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Titans Season 3 Episode 3 Recap and Easter Eggs
Episode 3: “Hank & Dove”
As the title indicates, this episode with focus a lot on Hank and Dove, their relationship, partnership, and the lengths they would go for each other. But before we go there, it begins with Dick Grayson confirming Jason Todd’s body. Here, Dick is ferociously digging and unearthing Jason Todd’s grave to prove Todd is dead not alive. This scene mirrors a scene in Batman comics of Batman digging up his grave. Next to Todd’s grave is Alfred’s showing the butler died in 2020. When he discovers the coffin is empty, Dick is in shock. Then, he reveals to the Titans that Jason is alive.
Jason’s Alive…How? Red Hood
As the scene pans out to show that everyone is in Wayne Manor when Dick tells The Titans that Jason is alive, there is a portrait hanging showing Bruce and His parents.
via. Titians, DC Comics/Warner Bros, HBO Max
“Somebody do some kind of voodoo act and raise him from the dead?”
“Bruce knows people.”
Hank and Dawn suggest that maybe Todd’s body was dumped into the Lazarus pit by Ra’s al Ghul, which actually happens in the comics. But, here the show is acknowledging it but dismissing it in the same moment. Yet it gives Dawn an idea that maybe they should use it to revive Donna Troy.
Jason Todd, Red Hood Origins
It is in this episode, that they begin to unravel the mystery of Jason Todd’s revival. Dick reminds Hank that Jason Todd could be using a drug that could be altering his state of mind (along with his pain of feeling cast out and abandoned).
Dick asks Barbara Gordon for help and they discover footage that Jason’s Body was wheeled away by a Cyrus Beake.
“And there’s no way he pulled this off on his own. So we’re looking for the live person who helped resurrect the dead person? I need to see the morgue security footage to see if his body was left unattended.”
There, they see a baseball capped, Cyrus Beake wheeling jason’s body out of the morge on someone’s behalf. For now, The Mystery Pauses here . As Jason ensures that Beake cannot talk by throwing him out the window.
Hank’s trap
Hank: “We need to forget he’s Jason. Put blinders on. Otherwise, people get soft and someone gets hurt.”
That is a foreshadow statement and shows that even Hank has blinders on when it comes to family. Red Hood is able to manipulate Hank. Initially, Hank decided they should kill Todd but here is drawn in by empathy.
Red Hood, Jason, cries and asks for help begging hank to not inform Dick or others. Hank obliges and falls right into a trap. First sent to Gotham Observatory then to Gotham gym where he makes him strip and swim across a filthy pool naked. There, he ambushes him and wired a bomb directly onto his heart.
Scarecrow Knows Best?
Dick visits Scarecrow in Arkham where he gets advice in the form of a profile that Jason could be trying to find himself a father figure and yet feels hurt by his father. Thus, uses the weapons of his father which sparked an idea in Grayson to explore Wayne Tech. There, he discovers a prototype to a surgical EKG bat tech being created through Wayne Enterprises. It is the exact weapon used on Hank.
Superboy’s arc in this episode
Superboy starts out comical but soon gets serious. As they are looking for clues to stop the bomb from going off, Superboy uses his x-ray vision to see inside more clearly. Though, which they examine that the bomb is connected to how many heart beeps he has. So, according to DIck, if they could built it, maybe they could dismantle it. Dick charges Superboy with the task. But just as Superboy finds the perfect match to disarm the bomb, it goes off. Superboy is left devastated after he spent the entire episode working to save him. Right in front of him, Hank’s body explodes.
Theme: Family
Due to the storyline, Death in the family, Titans will use the theme of family and the responsibility to them as a reoccuring them. Jason Todd feels betrayed by second family and will exploit them using what he knows about them and ties to Batman. First, there is the Wayne Family Portrait.
Send Message: Hey, Bruce, this is Gar. I know you’ve got to be checking in from somewhere, because Batman wouldn’t abandon the only family he has.
Starfire: (Regarding Jason) Where I come from, you come after family, we show no mercy.
Hank: Maybe it’s a sign. That I never should have left my family. That’s not what you do. No matter what.
Hank: But you cannot let him tear this family apart. We worked too god damn hard to build it. I’ll be damned if I am the reason this family goes down.
Theme: Bird Imagery (Hawk, Dove, Robin)
Because, this episode will focus on primarily Hawk and Dove, Titans S3E3 uses a lot of Bird imagery to draw them together along with the two former Robins. As you know, Titans showrunners have done this before on Hawk and Dove episodes.
- Cyrus Beake (ie Bird’s Beak)
2. Robin is shown in a location with a large bird painting on the wall.
3. “Flew the Coup”
4. Bird Street Names: Blue Bird Way (Nightwing), Condor Court, Finch Street, Falcon Way, and Eagle Crest.
Hank / Dove’s Relationship
Faced with Hank’s possible demise, Hank and Dove confront their feelings for each other. In Seasons 1-2, there were insecurities in their relationship and Hank had turn to using drugs to cope. Thus, their relationship had a falling out leaving them not only unsure romantically but as vigilante partners. Yet, he came back to Gotham because he still has feelings for her.
Dick: “We’re not going to rob an armored car…”
“It’s a game to make us look like criminals, to turn Gotham against us.”
Later, Dove is exploited by Red Hood to rob an armored car and then to kill Jason Todd/ Red Hood by pulling a trigger of a gun. Now, it’s time for Dawn/Dove’s trap. Because he knows them all so well, Red Hood exploits their relationships with each other particularly here with Hank/Dawn. In a way, he is jealous of that relationship that he felt he was robbed of. Dove pulls the trigger which activates the detonator and kills Hank.
Jason: My bad. Looks like I gave you the detonator.
