**This review contains some spoilers**

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With its third season getting off to a promising start, “Titans” rapidly devolves into a mess of nonsensical plotlines and inconstant characterization. And while the previous season struggled with the large cast, there’s even more characters this time and the show does poor job of keeping them all on the board.

The initial plot of Red Hood setting up shop in Gotham is a flimsy reason to bring in all the Titans, and the twist of making Scarecrow the true big bad falls flat. While he does consistently have the upper hand, it all just feels out of character for one of Batman’s B-list foes to vault to A-list level. Because his masterplan is more about outwitting the Titans, his ultimate goal never feels like an imminent threat. Not only is it too vague for too long, but because it seems to constantly shift into a new plan.

The individual character arcs are all over the place. Dick’s path, complete with Bat-themed hallucinations, seems to be moving him into becoming the next Batman. Instead, he just sticks with being Nightwing. While Starfire’s story has a good payoff, it’s overly-convoluted and filled with her own strange visions that are never really explained. While it’s a bit rushed, her reconciliation with her sister works pretty well, even though Blackfire’s setup as a major villain for this season quickly fizzles out into a redemption arc. Superboy gets his time in the spotlight, but his constant shifts from naivety to cynicism make him hard to like. Gar gets a whole lot of nothing to do this time around, and his storyline from last season where he’s been programmed as a Manchurian-inspired murderer is almost completely ignored. The best they do for him is giving him a bit more control of his shapeshifting, but the payoff is generally weak. Meanwhile, just as Hawk and Dove have one of the strongest moments this season, they’re written off the show. There’s a jarring shift, as after eight episodes, things move from the intense situation in Gotham to suddenly check in with Raven and the late Donna Troy. That storyline is so far-removed from everything else, and given so little time to breathe, it grinds the season to a halt.

As far as the new additions to the show, the strongest of the bunch is Barbara Gordon. Unfortunately, while she’s initially heavily involved in the main story, she ends up just pitching in here and there. As mentioned earlier, Scarecrow has been revamped, and is kind of a mix of the “Batman Begins” version of the character and Hannibal Lector. This turn into a psychologically-scarred super-genius feels more like something we would see from The Riddler, and because we don’t get to see his trademark scarecrow mask, or even much of his fear toxin, it never feels much like the villain he should be. Tim Drake makes a pretty unmemorable appearance early on, before he disappears for most of the season. (Luckily, he resurfaces in time to establish his potential future as a superhero.) And while not a new character, we finally see Jason Todd become Red Hood. It’s a bit rushed, but he quickly establishes himself as a force to be reckoned with…and then he’s not. He shows up as a total badass that can outfight and outsmart his foes, but then he is revealed to be a self-doubting lackey that loses more fights than he wins.

The overall look of the show is fine. The special effects are generally well done, and the costumes continue to improve every season. The design Themyscira looks promising, we just don’t spend enough time there. One of the weaker elements is the fight scenes. It’s usually a lot of kicking and punching, and maybe a quick use of super powers, with no memorable action sequences this season.

“Titans” season three introduces some fan favorite characters, but with too many of them trying to share the spotlight, and a plot that stutters and stops, there’s really nothing too compelling.

** out of *****