Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 3 Review: Nostalgia Patrol
Doom Patrol takes a literal journey through Rita’s filmography on Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 3, “Nostalgia Patrol.”
After being replaced as team leader on Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 2, “Butt Patrol,” Rita starts “Nostalgia Patrol” following a familiar pattern, wallowing in self-pity and hurt pride.
She is so eager for something to stroke her ego she doesn’t even question the flyer advertising a retrospective of her films that conveniently shows up at the mansion, even though it is obviously suspicious.
It is a trap, and Rita walks right into it. An unknown entity, which we later learn is an emotional vampire named Dr. Janus, sucks Rita — and eventually the rest of the team — right into the screen and into her first movie.
Importantly, at the end of the episode, we find out that Dr. Janus is working for the still very mysterious Immortus. This marks the team’s first — albeit indirect — interaction with Immortus.
It’s still hard to say what his plan is, but this first volley from him toward the team is a significant development. Make note of it. It will no doubt come up again.
At first, the episode seems like another instance of Rita getting lost in her past and reminiscing about her glory days to boost her fragile ego and avoid dealing with painful feelings.
The episode starts there, but it doesn’t stay there. While Rita does initially try to lose herself in nostalgia, as the title suggests, she comes around relatively quickly, and the episode is better for it.
Making the episode about Rita’s inability to face reality or let go of the past would have been a rehash of what we’ve already seen.
Instead, the episode is about Rita embracing the rest of the Doom Patrol as her family. The people that see her and accept her for who she is, warts and all.
With the exception of Larry, Rita has never expressed her love for her Doom Patrol teammates so definitively. Not at least as far as I can remember.
The scene of her telling them they are her found family is vulnerable and uplifting. It is so much better than returning to Rita’s insecurities and self-pity.
Rita isn’t the only one that revisits their past on “Nostalgia Patrol.” Vic finally reconnects with his high school friends in an attempt to reclaim his identity beyond Cyborg.
Unsurprisingly, things don’t go as smoothly as Vic hopes. Things are awkward and weird, as most people probably guessed they would be. All the feelings causing that awkwardness boil over during an impromptu game of laser tag.
That helps clear the air and at least get them on the path to rebuilding their relationships, but things are still a bit weird at the end of the episode.
The episode’s title, “Nostalgia Patrol,” captures Vic’s story more accurately than Rita’s.
Even though Vic’s plays more as a b-plot, he is the one that spends this episode trying to capture a romanticized version of the past that doesn’t exist anymore. It probably never did.
It is naïve of him to think he could just pick up where he left off before becoming Cyborg. His friends are right that it’s self-centered for him to act like they were frozen in amber for years and that they would be the same people they were in high school.
That said, his friends are a little harsh. They want him to consider their feelings but don’t give much consideration to the emotional trauma he went through. Vic deserves a little grace and a little empathy here.
They can ever understand what he’s been through and aren’t really in a place to judge him for how he dealt with what happened to him. No one is.
I like this storyline for Vic. It’s a continuation of what started during Season 3. Vic is trying to recapture the past to move forward, but he will learn that he can’t.
He may be able to rebuild something with his friends, but he has to let go of what was first.
I am also excited to see the season keep exploring the tension between Vic’s responsibilities as a superhero and a symbol and his desire to find his bliss. That tension has always resulted in some of Vic’s best and most relevant scenes.
His future self already warned him that he can’t have it all. His struggle to grapple with that opens up a lot of potential themes to explore with his character. Themes that have something to say not just about Vic but about culture and the state of the world in general.
“Nostalgia Patrol” lacks the playful weirdness of Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 1, “Doom Patrol,” and of “Butt Patrol.” It makes up for it, though, with a strong, suspenseful script and, as always, fantastic performances from the cast.
Stray Thoughts
- Should I start shipping Jane and Shelly? I think I’ll start shipping Jane and Shelly.
- The two villains introduced on “Nostalgia Patrol” are super intriguing. I hope we haven’t seen the last of them, and I don’t think we have.
- Larry’s story may be getting stale, but perhaps Keeg’s will make up for it. His big moment saving the team certainly gives me hope.
- Michelle Gomez continues to be the single best addition to the series. Her drunken self-deprecating rant on “Nostalgia Patrol” is one of my favorite scenes.
What did you think of this episode of Doom Patrol? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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New Episodes of Doom Patrol stream Thursdays on HBO Max.
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Sarah Fields
Sarah is an obsessive geek who likes to get into the weeds and over think things. She is passionate about Sci-Fi and comics and is a giant classic film nerd. Sarah cares deeply about media representation and the power of telling diverse stories. When she's not writing or watching her favorite shows she spends her days working in the non-profit world trying to make life a little better for those that need some extra help.