Doom Patrol “Youth Patrol” Review

Season 4 Episode 5 – When Rita awakens unexpectedly aged, a mishandled spell “teenage-ifies” the Doom Patrol just as Willoughby asks for their help stopping the rise of Immortus and the end of the world as they know it.

Please note, our reviews are based on likes and dislikes. These contain significant spoilers. If you haven’t already watched the episode, we recommend that you click off the article and come back once you have watched the episode. Enjoy!

What I Liked

1. Larry experiences nightmares about Keeg entering Mr. 104 and leaves to go and find him.

2. Jane tries to give herself an orgasm but is pulled into the Underground before she can continue. When she attempts to lash out at the other personalities, with her thinking that they did it, she finds out that she stopped herself from doing it.

3. Kipling returns to the manor and tells the team about Immortus. He explains that Immortus was part of a longevity program for immortality. It’s nice to finally get more information about our main villain for the season.

4. Kipling reveals that the necklace that kept Niles immortal was used to stop the team from aging, meaning that a piece of a necklace is inside of Cliff, Jane, Larry and Rita. Interestingly enough, it is also inside Mr. Nobody, the main villain of season 1. I always thought that the experiments performed by Niles was the thing that was keeping them young, but it almost makes too much sense that it was the necklace that made them stay the same age.

5. Rita finds herself getting older and finds a potion to make herself reverse the process. Unfortunately, she is startled by Cliff and the others and drops the potion.

6. The team and Kipling are turned into teenagers. However, they all still look the same aside from a wardrobe change and braces for Vic. Seeing Kipling wearing a pony tail and renaissance clothing with no shame was absolutely hilarious. Mark Shepherd never fails to deliver the dry wit that’s required of the character.

7. The team goes to a gas station where they are shown to act like teenagers, with Cliff whining a lot more and Vic asking them to bring him some snacks from the store.

8. Cliff and Jane acquaint themselves with a group of teenagers, who offer the team to join them at an indoor pool party. Jane, Vic and Cliff are all for this, much to the annoyance of Kipling who is pressured to allow them to go.

9. Rita runs off from Rouge in the bathroom, who chases after her, further angering Kipling, who specifically told the group to stay together.

10. Larry finds Mr. 104, who is now suffering after Keeg went into his body.

11. Keeg forces Larry and Mr. 104 to share a flashback. We (along with Larry) find out that Mr. 104 was also a prisoner of the Bureau of Normalcy, who forced him to kill people for them as part of a test. We don’t know a ton about Mr. 104 and it’s hard to tell if he can be trusted but it is not hard to feel bad for the character here.

12. The Bureau of Normalcy really do just feel like the true villains of this show overtime. Mr. Nobody and the Candlemaker were definitely legitimate threats to be sure, but it’s the Bureau that remains a consistent adversary to the team on this show and makes it all the more easy to hate them.

13. Jane and Vic smoke a joint over the pool and discuss whether or not the world will always need saving. I never thought I’d love the dynamic between Vic and Jane as much as I have but the two have a clear friendship by this point and while it is not as prominent as the friendship between Larry and Rita, it’s easy to see that the two are definitely bonding.

14. Jane sees a hallucination of Kay on the pool. As she somehow walks to her, Jane apologizes to the girl and says that she should have known better and it is really her body. In an unexpected moment, Kay says that her body doesn’t just belong to her but to Jane as well. This makes Jane shocked and relieved to hear, only for her to wake back up on the side of the pool. I surprisingly enjoyed how vague they keep it on whether if her interaction with Kay was real or not. 

15. The team soon starts to become kids (aside from Cliff who is still a robot). The situation becomes more dire when Vic runs off to find his best friend, leaving Jane and Kipling alone.

16. A now ten year old Jane attempts to get Cliff to come with them, who angrily brushes her off and reveals that he is upset with the team for not considering his feelings after he killed Darren Jones (while making a hilarious yet very subtle Riverdale reference). This shocks Jane who is unable to get through to him as he continues partying. 

17. Larry reaches out to Mr. 104, offering to help him get through his problems. The latter accepts only for Larry to be abducted by an unknown force who sucks him through a portal while Mr. 104 dives in after him.

18. Kipling and Jane are found by the former’s superiors. Bunbury (the powerful rabbit who Willoughby works for) is able to make Kipling older and turns his attention towards Jane, with the rabbit giving off a more sinister intention towards her. She attempts to run but the potion has now turned her into a baby. The bunny approaches her and performs a spell on the now helpless Jane, leaving the episode on yet another cliffhanger.

What I Disliked

1. I’m honestly starting to get uncomfortable with Keeg as a character. I get that Larry wants a relationship with him and it allows for a negative spirit to still remain inside of him, but him toying with Larry and forcing him to experience flashbacks of being tortured is too far. I’m not sure what he even wants from Larry. The show has been so vague about it that it’s becoming harder to care. It doesn’t make the episode worse at all, but Larry’s story is starting to lose me. I hope they can find a way to make me care about Keeg soon.

Favorite Moment

My favorite moment of the episode has to be the scene in which Madame Rouge and a young Rita sit on a bench and open up to one another. While the still adult Rouge attempts to get through to Rita, who has now become a child, the latter admits that she actually misses what she had with her when they were with the Sisterhood of Dada but she can’t get over what she did. For the first time ever, we see Rouge break down in tears and apologize, with her saying that she wishes she could take it all back. She soon turns into a child alongside Rita, who gives her a small hug. This might just be the most emotional scene of the season so far. Both actresses a phenomenal job as these characters, with the actress playing young Rita doing an excellent job at capturing April Bowlbly’s presence as the character. Michelle Gomez also does an outstanding job. I’m not ashamed to admit that even I got a little emotional when watching the scene.

Standout Character

I have to give the MVP award this week to Jane. While she has still been great during this season, this is the first episode where we really got to explore her character more. It’s fascinating to see her torn between doing what’s right for Kay and doing what makes herself happy. Seeing her bond with the team was especially heartwarming as she is a much different person than she was at the start of the show’s run.

Verdict

A much better episode this week. I’m normally not a fan of this concept but like always the show manages to do it in its own new and creative way that just makes it so fascinating. In terms of acting this might just be the best episode of the season yet. Michelle Gomez and Diane Guerrero especially packed an emotional punch this week with their performances. I can’t wait for the next episode.

Rating 10/10