Sunday, September 26, 2021

My Review of Doom Patrol's 3x03: "Dead Patrol"

 


Written by Jeremy Carver And Steve Yockey
Directed by Christopher Manley

Larry: "Well, um, we hope you find what you're looking for."
Edwin: "That was patently for all of us. Subtlety is really not your strong suit."

Did someone say the words "backdoor pilot" and "rumoured spin-off"? Even if you didn't, that's exactly what this episode was clearly aiming for. After all, this show itself started in a similar manner on Titans, so why not the same for the Dead Boy Detectives?

This week, Larry got the delivery of his friends corpses and while he was in despair, Dorothy (who also came back pretty quickly) got Danny the Ambulance to summon some supernatural detectives in order to bring their friends back to the land of the living. Needless to say, this turned out to be a rather successful endeavor all round.

The detectives in question included ghosts Edwin Paine (Ty Tennant) and Charles Rowland (Sebastian Croft) along with their medium friend, Crystal Palace (Madalyn Horcher) to use Larry in order to retrieve everyone else from the afterlife. Whilst there, we learned what happened to both boys and for some reason, Rita was the only one not to get an afterlife of sorts.

The rest of them of course did. Cliff chewed the fat with his Pegasus killing father, while Victor talked about being a hero with his mother and Jane and Kay reconnected with the latter's grandmother. All of them were lovely scenes but the world of the living wasn't done with our brand of misfits and even a creepy spider lady (Ruth Connell) couldn't keep them trapped in the afterlife or the Dead Boy Detectives that she clearly has unfinished business.

Back home though, this episode ended up giving us another departure for Dorothy. She had a lovely scene where she connected with Crystal and decided to go on her own mission with the Dead Boy Detectives. Not to worry though, this episode only gave Dorothy a temporary exit, so she'll no doubt be back before the finale, if not sooner. 

As for Madame Rouge, she finally made it to the manor. She even offered to make everyone a cup of tea but seemed less keen on answering Jane's questions about who she was. Three episodes in and Michelle Gomez feels like a natural fit for the show. I can't wait to see what the show has in store for the character.

- Larry quickly picked up on the fact that Edwin has feelings for Charles. Edwin died in 1916 and Charles in 1981.
- Crystal told Dorothy about a demon named possessing her and removing her memories of her parents. Dorothy also tried to use a chocolate bar to reach out to Niles from beyond.
- Apparently we were introduced to the Sisterhood of Dada this episode and who was that man trying to help Rita?
- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Dead Patrol offered a slightly different but also interesting take on the afterlife and further proved that this show is clearly set on a different Earth compared to Titans. It served as a strong introduction to the Dead Boy Detectives, who no doubt we'll be seeing again very soon.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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