Doom Patrol “Portal Patrol” Review

Season 4 Episode 11 – Thrown into a time stream, the Doom Patrol have just one hour to find their longevities, rescue Rita and save the world.

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 team floats through the time stream where all sorts of chaos flies by such as a dinosaur and a man riding on a horse while they are both ripped in half.

2. Vic uses his new ability to create a pod that said safely contains the five of them. The team is amazed by his new power (as Cliff humorously puts it they are technically inside him).

3. As the team argues about whether or not they should even bother to go back and fight Immortus and the butts, Keeg finds three portals that can take them to certain points in time where they can get their longevities back.

4. Vic gives each of them a piece of his robotic knuckles (much to the team’s disgust) and tells them that they will each have one hour to retrieve their longevities before they are pulled back through the portals to the pod.

5. As each of them prepare to jump, Jane starts to have second thoughts. Cliff offers her to hold onto his oven mitt, but Jane refuses, instead holding onto Larry. Cliff is offended by this, referring to Larry as “a used maxi pad in a trench coat.”

6. After the team jumps, Vic sends an SOS through the time stream to see if someone can help if they don’t succeed. To his shock, he receives an answer from a future version of Deric, who is teaching his class about robotics. Vic becomes even more surprised to discover that they are also his students and they are able to help him with his situation.

7. Rouge ends up at the Ant Farm in 1949. She finds the lab of Niles Caulder and knocks him out. When the past version of her walks in, Rouge is able to transform into Niles and brush her off when she tries to connect. Before she can get the longevity, Niles wakes up and sounds the alarm, forcing Rouge to turn into a rat and flee, only to be immediately captured by the past Rouge.

8. The past Rouge takes her future self to her office to get answers. Rouge explains she’s from the future and tells her about all the horrible things she ends up doing. The past version refuses to listen and they start to argue. The present Rouge soon reaches her breaking point and uses the weapon stamp to beat her past self to near death. When the past Rouge asks her why she is doing this, she replies that she “hates us.” Before she can kill her past self, the present day Rouge is pulled back through the portal.

9. Jane and Larry end up in 1996 at Doom Manor. The two split up, where Jane goes into the lab and comes across Niles. Jane reveals to him that she is from the future and knows everything, much to his shock and sadness. Jane asks for the longevity but he refuses but offers to help her in any other way he can. With nothing else to lose, Jane has one final session with Niles to see if he can help her with her other problems.

10. Larry finds the original Negative Spirit, who possesses the past Larry so they can communicate. Larry asks the first Negative Spirit to take care of Keeg after he dies but the spirit refuses, as the past Larry would not be able to handle two Negative Spirits inside him.

11. Larry tearfully begs the Spirit to take care of Keeg, revealing that Keeg might be the one to kill him, much to the original spirit’s surprise. Larry states that he’s not angry at the original Negative Spirit for leaving him, but more so that he gave him a second chance at fatherhood, which he has loved but may now end soon as once he dies Keeg will have no one to look after him. The Negative Spirit reveals to Larry that he will eventually become a sun, much to Larry’s confusion. Before he can ask any further questions, Larry is pulled back through the portal.

12. Cliff ends up at a bar in Paraguay in 1948, where Niles has just stolen the longevity necklace from Mr. Nobody and the scientist Heinrich Von Fuchs. Cliff attempts to force Niles to give up the longevity but her refuses. When he tries to take it violently, Kipling comes out of the bathroom and uses his magic to freeze him, much to his annoyance, referring to him as “Drunk Merlin.”

13. Two Nazi henchmen of Von Fuchs enter the bar and attempt to kill the three of them. Niles asks Cliff to fight them off, but Cliff is unable to, as they have electric powered axes and he is a metal robot. Niles uses a knife to throw at and kill one of the Nazis, leaving Cliff to duke it out with the remaining one. When the Nazi uses his axe to try and blast them, Cliff panics and attempts to throw Niles out of the way, which ends up paralyzing him while Kipling is able to kill the Nazi with his magic. Cliff is horrified to discover that he is the reason Niles ends up in a wheelchair but nonetheless attempts to steal the longevity while he can. When Kipling reveals that Niles will die not long after he takes it, Cliff reluctantly decides to give it back and is pulled back through the portal.

14. The team all end up back in the pod, with none of them having been able to get the longevity. Jane explains that it doesn’t matter if they don’t have the longevity because as long as they’re together they can do anything. Cliff expresses his shock at Jane being the one to give the pep talk but Jane explains that she is now all of the personalities, calling herself the Kaleidoscope. She can not explain much else, as she doesn’t even fully know what that means yet.

15. With nothing else to lose, the team decides to go and fight Immortus and the butts or die trying.

What I Disliked

Nothing to report this week.

Favorite Moment

Towards the end of Jane’s final session with Niles, she discovers the meaning of the other personalities constantly telling her to “Say it.” Jane tearfully admits that she was raped by her father, just as all of the other personalities were. The members of the Underground manifest behind Niles while Kay approaches Jane. She sees the nearly completed puzzle on the desk and completes it. The puzzle takes her to the Underground where the others are waiting for her on the train. As Jane enters the train as it leaves, the Underground starts to collapse. Kay reassures Jane that they don’t need it anymore and reveals that she wanted to show her what she’s been making. Jane stares at the unseen new location with wonder as the train goes towards it. Back on the surface, Jane is pulled back through the portal. Niles smiles at Jane being able to overcome her trauma and surprisingly doesn’t drink the memory erasing potion, instead choosing to remember this moment. This entire scene is honestly beautiful and has already skyrocketed to being one of my top five favorite moments of the series.

Standout Character

I obviously have to give the MVP award for this week to Niles. I didn’t realize just how crucial he was to helping Jane overcome her struggle. Niles was a man who did many horrible things during the course of the series, but it was always obvious that Jane was like another daughter to him. It was so heartwarming to see them get closure with one another as Jane was the only one who wasn’t able to move past Niles’ death due to not being able to say goodbye to him (aside from when she ate his severed head as a zombie along with the rest of the team). I adored Timothy Dalton as this character and was so glad to see him as the Chief at least one last time before the show ends. 

Verdict

In my review for the previous season I said that I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Niles returning, but as the episodes in this season came out, I admit that I was beginning to accept that we wouldn’t see Timothy Dalton come back as the morally ambiguous scientist. However, I am so thankful that we got to see Niles one last time before the show ends. This episode as a whole was a fantastic goodbye to the man who brought this team together. It was also so satisfying to see Jane wrap up her arc as well. While Cliff, Larry and Rouge may not have gotten the closure they needed as well, it will be interesting to see how the series finale will wrap up everyone else’s story. I don’t know if I’m prepared to say goodbye, but I am definitely prepared to cry.

Rating 10/10