I know that paying for another streaming service is a pain and you really don’t know if it’s worth it. But I have to say that Doom Patrol has been a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed the Titans series but wasn’t too sure about the spinoff. The episode of the Titans which introduced these characters wasn’t the best of the series and I never really got into the comics. I really liked the casting of Matt Boomer as Larry Trainor aka Negative Man… I’m a huge White Collar fan… as well as Brendan Fraser as Cliff Steel aka Robotman and Timothy Dalton as Niles Caulder aka Chief. Throw in Alan Tudyk as Eric Morden aka Mr. Nobody and you have a cast I’d watch in just about anything.
While the first three episode of the series focused on the disappearance of Chief and the introduction of Mr. Nobody, episode four takes us on a two-part side journey into the world of Willoughby Kipling (Mark Sheppard) and his battles with a nihilistic cult bent on reading the unwritten book and ending the world. When you watch the episode, you will probably say to yourself, “Kipling is just a stand in for John Constantine.” And you’d be absolutely right. For those who haven’t read the comics, you’ll know this character wasn’t made up by the TV writers because they couldn’t get Matt Ryan to swing by from Legends of Tomorrow… because lets be honest, Ryan will play Constantine in just about anything given the chance… this harkens back to Grant Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol in the comics where Constantine was off limits to him, so he made Kipling to fill in. Hence the similarities.
The episode is good in that it’s starting to bring the team together and give them a reason to be heroes. The first arc was about them looking for Chief, but here they are stepping up to make a difference for a young boy and the world. Rita (April Bowlby) who has been the most reluctant gets a heroic moment and we continue to explore the relationship between Larry and the thing inside of him. We also get to explore the relationship between Cliff and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero) which is taking some strange turns.
Doom Patrol is one of the most unique series from DC and it stands out for its quirkiness and its tragic heroes. Batman’s parents were murdered, but he had Alfred and his family’s wealth. Superman’s planet exploded, but he was raised by loving adopted parents on a new planet. Both have tragic beginnings but still blend in with society. The characters in this series lost everything, some at their own hands, and are left as outcasts with nothing but each other. They can’t blend in with the world, yet their still willing to try and save it.
While the first three episode of the series focused on the disappearance of Chief and the introduction of Mr. Nobody, episode four takes us on a two-part side journey into the world of Willoughby Kipling (Mark Sheppard) and his battles with a nihilistic cult bent on reading the unwritten book and ending the world. When you watch the episode, you will probably say to yourself, “Kipling is just a stand in for John Constantine.” And you’d be absolutely right. For those who haven’t read the comics, you’ll know this character wasn’t made up by the TV writers because they couldn’t get Matt Ryan to swing by from Legends of Tomorrow… because lets be honest, Ryan will play Constantine in just about anything given the chance… this harkens back to Grant Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol in the comics where Constantine was off limits to him, so he made Kipling to fill in. Hence the similarities.
The episode is good in that it’s starting to bring the team together and give them a reason to be heroes. The first arc was about them looking for Chief, but here they are stepping up to make a difference for a young boy and the world. Rita (April Bowlby) who has been the most reluctant gets a heroic moment and we continue to explore the relationship between Larry and the thing inside of him. We also get to explore the relationship between Cliff and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero) which is taking some strange turns.
Doom Patrol is one of the most unique series from DC and it stands out for its quirkiness and its tragic heroes. Batman’s parents were murdered, but he had Alfred and his family’s wealth. Superman’s planet exploded, but he was raised by loving adopted parents on a new planet. Both have tragic beginnings but still blend in with society. The characters in this series lost everything, some at their own hands, and are left as outcasts with nothing but each other. They can’t blend in with the world, yet their still willing to try and save it.