REVIEW: Doom Patrol – Season 4, Episode 6, “Hope Patrol”

"I hate to break it to you, but if people want to love you, there isn't really anything you can do to stop them."

Television Reviews

We’re six episodes into Doom Patrol season 4, and we’ve arrived at the midseason finale. While the fate of a potential season 5 and beyond is still in question under DC and Warner Bros.’s new leadership, I hope this season continues to satisfy. Let’s dig in.

*SPOILERS*

In “Hope Patrol,” Jane and Cliff are back to normal in Doom Manor. Vic’s friend Derek drives him home. Jane refuses to lie down and die and tells the other personalities as much. Rita just wants to go home, but Laura gives her a pep talk to start the mission against Immortus. She finally offers to let Rita lead the mission, and this ultimately wins her over. Larry finds himself in a pocket dimension with Rama. Here, Rama explains that Immortus represents hope to his followers, and their goal is to remove the Patrol’s immortality. Jane visits Shelley to profess her feelings but panics and leaves. Larry returns to the Manor, but as he’s explaining Rama’s presence, Keeg pushes him back into the pocket dimension. Rita and Laura break into the Bureau’s Ant Farm and seek Wally, one of the assets Laura trapped there. At the Manor, Derek and Vic go through the portal to the pocket dimension. Willoughby shows up at the Manor and warns Jane and Cliff of the strength of the agents of Immortus. Stubborn as ever, they ignore him and head off to fight them anyway. Rita thinks she crushed Wally to death, but he confronts Jane and Cliff in the alternate dimension. Larry allows Immortus to drain his immortality because it’s what Keeg wants. Cliff left the freezer cracked, so the zombie butt he’s been saving awakens and goes on the rampage.

I feel a little silly for wondering what Bembury had done to Jane at the end of “Youth Patrol.” Rita’s whole ordeal in the last couple of episodes has involved her emotions being exploited to extract her immortality for Immortus. I guess, for whatever reason, it just didn’t occur to me that Bembury would be doing the exact same thing to Jane to prevent Immortus from getting to her first. Not like it did any good in light of Willoughby’s condition at the end of “Hope Patrol.” Although the episode has “hope” in the title, all of the main characters question whether they’re worthy of love. Larry is taken aback to learn that Keeg just wants to stay with him forever, and Jane tries to reject Cliff’s affection. She won’t let her guard down with Shelley even though they both clearly care about each other. I really liked the scene where Cliff removes his oven mitt to feel Jane’s hand. This was sweet, and I genuinely didn’t expect it. Doom Patrol excels at taking something ridiculous, like Cliff refusing to feel anything, and turning it into something sweet. He also refuses to feel anything emotionally, which is why his profession of familial love for Jane is such a big deal. And, of course, Laura is the most obvious case, as she is literally faced with the results of her actions. I love Michelle Gomez’s performance as Laura, and she’s a lot of fun, but it’s undeniable she’s the worst person among the group.

While Jane and Larry grapple with the possibility of romantic love and Cliff worries about familial love, Vic is presented with the opportunity to review a lost friendship. I appreciate that Derek takes some responsibility this time, rather than just blaming Vic, as he did previously. It’s very annoying when people play the victim, and communication is a two-way street. I’ve never understood how some people get upset that someone never contacted them when they possess the exact same opportunity to do so. Vic was also dealing with trauma like his school friends couldn’t even imagine, and before “Hope Patrol,” none of them were very understanding about it. One of my favorite parts of “Hope Patrol” is seeing these two bond and the parallels they draw to Dungeons and Dragons in the pocket dimension. I hate to keep calling it that, but I can’t remember the intentionally-absurd name they give it.

Rita is more in the background this week, but I’m okay with that. She’s become one of my favorites, but she got a lot of focus in the last few episodes, and it’s nice to spend so much time with Laura. She’s the most morally gray in the bunch, but that makes her so interesting. I almost forgot about Wally, as they only showed him briefly in the Sisterhood of Dada section of season 3. Obviously, what Laura and the Bureau did to him was despicable and unforgivable, but it’s hard to sympathize with him under the circumstances. Being wronged by others doesn’t excuse helping a demon(?) rise to power and destroy the world. I felt much worse for Rita, Malcolm, and the Sisterhood of Dada than I do for Wally. I guess the point isn’t really to sympathize with him, but I still question introducing such a sad backstory for such a one-note character. Of course, he could factor into the season’s second half or future seasons. But at least for now, I’m puzzled by his purpose in the story. He and Rama are two followers of Immortus with ties to members of Doom Patrol, and this could be used to help overthrow Immortus.

“Hope Patrol” is funny, sweet, and a ton of fun. Most of the major characters make headway in their arcs here, and all the hallmarks of a great Doom Patrol episode are present. If I had to make one complaint, it would be that I don’t know how to feel about Wally. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a problem, but he’s a minor character playing a major part in the culmination of this season. I can’t wait for season 4, part 2, and when it rolls around, I hope we learn more about him.