One thing you have to give the Doom Patrol series credit for is that they’re willing to take risks. It’s already a really weird show about a very obscure group of DC characters. Then they add in some of the oddest parts of Doom Patrol canon from the comics, and manage to make things even weirder as a general rule. For this episode, they veer off in another direction entirely, as none of the main cast even show up while they parody some characters from another company. The Doom Patrol gets a break as the story shifts elsewhere in “Casey Patrol.”

The show opens with a weird animated sequence that is most definitely based on a few characters from Marvel. This sets up some of the major conflict for the episode, and then leads to a scene from a while back when Dorothy and a few of her special friends, aided by the Dead Boy Detectives, captures an artefact that was very important to the late Chief. She ends up expressing a nice enough sentiment that somehow seems at odds with most of what we’ve seen on the series as a whole.

Next up, we see some of the Danny-zens, residents of the Danny the Street, dealing with some local bias and prejudice. As the Danny-zens flee, we see the current version of Danny, a sort of magic, peace-niked-up ambulance with a hidden passage to where they’re actually living. Maura and Danny are happy to welcome more people, but share a private conversation where they’re both worried about capacity and limits. Elsewhere, Dorothy is clearly not happy, and starting to act like a moody teen. Considering she’s over 100 years old, I guess you could say that’s a long time coming. Danny tries to cheer her up, but anyone who has parented a teen knows how well that’s going to go.

Maura comes to visit Dorothy, and Dorothy isn’t much more receptive to Maura’s reaching out than she was to Danny’s. As they talk about the therapeutic benefits of karaoke, we see all is not well in the Street. Their safe space is being invaded by unwelcome visitors that are making some changes to the locals. Not realizing what’s going on outside, Maura and Dorothy talk about Dorothy’s favorite comic book, which looks very familiar from the opening scene of the episode. The two have some scary encounters with a new kind of foe, and Maura isn’t encouraged when Dorothy says she can’t call on her “friends.” Things are looking bad until they get a rescue from a very unexpected direction.

After the excitement dies down, Dorothy and Maura make a new friend. As I mentioned before, this “Space Case” is pretty clearly modeled on a Marvel character: a blonde woman in a mostly blue jumpsuit with red boots and gloves and belt, who has high-end energy powers. Captain… errr, Casey is inclined towards heroic poses and optimism bordering on the delusional. Dorothy is thrilled to meet her hero, although very confused. Maura is just confused, with a side helping of doubtful. As these three get acquainted, Casey’s archvillain also proves to be real and is attacking Danny out in the real world. Things get even odder as Casey shows herself to be unfamiliar with some pretty basic parts of life. While she’s distracted by new things, Dorothy and Maura hold a hurried, whispered conference, and make a few understandable, if cynical, decisions.

Torminox, Casey’s foe, keeps trying to find ways to get to his prey, and manages to freak out Danny. Casey leaps into battle, but Maura stops her, trying to explain some of the stakes here. Casey clearly doesn’t get it, so Maura is forced to confront the hero with the truth of her existence. Casey is stunned, understandably, and doesn’t handle it really well. Even the villain has gone through a few changes, confusing Casey even further. We knew there wasn’t going to be a clearcut “hero beats villain” kind of win here. That’s not the Doom Patrol way, and things get surreal and emotional as the foes end up actually talking instead of blasting each other.

After some running and hiding, Casey starts sharing some memories with Maura and Dorothy, and starts doubting the righteousness of this fight. Maura tries to persuade Casey to try something different, and the hero clearly has some doubts about what to do. To her credit, she tries Maura’s way, and it doesn’t end up working, exactly. But what does happen is the story of Casey and Torminox triggers a huge emotional response in Dorothy, who says a lot of things she’s needed to get out about her father. The Chief may have had good intentions, but he left a lot of traumatized people in his wake, and his daughter is among them. Dorothy’s torrent of raw emotion gets through to Torminox, and he vanishes, although he did finally manage to get what he came for. 

In the aftermath, Dorothy and Maura talk about how hard the real world can be. Dorothy is worried both about her not being able to protect everyone and what may have happened to Danny in the fight between Casey and Torminox. Maura ends on a positive note about having allies and trying to change the world for the better. Casey and Dorothy talk about the real world, and some things Casey wants to do. Finally, the unlikely pair leave the safety of Danny to try and find out more about themselves and their place in the world.

The final scene of the episode shows us why Torminox was so dogged in his pursuit of the treasure he ended up with. There’s more about an arch villain who is coming, and we see that whoever this is, they have a long reach and a lot of different plans running. They are also very, very good at manipulating people. Since the Doom Patrol isn’t particularly adept at planning, this bodes ill for them.

What I Liked: The parodies of Captain Marvel and Thanos were amusing to see. It was touching to see Dorothy trying so hard to protect her home and friends. Her finally confronting so many emotions about the legacy of her father had to have been good for her. Maura’s cynicism clashing with Casey’s four-color heroics attitude was a fun contrast. Points to the show runners and creative team for being willing to take the gamble of an episode with none of the usual cast in it.

What I Didn’t: I’m not sure Casey sticking around after this was the best plan. It’s a new character in a crowded show that’s ending soon. Do we need another cast member at this point? I didn’t love the episode, but it was different, I’ll give them that.

I’ll give this a solid 3 out of 5. This final season is certainly going to carry the banner of weirdness forward.