Review: Doom Patrol get lost in the fog in “Dada Patrol”
Only beginning to learn of her past, Laura De Mille sends the Doom Patrol out to infiltrate the Sisterhood of Dada. However, the only thing they end up infiltrating is themselves as have a series of introspective talks with a cast of strange strangers, people that come and go in the grey mist of The Fog.
One thing I like about this episode right off the bat is that it’s pretty quick with establishing the story. The first act is snappy, but not rushed, and funny. We see Cliff’s starting his medication, (and taking more than the prescribed amount). Vic and his father seemed to have made amends since last week, although there may still be things unresolved there. Larry’s new lump, seen last episode protruding from his stomach, is now getting a better feel for the rest of him. And Kay is trying to become independent of the Underground. Jane is supportive, but the rest of her selves aren’t so sure.
“Dada Patrol” is able to convey all of that in a concise 10 minutes, which is basically a large paragraph so far as one-hour dramas go. With all of that set up, the episode leaves itself a lot of room to play, and it plans on putting it to good use.
The Doom Patrol goes into the woods
Out on their mission, the Doom Patrol gets lost in a mysterious and thick wood. The poor bastards can’t stick together for more than a minute before getting completely separated, wandering off on different paths. Cliff, who at this point is completely tripping balls from too many pills, follows his hallucinations to an ice cream truck. Hungry, he opens the back door for an ice cream cone and gets sucked through a portal where he talks with a woman inside a glass box. He speaks a bit of Japanese and opens up about his fear of dying (permanently).
This side story I found particularly interesting, if only because the episode established that Cliff is not a reliable narrator on account of his medication. It leaves it ambiguous whether the things he is experiencing are real, a result of the pills, or of The Fog.
Every member of the Doom Patrol meets some character like this, but none more important than Byron Shelley, aka The Fog, the person creating this spooky mist they’re all trapped in. She meets Jane inside a candy store that gave me Hansel and Gretel vibes. I enjoy allusions to old fables; it lends the episode a cool aesthetic.
That said, the actual interaction between these two is wanting. Their conversation plays out like an abstract therapy session, so abstract that it starts to annoy me; the dialogue is overdoing it. Things shake up towards the end, but the dynamic with Jane here doesn’t work for me.
Vic has a similar path, having a “Who are you, really?” sort of conversation with Frenzy. All the characters go through stories like this. It starts to get boring hearing the same “spiritual advisor” dialogue over and over, just from different characters. Even Rita, who stays behind getting plastered with Laura De Mille, gets introspective, although because these two are drunk it’s funnier.
Things pick up towards the end, but ultimately the episode is a bit on the boring side. I’m not usually the one demanding more action, but it would have been nice if there was something physical. A chase, a fight, a trippy montage, anything.
Grade: C+
Next. Doom Patrol gets bit in the ass, bites right back in “Undead Patrol”. dark
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