Last week’s anti-climactic battle spoiled a build months in the making. That doesn’t mean that it didn’t deliver fireworks, though. Chief’s admission of involvement in the accidents that befell the Doom Patrol cracked a foundation the team spent so long to fortify. The revelation sent the squad into a spiral, splitting them up once again. But the heroic call isn’t easy to shake. Or, more aptly, tune out. Another final clash with Mr. Nobody headlined the season finale, and this time he has allies. Vengeance is hardly ever filling, after all. You’d be surprised how intimidating a brimstone-preaching roach and a tech-hungry mouse can be. It’s time for the Doomers to meet the Brotherhood of Dangerous Animals.
Before
Chief’s role in his “children’s” fortuitous mishaps becomes clearer thanks to a series of flashbacks. He is seen alongside Joshua at the Ant Farm circa 1968 discussing adding Larry as a test subject for the Immortus initiative. Joshua believes adding Larry isn’t necessary since they already have Rita as a test subject, but Chief isn’t swayed. His goal of understanding and accessing the power of immortality knows no limit. He adds Jane to the mix eight years later with Forsythe, the Bureau of Normalcy doc that tortured Larry, personally handing her over.
The arrival of Cliff’s brain brings Chief his first moment of guilt. His car accident was supposed to happen on the race track, not with Cliff’s family in the car. The death and injuries caused weigh so much on Chief that he divulges his decades of Immortus activity to Vic’s mother, Elinore. The final window reveals that Chief was present during the operation that turned Vic into Cyborg. Chief reassures Silas that choosing to save Vic would’ve been Elinore’s choice too before jumping into a recruitment pitch for Vic. Silas immediately pushes back, revealing that Elinore told him about Chief’s Immortus initiative. He turned his son into a freak because he loved him and wanted to preserve his life. Chief can’t answer the same question regarding his Doom Manor roommates.
After
Six months have passed since the team’s trip into the White Space. Rita and Larry are living together as they try to assimilate back into normal society. It isn’t working out too well though. Larry remains cooped up inside other than daily attempts to expand how long he and the Negative Spirit can survive apart. Rita works as a high school drama teacher, but can’t handle the vitriol her students sling.
Jane is living in the bus under an overpass, but she does finally return to the fake academy. She confronts Joshua as her personas begin to swap rapidly. Joshua apologizes for his role in Chief’s project, but he does have something that could help her. Chief developed a metahuman opiate that numbs both the good and the bad. Jane wastes no time, teleporting away with the drug before Joshua can list off a litany of concerns the drug poses. She injects the drug and her collective personas, including Kay, gather and lie in the grass surrounding the Underground’s dream lake.
Cliff and Vic have taken much more passive existences in the months since. Vic remains hesitant to reenter the field, choosing to fight cyber crime from the comfort of his bedroom. Cliff seems to only fill his time by buying food for Jane and secretly leaving it for her while watching the bus from across the street.
Getting Up Again
Larry and Rita seem to be switching roles. Rita grows more depressed as Larry grows much more chipper. The sweet and sour mood is interrupted by the faint sound of singing. You can’t leave that kind of curiosity unchecked.
Kay begins to stir in by the pond, following Daddy’s voice once again. Hammerhead goes after her, but Secretary pushes Jane to return to the surface. Hiding within her mind isn’t going to heal her. Secretary employs a fist when words don’t work, forcing Jane to wake up and find Cliff dropping off another meal. Seeing Cliff initially enrages Jane, but they begin to hear the music as well. It’s time for the tag team to reform and beatdown the bad Chumbawamba cover’s source.
The team reunite with Vic outside of Doom Manor and they all enter to find Chief staring at a painting of Danny. Mr. Nobody has trapped him and Chief’s newly revealed daughter within the painting and he needs their help to rescue them. Cliff immediate threatens to bail, but the rest agree to help Chief out of care for Danny and Chief’s daughter. Cliff joins them and the six enter the painting.
Don’t Call It A Comeback
The squad find Danny empty thanks to Flex rescuing most of the Dannyzens. In fact, the first creature the come across is a kaiju-sized Ezekiel. It looks like the alliance between Nobody, Ezekiel and Admiral Whiskers didn’t last too long thanks to Chief’s daughter. The two animals increased size is thanks to her and it sent Nobody on the run. The group retreats to the club, discovering the Beard Hunter is the source of the music. He partnered with Nobody to take Chief’s daughter, but that obviously backfired. Vic rallies the troops and they rush out to confront the beasts only to have Admiral Whiskers eat Cliff and Ezekiel eat Vic.
The team once again is forced to improvise. With a resolute Nobody on their side, the squad begins goading Ezekiel into eating them all while Larry and the Negative Spirit open a portal out of the painting. Nobody uses his narrative powers to force Ezekiel and Whiskers to get it, allowing Cliff to leap from Whiskers’ mouth to Ezekiel under a wave of spit. Jane and Chief find his daughter and join the rest inside the giant roach. With them all collected, Larry sparks the portal, transferring Ezekiel out of the painting.
The team emerges from Ezekiel’s body on top of Danny, now in brick form. Chief introduces his daughter, Dorothy Spinner, as Larry towers over everyone. Looks like using Ezekiel as a vessel caused everyone other than Larry to shrink. Larry picks up Danny, the team in tow, and brings them back into Doom Manor as Nobody and the Beard Hunter remain stuck in the blank white painting.
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