Dick Grayson and the brash, new Robin drag the body of Dr. Whatever-the-hell (Let’s just keep calling him Omelette Man, is that okay?) out to the car and haul him to a Batman safe house. This new Robin is named Jason Todd, and he wants you to know that it totally kicks ass being Robin. Dick gives Kory a call, tells her he has Doctor Mister Omelette Man unconscious and tied up, supplies the address of the safe house and tells her she should relocate the crew so they’re all together in Chicago.
Jason reveals to Dick that Batman actually sent Jason to find him in order to tell him about a series of grisly acid murders targeting members of the circus where Grayson’s parents were killed. Atlas the Strongman, however, hasn’t yet been knocked off, and Dick makes for a night club where Atlas works to make sure he’s safe, and also see if he can get any clues as to who is doing this.
The culprit doesn’t really want to bother waiting for the detective work it would take to track him down, though. This assassin blows up a car to create a distraction, calls up Dick, and reveals himself as The Melting Man – the hired killer who burned the trapeze ropes with acid causing Dick’s parents to die tragically. That’s impossible, though, as this killer was offed by the crime family that employed him for squealing on them. Okay, he was offed after Dick hijacked the van transferring him from his prison, beat the piss out of him, and left him a sitting duck. Turns out this Melting Man is the original’s son, who is seeking revenge for Robins note-quite-murder-but-yeah-kinda-murder of his father.
So Melting Man- er, Son of Melting Man- er, let’s just say Li’l Melty – kidnaps Atlas the Strongman and lures the Robins to one of those abandoned warehouses that villains like so much in order to A) give a speech about how Robin ruined his life, and B) murder Atlas in front of him… WITH ACID! BECAUSE WHEN YOU’RE FROM GOTHAM YOU PICK A GIMMICK AND YOU LIVE THAT GIMMICK! Jason Todd gets the drop on Li’l Melty, though – pretty easily, I might add – and then Dick beats the dude unconscious.
So Atlas is saved, the villain and subdued, and it sounds like the cops are arriving. That is any vigilante’s cue to make himself scarce. Dick warns there are cops about to enter, and Jason cryptically replies, “I’ll take care of it.” Thinking back on it, Dick is probably going to kick himself for not interrogating that line further, but at the time he’d just been through quite an ordeal and he needed to untie his strongman friend and make sure he was okay.
Jason goes ahead and joyfully beats the snot out of five cops. Brutally. I kind of assumed at least some of those cops were straight-up dead, until later when the show makes a point of having them vaguely groan and twitch. I need to re-watch but didn’t Jason shoot some of those cops, too? Dick is appalled once he realizes how Jason “took care” of the situation. But that’s what Jason loves about being Robin: you wear a mask so you can do whatever the livin’ hell you want. Sure, Batman wouldn’t want him to beat up cops, but Batman isn’t around right now.
The handcuffed Dr. Omelette begins to wake up, and Starfire is there hoping to interrogate him. She wants answers. But Omelette absolutely refuses to talk to anyone, except Rachel.
Stray Observations:
- Batman implants tracking devices in all his Robins. Jason knew about his, but Dick was NOT aware this was a thing. Jason: “Maybe you forgot.”
- I liked this portrayal of Jason Todd. (The first live-action Jason Todd!) He’s obviously living on the edge, full or rage, and probably headed on a collision course to tragedy, and yet also you still kinda like him. You feel like you shouldn’t like him, but still somehow seems like if he wasn’t all twisted up inside for a hard life he’d be a pretty good fellow.
- Kory isn’t in this episode much, though she does get a good dialogue scene with Dick, and the chemistry is starting to feel more real between them.
- Seriously, though. Those cops aren’t dead? None of them are dead? Jason was going to town on those people. I really was getting the impression while that scene was unfolding that this is a straight-up murder Robin.
- Rachel and Gar are barely in this.
- Gar is potentially interested in applying for the position of Robin.
Next week: The Titans are captured! And the bad guys are torturing the team, and want to reunite Rachel with her mysterious father.