Despite the glaring absence of Dorothy and Space Case, Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 6 does an admirable job lining up (almost) all the major players at the height of potential catastrophe.
I’ll probably pour one out for Bunbury later, but I am glad the foul-mouthed rabbit mage didn’t turn out to be a secret Immortus agent.
And if all it takes for Rita and Rouge to forgive each other and team up is a reverse-aging spell, an Ant Farm infiltration mission, and the imminent end of existence (must be Thursday), then it’s no wonder it took so long.
They are quite the delightful duo when they aren’t at each other’s throats. There’s a wonderful balance to their partnership.
When Rita wants to admit defeat and return home, Rouge bolsters her energies and holds her to their teenage pledge.
When Rouge feels trounced by learning that Wally Sage is their Immortus ringleader, Rita asserts leader prerogative and insists they go see him.
Wally himself is an enigma of a character.
Is he really the villain, or did he just draw himself that way? Is the Wally in the Ant Farm cell actually him, or is he the hooded minion in Orqwith?
What are the extents of his powers? Is it just that the things and people he draws manifest physically, or do events unfold as he draws them too?
Is he a replicator or an oracle? Or both?
I suspect somewhere in his cell, they’ll find a scene he’s drawn where Rita looks upon his face, loses control of her blob powers, and crushes him with sudden expansion.
However, since his body disappeared, there are more questions than answers down that path.
Speaking of old friends teaming up, how about Vic and Deric resurrecting the Detroiticon energy? I love me some geek boys.
Deric: You remember when we used to play DnD at Calvin’s?
Vic: Pettiest dungeon master ever?
Deric: Exactly. But eventually we realized to complete our mission, we had to play Calvin against himself.
Vic: We gamed the system.
Deric: Mm-hm. Everything in a DnD campaign exists because the DM put it there. Everything has a purpose.
While I’d hate to see Vic leave the team — it’s already bizarre not having Cyborg’s tech around — I appreciate the depths they’re willing to plumb in establishing his quest to find his bliss.
Vic: It was a weird night. Even for us. It’s not everyday we get hit with a youth spell.
Deric: Transmutation magic, huh? That’s some Level 9 sorcerer shit.
Vic: Just another day in the life of a superhero.
Yes, he chose the life of a superhero, but did he really?
His mom certainly wouldn’t have wanted that life for him. If she had lived, he would’ve had more options, more paths, and more joy.
It’s helpful to remember that Vic’s the youngest member of the Doom Patrol by decades. His relationship with his father may be problematic, but it’s nothing compared to his teammates’ parental situations, and at least Silas is still around to patch things up.
No matter how far you drift, you’ll always be connected to where we came from. At the end of the day, you’ll always be one of us.
Deric
Like him, Jane’s adrift on her self-actualization journey.
I feel cheated by her far-too-short visit to Shelley Byron’s sweet shop. (No more than Shelley does, I’m sure.)
However, it serves to crack open her shell a bit. Faced with something that will make her truly happy — not The Girl, not the Underground, just her — she’s unable to embrace it.
I think it’s that moment where her lips are hovering close to Shelley’s where she realizes what she confesses to Cliff later — that she doesn’t think she’s worthy of love.
It makes a lot of sense. Jane has been the primary for a long time because she’s competent, versatile, and not frightened easily.
She has made her M.O. to be useful.
Oh, it was all real. The parties, the pool. Getting turned into a baby. You were a fussy little stinker, too. I was starting to get worried you’d be stuck like that. I’ve been big for hours. Sorry, that sounded weird.
Cliff
And even though (maybe because) she wasn’t around in Kay’s childhood or her teenage years, she’s always assumed she’ll be Kay’s rock personality until the end.
Jane: Look at my hair! I feel like shit. My chest hurts.
Cliff: It’s just acid reflux. Welcome to middle-age.
So losing her longevity and facing the idea of death just as Kay releases her from personality obligation must be a truly terrifying situation for her.
At the other end of the spectrum, we find Larry, who has been shunted all over the place over the last few adventures.
Now that he and Rama have come to an understanding, he’s closer to the Immortus cult than any of the others.
Brahma: Immortus is Hope. Each of us had some desperate hope we’d all but given up on. And then Immortus found us. He showed each of us a vision of the possibilities that lie before us. He called upon us to usher him onto this plane, and when he arrives, he will rewrite history and make all our wishes come true.
Larry: You mean, like, a genie? Because you’re describing a genie.
His belief that the team can help Rama and that stabilizing Rama’s cells can wait until they’ve dealt with Immortus demonstrates the trademark unwavering optimism Larry Trainor’s never been able to lose despite everything that’s happened to him.
Rama genuinely touches him when he places his faith in Larry’s word.
In turn, Larry shows faith in Keeg by giving up his longevity without a fight. Of course, after the flashforward of the future Keeg shared with him, does he really have a choice?
It would all be very poignant if it wasn’t putting Wally and his cohorts one step closer to raising a god to wash away their sins and potentially the world’s entire history.
As someone who’s been staring Death in the face for a while, take my advice. Figure out what’s left for you to do, and use every second you have left to do it. Cause this shit won’t stop to wait for you.
Cliff
The final piece of the plan lies in Cliff and his piece of the Longevity Talisman. Since all of Cliff is his brain, that must be where the talisman piece is embedded, infused, or even stored.
It does explain how that brain’s survived all the times it’s been moved from body to jar to GPS system.
Will you shut up! I’m not taking any advice from a manifestation of my diseased brain.
Cliff
What’s sad is that it means the Longevity Talisman piece has been the only thing slowing down his brain’s degeneration. Without it, he probably would’ve succumbed long before he ever reconciled with his daughter or met his grandson.
Does that mean Niles Caulder did something good for someone? Will wonders never cease?
So, where do we stand at this (momentary) end of things? Mr. Invincible has been vanquished. That was a short-lived hero’s journey, if there ever was one.
All core Doom Patrol members (plus Deric) are accounted for. Willoughby is licking his wounds. Dorothy and Space Case are on their way. I’ll call them the Cavalry for now.
Where is Rama? Keeg prevented him from following Larry through the portal into Orqwith, and he wasn’t around when Cliff regained consciousness.
And, of course, there’s the freezer Butt. I’ll make the prediction that freezer Butt will find his brother at Dr. Yu’s, and together, they’ll manage to recreate the Buttpocalyptic future.
Over to you, Doom Patrol Fanatics? Where do they go from here?
Who are you hoping to see when the show returns? What do you think Immortus’s stance on Butts is?
Hit the comments with all your thoughts and theories!
Diana Keng is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.