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This season continues to be really odd. I will say, though, watching Michelle Gomez in this, I can see why people really liked her in Doctor Who.
Edit: And now we see why Malcom appeared as he did in the after life.
Edit 2: It’s like a bad acid trip come to life.
Edit 3: And next week’s episode looks even more trippy. Also, I hadn’t been aware the dude playing Cyborg wasn’t from the US. Dude does a great accent.
Edit 3: And next week’s episode looks even more trippy. Also, I hadn’t been aware the dude playing Cyborg wasn’t from the US. Dude does a great accent.
Wow, yes Wade's accent is fantastic.
As someone who's really been enjoying this season, this is the first episode that dragged a little for me and had me scratching my head trying to follow all the threads. Nonetheless still some interesting developments especially with Laura (yeah Gomez is awesome). Wonder what happened such that Niles called her a cancer on life, given be hasn't been involved in the past plotline (he was away until 1927 but did he ever run into "Bendy" and how does that factor into his plotting)? I suppose we'll learn next ep.
Cliff was less annoying this episode. Not sure what's up with Larry. Jane transforming into Kay's self support rather than protection is interesting.
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Yeah, that was f#$!ing weird. Loved the puppets, though. Even though they said Cyborg would need to remove his cybernetics to get the new skin, I'm hoping they keep him around by having his tech pop out in nano form. I like this actor, and think his version of Cyborg is superior to the movie version, so I'd like to see him stick around.
It was awesome to see Bomer and Frasier in the flesh. I liked the different takes on their subconscious selves as well. All very well performed.
Kind of disappointed we didn't see more of the Niles connection to Madam Rouge but I understand they were limiting Dalton's performances because of COVID. But the transition from good Laura to bad fell heavy on the telling rather than the showing.
Rita seems strangely distant from the rest of the team even though she remembers them now, but I guess she still remembers them,as people she knew 30 years ago, so maybe it makes sense. It feels like we lost something of her.
I don't know, PDK, but I too delighted in the use of that song. Especially Mallah's singing the final verse. In general whoever is responsible for incidental music and soundtrack picks is really good.
I think the one thing I had been missing this season is really wanting to see the team come together and see more interaction between its members. While true of most of the show, this season has focused very much on individual journeys of each character, which has made it sometimes feel like watching four different tv shows with a common thread, rather than a proper ensemble piece. Cyborg especially suffers from this; I like the character of Cyborg and a lot of what they've done with him, but the show has always felt like Cyborg and also the Doom Patrol and sometimes the two meet. He has NEVER felt integrated with the rest of the group. This season has especially felt like Cyborg and Crazy Jane and Elastiwoman and Negative Man and Robotman and look there's sort of this common threat these very separated people have to deal with.
I was pleased to see this episode things start to actually bring the characters together a bit--yes, even if it's in the predictable form of "superhero team has to have it out with each other before they can come together and fight the big bad." On one hand they really do need to confront each other on some stuff and on the other it seems like they've known each other long enough they really should be able to navigate each other better, but then the Doom Patrol members are not gifted with a lot of social savvy.
I've been loving Rita's story but now she suddenly feels ruined because her memories of the team are now 30 years old and she isn't "with" them anymore. A lot of what I loved about her was her interplay with Larry especially as well as the others and suddenly it all just feels empty and fake. But then I expect that is how she is supposed to be feeling.
I do love how most of the folks attempt to be very welcoming of Kay, understanding and not questioning her presence. Even if of course they understandably under the circumstances dismayed by her not having (obvious) superpowers. (I always thought Jane's power was agelessness, being the one who sustains and protects Kay and the others in the Underground, which is why she has no obvious powers but is still something like 70 or 80 years old but looking like Diane Guerrero.
I am not sure how all the character issues are going to be wrapped up in just one more episode. It feels like the pacing has just been sped up a good deal and I hope the ending doesn't feel rushed. Still despite all my nitpicking this season has overall been really great... definitely better than Season 2 IMO... and I look forward to it.
Well, last week's DeathQuaker, you need not have worried that the end was going to feel rushed, because somehow they did exactly what they needed to do in the time they had, including come together as a team. This season was awesome and this episode was awesome. Cannot wait until next season... Which is a whole year from now. *sigh*
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I think that was the season finale. In which case, it seemed kind of anti-climactic.
I was kind of hoping for more with the Brotherhood of Evil. Still, maybe they can find a way to bring them back again.
I'm glad to see them coming together as a team at the end. Hopefully, next season will see Cliff in an updated body, and maybe Cyborg with his powers back.
And it looks like we could be seeing more of some Da Da folks next season. At least there was the promise of more The Fog. Which is cool, because I like that chick. She was awesome in Agent Carter and has been just as cool here.
LOVE Michelle Gomez sticking around. I think part of why I liked this season so much is I was getting sick of Niles... don't get me wrong, I understand Chief is critical to the Doom Patrol and he needed to be on the show as long as he was, but I was also getting tired of him and was glad to see him go. Laura sticking around fills in the "unpredictable person who is alternately enemy and mentor" role but with a very different focus and energy.
Aberzombie, it was definitely the season finale. I'm not sure what more of a finale you expected outside of destroying what was left of the Brotherhood and stopping a giant robot. I mean, yes, it involved a lot of soul searching and shenanigans, but that's how this show works. It's not a big fireworks sort of thing. Just a lot of team building, angst, and preventing something massive from crushing the world.
I totally agree with you on Wynn Everett though, and I definitely think we'll see her again. She seems like she'll be a love interest for Jane which I'm looking forward to.
PDK: Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what happened.
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I actually liked the subversion of the super villain trope with BoE. There is all kinds of stories in the past, but now they are just tired old folks. More importantly, some of them want to change and seek redemption which is the theme of the season.
Thats the thing that keeps me coming back to Doom Patrol its never your typical journey. Oh, and its weird as hell.
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First two episodes are up. Damn, just as weird as you’d expect.
Butt Monsters, Zombie Butt Monster Apocalypse, the tease of Immortus, and everyone’s personal issues - there’s a ton of stuff going on.
They’ve given Cliff an upgrade, at least. I was hoping for more, though. Maybe a more streamlined body. They mentioned nanites making the changes more gradually, so maybe further upgrades will be also be coming along.
When they had the scene with Willoughby, I first thought the little critter might be the Rabbit of Caerbannog. I think it was a gerbil, though.
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Overall I liked it, but I feel like they've hit a reset button on the character development a bit, and for Rita in particular. Rita grew and changed so much in the previous season and very little of that Rita has remained. I get that whatshisface's death affected her hard but she had developed a sort of natural confidence last season that seems supremely absent in this one. The Rita who easily became a giant and rescued Cliff seems nowhere to be seen.
Likewise with Larry, he seems back to very two dimensional self loathing. I found his story arc in previous seasons interesting. I now find him boring. It's just the same damn thing.
Jane (and the Underground crew) and Cliff are a little better handled. Vic is fine, but Vic always feels to me he's in his own TV show that somehow got spliced into this one. When I picture the Doom Patrol, I picture Rita, Cliff, Jane, and Larry. He's never there. It's like he's just sort of edited in to remind us that the Doom Patrol is part of the DC Universe.
Mind you just that they are all working together, however dysfunctionally, and trying to be heroes is a light years ahead of where they were in prior seasons. And I loved when Cliff wanted to go to Florida, everyone was like, "Yeah, let's go!" wanting to support him.
I wonder if Cliff's hand touching the brains is going to have unforeseen consequences given there are nanites in the hand working on expanding the neurofeedback capabilities. I should note this is not my idea, I read it somewhere else, but it's a good idea.
Holy cow. Best episode of this season so far I think.
I am assuming that while the extraction process focused on Rita's emotions, what they were actually draining is some essence of her immortality. Trailers show her aging in future episodes.
I must admit I am confused by the presence of Shelly/the Fog early on. Clearly we are meant to see the similarity between the Fog's powers and what Dr. Janus did to Rita. And obviously they wanted to remind us about her by having her show up and visit Jane early in the episode. My question is, is the Fog working with Dr. Janus (perhaps forcibly) and that's why we see the fog effect when they go into the movie, or are Dr. Janus's powers similar and the show just wanted us to suspect Shelly of doing this at first.
What's up with Mr. 104? Google does not easily show me a character by that name. He mentions the periodic table; element 104 is Rutherfordium, a radioactive manmade element. I thought for a minute he was going to be a love interest for Larry but I'm not how that's going to pan out. But if he's somehow a radioactive guy he could be one of the only people who could really be with Larry
Only downside is the continual one weak point of this whole series: it feels like Cyborg is in an entirely different, if parallel, show. This particular episode felt like his segments were commercials interrupting the main story. Which is not to say they were bad. That's the frustrating part. Cyborg's journey is a really good story, and Joivan Wade is a really good actor. And even where you can draw threads with theme (obviously with the themes of learning from the past while learning you can't go back), he just always feels completely closed off from everyone else for the most part, and he never feels like anything more than a guest in Doom Manor, whereas the rest, as Rita so clearly says it in this episode, are a family. I can't see anyone on the team affected by someone bad happening to Victor the way they are reacting to each other this episode, for example, or vice versa. I've never understood why they've even bothered to have him in the show at all except to remind viewers it's tied to the DC Universe. They could have explored most of these themes in a standalone Cyborg series which would have been incredible.
Looks like Dorothy is back next episode.
Oof, we've got two episodes to talk about.
Speaking as someone who was not a fan of Dorothy for the most part, I actually liked the Dorothy/Casey episode, and seeing the Immortus mystery appear from another angle. I'm not super familiar with the comics (I know the characters from appearing various places through the years, but have never read the Doom Patrol comics specifically) but what little I have seen it seems like this take on Casey is a little different and sidesteps some of what some didn't like about her in the Way comics. (BTW there's a new Doom Patrol comic coming out and I plan to subscribe. I'd love to read the older ones but seems hard to get the trades.) Plus getting more Maura Lee Karupt was icing on the cake. Someone on Reddit described this Casey as "a Captain Marvel parody who talks like Captain America" which seems about right.
Was even disappointed when we did not yet see Casey and Dorothy appear in this week's episode.
And as for this week's episode, it started strong, but I feel like it dwelled too long in the teenage shenanigans. I'm sure the writers were having fun but the pacing dragged tremendously. I did like the character development for Jane though, especially with her considering her nature as a child given that Jane never manifested until the system's body was an adult.
The scene between Rita and Laura was awesome and the young actress playing tween Rita was very good (given how great April Bowlby is, all the more impressive). It was also nice as I still feel like Rita overall seems to have negatively character developed this season compared to last season and was getting rather one note, so I hope this signals a shift.
Cyborg was mostly in on the same plot as everyone else, wow! Instead Larry gets his sidequest, but can definitely see how that ties into everything and it will be interesting to see how that develops further.
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I’ve watched the past two episodes, but forgot to post about them….
The one with Casey Brink saddened me, if only because it meant they were delving into Gerard Way’s crap run on DP. He was patethetically trying hard to be Grant Morrison, which was weird in and of itself.
This most recent episode was interesting for the revelation of the source of their longevity, as well as that bit with Michelle Gomez doing the whole bury the hatchet thing with Rita. Not really crazy about reinventing Immortus as some god-like being.
Aberzombie, as noted I've not read much of the comics--and it seems like in some respects that's a good thing as I'm going in without certain expectations. This said my understanding is that the use of Casey nods to Way's run (in that they are using Space Case) but to my knowledge the storyline itself is not drawn from it (outside of basic characterization and origins). Do you have a different sense of things? (Also haven't there already been elements of Way's run in the show anyway?)
I'm prepared for there to be a twist regarding the true nature of Immortus, even if the entity does not turn out to be the same as from the comics.
Ooh, this ep was good. Things are coalescing as well and there was fun as well as stakes building.
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‘Titans’ & ‘Doom Patrol’ To End With Seasons 4 On HBO Max
Can’t say I’m surprised. At least they’re going to finish things off for each show.
I'm with the zombie. DC TV might be great, but the execs behind it don't give a crap about the viewers.
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‘Titans’ & ‘Doom Patrol’ To End With Seasons 4 On HBO Max
Can’t say I’m surprised. At least they’re going to finish things off for each show.
It's sad, but I'd rather see Doom Patrol in particular go out with a bang rather than a whimper. I can't remember where I saw it, and I might be making this up, but quite awhile ago I thought I read an interview where the showrunners said they had planned out the characters' arcs to go across four seasons. While of course if the show was renewed they could have started a new arc, my sense is we're getting a complete ending to a complete story and that's better than we've gotten with many series that ended too soon.
And moreover I'd prefer this to watching something that ran out of ideas. While Doom Patrol has the potential for myriad storylines simply because of its weirdness, we're also seeing characters on a journey toward wellness and togetherness and if the series lasted much longer, you'd keep having to reverse their character development to add tension--something I feel like is starting to happen, particularly with Rita. So yeah, let's end on a high note.
I'll probably cancel my HBOMax subscription once both shows are over. With the direction the new CEO wants to take things I expect we're not going to get much that's good, and I'm still furious about them canning Batgirl. I used to look forward to getting Discovery+ content (I'm addicted to Flea Market Flip) but, eh, f&@# Discovery, they're ruining everything else Warner has. I do look forward to whatever movies Gunn sets up, but I can see those in the theater.
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Hey hey hey hey hey...
*runs in, falls over chair in the way, gets up*
HEY FOLKS! THEY ARE BACK!!!
Holy f@@$, yes they are f%&$ing back y'all! Two episodes just dropped a couple days ago. Go watch! They're good! Go! Go!
Marvel's Loki: Look at us with our clever reimagining of the logo theme!
DC's Doom Patrol: Holding my f&!%ing beer.
The whole ep was near perfection.
Not sure how I feel about Casey and Jane. I find it intriguing but what happened to the Fog?
(Though I agree Bjorn, about Cliff and Larry)
Last week's ep was a hard act to follow, but this at least had some good character stuff. It is one of those ones where you're like, come on folks, are we back to "refusing the call" AGAIN? But I liked a lot of the character beats and it was really interesting to see Rita in particular seem to be the one who was seeing the big picture first.
Also, yeah, driving to Florida with the drivers being a robot with Parkinsons and a woman with a dissociative disorder probably not the best idea.
I'm somehow more worried about what's happened to the Doom Patrol at the end of this episode than what happened at the end of Loki this week.
I agree with the frustration of not getting the things they needed to get--especially with Rita's life on the line--but some of the character moments were super worth it, especially Jane's big scene. That, I thought, was deeply moving and really rang true.
Cliff as is often the case annoyed me the most (and I don't understand why he didn't just take a piece of the necklace, which I thought was the plan). (I tend to swing hard between rooting for Cliff and just being like "WTF, a%!*!#!?" but they write him that way on purpose I'm pretty sure.)
I missed Rita but she had a great episode last week so I hope we'll see her in the finale.
I hope not to get my hopes so high I could only be disappointed but I have faith they will stick the landing.
I'm enjoying this so much and it's so wild that then when Loki comes on, even though Loki s2 has been pretty good, I find Loki struggles to keep my attention.
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You know I'm always saying f+&~ you Cliff? Well f@&+ you Cliff, for making me cry that hard. I gotta go to work now with tear stains on my blouse.
Not going to spoil anything yet other than... I was expecting something a little different, and this was everything it should be. I have loved this show, but my biggest criticism has been how sometimes the sub-arcs feel really disjointed and sometimes people seem to be growing in circles. This episode had all the show's strengths and very few if anything at all of its weaknesses.
And I also really love how it also largely and lovingly sticks up a middle finger to all the trite superhero writers who think everything needs to lead up to explosions and a skybeam. (Although it would have been hilarious if they had had a shoehorned in and completely random 3 second Wonder Woman/Superman cameo like all the DC movies seem to have had of late but that probably would have been unlikely and too on the nose. (Superman did get a name drop tho.))
This is how you end a brilliant four season long series. Well done, Doom Patrol. Man I will miss you guys.