Doom Patrol finale review: Romance and do-goodery are in the air
Doom Patrol – “Ezekiel Patrol”. Photo Credit: Annette Brown / 2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The art of reformed villainy
Doing away with parts Niles’ villainous phase, “Ezekiel Patrol” chisels a vivid picture of Niles transition from villainy, to neutral, to his current stance as a growing hero. It’s hard not to sympathize with Niles on some level. Perhaps that was the main takeaway from the finale.
In addition to his flashbacks, Niles’ lingering present-day villainy rests in his complacency. Like his voluntary villainy, he had a choice to go against the Ant Farm and interfere with all the accidents he knew he signed off on; however, he didn’t. His guilt doesn’t make him any less of a villain. Instead, it does make it easier to relate to him because everyone has done something regrettable. Our version of the term might not be fusing someone with a Negative Spirit sort-of-regrettable, but it’s still regrettable. Still, Niles didn’t fight back against the Bureau or attempt to stop the experiments he was aware of.
Using Silas’ own words, there’s some cold comfort in watching Silas confront Niles. Two men who’ve done terrible things to their family. But Silas is right: The things they’ve don’t aren’t comparable. Niles hurt and inadvertently killed people for the sake of testing a hypothesis. Silas hurt his son and inevitably made the bittersweet decision to save his son over his dying wife, as an act to protect Vic. Silas’ decisions were born from good intentions. Whereas, Niles’ decisions come from villainy.
Minus Niles’ savior arc, which was also briefly nodded to in “Hair Patrol,” the finale uses Niles’ flashbacks to show the divergence in Silas’ growth as a character and a father. Like Silas has every right to be petty with the Chief, the series also utilizes a petty opportunity to makes some hilarious meta references.