Doom Patrol airs new episodes Friday’s via DC Universe.
Synopsis
With the Apocalypse in full swing, the Doom Patrol must work with an unlikely ally – and a very special pug – to stop the end of the world.
Review
If you listened to our podcast discussion on the previous episode of Doom Patrol (listen here) then you’ll know we thought the episode was a little slow. But you’ll also know that I surmised the next episode would bring up the pace and that the overall product would be much more exciting.
Of course I was right. There was never any doubt in my mind that the shows writers would pull off some great long form storytelling. Though I’ve not done it yet I will, at some stage, go back and watch this two-parter back-to-back and see if it plays even better.
Finally we get chance to spend some more time with Crazy Jane. Though heavily influenced by external narrators it’s great to get a glimpse in to her back story several weeks in. The re-introductions of Mr Nobody and The Chief were great additions to the episode.
This episode feels like Doom Patrol is moving from the “finding its feet” phase to the “hitting its stride” phase. That being said this show has never had a single misstep along the way. But I would be remiss not to comment on a brand new series experimenting with storytelling to help find its niche.
Back to Crazy Jane for a moment. Making her the central focus of this episode more than makes up for not exploring her backstory in previous episodes. It was interesting to see how Niles and Mr Nobody put aside their differences leading to them using Jane to help defeat the De-Creator.
Though their methods averted the apocalypse it was arguably immoral to manipulate her in such a way. The emergence of the Dr. Harrison persona certainly adds a new layer to her character. This could be the strongest of Jane’s personas but she is also clearly the most disarming.
Of course there was still room in the episode for development of the rest of the team. Rita once again benefits from her relationship with Elliot. Her human side is really starting to come together nicely. Over the course of five episodes we’ve seen a sustained growth from her that many shows would struggle to achieve.
“Paw Patrol” really picks up the pace after the previous episode. With the De-Creator watching over the skies there’s a certain amount of apocalyptic urgency to proceedings. But the episode doesn’t loose sight of its wry humour just by introducing a little, high stakes, danger. There’s still plenty of room for laughs and even a great song choice or two.
Verdict
As expected Doom Patrol pulled off an excellent second half of the story which began in the previous episode. It showed the series can tell a longer type of story which all of the intrigue and wackiness of previous episodes.
A bat s**t crazy conclusion which is entirely in keeping with the series overall.
8/10
On the next episode…
Doom Patrol stars Brendan Fraser as Cliff Steele, Matt Bomer as Larry Trainor, Diana Guerrero as Crazy Jane, Alan Tudyk as Mr. Nobody, April Bowlby as Rita Farr, Joivan Wade as Vic Stone and Timothy Dalton as Niles Caulder.
The series comes from Berlanti Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The one-hour drama is written Jeremy Carver (Supernatural, Being Human) and will by executive produced by Carver alongside by Greg Berlanti, Geoff Johns and Sarah Schechter.
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