Doom Patrol continues to be the weirdest comic book show on television today with its third season. However, sometimes it can seem like the show is spinning its wheels, treading the same worn paths while still keeping things entertaining. The third season switches it up as major character ‘Chief’ Niles Caulder (Timothy Dalton) bows out of the show and newcomer Laura De Mille (aka Madam Rouge, played by the very capable Michelle Gomez) fits right in with the rest of the team.
The new season picks up where the previous one left off, resolving the plot thread with Dorothy (Abi Winterey) and the Candlemaker. As the team deals with the death of Niles Caulder, they also have to deal with their own problems, such as Cliff (Brendan Fraser) showing early signs of Parkinson’s disease and Larry (Matt Bomer) traveling to space and his energy being leaving him. Jane (Diane Guerrero) is also trying to adjust to a changing Kay and her place in the underground, Rita (April Bowlby) struggles with the weight of the task Niles gave her to do, and Cyborg (Joivan Wade) finds himself questioning his purpose. And then things get even more weird as Laura De Mille shows up, temporarily amnesiac, and tasks the team with finding out more about the Sisterhood of Dada.
The weakest part of the third season is probably the first episode that wraps up the season two plot. The urgency of the story has been robbed, and the resolution feels muted rather than earned. The season soon recovers, however, with a standout second episode that focuses on a villain named Garguax who was sent to a resort decades ago to eliminate one member of Doom Patrol. However, in the years since then, he has resigned himself to his fate and just sticks to his daily routine.
The season explores plenty of weirdness, such as a trip to the afterlife, the team becoming zombies and another encounter with a horde of vampire butts from season one. The main through-line of this season, though, is Rita’s trip to the past where she finds and becomes a part of the Sisterhood of Dada and meets Laura, who’s a secret supporter of the Sisterhood until she is forced to pick sides between them and the Bureau of Normalcy, where she works.
As good as the third season is, it doesn’t work as well for some characters as it does for others.
Cliff gets a good character arc that sends him in a new direction. However, Larry’s story feels like a detour from his journey of seeking self-acceptance in the previous seasons. Cyborg’s story, which deals with elements of racism, is sometimes meaningful but at other times it feels tacked on. Also, an important event only referred to as the Eternal Flagellation is built up through most of the season, but it culminates in a mostly personal story that glosses over the event’s effects on the rest of the world. The finale also resolves things almost too neatly, though it is fun throughout its runtime.
The Brotherhood of Evil, which Garguax belongs to, is both sinister and incompetent. The Brain, for instance, ends up only aspiring to get a new body and have a ball of a time in his retirement community of Boca Raton. Mallah is a gruff, disillusioned talking gorilla who eventually decides to go his own way. Madam Rouge, on the other hand, doesn’t really feel evil for most of the season, and the parts where she is forced to act evil feel incongruent with her portrayal in the rest of the season.
Regardless, Doom Patrol continues to be delightfully weird and entertaining. It has already been renewed for a fourth season. Let’s hope it doesn’t get too complacent and explores new territories in the next season.
