Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Titans finally broke its trend of alternating between plot-driven episodes and those focused on side characters this week. But it did so by doing a second side-story episode in a row. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to get a closer look at the personal lives of vigilante duo Hawk and Dove. But is now really the ideal time to be spending so much time away from the main team?
“Hank and Dawn” is by far the most significant detour the series has taken so far. Usually we can at least count on Dick Grayson to serve as the bridge between his team and whatever other heroes the show is trying to throw into the mix. But this turned out to be the first episode without any screen time for Brenton Thwaites. The only real connective tissue here involved a few shots of Raven mentally reaching out to Hank and Dawn for help. That does help build a certain amount of suspense as we wonder just how bad things are getting in Ohio. But even so, the isolated nature of this episode gave it the feel of being a backdoor pilot for a Hawk and Dove spinoff show rather than a legitimate installment of Titans. And this seems like an awkward time to be attempting that movie.
Source: IGN.com Titans Slows Down for a Flashback Epoisode