Doom Patrol: Season 4

They finally made the team name and show title the episode title, and they picked an apt outing for it. Doom ahead indeed.

Bold prediction: This is going to be a great season. The pieces all seem to be laid out for that. I like the show at times, but it can feel very random and crazy for the sake of crazy. The time travel Buttpocalypse ending suggests the showrunners will need to run a tighter ship to keep things consistent this year. I think the show is due for a good year. That's the good news. The bad news is I predicted the same thing about Stargirl last year and that fell apart. But the premise of the show has some things going for it that Stargirl lacked. Mostly the fact that I don't actually care about any of the characters. That means all bets can and SHOULD be off, and I won't wind up getting my heart broken either way.

Future Cyborg is pretty cool. I like Madame Rouge's role in the episode and her adjusting her role in the season to change the future. Frankly, at this point I think Rita is just being unfair.

Codpiece is the worst villain ever and everything bad about this show in a nutshell.

I like the new touching finger for Cliff, and also how determined he is to touch his grandson with it.

I loved the Ghost Jane asking if it would make sense to talk to their earlier incarnations and everyone bursting into laughter at the idea of genuinely handing those idiots responsibility for the future. Except, that's what wound up happening, so who's laughing now?

The tag with Willoughby was great. I like how nervous the rabbit made everyone.

There is nothing more in the spirit of this show than the main characters singing "Sweet Caroline" with jellyfish attached to the tops of their heads. The inverse of Codpiece, and the best the show has to offer.

I could be wrong, and this show always seems to have about as big of an identity crisis as Jane, but that was hella-promising. 4 1/2 stars 

The centerpiece of the episode was the butts dancing to Shipoopi. That is SO This Show, and the most This Show scene in this episode.

Rita is a tough character to like. Larry is not saying it exactly, but her team leadership boils down to narcissism and vanity. And that's not actually heroic.

Jane's stuff is interesting for the first time in a couple of seasons. Mostly because it involved Jane herself. The past couple of seasons have been too dependent on Jane's other personalities.

Anyone else getting the feeling Cliff isn't actually cut out for this? I get the sneaking suspicion the team's weak link isn't actually Rita, it's Cliff. It was a sad scene listening to him blearily describe the feelings as he crushed the skull, but he is not up to this.

Vic continues to be in a holding pattern this week.

Solid episode but the dancing butt Shipoopi's are all I'm about this week. 4 stars.

I didn't respond to most of that. It was the kind of Doom Patrol episode I don't like. Where the characters are repeatedly punished for the unforgivable crime of existing. And should the characters find even the mildest nice thing in their lives? It must be blown up. It's one of the reasons I don't like the show.

Jane's plot is making me uncomfortable. Cliff doesn't want to talk about orgasms, but I'm more disturbed she's dismissing the totally pleasant experience because "it doesn't help Kay". And I'm thinking the multiple personality trauma defense mechanism thing has run its course if THAT'S the first place a grown woman's mind goes to after it.

And yet as hopeless as the ending was, I liked Rita's monologue affirming her love of her family and her promise to never give up. And I like that Vic and Derek were able to find a small measure of peace with each other. But I am always annoyed that bad things happen on the show simply because the show believes the characters deserve those bad things to happen to them. I disagree strongly with that notion and it's where I and the show part ways.  2 1/2 stars.

That was amazing. No other qualifiers necessary.

I think my problem is this show is this specific level of amazing so infrequently I always forget it is totally capable of it. Outside of the nonsense, the show can make me feel things if it wants me to. And maybe remembering that this week might make me a bit more demanding of future episodes. This show can be amazing. I don't like the fact that it stingily doles out its amazingness only for special occasions. Amazing television is nothing to be ashamed of. It needs to be normalized, in fact.

I loved Dorothy's rant against her father. And I also loved the character of Casey. Child actor Madeline Zima has built quite a respectable acting career for herself and I liked her earnestness and squareness in the role, so unlike her usual tweakers and freaks, because her acting was solid, and she obviously isn't some unaffordable name guest star they can only get back schedules and budgets permitting. Zima, a solid actress not known for ever turning down a role means they can essentially bring her and Dorothy back whenever they like.

I forget this show is sometimes amazing, and this episode reminded me. But I must insist from this point forward that the show being amazing should become a common occurrence from now on. It's really not too much to ask. *****.

I think HBO Max accidentally switched the placements of this week's and last week's recaps.

The multiple cliffhangers intrigued me, especially what was going on with both Larry and Jane.

I think Mark Sheppard would make a very good Constantine. I hope DC someday keeps him in mind for that.

If the show is suggesting drug trips are a necessary part of teenage life, I don't agree with that at all. It's strikes me as a stupid moral.

The stuff with Jane in bed pleasuring herself was just plain awkward. It didn't actually have to be, but then she's back in the Underground sputtering, and all of a sudden it's weird. I don't dig that.

Rita's scene with Rouge at the end was very moving, especially when Rouge turned back into a girl and they held each other.

I liked it. ****.

Cliff forgetting to close the freezer is why I don't actually like Cliff.

Him (correctly) telling Jane you can't stop another person from loving you is why I like him.

Rita and Rouge's stuff is really cool, and I like the evolution of their relationship and repairing of their friendship.

Tim Burton was mentioned, but yeah, the imagery of the episode was freaky and striking.

If Vic's friend dies next week, I'll be mad.

I reserve judgment about this episode. It could either have been a good thing or a bad thing depending how things go next. I'll give it the middling three star grade just to be safe. ***.

Usually right before I watch an episode of this, I let out a sigh of resignation. I won't miss those sighs. They were present for every episode of Titans too, and many episodes of Harley Quinn. I talk crap about the Disney+ Marvel shows. They are underwhelming. The DC stuff on Max is oftentimes appalling.

I won't deny this specific show is sometimes good. But it is also sometimes bad. And its goodness and badness has no rhyme or reason. Which is why I mistrust the show so much. Cliff falling for what he did at the end isn't actually necessary for the story to work. All it does is piss me off. What is the benefit of that to the character of Cliff, this show, or frankly me, who I think at this point deserves a little better?

I think the show believes it deserves special kudos and recognition for the Bechdel-Test-Passing scenes between Rita and Rouge. I can't quite give it that. There is a line a fictional project needs to walk to make a female friendship delightful and meaningful instead of cliche and painful. And why does the fact that Rouge is giggling over the fact that Rita is a serial killer feel like the latter? It really is NOT a moment that should feel like that. Is it the performances? The writing? I don't know. It just feels lame instead of fun. If there is a mad giggle-fest to be had between these two bawdy dames, I don't feel like I'm remotely in on it.

This show has done some good things, and unlike stuff like Titans, or even Young Justice, the positive things it has done are easy to quantify for me. But so are the bad things. And I don't feel like this episode had enough good things to make me forgive its bad things. Not this episode at least. 2 1/2 stars.

Another bad episode.

I don't know WHAT the show is thinking having Cliff treat Dorothy that way, or Jane treating Casey that way, but it only causes me to view both of those characters with disgust. Dorothy telling Cliff he was loved was the episode's most powerful moment, but at the same time I felt like telling her not to waste something so precious on him.

I'll give the episode credit for giving Derek a happy ending instead of killing him off.

Rouge had some interesting stuff with Isabel, but on the whole, the entire Immortus being a failed actress thing has so far turned out to be a dud. Not a shock it didn't work. More shocking that the show did it because they actually thought it might. 2 stars.

Ugh. Musical episodes. Kill me now.

As embarrassing and cringe as the rest of the episode was, the closing number "Doomed" was great. The whole dinner scene was great in general. And hearing the main title acapella makes me think it ALWAYS should have been performed that way.

Still, mostly ugh. 3 stars.

That was both stupid and interesting. And the stupid things were the most interesting things about it.

Whatever the Buttpocalypse is, the Doom Patrol's gonna win. They shall avert it. Because both Victor and Rouge made conscious decisions to change the self-fulfilling nature of that apocalypse, and do things for the better. For Rouge especially, it's rewarding. And that's all outfoxing the future and prophecies should boil down to. What did I do last time? This time I won't do that. My character Gilda's catchphrase is "Once You Know A Future Is Coming, You Can Change It." That is evident in this episode of the Doom Patrol.

I felt Rita's anger and grief at Larry was deserved, and you kind of realize that although the team voting down her incompetence in favor of Rouge was the show playing it for laughs, it REALLY hurt Rita, especially after all of the support she gave everyone else. We had previously been led to believe there was actual ego involved in why Rita really wanted to lead the team. In truth the reason she was upset is because it felt like actual rejection from friends she has been the only member of the house to make a concerted effort with in kind.

And when Cliff says at the end "It's Rita." That is a little out of character for Cliff. But after all this? You know what? Take the damn risk for the woman who has spent the better part of the past century putting up with uncalled for abuse from these people. It's really the least they can do.

Jane's stuff is worrisome. I don't see it heading anywhere good.

When Rouge tells Isabelle to go for the others and let her live you might find that unforgivable on any other show. Except I can easily picture Cliff saying the exact same thing. Selflessness on this show is treated as abnormal and Rouge is not actually out of line compared to everyone else.

The Werebutt couple? That is pure insanity, and the interesting stupidity I mentioned. It's SO dumb, and yet the feeling I got is there a backstory there worth hearing and the show intends to knock it out of the park. A tragic romance between a talking butt and his werebutt fiance? There's something about this show, you know?

I was having misgivings about Vic being Cyborg again, and the show is good for addressing them head-on. It's been a couple of seasons, right? But the thing I most remember about Cyborg is that when it came to his father, he was an absolute monster. I'm not saying his father was a good guy back then either. But Cyborg always blamed every single one of his problems on Silas, even if he himself was totally at fault. His father was essentially a punching bag for his rage, often in violent ways, and rarely for reasons he deserved. He and his father are cool now. So you see why both me and Victor are concerned. And Silas said, "You had just lost your mother. You were grieving. And I was a bad father." And Vic points out Silas was grieving too. And all of the sudden you realize Cyborg was never the real problem. He just stopped the problem from being addressed. Since it has been and they made peace and both love each other, Cyborg can come back. I love that.

Jane telling Cliff to f-word off until he sweetens the pot of the roadtrip to Florida to potentially blowing up M-80's because he knows a guy is great.

I am ready for this show to end. Usually when I say that it's because a show has worn out its welcome in its last season. Don't ask me why, but it is a disturbingly common occurrence for a long-running series to have the shark jump in the final season, and you basically limping and suffering to the finale since you've invested say, 7 years already. This show has only had four seasons, and I'm forward to it ending because it feels like it's nearing the right stopping point, and doesn't intend to wear out its welcome. A LOT of shows I like die too soon. Even more stay on the air so long I wind up hating them. Doom Patrol knowing the sweet spot of when to take the final bow is cool. And yes, I know the show would have been canceled anyways with the way things are at Max. But unlike Titans' rush job ending, it feels like the fourth season was ALWAYS planned to be the last. And damn, they might actually have something interesting cooking for the last few episodes.

I'm curious, is what I am. This is a weird, unpredictable, and often disappointing show. Are my instincts right? Is this gonna be an outlier for live-action DC shows and end right? We can only hope. 4 1/2 stars.

Rouge's stuff was great. Cyborg's stuff was rewarding. I was kind of annoyed with Larry's stuff. Jane and Niles were cool and hearing that horrible secret of hers out loud, although we already knew it, basically changed everything.

As for Cliff being the one who broke Niles' back, that's perfect. Because Cliff always believe he owed Niles nothing, and Niles did everything wrong in their relationship. Learning he did the dude equally dirty is poetic justice for a character unwilling to see nuance. It is to Cliff's credit he declines to take the longevity after all. I don't blame him for that one bit.

Timothy Dalton voicing the "previously on Doom Patrol" recap this episode meant I knew he was coming back.

I thought it was good. Good enough to send off the series next week? We'll see. 4 stars.

My expectations were not met. It was a very nice finale, and the last scene with Cliff dying was touching. But this series has done so much to rub in the viewer's face how insane it was, and how it refused to not only operate by the playbook of other superhero projects, but other TV shows in general. That finale was very standard and typical of television. Not bad. But considering the out-there, bizarre reputation the show was trying to build for itself for four seasons, it was not good enough.

I will say this. The series managed to have the main members of the Doom Patrol die (which is proper for the comic book canon) but the deaths were not a case of them getting screwed over by the Universe. Rita, Cliff, and Larry essentially went out on their own terms. And Jane was granted a happy ending, as was Vic, and Madame Rouge finally found the balance by doing bad for an actual good cause.

But where was Dorothy? And I hate being that guy, but where is Mr. Nobody? It was Mr. Nobody who made the show as insane and meta as it was. And I sort of accepted the show stepping away from him because of Alan Tudyk's supposedly busy schedule. But the first season of the show focused SO much on him it's amazing how ignored he was for the last episode.

For an average TV show I would be very pleased by that. For a show that bills itself as insane and weird and crazy I could use more musical numbers with talking butts. It's weird the show thought differently. And I guess the lesson there is that anytime a TV show tries to tell you it is bigger or weirder than television and to check your expectations at the door, at the end of the day, it's still television. They are lying to you about that. And I guess that doesn't surprise me, but every time it happens, for some crazy, insane reason it still disappoints me.

Make no mistake. I have seen many really great, solid television series have amazing finales. It's the weird ones that never measure up to their hyped weirdness. (Twin Peaks being the notable exception, although you could argue that was actually for the wrong reasons). And while I am NOT surprised, I don't love a project trying to bill itself as Avant Garde turning out to be plain old television after all. 3 stars.