Doom Patrol has yet to break its streak of quality in these last five episodes. Despite some small nit-picks that could be made, such as using CGI for the blanket covering Rita that easily could have been done better with practical effects, “Therapy Patrol” may very well be the most powerful episode of the series so far. It is a masterclass in scripting and pacing, as well as bookend storytelling.
“Therapy Patrol” is broken down into 5 segments from each character’s point of view, sandwiched between Cliff’s “fuck us in our brains, hearts, and souls” speech and a paralleled payoff to that at the end. It is an effective character study of the cast that simultaneously manages to be focused yet anything but quiet. Each player is given equal screen time this week with an equal amount to take away from their vignettes, and we’re here to break them down for you. As always, you should beware of spoilers. Here are five thoughts on “Therapy Patrol.”
1. I’m Rita Farr
Rita’s segment begins with a flashback–as the others will also do–to her as a child, meeting her idol, Ethyl Singer. Our little star in the making is clearly influenced by the actress to become the character we know in the present day. The face that Rita puts on is apparent at an early age here but is slowly peeled back in the following scenes.
Following this, like the rest of the character segments, we get Rita’s point-of-view of Vic informing her of a team meeting and follow her from there as she is trapped in a literal furnace. Rita is gaining more control of her powers but still hampered by the emotional baggage that burdens her. Her “person who is breathing is me” invocation reverts to a “the person who deserves this is me” catharsis and she is later able to open up to the group and talks her “legs into being legs.”
While we are still being teased with exactly what it is Rita did in her past that Mr. Nobody is holding over her, this is the most emotionally honest she has been to this point in the series and a truly humanizing moment for her.
2. This Can be Our Stolen Moment
We find Larry, meanwhile, in the midst of a heart to heart with the spirit inhabiting him. On asking if his other wants to take the day off he is confronted with a memory of his time with John. Larry’s protests to the forced flashback are revealing and give a great deal of payoff but it is the childhood flashback that has the most to say here.
Larry’s story is a commentary on the difficulties gay men face in our society. His mother and father’s reaction is not a moment informed by its setting, many children finding themselves today are still forced to witness these types of reactions from those who are supposed to love and rear them in this world. When Larry rails about how “fucking context” is missing from the fantasy, it is impactful as all the horrific moments of embarrassment and even violence perpetrated on those like him are still as relevant today as in the 1950s.
3. Have I ever said “Boo-Yah?”
You don’t need to be a therapist to break down Vic’s issues, but that doesn’t make mean they are poorly presented here. For all his bluster and tough attitude, Vic is still a kid, and one whose young life has been controlled by fear for nearly all of it. His anger towards his father for violations of his own privacy is understandable but is undercut by his later acceptance of Grid’s surveillance in order to aid the normal young adult experience of online dating.
This duality of youth is as understandable as it is troubling. Vic wishes to be his own man, due to his father’s intrusions and inhibition of his life but is willing to forgo the very moral compass he has been taught in life in pursuit of this independence. He is a study of personal conflict as much as Jane and is a walking contradiction.
4. Everything is Fine
Continued belowSpeaking of Jane, her own personal conflict between her conflicting personalities is played with a great deal of skill this week, a testament to both the writing of Doom Patrol as well as the performances from Diane Gurrero. As Hammerhead lashes out, destroying Niles’s tapes, Jane desperately tries to take hold and stop her, resulting in a dance of destruction or a ballet of obliteration.
5. Therrrrr-a-peeeee
And then there’s Cliff. Each character segment is informed by its childhood flashback but none quite as much as Cliff’s. His personal revelation that he has become his father is the climax to a perfectly choreographed psychotic breakdown set to JD Souther’s “You’re Only Lonely” and “I Want Your Fun” by The Darts.
Bump’s “neck deep in robo-pussy” line is one of the few lines played for laughs this week, as “Therapy Patrol” leans heavily into these character dissections; but as touching as Cliff’s individual segment is this week, he is also the focus of most of the humor as he himself agonizingly tortures himself due to sabotage by the subject of the final segment, Admiral Whiskers. Cliff is the driving force for the therapy session, yet he simultaneously derails it at every turn. He tries his best to encourage his teammates yet interrupts them at any moment of progress.
“Therapy Patrol” is easily the most well-written of the series and continues its upward trajectory from a less than stellar beginning. Seven episodes in, it has been nearly flawless for the last five and one can only hope, but be encouraged by “Therapy Patrol,” that this consistency will continue.
