Superhero fatigue is a real problem, but there are some shows that can remind you of the genre's best. One such show is Doom Patrol, which debuted on the long-defunct DC Universe streaming service alongside Harley Quinn, Swamp Thing, Stargirl, and Titans. Of these, Doom Patrol was undoubtedly the strangest—a quirky sci-fi superhero series, heavily inspired by Grant Morrison's run on this classic group of misfits, which even predated the X-Men.
«Doom Patrol is a stunningly strange, shockingly emotional, and hilariously funny superhero series that's better than most superhero series. If you don't believe us, just look at the show's rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Over four seasons, Doom Patrol has maintained a near-perfect rating (an average of 98% positive reviews), with Seasons 3 and 4 receiving 100%, and Season 1 (the lowest) receiving 96%.
There are two compelling reasons to drop everything you're doing right now and watch Doom Patrol for the first time (or rewatch it if you've already seen it), and the first is how unabashedly insane the show is.
We've seen some crazy and bizarre DC shows. Legends of Tomorrow was full of incredible moments, like when Gorilla Grodd traveled back in time to assassinate Barack Obama. But that's nothing compared to Doom Patrol, which took full advantage of the streaming format and its R-rating. There were episodes where an army of genetically modified buttocks caused a zombie apocalypse, a Ghostbusters-like team of ghost hunters specifically hunted ghostly creatures, a passionate kissing scene between a cockroach and a rat, and a scene where a circus strongman literally pleasured an entire street by, ahem, flexing his muscles. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
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«Doom Patrol is a surprisingly low-budget superhero series.
Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man screams in horror after realizing what he's become in HBO's "Doom Patrol.".
The second distinctive feature of "Doom Patrol" is its small scale. Of course, like any superhero story, there are threats to the world, but the approach remains intimate and character-driven.
Each member of the eponymous patrol is, by their own admission, deeply messed up. They're not just imperfect; they're misfits and outcasts. Moreover, the show doesn't try to force them to instantly change for the better; quite the opposite. Doom Patrol understands that life is made up of failures, so the characters take one step forward, two steps back. For every step forward, there are many more failures, and it's heartbreaking to watch their struggle to accept themselves and their mistakes. In many ways, Doom Patrol is the best X-Men show ever made (not just because the original comic book team predates the Marvel group by a few months and they share a lot in common), because it focuses on outcasts, rejected by society, and how their abilities are essentially a curse.
The villains in Doom Patrol are typically created by the team itself, making the stakes and plots realistic and closely tied to character development. Take, for example, the climax of season three—the battle with the Brotherhood of Evil—which feels straight out of the ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Instead of a large-scale computer-generated battle, it's an introspective therapy session within the characters' subconscious that determines the fate of the world. One of the best scenes in the entire series involves Matt Bomer's Larry singing Kelly Clarkson's "People Like Us" at a cabaret on a sentient, gender-nonconforming, teleporting street named Danny.
There's no other superhero show quite like Doom Patrol, and that's what makes it special.
Doom Patrol remained genuine in its eccentricities.
The Doom Patrol members relax on the couch watching TV — HBO
There are plenty of superhero series, especially those that try to be weird and wacky. The Umbrella Academy captivated audiences with its dance routines; Loki experimented with alternate timelines to explore bizarre variations on its titular god of mischief.
The unique thing about Doom Patrol was that its strangeness always served the characters' interests. Each member of the patrol was an ordinary person until a tragic accident gave them special abilities. Much of the series focused on them realizing they weren't the biggest monsters on the planet, but rather that they were entering a much, much stranger world than they could have ever imagined. Through this strangeness, through incredibly bizarre situations and battles with everything from a talking gorilla to a monster with testicles, the patrol gradually began to accept and appreciate themselves.
The Arrowverse was initially almost shy of its comic book continuity, gradually introducing more cartoonish and fantastical elements; Marvel, meanwhile, only recently embraced the weirder aspects of its source material. Doom Patrol was different; it was clear from the start what it was. It was a show full of profanity and gore, but without the easy jokes or crutches of, say, The Boys. It often poked fun at the entire DC universe in ways that didn't feel like a simple mandate from above to keep the Patrol separate from the Justice League.
Marvel's Thunderbolts feels a lot like a response to Doom Patrol. That film took the lessons of that DC TV series and managed to tell a story that was simultaneously strange, emotional, and realistic. Doom Patrol may be gone, but its spirit lives on.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.