What I’m Watching: Doom Patrol

Doom Patrol: Season 1, Episode 8 “Danny Patrol” (B)

I’ll admit to genuinely having no idea how the timeline works on this show and how these characters don’t age after decades, but that doesn’t make it any less intriguing. Only on this show could something like Danny the Street exist. I did think that it was Mr. Nobody messing with him because of the way that Danny communicated via words written throughout the street, but it became clear by the end that this is just another reality-manipulating entity that is deathly afraid, as most are, of this major enemy. That said, the biggest threat to the members of the Doom Patrol comes from within, as the volatile nature of their personalities and powers works against them at nearly every turn. Fresh from his rat infestation, only Cliff remained clearheaded and managed to avert Karen’s hypnotic gaze in this hour, as Rita tried to talk her down from her lovestruck psycho persona, as she put it, before eventually falling prey to it herself. Karen has definitely been suppressed now, but that blank look on Jane’s face was a haunting way to end the episode. I love that Cliff danced the robot with a kid dressed like him who didn’t know who Jennifer Beals was, and Larry’s karaoke performance was pretty superb too. It was nice to see him open up and celebrate what Danny can mean, though that imagined song wasn’t the actual moment of clarity for him. I doubt we’ll visit Danny again, but what a wild and weird experience it was.