“Titans” Blurs the Lines between Good and Evil

Last updated on: October 22, 2018 at 1:39 pm by Coyle Neal

“Titans” Blurs the Lines between Good and Evil 2018-10-22T13:39:38-06:00 Coyle Neal

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I pointed out the gritty nature of DC Universe’s newest show Titans in my review of the pilot. We continue to meander through this brutal new world in the second episode, “Hawk and Dove.” [spoiler alerts from here on out]

Here we meet the titular characters Hawk and Dove, the couple Hank and Dawn. And once again, we’re not given any backstory, we’re just thrown into the plot with a series of brutal beatings and two new unknown heroes. I’m still a bit fuzzy on what their powers are—though Hawk’s seems to be getting captured and tortured, while Dove’s is apparently sleeping with all of the main male characters we’ve met so far (and again: this is a gritty version of the DC Universe, so take potential content warnings into account).

Image: IMDB

Dick Grayson has taken Rachel to Hank and Dawn so that they can keep an eye on her. He has done this nominally so that she will be in more capable hands than his, but in reality because he does not want the responsibility of caring for a teenager. She can sense the truth, so she knows that once again she is being left alone without any understanding of her own powers and without any assistance in the world. For his part, Dick thinks that because of back story we’ve not yet been given, he has become too brutal and violent to care for someone who needs as much attention as Rachel—or maybe even for anyone.

This is particularly rough (though just emotionally, so that doesn’t count as much, right?) given that Dick himself was orphaned and raised by an emotionally distant “father” figure. Rachel had thought she had found a kindred spirit and instead is being abandoned, this time by someone her powers had led her to.

At the same time, Dick’s arrival makes Hank worried that Dawn is going to abandon him in favor of Dick, with whom she has some kind of history. In other words, throughout this episode we have the theme of the fear (or reality) of abandonment.

By contrast, we are introduced to a family of some sort that at first glance appears to be normal. We meet a brother and sister playing a game while the mother and father putter about the kitchen doing mother and father things. Very quickly we see that they are not so normal, and that they are, in addition to apparently being a loving family, able and willing to torture, kidnap, and kill in order to accomplish their goal (in this case, torturing Dick’s partner to find out where he is, kidnapping Rachel once they find them, and murdering Dove when she gets in the way).

So far, we have been given heroes who are so grey in nature that, without backstories, it can be hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Yes, I know Robin is a good guy. But I don’t know that from this series. If we cut out prior knowledge (or just take Robin out of the equation), the only way to tell the heroes from the villains would be by 1) amount of screen time and 2) keeping track of who ties up their enemies before torturing and/or killing them.

Clearly we as Christians aren’t going to endorse this kind of worldview. Yes, we recognize the reality of sin in the world. And of course we recognize that all people, even the good guys, are sinners. And yet, especially in the last couple of years and for political reasons which need not be focused on now, Christians have become too willing to dismiss bad behavior on the part of the “good” guys. We believe that sin has infected the world, and that only the blood of Christ can pay for it. But being forgiven is not the same thing as being given permission. We ought to hold each other and the world to the highest possible ethical standards. Yes, we should forgive. But we should also rebuke. Which isn’t to say that a stern talking to would solve the problems outlined in Titans. But it would at least give us a place to start.

With all that said, Titans continues to be an interesting series. Given how little we know (from within the show itself) and how grim a worldview we are left with, DC has still managed to produce a solid episode.

Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO.

Previous Post

October 19, 2018

"High-Rise" is an Urban "Lord of the Flies"

Next Post

October 23, 2018 ‘Overnight’ Sensation Proves It’s Here to Stay in Middleburg

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. Paul was not ashamed of me. What am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The cross God's word The gospel Faith