Review: Doomsday Brothers “All About My Mothers”

 

 

Overview:

Gabe and Rafe’s latest adventure has had consequences, as usual. This time around caused the town of St. Zephyr to be overrun with clones of Rafe. Realizing he abandoned his brother in a mysterious cave, Gabe returns to find him, and two clones of their mother.

Each of the Judith’s are manifestations of the individual boy’s memories. Which causes the older women to quarrel. Until they decide to turn on the boys. Thankfully, they are saved by the most unlikely candidate.

Elsewhere, Judith has uncovered the body of the woman who created AENUS. Attached with the information surrounding her demise, Judith helps AENUS find revenge for his mother.

Meanwhile, another Tuesday means that Dwayne cooks a special dinner and awaits his wife’s return. Danika attempts to help her father come to terms, but not without him uprooting their entire home.

 

Our Take:

Doomsday Brothers has returned from the mid-season break to Adult Swim Canada on Sunday nights. 

Thankfully, we have much more context for the series than when it first began airing in September. With little known about the new Canadian show, Doomsday Brothers had to go grassroots in proving itself. Which it has managed through its own entertaining content. Hopefully, the network and production company step-up promotion in future such releases.

Despite the confusion stepping out of the gate, by the end of the first nine episodes, Doomsday Brothers had established itself as a series that can contend with the best of American content. Additionally, began the seeds of a larger plot, grounding the show as an anthology series with stand-alone episodes.

Recently we had the opportunity to chat with Doomsday Brothers cocreator Willem Wennekers. Enthusiastically he shared insights and background to the otherwise allusive series. There is some substantial information regarding the show including the direction of the series, a potential American release, and how they are breaking ground in their methods of simultaneously recording in two languages. 

Anybody following this series should check out the exclusive interview.

Within that interview with Willem Wennekers, he alluded to a dramatic shift within the series. After establishing worldbuilding and characters in the opening episodes, the back nine would deliver higher stakes and payoff for an illuded larger picture.

The show delivered in a significant way for the tenth episode. The difference between the premiere and the mid-season opener is drastic. 

Now grounded in premise, the series is taking big swings and approaching a larger plot.

The episode itself manages a ‘mother’ theme across three competing plots. Each of them establishing a more complex world for the characters involved. AENUS discovers the truth of his mother and makes a new enemy in General Hex. Dwayne and Danika lay the groundwork for their familial struggles. And Gabe and Rafe have their hands full of mothers.

Judith, who has been separated from the main story for the majority of the series thus far is all over this episode. The competing versions of herself arguing for which boy they love more managed to cause havoc. In fact, if you were waiting for Judith to let her crazy action skills loose, this was a satisfying moment. Additionally, the real Judith makes some waves of her own.

Arguably this is a much better version of Doomsday Brothers. There is much more depth and many more unexpected angles. The beginning of the season did its job of establishing this universe. But the villain-of-the-week theme was already getting derivative. The anthology direction offers more payoff for viewers.

The patience of the creators should be commended for dedicating space for this series to grow. The lost felt during the premiere could have caused whiplash had they pushed for this larger story on episode one. 

Now we are being told that the wait was worth it and there is much more at play here than we realize. We are about to be rewarded for paying attention when the next eight episodes carry on the established humorous themes with this new underlying ongoing plot.