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Five Thoughts on Doom Patrol‘s “Tyme Patrol”

By | June 29th, 2020
Posted in Television | % Comments

We’re squeezing in (squeezing out?) an extra couple recaps of Doom Patrol this week due to its release schedule. Does the show’s second season pick up from last week’s installment? Spoiler: yes. It’s still a bit of a mixed bag and I certainly have some criticisms but overall “Tyme Patrol” is an improvement over the season opener, if only for featuring more “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer. Here’s five thoughts about “Tyme Patrol” and remember, as always, beware of spoilers.

1. What in the Doris Day IKEA Fuck?

There are a number of subplots going on in “Tyme Patrol” this week, to the point there is more than the actual plot involving The Terrible Doctor Tyme winds up playing second fiddle, or third or fourth. For Jane we continue what I shall heretofore refer to as her “Nugget” saga, because enough is enough and it’s time for a change. Much respect, admiration, and reverence to the late, great Owen Hart.

While Jane’s B-story with the underground and her flashback provide some well-crafted exposition, one of the more interesting beats is easily in the opening minutes. “Fun Size Patrol” already offered us an insight regarding the connection between Jane and Dorothy over their personalities/”imaginary friends,” but “Tyme Patrol” offers a second manifestation of Miss Darling. The character design here works well, seeming like something that would come from the overactive mind of a child, and the scene makes for a softly creepy interaction before she phases away through Jane’s ceiling.

2. T-Y-M-E with a Y because, why not?

While the main plot takes a backseat in this episode to the other threads being woven that isn’t to say it is not enjoyable. The Tyme capsule (we’re calling it that now) sequence, while fun and goofy, ultimately serves to reveal a disturbing truth about this series and, mainly, Chief. The team is dispatched to collect Tyme’s continuinium under the seemingly false pretenses both that the jive doctor is behaving maliciously, and that what turns out to be his head is a removable helmet. This does not go well.

What especially goes sideways–besides a brain sliding across the skating rink–is any good will the team was extending to Chief, as Cliff accuses him of sending them in the roles of assassins. This is further scored by Cliff’s final scene laying out his rage over his daughter being “expendable” in Chief’s eyes. Our big, silly tin man may be a ticking time-bomb walking up Dorothy’s brick road.

3. I Guess We’re a Bunch of Venn Diagrams, Aren’t We?

We also take a detour with Vic to learn a very valuable lesson about classism and policing. It’s a choice that in and of itself is not really odd, but the handling of it feels clunky and poorly executed. Vic attends a support group meeting where he pines for to the point of ogling a female attendee. After seemingly stalking her back to the bar she works at he comes up behind her unannounced and picks up a mug from the dishes she is cleaning. He also just stands with this same mug, wiping it off throughout the entire scene.

After some awkward conversation and onion rings the two part ways before a mugger attempts to attack Vic’s companion, and is struck down by her before Vic can even intervene. This leads to a hard conversation not well had after Vic tells her the police are on her way, to which she objects. The two debate how young boys like this in poverty-stricken areas are victims of a system that perpetuates criminality and disproportionally punishes those less privileged. It’s a discussion about real issues that feels forced and contrived, with each party representing an ethical polar opposite, even if it doesn’t really fit with their characters. All of this is also underscored by the “kid” they are discussing looking like a thirty-year-old man. I know Vic’s HUD states he’s sixteen but seriously, we’re expected to buy this is a teenager?

4. How Far Will You Go?

“Tyme Patrol” at its core is an episode about limits and where they lie. What would you be willing to do to care for your daughter? Would you humble yourself and your convictions to see the point of view of another person you hold an affinity towards? How much does revenge cost, and what is the currency exchange across countries? No one’s lines in the sand are set just yet but the question of location is certainly being asked here, a theme I hope to see continue throughout this season.

Continued below

5. Armageddon

One department “Tyme Patrol” does pick back up in is the humor. The bit with Herschel and Chief especially stands out with its bad knock-knock joke from a terrifyingly giant spider. Both Herschel and Darling are intriguing additions to the cast that are already netting laughs despite hardly appearing so far. “The Peking Noodle” also provides a chuckle as Cliff relives some debauchery in order for the time magic to work.

Comedy was one of the strongest personality traits Doom Patrol‘s first season had going for it and there was no expectation that would not be the case this time. But where the serious beats tended to work last season, the first episode felt too methodical and brooding, whereas “Tyme Patrol” is allowed to awkwardly breathe heavily in your ear, like that commuter on the train who stands just a little too close.

While this is so far shaping up to be much like season one in that it took a couple episodes to find its stride, this second episode was a step up and I much imagine by next week I’ll be as hooked in as I was last year.


//TAGS | Doom Patrol

Dexter Buschetelli

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