Doom Patrol Season One Discussion: Cockroach Love

[Catfi9ht]

I hadn't watched last week's episode yet so I watched them both back to back and they were just meh for me. 

There were some really odd choices.

• Why was the general in charge of the bureau an idiot with no payoff?
• I feel like they should have spent an episode on the bureau's backstory. It seemed like there was alot of potential there especially with learning about the operators or some of the prisoners.
• I felt like there should have been a scene between Rita meeting Ed Asner and then feeling comfortable enough to tell him her lifestory. It seemed really disjointed. I wasn't invested in it, and we've heard much worse stories from Rita about her past.
• They didn't really explain why Flex could hear Grid and the Negative Spirit. It seemed out of character with his flexing ability. I don't remember him having that ability from the comics either.
• The show's dates don't make sense. Rita's character is from the 50s. She says she saw Flex Mentallo ads all the time when she was a kid, but this last episode's date is listed as 1964. 
• I realize Larry's scene about releasing the Negative spirit was supposed to be self-sacrificing, but it came across as selfish to me. Sure, Larry. Take the easy way out like usual.
• They introduce Karen as 90s rom com obsessed, but the song that triggers her is Tracy Ullman's "They Don't Know" which is from 1983. Maybe it's heavily used in a 90s rom com that I'm unfamiliar with?

Overall, though this show is still really good. I love how strange and funny it is. Alan Tudyk is the best part of the show. He has so few scenes, but they're usually the best ones of each episode. I also really enjoy Crazy Jane and Cliff. I can't believe it's a completely different actor in the robot suit from Brendan Fraser's voice work. It's so well matched that I thought it was Fraser acting the part as well.

Finally, I went down a YouTube hole the other night and came across this interview with Fraser. He comes across as the nicest person.

Two more episodes. I'm curious as to how they'll wrap things up.

[Linderhill]

On 5/3/2019 at 10:41 PM, cdnalor said:

Good Lord, this show is weird.  I wonder if we'll ever get the backstory of the rampaging butts?

exactly!  I totally want to know that backstory!

[tennisgurl]

I could watch Mr. Nobody break the fourth wall all day and be totally satisfied. "Finally, a superhero team I can work with!" So has he been manipulating things so that the Doom Patrol is dealing with their crap and are moving forward as people, so that he can better enjoy defeating them? 

I can see why Rita feels guilt, but I thought her secret would be a lot worse, honestly. That would certainly make her feel bad in retrospect, but its not like she stabbed a baby or something. 

Flex seems like an interesting character, although what happened to him and his wife is super messed up. Those Normalcy people really are just the worst. I guess being a cartoon character come to life means he never ages either? Or wears a shirt or pants? 

Loved the brief clip of pre robot Cliff as himself in that awful soap in the 80s, and how proud he was of his cameo, despite it being objectively awful. "There was buzz for a guest star Emmy."

Glad that Silas is still alive. 

[MarkHB]

On 5/11/2019 at 2:04 PM, Catfi9ht said:

They introduce Karen as 90s rom com obsessed, but the song that triggers her is Tracy Ullman's "They Don't Know" which is from 1983. Maybe it's heavily used in a 90s rom com that I'm unfamiliar with?

Watch the video; Karen's character is exactly Tracey's, right down to the hairdo, and the song itself is a 3-minute romcom summary.

[Lady Calypso]

That was certainly a penultimate episode. I had a feeling that Mr. Nobody was tricking them around the time that the giant robot first showed up. 

Still, what a great reveal and an intense ending. I pretty much figured it out when Niles realized what Mr. Nobody wanted him to do. But damn if that wasn't hard to find out, especially for Vic, who just turned away his father for not trusting him. 

Speaking of, poor Vic. He had to find out that his father was lying about his mother's death being a choice by him. I hope Vic can find a way to deal with this information, especially now that he knows that Niles was behind the event. 

Nice to see one of Jane's lesser visited alters come out in the White Space to analyze Mr. Nobody. It did seem to throw him off, as did Rita's narration technique. 

The scene where Flex is trying to use his power to send the Doom Patrol to the White Space but accidentally arousing them, except for Cliff, of course, was unexpected and hilarious. Cliff confused at first and then faking it was even funnier. 

I did get a good laugh out of Larry explaining about Danny. At this point, it's the least weird thing they've come across.

[tennisgurl]

I knew that was WAY too easy, especially for a penultimate episode, but that was still a really intense ending, especially with the big revelation at the end. I figured something was up as soon as they showed the team running up the hill and they saw the giant robot from the start. Not only is the robot exactly the same robot (just giant sized), but it was shot very similar to when Mr. Nobody crushed the OG Doom Patrol. They even had similar uniforms! And of course they played the song at the end, it really all came together really well and was both darkly funny and creepy. 

Poor Vic, finding out his dad was lying, and now that Niles has been lying to everyone and manipulating things all along. I hope that he and his dad make up though, I do think Silas meant well and was trying to do what he thought was best. 

Loved Rita starting her own narration, and it actually working, and the general meta aspects of the episode, like the white space being the literal white spaces in a comic book. It really is rather poetic as a comic book adaptation. 

Mr. Nobody did seem to be shaken by Rita stealing his narration, and Jane's therapist identity showing up to evaluate Nobody, and everyone else kind of piling on him for his basic motivations for evil. It didnt end well, but it shows that he isnt all powerful and all knowing.  

Well, shit. What the hell has the chief been up to? What is his grand plan to make all these people like they are, and how did he do this? Does it all go back to his ancient cave-women girlfriend? 

[MarkHB]

The composer has posted a dozen or so tracks from the show on his site. I got the news from a mod in the DCU Community section so it's all legit and no one has to get squashed by a robot.

[MarkHB]

Just for posterity...

S01.E14: Penultimate Patrol (2019.05.17)

Quote

The Doom Patrol finally lands on the threshold of rescuing the Chief from the clutches of Mr. Nobody. With help from Flex Mentallo and Danny the Street, the group enters the White Space, where Mr. Nobody offers a chance to start again.

Also, I'll encourage everyone to go to the Primetimers Awards forum; right now, there's a vote for adding an additional category and Best Opening Titles is one of the choices.

[BaggythePanther]

I had a weird dream last night about Oliver Queen and the Monitor going against Mr. Nobody. That's what I get for watching this episode right before bed.

I love it when Mr. Nobody breaks the fourth wall. When he said he was so powerful he could take control of the entire DC streaming service I thought about how funny it would be if he showed up on Titans.

Poor Cliff, having to fake an orgasm just to fit in. But how was Danny the Street affected?

Even though it seemed a little too easy, I really believed that they had defeated Mr. Nobody and returned to the Mansion. But when I noticed they were all wearing the color red I knew something was up, because I can't see Jane agreeing to a matching color scheme.

The big question right now seems to be why the Chief arranged everyone's "accidents". My question is how.   

[cdnalor]

I have to admit that fake-out by Mr. Nobody had me thinking that the episode count was off somehow.  Vic taking him out with one shot did seem suspiciously easy, though.

The comic- collector nerd in me was almost flinching when Flex and Cliff were handling what I assume were vintage comic books.  I was expecting Cliff to tear one apart (Nooo!)

Niles, you got some 'splainin' to do!

The giant robot makes me wish someone would bring back the old "Adventures of Superman" show from the 50s with CGI effects: clunky robots, death rays, space monsters, etc.

[MarkHB]

DC has put the pilot online this week for free in the USA; I think it is slated to come down before the finale goes up Friday.  Here it is on Youtube:

[Lantern7]

On 5/20/2019 at 1:22 AM, MarkHB said:

DC has put the pilot online this week for free in the USA; I think it is slated to come down before the finale goes up Friday.  Here it is on Youtube:

There’s no chance we’d see the rest of the season for free, is there? I don’t have any subscription services, and I wouldn’t know which ones would be best for me. And that’s a shame because this show looks trippy as all fuck. After the first episode (and the bits and pieces I’ve read), this is close to Legends of Tomorrow, only with protagonists that are more fucked up, and more graphic stuff. I can just see someone watching Cliff’s first scene and going, “Now THAT is America’s ass.”

By the way, is that Brendan Fraser as Cliff, or just the voice? Ditto with Larry.

Seriously, nice melding of the original and Morrison runs. I hope it’s been that entertaining for those who subscribe.

[MarkHB]

14 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

There’s no chance we’d see the rest of the season for free, is there? I don’t have any subscription services, and I wouldn’t know which ones would be best for me. And that’s a shame because this show looks trippy as all fuck. After the first episode (and the bits and pieces I’ve read), this is close to Legends of Tomorrow, only with protagonists that are more fucked up, and more graphic stuff. I can just see someone watching Cliff’s first scene and going, “Now THAT is America’s ass.”

By the way, is that Brendan Fraser as Cliff, or just the voice? Ditto with Larry.

Seriously, nice melding of the original and Morrison runs. I hope it’s been that entertaining for those who subscribe.

I don't believe they'll release the rest of the run for free.  Titans went to international Netflix after its first season completed, but in the US they're strictly on DCU.  One thing I'll mention is that, in addition to the original shows, DCU has a ton of cartoons (including the entire run of Super Friends), they're getting most of the new animated features at the same time they hit stores (so if you were going to buy JL v FF, there you go!), and at this point 20,000 comics and growing (everything they had on Comicsology, except perhaps the Gerard Jones stuff).  You can get a 7-day free trial if you want to take a look around.

[MarkHB]

S01.E15: Ezekiel Patrol (2019.05.24)

Quote

In the wake of the Chief's revelation, the members of the Doom Patrol go their separate ways. When Mr. Nobody hatches a new plan, the team must reunite to help the Chief with a new, unexpected -- and weird -- threat to the world.

[Lokiberry]

I mean, wow, I  don't know where to begin. This show is the most insane thing I have ever seen. Beard eaters, sure. Sentient Gender Queer streets, ok. Giant cockroach and rat same sex lust, why the hell not? And, still the whole thing was deeply character driven. 

Chief caused everyone's "accident" in order to achieve immortality. Does that include Vic's as well? I mean, Silas knew that's what he'd been up to, but he didn't make a connection between what happened to Vic and what the Chief had done to the the others. Was he just being obtuse? 

Also, Danny's now a brick. That's not as much fun as a street. They can't have the karaoke bar on a brick. They can't fit a haven for all the misfits on a brick.

[BaggythePanther]

On 5/23/2019 at 4:51 PM, Lantern7 said:

There’s no chance we’d see the rest of the season for free, is there? I don’t have any subscription services, and I wouldn’t know which ones would be best for me. And that’s a shame because this show looks trippy as all fuck. After the first episode (and the bits and pieces I’ve read), this is close to Legends of Tomorrow, only with protagonists that are more fucked up, and more graphic stuff. I can just see someone watching Cliff’s first scene and going, “Now THAT is America’s ass.”

By the way, is that Brendan Fraser as Cliff, or just the voice? Ditto with Larry.

Seriously, nice melding of the original and Morrison runs. I hope it’s been that entertaining for those who subscribe.

I don’t know if this is helpful but you could just get it for one month (it’s $7.99) and binge watch the first season. Or as @MarkHB mentioned, get the 7-day free trial and watch episodes then. 

Brendan Fraser and Matt Bomer only do the voices. And yes, this show is crazier then Legends (which I didn’t know was possible) but there is also a lot of good character building too.

[The Kings Foot]

bit of an underwhelming ending.  I felt we should have had some more hiding on Danny Street. Maybe see where Flex got the others to safety.   I thought they were going to get Admiral Whiskers and Ezekial fight each other to become God.

[tennisgurl]

This show is so flipping ridiculous, but it still seems weirdly consistent in its levels of crazy, and does focus a lot on the characters and their development. 

I wouldn't blame everyone if after they saved Danny and Chiefs daughter, they still cut off contact with him. He might have been trying to protect his daughter (his half neanderthal shaman daughter?) but he still fucked all their lives up for his own means. 

Hopefully Danny can be put back together into a street! A world without Danny is a lesser one. I still always love how Cliffs respond to whatever is happening is to yell some variation of "what the fuck?!?"

Its really kind of impressive how many threads from this season came together. Ezekiel the apocalypse obsessed cockroach, Danny, the Chiefs backstory, General Whiskers hatred of Cliff, the Farm and the place where the Chief sent his first team, plus we got a glimpse of the caretakers backstory, and even the whole thing where no one on this show seems to age, and how many people have noted that it was weird. Turns out, its a major plot point! Go figure. 

Cant wait for more of this show, its really such a weird little corner of the comic book world. 

[MarkHB]

I'm not sure, but I think in the comics Danny became a brick by choice, so maybe he'll turn himself back one day.

[Toaster Strudel]

The actor who played the Beard Hunter was absolutely fantastic.

[greekmom]

I feel bad for Larry & Cliff. I wish Cliff would have told Clara that he's her dad. Rita's character is great and despite some flaws I like Jane.  

Not feeling Cyborg or Neils. I hope that they do find Neils (I just finished Frances Patrol).  

BTW - I am sorry but I don't buy the love affair of Neil and the hairy chick.  

[Sakura12]

I just binged this show and was wondering why everyone seemed to be immortal. I get the robots Vic and Cliff, but they were the youngest, everyone else was around in the 40's and 50's. So I'm glad they answered that in the finale. 

A gender-queer talking street and killer butts. and I thought Legends of Tomorrow was a weird show with a killer Unicorn and an evil nipple eye. This show is like the grown up version of Legends, by grown up I mean dealing with more adult themes not that the Doom Patrol are more grown up. They are probably on par with the Legends in that regard. 

I think my favorite characters are Jane and Cliff. I loved their friendship as well. Larry and Rita are my second favorite friendship. I've only seen Diane Guerrero on OITNB and she never did much on that show. I'm glad to see her get to do more on this show, she did a good job playing the multiple characters. I kind of want to know what some of the other personalities super powers are. I loved Silver Tongue that turned words into weapons. I did wish that Cliff told his daughter he was alive. I though she might've suspected something when she saw the watch and looked at it for a bit. 

I'm also glad they had so many flashbacks of Larry. Because I was wondering why anyone would cast Matt Bomer and cover up his pretty face the whole time. 

[MarkHB]

Doom Patrol-related sessions at Comic-Con:

Friday 12 Pm: Costume Designers Guild: Designing the DC Streaming Universe featuring Laura Jean Shannon

Quote

Costume Designers Guild member Laura Jean Shannon (costume designer, Stargirl, Doom Patrol, Titans, Black Lightning), Sarah Mgeni (assistant costume designer, Stargirl, Doom Patrol, Titans), Miracole Burns (super-suit supervisor, Doom Patrol), Gina DeDomenico Flanagan (costume concept artist, Stargirl, Doom Patrol, Titans S2), and Lesley Becerra (director of production creative character engineering, Stargirl, Doom Patrol, Titans), discuss the behind-the-scenes process that goes into designing and manufacturing the superhero costumes for several of the DC Streaming TV shows. The panelists will also take questions from the audience with an autograph table to follow. Special guest moderator, April Bowlby (actress, Rita Farr / Elastic-Woman from Doom Patrol).

Saturday 7 Pm: DC Universe Series Sneak Previews and Q&A:

Quote

DC fans, this is your Universe! DC Universe has established itself as the premium go-to destination for fans of all things DC, and they are just getting started! Spend your Saturday night with select producers and stars from DC Universe's original live-action and animated series and get the latest updates and sneak previews on Titans, Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn and Young Justice: Outsiders .

There are a couple of other costume-related panels and several comics ones that also come up in the search.  Saturday night is the big one for DCU, though.

[AnimeMania]

13 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

I've only seen Diane Guerrero on OITNB and she never did much on that show.

She had a large role in the second season of "Superior Donuts".

[MarkHB]

11 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

She had a large role in the second season of "Superior Donuts".

In which she largely looked cute and got exasperated at the guy she on-and-off dated.  As I watched everything she did on Doom Patrol, I've wondered what her pay was there compared to the vastly more-watched but (presumably) artistically far less challenging broadcast network sitcom.

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, MarkHB said:

14 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

She had a large role in the second season of "Superior Donuts".

In which she largely looked cute and got exasperated at the guy she on-and-off dated. 

But there is something to being filmed in good lighting, and showing your charm and personality. I never watched Orange is the New Black. In Doom Patrol, I always thought Diane Guerrero looked grimey and short. At no time did I think she looked sexy, even when she was playing a character that could make anyone fall in love with her. On "Superior Donuts" she always looked gorgeous.

[MarkHB]

Note to DCU fans: Titans discussion at Primetimer has moved to its own forum.  If you're looking for it, please go there.

[giovannif7]

Renewed for Season 2!

[tennisgurl]

Great news!! 

[MarkHB]

Please note: Doom Patrol now has its own forum, and this has become the Season One discussion thread.  Other discussion can move to other threads in the forum.  Thanks!

[kieyra]

People kept talking up Diane Guerrero in this over on the OITNB forums, so here I am. I’m not traditionally a DC person, and Umbrella Academy went flat for me very quickly, but I’m liking this so far. (Pilot.)

I really came to say: Timothy Dalton is just aging fantastically. I “just” saw him in Penny Dreadful, but it still catches me off guard. I remember him from Lion in Winter, which was made before I was born (late 60s I believe), so it always seems like he should be dead by now. (The leads were Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn, for context.) 

That said, he was SUPER young at the time. And Anthony Hopkins was in there as well. 

He’s 73 but looks younger to me. 

Edited August 8, 2019 by kieyra

[CletusMusashi]

I tried watching the pilot when it was newer, and fizzled out on it pretty quickly because the Larry flashbacks bore the hell out of me. Eventually I gave it another shot, since I was running out of things on DC-D to watch. It's a great show. Sometimes very moving, often very clever, often fascinatingly stupid, and very often very funny. Larry is still boring as hell, though. He's okay as the straight man (comedically speaking) in an ensemble scene, but by himself he just drags the show to a slowdown. It's not the actor's fault. His character just isn't written very dynamically. Yet I really liked the version of him that we saw in the "Titans" episode. What the hell happened to that guy?

Overall, though, thumbs up. I'm glad there's a Season 2 for me to watch now.

[kieyra]

5 hours ago, CletusMusashi said:

Larry is still boring as hell, though. He's okay as the straight man (comedically speaking) in an ensemble scene, but by himself he just drags the show to a slowdown. It's not the actor's fault. His character just isn't written very dynamically. 

I certainly connect with him the least. He's the lowest-energy character (which I guess is ironic), his flashback arc has a certain monotonous predictability, and worst (for me) is that we never get to see his face outside of flashbacks. Even robot Cliff has a bit of a face and a very specific physicality (kudos to the actor doing the physical stuff, who isn't Brendan Fraser). Larry just has sunglasses.

That said, I do like his scenes with Rita.

Edit: I’m doing a simultaneous S1 rewatch with S2, and speaking of ‘simultaneous’, somehow I missed the big group orgasm scene in Penultimate Patrol. I’m dead. 

[kieyra]

Watching season one again. I’m used to a certain percentage of shows I watch being weird niche shows that no one talks about, but I genuinely don’t understand why this one doesn’t have a higher profile. So good, and very rewatchable. 

[Sakura12]

I think its more, people don't want to pay for the DC streaming service and now HBO Max.

If this show was on Netflix or Hulu it would do better. 

[kieyra]

Rewatch has also made me realize something that’s probably obvious to most ... I wasn’t always clear on some of the distinction between Jane/Hammerhead, when Hammerhead is just being snarky rather than full-on rage mode. I finally spotted the chest tattoo. /sigh

[Arynm]

On 7/22/2020 at 10:05 PM, kieyra said:

Rewatch has also made me realize something that’s probably obvious to most ... I wasn’t always clear on some of the distinction between Jane/Hammerhead, when Hammerhead is just being snarky rather than full-on rage mode. I finally spotted the chest tattoo. /sigh

And she has a scar on her lip. It took me WAY too long to figure that out. I like that in the Underground they mostly look different, except Jane, the driver and the blond wedding dress one. They are the only ones with Jane's face. I wonder if that means anything?

[Bruinsfan]

It occurred to me during "Therapy Patrol" that Cliff is more or less Homer Simpson as a robotic superhero.

[Hanahope]

Just started watching, so will wait till I finish to fully read this thread.  I never read the comic book, so my only knowledge of DP was the bit I saw in Titans.

First thoughts:  pretty good set up.  Tudyk is a great narrator, his voice tone is fantastic. 

I hardly recognized Brandon Fraser.  Kindof sad that Cliff missed even more of his daughter's life.  i have to agree that he should have had the chance to see her, you really never know how people will react.  

Jane has 64 personalities with different powers?  That seems a little bit of overkill, imo.  wouldn't 12 have been sufficient?

I'm curious to see exactly how Larry's power work, i don't really understand it right now.  and is Rita's power controlled by her emotional state?

 

[Hanahope]

So decent enough ending, though wow, almost seems like a retcon on the "accidents," but yeah ok.  

for someone who is supposedly not immortal, chief sure seems to age very very slowly.  maybe something rubbed off on him during his time with Dorothy's mother?

 

[callie lee 29]

Just finished the first season and that was..... interesting. In a good way though my utter fear of cockroaches was almost a deal breaker. The rat on roach love. I just don't even know what to say. 

I'll be honest, Cliff and hammerhead may be my favorite characters (Rita is a close third). Jane probably my least.

I binged 15 episodes in a little over two days, I'll definitely do season 2. 

[Ottis]

Late to this show, with no comic book knowledge, and I found it thoroughly enjoyable.  No stupid who wuvs who like on Titans. Each character first slowly outlined and then their moral conflicts revealed. And a lot of fun on Danny the Street. Well done, all. 

[Meedis]

I admit that the show lost me a bit and I was slow to continue watching.   I'd watch an episode and then wait a week or two before watching the next one (almost like the old days before streaming...*LOL*)  I wasn't really connecting the dots to what was happening and I couldn't bring myself to care (even falling asleep during episodes).   But things seemed to pick up for me around Episode 9 (Jane Patrol) and after that things started getting interesting.    And after Jane Patrol I started watching two or three episodes in a row.   Parts still confused me but I was more vested.

And then Mr. Nobody reeled me in with his humorous "exposition" tying in all the "b.s." from the previous episodes together.   Of course his issues would have to do with a woman rejecting him and calling him a 'nobody' hence his nickname. And OMG I was ROTFLMAO when Flex had the whole town simultaneously orgasm except for poor Cliff who had to fake it...*LOL*.  

I finished the Penultimate episode last night and am looking forward to the finale.

[Affogato]

On 6/15/2021 at 11:01 AM, Hanahope said:

Just started watching, so will wait till I finish to fully read this thread.  I never read the comic book, so my only knowledge of DP was the bit I saw in Titans.

First thoughts:  pretty good set up.  Tudyk is a great narrator, his voice tone is fantastic. 

I hardly recognized Brandon Fraser.  Kindof sad that Cliff missed even more of his daughter's life.  i have to agree that he should have had the chance to see her, you really never know how people will react.  

Jane has 64 personalities with different powers?  That seems a little bit of overkill, imo.  wouldn't 12 have been sufficient?

I'm curious to see exactly how Larry's power work, i don't really understand it right now.  and is Rita's power controlled by her emotional state?

 

I'm watching this season again, because I'm sorry it is ending. Larry's power is a head scratcher! I believe most people with Jane's disorder have a lot of different personalities, so this is realistic. I don't think the underground subway system is realistic, though.