Want to hear more from the actors and creators of your favorite shows and films? Subscribe to The Cinema Spot on YouTube for all of our upcoming interviews!
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.
The Emmy-nominated comic book adaptation series, Doom Patrol, returns with a fascinating story arc ahead of itself. The first season had the titular term searching for their leader, the Chief, with the following season anticipating his imminent mortal demise. This time around, the team recovers from his death and endure the griefs that come with their past losses.
In this review, I will be discussing the Season 3 premiere. There will be spoilers to follow, as the title of this article suggests. Please read ahead at your own discretion.
Plot Summaries
According to Warner Media, here are the synopses of the season’s first three episodes.
301 – “Possibilities Patrol” (written by Tamara Becher-Wilkinson, Eric Dietel, & Shoshana Sachi; dir. Dermott Downs)
After Dorothy and the Candlemaker’s ultimate showdown, the Doom Patrol confront various troubling complications from being freed of their wax encasings. Entrusting Rita with a secret she may not be ready to handle, Niles is then pursued by a mysterious woman from his past.
Diane Guerrero appears as Jane, the dominant persona of Kay Challis. April Bowlby plays Rita Farr, Joivan Wade plays Vic “Cyborg” Stone, Matt Bomer and Matthew Zuk play Larry Trainor, and Brendan Fraser and Riley Shanahan play Cliff Steele.
Michelle Gomez makes a special appearance as Madame Rouge.
Mark Sheppard guest stars as Willoughby Kipling, while Karen Obilom appears as Roni Evers. Abi Monterey plays Dorothy Spinner with Timothy Dalton as Niles Caulder/ the Chief and Lex Lang as the voice of the Candlemaker, Phil Morris portrays Silas Stone, and Bethany Anne Lind plays Clara Steele. Charity Cervantes plays Cloverton community theater actress, Isabel Feathers, with Irene Ziegler as Micki Harris, the community theater director/playwright.
Samantha Marie Ware plays Kay Challis’s Miranda imposter persona. Other personas include Stephanie Czajkowski as Hammerhead, Jackie Goldston as the Secretary, Hannah Alline as Pretty Polly, Shay Mack as Driller Bill, Ana Aguilar as the Balladeer.
Skye Roberts plays Kay.
302 – “Vacay Patrol” (written by Tom Farrell; dir. Christopher Manley)
As the Doom Patrol struggle to process a devastating loss, Rita rallies the group for a much-needed vacation. Concerned for her father and the safety of her family, Clara tries to convince Cliff to get checked out. Just as the team attempts to unwind, a dangerous player suddenly finds himself closer than ever to his longtime target.
Guerrero appears as Jane. Bowlby plays Rita Farr, Wade plays Vic “Cyborg” Stone, Bomer and Zuk play Larry Trainor, and Fraser and Shanahan play Cliff Steele.
Stephen Murphy guest stars as Garguax the Decimator, with Billy Boyd as the character’s assistant. Bethany Anne Lind plays Cliff’s daughter, Clara, while Walnette Santiago plays Mel, Clara’s partner. Phil Morris appears as Silas Stone, Vic’s father.
Glenn H. Allen plays Jim Thompson, a resident of the Codsville Mountain Resort in the 1950s. Jonathan Lipow voices Monsieur Mallah, a superintelligent anthropomorphic gorilla supervillain as well a partner of The Brain as members of the Brotherhood of Evil.
Skye Roberts plays Kay.
303 – “Dead Patrol” (written by Jeremy Carver & Steve Yockey; dir. Christopher Manley)
After waking up in the tunnel of souls, Jane, Cliff, Rita, and Vic are thrust into their own personal purgatories, where they encounter foundational people from their pasts. Later, Dorothy and Larry consult a highly specialized detective agency to bring back their friends.
Guerrero appears as Jane. Bowlby plays Rita Farr, Wade plays Vic “Cyborg” Stone, Bomer and Zuk play Larry Trainor, and Fraser and Shanahan play Cliff Steele.
Abi Monterey guest stars as Dorothy Spinner. Madalyn Horcher, Sebastian Croft, and Ty Tennant make up the Dead Boy Detective agency — Crystal Palace, Charles Croft, and Edwin Paine, respectively.
Charmin Lee returns as Elinor Stone, Vic’s late mother. Michael J. Harney plays RJ Steele, Cliff’s father. Skye Roberts portrays Kay Challis, while Rose Bianco plays Kay’s Abuelita, also named Kay. Micah Joe Parker plays a member of the Sisterhood of Dada, while Ruth Connell portrays Death herself.
The Crew of the Patrol
Shoshana Sachi serves as the executive story editor, with Ezra Claytan Daniels, Eric Dietel, and Tanya Steele as the story editors of the episodes. Brian Wessel is the editor for the first episode, with Marc Pattavina doing the second and Leigh Dodson working on the third. Scott Peck is the cinematographer for the first episode, while Scott Winig is the director of photography for the following two. Clint Mansell and Kevin Kiner compose the score for the series.
Grace Walker and Carey Meyer design the production for the first episode, while Walker does such solo for the other two episodes. Carrie Grace serves as the costume designer, while Laura Jean Shannon designs the specialty costumes. Britain Cramer is the set designer for the first episode.
Armen V. Kevorkian serves as the episodes’ visual effects supervisor. Leo Satkovich and Paul Cha serve as the make-up department heads of the first episode. Meanwhile, Michelle Diamantides and Elizabeth Robinson are the first episode’s hair department heads. Satkovich and Diamantides are the heads of their respective departments for the following two episodes.
Discussion
The series’ season premiere does this thing similar to the Titans Season 2 premiere episode where it would begin on an awkward start where the previous had ended on a bitter note. (When I say “bitter”, it feels slightly distasteful in terms of storytelling.) The first episode of this specific series’ newest season wasn’t so bad, however. Taking place just a week or two after the events of the Season 2 finale, it seems to pace slowly here. Although, the story picks up speed in “Vacay Patrol” and “Dead Patrol”.
There are a couple of interesting references to Jerry Zucker’s Academy Award-winning film, Ghost, such as Rita trying to take up pottery in one episode. More so, the Chief’s dead body is not truly put to rest in his burial site. This does almost happen after all of the team members break out of their little “wax comas”. However, Kipling makes off with Caulder’s decapitated head — dug up and stolen from his Northern Yukon Territory gravesite.
Genres and Themes of the “Weird and Morbid”
The writers do make a lovely mixture of comedy with drama. I liked Garguax the Decimator’s always being announced in a room rather than trying to be a “completely unnoticed presence”. Dorothy submitting an unneeded vote in the Dead Boy Detectives’ raise of hands to save the team members was hilarious as well.
My favorite example, however, is how Larry deals with his teammates’ dead bodies as they arrive at the mansion in four cardboard packages. I mean, is wrapping your dead friends’ heads with bandages and arranging them in sitting positions around a dining table not outright strange? (I’ve personally seen more peculiar occurrences.) Although, I will admit that I did not expect to see Rita contacting Larry through a bowl of pancake batter. Additionally, it was amusing to see Cliff attempt his climb up “The Backbone”, which is meant to be the “quickest way to discover who you really are”. Maybe in a cruel way, this is meant to demonstrate that there is no shortcut to discovering one’s true self.
Episode 302’s conversation on heroics is nice to see take place. Rita tells the team she rejected a literal “call to action”, which is an excellent allusion to Joseph Campbell’s monomyth theory in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 303’s venture into the Gothic is great, too. How often do we see this with non-Arrowverse television shows? I haven’t witnessed anything like this since Swamp Thing in mid-2019. Strangely enough, since we’re on the topic, Dorothy’s mention of having seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with her father when he would visit her in Danny (formerly, Danny the Street) fits into this “weird and morbid” category.
Character Developments
Our main characters wrap up their story arcs from last season, which leads to new ones this time around. For example, Fraser’s character Cliff is still in his daughter Clara’s life, and she has delivered a son. However, the Robotman is now experiencing hand tremors added to the stiffnesses endured in the previous season. His daughter surmises a diagnosis of Parkinson’s linked to his still-human human brain.
Rita reveals her freak-ish nature to her community theater group and is ostracized from Cloverton. Jane defeats the “infection” lurking in Kay’s mind — “Miranda” — but is left without a purpose in the aftermath. Vic’s “Cyborg” features are disabled by S.T.A.R. Labs as a result of setting Roni free. Similarly, Larry loses his own essence — the Negative energy. The team is now searching for self-purpose in their new lives without Niles Caulder.
Dorothy, on the other hand, does find some closure. She deeply apologizes to Jane for the Candlemaker’s murder of two of Kay’s personas. The child also goes so far as to helping Larry save the other team members from purgatory. I like that what she has to offer to the table (literally) during the rescue and salvation of her friends is but a mere chocolate bar for her father.
Performances
Some performances are heartful and thus worth noting. For instance, Cliff strongly recalling what it was once like holding his then-infant daughter in his arms. Fraser was heartwarming here. Monterey and Wade’s deliveries as Dorothy and Vic, respectively, and their reactions to grief are just as powerful. I also liked Guerrero’s acting as Jane, especially in “Vacay Patrol” and “Dead Patrol”. What really did it for me was when she harshly tells Vic that they are not a team and to give up that belief.
Bowlby and Bomer also tend to surprise me in the performances they give. I adore their characters’ bond as close friends (but without so much a ship).
Some Lessons
There were some great quotes and morals that I couldn’t not share in this already-long (as I am typing this) review. They are mostly those that involve Dorothy and Vic.
- Larry tells Dorothy that “[m]emories are comfort” that keep us moving forward, but they can have us lost in them.
- Silas tells his son, Vic, that the efforts to save someone are only so strong, and such efforts show that we are still human at heart. He states, “We tried so hard to change the ones we love. If it’s any comfort, it took me a lifetime to see the futility in that.”
- Similarly, Cliff tells Vic that what is physically a part of us does not define our being. He argues, “Your [Cyborg] tech is just a bunch of tangled wires and twisted metal. It’s got nothing to do with who you are.”
- Elinor tells her son, “Anything that happens from here is your choice. Focus on that.” I believe Vic Stone is on his way to posthuman status.
- Crystal tells Dorothy that “[w]e’ve all got baggage” but it doesn’t necessarily mean we need to move on with the bad that has happened to us.
Final Thoughts
I truly believe Cliff has the most well-written character development of the teammates, with Jane coming in second. I love the cinematography, taking note of the beauty that is Larry Trainor’s venture into outer space. The introduction to some groups (the Brotherhood of Evil and the Dead Boy Detective agency) was intriguing. Hopefully, this is not the last we see of them all. Edwin and Charles’s relationship is discussed with Larry, who tells them that it should be acceptable in this day and age.
Overall, while the first episode acts as nothing but a liminal/transitional stage from last season and the current one, its next two episodes provide something amazing. Much like the appearances of death, a unique feeling arises from this series. This season, I can see the cast and the crew take matters to a different level than ever before.
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.
16 Comments on “‘Doom Patrol’ Season 3 Premiere Spoiler Review – “Possibilities Patrol”, “Vacay Patrol”, & “Dead Patrol””