Doom Patrol airs new episodes Friday’s on DC Universe.
Synopsis
After a violent outburst from Cliff, the team engages in some self-led group therapy – leading to some growth within the group as they are knit closer together.
Review
Well Doom Patrol you have reclaimed your ten out of ten crown. Just when I thought the show couldn’t get any better again it goes and delivers what could be the most emotional episode of the season.
“Therapy Patrol” builds on the emotional overtones of the previous episode (reviewed here) and brings the story back to the original four characters and Victor.
Moreso than other recent episodes the focus is really evenly split amongst the five. There’s absolutely no denying that Larry and Rita have come the furthest so far but by the end of “Therapy Patrol” the rest are catching up.
We get to go back and see each of the leads (minus Cliff) as a child. All of them have varied and wonderful backgrounds which contract their present day relationships. Rita meeting the other Hollywood starlet when she was young clearly had a huge impact on her life.
Likewise Larry overhearing his parents arguing about his sexuality is equally as traumatic for us as it is for him. It was a brave move on behalf of the writers to have his mother, generally the more understanding parent, be so against his sexuality.
It was also intriguing to witness more of the relationship between Victor and his mother. It’s clear she was the antithesis of Silas.
The culmination of all their childhood memories is a present day therapy session between them all. To finally see Larry accepting himself was an intensely emotional experience, likewise Rita voicing her fears that without the image she has built for herself she has no idea who she is is tragic.
Of course this being Doom Patrol there still has to be a little fun in there. The eventual revelation as to why Cliff has been behaving weirdly is utterly bonkers and absolutely in keeping with the rest of the show.
It also breaks up the emotional scenes and allows for a couple of action beats which keep the episode fresh and relevant with the rest of the season.
Verdict
Doom Patrol strikes again with another ten out of ten. Great insights into the characters past as well as their psychological states continue to show huge strides in development.
A perfect mix of character, humour and action easily make this one of the best episodes of the season.
10/10
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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