Review: Doom Patrol Season 2, Episode 1, “Fun Size Patrol”

Doom Patrol returns for its second season with “Fun Size Patrol.” Show is still weird, still funny, still brutal, still great.

After an outstanding first season, the show that has been carrying the DC streaming service is finally back for a second round. The Doom Patrol are back and they’re, uhh… smaller than ever?

Having escaped the painting and defeated Mr. Nobody, Cliff (Brendan Fraser/Riley Shanahan), Jane, (Diane Guerrero), Rita (April Bowlby), Victor (Jovian Wade), Chief (Timothy Dalton) and his daughter Dorothy (Abigail Shapiro) are trapped as doll-sized versions of themselves living in Cliff’s figurine town. Only Larry (Matt Bomer) remains his normal height, and he’s left to care for them while they try to find a way to get back to normal size.

The series feels the same as ever throughout this opening episode. There are still flashbacks for each character as they continue to struggle with the same phycological problems that plagued them before they got their powers. This was the crucial aspect of season 1 that made the show so great. The characters have superpowers but remain grounded and relatable. From Cliff’s regret for causing the tragic accident that killed his family to Rita’s struggle to find herself beyond her acting career, each character is flawed in understandable ways. We have a broken family of broken people trying to discover who they are, and the still-fresh news that the Chief was responsible for many of the events that led to the accidents that gave them their powers only complicates things. The show can be bonkers with its ludicrous plotlines, cursing, and fourth wall scaling, but it has an exceptional grasp of on the reality of mental illness.

Since many of the characters are in full costume during scenes in the present, the flashbacks allow the actors to explore their characters in more depth. Brendan Fraser does a tremendous job as pre-Robotman Cliff Steele, although he still kills it in the present even without facial expressions. Matt Bomer, as always, has excellent screen presence, and does a great job as a younger Larry. It’s great to see April Bowlby get a truly dynamic role as Rita Farr. She does a wonderful job here as a Golden Age actress whose career was derailed by a terrible accident and now lives as a part-time superhero 80 years later.

The newest addition to the team seems to be the focus of this season’s plot. Dorothy is the Chief’s daughter, and like the rest of the Doom Patrol, she’s a bit quirky. If her half-human, half-ape face doesn’t convince you of that, maybe her ability to bring her imaginary (and very deadly) friends into existence will.

The opening scene of the season finds Dorothy locked away in a cage being shown at a circus. That is, until one of her imaginary friends comes to life and slaughters everyone there. The episode teases Dorothy’s friends throughout, and while we don’t know everything, we know that she has some relation to a strange booming voice that sounds on the night of the circus massacre. When Dorothy gets weaker, and owner of the dark voice gets closer to being unleashed.

Still weird, still funny, still brutal and still a heck of a show, this season is posed to live up to the standards of the first one.

Grade: A-

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