Doom Patrol (2019) s03e07 – Bird Patrol

Wow, late forties Communist paranoia doesn’t age well. It’s okay for a plot point, but showcasing how Michelle Gomez goes down the rabbit hole does an incredible job setting up her villain arc. It’s the big reveal on her; she’s just an American numbskull. Though the character’s Scottish, so she’s a Scot affecting American idiocy. It’s kind of great? It’s not dramatic at all; basically, she’s just going to be a betrayer, and we’ll get to watch that realization play out on people’s faces, but there’s only one related action set-piece, and it’s the cliffhanger. Otherwise, it’s all just watching Gomez hurt people. One after the other, as it becomes more and more evident, she’s lost her humanity to fear and hate.

Not sure how the show’s going to explain Gomez getting her memory back in the present as the audience learns about it through the flashbacks–well, linear flashbacks but April Bowlby’s ostensibly experiencing it in real-time though not as much this episode. Gomez is the star in the flashbacks, with Bowlby now just one of the Sisterhood of Dada.

The show’s actually getting through the Sisterhood of Dada stuff really fast. The subplots are all still dawdling—nicely dawdling, but still—and the Dada stuff is racing. Especially given this episode’s cliffhanger. We get one big reveal, then another, then another, then the cliffhanger.

The subplots have Brendan Fraser and Riley Shanahan back at daughter Bethany Anne Lind’s to babysit, even though it’s clear his malfunctions are continuing. Matt Bomer’s actually got a big early episode revelation with his giant zit subplot. And then Bomer’s the one in the present interacting with Gomez the most when she’s still cool. Diane Guerrero’s got more internal drama with Skye Roberts and company. It’s the most forced subplot, maybe because Guerrero doesn’t engage with anyone out in the world about it.

The most significant subplot is Joivan Wade, who’s going through with a synthetic skin treatment. Through either luck or contrivance, when dad Phil Morris (who doesn’t appear but Karen Obilom does have a lovely scene, albeit remotely) turned Wade into Cyborg, he made it easy to uninstall all the mechanicals and replace them with artificial skin. Okay, maybe not the biggest subplot, but the most dramatic. Wade losing his tech is more impactful (so far) than Fraser being inept at playing grandpa, Guerrero’s turmoil, and then Bomer’s thing.

Lots of good acting—Gomez, Bowlby, the flashback guest stars.

Though I did think the season had thirteen episodes, and it’s got ten, which means we’re heading into the wrap-up, and I didn’t realize it. Still, the show’s in excellent shape.

Doom Patrol (2019) s03e06 – 1917 Patrol

The A-plot this episode is April Bowlby in the past. We get to see her trip in the time machine, which explains how time travelers lose their memories—it’s an intense, affecting sequence with narration from Matt Bomer (I think). Or maybe guest star Micah Joe Parker. Or neither of them. Either would also make sense.

But she gets to the past and pretty quickly finds herself in the custody of the Bureau of Normalcy, where she finds some answers to the questions Michelle Gomez is asking in the future. Only Bowlby can’t remember she knows Gomez in the future and isn’t trying to get back to the future, not when she finds good friends in everyone in the past and a love interest in Parker. Of course, Bowlby and her friends are meta-humans being exploited by the bigoted Bureau (not to mention held captive), but it could be a lot worse. Especially since her friends all have good escapism powers.

It seems like the show will eventually do an intricate time travel loop with the past informing the future informing the past. Wait, it already does. Add another couple of loops. The show’s having a good time with it, but also getting in some excellent character development. And it’s nice the guest star “villains” last episode, the Sisterhood of Dada (who Bowlby finds in the past), have a thoughtful backstory.

Meanwhile, in the present, Gomez is still trying to figure out what the Sisterhood wants with her, not to mention being pissed Bowlby stole her time machine. She can’t get any help from Robotman (Brendan Fraser and Riley Shanahan) because he’s busy being addicted to online pay-to-play gaming and cam girls as a way of avoiding problems. The episode places a hold on Fraser and Gomez this episode—Shanahan gets more than Fraser to do in the part this episode, which doesn’t often happen–while keeping the other team members’ arcs going.

So Diane Guerrero gets the B-plot. Little kid version Skye Roberts wants to drive the body and see the world for the first time in seventy years. Guerrero encourages her, the other personalities do not. It ends up being Guerrero doing a Roberts impression, and it works well enough. If only Guerrero were as compelling playing “herself” as when she’s playing other people controlling her body. The subplot is simultaneously rushed and truncated, but it keeps the arc going.

Similarly, Matt Bomer and Joivan Wade make some progress. Bomer with his estranged, old man son John Getz (who’s absolutely fantastic), Wade as he tries to work out his whole existence. On the sliding scale of episode investment, Wade comes in just above Fraser, but it’s really good stuff. “Doom Patrol”’s doing a great job making its characters the most compelling aspect.

Particularly great acting from Bowlby, Gomez, and Bomer.

Also, Omar Madha’s direction is excellent. It’s actually an uneven episode, but the peaks are so sky-high they easily compensate.

Doom Patrol (2019) s03e05 – Dada Patrol

“Doom Patrol” has a standard plot structure for most episodes. With another show, I’d call it concerning, but with “Doom Patrol,” the show’s able to utilize and achieve with that structure, so it’s a have-at-it situation. Especially since they’re constantly reminding each other they’re not a team; why expect team dynamics.

The structure is a split-up one, where each member goes off on their own personal adventure. While they’re all separate, they’re all full of anger, danger, and sorrow. The split-up structure is familiar from comics when you’d have regular pairings of team members. So, for instance, Robotman and Jane go to save a nuclear power plant while Negative Man and Cyborg go to do something else. I never read Doom Patrol so I’m not sure how the split-up structure worked there, but in the show, instead of pairings, everyone’s on their own. Except for April Bowlby and Michelle Gomez, who sit around the mansion getting hammered on gin and making bad decisions.

This episode’s mission involves Gomez’s newly discovered old gang (from the 1920s, the Sisterhood of Dada—some great jokes about Dada throughout) trying to bring about the end of the world. Maybe. The team—minus Bowlby—goes out to see if they can get some answers, only to discover the Sisterhood’s got the upper hand. One thing about the season I’m underwhelmed about—through future streamers aren’t going to care—is how it’s a sequel to the first season, not the second. The Sisterhood were some of the prisoners the team freed at the end of season one. They just haven’t been mentioned until now, a season and a few episodes later.

It’s a slight peeve and doesn’t affect the episode’s quality. Brendan Fraser and Riley Shanahan have the most physically and comedically involved adventure because Robotman gets super-high, leading to hilarious dialogue for Fraser and some excellent bodywork from Shanahan. It’s Shanahan’s most impressive episode this season. But the writing is also just fantastic (Shoshana Sachi gets the credit). Not just when they’re on mission or when Fraser’s tripping balls, but also when Fraser’s playing on the internet. It’s all great.

Diane Guerrero’s adventure involves her and little girl inside her Skye Roberts interacting with the outside world again. Or at least outside elements, which leverages Guerrero’s effectiveness as protector. She’s funny when she’s bantering with Fraser; she’s sincere with trying to protect Roberts. Here, Guerrero and Roberts both find themselves seduced—appropriately, I’m just flexing on the vocabulary—by guest star Wynn Everett. Guerrero and Roberts’s arc this season is by far the most affecting, even though Guerrero’s the least capable regular cast member.

Jovian Wade’s got a Black man in America arc with a little dad issues with Phil Morris thrown in. It’s good. Morris only appears in a FaceTime call where no one thought about how he was sitting in relation to the camera, but Rona, right? While all of the arcs feel interrupted, only Wade’s feels like it won’t get explored later, which is too bad. I’m probably wrong, though. “Doom Patrol” consistently pleasantly surprises.

Matt Bomer’s got the smallest arc, involving his missing extraterrestrial symbiote, old man son John Getz, and a giant, moving zit. It’s good but set up.

Meanwhile, Bowlby and Gomez are back at the mansion talking about time travel, revealing all their secrets—which is incredible—and, again, making some bad and predictably drunk decisions.

It’s nice having someone opposite Bowlby who’s always making an excellent acting move. Gomez can keep up with Bowlby, something no one else really can, not when Bowlby lets loose.

“Doom Patrol” is, as ever, fantastic.

Doom Patrol (2019) s03e03 – Dead Patrol

Let’s see how well I can couch and caveat the following statement: comics-based superhero shows have an advantage doing backdoor pilots. Superheroes have been guest-starring in each others’ comics since 1940; the guest spot has been baked into the medium, whether to bolster a series’s sales with Batman, Wolverine, or Spider-Man or to gin up interest in a B or C-list superhero in hopes of spinning them off on their own (someday).

But “Doom Patrol” quickly surpasses that inherent edge here. Half the episode is about most of the team in purgatory, half the episode is about Matt Bomer and Abi Monterey enlisting the aid of The Dead Boy Detectives to get their friends back. There are two ghost detectives—Ty Tennant and Sebastian Croft—and their psychic human partner Madalyn Horcher, and they solve crimes. They’re from the Sandman comics originally, and since the “Sandman” adaptation isn’t HBO Max, it’ll be interesting to see how they address shared characters if they go to series.

It rarely feels like a backdoor pilot because everything in the narrative serves the “Doom Patrol” plot. Even when Horcher is dumping exposition on Monterey as they bond over tragedies, it’s about Monterey finally having another teenage girl for a friend. While Tennant and Croft are very dry comic relief—they’re all British, after all—Bomer also has a great bonding moment with Tennant. It’s superbly done, and fingers crossed the real pilot goes well.

Meanwhile, Brendan Fraser (and, correspondingly, Riley Shanahan), April Bowlby, Diane Guerrero, and Joivan Wade are all on their way towards the literal light, with some surprises along the way. Actually, not Bowlby, who for some reason doesn’t pass out when she gets across the River Styx. She ends up with the shortest arc, while Fraser, Guerrero, and Wade get much more salient ones. Especially Guerrero—who’s in the afterlife with little kid version Skye Roberts. It’s Guerrero’s best acting on the show. Or at least the best I can remember. Not sure if it’s because she’s speaking Spanish or because she’s not flexing hostile to everyone she’s acting with.

Fraser’s arc offers some quick character development—though, significant trauma, dying and all, so it works—while Wade just discovers he still doesn’t have all the answers to his own superhero origin story. But Guerrero’s section is the most affecting. And Roberts is excellent. The show really lucked out she’s so good when speaking (her part started non-verbal).

There’s some dark humor and bizarre scenes, some more mysteries for later on, and an excellent performance from Fraser. It’s another outstanding “Patrol.”

Doom Patrol (2019) s03e02 – Vacay Patrol

In this episode, there’s a scene where Diane Guerrero and April Bowlby are sitting in some lounge chairs on a pretty lake and talking about how they’re coping with the revelations of the traumas Timothy Dalton put them through. They’re at the pretty lake because Bowlby has an extended panic attack and has reverted into mostly liquid form. She’s in a large bag, tied together, on the chair. So Bowlby’s just voice acting. She’s great.

Guerrero’s not great in that particular “Doom Patrol” way where I try to will her acting to be better. It never works, but it felt good to have that sensation back again.

The episode opens in a flashback to the forties, very nonchalantly introducing the Brain and Monsieur Mallah. No CGI required for the Brain, just a trashcan and some lights, but Monsieur Mallah (a French ape) looks excellent. They’re plotting against Dalton, and their plan involves having alien mercenary Stephen Murphy assassinate a target at a resort. He’s just supposed to go there and wait for the target to arrive.

The target’s Bowlby, and she doesn’t arrive for decades. Not until she’s stressed out from Dalton giving her added responsibilities and then the disaster of the town play. But it also takes Joivan Wade getting in trouble with dad Phil Morris for giving his girlfriend another chance instead of having her arrested for terrorism; Morris has shut down most of Wade’s superpowers. So he’s bored and willing to take Bowlby on the trip.

Guerrero only goes because her little kid version (Skye Roberts) wants her to relax and thinks a trip would do her good. It’s a very interesting scene, with lots of foreshadowing for the character development. Roberts is better than Guerrero, which is actually surprising because Roberts’s part has been really nonverbal until now on the show. And Roberts gets emphasis later on, for a particularly affecting third act sequence.

They can’t bring Matt Bomer along because he’s out in space on a field trip with his alien symbiote. Last episode, it seemed like Bomer might be leaving the show or at least taking a timeout to keep the acting budget down, but he’s got a whole subplot.

But they can convince Brendan Fraser & Riley Shanahan’s Robotman to come along. Fraser’s been visiting his daughter (Bethany Anne Lind), her wife (Walnette Marie Santiago), and their new baby. He’s very amusingly annoying the hell out of them as the doting grandad. So they’re happy to send him off on a trip.

When they get to the resort, which is desolate and apparently only still in business because Murphy’s never checked out, they quickly start bickering and arguing. Wade’s trying to overcompensate, Fraser’s pissed, Guerrero’s confused, and Bowlby’s jello. It makes for a good “Doom Patrol” with a great cliffhanger.

Murphy’s a good guest war, with Billy Boyd stealing most of the scenes as his lackey. It’s a strong episode for Fraser in particular; he’s got a lot of different kinds of scenes. And, of course, Shanahan. Lots of good movement work from Shanahan.

This show’s a treasure.