Titans Season 3, Episode 3 recap: The scenic Gotham tour

In the Titans Season 3, Episode 3, “Hank & Dove”, one Titan makes a critical error, and the entire team could suffer the consequences. Trust is in very short supply.

The previous episode of the HBO Max show had ended on a major revelation—Jason Todd was alive, and he had become the Red Hood. The Titans must grapple with one of their own becoming a murderer.

Dick Grayson looks for proof and finds it—Jason’s coffin is empty. Jason either faked his death, or someone did it for him—and they did a good enough job to fool Batman.

The Titans are torn on what to do next—Dick wants to save his brother, but most of the team would rather put him down. Red Hood is about to take that choice from them.

Titans Season 3, Episode 3 – Blinders

Hank Hall and Kory Anders are the most vocal opponents to saving Jason in Titans Season 3, Episode 3. While Dick and Dawn Granger see reason and believe that Jason should be saved because he’s their family, Red Hood’s actions make them look a bit naïve.

But Hank is particularly vociferous about wanting to kill Jason—so much so that Dawn takes him aside to talk about it. She understands where Hank’s frustrations are coming from, and it wasn’t like Hank and Jason got along. But this is too much. Dawn wants Hank to take it down a notch.

Hank’s being obtuse, but he has a reason—seeing Jason as family will hold the Titans back from doing what’s necessary. They need to put on blinders when facing one of their own.

The team needs to figure out how Jason was brought back to life in the first place—or whether he actually died. Of course, the mention of resurrection has Kory hoping for a way to bring Donna Troy back. Unfortunately, now’s not the time. Jason has an ace up his sleeve.

The moment Hank is alone, he gets a call from none other than Jason himself. Crying and sounding like a little child, Jason pleads with Hank to come to him and not tell anyone, least of all Dick.

Weirdly, Jason accuses Dick of being a “psycho” with nary a mention of Bruce. Jason seems sincere in his fear of retribution from Dick, and he sounds sorry for his actions. Hank decides to go to the boy.

Jason ensures Hank takes a regular Gotham cab to multiple tourist locations around the city—the final destination is an abandoned Gotham gym. There Hank, despite his best judgment, ends up getting caught by Red Hood. We knew this was going to happen.

Titans Season 3, Episode 3 – Fathers

The Titans are immediately frantic about Hank’s disappearance, but they don’t have to search long for him—Hank returns to the Batcave all on his own in Titans Season 3, Episode 3. But he’s not entirely himself.

While Hank was unconscious, Red Hood attached a specialized bomb to Hank’s chest, which counts down in sync with Hank’s heartbeat—the slower the rate, the longer Hank has to live.

What’s the endgame here? Red Hood calls Dick with instructions—he wants gold bars by a specific time. But Dick knows better—Red Hood doesn’t need money. He’s doing this for something else. Dick refuses to play this game with his brother.

Dick makes another trip to see Jonathan Crane/ Scarecrow. They discuss the Red Hood situation and Crane theorizes that Red Hood has some kind of issue with his father. Dick adds his own theory—Red Hood is rebelling against his mentor.

This gets Crane thinking—it’s not just that Red Hood is rebelling. He’s actively trying to destroy what his father built. With Batman out of the picture, the only thing Red Hood could be gunning for is the Titans.

While Dawn and the Titans do everything in their power to keep Hank’s heart rate down, Kory meets with Commissioner Barbara Gordon about Jason. His body was delivered to the GCPD morgue. What happened after?

Some digging through the morgue cameras turns up a Red Hood Gang member taking away Jason’s body. Was he in charge? Or was this someone else?

When Dick interrogates the man, all he gets is a corpse thrown on his car and an address. It’s becoming clear now that Jason is behind it all. But will he win?

Titans Season 3, Episode 3 – All grown up

Dick isn’t the only person who reaches the address Red Hood gave him. Dove is there too. Hank and Dawn have had an on-and-off relationship for years but Hank being this close to death reminds Dawn how much he matters to her.

When Dick refuses to play ball with Red Hood in Titans Season 3, Episode 3, Dawn decides to take matters into her own hands. Though Conner finds a way to potentially defuse the bomb, he needs to do numerous tests first. There just isn’t enough time.

Dawn can’t lose Hank, so she does what Red Hood asks—she hijacks a bank truck full of gold and heads to the address he specified, the same one that Red Hood had sent to Dick. Of course, he acts annoyed when Nightwing shows up.

Red Hood has a proposition for Dove—kill him, and Hank goes free. It’s a huge ask but Dove is ready to do it. This is such a turnaround since the start of the episode, but that’s just the effect Hank has.

Nightwing continues to plead with Dove—killing Red Hood is not the way. They can still save Hank and spare Red Hood. Nightwing’s faith in Conner is rewarded when Superboy finds the right combination to disable the bomb.

But it’s all too little too late—Dove pulls the trigger, but the gun doesn’t go off. Red Hood tricked her—the gun was the detonator all along. By trying to kill Red Hood, Dove has actually sentenced Hank to death.

Conner arrives at Hank’s room only to have his teammate blow up in front of his eyes. Realizing what Red Hood has made her do, Dove becomes inconsolable even as Nightwing tries to comfort her. The Titans will never be the same again.

Final Thoughts – Titans Season 3, Episode 3 is so crushingly sad

The writing in this season is something else! As heartbroken as I am for Hank Hall’s death, Titans Season 3, Episode 3 was thrilling from beginning to end. And what a send-off for Alan Ritchson. He really gets to stretch his acting chops here.

I loved the character moments in this episode, not just between Hank and Dawn, but with Hank and the other Titans. He and Gar Logan joking about sailing and Hank burying the hatchet with Dick were lovely moments.

Hank may not always have been the best-written character, but he had room to grow and took every opportunity. While he’s certainly danced with death in the past, this demise was shocking and heartbreaking. That Dawn essentially pulled the trigger on him shows some great writing for this show.

In the DC Comics, no matter what Red Hood does, he gets to be an anti-hero and sometimes even a good guy. But this version of Red Hood doesn’t look redeemable. There’s no coming back from making your teammate kill another, especially one they love.

I wonder what Titans Season 3 plans to do with Jason in the remainder of the season. I certainly can’t wait to find out.

What did you think of Titans Season 3, Episode 3? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Titans Season 3 is streaming weekly on HBO Max.