REVIEW: Doom Patrol Season 4, Episode 2, “Butt Patrol”

Television Reviews

Season 4 is off to a good start with the aptly titled “Doom Patrol,” but can it maintain the momentum? Let’s have a look at the second half of the season premiere. 

*SPOILERS*

“Butt Patrol” opens with a flashback to 2016, when a man is savagely taken down by the butts in a lab. In the present, the Patrol takes a vote to replace Rita as their leader. Shockingly, Madame Rouge wins. She sends Cliff on a secret mission to kill Darren Jones. A flashback to 2017 shows that the Bureau of Normalcy was dead-set on weaponizing the butts. Cliff and Rouge find Darren, and Cliff takes him down. Jane and Vic meet with the Butt Hunter (formerly Beard Hunter) to obtain the zombie butt. Back at Doom Manor, Cliff struggles to kill the final butt. In the present day, we catch up with Dr. Yuh, a doctor who worked with the butts. She has Nicholas, one of the butts, living with her. 

One of the threads I neglected to mention in my “Doom Patrol” review is Keeg’s apparent anger with Larry. Future Keeg conveyed something to his younger self that has created a rift between him and Larry. Larry’s relationship with Keeg is relatively new, the latter only having replaced the first negative spirit at the end of season 3. I can only imagine what future Keeg said, but future Larry looked forlorn and like he had given up entirely. I wonder if it wasn’t anything bad about Larry but something about Keeg or the future itself? This is carries into “Butt Patrol” as Keeg still won’t communicate with Larry. It smacks of irony as Larry usually won’t open up, as seen with his family, former lover, and the previous negative spirit. 

There’s a hint of darker things to come as Cliff accidentally feels Darren Jones’ crushed zombie brains. His wish for his grandson to be the first thing he touches with his new hand is irrelevant now. I sensed that the show (or maybe Cliff) blames Rouge for this, but I don’t recall her removing his protective oven mitt. Even when she needed to retrieve something from the oven, she had Cliff do it with glove in hand. Despite these undertones, the sequences involving these two and their secret mission are delightful. The surreal lighting and wacky humor contrast with Larry’s Keeg drama and Rita’s breakdown. I especially enjoyed Cliff’s conversation with the now-zombified Darren. Fraser really nails the realization that he can still understand zombies, and it’s just a hilarious exchange. Rouge’s ruthlessness can be pretty entertaining, too, as evidenced when she yanks Cliff’s protective helmet off, allowing Darren to smell his brain. Speaking of Darren, the way he talks about being a zombie and resisting the temptation of brains killed me. He sounds like a traditional purity-touting Christian, and it’s hilarious. This whole setup and scene are excellent. 

Another aspect of “Doom Patrol” I forgot to mention was Vic’s identity crisis. A lot was going on in that episode, but luckily most of it picks up here, so we can talk about it now. As usual, Vic is conflicted about his newly-found lack of tech. He’s relegated to making sure missions go smoothly from the background rather than getting in on the action. And while it pains me to say it, super-powered Vic was probably the top choice for team leader. I don’t want to say that because I like Rita’s character and thought she would be a great leader. But the show has surprised me again; she doesn’t inspire confidence in her comrades, Larry turned on her, and apparently, her rule led to the butt-pocalypse. Oof. I’ll come back to this. Anyway, future Vic gives our Vic a lot to think about. Joivan Wade is awesome as his older self, deepening his voice and moving and looking like the weight of the world has crashed down on him. The main thing that stuck out to me was his remark that our Vic isn’t ready to hear what he needed to tell him. He isn’t in the right headspace to accept such a revelation. The clear possibility would involve his cybernetic upgrades; maybe he should have kept them and continued being a hero. But I don’t think Doom Patrol would be so obvious. I don’t think Victor giving up his enhancements leads to the apocalypse. I’m curious to see where this thread leads, to say the least. 

I really feel bad for Rita. I love this character; she’s sweet, tragic, and endlessly endearing. I love April Bowlby’s accent for the character and the nervous way she moves. She shares a code name with my favorite female character of all time (who stole it from the Doom Patrol character in the comics.) That neither diminishes nor enhances my appreciation for her. Rita can be a little narcissistic, but it’s easy to feel for a character filled with so much self-hatred and existential dread. I can’t help but look at the TV and whisper, “Girl, same.” It hurts to see that she can’t take charge and lead the team to victory like I had assumed she could. The show observes over and over that she fails at everything. She deserves to be great at something, and I can’t wait to find out what that is. Larry even votes to dethrone Rita, which had to hurt the most; they’ve been the two closest friends among the group. They get along better than Cliff and Jane a lot of the time, give or take one of Jane’s alternate personalities. 

That leaves us with Dr. Yuh, perhaps the only person to find the butts “beautiful.” As ridiculous as her penchant for them is, it’s strangely heartwarming too. This is classic Doom Patrol, making fun of this woman’s empathy for the man-eating butts, only to force us to sympathize with her in the end. She is the only one who suggests the butts don’t have to be weapons, and the final scene where we see Nicholas living with her is weirdly touching. This show is so bizarre in all the best ways. 

“Butt Patrol” is pretty good. It’s funnier than its predecessor and follows the threads introduced well enough. The episode mostly hints at bigger things to come, which I can’t wait to see.