Once More With Feeling
One of the best things about Doom Patrol is its ability to constantly subvert expectations and deliver some crazy plot ideas in the process. Doom Patrol’s latest episode is no exception. We begin with a solitary agent going in search of a strange sentient being called Danny. It turns out this gender-queer, teleporting street is being hunted by the Bureau of Normalcy. Once he arrives at the street, all is not what it seems and after disappearing, the rest of the agents show up only to find a blank lot where the street once was. Meanwhile, back at Doom Manor Cliff wakes up, recapping the events that occurred last time out with Admiral Whiskers. Having left the Manor and reverted back to one of her old personas, Jane (now going under the guise of Karen) goes in search of her lost lover Doug, leaving Cliff and Rita to follow after her. Once they arrive, Cliff is told to wait outside where he befriends a young boy dressed as a robot while Rita tries to diffuse the situation. It turns out Jane’s persona has powers of her own, quickly putting a love spell on both Doug and his family in order to marry him. Pleading for help from Niles, Danny reaches out to Doom Manor but receives Larry and Cyborg instead. Once they arrive they’re surprised to see the agent dressed as a drag queen and embracing the weirdness of the street. After a heated discussion over the best way to proceed, Larry and Cyborg go their separate ways, with Larry heading to the karaoke bar to think things through. Unfortunately for him, singing is a required entry fee and after being handed a microphone, the episode explodes into a flurry of singing, dancing and colour. Sadly, this was all an illusion and after rejecting the offer to sing, Larry, Cyborg and the agent stand their ground as the Bureau show up. A short skirmish ensues before Larry reminds them who he is and that the street is off limits. As the agents scurry away with their tails tucked between their legs, Danny teleports Larry and Cyborg back to Doom Manor. Having successfully worked together to free Jane from Karen’s maniacal grip, we end the episode with Karen falling into her proverbial personality void, leaving Jane an empty shell. The screen then fades to black and we leave Doom Patrol for another week with a cliffhanger ending and many questions still hanging over the show. While the episode itself isn’t quite as intense or action packed as some of the other episodes in the series, the unpredictability factor remains at an all time high. The dancing number works really well too, and the pacing is once again on-point for the entire run time. Now that we’re halfway through the season, Doom Patrol has impressively managed to keep up the excellent work it begun with and it’ll be interesting to see whether it can carry this on in the second half of its run.
