitely could've executed differently, some introductions could've served better, the writing and directing was meh, but as a whole, it was a decent season. This universe is definitely worth your time.

The main weakness this show has is the writing. Though overall it's acceptable, there is a major lull in a few episodes of the first season where they are trying to introduce characters with upcoming series of their own. I think this is the first time I've seen this done in a shows first season, and it doesn't work.

The actors all seem to have good chemistry and it shows, though hard core fans will be disappointed as pretty much all the characters have been drastically altered from the source material.

As for Starfire, I don't care what color the skin the actor portraying her has, as long as she can act. The answer is that Anna Diop can act, however she is stymied by the script she is given.

I wasn't expecting an Emmy caliber show, as long as the writers don't eventually sink the show, the actors seem to be doing a good enough job with a so-so script.

Season 1 of the Titans was a breath of fresh air. It was so much different than other dc shows and movies. The season ended in a nice spot and the overall character development was great. Unfortunately they never got to use that momentum. Since then, it's been a steady decline. Specially, the writing and direction of season 3 has been absolutely abysmal.

Now that James Gunn has taken over the DC cinematic universe, I hope that we get a Dick Grayson full feature film with a larger budget than Titans.

With that being said, here is my rating breakdown:

Season 1 = 8.0 Season 2 = 8.0 Season 3 = 7.0 Season 4 = 6.0

In season 4, they really missed the mark with casting Franka Potente as Mother Mayhem, who is by far the weakest link. The lair set design for Mother Mayhem was awful. I've seen better set design at Universal Studios in Orlando. Some episodes of season 4 are a great cinematic experience, while other episodes are very amateur CW Network-ish.