Doom Patrol beat the Warner Bros. Discovery chopping-block odds (at least for now), which makes the DC misfit superheroes almost as lucky as Harley Quinn and Joker. In the show, however, they aren’t feeling too fortunate, largely because of how they became “heroes” (largely born through trauma). Season 4 will soon arrive with the principal cast intact, which means that you’ll soon see a bunch of dancing butts along with an in-the-flesh version of Cliff Steele. That Brendan Fraser character is incredibly layered, and that’s easy to overlook like Fraser’s voice spews profanity and frustration everywhere. However, it’s time to revisit where Season 3 ended, so you’re ready to dig into more impending “doom.”
The Season 4 trailer promised a new big bad on the horizon, but Season 3 was all about vanquishing the Brotherhood of Evil. The end result of this was that the misfits realized that they really could save the world (as heroes), something that one would have never expected from the likes of Crazy Jane, at least when we first met her years ago with all of her troublesome personalities bubbling to the surface.
Speaking of Jane, the finale saw her still attempting to tame all of those aliases, so that maybe a primary could surface and not throw everything out of whack. And of course, this wouldn’t be Doom Patrol without a profane display that’s so absurd that one marvels at the show’s glorious audacity. This is, after all, a series that previously put everyone into an orgasmic state, to the point where Fraser grew even more frustrated than usual that he had to fake it. In the Season 3 finale, however, the show upped the ante by placing the world’s fate in the hand of demonic set of testicles, which led to a showdown at the Suez Canal.
In the end, the world survived, although this might not remain the case. The Doom gang will pick up with Michelle Gomez as Madame Rouge, who may or may not figure as a member. We will definitely, however, see the return of April Bowlby as Elasi-Girl, Jovian Wade as Cyborg, and Matt Bomer as Negative Man. There will be some form of time shenanigans and maybe the heroes confronting their pasts, which should either bode well or horribly for the future.
Interestingly enough, Brendan Fraser’s character took quite a turn (his disembodied brain ended up inside of a different, larger robot) in the Season 3 finale, and TV Line spoke to showrunner Jeremy Carver about where this could lead:
“Cliff’s [previous] robot body was damaged, but I don’t know if I’d say it was officially squished,” Carver says. “For us, this was a fun opportunity to take Cliff’s small problems and extend them times 100. Now he’s an even more massive version of himself that he hates, which was interesting for us to explore. We’re excited to take this trip and to see where it leads us by the end of Season 4.”
Man, those existential issues are not going away for Cliff Steele. Speaking of which, this role gives Fraser a chance to really stretch his abilities to be both tragic and funny, and although we mostly don’t see him onscreen, his voice work is so incredible that you always know that he’s there. In fact, this performance should earn as many accolades as Oscar fare as The Whale, in which he plays 600-pound man, will have to offer. Fingers crossed!
We’ll find out soon how the Doom gang continues to process all of the terrible things that happen to them and in their universe. Season 4 debuts on December 8, likely with three initial episodes and weekly single-episode releases, so we’ll soon see their in-progress, collective-therapy existence in motion.