‘Doom Patrol’ Season 1, Episode 12 ‘Cyborg Patrol’ Recap: Manipulated

The Doom Patrol makes peace with their pasts before they unexpectedly face danger. When the Bureau of Normalcy captures one of their own, the team faces a choice. Figuring out what to do independently or enlisting the aid of an overbearing father both seems like tough choices. Things only become worse when one discovers the manipulation done to him.

On Friday’s episode of Doom Patrol, Victor Stone/Cyborg (Joivan Wade) fears becoming more Machine than Man. In the event of his absence, Crazy Jane (Daine Guerrero), Larry Trainor/Negative Man (Matt Bomer/Matthew Zuk), Cliff Steele/Robotman (Brendan Fraser/Riley Shanahan), and Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby) enlist Silas Stone’s (Phil Morris) help. As they rescue Cyborg from the Bureau, Mr. Nobody (Alan Tudyk) reveals his sinister manipulations.

Skepticism

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The team unanimously agreed not to involve Silas in whatever plan they manage to formulate. Victor made it clear to them that he did not trust Silas, hence their decision. However, Silas eventually makes his way to Doom Mansion, prompted by Grid. Upon discovering that Grid is separate from Vic, he asks the team about his son’s whereabouts. While most of the team members are dumbfounded, Larry dares to tell the truth: Vic is in The Ant Farm.

Unfortunately, Silas pulled all the strings he could pull in an attempt to save Vic. None of the connections he had were useful in their task. Because of this, he decides that the only way to save Vic is by breaking into The Ant Farm. Rita found the idea to be outrageous, but the rest of the team seemed to agree. The plan they follow is much like what Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca did in Star Wars as Larry and Jane disguise as the Bureau’s staff along with Silas, having Cliff in handcuffs. It looked like their plan went awry when the Bureau imprisons them all but Silas, but this was all part of it. Rita was concealed in Cliff’s body, becoming the person to break them out.

Captivity

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Cliff was stuck on a magnet placed on the ceiling of his cell while Lab Tech Lee (Alicia Ying) determined his fate. Thinking that Cliff is useless, Lee labels him as scrap before leaving his cell to prepare the next procedure. Rita uses this opportunity to sneak out and free Cliff of the magnet’s grip, making sure to land him on Lee just as she enters the cell. Jane, on the other hand, escaped her cell with much ease. She lets Agent Drik Ellis (Mac Wells) have his fun taunting her before he accidentally plays a song that makes Karen come out and hypnotize him.

Separated

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Before pushing through with the mission, Larry and the Negative Spirit talked things through. It did not like the idea of returning to The Ant Farm, but Larry insisted that they must do it for Vic. Once there, the Bureau separates Larry and the Negative Spirit from each other. Old Forsythe (Ted Ferguson) took charge of experimenting on Larry once again, just as he did before. In what seemed like an eternity, Larry and the Negative Spirit waited for Cliff and Rita. Thankfully, the pair reaches them in time before Forsythe could do whatever it was that he planned to do.

You Got Played

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Initially, the tide turned in favor of the Doom Patrol. Darren Jones (Jon Briddell), General Wampus (Ritchie Crownfield), and Major Arbuckle (Darla Delgado) completely lost The Ant Farm to their captives. With the wild carnivorous butt creatures, as well as the other prisoners, roam free thanks to the Negative Spirit, the Bureau stood no chance of survival. However, during the chaos is Vic’s circuits gone haywire.

Since he got to the Bureau, Vic’s circuits rebuilt itself and deliberately ran diagnostics on him despite him taking it off. It continued to play videos of him and his mom during the accident. Also, memories that he never knew he had confirmed his worst fears. The nanites could go rogue and turn him into 100% machine, hence his decision to take Grid off of him. A sigh of relief brushes him when his father comes to his rescue, but his circuits tell him that Silas has bad intentions.

When Silas asks him to put Grid back online, he refuses. A video clip suddenly plays showing Silas disregarding the consequences of using nanites on Vic. Because of what he saw, Vic falls into a fit of anger, punching Silas until he dropped. As soon as Silas’ vital signs drop, a game screen with a pixelated head of Mr. Nobody greeted Vic. Mr. Nobody then rambled about how Cyborg’s origin story is complete and that some of the memories Vic saw were not real, such as the video of Silas in the lab working on nanites. Defeated, Vic held Silas in his arms, begging him to come back.

‘Doom Patrol’ Season 1, Episode 12 ‘Cyborg Patrol’ Final Verdict

While most viewers (and perhaps even Doom Patrol’s members) agree that Cyborg is usually a dick, this episode broke down that character into a confused, hurt man, unsure of what path to take. Mr. Nobody took the liberty of carefully crafting Victor’s downfall, making his story even more tragic than what it already is. As the season draws to a close, we can only hope that the team manages to save Niles Caulder/The Chief (Timothy Dalton) and that they could defeat Mr. Nobody for good.

‘Doom Patrol’ continues Friday, May 10th at the DC Streaming Service.