‘Doom Patrol’ Season 2 Episode 7 – “Dumb Patrol”

"Dumb Patrol"

Director: Jessica Lowrey

Writers: Tamara Becher-Wilkinson and Eric Dietel

Starring: Dianne Guerrero, April Bowlby, Joivan Wade, Matt Bomer, Brendan Fraser, Timothy Dalton, Abigail Shapiro, Stephanie Czajkowski, Karen Obilom, Mark Sheppard, Irene Ziegler, Tommy Snider, Bethany Anne Lind, Stephanie Czajkowski, Avis-Marie Barnes, Jhemma Ziegler, Hannah Aline, Shay Mack and Chelsea Rivero. With Riley Shanahan, Matthew Zuk and the voice of Lex Lang

Review by Steve J. Ray

In space, no-one can hear you scream, "WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU... !"

Last week we saw the Chief blow Cliff out of the air lock, after rescuing Dorothy from the moon. This time we see the - ahem - fallout from those events.

Here's WBTV's synopsis of "Dumb Patrol":

Miranda helps protect the Doom Patrol from some truly terrible ideas, after a mysterious package arrives at Doom Manor. Rita's visit with the Cloverton beekeeper leads her to confront her lingering mommy issues. While on his way back to the manor, Cliff ends up stuck on the side of the road - literally - while Niles heads north to find Dorothy's mother.

Bunch Of Idyats

No, that isn't a typo... I'm just being sneaky with my spoiler avoidance tactics.

This episode (surprise, surprise) is fantastic. Fans of Gerard Way's Doom Patrol Comics, (particularly 2017's issue #7) will know exactly what I'm talking about, even if they've only had scant time to pull out their back issues.

I love the way that this is episode 7, and it harkens back to issue #7. Clever? Silly? Coincidence? I don't care, as it's a hell of a nice touch, whatever the actual answer is.

Oh, and speaking of Gerard Way... fans of his will also get a huge kick out of a billboard featured at the top of the show, as will lovers of Kite Man and The Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man. Hell Yeah!

Willoughby Kipling Talks Out Of His @$$

Mark Sheppard's back... Yay! Honestly, I don't know why I'm cheering, as even though I'm a huge fan of the actor, and the character, Kipling is a bit of a bad news bear.

On the plus side, amongst the doom (sorry), gloom, omens and portents, there are still plenty of laughs to be had this week too. Willoughby's mask may be the butt of a few jokes, but the revelation of exactly what happened to Mr Nobody after season one ended is hilarious. I think that Alan Tudyk fans will get animated by the wonderful answer, as it's delivered by none other than the returning beard hunter (another Yay!). I could Harley believe it!

My Bees!

While most of the episode focuses on Larry, Vic, Roni, Miranda, and a special delivery; The Chief, Cliff, and Rita also have some great moments.

Niles returns to the Yukon to try and find Dorothy's mother, but ends up waxing lyrical with another friend entirely. Rita continues researching her character for the town players, and encounters a wise, if somewhat grumpy, beekeeper. I kid you not.

Conclusion

You know how I said last week that "Space Patrol" was my favorite episode from Doom Patrol, Season 2? Well, it was... but now this one is.

After you've seen "Dumb Patrol" you know that it would be a very bad idea to disagree with me, I may have to pound you into purple jelly if you try!

Images Courtesy of WBTV Distribution