Diksha Sundriyal
Max’s ‘Doom Patrol’ is known to be one of the weirdest shows on television, exploring the genre of superhero stories through a lens that rarely any other show or movie tries to do. It established its weirdness and the penchant to not take itself so seriously (for the most part) early on, which is what opened the door for all the unbelievable stuff it has pulled off over the past seasons. In the ninth episode of the fourth season, the show takes things to another level as it delivers a musical to the audience.
The members of the Doom Patrol have done a lot of things over the years, but none of them has been particularly invested in singing or drama. Rita, maybe a little bit; the others, not so much. This is why the entire team bursting into song and dance and acting so happy and merry feels so out of place in the world where things like Were-butts exist. What happened to the Doom Patrol to lead them to this, and what significance does this episode have in the show? Let’s find out. SPOILERS AHEAD
Doom Patrol’s Musical Immortimas Patrol Episode Connects to Isabel Feathers
The episode titled “Immortimas Patrol” takes place in an alternate reality that has been rewritten by Immortus. In the previous episode, Isabel Feathers had returned from the dead when she came out of the Time Stream following a ritual that was supposed to wake the cosmic villain, Immortus. The actress had gone missing in the first episode of Season 3, right after celebrating the success of the play ‘Our Town!,’ in which she played Rita’s character.
Isabel wanted to be an actress, and just when she thought things would turn around for her, when she thought her career was right on track, she was taken away from her world and thrown into the Time Stream, courtesy of Rouge’s arrival from the past. She was declared missing and presumed dead, and no one came to her help while she was stuck somewhere between space and time. When she finally comes back, she has the power to rewrite reality, and that’s what she does to get the one thing she’s wanted all along: attention.
In ‘Fame Patrol,’ she uses her powers to rewrite reality a couple of times, especially whenever she thinks the attention is being drawn away from her, which happens whenever Doom Patrol is around. By the end of the episode, Isabel has had enough of being sidelined. She thought the parade and the celebration were for her return, but instead, the city sees Doom Patrol as her savior and wants to give them the keys to the city, which angers Isabel to no end, and she breaks into a scream.
The last time Isabel screamed like this was when she’d come out of the Time Stream. It destroyed the pocket dimension of Orqwith, which means that something similar might have happened to the town of Cloverton as well. Luckily for Doom Patrol, Isabel isn’t done with them yet. Instead of killing them, she is more invested in turning them into her dedicated worshippers, something she (or, rather, Immortus) had in people like Wally, who died on her return!
Following Isabel’s dimension-destroying shriek, the Doom Patrol finds itself back in the mansion, where they prepare to celebrate Immortimas Day, a Christmas-like holiday that never actually ends. They break into song and dance due to Isabel’s affinity for the same. She is an actress who wants to be worshipped, to be treated like a god. This means a custom-made holiday for her, where the devotees do plays and write songs about her, praising her, telling stories about her, and being thankful for all the things she’s given them.
The last time Isabel was herself in the real world before she fell into the Time Stream, she did a musical about Doom Patrol. It’s only fair, in her mind, that this time, they should do a musical about her. Moreover, she wants the team of superheroes to actually love and revere her, and because they would never do it willingly, she forces them to do it by throwing them into a world where nothing but Immortimas Day exists, where their only purpose is to worship her and shower praises on her, and break into song and dance about her.
Read More: Where is Doom Patrol Filmed?
