What I’m Watching: Doom Patrol

Doom Patrol: Season 3, Episode 5 “Dada Patrol” (B+)

There’s something cyclical about these characters constantly coming face-to-face with their demons, but that’s also part of what’s most appealing, the psychological confrontation of their worst fears over and over again. What’s hard to keep track of is whether they’re encountering something real or imagined, like Larry running into his adult son who fired a gun at him before Larry spirited him to safety. Cliff speaking Japanese was a neat trick, one that made him very happy, and he was also aware that he was high to a degree and therefore might not be experiencing things exactly as they were, as evidenced by his eagerness to hug someone encased in a protective glass case. Vic’s refusal to answer the question being asked by him showed how much he didn’t like having his existence questioned, and that constituted one of the most intriguing plotlines of the episode. Facing the eternal flagellation was of course a typically peculiar topic, one that almost seemed irrelevant since it just put all of the characters into their mind-bending introspective spaces. Rita spending considerable time with Madame Rouge was a delight, and I continue to believe that the two of them are so similar that they are very well may be the same person. Rita’s excitement at being a time traveler was palpable, though I still don’t think I’ll ever be able to decipher the timeline of when and if that’s going to happen, or if it’s something that’s already happened or is happening right now in the world of the show.