Do you ever get the sense the pieces of the puzzle might be more interesting than the final product?
Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 4 is a Doom Patrol adventure with no (current) Doom Patrol members, and it’s all kinds of awesome.
A large part of the awesome is the return of Danny and Maura Lee Karupt. Second only to the Sisterhood of Dada, they are my favorite Doom-adjacent team.
And, of course, there’s Dorothy, looking and acting every bit the young adult she is now.
The thing is, adolescence is a horrible experience, and in the midst of all the determined fabulousness that is Danny the Camp — there’s a clever double entendre in there — Dorothy’s internalized angst and externalized anger are hard to watch.
Kudos to Maura Lee for recognizing Dorothy’s going through something and reaching out with well-meant advice. Unfortunately, adolescents are frustrating, emotional beasts, somewhat like Dorothy’s friends, actually.
I suspected there was more to her tale about the necklace than what she shared with the group. Nothing related to Niles Caulder is ever so easily resolved.
This necklace kept my father alive so he could spend nearly a hundred years with me. And even though he’s gone, I know he’ll always be in here. No matter how impossible the odds may seem, Love always wins out.
Dorothy
I’d like to know whether Dorothy’s love for Space Case comics has something to do with the actualization of Torminox or if Torminox’s presence triggers Dorothy to actualize Casey Brinke.
Casey and her conflict with Torminox is an effective — if temporary — distraction from Dorothy’s real issues.
There have been other instances on Doom Patrol of fictional characters taking tangible form, but this is the first time we witness the moment of “birth,” as it were.
Going from two-dimensional pulp comic existence to feeling hunger and experiencing flavor for the first time is a delightful gag, and Madeline Zima plays it up admirably.
Okay, sweetie, you’re up at a Katy Perry, and I’m going to need you to bring it way down to an Alicia Keys.
Maura Lee
At the same time as Casey’s presence brings Dorothy incredible fan-girl joy, she is also now Dorothy’s responsibility.
That’s a new role for Dorothy, who has been coddled, captive, and constrained all her life.
Dorothy: That’s one of our friends. You can’t just vaporize them.
Casey: Why not?
Dorothy: Because they’re not a comic book character. This is the real world. Death is… Death is permanent here.
Teaching Casey about the real world will be a solid growth opportunity.
Being new to the world but imbued with superpowers, Casey’s going to be a bit of a wild card when she joins up with the Doom Patrol.
That’s something I’m really looking forward to.
Whenever I feel like nobody gets me, I put on my best wig, sashay on stage, and belt one out to the back row. You can’t help but feel seen in the spotlight.
Maura Lee
While Doom Patrol Season 3 focused on the characters’ sense of identity and purpose, this season has established a theme of moving forward and breaking with habits.
Dorothy, Danny, and Maura Lee all recognize that what has been getting them through is no longer enough.
Danny is exhausted and over-populated with Dannyzens, and Maura Lee despairs at the hate she encounters out in the world.
Dorothy chafes at the restrictions she’s imposed on herself in an attempt to ignore the feelings she has about Niles’s death.
It’s standard teen counter-intuitive decision-making. She’s missing her father, so she refuses to interact with the beings who would make him feel close again.
I’m not the person I used to be. I’m confused, I’m scared, and I’m angry. And he was supposed to help me through it. He kept me a child for so long and now that I’m finally growing up, he’s not here, and I hate him for it. I want to say all of these thing to him but maybe some things are better left unsaid.
Dorothy
The Space Case comics make for an easy escape, and Casey herself is a relatable heroine for Dorothy.
They share some major daddy issues, which are vastly different from Jane’s in that their fathers genuinely cared for them but aren’t there anymore.
She needs her dad. Fuck you for turning your back on that.
Dorothy
I’m always charmed and bemused by how Doom Patrol consistently gives the most monstrous-looking characters the most complexly emotional personalities.
This is true of Cliff, was true of Garguax, and even the Butts are turning out to be more civilized than their initial impression suggests.
Now we have Torminox, the horribly changed Richard Brinke who kills his wife and battles his daughter in the pursuit of galactic domination.
With both of them in the real world, Casey and Torminox’s relationship takes on more nuance than in the comics.
Honestly, Torminox seems to exhibit a lot more depth when Casey first encounters him than she can demonstrate or articulate at that point. This makes me think Torminox definitely actualized earlier than Casey, probably brought to life by the mysterious comic artist.
Ah, the mysterious comic artist. Who could he be?
My first thought is Wally Sage, the metahuman deemed a weapon by Laura DeMille, who could bring his drawings to life.
It would be disappointing if Flex Mentallo’s creator is also the mind behind this Rise of Immortus, but if he spent time on the war front, it would make sense that he would want to erase his past as he promises Immortus will do.
There are a LOT of villains at play in this endeavor to bring Immortus to life. In a scant four outings, we’ve already added Dr. Janus, Torminox, and the comic artist to the other team.
Immortus himself is a presence that worries the Knights Templar and Bunbury, but can his rise be more interesting than the scavenger hunt his minions are on right now?
And why are their treasures all in the form of necklaces?
If the team is expanding to make up for Rita being in an emotionally-drained coma, my wishlist includes Crystal and the Dead Boys, as well as the Sisterhood.
Which adjacent would you like to see next? The sky’s the limit, Fanatics! In the comments below, let us know if you’re wild for Willoughby or batty for Baphomet!
Diana Keng is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
