Doom Patrol season 4, episodes 5 and 6 reviews: Youth Patrol and Hope Patrol

“And like everything else in this godforsaken universe, it all leads back to you lot.” Spoilers for Doom Patrol season 4, episodes 5 and 6 follow.

Larry tries to track down Keeg as Rita wakes up from unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, Willoughby brings to light the threat that faces the Doom Patrol. A threat they had no clue about.

Here’s what happened in Doom Patrol season 4 episodes 5 and 6.

Doom Patrol season 4 episodes 5 and 6 review

Youth Patrol

Willoughby does what he does and suddenly arrives to angrily have to deal with the Doom Patrol. If that sentence alone doesn’t bring you joy four seasons into this series, why are you still even watching the series? Thusly, he brings to light the threat of Immortus to the Doom Patrol. Turns out, Niles took part of the Immortus project, a.k.a. the attempt at immortality, and imparted that power across the members of the Doom Patrol. It’s a great example of how to properly use a retcon and to also explain something that has been a bit confusing for the majority of the show. It’s a retcon that matters, while also playing well into the story at hand, but also not dwelling on it.

Larry leaves to try and track down Keeg and gets knocked out by a mysterious man. Turns out, that mysterious man is named Mister 104, who Larry previously encountered in Doctor Janus’ machinations. Keeg has taken up residence in Mister 104’s body and won’t leave. Keeg shows Larry and Mister 104’s respective traumas at the hands of the Bureau of Normalcy and the show does a great job of highlighting the parallels of traumas that the two share with each other.

Rita wakes up, but she begins to look older than she used to be because, as it turns out, the immortality that Niles gave her was taken by Doctor Janus to give to Immortus. As a response to Rita noticing her age, she tries to use some untested Niles experiments, which leads to a de-aging spell being used on the Doom Patrol. This creates the trademark weirdness/drama combination that you’ve come to expect from the show and it does so very well, especially when it came to Rouge’s apology to Rita. It’s a brilliant scene with a phenomenal performance by Michelle Gomez.

Hope Patrol

Rama is saving Larry from having his longevity taken away. But it doesn’t matter as Keeg forces Larry to have it taken away regardless out of fear that he will cause the apocalypse that we saw earlier in the season. This very easily could’ve gone the most basic way with Larry fighting the entire way while his longevity was being drained. But, the episode doesn’t do that. It takes the harder route and has Larry anxiously let it happen, telling Keeg that he trusts him the entire time. It’s so well done and hits like a gut punch while its happening.

And then there’s Jane having to deal with her newfound mortality after her longevity is also taken away. This part of the episode highlights what has continuously been the best part of the show, Cliff and Jane’s friendship. It’s phenomenal and there’s one scene that hits incredibly hard. Jane telling Cliff, “I don’t know if I deserve to be loved,” is genuinely heartbreaking to hear, but it’s so satisfying to see Cliff immediately refute that. Hearing him tell her that she doesn’t get to choose  who loves her or not is so powerful as he reaches out with his right hand after taking his glove off so that he can feel her. It’s so sweet and kind and lovely and perfect for these two.

As for Rouge and Rita, they continue their mission to try and find out more information on the Immortus Project. This leads to Rita finally showing compassion for Rouge after their heart to heart, which is fantastic. April Bowlby kills it with her quiet fierceness in this scene. And seeing both of them confronting their past is fantastic and neither of them confront it well, with Rita even losing it as she thinks that she kills Wally, the man who killed her husband last season. This episode tries to do this with Vic and Derek too, but it doesn’t work as well. It’s not bad, but not as interesting just because there’s not as much interest in Derek.

Doom Patrol season 4 ends its first half on an incredibly high point with fantastic character work and a couple of the best scenes of the season.

All six episodes of episodes of Doom Patrol season 4 part 1 are now streaming on HBO Max.

What did you think of Doom Patrol season 4 part 1? Let us know in the comments below!