Doom Patrol showrunner breaks down Casey Brinke's debut and the relevance of Danny the Street
Doom Patrol has returned to Danny the Street. This week's episode of HBO Max's surreal superhero show came back to the living, non-binary block that acts as a refuge for queer people and other outcasts in need of a safe space. This episode also welcomed a character from Doom Patrol comics who hadn't yet appeared in the show and whose arrival was foretold by EW back in September. Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Casey Brinke (Madeline Zima).
Although Doom Patrol is a superhero show, its characters often haven't felt particularly heroic. Showrunner Jeremy Carver recently told EW that only now have they started to feel like a superhero team. Well, Casey should come as a jolt of electricity, since she's a true-blue superhero — literally the star of Dorothy's (Abi Monterey) favorite comic books. She's even accompanied by a couple comic pages in a multi-media moment.
HBO Max Casey Brinke (Madeline Zima), Dorothy (Abi Monterey), and Maura Lee Karupt (Alan Mingo Jr.) on 'Doom Patrol.'
But it doesn't take long for Casey to realize that the real world is a bit more complicated than classic comics. As Carver previously told EW, Casey's role on the show is "not just a cameo." She's along for the ride now.
"Madeline gives an incredibly funny performance playing this big character who comes out with comic book bravado," Carver tells EW. "But I think what's really incredible to watch as the season progresses is the nuance she brings to the character as she is more and more enveloped in the natural world. I can't speak highly enough of the bright-eyed nuance that she brings to the character. It's really wonderful to watch that character and Madeline progress over the course of the season."
Casey is called by Dorothy to defend Danny the Street, who is once again under attack. Danny is a safe space for people who don't fit in with normal society, and this has made them a target of the villainous Bureau of Normalcy. In one early episode, Danny and the Dann-zens (the people who live on the street and accompany them on their interdimensional travels) helped Bureau agent Morris Wilson (Alan Mingo Jr.) embrace their true self as drag queen Maura Lee Karupt.
HBO Max Dorothy (Abi Monterey) and Maura Lee Karupt (Alan Mingo Jr.) on 'Doom Patrol.'
But amidst a real-world environment of increasing homophobic rhetoric and violence, it made sense to show that the Danny-zens still have to fight for what's right.
"It was very important to us and Tom Farrell, the episode writer, to go above and beyond this episode to show that the struggle very much continues and it's ongoing. Even the safe space isn't always entirely safe," Carver says. "I think we were just trying to convey that there's a certain beauty in a character and a place like Danny, but what I call the 'veil' that you pass through to get into Danny is a very thin filament between 'safe' and 'not safe.' That's what we were hoping to express along with everything else."
Even a safe space still needs to be protected. Thankfully, Casey and Dorothy are on the job.
The first four episodes of Doom Patrol season 4 are streaming now on HBO Max, with new ones arriving every Thursday.
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