Doom Patrol is one of the best shows that I have ever seen, and frankly, my favorite DC Comics based show of all time. It is executed nearly flawlessly throughout its 15 episode inaugural season. The character development for each of the members of the Doom Patrol was amazing to watch. While the villain was a bit of a let down, and emphasis on let down, that doesn’t take away from the show at all.
The Plot
The premiss of the show was to save Niles “the Chief” Caulder from Eric Morden, better known as Mr. Nobody. While we don’t fully know why Morden wanted to exact revenge on Caulder for some reason, their dynamic and scenes together were pretty great to watch. Timothy Dalton and Alan Tudyk are great actors so of course it would be! Right in the end of the pilot the Chief gets captured and the show dives into its season-long plot immediately.
Robotman “Cliff Steele”, Elasti-Woman “Rita Farr”, Jane “Crazy Jane”, Negative Man “Larry Trainor”, and Cyborg “Victor Stone” don’t know how to fully use their powers. Caulder, from what we see when he’s at Doom Manor in the pilot episode, wanted to shield these people from the outside world and wanted to be a family, of sorts. It turning out that the heroes were actually immortal wasn’t that much of a shocker, being that Rita and each of them haven’t aged since between the 1930s-1980s when all of their origins began! Not knowing how they became immortal in the first place is a huge plot hole. Caulder actually wanted to figure out how they all became immortal and wanted to somehow extract a bit of that immortality for himself also. Or at least that’s what it seemed like because, again, we don’t fully know.
We see him in 1913 when he looks identical to how he does in 2019, and we see that the woman he finds whose been immortal for thousands of years does some ritual to stay immortal. Did Caulder figure it out and use it on the heroes after their horrific accidents after testing it on himself first? This whole thing makes very little sense. But while it is a major head scratcher and beyond confusing….. I don’t let it take away any of the greatness of the show.
Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman
Rita is one of my favorite characters on the show, if not my favorite. She grows so much from the pilot to the season finale and while we don’t see her use her true power of elasticity, we know that she knows what her true power is, thanks to Willoughby Kipling. What I’d like to see for her arc in the inevitable second season, is a lover. Maybe Rex Mason aka Metamorpho?
Cliff Steele/Robotman
Cliff is a fascinating character, he is a robot with the brain of a human! His character growth this season was really well. Being from looking at himself as a monster, to being perfectly fine with who he is, isn’t all the easy to pull off. And I commend the writers for executing it really well. Next season I would like to see him, also, utilize his power of super strength much more. Maybe letting Silas Stone give him an upgrade as well?
Crazy Jane
She is a VERY underrated character in the comics. Having 65 different personalities residing inside of her had been a terrible burden for her to deal with. But by season’s end, she seemed to be in control. Realizing that she can use a personality at will and use their unique powers in battle, was something I was hoping to see by the finale. We didn’t necessarily get that, but it was loosely done throughout the end of the season. For Jane in the next season I would love for her to tone down her temper, and to somehow fully understand that her power is a gift and can be very useful in battle.
Larry Trainor/Negative Man
Talk about characters who grew a lot. This man, after 60-years of fearing the negative spirit inside of him, welcomed it while becoming one with it. Knowing that it cares for him and just wants to live, helped Larry in realizing that it is good, and is his own power. What I would like to see from Negative Man next season is a relationship. Maybe John Constantine or Midnighter?
Victor Stone/Cyborg
While I couldn’t stand him up until the 12th episode as he was very arrogant and self righteous, I grew a liking for the character while he was in the Ant Farm. I can’t deny his growth as the season went on, with taking full spin in episode 12, and I am glad to see that his relationship with his father Silas Stone seemed to be on better terms in the season finale. As for him in season 2….. I want to see them set up his own show possibly.
Niles Caulder/The Chief
I could argue that Niles was in fact season one’s main villain. But he obviously isn’t though. I would’ve loved for him to have told the team in the finale that as he orchestrated their transformations, he had doubt and as time went on….. he grew to love them all as his own family. But that wasn’t the case BUT we will get something like it in season two as the team can’t hate Niles forever. He’s the leader of the team for crying out loud! His secrets though need to end and he needs to be more forthcoming with the Doom Patrol.
As for Mr. Negative, I loved his fourth wall breaking! Not seeing him fight though was pretty ridiculous. He isn’t gone. Him and the freakish Beard Hunter will somehow be freed from he White Space painting and exact, yet again, revenge; hopefully this time with the help of Ultimax, Monsieur Mallah and the rest of the Brotherhood of Evil.
The finale was the weakest episode of the season. A giant Cockroach and Rat, who ended up making love, be the “battle” was a monumental letdown that I will sadly never forget, being for it’s weirdness and uncomfortable moments. Hopefully the season two finale battle and villain(s) will be much better and far more interesting.
Season 2
A second season is all but confirmed. People, not only myself, are calling Doom Patrol one of the greatest superhero shows ever, and THE best DC Comics one ever done. Here are some of the ideas that I have for season 2:
-romance for Rita (Metamorpho?)
-the Brotherhood of Evil
-Ultimax
-Monsieur Mallah
-Candlemaker
-General Immortus
-Lodestone
-Dr. Will Magnus
-Henry Bucher
-Brotherhood of Dada setup for season three
I would love to see Metamorpho, Lodestone, and Henry Bucher come in as “freaks” who seek a “family” to be with, and to use their powers for good. Dr. Will Magnus is also a hero, but I don’t want to see that yet. I want him to be a scientist whose brought in by Silas Stone to keep Niles in check, and to make gadgets for the Doom Patrol, with his heroic side coming out by season’s end. Immortus was name dropped a few times, being the codename for Niles’ immortality fixation, but General Immortus was the ringleader in the comics and will inevitably appear next season. The Candlemaker I mention because of his fascinating connecting to Niles’ extremely overpowered daughter Dorothy Spinner.
Ultimax, aka the Brain, and Monsieur Mallah were mentioned numerous times this season. Them being the leaders of the also mentioned Brotherhood of Evil all might appear as well. It would be really cool to see those two at least appear next season, as the main villains or not! An extremely smart Gorilla and an even smarter sentient brain would be as obscure as it gets. And we saw on season one how obscure and far fetched some of these villains and characters in general are.
The Brotherhood of Dada is another villainous organization that could be set up for season three, or the show could go The CW Arrow-Verse route and make the team face a new villain every week mixed in with the main villain from time to time until the final couple of episodes. But I sure as hell hope not. Doom Patrol established itself as a character driven emotional thrill-ride that doesn’t need to deal with a villain fight every episode.
You can stream all 15 episodes of Doom Patrol season one now on DC Universe.
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