“Titans” S1 Ep 10 & 11; “Koriand’r” & “Dick Grayson” Review by Case Wright Spoilers

Posted on August 12, 2019 by casewright

titans-1

Do you know the exact moment when you sold your soul? Or when your soul is forfeit are you so far gone that you don’t notice?

thedevilsadvocate62

Dick Grayson started as the damaged hero and ended with nothing. He’s a tragic hero whose pride destroyed him. He became seduced to believe that his pain allowed him to decide life and death, causing him to commit the paragon of sins: Patricide. As you look at the 11 episode arc, you see Dick losing his identity as Robin, and in doing so, he loses his moral compass and his soul.

I reviewed these last two episodes together because they flow as one episode. It could’ve been titled The Last Temptation of Dick Grayson. Unfortunately, he made the wrong the decision and we see his soul die. Not only was the story brilliantly written, but these two episodes had a creepy factor that was palpable. In fact, the story began and ended in a haunted house.

In the previous episode, Starfire starts choking Rachel. Dick and Donna burst in and Starfire stops, but the damage has been done and Rachel’s mom insists that Starfire leave. Starfire does and Dick and Donna follow. Rachel’s mom has successfully separated the group. We learn that Starfire is an Alien and needs to stop Rachel from unleashing her father Trigon who is basically the Devil.

Rachel has been trying to keep from using her powers because she can’t control them and they seem inherently evil because … well … they are. Rachel’s mom as it turns out is still all about Trigon AKA Satan and she really wants her some Satan. In order to do it, she needs to get Rachel to use her evil mojo and pull her dad out of a mirror. Rachel’s mom accomplishes this by infecting Gar through a haunted mirror. Rachel’s mom tricks Rachel into pulling her dad out of Hell because only he can save Gar. Well, she does and Gar is healed by Trigon, but evil is now unleashed upon us. How did this work? Rachel was manipulated and seduced. She knew that her father was likely pretty pretty bad, but she was willing risk us all to help her friend, making the act selfish, but disguised as altruistic.

Dick Grayson enters and he is in his idealized reality, but not all is well. First of all, he’s in Southern California, which is almost a hell dimension all on its own. Dawn is his wife and he’s got another baby on the way AND they both have left the hero business behind to pursue a life of….well let’s just assume real estate? They probably have some really cool pictures of themselves on local benches. In fact, Minka Kelly should really be on ALL advertisements at all times.

Jason Todd arrives in a wheel chair and informs Dick that Batman has run a muck, killing the villains instead of beating them to near death, which is …. better? Dick returns to Gotham and is continually manipulated by Satan that Bruce can’t be stopped without killing him. Dick fights his way through the mansion and upon seeing that Starfire was killed by Batman, he gives into his wrath and commits patricide. By giving into this final act of evil, Dick becomes Trigon’s minion. Dick even gets evil eyes, but I didn’t not to use a screen cap of that because it might spoil visually.

These episodes and the season as whole take a deep dive into PTSD and human weakness. Dick was filled with bitterness and pain and when he burned his Robin suit he also burned the last vestige of his hero identity. When he kills Bruce, he wasn’t in costume; he was just angry Dick Grayson who wanted to get back at his Dad. Dick answers the question for us posed at the beginning: we don’t know when our soul is forfeit because we left all our scruples behind getting to that point, therefore, we become a husk of a human being capable of anything.

Screenshot (84).png

Screenshot (81).png

Titans, S1E3, Origins, Dir. Kevin Rodney Sullivan, No review ep 4

Posted on June 24, 2019 by casewright

titans

This episode – Origins – digs deeper into Dick and how he evolved into Robin and how Dick, Koriand’r, and Rachel evolved into the Titans. I don’t mention Beast Boy because he joins in the next episode and he is kinda lame. Speaking of Beast Boy, I won’t review Episode 4- Doom Patrol. It’s a backdoor pilot for the eponymous show that was reviewed on this site – check it out here.

The episode opens with my only critique for the season. Rachel is captured, but doesn’t use her Goth powers to kill everyone. Why not? This was not explained. It seems that somehow her powers were neutered, but I’m not sure how. She ends up being driven around by the world’s creepiest suburban family. This quick cuts to Koriand’r searching for Rachel and kicking serious ass kinda unnecessarily. I mean these were cops and she just breaks one guy’s arm when he begs for mercy. OUCH! Koriand’r catches up to the “Nuclear Family” and sets the dad on fire and rescues Rachel. Koriand’r sets more people on fire than the Romans did! Not too long after, she practically tears apart a wife beater at a diner! WOW! Koriand’r takes Rachel to a convent where she discovered Rachel spent the first few years of her life. All the while, Dick is on the hunt for them both!

The B- Story is Dick Grayson’s youth and how he became Robin. I wasn’t sure how I thought of this device, but it re-centered the story around Dick to keep the narrative clear: This show is Dick’s Story. Young Dick Grayson is adopted by Bruce Wayne who doesn’t speak, but lurks around the house staring at Dick. HMMMM. Anywho, Dick starts breaking out of Wayne Manor using his acrobat and car stealing techniques. He’s caught and brought into his social worker who is certain that she knows the way forward: reason with the boy. Unfortunately, she doesn’t get it. Dick isn’t running away; he’s hunting his parents’ killer to kill them. This causes Bruce to take an interest in Dick and recruit him into becoming Robin.

If you look at Dick as someone with deep-seeded PTSD, (which is exactly what’s going on) Bruce and Dick’s actions are very logical. They have repressed rage and, unlike many of us, the means and ability to exact revenge on people who mirror the cause of their trauma. Most of us just end up in therapy, but I admit that I envy these guys. Yes, it’s easier on your family to go to the VA and work through your justified rage, but wouldn’t it also be fun to wear some sort of leather and beat the ever loving snot out of a bunch of wife beaters, drug dealers, and child molesters?! It’s be a lot more fun than therapy and far fewer group sessions where you get slightly better than mediocre ham sandwiches.

Dick, being a pretty good detective, catches up to them and Rachel loses it full-on Carrie style. Dick Koriand’r and Rachel back to the convent and has a heart to heart with Rachel. He said something that stuck with me. Rachel was going on about how no one can really help and Dick admits, Yes. He thought Bruce could solve his problems by having him beat the snot out of people, but no one else can be responsible for your pain. You have to channel it yourself into something constructive, but it never goes away because it did happen to you.

It turns out that the sisters decide to lock up Rachel in the basement for her own good while Dick and Koriad’r step out for a few. This seems like an odd choice for the sisters. It’s obvious that Rachel is still there and why would they think that Dick and Koriand’r would be okay with her being locked away in a basement?! Kinda weird. Other than a few flaws, the episode lays the framework for an expanding family. I really do enjoy watching this group evolve into the Titans and they are really good at showing the subtle sparks that Koriand’r and Dick have for one another. Once again, I’m impressed with how accurately and directly they deal with PTSD and how that would affect all superheroes.

Titans, S1 E1, Review By Case Wright (Dir. Brad Anderson)

Posted on June 17, 2019 by casewright

titans

Titans isn’t your Dad’s superhero show, unless your Dad was awesome and loved Watchmen and if that’s the case he EARNED the World’s Best Dad mug!!! This is also different because it’s on the DC Universe subscription site and you’re like ….

But Case, I already already have Netflix and Hulu and Comcast and a burgeoning Methylphenidate habit because I’ve got this Calculus exam and I’m afraid of losing my funding….I mean …..smoking.

My response is:

DROP HULU and get this subscription!!!! You get digital access to EVERY SINGLE DC Comics, Movie, show, anime, tv series, and this AWESOME SHOW!!!!

Back to the show!!!

The show takes place in Gotham? NOPE. Metropolis? Nope! Vaguely Vancouver? Well….

It takes place in Detroit! The story revolves around an Angry PTSD Robin. Honestly, it’s pretty accurate! I have friends that have looked for trouble and found it. They see a guy beating up his girlfriend or harassing a lady and they mete out the justice right there. That’s who Robin is. He’s angry and worked for Batman: a rich guy who liked to beat the snot out of troublemakers. I am not saying it’s right and I never indulged in that kind of wrath, but I understand. The law can be supine when it comes to justice, it’s good at order, but justice…not so much. This is the world where Robin and the other Capes live. A world where the justice is instantaneous and the world shrugs. It comes from a real place. Afghanistan and much of the World operates the same way: the criminal justice system is corrupt, incompetent, feckless or all three, leading people to embrace extra-judicial solutions, but their vigilantes wear surplus fatigues instead of costumes. By far, that’s why we failed in Afghanistan, the Taliban could offer something we could not: instant brutal justice.

The show is brilliantly written by Geoff Johns and Greg Berlanti. If you don’t know who they are: Wonder Woman, Arrow, Smallville, Flash, and everything with the DC on it- they did. If you notice the fast pace and lived-in dreariness, that’s all Brad Anderson. He directed the pilot as well as the Hawk and Dove episode. Brad is a veteran of the show The Killing- a gritty dark murder mystery that takes place in the greatest city on Earth- SEATTLE. He is a David Fincher 2.0 with his brutal dystopian realism. Every shot is almost always near winter as if the seasons themselves have given up. The cities are as decaying and broken as their inhabitants.

The story starts rolling with Rachel Roth who is confused, angry, and on the run. She watches her mother get killed by an unknown assassin and she goes scary as shit and whoops ass! Then, she flees for Detroit and is nearly human trafficked, but her alter ego warns her in a reflection because it has to be done in the most creepy way possible. I am not sure if keeping this girl alive is really in humanity’s best interest.

This forces her path to cross Dick Grayson (Robin) who has left Batman to become a Detroit Police Detective. He tries to be on the right side of the law for awhile, but he sees child abusers go free and dons the cape again to mete out justice. By mete out justice, he beats people within an inch of their lives: see below! After Robin gets his 30 lbs of flesh, he gets pulled into a mystery surrounding a girl named Rachel Roth who just might be the harbinger of the apocalypse. Side note: I have known A LOT of cops over the years; the Army’s lousy with them. Brenton’s portrayal is very accurate for a long-term detective: he self-deprecates, but he’s really hard to know. I would have him make some more practical jokes or kid around more a bit. Most guys like that hide their feelings in humor a lot, but other than that, it’s flawless.

There is one scene, which is in a gif below: Robin is cleaning up his weapons after beating people nearly to death and that reminded me of my Soldier days. You finish your training exercise or patrol. Maybe you fought. In any case, it’s over. Everyone gets quiet, some shirtless, all the cleaning implements are placed neatly, and you methodically clean your weapons in a very zen activity. This was a great and accurate detail.

Our next hero is Koriand’r – she has no idea who she is, but she knows how to dress. She’s a mix of badass, sexy, and neck breaking! She does all three. There’s Russian dudes out of nowhere and she goes full-on Firestarter and burns them to DEATH! You feel almost kind of bad for them. Almost. She has a 70s soundtrack wherever she goes. I’m starting to blush. Anyway. She ascertains that she needs to go to Detroit and find Rachel Roth. In this show, who doesn’t realize that?!

The show cuts back to Rachel who meets Dick, but she’s kidnapped by a very unlucky man. Rachel wakes to see her mother’s killer. Wow, did he pick the wrong lady to mess with! Dick goes to rescue her, but Rachel’s dark nature takes over, she enters and explodes her would-be killer!!!! It’s AWESOME AND GROSS!!! Dick becomes her protector. Kordiand’r is on her way to Motown. We even meet Beast Boy who likes to commit petty theft as a green tiger.

This series is the best show on television. PERIOD.

If you like my work, read the rest of it, retweet it, re-blog it, tell my editor @lisamariebowman that you like my work. Of course, if you hate my work, I suppose there’s got to be a pill for that.

Teaser Trailer: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix)

Posted on September 14, 2018 by Arleigh

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

With each passing year since they decided to purchase and/or create original content for their streaming service, Netflix has continued to pump out more and more content to varying degrees of quality and success. For every Stranger Things or House of Cards, there would be 10 or so mediocre to just awful content, yet these are still content that the hundreds of millions of Netflix subscribers will watch.

Even now, shows that have been cancelled by the traditional networks have found a second life on Netflix to continue the series, albeit in a more streamlined version. There are no 20-24 episode seasons on Netflix. They prefer their series to be binge-able 10-13 episodes per season.

This October 26, just in time for Halloween, Netflix subscribers (plus those who borrow their friend’s account to watch Netflix) will see a new reinterpretation of the Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Just like CW Network’s Riverdale, this new Sabrina series on Netflix will have a much more darker take on the character that fans of the 1990’s series grew watching would be used to.

Kiernan Shipka of Mad Men will headline the series as the title character and if this teaser trailer is of any indication the series will definitely delve into much darker territory than the previous Sabrina series that aired on ABC.

I know one thing, I have a feeling that Lisa Marie will eat up this series, if just because of the last shot of the teaser trailer.

Love, Simon – A Review. This Film is a MUST SEE!!!! Rating – A+!

Posted on March 16, 2018 by casewright

fullsizeoutput_1483-e1516894794929-787x559

“Love, Simon” sometimes films make you exhilarated, cry, and hope because the hero is in physical peril; “Love, Simon” makes you feel those emotions through the agonizingly painful awkwardness of being a teenager and on top of that being gay. The film has importance as having the first gay lead protagonist in a rom-com. It’s directed by Greg Berlanti who created the best show I love to watch with dudes getting killed with arrows.

However, without a great story, you’ve got nothing. Simon, luckily, is all of us. He’s handsome, but is painfully awkward. This is evident in the first five-minutes when he approaches a handsome landscaper and fumbles all over himself. These cringeworthy teenage moments happen over and over- just like high school terrible moments.

He’s young, but with a very adult secret and he doesn’t know if his friends today would be his friends tomorrow, if they knew he were gay. That just sucks. I don’t normally do this, but I want any readers out there to know that it’s okay to be gay. You have a right to safety, love, and all of the wonderful things that the world has to offer. If anyone says differently or uses their religion as a shield or sword for their bigotry against you, you can tell them fuck you right from me!

Back to Simon, he’s struggling with coming out and sees on a blog that someone else is too. They begin an online correspondence and I prayed that it wasn’t a forty-five year old creepo writing him. It wasn’t. Unfortunately, his correspondence is found out by Martin, a fellow student, who threatens to out him, unless he helps set him up with one of his friends. Martin is a horrible garbage person and is horribly awkward as well and blunders through his terrible terrible life in the film.

Simon, fearing being outed, complies to Martin’s demand as he tries to discover the identity of his online paramour. I don’t want to give to much away, BUT in the trailer we learn that Simon either comes out or gets outed. Yes, he eventually gets outed, but that is as unimportant to the protagonist’s journey as being gay is in real life. It’s just you. Simon- deals with it and if you’re a small-minded dipshit, you’ll deal with it too! The film proceeds to have many cringeworthy -oh my god, I’m having teen flashbacks- moments and I’m so glad I’m no longer a teen.

Furthermore, the film could seem hokey or corny to a lot of cynical people that are terrible, homophobic or both. Honestly, I have to write if you don’t like this film you are per se terrible. I’m not saying that if you gave the movie a C+ you would refuse to make a gay couple a wedding cake, but I bet you would tell there are “Two Sides” bullshit.

The film really goes beyond gay identity just as Simon does. It is coming of age story where we grow up with simon and realize this is just who he is, but he’s still a kid. I can tell you that 17 and 18 is still a kid. My first assignment in the Army I was a lieutenant and had many 18 year olds in my platoon and they had childish interests, were desperate for guidance, and tried many awkward times to get acceptance. In short, Love, Simon portrays youth accurately and we, like Simon, have to deal.

The film was making a point that these were kids struggling with being grownups and they just weren’t ready. Adulthood is forced upon us, we don’t get to choose it on our own terms. For me, that’s what Berlanti was trying to say: we have to become adults and deal with our identity because life will force us to do so no matter what. We don’t choose to be smart, dumb, gay, or straight- it’s just who we are and we have to face it every day because we have to do so. The film forces us to live through Simon’s awkwardness as he becomes a Man. Being a grown up sucks, but it doesn’t suck as much as being a teenager.

The film leaves us with uncertainty because that’s what being an adult is. We have to be ourselves or we can never be free, or as Jennifer Gardner put it heart wrenchingly- you’ll always be holding your breath.

I would recommend that you see this film and then see it again!