Viewing Review: Doom Patrol Episode 15

This post contains spoilers for ‘Ezekiel Patrol’, the final episode for DOOM PATROL’s first season. Let the narration begin.

Who is Ezekiel? If you remember a few episodes back, Ezekiel is the talking cockroach spouting doomsday forecasts. He appears in this episode along with Admiral Whiskers to form a trinity coined by Mr. Nobody as the ‘Brotherhood of Dangerous Animals’. They were to bring death and destruction upon humanity aside from getting revenge on Niles Caulder, something Mr. Nobody can’t seem to get enough. What of the Doom Patrol themselves after last episode? They decide to abandon Niles, and Mr. Nobody does them a favor by sending everyone back to their earthly dimension away from the White Space. Mr. Nobody had gotten what he wanted: revenge on Niles Caulder by destroying all his worldly relationships. Or so he thought.

Six months later, he teams up with the aforementioned cockroach and rat to exact final revenge on The Chief by targeting his daughter. So, we also find out that Niles has a daughter who is actually in hiding on Danny the Street. As a result, Mr. Nobody and his newfound comrades Ezekiel and Admiral Whiskers capture Danny the Street along with Niles’s daughter. This is his last stroke of revenge on a person he despises so much. Or so he thought again. Later we find out that he, Danny and the rest of the ‘Brotherhood of Dangerous Animals’ are trapped in a painting caused by Niles’s daughter. She also transforms Ezekiel and Admiral Whiskers into giant versions of themselves causing a rampage on Danny the Street. I’m loving the Kaiju(Guillermo del Toro) and Godzilla references in this episode when talking about the giant Ezekiel and Admiral Whiskers. Is it coincidence that the Godzilla movie is coming out next week?

Where are the Doom Patrol while this is all happening? They have left The Chief to live alone in Doom Manor while they take on their own lives separate from him. Larry and Rita are living together, while Cliff visits Crazy Jane who lives in an abandoned school bus to give her food. Larry has some un-bonding moments with his negative energy self to allow it to roam. Rita tries and fails miserably as an acting teacher. Crazy Jane gets an opiate from Joshua Clay to numb her emotions, which also fails miserably. She does get cold treats from Cliff though, so that has to count for something.

Also, we get some flashbacks involving Niles Caulder which include Joshua Clay. Here we discover The Chief’s darkest secrets. He was actually part of the Ant Farm. The Doom Patrol were part of what he calls the Immortus Initiative. He worked with Foresythe. This all confirms his confession previously that he had everything to do with the current state of the Doom Patrol. However, he explains to them as they all make their way back to Doom Manor via a Chumbawanba song sent out by Danny in the painting. Niles says that he did all the experimentation to them in order to take care of his daughter. A daughter he now reveals is captured by Mr. Nobody in the painting. Niles asks for help from the Doom Patrol to rescue his daughter.

No choice, right? The group decides to do it for The Chief’s daughter and not for him. So, into the painting they go. This painting scenario is once again another Grant Morrison reference taken out of the pages of the Doom Patrol comic books. When they arrive inside, they find the source of the music is the Beard Hunter who is singing in the pub. Additionally, they find out that Mr. Nobody has been upstaged by Niles’s daughter. Apparently, she can alter reality and is the reason why we have a giant rat and cockroach roaming Danny’s streets. Fortunately, Flex was able to transport all Dannyzens before the rampage occurred. Everybody is trapped in this painting thanks to the leanings of a The Chief’s little girl. The Doom Patrol now scramble to find her. This is where it gets funky. Mr. Nobody loses all confidence in his powers, and it takes Rita to convince him to help them all out. He then uses his narrative power ability to create a scenario that’ll save everybody from this painting. Part of the plan is finding an exit. Larry’s negative energy form finds it, and later Larry uses his irradiated hands to open the portal later.

There’s still a problem. The intense radiation from the portal will kill the Doom Patrol except for Larry. So, everyone had to get swallowed whole by Ezekiel (the cockroach) to protect them from the radiation to get back home. This is hilarious. What’s even funnier is that Cliff had already been swallowed by Admiral Whiskers. Then it gets weirder. Mr. Nobody, in order to make sure Cliff makes it out alive, narrates a scenario where Ezekiel and Admiral Whiskers, I believe, French kiss allowing Cliff to run along Admiral Whiskers’ tongue into Ezekiel. That’s right: a giant cockroach French kissing a giant rat. I cannot unsee this in my head, and now you can’t too!

While this is all happening, Crazy Jane and The Chief find Niles’s daughter. Here we have the revelation of a new character: Dorothy Spinner. This is The Chief’s daughter, a Paul Kupperberg creation during the Doom Patrol’s second comic book series. This is a powerful character with reality altering abilities. And it appears that her powers are far more overwhelming than Mr. Nobody realized. With Dorothy in hand, all is set for everybody’s escape.

To escape the painting, Larry activates the portal with his unbandaged hands, and Danny the Street makes the trip back along with Ezekiel (and everybody inside him). Good for the Doom Patrol. Bad for Mr. Nobody and the Beard Hunter. In the middle of his narration, Mr. Nobody realizes too late that he made no narration for him and Beard Hunter to escape the painting. The two remain trapped in the painting as everyone else escapes via the portal.

But, it isn’t so cut and dry for the Doom Patrol. First, Vic had to blast Ezekiel in order for them to escape his body. Second, Ezekiel gets transported back in his normal cockroach size. Second, Ezekiel gets transported back in his normal cockroach size. That means, everybody is miniaturized including Danny the Street who gets transported back as a brick. That brick transformation is dead pan humor at its finest. Of course, Larry gets transported back in his normal size, and he discovers everybody in their shrunk size. What happens next? How will these characters get back to normal size? We’ll just have to wait and see next season. For now, that is the end of the narration(Ha!).

‘Ezekiel Patrol’ is the last episode of DOOM PATROL’s first season. Consistent with the entire series, it is weird, it is funny, and it is dark. Secrets are revealed, and the motivations for actions taken become clearer. ‘Ezekiel Patrol’ introduces probably the team’s most powerful character. We get a glimpse of what this character can do, and it’s something to look forward to in the next season. DOOM PATROL is a breath of fresh air on how comic book series are written. If you take it too seriously, then you’re missing the point. That’s not to say DOOM PATROL doesn’t tackle serious issues. There is no comic book series that is as self aware of its voice than DOOM PATROL. With the first season done, there is still a lot more story DOOM PATROL has to offer. This is a beautiful series. It’s not too late to join the narration.