I had no idea Doom Patrol was this good! A show I've just never bothered watching until now, and I don't even really know why. I didn't hear much about it when it released. I didn't see much discussion online regarding it. It felt like it generally received low marketing as well despite being so highly appreciated by critics. Now, that review score is one of the reasons that I decided to take the leap and jump into the show, I was intrigued. Another thing is that it's nice to see Brendan Fraser back into acting, a few shows and feature films here and there lately, and he's always a pleasure to watch. I wasn't sure what I expected when I jumped into it though, there was never really any trailers that I saw, nor clips. And even before watching this, I still didn't see any trailers to get even a brief idea of how it looked visually or what the narrative was about. It came to my surprise how gritty it was, how well made it was. Being such a beautifully crafted show with a more serious set of tragedies to it. A greater surprise is that this came about in a very rocky environment for not only film and television, but also the superhero genre itself.
Though this doesn't feel like it's something superhero related so far, it feels more like a realistic interpretation of something surrounding strange magical abilities that people somehow end up obtaining. And each of these individuals getting their ability from strange near-death experiences. Events that should've killed them, though something ended up interrupting an action of theirs, either causing the accident in the first place or giving them a strange ability that led to their survival.
My initial assumptions based on the setup is that this is quite similar to the concept of the X-Men so far. There's a group of outcasts that have been subjected to terribly strange conditions that have led them to becoming more feared in public than appreciated, with one central leader that seems to understand them and keep them in check. They spend their time together, forming a stronger community in which they actually feel more connected to something for once. For the most part, we see the perspective of Robotman, and he's pretty much what his name suggests. His tragic backstory being that he survived a horrific car crash to which his brain was placed into a robot body. Other characters introduced so far suggest similar unfortunate outcomes: Rita Farr being a great Hollywood success back in the nuclear 1950s, suddenly disappearing from the spotlight after an event leads her body to suddenly melt and turn into a weird jelly-type state. It's something she can't control, and leads to some rather embarrassing moments; something a Hollywood star would easily struggle to adapt to.
I like that there are a few different characters each with their own personal struggles, and I guess at this point if you know much about the X-Men, you'll see the similarities here. I was surprised at the attention to detail regarding the cinematography, the show is incredibly beautiful and clearly had quite a strong budget backing it. The only cheap looking moments being rather special effects heavy. Intense moments of action featuring explosions and destruction. But I think the rest of the show looks so visually pleasing that it's quite easy to brush that aside. I suspect that over time it'll go deeper into their stories and handle them in a more human manner, bridging the regular lifestyle of an average person with the struggles of someone that has effectively died and been revived with powers. And I like that how those powers are distributed means people suffering ill-fate throughout different periods of time, not all at once. I think that adds a bit more mystery to things.
I am pleasantly surprised so far. I still have little idea as to what this has to do with the comics side of things. But so far the quality in cast, acting, visuals, and story has been great. Incredibly engaging.
