Doom Patrol season 1, episode 11 review: Frances Patrol

Past and present love is alive in this week’s episode of Doom Patrol.

Last time on Doom Patrol, the team dealt with a man who went by the moniker of Beard Hunter, sent by the Bureau of Normalcy to search for Niles. While he was not successful in that quest, he was successful in messing with Cyborg enough that may have led to deadly ramifications for the cybernetic hero. Rita also discovered in Victor and Larry’s comic book an advertisement with an image of a man ripped straight out, and we got more backstory on Niles.

This week, the action is slowed down a bit to delve into some backstory on Larry and move forward on Cliff’s attempts to reconnect with his daughter, while Crazy Jane and Victor search for the missing man on the advertisement and find a lot more than they bargained for.

Larry is hiding more behind those bandages then just his face

Larry got the chance for some closure this episode with his ex-boyfriend from the military, John. It all started when, while unconscious, he dreamed about getting to be with John in this little motel spot, perfect for secret getaways. But in the dream, it’s not enough for John. After waking up, Larry’s spiritual roommate lets him go back to sleep after a great deal of begging on Larry’s part so he could continue being with John.

But John has moved them to another place, a gay club, where they can openly be together. But Larry isn’t comfortable with it and, after making that known, John leaves him, stating that he doesn’t want his last days like this. This raises a flag in Larry’s mind about what’s really going on here.

Larry’s suspicions are confirmed after finally visiting an elderly John, who is still alive but on his deathbed. Larry wasn’t dreaming about his encounters with John, at least by himself. He and John were sharing a consciousness in the dream world. He and John get the chance to have a long talk about their lives. Larry apologizes for pushing John away after the explosion, and John forgives him, having gone on to live a good life. John feels sorry for Larry having lived his life in seclusion, essentially, and wants him to not be alone. Larry comes to the realization that he’s not alone, he’s got his negative spirit and, although it’s not a conventional relationship, they still have each other. John passes away after their talk, but Larry at least feels good about the closure he received and his new outlook on life.

Cliff Fights a Crocodile

But who isn’t feeling so good about facing an important figure from his past is Cliff. Cliff wants to see his daughter, but he’s afraid to talk to her as he is, especially after all this time and after she got a new father figure in his old friend, Bump, who just died. Bump is having a funeral at which Clara is likely to be, giving Cliff the perfect opportunity to talk to Clara and reveal he’s still alive.

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But when he gets to the funeral, he gets a serious case of cold feet after seeing her. He’s too afraid to tell her who he is, letting her and everyone else there to believe he’s just an old friend in a robot costume Bump made. Then when Clara makes a big speech about how much she loved Bump and how great he was to take her in and raise her as he did, Cliff feels inadequate by comparison. In his eyes, the only way he can become the hero to her that Bump was is to retrieve a watch that belonged to Cliff, but he gave to Clara, and she engraved and gave to Bump, which got eaten by the crocodile that ate Bump.

He and Rita, who accompanied him to the funeral, hunt down the crocodile, the episode title’s titular Frances. Rita recognizes that all Cliff is really doing is avoiding Clara. What he needs is to talk to her, not get some watch. But Cliff won’t listen. He ends up finding Frances and gets the watch back. But when he goes back to Clara to return it, he still can’t face her. He just puts down the watch and leaves.

Gridlocked

While Larry and Cliff dealt with their loved ones, Cyborg and Crazy Jane went on their own little adventure to find out what happened to Flex Mentallo, the man who is supposed to be in the advertisement from the comic book. Crazy Jane ends up getting in touch with the man’s former wife, who agrees to meet with her, or so Crazy Jane thinks. She brings Cyborg, who is worried that Grid is starting to turn him into more cyborg than man. Grid reveals to Cyborg that he’s being upgraded, and is now over 60% cyborg, which worries Cyborg enough to turn off Grid. But that’s the least of his worries after he and Crazy Jane get to the meet-up spot. It turns out this whole meeting was a trap, and Cyborg is kidnapped and sent to the Ant Farm.

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We’ll see what happens to Cyborg in next week’s episode of Doom Patrol, airing Fridays on the DC Universe app.

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