The Finale
Following 14 episodes of weird, wacky superhero action, Doom Patrol returns for one final curtain call, as our heroes band together to fight off the final threat and save the world. We pick up where we left off from before, with Niles coming to terms with being responsible for the Doom Patrol’s current predicament. From here, the first part of the episode deals with the background for each of our main characters, with Larry, Rita, Jane, Vic and Cliff all recapped through the eyes of Niles Calder as he slowly begins to realize what he’s done over the years, causing them unimaginable loss and pain. Tinged with regret, Niles eventually reaches breaking point with Cyborg’s creation and vows never to do this again. While we catch a glimpse of our characters’ background, we also see their present-future selves all getting by in life as best they can. Rita is teaching acting classes at a school, Larry is harmonized with the negative spirit inside him, Jane quietens the Underground through an experimental serum while Cliff looks out for Jane by delivering food to her. Thanks to the wise words of Chumbawumba, the Doom Patrol are drawn together again by Niles to try and rescue Danny whose been captured by Mr Nobody. To make matters worse, Mr Nobody has called on the help of Mr Whiskers, the revenge-lusting rat from episodes past and our doomsday-preaching cockroach, Ezekiel. As our heroes enter a painting in the living room, they make it to the street where they find both rodents are now gigantic and terrorizing the street. As cars burn and the ground shakes, they’re drawn to the karaoke bar where they find Beard Hunter who, as it turns out, is to blame for Danny being under attack thanks to selling out the street in exchange for delicious beard hair. We then enter the final act where, admittedly, the episode falls a bit flat. Cliff is eaten by Mr Whiskers while the others band together to stop the pests from destroying Danny forever. Jane heads down to the basement to save Niles’ daughter while Larry and Cyborg work together to try and stop the two giant rodents. However, Mr. Whiskers and Ezekiel find their purposes changed as Mr Nobody narrates their journeys and makes them fall in love with one another. Cliff heads up the rat’s throat to escape but finds both pests kissing and falls into the cockroach instead. As their old reality is destroyed, thanks to Mr Nobody’s narration, our antagonists find themselves trapped in a painting after forgetting to narrate their own journey while Larry deals with the others being shrunk which is where we leave the episode. I’ve said it before but Doom Patrol really has been a breath of fresh air in the superhero world. While the ending is admittedly weak, lacking a big climactic fight to close things out on a high, there’s just enough here to keep things suitably weird and off-beat to match the tone of the show. Having said that, if there was one episode that was crying out for some one-on-one action, it’s certainly the finale. We’ve had 14 episodes of our heroes overcoming their personal demons and to see their final battle come down to saving Niles’ daughter and destroying both the cockroach and rat feels a little anticlimactic. Still, given the great work done here over the past 4 months or so, I wouldn’t be surprised if Doom Patrol is renewed for a second season. The show has been thoroughly enjoyable with some real stand-out episodes over the weeks. While the finale isn’t one of them, there’s enough here to give some closure to our characters while leaving things wide open for another season to follow-up. It’s not perfect, but it was always going to be difficult closing out this show in a satisfying manner given the high bar this one’s set for itself over the months.
