Doom Patrol: Vacay Patrol
September 24, 2021 8:14 AM - Season 3, Episode 2 - Subscribe
Our heroes head to a resort (that's seen better days) in search of a recharge, unaware that a threat is waiting for them there...and has been waiting for a really, really, *really,* REALLY long time.
To be continued!
To be continued!
Loved this episode! I absolutely love episodes which concentrate on bouncing the various characters off of each other. I loved Jane calling Rita “sack” throughout. Loved the dance routine to “Forever Young.” Loved Garguax the Decimator’s journey from world-ending threat to gentleman of leisure. (Though I have to say I’m not sure why he was assigned to kill Rita, and why he was sent there to do it?)
My favorite bit of the episode, though, was the characters taking stock of what they’re actually even doing here. It was bracing for Jane to point out that just because they’re a group of metahumans who happen to have saved the world more than a few times, that doesn’t mean they’re a superhero team. Last season’s arc of Rita being inspired by Cyborg’s gung-ho heroism to try to help people as the Beekeeper has a great fizzle here, as Rita “realizes” she doesn’t have what it takes to help anyone, let alone herself. Which leads to the wonderful parallel of Garguax, who has been on this mission so long that it’s lost all meaning, coming face to face with his target and realizing there’s no point killing her, as she’s just a sad, self-loathing person whose life was ruined by Niles Caulder, like him. And similarly, for the team to realize that the aliens with the threatening diegetic theme music are not worth doing anything about, as they’ve spent the last 70 years not hurting anybody. (This episode scores high on the “maudlin” axis, but also very decently on the “wacky” axis.)
When Cyborg was warning Cliff not to climb the Backbone, I was really hoping for Cliff to point out that he fell to Earth from space and was mostly fine.
posted by ejs at 10:42 AM on September 26, 2021
My favorite bit of the episode, though, was the characters taking stock of what they’re actually even doing here. It was bracing for Jane to point out that just because they’re a group of metahumans who happen to have saved the world more than a few times, that doesn’t mean they’re a superhero team. Last season’s arc of Rita being inspired by Cyborg’s gung-ho heroism to try to help people as the Beekeeper has a great fizzle here, as Rita “realizes” she doesn’t have what it takes to help anyone, let alone herself. Which leads to the wonderful parallel of Garguax, who has been on this mission so long that it’s lost all meaning, coming face to face with his target and realizing there’s no point killing her, as she’s just a sad, self-loathing person whose life was ruined by Niles Caulder, like him. And similarly, for the team to realize that the aliens with the threatening diegetic theme music are not worth doing anything about, as they’ve spent the last 70 years not hurting anybody. (This episode scores high on the “maudlin” axis, but also very decently on the “wacky” axis.)
When Cyborg was warning Cliff not to climb the Backbone, I was really hoping for Cliff to point out that he fell to Earth from space and was mostly fine.
posted by ejs at 10:42 AM on September 26, 2021
I was happy I picked out Billy Boyd from under the makeup before the credits ran.
One of the things I like about Doom Patrol is how it just sort of tucks into DC's TV continuum - Cyborg is here, but he's not the same Cyborg as in the Justice League or in the Berlantiverse, and that's _ok_.
posted by Kyol at 5:50 PM on September 26, 2021
One of the things I like about Doom Patrol is how it just sort of tucks into DC's TV continuum - Cyborg is here, but he's not the same Cyborg as in the Justice League or in the Berlantiverse, and that's _ok_.
posted by Kyol at 5:50 PM on September 26, 2021
The sack sitting at the dinner table with some tubing connected to the scorpion bowl is like a $2 prop and it made me laugh and laugh.
Somebody smarter than me could have a lot to say about Vic and Cliff’s differing relationships to their bodies and prosthetics and assistive technology.
Moreso even than most episodes of this show, I would pay a non-zero amount of money to watch someone who’s never heard of Doom Patrol watch this episode and try to explain what their deal could possibly be.
posted by jameaterblues at 9:37 PM on September 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Somebody smarter than me could have a lot to say about Vic and Cliff’s differing relationships to their bodies and prosthetics and assistive technology.
Moreso even than most episodes of this show, I would pay a non-zero amount of money to watch someone who’s never heard of Doom Patrol watch this episode and try to explain what their deal could possibly be.
posted by jameaterblues at 9:37 PM on September 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Amusing note on the captioning: when the massive glowing weapon was visible, the subtitles read "[canon charging]". Usually, I'd think that was a typo for cannon. In this show, it might not be.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:21 PM on September 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Pronoiac at 11:21 PM on September 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
Missy is here! Alright! My head canon that this all takes place inside Dr. Who continues to pay dividends!
posted by bleep at 10:32 AM on October 8, 2021
posted by bleep at 10:32 AM on October 8, 2021
Loved the long pause at the dinner table when the guests mull over whether Garguax the Decimator is their kind of people.
posted by joeyh at 6:21 PM on October 8, 2021
posted by joeyh at 6:21 PM on October 8, 2021
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by cendawanita at 12:50 PM on September 25, 2021 [2 favorites]