Doom Patrol Episode #3

Puppet Patrol

If the first two episodes of Doom Patrol taught us anything, it’s that the show has absolutely no problem with the bizarre. In fact, the more bizarre something or someone is in an episode, the better. Episode #3, Puppet Patrol, cranks up the bizarre about fifteen notches and holds nothing back…..and still manages to move the overall story ahead with great success.

Mild Spoilers Ahead!!!

Let’s start off with the short and sweet recap of this episode. It’s a road trip that finds our heroes on a drive to Paraguay in order to rescue the Chief. Negative Man has a literal internal struggle with the negative energy entity that lives within him. Rita admits that she is afraid of looking for the Chief. Robotman discovers that he can be very, very violent. Cyborg assumes the leadership role of the group but never really gets a grip on anything. And as for Crazy Jane, she’s still the most unhinged member of the group but actually manages to keep everything together better than her friends. Oh, and there are Nazis, puppets, and Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man.

If you want to know more, scroll beyond the photo below.

The group’s attempt at a road trip is rather funny. A decent amount of time is spent showing the group in their bus arguing with one another. Jane even threatens to commit suicide and Robotman encourages her to follow through on the threat. Eventually we see Negative Man in the driver’s seat while everyone else is asleep. He and the entity within him get into a fight which results in the entity tearing up the bus engine.

The group is forced to spend the evening in a rundown motel and we see them in yet another humorous moment as they share beds and watch television. When morning arrives, Rita takes too long in the bathroom and Jane, under the personality of Flit, teleports herself, Negative Man, and Robotman to Paraguay, leaving Cyborg and Rita behind.

The trio eventually find their way to Dr. Von Fuchs’ lair (which will remain nameless) where Mr. Nobody was originally created many years prior. They, along with their newfound friend named Steve, learn the history of Dr. Von Fuchs and how he created a device that has the ability to give normal humans almost any metahuman power that they want.

As expected, things go south quickly and Robotman and Jane have to fight their way through a ton of Nazi servants loyal to the doctor. Robotman realizes that he can become brutally violent and you can almost hear the fear in his voice at his own actions. Two more of Jane’s personalities that we’ve already scene in previous episodes return for the battle here and I’ve quickly grown to appreciate just how powerful Jane can be.

Negative Man enters one of the devices on his own in an attempt to separate himself from the entity within, but the pair end up arguing with one another whenever the entity refuses to leave Larry’s body. We also get to see a little bit more of Larry’s life prior to becoming Negative Man.

The episode ends with the group still on the hunt for the Chief, but they are all a little bit wiser about themselves and about Mr. Nobody. There’s also the introduction of the strange Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man at the end of the episode, but no real ideas are given as to whether or not he’ll become a factor in later episodes.

This episode gave us small glimpses into the former lives of Victor and Larry, but didn’t really expand on those particular characters that much. We’ve still got plenty to learn about Rita and Jane as well. Cliff seems to have found out more than he wanted to about himself whenever he unleashes an attack on Von Fuchs’ lackeys. That particular sequence was gory and violent, and I am really interested in seeing how Cliff handles future situations that I’m sure will happen this season.

DC Universe has a winner on its hands with Doom Patrol. The series shows no fear of driving away its audience. It has no problem with embracing the bizarre and relishes in its goofiness. If you haven’t watched this series yet, you’re missing out.

Thanks for reading. I’ll have a recap of Episode #4 next week and hopefully a film review as well.