Review: Doom Patrol Season 2 Episode 5, “Finger Patrol”

“Finger Patrol” finds several characters making progress on their issues, and then everything goes horribly wrong because it’s Doom Patrol. Our review:

After the absurd party last week, Chief and the rest of the team find themselves back in reality. Rita and Larry go off to spend the day with Larry’s son and his family. Jane stays at home with Dorothy and Chief, and Cliff and Vic go to ask Vic’s father for help fixing Cliff’s sense of touch.

Larry and Rita spend the day helping clean out Larry’s eldest son’s house. This is a huge step for Larry, who punished himself for years about leaving his family without giving them closure. He meets his grandson and great-grandson for the first time and really tries to connect with them. Along the way, he finds items from his former life and gets in touch with some things he still hasn’t moved on from. Seeing his son have a happy family is all Larry could have wanted for him. It’s a step in the right direction for Larry, and something that has been a long time coming.

Rita also finds herself doing new things when she’s cast in a local play, her first role in years. But this is Doom Patrol, so of course everything goes horribly wrong. Larry’s son calls the government organization that held Larry captive for years — not entirely sure why he does it — and they arrive suddenly in the night to ambush him and Rita. A gun fight ensues after Larry unleashes the Negative Spirit, and a stray bullet hits Larry’s grandson; some would have hit his great-grandson if it weren’t for Rita’s quick thinking. The Negative Spirit saves both Larry and Rita, flying them away as Larry leaves his family broken, once again.

In Detroit, Cliff is disappointed when Vic’s father, Cylus, tuns down his request for help. He and Vic spend the day patrolling in Vic’s old neighborhoods, but it turns out Vic was only waiting for the chance to visit a woman, Roni, he had been seeing but stood up on a date after he found out about her difficult past. Surprisingly, Cliff gives good advice that leads to he and Roni making up.

Cliff is obsessed with the idea of he and Vic partnering together to fight crime. He has a daydream that looks like a ’70s cop show starring he and Vic as “Steele and Stone,” and it is fantastic. The costumes, the cop puns and quips, the grainy look of the shots…all of it’s fantastic.

Of course, things go horribly when Cliff tries to stop two car-jackers and almost kills both in the process. He does end up taking one of the guys fingers for some reason though.

Back at Doom Mansion, one of Jane’s personalities (BabyDoll) and Dorothy end up playing together for a whole day. That is until Dorothy doesn’t want to play anymore and BabyDoll goes from innocent child to creepy scary Damien-from-The-Omen demon child.

Niles tries to calm things down but fails, and the girls clash. One of Jane’s other personalities kills one of Dorothy’s friends, Manny, and Dorothy calls on the help of the CandleMaker to kill BabyDoll. He breaks into Jane’s Underground and does just that, injuring other personalities in the process. It’s an intense scene, as what has always been a safe place for Jane becomes a slaughtering ground. It shows how powerful Dorothy really is, and makes a strong case for her being the season’s ultimate threat.

Grade: B+

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