Season 4 Episode 12 – After returning to Cloverton, the Doom Patrol gather for a final mission, one that proves to be unlike any they’ve had before.
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. The episode opens with Immortus laughing maniacally and roaring over the time portal that she opened in the Cloverton theater. The Doom Patrol soon flies back up and debates on whether they should deal with Immortus or the butts first.
2. Rouge flees from the theater to go find Rita. Immortus discovers the team and is annoyed that they were able to get out of the time stream. She attempts to use her scream to kill them, but Jane is able to use her newly combined abilities to teleport. She accesses her flame power abilities and hurls a fireball at Immortus.
3. The team fights against Immortus. Larry sics Keeg on her, Vic uses his tech to create a flaming sword, while Cliff lifts up a bench to throw at her, but he once again freezes up and falls over.
4. Rouge wakes up Rita and frantically admits that everything is her fault and she will never be able to change. Rita insists that as long as she’s alive she can change. Rouge expresses her doubt, but Rita points out that she came to her because she knew she’d hold herself accountable for leaving. She tells her that she is a part of the Doom Patrol and as long as they’re together, they will never stop fighting for each other. Rita tells Rouge to get the wheelchair and a much more confident Rouge does so as they head out to help the rest of the team.
5. The butts break through the door at the theater and attack the Doom Patrol. The team starts to become overwhelmed. Out of nowhere, Dr. Yu and Nicholas arrive to save the day by singing “Shipoopi,” which causes the other butts to join in. Immortus starts to get jealous and sing her own song, which makes the butts join in and sing along. The Doom Patrol sings along as well and secretly sneaks out of the theater.
6. A giant portal starts to surround the theater. Rouge and Rita arrive to contribute absolutely nothing as the theater is sucked through the portal.
7. With the crisis and dark future prevented, the Doom Patrol has a victory breakfast. Larry points out that they really didn’t do anything that stopped the problem. In fact, they’re more responsible for creating it than anything and they didn’t even get their longevities back. Jane and Cliff insist otherwise and say that they should just see this as a win to which Larry reluctantly accepts.
8. Rita attempts to excuse herself from the table but starts to fall asleep. The team becomes worried and it becomes obvious that she doesn’t have much time left. Rouge takes her to their room, leaving the rest of the team to enjoy their breakfast.
9. Vic shows the team his new cybernetic tattoos that he implanted on himself. Each one represents the important people in his life, including his parents, his friends and the Doom Patrol.
10. Jane reveals that she still doesn’t really know much about her new role as the “Kaleidoscope,” but she knows that she’s not just Jane anymore. When Larry asks what they should call her, Vic suggests K, which she agrees to.
11. Immortus suddenly arrives at their doorstep, with her now being a time traveling celebrity thanks to her new partnership with the butts, who have become her backup singers and songwriters. In gratitude, she gives them a bag of her toenails which will restore each of their longevities. Before she leaves, Immortus gives Cliff a crystal, saying it will make sense later when the time is right. Jane, Larry and Cliff take the toenails and become younger. When Rouge runs off to give the toenail to Rita, she becomes horrified to discover that she died of old age.
12. The rest of the team arrive in Rita’s room to find her dead body. Cliff suggests that they make a plan to go to the afterlife and get her back. The team agrees and Larry runs to find an item that is important to Rita that they can use to enter the afterlife.
13. While he looks for an item that is important to Rita, Larry is greeted by her ghost, who hugs him and asks him not to go through with bringing her back. Larry becomes heartbroken that Rita won’t be able to come back, as she was the only one who accepted and loved him for who he was despite his flaws. Rita reassures Larry that there is always more love out there, especially for him. She says they need to have one last team meeting and they gather the other members.
14. Rita tells the team that she wants to stay dead, much to their sadness. She says she’s doing this to set them free. They need to move on and if they stay at the manor, they’ll stay broken people. If they want to help others, they need to work on themselves first. It won’t be easy moving on but they need to. Larry agrees with her and the team ultimately disbands. Rita gives the team one last assignment: burn her body so she can move on to the afterlife. The team reluctantly accepts her request and they prepare a funeral.
15. At Rita’s funeral, each member of the team leaves an item that they believe means a lot to her next to her corpse. To Rita’s disappointment, most of the items they gave mean nothing to her. Cliff and Jane leave mirrors, Vic leaves a bottle of honey, Rouge leaves a martini glass and Larry leaves a bottle of alcohol. The funeral becomes even more awkward when they burn Rita’s body. Jane attempts to sing “Ave Maria” only to stop when the corpse starts to blob out and inflate. When Rouge pops it with a stick, it lets out a terrible smell. Rita says it’s totally fine and she disappears as her spirit moves on, ending the embarrassing funeral.
16. The team spends the night sitting on the couch together while they watch Rita’s movies. When they finish all of her movies, they decide to watch them again. This was such a sweet scene. The Doom Patrol may be parting ways as a team, but they will always be a family.
17. Jane wakes up to find Cliff in the garage about to leave. Jane admonishes him for leaving without saying goodbye. Cliff says this isn’t goodbye but rather a new chapter. Cliff says he’s going to Florida to live out the rest of his days with his family. When he asks what Jane will do, she replies that she isn’t sure. Cliff suggests that she becomes a superhero, perhaps even joining the Justice League and getting the opportunity to pants Superman. Jane shoots down that suggestion, saying she would rather get a sublet. Before he leaves, Cliff says it’s worth a shot at becoming a regular person again, as though they may all be fractured, they’re still whole. Jane tightly hugs him and says he is a whole. Cliff drives off in his car and leaves, but not before flipping off Jane in a loving way. Jane laughs and tearfully flips him off back, saying “F**k you too, Tin Man.” These two had my favorite relationship in the entire show and this was such a perfect final scene for the two of them.
18. Larry goes into his room and is unsure about what to do next. When he sees a red scarf that belonged to his past lover John Bowers, he decides to go find Mr. 104.
19. Vic parts ways with Madame Rouge, who has no idea what to do next now that Rita is dead. Vic says that he’s going to experience what he saw in the future, thrilled that he is on a path that he carved for himself. He suggests that she carves a path for herself too. Rouge says she has thought of a few things to do and asks him if she can be both good and bad. Vic says he used to think that wasn’t possible, but admits that there is a line and promises that he will let her know when she’s gone too far, before leaving.
20. Jane looks for a sublet on her computer. Larry runs past her and out the door. When she asks where he’s going, he becomes giddy with excitement and says he doesn’t know.
21. Jane finds Casey in the basement, who was planning to take the spaceship. Seeing an opportunity to live her life the way she wants, Jane asks Casey if she can come with her and she happily agrees.
22. After trying to get to his family in Florida all season, Cliff finally makes it to Florida for his grandson Rory’s first birthday.
23. When taking Rory to see the car he got for him, Cliff freezes up. He may still have his longevity, but his Parkinson’s disease hasn’t gone away. Realizing he doesn’t have much time left, Cliff admits to Clara that he thought he was coming home to live, but he just came home to die. Clara comforts her father by giving him a hug and they sadly prepare for the inevitable.
24. Rita reunites with Malcolm in the afterlife, where the two happily embrace.
25. Larry finds Mr. 104 in the ocean and brings him into space. Mr. 104 is confused by what is going on. Larry’s bandages come off and he promises that they will be fine and so will the world. The two share a passionate kiss and Larry becomes a sun with Mr. 104.
26. Vic introduces himself to Deric’s class and becomes an assistant teacher.
27. When a student questions why he isn’t fighting crime, Vic says that this is just as important and that they will make even more of a difference.
28. Jane goes into space with Casey, who gives her a kitten as a present.
29. Jane kisses Casey, who returns her romantic affection and kisses her back. The two then share a passionate kiss as the ship floats through space.
30. Rouge arrives at the Ant Farm with a flamethrower. She laughs as she torches the Bureau of Normalcy’s headquarters to the ground with everyone inside. The Bureau of Normalcy had always been a consistent enemy to our characters throughout the series, representing everything that the team wasn’t. It was immensely satisfying to see them finally get taken down for good. Rouge being the one to do it was just the icing on the cake.
What I Disliked
1. While I do think the way the conflict focusing on Immortus and the butts was wrapped up was fitting for this show, I will admit that it is a little sloppy. It felt very rushed and out of nowhere, even for this show. I don’t expect a big and epic action scene. That’s not what Doom Patrol is about and it would probably feel even more jarring if we got that. However, I think it needed to be slowed down just a little bit.
2. I really don’t understand why Dorothy was just written out of the season so abruptly. All the other characters got closure. All she gets is a passing mention from Casey and even then we aren’t given anything on where she is or what happened to her. Abi Monterey and the character deserved so much better.
Favorite Moment
In the final scene of the show, we see Cliff playing in the car with Rory. He once again freezes up due to his Parkinson’s disease. When Cliff looks up at the crystal, he discovers what Immortus wanted to show him. Cliff is given a look into his grandson’s future, something that he will sadly not be there for. We first see Rory as a teenager where Clara is teaching him how to drive. The crystal then flashes to Rory going to his senior prom with his date. His moms are shown to be so proud of him (with Clara even giving him a pack of condoms in a hilariously misguided moment). The crystal then flashes to Rory driving his pregnant wife to the hospital, with him being ecstatic that he is going to be a father. The crystal soon flashes to an adult Rory abandoning his wife and child and driving off in his car. The crystal then flashes to Rory driving with his mother once more, who is now much older and dying of cancer. Clara says she’s scared to which Rory promises that he won’t let anything happen to her. The crystal once again flashes forward to Rory crying in his car when he visits Clara’s grave at the cemetery. Cliff then starts to relive memories of his own life, including his daughter’s birth. He hears his deadbeat father repeat his advice about now matter who he’s with or who he is, all he has is his self-respect. The crystal then flashes to one last moment where Rory meets his grandson and becomes once again elated to discover that he’s a grandparent. Realizing that he is about to die, Cliff focuses his last moments on Rory and Clara. When Clara tries to get his attention, Cliff assures her that it’s okay, as he made it home. Cliff’s robot body shuts down and he dies as the episode and show comes to an end. This is without question the best moment in the entire series for me. Cliff seeing Rory’s life before he dies is such a beautiful moment and yet also a very tragic one as Rory ends up making the same mistakes he did. Despite that, Cliff is at peace as he knows it will all work out for him. I knew I was going to cry but after this scene I was practically bawling.
Standout Character
I think I’m going to give the final MVP award of this show to the entire Doom Patrol. Everyone gets a beautiful moment of closure and is given a satisfying ending. Rouge finally got her redemption and put an end to the Bureau of Normalcy. Vic reignited his love for being a hero and is able to be a true inspiration as Cyborg while also keeping in touch with Deric and his other friends. Rita may have died, but she got to be reunited with the love of her life. Larry became a sun but for the first time in decades, he actually gets to be happy and gets to spend the rest of his life with Mr. 104. Jane has left the mansion for good, but for the first time ever she actually found true love with Casey and will still be able to live an exciting life with her as they travel together through space. Finally, Cliff may have tragically lost his battle with Parkinson’s, but he is able to be at peace due to being given a glimpse into the future of his grandson’s life, something that he never thought he’d be able to see. I’m going to miss these characters so much.
Verdict
It’s easy to tell that the people who made Doom Patrol wanted to keep the show going. I think it could have gone on for multiple seasons. Unfortunately due to the disaster that is the WB Discovery merger, that will never happen. However, the show was still able to go out on its own terms and have a very satisfying ending. There are no loose ends and everything is wrapped up perfectly. Doom Patrol was a show that not many people watched and even I have to admit that it wasn’t for everybody. However, to me it was a beautiful story about trauma, family and the question of finding your own place in the world and whether or not you’ll be accepted. It was bizarre, hilarious, heartbreaking, fascinating and an overall masterpiece in both live action comic book media and tv in general. I really hope the general public looks back on this show fondly. It deserves all the praise and attention. Most comic book shows either go on for too long and become horrible or are canceled while they are still great and never get a satisfying ending. Doom Patrol stayed for the perfect amount of time and despite being prematurely canceled, was able to give us a truly masterful conclusion. It truly was the weirdest show I have ever seen…and I will always love it.
Rating 10/10
The Review
Story - 10
Action - 10
Characters - 10
Entertainment - 10
Quality - 10
10
PERFECT!
It's easy to tell that the people who made Doom Patrol wanted to keep the show going. I think it could have gone on for multiple seasons. Unfortunately due to the disaster that is the WB Discovery merger, that will never happen. However, the show was still able to go out on its own terms and have a very satisfying ending. There are no loose ends and everything is wrapped up perfectly. Doom Patrol was a show that not many people watched and even I have to admit that it wasn't for everybody. However, to me it was a beautiful story about trauma, family and the question of finding your own place in the world and whether or not you'll be accepted. It was bizarre, hilarious, heartbreaking, fascinating and an overall masterpiece in both live action comic book media and tv in general. I really hope the general public looks back on this show fondly. It deserves all the praise and attention. Most comic book shows either go on for too long and become horrible or are canceled while they are still great and never get a satisfying ending. Doom Patrol stayed for the perfect amount of time and despite being prematurely canceled, was able to give us a truly masterful conclusion. It truly was the weirdest show I have ever seen...and I will always love it.
