Doom Patrol “Doom Patrol”

So, sometime between when I finished off The Midnight Club and started Doom Patrol, I learned that HBO Max/WB/DC/whatever has canceled the series and there will be no fifth season.  Same with Titans, but I already know which series I am going to miss more.

But oddly enough, I am not really all that upset by the news.

To be absolutely clear, I still adore Doom Patrol, and the idea that I can potentially legit say the cast includes an Academy Award winner in a few weeks time delights me even more given what kind of show this is.  But let’s be real here:  I am mostly surprised Doom Patrol lasted this long to begin with.  It began life as a spin-off of Titans (sort of), and then became this weird thing on the DC Universe app when what is now just a comics service was actually also running video programming like old cartoons and a handful of (somewhat low budget) original fare.  Of the four shows, Doom Patrol was the most unique.  Titans was a standard superhero tale that I don’t think was ever done particularly well.  Swamp Thing was cut short and canceled before the first season was even completed.  Stargirl found a new (and very appropriate) home on the CW until recently.  And then there was Doom Patrol, a series that took one of DC Comics’s weirdest superteams, and largely inspired by a particularly crazy run by Grant Morrison, went full on crazy comedy as the heroes of the show are more likely to save the world accidentally if at all.

Really, Doom Patrol was a niche show that started on a very niche streaming service before being picked up by a more mainstream one.  I would obviously have loved a fifth season, but I am mostly glad I somehow got four of them.

Also, I took the news much better than a friend and co-worker who only just discovered the series, but his objections were more philosophical than anything else.

Regardless, the show is back, and it’s time to see how much this show has changed and what these people have screwed up this time.

And the answer is:  not much has changed as the team can barely take out a bad guy named Codpiece (and Laura/Madame Rouge did most of the work while Rita continues to insult the woman), and oh boy did they screw up after an accidental trip to the future shows that zombie werebutts have decimated the town of Cloverton, leaving most of the Doom Patrol dead save for Vic and maybe Laura.  And their ghosts were not very helpful.  The whole thing left Larry upset that the Negative Baby is now distant from him, Cliff upset he will never be able to touch his grandson with a new hand that allows him to experience touch, Jane to find conflict between the alters because Dr. Harrison is a terrible primary, and Rita needs to confront the fact that she may not be team leader quality.  Plus, Vic is powerless now and clearly isn’t happy being their IT guy.

See, including things like Codpiece, zombie werebutts, and a bunny wizard at the end of the episode is just basic proof this show is still, well, this show.  What is Immortus?  Will Wiloughby Kipling get respect from that rabbit?  Can they stop the werebutts?  Would the world be better off if they didn’t?

I don’t know, but I know I am going to enjoy finding out one last time.