Titans Review: Troubled Water (Season 3 Episode 10)
Titans Season 3 Episode 10, “Troubled Water,” is an ambitious episode that attempts to show Gotham at its lowest — attempt being the operative word.
Instead of building chaos and moving towards an ending with Crane taking Wayne Manor in triumph, this episode is all over the place. There are some scenes that garner emotion, however, too much happens in a short timespan.
This episode would have served better if it didn’t follow arguably the best episode of the season, “Souls,” and if it were spread out among at least two episodes.
The biggest issue with this episode is not just that there’s too much happening, but the things going on are just too different.
On one hand, Donna faces trials to earn her place as a living member of humanity, Kory undergoes familial strife, and Barbara is arrested. It’s hard to keep up not only with where everyone is physically, but also where they are emotionally.
Many of the moments of this episode are important and deserve the time to marinate; time that Titans rushes past.
It’s also interesting that the strongest elements of this episode are the players who have had the least amount of screentime this season — Donna Troy and Rachel Roth.
Donna spends a large chunk of the episode proving to Lydia she is fit to return to the realm of man, and Lydia reiterates that Donna must not be afraid of herself.
Although, this plot feels contrived. Lydia’s words are slightly cryptic and her advice doesn’t reflect an issue Donna’s publicly struggled with before.
These scenes are mostly unneeded as her arc in “Souls” proves trial enough to get her where she needs to be for the rest of the season. Still, even as these scenes aren’t warranted, they’re some of the most grounded in “Troubled Water.”
Rachel doesn’t appear for long, but even the taste of her appearance brings a hopeful mood to the episode. Combined with the fun personality that Donna presents, they help bring the color that Titans desperately needs.
Despite the lows and difficulties with the pacing on “Troubled Water,” it’s worth mentioning how the chaos tastes its best in the episode’s primary fight scene, the intended arrest for publicity.
This scene is truly one of those moments that has you yelling, “No, stop, don’t!” from start to finish. Just when the fight feels like it’s gone far enough, Titans pushes the boundary further to the point where Barbara shoots Fletcher to protect the Titans, but more namely Dick.
This scene is the most effective of the episode, showing that even the more contrived plots can strike a chord if only given enough time to reverberate.
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Titans airs Thursdays on HBO Max.
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Amanda Reimer
In addition to working as a freelance writer, Amanda also works with animals and stage manages various live performances. She has an invested interest in the perspective and experience of fandoms as well as anything in the science-fiction genre. She also loves spoiling her cats, Drummer and Kiki.