Doom Patrol: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray Review)

The first time I attempted to watch the 6-minute trailer for DC Universe’s Doom Patrol I lasted about two minutes before turning it off.  I thought it was stupid, absurd and honestly really boring.  However, as fate would have it the critics really never stopped raving about the first season, which consists of 15 full length episodes (ranging anywhere from 45-60 minutes a piece).  It was also around this time that I subscribed to said DC Universe (it’s a streaming service with a monthly premium) to stream James Wan’s first episode of Swamp Thing.  I don’t know exactly why other than the fact that I was pumped to see a modern day take on the big green guy.  Since DC Universe already had my $7.99 that’s when I decided to make the most of it.  I attempted the first episode of Doom Patrol.  I loved it.  The second one drew me further in.  As you can probably tell the rest is history as I’m the one volunteering to write about this October 1st Blu-ray release.  

Season 

It wasn’t until after I finished the first season of Doom Patrol that I tackled DC Universe’s first show, Titans.  I loved that show too for a lot of the same reasons here, but I digress.  I bring up Titans only because that’s where this ragtag team of superheroes first make an appearance in an early episode of Titans’ first season.  It’s kind of funny too as Timothy Dalton’s character was portrayed by someone else.  Oh!  I’m sorry.  I am getting ahead of myself.  Timothy Dalton stars in this television show, folks.  However, that’s not all.  From that Titans episode we have Two and a Half Men’s April Bowlby (she was a favorite of mine in this first season), Brendon Fraser and Matt Bomer reprising their roles.  In addition we have Orange is the New Black’s Diane Guerrero, Alan Tudyk, Jovian Wade and you guessed it, Timothy Dalton, joining and rounding out the cast.  

Doom Patrol, based on the DC Comics series of the same name (definitely on my must-read list now), premiered on the DC Universe streaming service February 15th this year.  As already established up above one can call this series a spin-off from Titans.  The first season here consists of a whopping 15 episodes.  Even better a second season has already been green lit and we’ll see more from these motley crew of superheroes in 2020 on both the DC Universe streaming service and also HBO Max.  And I think with that thought that’s exactly where I want to get started with here.  You see I’m stalling as I really have no idea how to explain this wacky show, but I’ll give it a try by first tackling its zany characters.  

The heart of this show really revolves around these very different and distinct characters that eventually come together for the greater good to not only save their kidnapped “father”, but also save the world in the process too.  I guess you can say they become somewhat superheroes along the way, albeit very, very flawed ones.  The show follows Cliff Steele/Robotman, Rita Farr, Larry Trainor/Negative Man, the 64 different personalities that make up Jane and Victor Stone, otherwise known as Cyborg.  Despite their differences and non-stop bickering they all come together to find their mentor, Dr. Niles Caulder/The Chief, when he’s kidnapped by the super villain known simply as Mr. Nobody.  Yep!  You read that all right.

I’m kicking this paragraph off here with a quote I lifted from the Warner Bros. press release of this title.  “Part support group, part Super Hero team, the Doom Patrol is a band of superpowered freaks who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them.”  That says it all folks, but not really.  What they leave out is the absolute lunacy and absurdity of this show.  It doesn’t stop there either.  There’s nudity, donkeys, F-bombs galore and so much more.   Furthermore, in only its first season Doom Patrol has received a 95% certified fresh rating and scored an 8 out of 10 on RottenTomatoes.com.  That’s pretty impressive considering its on the struggling DC Universe streaming platform not many people I know even cared about.  So yeah naturally they have no choice but to bring the show back for a second season.  I’d also be kidding myself if I thought I could speak intelligently to you about this show, because I can’t.  This one is all about dysfunctional family and the absurdity of it all.  That’s all I’ll say on the matter.

Now before we tackle the A/V disc vitals of this Blu-ray set I just wanted to take a moment to list out all the titles that comprise this 15-episode first season spread across 3 Blu-ray Discs (5 episodes on each disc).  Generally speaking they are all a hearty one hour apiece too.  In other words there’s plenty of bang for your buck here.

1. Pilot
2. Donkey Patrol
3. Puppet Patrol
4. Cult Patrol
5. Paw Patrol
6. Doom Patrol Patrol
7. Therapy Patrol
8. Danny Patrol
9. Jane Patrol
10. Hair Patrol
11. Frances Patrol
12. Cyborg Patrol
13. Flex Patrol
14. Penultimate Patrol
15. Ezekiel Patrol

Video 

The below video score and related critique of things here are based solely upon my viewing of the 1080p Blu-ray presentation of Warner Bros’ Doom Patrol: The Complete First Season.

• Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
• Resolution: 1080p
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Clarity/Detail: The video is crisp and clear throughout.  It has a cinematic look to it all the way it is shot so its warm and inviting.  However, like any good 1080p presentation closeups look fantastic and reveal the usual characteristics such as stubble, pores, wrinkles, moles and more.  Footage is mixed though so while some moments my look spectacular others are more stylized.  Textures such as examples like Cliff’s metal mask or the mummy wraps that adorns Larry’s burnt face look outstanding.  Also, for the most part special effects look decent and above average for a television show, but the increased resolution here does expose them too.
• Depth: There’s actually a lot of depth in the presentation.  One of the best sequences was at the race track where Cliff suffered his fate behind the wheel.  Another excellent example is the vastness of the jungle movie set where Rita suffers her tragedy.
• Black Levels: The black levels are a bit washed here and not overly deep and inky, but I’m accepting of them nonetheless because it looks natural for the most part.
• Color Reproduction: The colors are mostly very natural looking and warm, but colors like the red in Cliff’s glowing robot eyes cut right through everything, not to mention Rita’s ruby red lips too.
• Flesh Tones: The skin tones all look natural and warm in appearance.  However, they are distinctly different like Rita’s pasty white skin (not that there’s anything wrong with that at all).
• Noise/Artifacts: You have your normal source noise throughout, but nothing that will distract you from enjoying this to the absolute fullest.  Flashbacks bring it out a bit more.

Audio 

Like I mention up above in the video section, the below audio score and critical comments of such are based solely upon my viewing of Warner Bros’ 1080p Blu-ray presentation of Doom Patrol: The Complete First Season.

• Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
• Dynamics: This may be a super hero show, but make no mistake about it.  Doom Patrol is first and foremost a character drama so the dynamics may not be off the wall like a Spider-Man flick, but they are a bit more subtle.  Action sequences are a bit more far between.  However, it all sounds swell because the fantastic score and booming soundtrack is always buzzing and humming throughout sweeping you into the drama and never hindering the spoken word moments.
• Low Frequency Extension: The subwoofer moments hit heavy and hard during the action sequences.  Whether its an explosion, car crash, gun shot, fireball, donkey fart or all of the above it all sounds quite hefty and impactful here.
• Surround Sound Presentation: The surround channels carry your usual ambiance and effects during action sequences to ensure the utmost of directionality and immersion.  However, as mentioned up above already this one’s a drama so its very front heavy during the many moments of dialogue.
• Dialogue Reproduction: The dialog levels are loud, clear and intelligent especially that of the narrator.  He’s very funny too.  It’s interesting to hear how they render Cliff’s voice under a heavy metal mask.  Every f-bomb is unmistakably audible.  You have to love that!

Extras 

In addition to all 15 episodes from the first season of the DC Universe original series, fans here can enjoy minimal extra features that include Digital Copies of each episode, a gag reel and deleted scenes.  Sadly there are no audio commentaries to be found here.  Since there’s not much to get excited about here in way of extras let’s skip any unnecessary word foreplay and get right to the point with the 25 minutes worth of extras found within this 3-disc Blu-ray set (screenshot below is culled from actual BD menu).

• Gag Reel (HD, Disc 3, 4:35) – It’s evident the cast had a lot of fun making this first season and they seem to have undeniable chemistry together.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, Discs 1-3) – There are “unaired scenes” sprinkled into episodes 2, 8, 11, 14 and 15.  If you choose to watch the “deleted scenes” on each disc from the menu then Disc 1’s deleted scenes runs 5:02 in length, Disc 2  1:19 and Disc 3 8:15.
• Doom Patrol: Come Visit Georgia PSA (HD, Disc 3, 5:06) – Because yeah this show was filmed in you guessed it Georgia!  Atlanta covers a lot of ground for the many locations in Season One here.  The crew behind the scenes controls the narration and control of this one.

Summary 

Truth be told your mileage is going to truly vary with Doom Patrol.  It’s definitely not for everybody.  If you’re easily offended by swearing, then this show definitely isn’t for you.  It’s Rated-R for a reason and that’s actually one of the many reasons why I whole heartedly embrace it so much.  The cast and characters are eccentric and the story is completely ridiculousness, but honestly pure innocent fun.  If you’re curious about this show in the slightest, I do recommend picking up this first season on Blu-ray at a great price point you’re comfortable with.  It’s my second romp with this show, reviewing it here on Blu-ray, and I’m proud to be an owner.  I hope the same for you with this misfit group of heroes.  Enjoy!

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DISCLAIMER: This Blu-ray review was judged and graded using the following 4K certified Ultra HD Premium television set found here and player here.  The images used above within the review are not actual 1080p Blu-ray screenshots.  They are for illustrative purposes only.  

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Doom Patrol

Gets Down and Weird on

Blu-ray

October 1st

PRE-ORDER NOW!

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