Well, this is it. Season three of Doom Patrol had its finale yesterday, and we’re here to discuss everything about it. A lot happened, so let’s start from the beginning, shall we?
At the end of the previous episode, the Doom bus crashed thanks to Kay’s newly discovered powers and Keeg’s explosion. Rita’s stretched across the road, Jane is unconscious, Keeg is wounded and dying, and there’s not a thing to do about it. Fortunately, the Fog comes to the rescue. We didn’t how what was going to happen with the Sisterhood after the Eternal Flagellation. Their job was done, but it still seemed like there was so much to do with them. The show even seemed to agree, as she takes everyone except ‘’Bendy’’ to the Doom Manor and reunites Jane with the other alters and rekindling their romance. It was a cute moment, and it’s great to know they’re not leaving it behind just because that storyline ended.
Meanwhile, Mallah, whose job was to discard Cliff’s brain and Madame Rouge, lets them live and decides to part ways with the Brain to live a peaceful life. Inadvertently, he gives her the idea to use the giant robot we saw back in season one, which was also dumped in that same place, to exact her revenge. Which she somewhat gets, partially destroying Cliff’s body, leaving the Brain to crawl and hide. However, in her way to do the same to the Doom Patrol, Cliff takes control of the giant robot and tries to talk her out of it, planting in her mind the possibility that she might not be as irremediably bad as she thinks she is. Madame Rouge’s desire to be good is something we’ve seen throughout the whole season. When she recovered her memory, being evil felt like the only thing to do because there wasn’t any other path in her eyes.
One person whose path was particularly unclear was Rita. Even the Brain, after she reaches the Brotherhood hideout, tells her that he can notice she’s been walking the line between right and wrong. This is what ultimately helps her realize just how much she had fallen into her despair. So as she says while throwing boiling water into the Brain’s brain, ‘’I am motivated by love.’’ thus prioritizing her friends and the memory of her boyfriend instead of her revenge. This, coupled with her development during the past with the Sisterhood alone, marks a gigantic step for her. But there’s even more to it when you count what the rest of the Doom Patrol is doing.
Cliff apologizes to her daughter and even recovers the things from his roommates he sold on the internet. But the same problems he has been having since season two continue, and the robot goes out of control towards Cloverton. Larry tries to help after merging with Keeg in a briefly heroic moment where he realizes he doesn’t have as much control over his powers as he thinks. However, the merging still indicates a prominent equilibrium absent before. Flit manages to teleport inside the robot, where Jane tries to stop it without success. They have a tender moment that further explores their bond as Cliff thanks her for always putting up with her, and Janes proceeds to hug him.
However, in what feels like the culmination of three seasons, twenty-nine episodes, and a lot of suffering, Rita gets ahold of her powers. As if it was a page from the comics, she grows even taller than Cliff and stops him in a beautiful callback to the pilot when Cliff says he ‘’Wants to go home,’’ to which Rita answers, ‘’We can do that’’.
That brings us to the end of the episode, the end of the season. The doomies now have decided: maybe they actually can be a superhero team. Or at least just a group of people trying to do good. We don’t know what changes we might encounter next season; Cliff is still in the giant robot, Jane is fighting with Dr. Harrison to be the primary, Vic no longer has superpowers, and Rouge sticks with them in an attempt of redemption. However, I think everyone watching Doom Patrol trusts these writers in whatever they decide to do. Besides, this time is different. The people who followed Doom Patrol since its announcement, or even since season two, must remember the wait and uncertainty regarding the renewal after each finale. There’s no show like Doom Patrol, and the fact that it has three seasons is an amazing achievement in itself, but this time we had confirmation that there’s a fourth season in the works almost a month before the season three finale. I think that’s worth cheering for. The season might have ended, and the reviews with it. But GateCrashers will be back with more Doom Patrol coverage next season (or maybe even before!).