This week’s episode didn’t have a ton of narrative flow to it – and surprisingly, I’m okay with it. These characters are just so darn entertaining, the lack of something to propel the story forward is actually not as bad of a thing as it sounds. Read on to learn more!
WARNING: Spoilers for this episode of ‘Doom Patrol’ lie ahead, obviously. If you haven’t seen the episode and don’t wish for any of its content to be spoiled for you, the time to turn back is NOW!
RECAP: A straightforward and succinct recap here: with not many new leads on their quest to reclaim the Chief from Mr. Nobody, the squad is stuck moping around the Manor. Cyborg tries to call a “team meeting” to get everyone on track and focused, but everyone seems stuck in their individual little misadventures: Rita loses control of her body and ends up “sliming” her way through a grate and into the basement; Larry is trying to make progress with the negative being, but eventually just decides to “take a nap” and have a low-key kinda day; Jane’s questioning of her loyalty to and faith in the Chief leads her to stop caring; and Cyborg takes some time to explore his newfound “freedom” now that he has total control over his systems.
And what of Robotman, you ask? Well, he’s… sorta going crazy, to be honest. He thinks he sees his daughter in person, even going so far as to believe that he’s travelling to her adopted father’s house to confront him. In reality, he’s just losing his marbles (with a little help from a furry friend), but his issues push the group to have an impromptu therapy session, because why not, really?
OBSERVATIONS:
- Pretty much every member of the team gets some “throw-back” back-story in the form of seeing quick blips from their lives as children – with the common thread being, of course, that some issues that you carry your entire life can be seeded at a very young age.
- In addition to her childhood flashback, it was great to get more Rita back-story this week as well. I believe that Elasti-Girl has the potential to be one of the most powerful members of the team, and April Bowlby is doing an excellent job bringing Rita effectively to live.
- Larry gets some good back-story too, but the more effective of his flashbacks is the adult stuff, which actually comes in the form of the negative being’s attempted communication with him. That’s a fascinating pairing that I’m eagerly awaiting seeing how the relationship continues to develop.
- It’s easy to forget sometimes that Cyborg is essentially a teenager, so his interactions this week with the Tinder-esque app “Cazh” were equal parts hilarious in execution and sobering in the realization that he truly does have some unique challenges in terms of living a life with very little “normal” aspects to it.
- Two words: Admiral Whiskers. It’s as zany as ‘Doom Patrol’ gets, and I love every minute of the nonsense.
CLOSING THOUGHTS: Did you see the preview for next episode? I called it last week, hot diggity dog – we’re getting Danny the Street next week, whoo-hoo!
PRINCIPAL CAST FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE:
Timothy Dalton as The Chief
Brendan Fraser as Cliff Steele/Robotman
Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane
April Bowlby as Rita Farr/Elastigirl
Matt Bomer as Larry Trainor/Negative Man
Alan Tudyk as Mr. Nobody
Joivan Wade as Victor Stone/Cyborg
‘Doom Patrol’ features new episodes on Fridays via the DC Universe streaming service.
