‘Doom Patrol’ Season 1, Episode 11 ‘Frances Patrol’ Recap: Closure

A brief encounter with a strange, beard-eating man makes the Doom Patrol reevaluate themselves. One’s system components go haywire. Meanwhile, another hears bittersweet news. The longterm search that the entire team is on seems to be going nowhere, so one steps up to revitalize it. Still, as a person or a group, leaving the past behind relieves much tension from within.

On Friday’s episode of Doom Patrol, the Negative Spirit helps Larry Trainor/Negative Man (Matt Bomer/Matthew Zuk) make peace with his past. As this happens, Cliff Steele/Robotman (Brendan Fraser/Riley Shanahan) and Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby) head out to Gator County after hearing news of Bump Weathers’ untimely death.

Old Lovers

DC Universe

While the Negative Spirit worked on bringing Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero) back to consciousness, Larry drifted off to a distant, cherished memory with John Bowers (Kyle Clements). However, the Negative Spirit eventually came back to him, stopping the trip. Larry begged it to take him back, but the Negative Spirit had other plans. Larry found himself in the not-so-pleasant memories he had with John, which was an uncomfortable trip to a gay bar. Initially having a bad start, Larry wanted the dream to end, up until the Negative Spirit makes him realize something. It was not too late for Larry to find John, albeit he would be old. Luckily, the Negative Spirit did some homework and found present John’s (Tom Fitzpatrick) house.

Retired and bedridden, John spends his days comfortably waiting for his time to go. Having Larry come over and visit him came as a surprise for him, but it made him very happy. They talked about their experiences after their separation. Also, John helped Larry make peace with not only his past but also his relationship with the Negative Spirit. As John fell asleep, Larry neatly tucked his blanket in before leaving.

Robot Non-Grata

DC Universe

The news about Bump’s death made Cliff fell mixed emotions. Sure, he was happy that the man who was fucking his wife behind his back is dead, but it also made him wonder about how his daughter, Clara Steele (Bethany Anne Lind), felt. Unable to wrap his mind around what to do, Cliff thought about going to Bump’s funeral to see Clara. Jane called a team meeting to find the Chief (Timothy Dalton) but ends up teleporting Cliff and Rita straight to the bar holding Bump’s funeral.

With Rita’s help, Cliff manages to fit in despite his appearance. While Rita makes friends with Big D (Gary Basaraba), Bump’s neighbor, Cliff looked around, hoping to find Clara. Eventually, Clara shows up, and so does Cliff’s dumbfoundedness. After Clara’s speech celebrating Bump’s life, Cliff felt that he lost. However, he did think of a way to make it up to Clara. The alligator that killed Bump, Frances, still had the watch that Cliff one in a race which Clara gave to Bump. Because of how special it was, Cliff decides to find and kill Frances then return the watch to Clara.

It took quite some time, but the damn alligator eventually showed itself. Cliff was at the brink of giving up, but the creature finally decided to show. With the watch onhand, Cliff goes back to the bar. Clara worked there, so she remained while everyone else went home. As Clara tells him to wait for a bit, Cliff decides to leave the sentimental item behind. Clara finds that Cliff is gone, but the watch is there, bursting her into bittersweet tears.

Only Lead

DC Universe

Being the only ones left in Doom Mansion, Jane and Victor Stone/Cyborg (Joivan Wade) dealt with the task of finding the Chief. The man missing from the comic book poster, Flex Mentallo, is who they need to see. Victor, however, was dealing with a software problem. His encounter with the Bear Hunter made his circuits go haywire. As a result, Cyborg started to worry that if he lost control of himself, he would kill his friends, just like in Jane’s painting.

Mentallo’s wife agreed to meet with them, so Jane and Victor drive to the location. Before leaving the bus, Vic asks Jane about her sudden interest in finding the Chief. The Chief did prepare a room for jane in the mansion that contained the first Doom Patrol, so Jane wanted to know why. Vic, on the other hand, opened up to Jane about his problems with his software, Grid. In this trip, he turned Grid off; a decision he will soon regret.

The meeting place was eerily quiet. Jane and Cyborg find a couple arguing outside the bus, so Jane goes after them. Meanwhile, Vic meets an old woman that makes him look at her elbow. A device attached to her elbow knocked him unconscious. Jane manages to catch up to the couple who turn out to be agents of the Bureau of Normalcy, just like the old woman. The man retreats in a vehicle while the woman remained unconscious. Jane was too late when she notices that Vic is gone. When Vic awoke, he found himself strapped to a chair, locked in a tiny observation room.

‘Doom Patrol’ Season 1, Episode 11 ‘Frances Patrol’ Final Verdict

Banking on a substantial amount of drama, the episode sheds the spotlight to the character’s tragic relationships. Seeing John and Larry reunite was truthfully a heartwarming experience. Cliff working through his complicated feelings for his situation was heartbreaking, on the other hand. While Larry made peace with both his past as well as with the Negative Spirit, Cliff’s situation is still to be determined. However, with Cyborg in custody of the Bureau of Normalcy, their self-discovery, as well as the search for the Chief, must be pushed aside. Cyborg is sure to experience traumatizing things as the Bureau’s next lab rat.

Doom Patrol continues Friday, May 3rd at the DC Streaming Service.