Grief and trauma have become staples of superhero entertainment, with stories from both the DC and Marvel universes digging into the ways that pain and loss influence not only the human experience, but also the superhuman experience as well. It would be wrong to say that HBO Max’s Doom Patrol started this trend but it certainly is no exaggeration to say that the series may do it the best. Over the series’ first three seasons, Doom Patrol has dug into the complexity of grief, trauma, and identity that both plagues and powers its misfit troupe of unlikely heroes and, in the process, saw those characters grow and heal in ways that feel real, despite a narrative setting that somehow manages to get weirder and more outlandish at every turn. Now, the show’s fourth season not only continues in that vein, but somehow tells an even better story, taking on deeper existential questions while also getting weirder and more entertaining than ever.
