HBO Max’s original series ‘Doom Patrol’ season four episode four entitled “Casey Patrol” kicks off with Abigail Shapiro’s Dorothy Spinner as she is lost due to not having her father around as he has passed away. From what the viewer can see she is having a tough time with every one of her friends wanting to keep her safe as if she was a helpless child. However, this bothers her as she believes that the challenges, she has overcome have made her more mature for someone so young. Which is why she feels that she is ready to have her own adventures on her own. The interesting part about this is how she currently is dealing with two sides of herself. There is the little girl that wanted more time with her late father who she never got to know well due to him always working with the Doom Patrol. Also, there is the young teenager who wants to explore the world and see what adventures await her.
Additionally, the viewer sees that Dorothy’s struggle with adjusting to the world is due to her father locking her away. In her mind, she knows that he did it to keep her safe from evil organizations that would use her powers. Unfortunately, the viewer can tell that she holds a bit of resentment towards him as he also kept her from growing up normally. To make matters worse, when she finally has a chance to grow up, he is not there to help her through that difficult process. The series by far does a wonderful job at demonstrating how a parent, no matter the good intentions, can cause psychological damage to their kids. This is made apparent by how Dorothy is lost and doesn’t know how to process how to grow up.
Later into the episode, the viewer sees Dorothy’s powers grow to a point where she can summon people to help her from comics instead of summing them from scratch. The fascinating thing about this is how she ends up summoning a character from her favorite comic to help her fight a villain from the same comic. However, there seems to be a connection between the main character and her villainous father and Dorothy. Perhaps deep down Dorothy sees her father as a villain and herself as the hero who will stop him while wanting to redeem at the same time.
At the end of the episode, the viewer sees that Dorothy has now put the past issues with her father behind her and is ready to set out on her new adventure to find the maker of the comic to give the main character a happy ending. This is a result of the main character having issues with her own father as well. She too wants to redeem her father as she knows there is still good in him, and it is just the writer’s fault for her suffering. Ultimately, this will lead to a crossroads as the writer is a henchman of the big bad of the season that is going to be resurrected.
Rating: 8.5/10