Hasitha Fernando reviews the seventh episode of Doom Patrol…
Our titular team is in complete disarray. Each reflecting on their painful pasts, which in turn mirror their current predicament. Cliff Steele suffers a mental breakdown in the process. After recovering from it, he suggests they all gather to have a self-led ‘group therapy session’ to get things off their chest and unburden their grief. Not all goes according to plan…
This episode further explores the dark traumatic pasts of our broken heroes. We find out that ‘Rita Farr’ is actually Elasti-Woman’s stage name, bestowed on her by her overbearing parents. It appears every aspect of her life has been controlled by her family from an early age. As a result, she’s now suffering from an existential crisis and starts questioning her very existence. Is Rita Farr as synthetic and fake as the makeup she wears each morning?
Negative Man’s entity makes him revisit an incident in the past involving his estranged paramour, over and over again. He is confused and exasperated. What does the entity want with him? Is it making him relive a painful memory out of spite or with purpose? Larry harbors a sense of deep self-loathing for hurting the people who loved him. Matt Bomer truly is a revelation, capturing the pain and frustration of an individual unable to express his feelings. No doubt, the actor’s experiences as a real-life gay rights activist adds to the credibility of his performance.
Cliff goes over the edge and starts hallucinating about his daughter and her step-father. His behavior becomes increasingly erratic and destructive, as the episode progresses…something is gnawing him from within. Likening himself to his abusive father he blames himself for the tragedy that befell the family. Perhaps the apple hasn’t fallen very far from the tree? Brendan Fraser’s voicework here is truly phenomenal. The perpetual agony of a man trapped inside a metallic body is poignantly captured.
Victor tries his utmost to fill the void left by ‘The Chief.’ Much to his disappointment though, not all welcome this change. During the therapy session he voices his concerns with regard to his father. The renewed trust developed in the episode prior has now dissipated. Vic also confesses that he maybe responsible for his mother’s death, but is unable to confirm the fact since he believes Silas may have tampered with his memories. Maybe, Mr. Nobody is telling the truth after all?
Not much is revealed about Crazy Jane through flashbacks in this installment. It’s obvious however, that her fractured personality is a result of childhood abuses.
The episode concludes with the revelation that perhaps, Mr. Nobody orchestrated the events that transpired, in an effort to break them from within with the help of a whiskered rodent.
We have now nearly reached the half-way point of this TV series and this particular episode once again gets top points from me for its gutsy execution. It packed a punch on an emotional level whilst maintaining its trademark dark humor. All I can say is, just keep ‘em coming!
Hasitha Fernando
