Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Titans Season 4.
The first four episodes of Titans Season 4 feel a little different from the previous three seasons. For the first time in the show's run, Titans is focusing entirely on the current iteration of the titular superhero team and not splitting its focus between the current version and the older and more jaded one. This bold departure from the show's original premise suggests a different style of story will be unfolding over the rest of the season — but will the replacements for the adult ex-Titans adequately fill the gap left by their departure?
The Old Team Defined the Tone of the Earlier Seasons
One of Titans' strongest elements has always been its exploration of the cost of superheroics. All the former Titans and their colleagues are filled with regrets and resentment from their time on the team. Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) begins the show unable to reconcile his relationship with his estranged father, Bruce Wayne (Iain Glen), and leans on this fact to ignore responsibility for his actions. Donna Troy (Conor Leslie) abandoned the superhero life altogether, choosing to help the world in her own way without the costumes and violence.
Meanwhile, Hank Hall (Alan Ritchson) is physically marked by his time as the superhero Hawk, his body covered with scars and his health constantly at risk of taking a turn for the worst. Barbara Gordon (Savannah Welch) was technically never a member of the Titans, but her history with Dick and Batman has left her jaded and saddled with the responsibilities of being the sole gatekeeper of the highly unethical supercomputer Oracle (Carlo Rota). The weight of their failures as underqualified young superheroes defines their every action throughout the show. The old team is held up as a vision of what the younger team might become and establishes the stakes for the whole show. If the new kids fail, they'll end up just like the old team — scattered, broken, and miserable.
This tension is most obvious in Season 2, when both teams are threatened by the return of the Titans' greatest enemy, Deathstroke (Esai Morales). The return of the villain that ended the first team reawakens old tensions, and it's only by learning from and moving past the old team’s mistakes that they’re able to defeat him. But it's also present in Season 1, when it complicates Dick's efforts to protect Rachel (Teagan Croft), and in Season 3, when the old team's failings are part of what drives Jason Todd (Curran Walters) over the edge. This dynamic is engrained into the show's DNA, but by the end of Season 3, Hank is dead, Dawn (Minka Kelly) is left to be alone and grieve his death, Donna has seemingly been recruited into A.R.G.U.S., and Barbara is staying in Gotham — and their absence in Season 4 is keenly felt.
Season 4 Is Focusing More on the New Team
Without the old team present, the focus is firmly on the new incarnation, consisting of the core four from the previous seasons — Dick, Rachel, Koriand'r (Anna Diop), and Gar (Ryan Potter) alongside the later additions of Conner (Joshua Orpin) and Tim Drake (Jay Lycurgo). Each team member has their own individual arc that develops out of the main plot (except for Dick, who's settled into his role as mentor and team leader). Rachel and Gar are both experiencing ominous visions which seem to be related to the sources of their respective powers. Kory is learning about her own mysterious new powers and trying to determine their seemingly astronomical upper limits. Conner is grappling with his complicated parentage and finding his own identity in relationship to both Superman and Lex Luthor (Titus Welliver). And Tim is struggling to play catch up, doing his best to fit into the team without any experience or superpowers. Without a second team of characters to focus on, there's more time to explore these stories as they circle around and intersect with the main plot. The core cast has a stronger sense of direction as the season is starting, but the dynamic has changed.
It's possible the series may be able to redistribute that old dynamic among the current team. After all, Rachel, Kory, and Gar have been here since the beginning. Their seniority over newer members like Conner and Tim affects how they function within the team. Dick trusts Rachel and Gar more than he does Conner and Tim despite their similar ages, and Gar especially seems to be stepping into more of a leadership role in the absence of characters like Dawn or Donna. At several points, we see Gar helping direct Tim and Conner, such as pulling Tim away from the sight of a gruesome murder he's not ready to see. And given the reveal in "Super Super Mart" that the Organization is back and after Sebastian Sanger (Joseph Morgan), it seems like this time around it will be Rachel and the original four whose past is coming back to haunt them. The story could easily use Kory, Rachel, and Gar similarly to how the earlier seasons used Hank, Dawn, and Donna, with Conner and Tim filling the roles of the less experienced young heroes.
The Change in 'Titans' Character Dynamics Feels Permanent
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It's still not quite the same thing, seeing characters you've watched develop over three seasons stepping into more responsibility. They're still kids, unlike the old team, and they don't represent the same things to each other that the former team did for them. But perhaps that's the point. The old group was a warning of what not to do, but there's only so far the new team can develop with the guardrails of having experienced heroes around to fix their mistakes. There comes a point where they need to prove that they've learned the lessons the old guard taught them, and it seems like Season 4 is going to test how well they did.
But is it working? It’s hard to say, as the show is still laying the groundwork for what’s to come later this season, but it entirely depends on how well the show uses the extra narrative space it's made for itself. Previous seasons of Titans have felt busy and often cluttered, with only a few characters having fully developed and fulfilling arcs. But so far this season, almost every main character has something going on and develops their individual stories a little further with every episode. If the rest of the season keeps this trend going, it could be a big step up from the often spotty character work of previous seasons.
It's entirely possible that Dawn, Donna, or Barbara might still make an appearance later this season — all three of them are still alive and have close ties to the team. Even new arrival Jinx (Lisa Ambalavanar), who at first felt like she might step into a similar role based on her past relationship with Dick, feels like just another member of the team rather than a thematic link to the past. But while cameos and guest spots might still be in the cards, Titans feels like it's moved on from its original premise and wholly embraced its new generation of heroes. This time, the Titans are on their own — whether they're up for the task or not.