REVIEW: ‘Doom Patrol’ Season 3 – Episode 7 “Bird Patrol”

Another week passes by, and we are rewarded with a new episode of Doom Patrol, with Episode 7 titled “Bird Patrol.” Laura attempts to rally the fractured team as the Sisterhood of Dada finally enacts their cunning plan. All hail the ‘Eternal Flagellation’!

Developed and executive produced by Jeremy Carver, starring Diane Guerrero (Crazy Jane), Matt Bomer (Larry Trainor / Negative Man), Brendan Fraser (Robotman), April Bowlby (Rita Farr), and Jovian Wade (Cyborg), Doom Patrol tells the story of a dysfunctional group of metahumans that were the test subjects of a mad scientist on the quest for immortality. The episode is directed by Omar Madha.

In the previous episode, Rita stole Laura’s tunneling time travel contraption and landed in the past, in “1917 Patrol.” She was immediately scooped up by the Bureau of Normalcy, after which she meets a prior version of Laura De Mille and the initial gathering of the Sisterhood of Dada. In an odd twist of fate, Rita suffers from time-traveling amnesia. Meanwhile, the rest of the group slowly crumbles under the weight of their own personal dilemmas.

In Episode 7 we see the continuation of the concurrent timelines, as the tension heats up in both the past and the present. The timelines come crashing together as Laura is forced to face her past, and the Eternal Flagellation begins.

The beginning of the episode jauntily saunters in with some extremely goofy and light-hearted theatrics. Cliff admits to Jane he’s been selling her stuff, Larry expels whatever parasite has been working its way around his body, and Rita and her new love interest are practicing a dance number. It’s all quite jovial.

Until things turn, and the characters are put on the spot and forced into making a decision that they view as necessary to survive. Essentially they feel back into a corner with an either-or situation. Life is very rarely two simplistic choices of this or that, but you can see each of them weighing the pros and cons.

The underground, for example, is worried that Kay showing signs of wanting to go above ground means healing. Well, what happens to the alters when the primary consciousness feels strong enough to take control? Vic is another example this week when he’s assessing the impact of undergoing surgery for a skin graft to make him appear more human. Still, then he’d lose the ability to be Cyborg, and the weight of the responsibility weighs heavy on his shoulders.

The show does such a wonderful job carefully and subtly tackling these themes but presenting them in different lights. Just like in life, not everyone’s version of survival looks the same, and not everyone makes the right decisions. The episode serves as a reminder that life is bloody hard, and those seemingly small choices can have ripple effects across time and space.

Overall, Episode 7 starts to connect the dots as characters are forced to reconcile with their past transgressions. “Bird Patrol” is all about survival and what choices these characters make when forced into a corner. The tension is increasing and setting the landscape for a fantastic next episode.

Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 7, “Bird Patrol,” is available now exclusively on HBO Max, with a new episode coming next Thursday.