DC Universe’s Titans: Episode 10, Koriand’r Review

My biggest complaint with DC Universe’s Titans, is its inability to find a groove for Koriand’r, aka Kory Anders. The rest of the characters have fallen into step quite nicely, and while they may be divergent from what we’re accustomed to, they clearly have a direction and plan. Poor Kory has been just sort of there. Episode 10, “Koriand’r” finally gives us a glimpse into both Kory’s purpose on Earth, but also the direction they want the series and character to take. And it has potential, if they can give her room to play with it. 

We finally pick up where we left off, with Kory holding Raven in a death grip. It explains why/how Rachel was able to reach out to Dawn and Hank (though not at which point she slipped the name Jason Todd to Dawn), which was a nice callback to last episode. After semi-collecting her senses, Kory runs off to chase down her fragmented memories. But more on that later.

No Escaping Destiny

For an episode named Koriand’r, they actually don’t spend a lot of time with Kory, but rather with Rachel. If you’ve been watching the series at all, chances are as soon as her mother was introduced, you’ve been wary of the character. I know I was. I don’t know if it was the Stepford Wives manner of speaking, or just our familiarity with the double-crossing mother as a trope that made me wary, but her reveal as working with Trigon came as very little surprise. If anything, I was shocked it took Dick so long to piece it together.

The most frustrating part of this is that the scenes with Rachel, Gar, and Angela were almost painfully slow. They made clear that Kory was onto something big in the beginning, so spending long stretches of time making Gar sick, only to spur Rachel to help and reveal Angela as evil was an odd choice. Adding an old cop buddy as a glaring red herring (seriously, the guy might as well have had on a red shirt), was such a bizarre choice.

Meanwhile, in yet another story that is not Koriand’r, the show really continues to shine with Dick and Donna. The two make such a casual, easy team, I will state again, for the record, that this really should be a buddy cop show with Dick and Donna, and not a Titans show. BUT HERE WE ARE. Though it’s entirely a fair question to wonder how Donna reads an ancient, dead language as fluently as she does…

Kory Anders née Koriand’r

Having said that, once Dick and Donna meet up with Kory, you can start to see real glimpses of inspiration and potential in the show. Kory’s ship reveal, while telling us something we already know about her, has a real sense of wonder. Also, again, the show has managed to do a wonderful job of rooting our characters within their own world. Dick and Donna wonder at the ship, but they’re not shocked by the revelation that Kory is an alien. Nor are they taken aback at the idea that Rachel’s father is from another dimension, hell-bent (heh, you’re welcome) on destroying the world. This is just another day in the life of for them.

A lot of Kory’s background is left to the audience’s inference, but they give us enough tools to do so. She’s clearly a badass both cosmically and locally, as she’s the lone gunman sent to deal with a world-ending threat. Also, watching her struggle with the idea of killing a girl she’s grown to love, while knowing her potential to usher in the death of an entire planet is something Anna Diop should be proud of. While I don’t love this character as Starfire, I adore Anna Diop as a galactic assassin/warrior. The woman deserves much more praise for this show than she’s garnering.

Especially because now it seems they’ve found a niche for her. They let her ditch the godawful fur coat, and the stupid shiny purple dress for something more serious. She goes from looking like a confused club-denizen to looking like a serious threat in the flash of an eye. Clearly her mission to save countless worlds from Trigon is no joke.Which you never would have guessed by watching the first 9 episodes of the show, and their treatment of her. I get that amnesia is a credible story-telling device for comic shows, but when a world-ending evil is coming, maybe give the character more to do? I dunno.

So That Happened…

Speaking of that, this is the arguably most confusing choice in the show thus far. The episode ends with Rachel opening the door for Trigon to return to Earth, which is a pretty big deal. In fact, one could argue the biggest of deals. Don’t get me wrong, this was a fantastic arc and plot when they trot it out in comics, and I love entire concept of it. But it seems quite a waste to blow their wad on Trigon in season 1. I get that it will inevitably help Rachel be in a better place story- and character-wise, but it is just such a huge concept to wrangle so early. Once they defeat Trigon, dealing with other Titans villain staples (‘Sup, Doom Patrol?) will seem small and inconsequential in comparison.

Overall, the episode was good, but not great. I love the vision of Koriand’r, but once again they don’t seem sure of how to handle her. Her self-titled episode focused more on Rachel’s step toward harbinger of end times, and less on Kory’s purpose and revelation. It works, and pushes the story forward, but I would have preferred more Kory and less “Angela has a friend who’s both a cop and a red herring, and she stabs him up quite nicely.”