Warner Bros. Television
It was a long time coming, but the latest episode of Doom Patrol, ‘Flex Patrol’, finally gave us a much deeper look into Rita Farr’s damaged soul, which also gave the wonderful April Bowlby a chance to shine even more than she already has (and she got to do a lengthy scene with legend Ed Asner!). There was actually a lot going on this week, including the discovery of Flex Mentallo, but let’s give Rita her due first.
The season has teased us over the last 13 episodes with little bits and pieces about Rita’s past while giving us more about the other characters, but all of the circumstances from The Ant Farm have led to this moment of revelation for her. While trying to console Vic over what he did to his dad — and Silas is in stable condition but still unconscious — Rita urges him to reintall Grid so they can find Beard Hunter and Niles. Vic refuses.
While Vic deals with all of this, Rita decides to give him some space and sit in the waiting area for a bit, but a crying baby got to be too much for her (and we know from past episodes that a crying baby has something to do with her past). Attempting to leave the hospital, Rita bumps into an elderly gentleman who can’t find his room. With him not knowing even what floor he’s on, she goes back to the waiting area to sit with him, that crying baby finally allowing her to release the memories she’s bee successfully burying to this point.
When Rita was a young starlet, she became friends with a movie producer … but not ‘friendly’. Instead, he used Rita to set him up with even younger starlets and in exchange she started getting work again. One of those Hollywood hopefuls, Mary Beth, came to Rita nine months after her liaison with the producer, a baby in tow. Rita wanted nothing to do with this situation she helped create, so she gave the girl $100 and shuffled her off. But a week later Rita learned Mary Beth had committed suicide. Rita felt she should take some responsibility now for the baby but as fate would have it, she was offered the plum lead role in ‘Forbidden Congo’ … and her experience filming that movie, from the hatred of the crew to the accident that made her what she is today, has led Rita to believe it was all punishment for what she had done. The old man tells her to own her mistakes and move on, and she takes that advice, returning to Vic and convincing him to reinstall Grid (he does, but he’s not leaving that room) before returning to the Manor.
What Rita doesn’t realize — and I questioned this myself until the reveal — is that the old man was Mr. Nobody in disguise again, pushing Rita to finally get everyone on board to find the Chief. He’s basically setting things up for the confrontation he’s been wanting ever since he took Niles. This reveal also gave us a hilariously meta moment with Mr. Nobody in his little section of the universe, proclaiming the Doom Patrol is finally a team while decked out in authorized Doom Patrol swag. Curiously, he tears Vic’s face out of the Doom Patrol character poster before sending it up in flame
Warner Bros. Television
The second of the episode’s main stories involved the discovery of the comic book ad mascot Flex Mentallo … who was in the cell next to Vic’s the previous week. In fact, he’s been in Cell 722 since before Larry was first brought to The Ant Farm, with the Bureau of Normalcy unsuccessfully deciphering exactly what his abilities are, and not being able to completely shut them down even while incarcerated. Flex even tried a few times to get Larry to reach through a hole in the wall, that he created, to remove some of the wires from the gizmo he’s hooked to so he can regain his full strength but Larry refused. Interestingly, Flex can communicate with Larry’s Negative Spirit, who watches helplessly as Flex is occasionally tortured. But the Bureau manages to keep Flex in check by showing him video of his beloved wife once a week. He knows if he acts up, they will kill her.
Over the years though, watching his wife being tortured broke Flex’s mind so that when everyone was released during the activity at The Ant Farm when the team was trying to save Vic, he has no idea who he is. But Jane recognizes him and after they barely evade capture again, Flick shows up to transport them all back to the manor where Jane and Cliff spend some time trying to jog Flex’s memory, from grooming him to his original look to showing him old videos of his favorite soap opera (which included one episode with guest star Cliff Steele, giving Brendan Fraser a chance to hilariously over/under act at the same time).
Realizing they’re getting nowhere with jogging his memory, Jane (or rather Flick) teleports out and back in with Flex’s wife, the same old lady who hypnotized Vic for the Bureau (this time her elbow device is taped over so she can’t hypnotize Flex). Dolores doesn’t know who she is but once she sees Flex and Flex sees her, their memories come flooding back. But as they remember that love they had for each other, a beeping sound starts and Dolores turns into a pile of ash for breaking the Bureau’s rules and being with her husband again. Even in the face of this tragedy, Flex does have his memory back … but will he be any help in finding Chief?
The last little bit of information concerned Larry and the Negative Spirit. Ever since they all escaped The Ant Farm, the two have been living apart. Larry even begged the Spirit to go back to wherever it came from and live its life. Larry really has finally made peace with the Spirit but the separation has come with a cost: Larry’s health which is deteriorating rapidly from the radiation. But even though the Spirit is about to follow Larry’s plea to leave him, the Spirit realizes that without him Larry will die, so it returns to Larry’s body to save his life. But will they both be able to survive the coming battle with Mr. Nobody? And for that matter, while Cyborg even be present? Or is Flex Mentallo now the one who can help the Doom Patrol take down Nobody? Two episodes to go!
What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!
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