Titans - The Doom Patrol - Review
The DC Universe show Titans has been on a tear with its last few episodes and I'm excited to see what a group like The Doom Patrol can add to the mix. Having been around in different incarnations since the 1960's, the comic book squad has the distinction of the first appearance of Beast Boy. So it totally makes sense he's really the main focus of this episode.
Sometime two years ago in the Congo, doctors and personnel take care of infected patients at a plague camp. They decide its too risky and abandon the facility, leaving behind a sick but still alive Garfield. A mysterious benefactor shows up and promises to cure the boy. He injects him with a green serum and immediately Gar begins to transform and turn green!
Rachel runs through the woods after destroying a wing of the convent she was staying at. A tiger roar stops her in her tracks. Rachel is stunned. The green tiger circles around until it begins to transform! It runs off and Gar appears. He takes her hand and leads her away.
Dick and Kory race back to the convent and find the nun being cared for by EMT's and the fire dept. She tells them they were just trying to keep Rachel safe but that "there's no stopping it now". Uh oh. That doesn't sound good. They argue about who's to blame for losing her with Kory pointing out again that Dick was going to leave her with Hawk and Dove. These two act well together and play off what they're surrounded with with ease.
Gar and Rachel stop in an old barn to warm up. Rachel confides in him that she can feel whats inside of her growing. Getting worse. It's a nice little scene where these two get to relate to each other and get to know one another a little better. Gar tells her he lives with some real characters and that he's not scared of her. They're distracted by the sound of a gunshot. Two good ole boy hunters have shot a deer and it lies on the ground bleeding. They move to finish it off but Rachel runs in front of them, she distracts them long enough for Gar to transform and growl at them in tiger form. They fall and one shoots the other in the arm! The wounded hunters take off into the woods. Gar becomes human again while Rachel kneels and comforts the dying deer. Gar nicely tells Rachel she's not evil. They get up and leave and after they do the deer heals up and comes back to life! Rachel inadvertently worked her magic and it was a doozy! Zombie Bambi!
Gar leads her to his mansion home and shows her his super awesome Beast Cave. He's filled it full of games and signs and toys and soda pops. Rachel plays with a Stretch Armstrong! They chat and relate to each other over the deaths of their parents. He tells her his living situation is complicated just as a booming voice calls out for him. Rachel hides and Robotman comes into Gars room and busts his chops for a bit. He tells him dinner is almost ready. They almost get away with it until Rachel is surprised and pulled out of the closet.
Robotman takes them upstairs and argues with Gar about having Rachel there. He wants her to leave ASAP, before the Chief gets back. These two perform well and really sell that they've been living with each other for a while now. Brendan Fraser as Robotman is hilarious and I loved hearing his F-Bombs being dropped. Rachel slips away and hears some totally welcome AC/DC coming from the kitchen. She watches as Negative Man rocks and rolls and slices and dices up some dinner. They all meet up in the kitchen and Larry the Negative Man invites her to dinner. They vote on it and Robotman is overruled.
At the local Police Station Dick and Kory look for information. Dick gets a lead about the hunter talking about a green tiger in the woods.
Gar makes his way down a hall and up the ornate staircase of the fancy mansion, until he comes to a door. He calls out to Rita inside and tells her they have a guest for dinner. We see inside the room and its filled with awards and photos and a poster of Rita Farr, a gorgeous leading lady. In an awesome camera shot, we slowly pull back from a tv playing something of Rita's, to a gross looking, pulsating, gelatinous mass in a bed. Say hello to Elasti-Girl. Fantastic special effect there. Really cool looking. I felt so sorry for her right away.
Downstairs at the dinner table Larry has cooked up a feast of epic proportions that practically fills the entire table. Rachel gets a massive dish of chicken and waffles. Cliff the Robotman enjoys hearing about how good the food is since he obviously can't eat it. Rachel offers to dance with Robotman. Rita comes down and joins the dinner party. She looks fabulous and is well put together. She begins to load up her dinner plate with tons of food as she converses with Rachel. I love how Gar just chomps away on the veggies in the background. They laugh and get to know one another until Rita starts to fall apart and melts a little. Rachel touches her and learns her back story. She calms Rita enough to allow her to pull herself back together. A nice little moment there, great acting on all parts. It's all dashed apart by the arrival of the Chief.
The Chief needs their help and instantly the group leaps into action. A young girl was doused in liquid nitrogen and they move to save her. The serum that's used causes the girl to have a reaction. Things go haywire until Rachel comes in and saves the day by calming her down. She uses some of her magic to calm the girl and return her to stable condition.
Gar and Chief talk later in the den. The Chief lays into the boy and tells him he's jeopardized all their work there by bringing Rachel in. He's really kind of a dick to him. And then he asks and just expects Gar to spill his guts about Rachel and all she can do. Nice way to build up their story as well as establish some motivation for Gar.
Dick and Kory go visit the hunter from the woods at his home. He stonewalls them so Dick decides to interrogate him with his fists. He's pounding on him good until Kory stops him because the hunters kid has come out and is watching Grayson beat the snot out of his dad. Nice one Dick. He gets some info about an old house out that way and Kory gives the beaten dad a wad of cash for his troubles.
At the mansion Rachel gets to know the Chief and learns a little more about what is going on there. He tells her he is helping people that others have given up on. He goes beyond what medical science is willing to do. Chief goes through each of the Doom Patrol and tells how he helped each of them. He tells her that his info will one day save lives. He offers to help her. He tells her she is not alone.
Kory and Dick talk in the Porsche. She tells him he needs to unbury his shit before it drags him down. Dick tells her he went through some stuff as a kid, made some errors. Thats why he's looking out for Rachel, so she doesn't make the same mistakes as him. Kory drops some wisdom on him.
Cliff examines photos of his human self from his former life. I don't think he's as happy as the Chief thinks he is. Dick pops the chain on the perimeter of the property.
Chief straps Rachel down so he can do his experiment on her. She changes her mind and wants to not go through with it. Chief won't let her go so Gar steps up and challenges his mentor. He growls and bares his fangs and starts turning green. Chief sighs, picks up a dart tranquilizer gun, and shoots Gar with it! He falls and passes out. Rachel gets pissed and the black eyes come out! She tells Chief she's going to hurt him.
Dick and Kory pull up to the main house just as the lights start flashing on and off.
Rachel unleashes her dark energy in the lab and it circles around in the air above the Chief. He's fascinated by it, even as it grabs him and lifts him hight in the air. She throws him around like a rag doll, tossing him eventually to the ground.
Dick and Kory walk into the house looking for Rachel. Rita finds them and yells at them to get out as she starts the melt! Robotman and Larry walk up stopping them. Kory tells Dick to go help Rachel. In a funny moment Larry tells Kory to not make him fight her, she doesn't want to see what he really is. She says "same" and flashes her green eyes at him. Dick runs off towards Rachel.
Dick finds the girl amongst her dark energy and standing before a glowing Portal. He grabs her and she tells him he's going to die and to get away. In a solid performance, Dick tells her he was wrong before and that he's there for her. She doesn't have to be alone. And then he hugs her. She calms down and the Portal disappears.
Later Dick, Rachel, and Kory leave the house and head to the car out front. The Doom Patrol watches from the steps. Robotman urges Gar to go with them. They'll take care of Chief, but he should be out in the world. They have a sweet moment together saying good bye, then Gar joins the rest of the Titans and switches teams for good. The Porsche drives off into the night.
Chief sits in his wheelchair.
Another excellent episode delivered by the Titans crew. So great to see the world building continue by bringing in The Doom Patrol. They are just the right amount of weird and zany that the super serious Titans could never be. Also nice effects and tight writing made for a super enjoyable experience. Can't wait to see what happens next.
