Doom Patrol Season 3, Episode 3 recap: Dead Patrol

Following a traumatic event, the latest episode of Doom Patrol Season 3 has the titular team trying to cope with their emotional event and stress.

The following article contains SPOILERS for Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 3.

As Larry is waiting around the Doom Mansion after failing to figure out how to correct the horrors that the Negative Spirit has done to him, someone knocks on the front door. Thinking it his teammates, Larry excitedly rushes to go see his old friends only to discover four boxes.

These four boxes are filled with the actual corpses of Cliff, Jane, Rita, and Vic which understandably makes Larry very sad. He blames himself for not being around trying to deal with the Negative Spirit, so he is sent into a sense of denial by bandaging up his four friends and propping them at the dinner table. Dorothy arrives back home from burying Niles and sees how bad Larry is doing.

On their way to the afterlife, the souls of Cliff, Jane, Rita, and Vic bicker before all except Rita. This means Elasti-Girl is awake during the processing of their souls, while the other three experience interactions with people close to them who have since died. Vic hangs out with his mom, Cliff hangs out with his dad, and Jane hangs out with Kay’s Abuela.

Episodes like these are very common in television shows, but that does not make them any less poignant or impactful. Characters like these oddball minor superheroes tend to focus too much on the current task and have tunnel vision with their future.

So occasionally they will need to have a reminder on why they are fulfilling a task larger than themselves so they can see the big picture and the little things. Every person that the Doom Patrol member is interacting with serves a larger purpose in being that reminder. Vic and Jane have a more comforting reminder with their maternal figures, but Cliff’s is more of an aggressive experience since he is who he is because his father was worthless to him.

Doom Patrol Season 3, Episode 3: Larry and Dorothy get some assistance

While baking some comfort pancakes, Larry hears and sees Rita in the batter. So with the aid of Danny the Ambulance, the Dead Boy Detectives, Charles Rowland (played by Sebastian Croft) and Edwin Payne (played by Ty Tennant), and their alive partner Crystal (played by Madalyn Horcher) is brought in to assist Larry and Dorothy.

They make contact with Rita who tells them where she and the other dead team members are. Although they are scared to go to the afterlife and possibly be caught by Death (an actual female being), the living members of the Doom Patrol convince the Dead Boy Detectives to make the dangerous trek.

Back at the mansion, Crystal and Dorothy use personal artifacts to make contact with their teammates’ souls. One by one, before they are fully processed into the afterlife for good, Cliff, Jane, and Vic wake up hanging by their hands in the processing room. Dorothy tries to use a Wonka Bar to contact the Chief, which leads to Crystal letting down her cold exterior and sharing her horrific experience of being possessed for a year by a demon.

Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 3: Reunited and it feels so good

Larry and the Dead Boy Detectives are finally able to find Rita using her connection to Negative Man and the four of them are reunited with Cliff, Jane, and Vic after the three newly awake heroes kill some underworld guards called watchers. The full Doom Patrol and the Dead Boy Detectives square off against a minion of Death who used to torment Charles and Edwin when they resided in the underworld.

They are able to get away, but not without some assistance from a mysterious being who claims to know Rita. Back on the land of the living, Dorothy has made such a strong connection with Crystal that Niles’ daughter decides to go with the Dead Boy Detectives and Crystal so she can hopefully find her father.

The Doom Patrol is then approached by Madame Rouge but no answers are given as to who she is, how she got there, or why she is there. I guess we have to tune in next week to try and get some answers.

Stream Doom Patrol Season 3 on HBO Max with new episodes every Thursday!