The Doom Patrol is officially out in the world and on their first mission in this week’s episode! They are super-powered beings with absolutely zero formal training or any kind of true leadership or significant unifying presence – how do you think this gonna go?
WARNING: Spoilers for this episode of ‘Doom Patrol’ lie ahead, obviously. If you haven’t seen the episode and don’t wish for any of its content to be spoiled for you, the time to turn back is NOW!
RECAP: Following the conclusion of last week’s episode, the crew is all back together at Doom Manor – sans Dr. Caulder, of course, after Cyborg, Rita, and Larry’s tryst into the Donkeyverse and their attempt to rescue the Chief proved fruitless. Jane’s posting “missing” signs around Cloverton to try and help, but all she’s doing is drawing the ire of the townsfolk (which she’s more than happy to deal with, of course).
After discovering a photo of the universe-encompassing donkey in Caulder’s files, Cyborg attempts to rally the team into heading to Paraguay (the location is shown by said photo) to try and mount a rescue for the Chief and possibly confront the super-powered person who took him, Mr. Nobody. The group’s not really interested, and with good reason; as Rita so eloquently puts it, “Are we really the best people to hunt a super-villain?” No one in this group wants to be a super-hero, with the exception of Cyborg (“Justice League 2020!” Robotman unenthusiastically cheers for Vic), but they all do owe a great deal to the Chief, so they all agree to try.
Cyborg wants to use the private S.T.A.R. Labs jet to get the team from Ohio to Paraguay, but his father cuts him off, saying this is one mission that he’ll have to do alone. Off the squad goes in their short bus for a two-week drive to South America, but halfway through, one of Jane’s personas, Flit, gets frustrated with the situation and teleports the rest of the way, bringing Robotman and Negative Man along for the ride as well. Cyborg and Rita are left behind at a motel in Texas to wallow.
The trio grab a bus with Steve, a super-hero wannabe who is heading to Fuchtopia – yes, you read that correctly. This is the center where Mr. Nobody first gained his powers, granted to him by the technological work of Dr. Fuchs, a German scientist who is very, very into this kind of thing.
Will Crazy Jane, Robotman, and Negative Man be able to uncover the mysteries of Fuchtopia and find the Chief? Will Cyborg and Rita ever be able to escape the humdrum of being stuck with a broken-down bus at a deep-South motel? Will Steve be left in the atomic cooker too long and turned into a malformed mish-mash of elements and celery with a second dinosaur head? Well… yes to everything except finding the Chief, but watch the rest of the episode to see how it all goes down!
OBSERVATIONS:
- This episode gives us lots more great Negative Man back-story, even if the actual “negative being” remains mostly a mystery. Several of the other characters’ “back-stories” in terms of how they spent their formative years dealing with their newfound powers are sorely lacking, particularly Rita & Jane. Hopefully, this is an issue that the series will address in coming weeks.
- Speaking of Jane, though – some intriguing information dropped by Fuchs at the end of the episode about her “core personality” and what may truly be going on beneath the surface of her subconscious.
- We’re given what almost amounts to a “post-credits scene” with Steve being left in the super-power-cooker too long… is he meant to be a recognizable DC character? I don’t believe so, at least not in the wacky form he has currently. A modernized take on Double-Header, a two-headed two-bit DC hero from 1964 and last seen in comics back in 2008, perhaps?
- The award for most hilarious line of the episode clearly goes to: “Where do you get toner for your butt printer?” Second place goes to the selfie-loving redneck who grabs a quick photo with Cyborg while espousing “Say ‘Superfriends!'”
CLOSING THOUGHTS: All in all, this is another solid episode of a quirky show that just feels like a great balance for DC and many fans’ recent complaints of them being “too dark” with their TV & cinematic fare. I eagerly await each week’s new episode, and I hope you’ll come back next week and join us for more Doom-centric discussion!
PRINCIPAL CAST FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE:
Timothy Dalton as The Chief
Brendan Fraser as Cliff Steele/Robotman
Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane
April Bowlby as Rita Farr/Elastigirl
Matt Bomer as Larry Trainor/Negative Man
Alan Tudyk as Mt. Nobody
Joivan Wade as Victor Stone/Cyborg
‘Doom Patrol’ features new episodes on Fridays via the DC Universe streaming service.
