Titans
DC Universe
Season 1 Episode 7
Asylum
Things are getting darker for everyone in this episode of Titans and none of the team will be left unscathed.
Dr. Adamson refuses to speak to anyone but Rachel and when he finally does, he forces her to use her powers to resurrect him. He also tells her that she is destined to purify the planet and, more importantly, that her biological mother is still alive and being held in an asylum.
With the team still holding up in Bruce Wayne’s penthouse, Dick tells Rachel that it is too dangerous for her to alone. This is one of the first moments where we really see Dick emerge as a leader of this group, especially in the eyes of Kory. As he begins to investigate the building and form a plan, Rachel and Gar decide to leave and go on their own.
With the two youngest members of the team captured, Dick and Kory must infiltrate the asylum to rescue them. What follows is the some of the most brutal moments in the series so far as they are captured as well and tortured as a means of turning Rachel. Teagan Croft is great in this episode. She carries a lot in her performance and the moments between her and Adamson are well done.
There is a lot of darkness in this episode. Not only do we see the team psychologically and physically tortured throughout the episode, but there is a moment in the episode where Dick is confronted by his younger self about his decision to leave Batman. It’s a really brutal moment in an already brutal episode. It does seem to serve as a means of pushing Dick further away from the Robin role and towards Nightwing, especially when he makes a decision at the end of the episode regarding the asylum itself.
The darkness doesn’t end there. There is a moment when Gar confronts the one thing he’s never done in his beast form and it effects him on a deep, emotional level.
This series continues to be interesting and enjoyable. There are moments of this episode that seem darker than the previous episodes in tone, but it is effective and well done storytelling.