Written by Richard Hatem and directed by Nick Copus. The premise of "Lex Luthor": After Superman requests a meeting with Conner, the Titans travel to Metropolis for exclusive access to S. T. A. R. Labs. But when unexpected complications arise, including the re-emergence of Lex Luthor, Conner faces a tough decision.
So we're now in The City of Tomorrow, or Metropolis as it's official name is. Which is something the show has been building towards since season 2 when Conner made his first appearance, I'm glad he's getting a true story arc for this season. But the thing is, the cast is still large and I hope they don't do the same mistake as they did with season 3 which began strong but ended average. Too many characters but now they at least are a team, with STAR Labs they get the chance to get equipped and test their abilities and it's amazing to see the Titans being strong like they should be. With this season focusing more on Conner / Superboy, the show "Titans" continues the themes of family and especially the topic of fathers, previous season focused on Bruce Wayne for Dick Grayson, now it's Conner who's a clone of Lex Luthor and Clark Kent / Superman. The theme of family have always been with the show and it's a great theme to have in a show, mostly, Titans have succeeded with the execution. I think they'll execute it fine with this season, they probably learned from their mistakes. The writing was actually quite good, dialogue felt right for the characters and no real flaws in my opinion. The direction was strong, it feels like Nick Copus gave the actors good direction and had an overall fantastic vision for the story.
I found the action sequences to be a a highlight in this episode, with the sequence in LexCorp that was shot in a one take. The gritty and great action sequences remain great. The presence of Lex Luthor played by the brilliant Titus Welliver was why the scene worked as well as it did, just one episode in and I can say he'll be a highlight of the season, he made an impact in just one episode. Nightwing's fight sequence were also great, it was more a regular action scene though than the previous which had more drama. You also see how the budget have gotten higher, making Beast Boy accurate to his comic book counterpart, I really hope they keep his transformations up and not going the cheap route. Other performances I liked was Joshua Orpin as Conner Kent / Superboy, you clearly see how he has grown through the seasons, I think he'll handle the character and Conner's arc nicely. I also want to praise Brenton Thwaites for his performance as Dick Grayson/Nightwing, I just think he does a fantastic job at capturing the character, and finally as Nightwing. Can't wait to see more of him and the rest of the team. On the villain side, we got introduced to the Church of Blood and I found Joseph Morgan to be great as Sebastian Sanger/Brother Blood, he plays this terrifying figure nicely and I can't wait to see more of him and Mother Mayhem.
Episode 4.01 was all about world building, introducing new characters and locations and building the plot forward. It looks promising and I'm here to stay. "Lex Luthor" was a great episode that leaves you desperately waiting for the next episode. Titans is back, strong.
