Doom Patrol “Tomb Patrol” Review

Season 4 Episode 10 – After believing she’s uncovered the source of Immortus’ power, Rouge tries to convince the Doom Patrol to help excise it.

Please note, our reviews are based on likes and dislikes. These contain significant spoilers. If you haven’t already watched the episode, we recommend that you click off the article and come back once you have watched the episode. Enjoy!

What I Liked

1. The episode opens with the Butt Hunter killing what he assumes to be the last werebutt. His relief turns to horror when Teddy, the talking zombie butt that Cliff accidentally let go appears with an army of butts to surround him. The talking butt tells him to find someone for them to which the Butt Hunter easily agrees to in exchange for his life.

2. Vic goes to his father to discuss whether or not he should be Cyborg again. He asks his father if he thinks he should be Cyborg again. Silas replies that while he was relieved that his son wouldn’t be risking his life, he is confused as to why he continued being a hero. Vic says he wanted to help people and he still does, showing him plans for a new and improved Cyborg.

3. Immortus arrives at the manor (while also pushing past Rouge to get inside). Instead of fighting Rouge, Immortus gives her an invitation for a one woman show that she plans to put on at the Cloverton Playhouse. She claims that it wasn’t okay to force everyone to love her, joking that she’s not Disney. A very confused Rouge says she’ll check with the team to see if they want to go and Immortus leaves.

4. Mr. 104 finds Larry, who is digging his own grave. Mr. 104 explains that since his body is becoming unstable, he plans to find out where he came from and then turn himself into a block of lead for the rest of his life. Larry refuses to come with him, saying he needs to do what’s best for Keeg and curses him for giving him false hope before storming off.

5. Jane is able to put a few pieces of the puzzle together. Unfortunately, when she tries forcing some of the pieces together, she ends up back in the Underground, where all the other personalities have turned to dust. She starts to have memories of Kay’s father raping her and hears the other personalities demanding that she “Say it.” Cliff snaps her out of her vision and asks her if she wants to drive with him to Florida. She initially refuses but is swayed when he offers to help her blow up some toilets with M-80s.

6. Rouge calls a team meeting where she reveals that the necklace that Niles wore for his longevity was really a skin tag on the back of Immortus’ neck and the source of her power. She suggests they go to her one woman show to steal it from her. The Doom Patrol refuses as they don’t want to risk dying while fighting her, leaving Rouge to go the show by herself.

7. Vic and his father go over the Cyborg plans. Vic expresses his reluctance as he doesn’t want to go through the same turmoil he did when he was Cyborg. Silas reassures his son that he only lost himself because his mother had just died and he wasn’t a better. Vic decides to ultimately get his tech back and the two share a warm hug before getting to work.

8. On the way to Florida, Jane becomes annoyed with Cliff’s slow driving. Cliff expresses his frustration at him missing out on his chance with his daughter and grandson. Jane replies that if he wants to see them he needs to drive faster. When Cliff does so, his foot becomes stuck to the gas and they nearly crash. Jane insists on driving instead in response.

9. Rouge sits through Immortus’ one woman show, which is nothing more than a vain and shallow story about her life that lacks any self-awareness. The audience is confused by her show, saying the title character isn’t very likable and how the plot makes no sense. When Immortus asks if they think it’s ready to open tonight, the audience bursts into laughter. Furious at the lack of respect and admiration, she makes them all disappear except Rouge, who is only able to escape her wrath by praising her show.

10. While driving, Jane keeps hearing the other personalities in her head repeating the words “Say it.” Jane nearly crashes as well and tells Cliff that she may have dementia. Cliff puts his hand on her shoulder, only for her to imagine him as her cruel father, which causes them to almost crash again. The two then call it quits and just go home.

11. Rouge vents about her problems to Immortus, saying sometimes she actually misses the Brotherhood of Evil, as they at least accepted her. This gives Immortus the idea to force everyone to fear her instead and take over the world as a supervillain. She offers Rouge the opportunity to become her assistant much to her confusion.

12. Larry sits down with Rita at the dinner table. The two have a heart to heart about their upcoming demise. Larry is angered by Rita trying to look at the positives while Rita expresses her anger at him for voting against her as team leader. She states that she wanted to be team leader to hold the family together like Niles did and she doesn’t have someone in her life like the others do. All she wanted was someone to step up for her and is heartbroken that she couldn’t even get that.

13. After the team shares a warm and tender moment together, Rita suggests that they defend Rouge from Immortus at the theater. The team is still reluctant, but when Rita collapses from her advanced age, the remaining three members decide to go to the theater to get the longevity in a last ditch effort to save her.

14. Rouge and Immortus go over their possible plans to take over the world. Immortus thanks Rouge for accepting her as a supervillain and inadvertently exposes her skin tag with the longevity. Desperate to do the right thing and realizing that joining Immortus is what causes her to be absent in the bleak future, Rouge refuses Immortus’ offer and tries to cut off her skin tag, only to be stopped by her powers.

15. Larry, Cliff and Jane arrive outside the Cloverton Playhouse, where they find the entire town abandoned with all of the residents having been turned into werebutts by Teddy, who soon arrives to sic his army on the three of them. Just when it seems like they are done for, Vic is able to incapacitate them, with him fully being Cyborg once more. The team is elated to see him as a superhero once again, with Cliff even saying “BB-8’s back!”

16. The team become outnumbered when more butts arrive. They retreat into the theater and find Immortus getting ready to kill Rouge. She decides to give the team a fate worse than death by trapping them in the time stream and conjures up a portal which she throws them into as the episode ends.

What I Disliked

1. Where did Dorothy and Casey go? They just disappeared and nobody even brings them up. I have no idea if the writers just couldn’t think of a way to include them or if the actors were unavailable, but I wish there was at least a line that explained their absence.

2. I normally go along with the weirdness of this show but even I have to admit it’s very hard to take the storyline with Dr. Yu and her relationship with the talking butt Nicholas seriously. Maybe I’d be able to go along with it if we saw the two throughout the season more, but with how they only appeared in flashbacks during the second episode of this season, this felt very out of left field and not in a good way.

Favorite Moment

The moment in which the Doom Patrol sit down and reminisce about what they’ve gone through was such a heartbreaking yet powerful scene. These four have gone through so much over the past four seasons and always managed to get out okay. Seeing how this might just be the end for them is so sad. However, I love how they look back fondly on their insane adventures. While this is happening, the puzzle in Jane’s room actually starts to come together on its own. The moment in which Rita says “If only Niles could see us now.” and Jane jokingly replying “We can’t. We ate him.” which causes everyone to burst into laughter had me in tears. This is easily my favorite scene in the entire season and I’m very curious if the final two episodes will have a scene that tops it.

Standout Character

I have to give the MVP award to Vic this week. At this point I honestly wasn’t sure if he was gonna be Cyborg again. During the season he was very opposed to getting his tech back so I just assumed that he would stay normal. When we finally do see him as Cyborg again, it was such a rewarding moment. It’s not the fact that he become Cyborg again that makes it work but more because he chose to. Becoming Cyborg was a choice that was originally forced on him. Seeing him actually get to make that choice and talk with his father was so satisfying. I’m glad Vic’s arc finally came full circle. Booyah.

Verdict

While this is definitely a setup episode to the big finale, it is still phenomenal as always. The urgency needed for our characters to stop the apocalypse is reinforced as they deal with their advanced age finally catching up with them. What the episode does best is make you feel really sad for our heroes. Not only is the show ending soon, but the Doom Patrol almost feel like they themselves are saying goodbye to us. Only two episodes left. Let’s see where this goes.

Rating 10/10