Blu-ray TV reviews: ‘Titans’ and ‘The Twilight Zone’

Here’s a look at a pair of streaming shows now available on the Blu-ray format.

Titans: The Complete Second Season (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Rated TV-MA, 2.20:1 aspect ratio, 528 minutes, $29.98) — The angst-ridden, gritty adventures of DC Comics’ favorite super-powered misfits returned for another round of drama on the DC Universe streaming service.

For those unwilling to commit to a monthly fee to watch the show, the season’s 13 episodes (46 minutes each) are now available on a two-disc Blu-ray set with just a pinch of extras.

It took less than the entire first episode for telepathic-powered Raven (Rachel Roth) to dispatch her demonic father Trigon (Seamus Dever) from ruling the Earth in a plot carried over from last season’s finale.

However, she and her Titan friends, led by the original Robin aka Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites), immediately find another reason to band together and extend their ranks with the introduction of the team’s archenemy, the master assassin Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke (Esai Morales).

Unfortunately, seriously stupid tactical mistakes by some of the new members such as Jason Todd aka Robin (Curran Walters) and Gar Logan aka Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) put the entire group at mortal risk from the killer.

Even worse, Mr. Grayson’s previous run-in with Deathstroke as well as extraterrestrial Starfire’s complex origins (Anna Diop) has led to enough lying and deceit to threaten the breakup of the current roster permanently.

Batman fans will savor the appearance of Bruce Wayne (Iain Glen) offering some mentoring and even a dose of the batusi while Superman fans get a jolting dose of heroics from superdog Krypto and Connor (Joshua Orpin), a clone made up of the genetics of Lex Luthor and the Man of Steel.

Teen Titans comic book fans will love the continued story of the sometimes-toxic relationship between occasional members Hawk (Alan Ritchson) and Dove (Minka Kelly) and the appearances of Garth aka Aqualad (Drew Van Ecker), Donna Troi aka Wonder Girl (Connor Leslie) and Deathstroke’s offspring Rose (Chelsea Zhang) and Jericho (Chella Man).

Suffice it to report, this graphically violent, live-action series, loaded with detailed costuming and intense close-quarters combat does brilliant justice to the popular iteration of the superhero team reimagined by comic book legends George Perez and Marv Wolfman in the 1980s.

Best extras: Owners only get a 12-minute look at the promotional gimmicks that allowed comic book readers in the 1980s and “Titans” viewers to vote and determine the fate of Robin aka Jason Todd.

Interviews with Denny O’Neil, legendary Batman comics writer and former DC Comics executive Dan Didio lead the featurette that also offers plenty of art from the “Death in the Family” sequential art storyline from the 1980s.

By the way, Jason barely lost the vote in 1988 and perished at the hands of the Joker, but he survived the vote in 2019 and did not die by Deathstroke.

The Twilight Zone: Season One (Paramount/CBS Home Entertainment, not rated, 1.78:1 aspect ratio, 875 minutes, $55.98) — Jordan Peele, one of the current leaders in smart horror movie filmmaking, dared to help revive a classic television anthology series with, unfortunately, mixed results.

The famous Rod Serling masterpiece from the 1950s got its third revival in 2019 on the streaming service CBS All Access hosted and narrated by Mr. Peele.

The entire 10-episode run of the first season is now available in a five-disc Blu-ray set to allow viewers to witness a fairly lethargic collection of roughly 1-hour-long, self-contained stories.

Specifically, the episodes are either home runs or whiffs as they often explore societal ills and a troubled humanity tinged to the science fiction genre.

The only winner is the episode “Replay” about an African American mother (Sanaa Lathan) taking her son (Damson Idris) to college and running into a dangerous, racist police officer (Glenn Fleshler) in the South. Thanks to a magical video camera, she is allowed to rewind time and avoid a potential deadly encounter.

The season’s finale was also entertaining as a CGI version of a mainstay in the Twilight Zone universe stopped by the set of the current series to haunt one of its writers (Zazie Beetz).

The other episodes are garden variety and devoid of satisfying ending twist, including three dedicated to extraterrestrial mischief with earthlings — one presenting a swipe at restrictive immigration, one covering a kid winning the U.S. presidency, and another delivering a faulty homage to the original episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” now “30,000 feet.”

Short on clever and never attaining the creative heights of the modern-day “Black Mirror” or “Love, Death & Robots,” or the original series, let’s hope the second season has more bite and less predictability.

Best extras: For those who really enjoy the shows, they can also watch each episode in black and white that features some pleasing high definition clarity and contrast.

Next, optional commentary tracks are available for the episodes “Replay” (executive producer Win Rosenfeld and writer Selwyn Seyfu Hinds); “Not All Men” (Mr. Rosenfeld and writer Heather Anne Campbell); and “Blurryman,” (executive producer Audrey Chon and writer Alex Rubens) — none of which feature Mr. Peele or co-adapter and director Simon Kinberg.

More informative is first a 36-minute overview of the life and legacy of Rod Serling, his writings and work on “The Twilight Zone” as a TV pioneer. It features classic clips from the original shows, footage of Professor Serling at Ithaca College and interviews with daughter Jodi Serling, Mr. Kinberg, director Richard Donner, author Steven Jay Rubin (“The Twilight Zone Encyclopedia”) and even some family friends.

Also, a pair of featurettes totaling more than 60 minutes first covers rationales for reinventing the series in the modern political climate, the responsibility of presenting social commentary with entertaining stories, keeping the spirit of the original series and a dissection of the “Twilight Zone” formula.

The second looks at the overall production covering reimagining the opening credits, overlapping timeless design choices in every episode, musical scores and the varied ensemble casts.

Both offer plenty of interview support from Mr. Peele, Mr. Kinberg, and many of the writers and producers.

What becomes very clear after listening to the commentary tracks and watching the featurettes is that the creators really wanted to deliver a special series devoted to Serling’s vision.