Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Doom Patrol’ Season 4 Part 2 on Max, The Last Hurrah For DC’s Crazy Jane, Elasti-Woman, Robotman, Negative Man, And Cyborg

While it was announced earlier this year that season four of Doom Patrol would be its last, it still took new DC honcho James Gunn chiming in on social media to assure fans that Max would actually broadcast the last season’s final episodes. And those broadcasts are now underway, with a two-episode drop followed by a weekly rollout through to the season and series finale in early November. We’ve heard a lot about sentient, unstable butts this season – aka “were-butts” – and the various kinds of havoc the Doom Patrol team have experienced after meeting their future selves. But highest on their agenda of problems is the coming of a dimensional baddie known as Immortus, and the theft of their superhero essence in order to hasten his return. Doom Patrol, based on the original DC Comics characters and developed by Jeremy Carver, is co-executive produced by frequent DC collaborator Greg Berlanti.     

DOOM PATROL – SEASON 4: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: Rita Farr (April Bowlby) and Laura De Mille (Michelle Gomez), who often argue about leadership of the team and their respective loyalties – Laura, after all, is also a shapeshifting once-supervillain named Madame Rouge – have been detected inside the Ant Farm, home to R&D for the dastardly Bureau of Normalcy. “I know you’re having some kind of dissociative episode right now,” Laura says, “but would you please re-associate and fucking help me? Bendy! Please!” 

The Gist: “Bendy,” because Rita has the ability to become malleable cellular goo. And “Please!” because they don’t want to get caught stealing information about the bureau’s research into Immortus. But they exit safely, with Laura forming into a suitcase and Rita catching a ride, and continue to work out their issues with each other as they attempt to fashion a dimensional doorway. They’ve gotta get to Orqwith, a pocket dimension where things are not as they seem, because that’s where the Doom Patrol’s collective “longevity,” their un-aging juice, is being hoarded by the followers of Immortus. But Rita and Laura better hurry, because inside Orqwith, henchmen known as Scissormen have already captured Doomers Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer is the voice of Larry, while Matthew Zuk portrays the completely bandage-wrapped character), Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero), Cliff Steele (Brendan Fraser voices the cyborg, while his massive physical form is played by Riley Shanahan), Vic Stone (Joivan Wade), and Vic’s best buddy from back home in Detroit, Deric (Elijah R. Reed).

Over the seasons, Doom Patrol has taken its characters to outer space and back, to the past and the future and back to the past, and to numerous other dimensions besides Orqwith. It even turned Jane into a baby. Whatever the scrape, it was usually managed with a combination of putting their superpowers in action, unleashing loads of foul-mouthed invective, and experiencing unexpected outcomes that inspired further personal journeys of discovery. (Jane’s multiple alternate identities cause consternation, while Larry has an entity of pure energy living inside him, eventually known as Keeg.) The members of this team have abilities that at any moment could save anyone and everyone from the forces of evil. But they also have issues and traumas of their own, making the push and pull between superhero stuff and seeking personal stability one of Doom Patrol’s core conflicts.

OK, but what about the butts? This rascally group of cognitively-addled rear ends that think, sing show tunes, and also wantonly murder humans were once in Bureau of Normalcy custody, but the threat that they might escape and multiply is not entirely absent. How could it be? Former BON scientist Dr. Margaret Yu (Keiko Agena) has one living in her apartment that she’s named Nicholas. Whatever happens with Immortus, the were-butts are gonna remain a pain in the Doom Patrol’s ass.  

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Like Doom Patrol, Titans was originally developed for the now deceased VOD platform DC Universe, and even shared characters; at least for now, Titans and all four of its seasons live on at Max. And while the Doomers tend to approach their personal setbacks differently, that superheroes can be as much or even more damaged than regular humans is a central theme of The Boys and its new spinoff Gen V.    

Our Take: Doom Patrol has never been concerned with superheroics in the manner of other shows that feature characters with unique or even impossible abilities. Sure, the world it has built is full of metahumans, ageless wonders, talking animals, singing butts, subconscious landscapes that contain even more enhanced individuals, and even an entire physical street that appears wherever people marginalized by society most need an ally. (See the “Danny Patrol” episode from season one.) But it doesn’t represent all of this stuff with egregious displays of punching power, or elaborate team-ups that escalate to fantastical showdowns and energy powers pushing people like pulsars through the skies. There is some of that. But mostly it’s the supersized conflicts within its characters that has driven Doom Patrol forward, and manifestations of those emotions in the wildest of moments. Now, with the events of this final season, those emotions are bearing down on a set of potentially world-destroying problems that can only be solved with a synthesis of the team’s super stuff and intense searches of their individual souls, which brings us back to the beginning of this wonderfully weird, very personal, and always visually distinct take on superheroing.   

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: As the followers of Immortus attempt their summons, enabled by the theft of the Doom Patrol’s longevity, tipsy Rita and Laura finally get their portal to work. But nothing’s ever right and easy in this show’s universe, and who also arrives in Orqwith but Dorothy Spinner (Abi Monterey). Dorothy brings imaginary friends to life. It’s a power that also works on valiant heroes from the pages of her comic books… 

Sleeper Star: Michelle Gomez (Doctor Who, The Flight Attendant) provided an immediate jolt to the Doom Patrol power dynamic when she joined the cast in season three, and has remained a delight ever since. 

Most Pilot-y Line: At Doom Manor, a brooding Rita just wants to be left alone. She wonders if “Go away!” means something different in Laura’s native Scotland. “Yes! It means stop being a silly old sausage and help me build an interdimensional portal to Orqwith. I found the schematics in Creepy Walt Disney’s doodlings. I also found the parts we need, and a few we don’t, if you know what I mean.” (She means drinks. Lots and lots of drinks.) 

Our Call: STREAM IT, especially if you were one of those fans clamoring for a conclusion worthy of a four season run. The final episodes of Doom Patrol offer closure in a general sense, but also the chance to watch a strong ensemble cast see their characters’ respective journeys through to the end.  

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.