Doom Patrol season 3, episode 7 review: Bird Patrol

“If numbers were the only thing that mattered around here, you’d be running the place by now.” Spoilers for Doom Patrol season 3, episode 7 follow.

The Sisterhood of Dada begins the eternal flagellation with the Doom Patrol being none the wiser to it starting.

Instead of doing anything to counteract the Sisterhood, though, the team is struggling to handle their own problems.

Here’s everything that went down in Doom Patrol season 3, episode 7 “Dada Patrol”.

The eternal flagellation

After several episodes of build-up, we are finally at the release of the eternal flagellation. Even though that’s the case though, it’s still not really clear as to what it actually is. It’s a giant egg, that hatches into a weird moth/face thing, that is also the Rita’s husband after they time travelled? We’ll more than likely learn exactly what it’s supposed to be in the upcoming episodes, but as of right now? As of right now, it just feels like it’s weird for the sake of weird.

As for seeing more of the Sisterhood of Dada in the past, this is when we really get to see the cracks beginning to form. The sudden jump of about 30 years from the previous episode really hammers home the fact that nothing ever stays the same. Seeing the Sisterhood, and Laura, go from the happy, fun people they were to who they are in this one? It really makes sense as to why they would want to do something to change the world the way that they are. And once they’re betrayed by Laura, that’s the last nail in the coffin as to why they are the way they are.

However, despite bringing the eternal flagellation to the forefront, the entire episode feels completely disjointed. This has been a problem for the season thus far, but it feels very apparent here. The Doom Patrol barely even acknowledges the eternal flagellation until the final few minutes of the episode despite the fact that they know it’s coming because they’re literally told about it. Usually, when the Doom Patrol are inactive protagonists, it’s funny, but here it’s just frustrating.

New skin

One of things that the Doom Patrol is doing in this episode instead of preparing for their inevitable confrontation with the Sisterhood of Dada is getting rid of something that makes them who they are, at least in Cyborg’s case. After what seems like forever of Vic trying to decide whether or not he even wants to be Cyborg or not, he makes the decision to get rid of his cybernetics.

However, before he goes through with it, he decides to have a talk with Ronnie who tries to convince him not to go through with it. This entire conversation is basically her telling Vic that our scars are what makes us who we are, albeit in a really weird way with a lot metaphors that really gel completely to the situation at hand.

Addicts

As for Cliff and Jane in this episode, Cliff has to deal with the fact that he sold off Jane’s collections in order to pay for stuff like the addict that he is. Unsurprisingly, she doesn’t take this well and drops him off at his daughter’s doorstep. Nothing new is really done with this though. He’s trying to pretend like he’s fine when he definitely isn’t, which is what’s been happening all season anyway. It just felt like filler.

As for Larry, he coughs up a larvae which is apparently a parasite from his trip into space? It’s really impossible to tell what’s going on with him this season. It’s like the writer’s room has no idea what to do with the character and is just trying to throw weird stuff at the wall to see what sticks.

Despite having strong scenes set in the past, Doom Patrol season 3, episode 7 just feels so disjointed. Hopefully it gains focus for the final few episodes of the season.

Doom Patrol season 3 releases new episodes on HBO Max on Thursdays.

What did you think of Doom Patrol season 3, episode 7? Let us know in the comments below!