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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
It was almost expected for the Doom Patrol to end up like this. Jeremy Carver’s team of unlikely unusual superheroes have gone from dead to undead. This week’s episode of Doom Patrol is titled “Undead Patrol”. Tamara Becher-Wilkinson returns to pen the teleplay, while Kristin Windell (Alias, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) serves as the director.
According to Warner Media, here is the synopsis of Doom Patrol Episode 304.
Rattled by the unexpected complications of being “undead,” the Doom Patrol are inspired to better themselves. But their efforts are soon disrupted by the return of a former adversary and the sudden appearance of a mysterious woman, who arrives by way of an even more enigmatic time machine.
In this review, I will be discussing this week’s newest episode. There will be spoilers to follow, as the title of this article suggests. Please read ahead at your own discretion.
Plot Summary
Following last week’s Season 3 premiere, Niles Caulder (Timothy Dalton)’s severed head is stolen from Willoughby Kipling (Mark Sheppard) by Darren Jones (Jon Briddell). Meanwhile, the mysterious woman (Michelle Gomez) asks for the Patrol’s aid to help her remember her identity and repair her “time machine”. However, they are busy tending to their own matters.
Cliff Steele (Brendan Fraser and Riley Shanahan) is searching for medical attention for his hand tremors. Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer and Matthew Zuk) discovers he is dying. Vic “Cyborg” Stone (Joivan Wade) asks his father Silas (guest star Phil Morris) what other option there was for saving him — Silas claims S.T.A.R. Labs was experimenting on “a prototype for synthetic skin” so Vic could look more human. The woman and Rita Farr (April Bowlby) unlock the secret compartment in Caulder’s study. However, she finds an old film by the Sisterhood of Dada revealing Rita lent a hand in her past.
The team starts to itch (even a fly enters Jane’s (Diane Guerrero) nose). Eventually, they transform into zombies… that can speak. Kipling arrives just in time to intervene from them devouring the woman, who’s learned her name is Laura de Mille. He, she, and the Patrol pass through a portal to fight off Jones and rescue Caulder’s head. However, Jones turns into a werewolf-like “asshole” and summons a wild pack of Were-Butts. They are able to kill off all but one, which makes its way to Cloverton. The Patrol then returns to their normal state by feeding off Caulder’s head, but not before he gives de Mille a file on her with the agreement that she stays away from the team.
Wynn Everett guest stars Shelley, a woman from The Sisterhood of Dada’s film. Shoni Baker plays Doctor Gammon, while Chantelle Barry portrays Baphomet.
Discussion
The entire series is peculiar and downright weird, so this episode has a furnished place in the narrative of the Patrol. Clint Mansell and Kevin Kiner’s musical composition is, at this point, a strange mixture of Gothic and Romantic. Adding to this is Grace Walker and Carey Meyer’s production design. What I like most is the Doom Patrol’s transformation into zombies. This requires Carrie Grace’s costume design as well as Leo Satkovich’s work on make-up and Michelle Diamantides on hair.
Scott Peck’s cinematography and Armen V. Kevorkian’s visual effects can be a little weird, but I don’t mind.
Becher-Wilkinson’s screenwriting is worthy of merit. The episode is purposefully stupid (or rather, whacky), as is with many previous episodes of the show. It is so much so that I think the balance of comedy and drama is excellent. I mean, in a show with grotesque figures and outlandish use of profanity, soon enough we’ll need to encounter sentient assholes and zombies. It just so happens that this particular episode possesses both.
Also, I cannot stop thinking of the series having Briddell turn into a literal asshole. There is no way that I could expect that…
Performances and Character Developments
I love how the main cast members can balance their delivery of comedy with that of drama. Their characters initially don’t know what to call Gomez’s character, and so they just refer to her as “Shannon”. Their refusal to discuss their transformation into zombies (after the fact) is a bit funny too.
Guerrero does well in Jane’s dealing with grief. Although Fraser’s Cliff comments on her “creepy Bob Ross” figure of Caulder, it does seem to help her in a cathartic way. Jane’s transformation into a zombie — going so far as to puking up fly larvae — is gross and intriguing. I share this same sentiment with Rita Farr and Larry Trainor.
Bomer and Bowlby share an interesting scene in the mansion’s greenhouse. Here, Rita thinks she may be “a world-renowned time traveler,” but Larry doesn’t believe she is special enough to be considered “world-renowned.” Right when she gets disheartened as him saying this, she smells and licks something showing through his bandages. She claims he might be hiding ham…
De Mille points to Larry’s playing “dress-up” with the team’s dead bodies in the previous episode. He defends himself by declaring, “I was at a low point, and I wasn’t making great decisions.” Learning Caulder has considered her a detriment to the Patrol is to be expected. Although, I sort of like how it’s been written. Larry also learns he has a tumor in his abdominopelvic region. I am curious to know more about this as the season progresses.
Vic pulling up one long sleeve to reveal his bloody flesh is a neat sight, but we’ve seen this a little too much in zombie films already.
Final Thoughts
With this episode premiering on the last day of September (transitioning into October), I find it fitting that it consists of lovely horror-like references. The most obvious allusions are not just the focus on zombies, but also the Were-Butts as parodies of werewolves. De Mille referring to Larry as a “mummy” is funny, but it’s even more hilarious noting the tables have turned with Fraser in the cast.
The fight scene in Jones’s barn is awesome, with Kipling drawing a flaming sword and Jane literally eating ass. Larry makes use of a chainsaw, which itself is an allusion to the iconic slasher horror film, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Kipling’s calling the Zombified Patrol “Solomons Grundy” makes me wonder if anyone from Batman’s world — perhaps this villain in particular — exists on their Earth. That is surely something to think about. I would like to know why Kipling gave de Mille a “petrified dragon’s piss”. Will this prove useful going forward?
Overall, “Undead Patrol” is about as profoundly peculiar an episode as the previous three of Season 3. What do you expect? It’s so outrageous that it becomes a good thing.
Doom Patrol Season 3 is available to watch on HBO Max!
Have you seen this series yet? If so, what are your thoughts on it? Let us know! For more comedy, drama, superhero-related news and reviews visit and follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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