While it’s true the Doom Patrol has faced the end of the world on several occasions, they’ve never truly been this close to the end of the proverbial road as they are now.
This double-decker midseason return marks the beginning of the most bonkers superhero series’ final arc.
Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 7 sees the resurrection of Immortus, the deity foretold throughout the first half of Doom Patrol Season 4, while Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 8 is the first time our heroes are lauded as such by the town of Cloverton.
Mixed in with all the potentially world-ending antics, we have Rouge and Rita finally coming to terms with their shared history, Larry facing a bleak realization, and Cliff making bad — if well-meaning — choices, as always.
Deric turns out to be natural superhero material, and he and Vic reconnect as they fight to survive Orqwith. Finally, Dorothy brings Casey to Doom Manor, where she can process everything that’s happened since Dorothy brought to life on Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 4.
The Orqwith adventure is a fractured mission with an ambiguous goal that ends in measurable failure.
So, it must be Thursday in Doom Patrol Land, right?
The Doom Patrol is arguably most successful when fighting foes with clear endgames. Monsters seeking world domination. Mad geniuses looking for recognition. Previously vanquished antagonists with an ax to grind. Even zombie were-Butts.
In facing Wally Sage and his Immortus acolytes, they face a cult of faith in the possibilities Immortus will grant them. How does a team that has zero faith in themselves battle that?
Orqwith itself is an imaginary kingdom built purely by Wally’s creative mind. I wonder at the decoy Wally at the Ant Farm that Rita smooshed on Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 6. How long had he been there? Was he as fleshed out in personality as Torminox, or was he just a shadow puppet taking up space?
And it’s neat that the non-team member, Deri,c figures out how to make Orqwith’s rules of engagement work for them. Not that he gets any credit from Cliff or Jane initially.
Deric: Look, we’re all stuck in here now. Maybe instead of picking at each other, we try to be more solution-oriented. Y’know, find a way to get out of here. Who’s got ideas?
Jane: You telling us how to do superhero shit? You fuckin’ Boy Scout.
Cliff: Don’t fuck with our process.
Permalink: Don’t fuck with our process.
Added: October 11, 2023
Because the intra-team relations have always been so fractious, bringing Deric into the adventure provides Vic with a true partner he understands on a fundamental level.
Vic: Come on. You know you want to say it.
Deric: Really?
Vic: Bro. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Deric: Come with us if you want to live.
Larry: I don’t think so.
Permalink: Come with us if you want to live.
Added: October 11, 2023
No matter their age, tech, or emotional baggage, it’s pretty adorbs when geek boys band together.
The key to the mission is to keep Cliff from providing the last of the longevity that Wally needs to resurrect Immortus.
So, of course, what does Cliff decide to do?
Cliff: I know I’m putting my faith in a whole lot of nothing, but I’m doing this for you, Rory.
Rory Mitt: Are you?
Permalink: I know I’m putting my faith in a whole lot of nothing
Added: October 11, 2023
If I’m honest, his choice to surrender his longevity completely keeps with his character and motivations. The second Rory starts seeing into the grocery store’s PA system, Cliff’s longevity is as good as gone.
That he genuinely believes it’s how he’ll get to see his grandson grow up doesn’t fly with the rest of the team as they look to assign blame for their achy bodies and looming mortality.
And, of course, they now have to contend with vain, vacuous Isabel Feathers traipsing around Cloverton with the ability to lay waste to the world if she’s ever triggered to tantrum.
The do-over power Immortus exhibits is a fun — if linear — way to demonstrate how he can offer his followers all possibilities. It’s like a Choose Your Own Adventure book where you can always go back if you pick badly and choose the other option.
Host: So, Isabel, we’re dying to know where have you been all this time?
Isabel/Immortus: Where have I been? I guess you could say I was lost in the fabric of reality, somewhere outside of space and time.
Host: Outside of space and time. I see. And what was that like for you?
Isabel/Immortus: There are no words to accurately describe my experience. I witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations. I stared into the heat death of the universe and heard the answer to the final question. My body was everywhere and nowhere all at once and my screams echoed back to me through the eons like a chorus of haunted memories. The only escape was death and death was revealed to be nothing but an illusion.
Permalink: There are no words to accurately describe my experience. I witnessed the rise and fall of…
Added: October 12, 2023
Why is Rouge immune to Immortus’s resets? Since Immortus addresses her directly, knowing she can deliver the message after the next reset, he knows it, too.
Maybe it’s because she spent so much time in the time machine traveling through time holes like the one she pushed Isabel into. In any case, it gives her a little edge in seeing Isabel for the danger she is.
All the team members have profound moments of clarity in the premiere.
Rita has hers with Vic, where she’s willing to give up her dark intentions towards Isabel and just enjoy being heralded a hero and all the fame and recognition that comes with that.
Cliff’s happens when Dorothy pushes him to admit he doesn’t believe he deserves love.
Your death won’t hurt you nearly as much as it hurts the people who have to live with it.
Dorothy
Permalink: Your death won’t hurt you nearly as much as it hurts the people who have to live with it.
Added: October 12, 2023
Larry finds his with Rama, and Jane finds hers with Casey.
Speaking of Casey, how fascinating is it that she is not only able to help Jane when she’s stuck in the empty Underground but can see the colors of Kay’s puzzle pieces? What does it mean?
And as for Rama, since Larry’s radiation provides the particles he needs to reform, does that mean Larry’s now part of him physically? I’ve shipped them since Rama made his highly suss appearance on Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 3, so I’m all in for them bonding on any level.
Overall, it is an impressive return for the show’s final hurrah. There are several intriguing plot points to explore, promising closure and maybe even happy endings for our misfit super team.
But.
As in, where did Cliff’s zombie Butt go?
Will we see Dr. Yu again? Has the Butt-pocalypse truly been averted?
What about the Sisterhood of Dada? Will they return to help Jane with the Underground? Yes, please.
Those paying attention will note that both the premiere’s first hour and its second ended with Isabel Flowers unleashing her Immortus scream. Will this trend continue, and what will happen to Cloverton this time?
What did you think, Fanatics? Can our team overcome Immortus and their own mortality to pull this win out of their (proverbial) butts?
Hit our comments with your takeaways from the premiere!
