DC's Titans Season 1 Premiere: 3 Ups & 2 Downs From Episode 1

1. Gratuitous Violence

After Titans' first trailer surfaced, a lot of fans were particularly concerned about the show's lean towards graphic violence and, unfortunately, the premiere episode did little to ease those worries.

Take the scene is which Raven's mother is killed, for example. The gunman backs away with threats, but as he does so, he shoots her in the back of the head. The camera did not cut away and, thus, we had to witness the character's graphic death up close and personal. While it isn't unheard of for adult shows to do that, it's simply not what we were expecting (or wanting) from a show like Titans.

That scene really is the show in a nutshell. It's about crime, we get it - it's supposed to be uncomfortable. But if it was already achieving the desired reaction from its audience (and it was), there was no need to actually show the violent act take place. The same goes for Robin's incredibly bloody fight scene and the moment in which Raven's darkness made her kidnapper cough up blood.

If similar shows like Daredevil and Arrow can stir those uneasy feelings in us without ever going too far, why can't Titans? It just felt like this was DC's way of saying "look what we can do without any restrictions" and, as a result, they went completely overboard. Less is more.

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What did you think of the season premiere of Titans? Tell us in the comment section below.