In episode 3 of Doom Patrol, Rita and friends face a new enemy while Victor heads to Detroit to reconnect with people from his past. The episode is now streaming on HBO Max.
Recap
Rita is eating away her feelings after being replaced as the leader of the team. The doorbell rings and when she goes to answer it, she finds a flier advertising a “Rita Farr Retrospective” in Cloverton.
Jane is still trying to figure out what her purpose should be if she’s not protecting Kay. She goes through the random puzzles once again and sees Shelby’s eye in one of them out of which a white mist arises and gives her an orgasm.
Victor visits this fast food place in Detroit to meet his old friends and they’re all surprised to see him without his tech. Larry is still feuding with Keeg and Rouge tries to cheer him up but he tells her to fix things with Rita first since she has hurt her the most.
Rita is enjoying her debut film all by herself in the theatre when a green mist shows up and knocks her unconscious before heading towards the screen.
Victor and his friends talk about the old days and Victor’s mother’s funeral. There appears to be some kind of residual frostiness, however. Rita wakes up inside her own movie where she’s given a necklace that partly fills up when she receives it.
Jane wants to talk about the mist with Cliff but he feels weirded out. Larry says that they’re all going through something but they should just deal with it in silence. Right then, the alarm rings and Rouge walks in with a giant notepad.
She says that as team leader, she wants to build trust within the team and suggests going to the retrospective in support of Rita. The others find it weird that Cloverton is having one so they go investigate.
After arriving, Larry pretty soon realizes that there’s something wrong with the movie and Rouge says that Rita has been transported into it. The mist reappears and sends them all in as Rogue escapes.
Cliff and Jane find themselves in one of Rita’s horror movies while Larry is in her debut. He meets Oliver Truman who says they were trapped here by Dr. Janus, who won’t stop until she gets what she wants from Rita.
Rouge goes back to the manor to figure out who or what they’re dealing with. She looks at the flier again and sees Dr. Janus’ name which rings a bell. She goes through Niles’ files and learns that Dr. Janus is an emotional vampire who can create hallucinations and artificial realities.
However, the section on how to defeat her is redacted and Rouge curses Niles as she begins drinking to deal with her guilt as it was her idea to check it out and now the team could be headed to their deaths.
Cliff and Jane hide in a closet away from a creepy kid and they once again bring up the conversation about Jane’s orgasm. She says that she felt good but she’s still focused on Kay and Cliff tells her to think for herself for once.
Victor’s friends tell him that he left them and they had to live difficult lives that led them to this point. They feel that they have changed a lot and too much time has passed for him to just come back and behave like things are normal.
He says that he spent a lot of time grieving and trying to find out who he is without his powers and now wants to make up for the time that they have lost.
Rita wakes up in a scene from a sci-fi film she once did and Cliff, Jane, Larry and Oliver show up as well. Oliver then introduces himself as Mr. 104 and reveals that he’s working with Dr. Janus.
Rita’s friends are sent to a cell at the other end of a rope bridge, forcing Rita to try and save them and fill up the necklace by emoting. Dr. Janus appears and says that she wants Rita’s emotions which were actually stolen from its true owner.
Rita accepts her fate and tries to save her friends and gives Dr. Janus what she wants. The doctor leaves as she announces that her master, Immortus will rise again.
The rope bridge breaks and Mr. 104 holds onto the end as Rita is close to falling off. As Rouge was getting drunk, Keeg went through the files on Dr. Janus and arrives in time to save them as he rushes into Mr. 104 and they all wake up back in the theatre.
Rita is there but she’s unconscious and they rush home to find out what’s wrong with her exactly.
Review
- Cliff and Jane are a brilliant comedic duo and they are hilarious in this episode as well. Their chemistry is great and shines on screen every time they’re interacting in a scene together.
- Mr. 104’s reveal falls a little flat as he’s something of a vague villain and his decision to suddenly help them when the bridge breaks make his character even more confusing.
- Michelle Gomez is a spectacular actress and she excels in the villainous role so her attempts to play the good guy have turned out mixed results.
Doom Patrol season 1 episode 3
Director: Kristin Windell
Date Created: 2022-12-15 13:30
3
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