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Let’s Talk About ‘Amends Patrol’:
- After the bus accident, Rita tries to rally the group to become a real team.
- Monsieur Mallah leaves Madame Rouge and Cliff’s brain at the edge of a cliff, and resigns from the Brotherhood of Evil.
- Shelley, aka The Fog, takes Jane, Vic and Larry to the forest where they make some surprising discoveries.
- Brain, in Cliff’s body, is surprised by the appearance of a new Cliff-powered robot driven by Madame Rouge.
- Jane is shocked to learn the debris blocking the tunnel in the Underground is the remains of the other personalities, while a few of the survivors are beginning to crumble themselves.
- Larry learns that his parasite, Keeg, has been attempting to bond with him but is resistant to being host to another alien being.
- Rita makes her way to Florida alone, and exacts her revenge on The Brain.
- Madame Rouge returns to the Sisterhood of Dada’s apartment and discovers a previously unseen room. Inside is the hidden time machine. But can she make amends for her evil deeds?
- Jane cuts a deal with Dr. Harrison to gather the others and return to the Underground to save Kay.
- New Cliff goes on an apology tour / path of destruction with a new outlook on life.
- Larry accepts Keeg but his bandages prevent the being from entering his body, so Victor becomes a temporary host until they can return to Doom Manor.
- Madame Rouge returns to Doom Manor in the time machine with amnesia, but a note pinned to her clothes helps explain who she is and why she’s there.
- New Cliff also returns home but loses control of his new body, putting him on a path into Cloverton.
- A monstrous new threat surfaces in the Suez Canal and only a real team can show it who’s boss.
And here we are at the third season finale of Doom Patrol. What a great season this has been with the introduction of Madame Rouge, the Sisterhood of Dada, and the return of the Brotherhood of Evil (and let’s not forget Garguax and Samuelson, and the Dead Boys detectives). Week in and week out, Doom Patrol proves that it is the superior HBO Max flawed superhero show because it knows how to take itself serious and be completely absurd at the same time without being jarring in the tonal shifts. Doom Patrol also features infinitely more interesting characters than the other show and is perfectly cast with a group of skilled actors who make you believe in their characters. And even after three seasons of the team insisting they aren’t a team yet still putting all of their differences aside to fight for each other when duty calls, we’ve also seen major character development and growth, especially this season which culminates in a supremely satisfying conclusion. It would be nice if groups like the Television Acaedmy, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and other awards organizations paid attention to this show because it and its cast deserve some trophies. It is a terrific show all around.
This season has been building a story from the start forcing the group to come to terms with the death of Niles Caulder, a man they once adored and then despised once they learned he was behind all of their unfortunate accidents in an effort to use them as guinea pigs to give himself eternal life to care for his daughter Dorothy. As they each set out on their own path of self-discovery, the arrival of a mysterious woman with amnesia in a time machine helped Rita grow in so many way, really finding her place in the world — even if it was the past. Larry had to deal with a life that didn’t include the Negative Spirit, Victor made the decision to replace his tech, Jane tried to help Kay experience life in the outside world, and Cliff spiraled as his health took a downward turn with no Chief to fix him. Yet, they all never gave up on each other and become more bonded by the end than they had ever been. And their journey begins in the season finale from the aftermath of a bus accident that left them battered and bruised, questioning this path they’re heading down to save Cliff from the Brotherhood of Evil and Madame Rouge.
Rita Farr
Of the group, Rita has grown the most this season, finding true love in the past with Malcolm and a real family with the Sisterhood of Dada. She also found her best friend in Laura DeMille, and was betrayed by that friend who also took away the love of Rita’s life. So while Rita has assembled the group to head to Florida to save Cliff from the Brotherhood, they all realize that this is really a revenge mission against Rouge. And after barely surviving the accident, none of them are on board with Rita’s quest. She tries to give them the old ‘we’ve been here before’ pep talk but Larry says they aren’t built for this and Vic says they aren’t a super team. Rita’s friend Shelley, aka The Fog, arrives but Rita wants no part of what she’s there for and Shelley asks if this is what Malcolm would want. Rita says they’ll never know but she’s going to do with her bare hands what the Sisterhood couldn’t with their song and dance and art, and that is kill Madame Rouge. Shelley believes Rouge/Laura isn’t completely lost and neither is Rita.
But Rita manages to make her way to Florida and locates the Brotherhood, or at least The Brain who had an unfortunate run in with Madame Rouge and her new friend (more on that shortly). With Brain housed in Cliff’s body — now severely damaged because of Rouge — he’s not at all thrilled to see Rita, cursing Garguax from not doing his job. Brain is also shocked to find a farewell letter from Monsieur Mallah, who is turning his back on evil and Evil, and has left Brain with just a few items including a temperamental ray gun and the Alanis Morrisette CD Mallah had told him was stolen from their car. What Brain does still have are the blueprints to repair his body. He just needs someone to help, and if Rita volunteers he will help her kill Madame Rouge. Rita, who is now skirting the dark side of things as her vision is distorted by revenge, offers to help, telling Brain she and Rouge are alike but different — Rouge is driven by power and Rita is motivated by love, her love for the man Rouge destroyed and the love for her friends. But she’s done dancing around in the dark … so she pours scalding water over Brain’s now exposed brain. Now she just has to finish off Madame Rouge, but she’s too blinded to ask herself if killing one person will make her feel better about Malcolm’s death.
Laura DeMille / Madame Rouge
When we last saw Madame Rouge, she was strapped to a gurney with Cliff’s brain in a jar, sitting at the edge of a cliff while Monsieur Mallah pondered his life. He tells her this is where the Brotherhood deposits its garbage, and he spent the better part of the night deciding whether or not to kill them. But they’re still here even though he blames Rouge for ruining everything for him and Brain. They had a good life in retirement in Boca, but now Brain has a new body — Cliff’s — and his cycle of conquest will begin anew. Mallah says Rouge and Brain are cut from the same cloth, but he’s done with Evil and she can figure out how to get herself off the gurney. He leaves and she tries to wriggle free, but the movement dislodges the jar with Cliff’s brain and it falls into the quarry below.
Without a whole lot of explanation — okay, no explanation whatsoever — Brain is enjoying the afternoon in his new body when a giant robot appears over the horizon, chasing him across a golf course in his golf cart. It’s Rouge and the robot is powered by Cliff’s brain now in Brain’s former ‘body’. Cliff has no idea what’s going on until she tells him he’s a giant robot now and they are going to exact revenge on the little shit who stole his body, so congratulations and you’re welcome. And they smash Brain and his golf cart, and Cliff realizes they just smashed his old body. He doesn’t know the body is damaged but it survives, minus the legs. But Rouge is now focused on getting back to Doom Manor and ‘Rita fucking Farr’. Cliff preferred Rouge when she was an ottoman. But Cliff manages to gain control of the robot, forcing Rouge to contemplate her next move without him. She threatens to kill Cliff if he doesn’t release control of the robot and he tells her to go ahead because he’s dying anyway. But she can’t do it, and Cliff sees this as a teachable moment, celebrating that there is a non-fuckwad deep inside of her. But instead of staying with Cliff, she turns into a bird and flies off, leaving Cliff trapped in a robot body … but he’s always trapped in a robot body.
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She returns to the Sisterhood of Dada’s decrepit apartment and plays a record (‘Oceanic Feeling’ by Molly Lewis) and does her dance from the old movie. She spies a door that she’d never noticed before and upon entering the new room she finds what she’s been looking for — the time machine. Clever Rita. She fires up the machine, and a narrator says Rouge is ready to burrow through space and time, but to where and when exactly? Rouge says anywhere but here, any time but now, responding to the narrator that turns out to the the voice of the time machine. She knows she has to go back and stop herself, save the others, save Malcolm, maybe go back further before she was Rouge, before she was Laura DeMille. But who was she before she was Laura DeMille? She’s not sure, she just wants to start over. The machine says she’s not aware the past cannot be changed, and she tells it to go shit in its hat. The machine says that she knows the machine is correct, what has happened will always be. Then how does she make things right? She needs to change, she needs some answers and … why is she talking to another robot? The machine asks where and when she’d like to go.
Victor Stone & Larry Trainor
In the forest where The Fog has taken them, Larry is zapped again by his parasite. He believes it hates him and is trying to kill him. Some of Kay’s personalities gather around them and one, Mother Pentecost, tells Larry that Keeg doesn’t hate him (she’s fluent in most languages, including light and color), it needs to merge with him or it will die soon. Larry spent 60 miserable years with the Negative Spirit so he’s not about to go through that again. Vic tries to use an analogy equating his uncle getting a new dog named Bo every time the previous Bo came to the end of its life as a way to get Larry to accept Keeg. Larry says that is a gross misrepresentation of what he’s going through. Every decision of his life has been made for him. Society forced him into marriage. Chief made Larry cross paths with the Negative Spirit. If he lets Keeg in, it will be on his terms, and if it goes sideways then he is the only one to blame. Larry says maybe he should have just left the thing to die, but Vic reminds him of the conversation Larry had with his sub, telling himself that he needed to let love in. The Negative Spirit was closer to him than anyone else. Keeg chose him, so let it in.
Larry finally agrees but the process is not working. Keeg can’t penetrate Larry’s bandages which are meant to be radiation-proof. Vic offers to carry Keeg until they get back to the house, even though it could kill him. Vic says that’s his choice, and Rita was right that he was afraid to go after the Brotherhood because he no longer has his powers. He let Cliff down and he won’t make the same mistake with Larry. Larry accepts the offer and Keeg enters Vic’s body. The Fog transports them back to Doom Manor where Larry struggles to get Victor up to his room. Vic is in terrible pain but they make it and a baby Negative Spirit emerges from his body into Larry’s room. He closes the radiation-proof door and Larry removes some of his bandages, welcoming Keeg into his body. He swears that he will try to do better this time, and with Vic watching through the window, Keeg enters Larry which causes him to collapse. But before Vic can do anything to help, there is a massive rumbling shaking the manor.
Cliff
After Rouge abandons Cliff, he manages to regain control of his new body and makes his way back to Florida. Clara is driving home, hearing reports on the radio of a giant robot wandering around Panama City (a woman on the radio asks where is the Justice League when you need them?). When she arrives, Cliff is sitting on her lawn, just wanting to let her know that he’s okay. He’s ready to change (she didn’t mean like this), and he talks of how shitty of a father he was when she was too young to remember. He was too busy trying to be great when he should have been good. The only people he needs to be special to now are Clara and Rory. She just wants him to be healthy. He can do that too but he needs to make things right with his friends … and get out of there before the cops arrive. Oh, and he accidentally stepped on a Prius a few streets over. He leaves and makes his way back to Doom Manor.
Jane
In the forest, Jane spots Hammerhead and goes after her. She tells Hammerhead to get everyone back together, but Hammerhead said Dr. Harrison says it’s safer in the fog because Kay has made it clear she doesn’t want them around anymore. Jane says they only exist because of Kay. Shelley tells them there’s something they need to see. Jane and Hammerhead go to the Sweets Shop where others are lying on cots, possibly ill. Pretty Polly tells Jane she’s sorry, she just didn’t want to be alone. Jane tells her they’ll fix this but she notices Polly’s arm is starting to crumble. She realizes the debris she saw blocking the tunnel was the remains of the others. Dr. Harrison enters and tells Jane this isn’t the time for her to come and rile everyone up. Jane tells her the Underground collapsed without them, and Harrison says then it’s good they got out when they did. Jane tries desperately to get her to gather the others and go back because they’ll listen to her. Harrison doesn’t want to give up their newfound freedom, and they can go anywhere The Fog goes. Jane says The Fog likes her so she’ll just ask her to give them all the boot. Harrison asks if the roles were reversed, would Kay dig them out of the tunnel? Jane says Kay would never let them crumble away but Harrison is not ready to sacrifice her freedom for the girl. Jane sees that Harrison’s arm is crumbling and accuses her of being willing to let them all die rather than give up control. So Jane makes her an offer to get them back to the Underground and dig Kay out of the collapsed tunnel.
With Larry and Vic, The Fog also brings Jane back to the manor and Jane asks if Shelley was really helping the others or was she just trying to draw Jane in? Shelley asks which answer might get her to come and search for Shelley again. Jane smiles and Shelley vanishes in her fog. Was that flirting? And then Jane collapses, returning to the Underground. The others are at the wall of debris, working from the top down to free Kay. Even Dr. Harrison is helping. But the rumbling Vic felt in the manor is also being felt in the Underground. Harrison tells them to ignore it because it’s happening above them so focus on the task at hand. Hammerhead pulls Jane aside and asks her what she gave up to get Harrison to come back. Jane asks what does Harrison love more than anything else, and Hammerhead says control. Is Harrison the primary now? Is that something Jane can just give away? What will Kay say about this? Jane will worry about that once Kay’s safe. Hammerhead also wants to know if the rumbling has anything to do with Jane’s moron buddies. ‘What do you think’, Jane quips. Harrison tells everyone to get back to work, and Hammerhead tells Jane she’s no one’s bitch and for Jane to get back up top.
The Rumbling
Jane wakes up as Vic runs past her in the hallway. Outside they discover the rumbling is Rouge’s time machine burrowing its way above ground. Rouge exits, but she has amnesia again. She knows she knows them but she doesn’t know who they are. They point to a letter pinned to Rouge’s jacket. It reads, ‘You are Madame Rouge. You are a terrible person, but trying to change. You will come across people who despise you, Jane dresses like a deranged sock puppet, and Larry, blah blah blah, Boris Karloff.’ No Larry here? Vic says he’s indisposed because he just had a baby. Jane looks at him and he says that’s Larry’s story to tell. The letter continues: ‘Vic, track suit, stick up ass, everyone hates you especially Rita. You killed her greatest love.’ Rouge asks if she’s really that terrible and Jane tells her she turned into a killer baby! Then Giant Robot Cliff shows up and Rouge reads, ‘A drug-addled android.’ Cliff is back to make amends, and he even brought back most of the stuff he stole from everyone. As he drops everything, he’s lost control of the robot again and he can’t stop.
Jane transports into his head and asks Cliff how to stop the robot. He doesn’t know, he just took control from Rouge but he’s still figuring things out, he’s fucked up and he has Parkinson’s. Back at the manor, Rouge asks Vic if he does anything heroic, and he says he’s still figuring that out. ‘Got it, you’re a useless person,’ she responds. Just then a glowing Larry flies out of the manor and Vic tells him to stop Cliff. Larry takes off but stops glowing and crashes to the ground. ‘Well that was rubbish,’ says Rouge. Vic runs off to try to stop Cliff and Rouge continues reading her letter: ‘These people you will meet are morons. If they get into trouble, and they will, you can and should help. This is the key to your redemption.’ She tells Vic to wait, she can help, but she runs right into Rita’s outstretched hands that are now clasped around her throat. Rita says Rouge doesn’t remember her, but don’t look at her note, look at her face and remember. Rouge does and her life flashes before her eyes. She says, ‘I destroyed it.’ She acknowledges that Rita had built a beautiful life with Malcolm and she destroyed it. She apologizes and tells Rita she has every right to kill her but … ‘I’m not worth it.’
Cliff tells Jane to leave him and save herself, but she’s not leaving him. She pushes every button and pulls every lever to get him to stop, but the last one sets off an alarm. Cliff says she pulled the self-destruct lever. She tells him that was a very important detail. Cliff says they’ll explode, take out a baseball game, maybe a mini mall. Jane laughs and says NORAD will scramble the jets, Cliff says maybe some Stealth bombers. Silent but deadly, Jane quips. Cliff thanks her for always pulling him out of his bullshit and always forgiving his bullshit. She says he’s pathetic so it’s easy to forgive … then she hugs his casing which is just a bit awkward for them both. Cliff says he should have waited a minute to say goodbye because now he’s uncomfortable. Jane tells him to shut up so they can explode in peace. But they are approaching a baseball game, and Vic is still running to try and stop them. But something suddenly happens that knocks Jane to the floor. Just as there is no explanation for Cliff’s giant robot body, there’s no explanation of a giant Rita stopping Cliff in his tracks. She asks if he’s alright, he says he just wants to go home.
Doom Manor
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Rita, Larry, Vic, Jane and Cliff watch the news about a giant robot’s path of destruction that began in Florida but was stopped by a group of ‘super-powered eccentrics’ before it could destroy the small suburb of Cloverton. Vic says eccentrics is an upgrade from misfits. Larry says they got lucky, they could have caused severe damage in Cloverton. Again. Rita asserts there was no damage because they are not the same careless, clueless people who strolled into town the last time. But is she the only one who’s tired of letting the world label them? It’s time they choose to label themselves. ‘Who are we? What are we? Why are we?’ Maybe they are weapons, but a weapon is a tool that is only as dangerous as the hand that wields it. What is they choose to be weapons for good? Jane asks if she’s asking them to be superheroes. Vic asks Rita that she has come around to this idea (the one he’s been pitching all season) after he’s ditched his tech gear? Rita says they did something great, they were observant and they saved a town. ‘From us,’ Larry says. Rita says they aren’t perfect but they are trying to be good, which is more than most. Vic says he’s in. Larry and Keeg will give it a try. Cliff is all in. And then another voice also says she’ll do it, if they’ll have her. Rita glares at Madame Rouge, asking her if she honestly expects Rita to believe she’s changed. Rouge says she hasn’t but she wants to try, like the rest of them. Cliff says he’ll vouch for her. Rita relents saying it’ll be the easiest way to keep an eye on Rouge. Rita looks at Jane and she responds ‘up, up and away or whatever’. And Cliff has a name for them — Doom Force! They’ll get uniforms with a bunch of pockets and shit. His revery is interrupted by a special news bulletin.
A strange creature has emerged from the Mediterranean Sea and caused utter chaos, attacking vessels in the Suez Canal. But it’s not a monster. By the looks of it, it’s a giant nut sack with demon pubes. Rita says that sack is fate. Are they not a super team? Do they not need a super foe? Larry asks how they’re going to get to the Suex Canal. Rita asks Jane if Flit can … and Jane passes out. Rouge has an idea.
Jane is back in the Underground, the debris has been cleared. She finds Harrison and asks where Kay is. Harrison says they’ll get to that but first … they had a deal, and it’s time for her to make good on it. Jane takes a seat opposite Harrison.
Cliff says this is the most people he’s ever had inside of him. Came close once at an in-field party at Talladega once, but this is the record. Everyone has tape on their foreheads with their names written on them. Vic has written out a mission statement to help them remember who they are and why they are at the Suez Canal. Rita is in the time machine, and they are set to arrive at the Suez Canal three minutes into the future. Larry asks if they might be rushing into this and Rita says absolutely. She starts the machine and Cliff shouts, ‘Dooooooooooom Force!’ They all yell ‘NO!” at him. He picks up the machine, turns it over and they begin burrowing into the ground, off on a new adventure to Season 4.
All episodes of Doom Patrol are available on HBO Max.
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