Going into the third season of Doom Patrol, I was initially worried I wouldn't have enough to write about when it came to the show's season by season formula. Obviously the main characters would be dealing with their personal issues while fighting off a wonderfully bizarre cadre of villains. But said formula can become monotonous if nothing new is present. While these elements are retained, season three has a creative spark that assuaged my fears and in my opinion, brings back the magic of Doom Patrol's first season.
While our heroes continue to deal with their personal problems, the show is able to further peel back their layers and introduce new elements to their stories that continue to be engaging. As a result, the season finale is able to illustrate how much each character has truly grown compared to the first episode. In fact, I could have seen that episode acting as a series finale if it weren't for the fact that we are getting a fourth season; it'll be interesting to see where the characters go next considering the positions they're in when we leave them.
When it comes to the villains introduced this season, there is a lot more of the "What the fuck?" magic that was more prominent in the first season compared to the second. But the best in this aspect of the show are the characters who aren't necessarily villains, but still antagonists.
Michelle Gomez enters the show as this season's "big bad" Laura De Mille/Madame Rouge, where she is able to bring the same enjoyable chaotic energy she did over in "Doctor Who" as Missy. And much like Missy during the tenth season, there's a bit of a wild card in Rouge's character where she plays both sides and you're not sure about her intentions. In any case, Rouge is able to fill the hole left by Alan Tudyk's Mr. Nobody from season one.
We're also introduced to the Sisterhood of Dada, who could be seen as the Brotherhood of Mutants to the Doom Patrol's X-Men. Instead of the domination/co-existence rivalry of those groups though, the Sisterhood act as the antithesis to the Doom Patrol in that instead of hiding away from normal people, they want those would persecute metahumans to take a good hard look at their lives and hopefully become better in the process. To this end, they bring forth the Eternal Flagellation, which I found reminiscent to the Ragnarok Connection from "Code Geass", but much weirder and strangely more coherent.
Much like how "Doom Patrol" came about from "Titans", this season also sets up another DC show in development for HBO Max with the Dead Boy Detectives. Teen ghosts from different eras, Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland, and their medium Crystal Palace are introduced in the third episode of the season as they travel with Larry to the afterlife to bring back the other Doom Patrol members killed in the prior episode. The episode does a good job at explaining each character's backstory and their relationships, acting somewhat as a backdoor pilot that establishes the premise of their adventures. The downside though is that each character is set to be recast for their coming series, which is a shame because I thought each actor (Ty Tennant, Sebastian Croft, and Madalyn Horcher) did quite well in their roles. When the show finally materializes, hopefully the new Dead Boy Detectives will be able to win me over.
Overall, season three of Doom Patrol is a return to form with the kind of characters and weirdness people have come to love about what I consider the best show to originate from the DC Universe service.
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