Season 3 Episode 4 – The newly “undead” members of the Doom Patrol are inspired to work on themselves. Later, the team is rocked by the arrival of a mysterious woman on a time machine – and a former foe.
What I Liked
1. The episode opens with Kipling resurrecting the severed head of Niles. It is a very creepy scene as the Chief’s head is still lifeless with only a speaker in his mouth to confirm that he is still functioning.
2. We quickly find out that Kipling only resurrected Niles so the latter could put in a good word for him with Baphomet, the horse head ghost whom Kipling has feelings for.
3. At the manor, the team is introduced to Madame Rouge, who has amnesia and does not remember who she is. Michelle Gomez is already incredible in the role and effortlessly fits in with the other characters and their antics.
4. Due to being puked on in the previous episode by a demon in the underworld, the group is slowly turning into zombies with their flesh starting to rot and their hair starting to fall off. It is definitely one of the most disturbing moments from the entire show.
5. Vic discovers that his father had the opportunity to make him look normal before turning him into Cyborg. This is a very shocking scene as Vic is rightfully angry when discovering this. It will be very interesting to see if this becomes a major story during the season.
6. Jane has built a model of Niles (whom Cliff refers to as a “creepy Bob Ross”) and is convinced by Cliff to talk to it in order to get closure. Even though Cliff hated Niles, it is still very kind of him to be sympathetic towards Jane who is slowly starting to show that she is not okay with the Chief’s death.
7. We get our first look at the Sisterhood of Dada when Rita and Madame Rouge discover that the key Niles gave opens a compartment with information on them.
8. After the group is turned into zombies and Kipling arrives, we see that the team is still able to be themselves despite becoming flesh eating monsters. The fact that we see them speak in a zombie-type language is one of the funniest moments from the entire series.
9. Darren Jones returns and has stolen the head of Niles. Like the audience, the group (while zombified) could not care less about his pathetic rant of how he lost his job and family.
10. We discover that Darren was turned into a butt monster after the team escaped the Bureau of Normalcy’s headquarters. It is as bizarre and hilarious as it sounds.
11. Niles has one final goodbye with Kipling after he volunteers to have his head eaten by the team so they can return to normal. It is surprisingly emotional for a character as gruff as Kipling.
12. Before Niles gives himself up to be eaten, he is shown to have a seething hatred for Madame Rouge and shows nothing but disdain towards her despite her not understanding why at the moment. It will be very intriguing to discover who she truly is as the season goes on.
13. Niles is able to say goodbye to a zombified but still emotional Jane, and is able to admit his love for her before he is feasted on by her and the rest of the team. Timothy Dalton just absolutely sells this scene despite the fact that we are only hearing his voice.
14. Jane burning the model of Niles before repeating his final words to her saying “eat me” is a giant gut punch of a scene as while Jane is getting some closure, she still is at a loss and not even close to being at peace.
15. Larry is now pregnant with some sort of negative spirit baby. This should be interesting.
16. Cliff discovers an online pharmacy that doesn’t require any kind of prescriptions. Whether this will lead to trouble or just hilarious antics is anyone’s guess, but it definitely isn’t good for Cliff.
17. Rita extends an olive branch to Madame Rouge by offering her cookies in her distressed state. It is very sweet of Rita to show kindness to a person who she barely knows but no doubt has some sort of history with.
18. Before leaving with Rita, Madame Rouge discovers her in the same film that she herself is in, confirming some sort of history between the two.
19. We get a hilarious, but nonetheless ominous post credits scene of Darren’s butt monster form running into town on the search for brains, confirming that he was turned into a zombie.
What I Disliked
Nothing to report this week.
Favourite Moment
The moment in which the zombified team and Kipling have a massive fight against the pack of butt monsters that were summoned by Darren was incredible. It is violent, disgusting, hilarious and everything you would want to see in a scene like this.
Standout Character
The standout character for me this week has to be Niles. While his voice was the only thing we could get from his disembodied head, it still felt that the Chief was there. Timothy Dalton showcases just how great of an actor he is by making us believe that the Chief was still alive as this lifeless head. I refuse to rule out Niles returning once again if we can go as far as seeing his disembodied head come to life.
Verdict
This was a fantastic installment of the series and might just be my favorite episode from the season so far. The creepy but still hilarious story of the characters as zombies worked perfectly and the episode served as a great proper introduction to Madame Rouge as well as a somewhat final goodbye to Timothy Dalton as Niles Caulder.
Rating 10/10
Ratings
Story - 10
Action - 10
Characters - 10
Entertainment - 10
10
PERFECT!
This was a fantastic installment of the series and might just be my favorite episode from the season so far. The creepy but still hilarious story of the characters as zombies worked perfectly and the episode served as a great proper introduction to Madame Rouge as well as a somewhat final goodbye to Timothy Dalton as Niles Caulder.
