‘Doom Patrol’ Season 1, Episode 2 ‘Donkey Patrol’ Recap: Warning

Picking up immediately after the wormhole sucks the entire town, Doom Patrol introduces yet another major character to the series. Motivated by a tragic loss as well as parental expectations, the new hero sets out to find the reason behind the towns sudden disappearance. Meanwhile, the team picks up the pieces; unsure with what to do next.

In this week’s episode of Doom Patrol, Victor Stone/Cyborg (Joivan Wade) joins the team. As they wonder about Dr. Niles Caulder/Chief’s (Timothy Dalton) disappearance, the team temporarily goes their separate ways. However, when the Donkey barfs Crazy Jane (Diane Guererro), the team’s curiosity grows, taking them to a different dimension.

Uninvolved

DC Universe

Blaming Cliff for all the trouble that happened to the town, Rita retreats to the mansion. Despite her visions that reminded her of what happened, Rita remained confined in the mansion’s walls, as if nothing changed. On the other hand, we have Larry, deciding that the best way to deal with what happened is to run away. However, no matter what destination Larry chose, the Entity inside him did not permit him to leave. Instead, the Entity went from Larry’s body each time he tried to run to the bus. Frustrated, Larry returns to the mansion, accepting the fact that he has nowhere else to go. Things seemed to be alright up until Cliff exclaims that the Donkey barfed Crazy Jane, who started to throw a fit on them. Also, Victor’s arrival only made Jane’s personality switching worse since he does not know much about her.

Half Man, Half Cyborg

DC Universe

Unlike Caulder’s Misfits, Cyborg was starting to make a name for himself. Based in Detroit, Cyborg fights crime, saving innocents from criminals. Victor’s father, Silas Stone (Phil Morris) works with him, monitoring his progress and adding necessary enhancements to Victor’s cybernetics. All the work they do is for Victor’s late mother, who died in the same accident that turned Victor into Cyborg. Soon, Cyborg hopes to join the likes of the Justice League, but for now, he has to train and be capable of fighting more than the simple street thug. When he hears of the sudden disappearance of Cloverton, Ohio, he investigates what happened, worried about Dr. Caulder.

Babysitting

DC Universe

Jane’s 64 distinct personalities were hard to comprehend, but Cliff is determined to stay for her. Ever since Jane’s return, her personalities’ disarray caused a change every few minutes. Cliff tried his best to help her, hoping that Jane would return. When Jane switches to her Baby Doll persona, she only wished to talk to Cyborg, who recently arrived. While she talked to Cyborg, Cliff heads to Dr. Caulder’s lab to find out more about Jane. As Cliff watched videotapes of the Chief’s interviews with Jane, he begins to uncover something called ‘The Underground,’ a place where Jane and her Personas live. One particular identity caught Cliff’s attention: Katie, a highly dangerous metahuman who preferred to be alone. Before Cliff could warn Cyborg, Katie was chasing after them, upset about the persistent questions. Finally, Cliff and Cyborg manage to confine Jane in her room.

While the others disappeared to their agendas, Cliff stayed outside Jane’s room. Thinking about his daughter, Cliff becomes emotional as he recounts his losses in the past years. It took some time, but Jane eventually came around, asking Cliff for another sandwich. She knew that Cliff only meant to protect her, and perhaps in some level, she is starting to trust Cliff.

Nobody’s Dimension

DC Universe

Cyborg and Larry knew that the Donkey was no ordinary donkey. Dr. Caulder’s disappearance surely had an explanation, and despite how ridiculous the idea was, the Donkey was their best bet in finding an answer. Cyborg’s scans on the Donkey confirmed their suspicion: the Donkey is a doorway to another dimension, and they may discover Dr. Caulder’s location somewhere there. However, their only hope of entering that dimension was the least interested person: Rita. Rita could morph into something that could fit into the Donkey’s nose which is what they needed. With that, Rita reluctantly agrees to enter the donkey on one condition: they must never speak of it again. Unexpectedly, the doorway pulls Rita in too fast, taking Cyborg and Larry along with her.

Inside, the trio finds themselves standing on a lakeside, greeted by photos of Cloverton’s residents. Finally, their adversary reveals himself in his way. Mr. Nobody (Alan Tudyk) starts to narrate the story for the trio, unknowingly walking into his trap. Mr. Nobody’s narration eventually leads to the trio’s greatest fears. Starting as seemingly harmless visions, Mr. Nobody brings them to the realities that they wished to have.

As Larry finds himself flying the same aircraft he did before the accident, Rita stood in the middle of a studio, about to start filming. On the other hand, Cyborg lay flat on his chest, forced to relive the night of the accident that killed his mother. The illusions soon become torture to the trio as they feel their greatest pains, but the Entity escapes from Larry’s body to liberate Larry, Rita, and Cyborg.

Threatened

DC Universe

After the Donkey explodes and spews out the elements of the city back together, the team starts to process what just happened. Cyborg exclaims Mr. Nobody’s fear towards them, hence their torture but Silas’ arrival ruins his speech. Silas insisted that Victor immediately returns to Detroit to complete his training, leaving Niles’ team to solve their problem alone. Still, Victor made up his mind. He no longer wanted to prioritize his training. Instead, he needed to find Niles, his friend, and help Nile’s misfits bring him back to safety.

‘Doom Patrol’ Season 1, Episode 2 ‘Donkey Patrol’ Final Verdict

The show gives a fresh take on Cyborg’s character. Despite the Cyborg’s popularity in other forms of media, the show still manages to introduce his origin story with an acceptable twist. Also, the visuals of the show are stunning. The effects span from realistic CGI that enhances the setting to funny texts that often make the viewers question the existence of reality in the show. Overall, the show continues to overwhelm the viewers by skillfully weaving an excellent plot, character development, special effects, and creative dialogues into an episode that feels shorter than it is.

Doom Patrol continues Friday, March 1st, with ‘Puppet Patrol’ at the DC Streaming Service.