Doom Patrol is one of those shows that stays with you for a while. Surreal, heartfelt and delightfully dysfunctional, the show returns for a strong second season that is still as absurd as ever, while furthering the narratives of the individual members of the team.
When Niles Caulder (Timothy Dalton) gives up the source of his immortality to a magician to return his team to their normal sizes, he has to deal with the danger of his daughter Dorothy (Abigail Shapiro) unleashing a dangerous being called the Candlemaker who resides inside her mind. The rest of the team scramble to find a solution, even as they go on quests of their own to confront their pasts or build a future.
Character development takes center stage in this season. Cliff (Brendan Fraser) is still dealing with anger issues, often coming to odds with Niles. At times, he is forced to deal with Dorothy, who reminds him of his own daughter and how he hasn’t managed to reconnect with her. Rita (April Bowlby) has to battle to come out of the imposing shadow of her mother, trying to land a small role in a community theater play. Cyborg finds a kindred spirit in army veteran Roni Evers, who, it turns out, also had implants in her body before they were forcibly removed. Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer) tries to reconnect with his only living son, finding out that he’s a great-grandfather. Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero) discovers an upheaval in her mental Underground, where an old personality returns to challenge her right to be a Primary.
That doesn’t mean that this season is any less absurd than the first.
There’s Dr. Tyme, who lives in a pocket dimension where an eternal disco party is raging all the time. Then there’s a Pinhead-esque demon called The Red Jack who manifests in the form of butterflies. A new mystery or foe appears almost every episode, varying from sex demons to secret astronauts. This does mean that, at times, Doom Patrol feels like it’s wandering around instead focusing on the main plot. However, it takes it time getting there, advancing Dorothy’s storyline steadily across each episode.
Doom Patrol is one of those shows that stays with you for a while. Surreal, heartfelt and delightfully dysfunctional, the show returns for a strong second season that is still as absurd as ever, while furthering the narratives of the individual members of the team.
When Niles Caulder (Timothy Dalton) gives up the source of his immortality to a magician to return his team to their normal sizes, he has to deal with the danger of his daughter Dorothy (Abigail Shapiro) unleashing a dangerous being called the Candlemaker who resides inside her mind. The rest of the team scramble to find a solution, even as they go on quests of their own to confront their pasts or build a future.
Character development takes center stage in this season. Cliff (Brendan Fraser) is still dealing with anger issues, often coming to odds with Niles. At times, he is forced to deal with Dorothy, who reminds him of his own daughter and how he hasn’t managed to reconnect with her. Rita (April Bowlby) has to battle to come out of the imposing shadow of her mother, trying to land a small role in a community theater play. Cyborg finds a kindred spirit in army veteran Roni Evers, who, it turns out, also had implants in her body before they were forcibly removed. Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer) tries to reconnect with his only living son, finding out that he’s a great-grandfather. Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero) discovers an upheaval in her mental Underground, where an old personality returns to challenge her right to be a Primary.
That doesn’t mean that this season is any less absurd than the first.
There’s Dr. Tyme, who lives in a pocket dimension where an eternal disco party is raging all the time. Then there’s a Pinhead-esque demon called The Red Jack who manifests in the form of butterflies. A new mystery or foe appears almost every episode, varying from sex demons to secret astronauts. This does mean that, at times, Doom Patrol feels like it’s wandering around instead focusing on the main plot. However, it takes it time getting there, advancing Dorothy’s storyline steadily across each episode.
As usual, Dalton brings his gravitas to the show, bringing a quiet, increasing desperation of a man who has done everything he could to protect his daughter, but it still isn’t enough. Shapiro also does well in balancing the sweetness of Dorothy with her fear, as well her darker impulses that threaten to burst to the fore. Guerrero portrays the nuances of her different personalities well. We get to see more of her backstory and how her current dominant personality came to be.
The season ends with a massive cliffhanger, partly because its actual finale couldn’t be filmed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The team has to face off against their own imaginary friends, conjured by the Candlemaker, which includes a southern, foul-mouthed version of Jesus. Eventually, Dorothy’s mother appears and encourages her to face her fears, wearing warrior boots and summoning a weapon. As for how the battle will turn out, we will have to wait until the next season to find out.
Due to its truncated nature, Doom Patrol season two doesn’t feel as much of a triumph as its predecessor, but there’s more than enough to love here. It’s noticeably shorter than the first season, but it remains one of the craziest and strongest comic book shows out there. Hopefully, it can build from strength to strength in future seasons.
