Summary
Packed full of strangeness and wonky visual effects, “Inside Man” is an undeniably entertaining bit of television.
This recap of Titans season 4, episode 5, “Inside Man”, contains spoilers.
Six hours. Doesn’t seem long, does it? That’s the amount of time that Tim and Bernard need to keep Sebastian under lock and key at S.T.A.R. Labs in order to avert the end of days. Since he’s busy bonding with Rachel over their newly discovered sibling relationship, it seems easy. But something is still seriously up with Conner after Episode 4, and before we know it, a giant snake has slithered up through the toilet and begins stalking around the complex.
Titans season 4, episode 5 recap
When Tim and Bernard spot the snake, they confront it, which doesn’t seem like a great idea, and they realize as much when the thing rears up and almost eats them. It’s worth pointing out that the serpent is rendered in mostly unconvincing CGI — it’s less impressive than, say, Yawn in Resident Evil Remake, a game that came out in the early 2000s. But that’s not really the point. The thing’s massive and is obviously a component of Mother Mayhem‘s plan, so the Titans all decide to split up and hunt it down.
Gar teams up with Jinx, who recognizes the description of his nightmares as “The Red”, a land of great power and mystery that she doesn’t know very much about. They also find a guy with his face ripped off, this time in a practical effect that isn’t especially convincing either.
Predictably, Conner, whose flank wound is worsening, runs into the snake and becomes suddenly possessed. He tells Rachel that Dick asked him to replace her on babysitting duty and tries to lead Sebastian outside, but the Titans are able to interrupt him and Jinx knocks him out. When he wakes up he’s visibly pregnant with a snake, like we’re watching Raised by Wolves again — what is it with HBO Max and serpent pregnancies? Anyway, he stays at S.T.A.R. Labs locked up with kryptonite cuffs, while Rachel and Kori take Sebastian elsewhere.
They end up taking him to a metaphysical diner, apparently part of a chain of such things. It’s another intervention by Kori’s old buddy Zadira, who is worried about Trigon‘s return to power — we see Mother Mayhem communicating with him through a pool of blood — and what that means for Kori’s health and wellbeing, not to mention her responsibilities to the people of Tamaran. But neither Kori nor Rachel, who is pretty intimately familiar with both Trigon and prophecies, are especially keen on the idea of leaving Sebastian to his fate.
Meanwhile, things get incredibly weird in S.T.A.R. Labs. Jinx determines that the snake inside Conner is actually a curse, and the only way to dispatch it is to expel it, which is a process she isn’t exactly practiced in. It’ll also mean somehow getting inside Conner’s fortress biology, perhaps in the manner of a virus that is smart enough to only target the snake. This involves Gar actually turning into a virus, heading inside Conner’s body, infecting the snake with Jinx’s “Blue Ash” — a John Constantine special! — and then somehow getting back out again. With the help of some adrenaline, the mission is a success, although Conner does then vomit the snake up through his mouth in a rather grisly sequence, so I suppose it depends on how you define “success”.
Meanwhile, Zadira tries to talk Kori into killing Sebastian by showing her a vision of her future in which she has a baby with Dick and Seb destroys the world, but she won’t do it. As soon as Zadira leaves, though, Mother Mayhem teleports in and overpowers Kori. Sebastian, not wanting anyone to die for him, jumps in the way and recites the magic words, allowing his “Mother” to teleport them out of there. She whisks him off to her cave hideout, where he’s enthusiastically greeted by chants of “Brother Blood”, which he seems to quite like.
You can stream Titans season 4, episode 5, “Inside Man”, exclusively on HBO Max.
