Doom Patrol (HBO max) S02: A-

After an extraordinary weird season one at DC universe. This series moved to HBO max for its second season for another extraordinary weird run. The key word here is "weird" which in this specific way I mean it as a great compliment.

Even though is part of the ever expanding DC Universe and produced by Greg Berlanti, one of the many persons responsible for the Arrowverse this show does not connect to it, it lives in its own weird universe and does not try in any way to please a mainstream audience.

This could be the first scripted hit for the streaming service, but I don't really want to give the win to HBO max. Being a season 2, with a show that was born at another streaming service and that for bureaucracy reasons got moved. For me in its heart this series still is a DC Universe title.

This bunch of people with powers that don't really fit in with the big leagues of super heroes, continue to battle their own personal demons and some how saving the planet once again from the forces of evil.

Cliff Steele (played by Brendan Fraser) is still trying to reconnect with his daughter after failing miserably as a father and after his family learned that his still alive, different but alive. Cliff would try and gain his daughter trust and in the way learn a little bit more about himself and his own demons he hasn't really face after all this years .

Following his footsteps is Larry Trainor (played by Matt Bomer) who also has a complicated "hey I'm alive" moment with his own family. But he also learns more about the negative mas living inside of him. If Cliff had a complicated comeback Larry gets an even worst reception.

Cyborg (played by Joivan Wade) is also learning to accept himself in his new form, learn more about the way his body works and also finding out that he still has a heart and can fall in love. If only he knew better than that!

Chief (played by Timopthy Dalton) is dealing with his daughter Dorothy (played by Abigail Shapiro) still afraid of her, still finding away to keeping her safe from the world, or is it actually the other way around?

Elasti-Girl (played by April Bowlby) is still learning how to let go from her past, from the acting career she never got the chance to live up to the A list star she always wanted to be.

Finally Jane (played by Diane Guerrero) still a big fight inside the many personas living inside of her. Diane once again takes front and center with her performance, that giving the nature and weirdness of the show don't give her the amount of applause that she really deserves, and the same goes to April who also gave us a great performance and her centric episode showing us the range of pain that Rita Farr has to live with.

This two actresses gave me everything during this short season two. As with other series Doom Patrol had to shutdown production thanks to COVID, so we have a breath taking cliffhanger, that I suppose wasn't suppose to be one. Like in other series we don't have a resolution for this season main problem, but instead we would have to wait for the third season for a closure and a start of a new adventure.

I hope that HBO max the new home for the Doom Patrol well that they renew them for a third season and that they don't try and make this series to appeal to a wider audience. To keep this league of superheroes weird. That's the secret weapon of them and hope they keep it that way. Also even though this second season has the same format. Meaning they have character centric episodes where they explore a little bit of their past, to try and move on with their lives. They did this the first season, but now I'm not tired of it, the depth of their issues goes beyond one episode to understand them. This is why I don't like how Batman in all of his incarnations have dealt with the death of his parents, when Bruce Wayne has plenty of drama along his life to go thru.

At the same time yes, for a third season the Doom Patrol they are totally ready to go on battle leaving those centric episodes more like small flashbacks and focus more on the here and now of their problems. Still I repeat there's not a single episode where I got bored or thought they did this last season, even though in some way they did.

So let's light up a candle for a renewal for this band of superheroes that might never make it to the Justice League.