The end is here. Trigon has broken Rachel’s heart, the Titans have all turned to his will and our lost hope is… Beast Boy?

Well here we are again. The first episode of Titans’ inaugural season was, by a vast margin, one of the least workable hours of television I’ve ever had to sit through. It was made almost universally of awful. This, I’m delighted to report, is not. Although confusingly it’s actually the original season 1 finale that’s been moved to the season 2 opener slot. That’s why the ending sequence, where multiple plots are set up, feels a little weird. Put that back three months? Much smoother, or at least more familiar.

What works here is very nearly everything. Brenton Thwaites and Teagan Croft are especially great and Thwaites brings a welcome, distanced and dead eyed charm to this broken version of Dick Grayson. The episode belongs to Croft though, as Raven steps up in a manner so convincing that seeing her father basically one-shorted into oblivion just about feels right. It could have been anti-climactic, instead it plays like that moment at the end of Captain Marvel where Carol finally puts some things together. This is a woman coming into her considerable power and the changes that will make to the team power dynamic should be great fun to watch.

Likewise the addition of Curran Waters’ magnificently foul mouthed Jason Todd as a new regular team member. Waters is the caffeine addicted Nermal to Thwaites’ grim Garfield and his exuberance is a welcome light note, especially in his interactions with Hawk. Best of all though is the way a seemingly innocuous gag powers the big adversary for the season. That’s smart plotting. That’s something this show had no idea how to do a season ago.

Most of all this feels like a team for the first time. Whether it’s Gar’s genuine charm and terror, both perfectly essayed by Ryan Logan or Alan Ritchson’s Hank getting comfortable with being the team’s curmudgeonly older brother there’s a lot to enjoy here. So much so that even though you know they’re getting back together, literally the next week, there’s real emotion to the moment they go their separate ways.

But the best moment, amazingly, goes to Jason Todd. As the team return to their newly refurbished headquarters, Jason finds the costume hall. We see Dick, Donna, Hank and Dawn, all suited up and in their prime. Hank turns, grins that grin that means someone is about to lose teeth and they fade away. Left behind is Jason, a little boy trying desperately to fill shoes he isn’t sure he’s able to,

Based on this? He’s going to be fine.

Verdict: Titans season 2 feels like a different show. Complex, character driven, funny and ambitious, this is the best start the season could hope for. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart