REVIEW: Doom Patrol Season 3, Episode 8, “Subconscious Patrol”

"What kind of Captain Kangaroo-Jim Henson devilry is this?"

Television Reviews

*SPOILERS*

“Subconscious Patrol” opens in Vic’s memory as he confronts a past mistake. In Jane’s mind, she and the other alternates are transformed into Muppet-like creatures who exist at Kay’s will. Kay is whisked away by one of Malcolm’s birds. Meanwhile, Cliff comes face to face with his former self. Larry finds himself at the church for his wedding. Eventually, the Patrol are together in a room in their subconscious forms. There, Rita reveals that everyone on Earth has traded places with their subconscious self as part of the Sisterhood of Dada‘s Eternal Flagellation. Rita denies that this is evil and insists that Laura is the evil one. Back in 1949, Rita sees Laura join the Brotherhood of Evil to go to 2021 and face Niles Caulder. In Larry’s subconscious, his mother begs him to put the Lord first and prove he can be devoted to a woman. Kay’s alternates destroy Harry the lamb. In 1949, Laura bids Rita farewell before taking her time voyage. In the present, Rita leads the subconscious Patrol to the Sisterhood of Dada‘s operation, but they all run away. In 1949, Rita boards the time machine to return to her former life. In Cliff’s subconscious, he realizes it’s a bad memory when a girl he wants to hook up with tells him that Clara is alone in the car. He leaves, heading to Larry’s subconscious and collecting him. The subconscious Patrol debates fatherhood, personal responsibility, and what to do next. Subconscious Cliff tells the others that he’s dying of Parkinson’s. Conscious Cliff and Larry find Vic in his subconscious. Then they find Jane in Kay’s mind, and the four return to the real world and track down their subconscious selves. The conscious Patrol confronts the subconscious Patrol to hash things out, and one by one, everyone goes back where they belong. Cliff finds himself back at Clara’s house. Kay tells Jane the other alternates are gone. Larry finds the worm he vomited up and takes it home. Vic wakes up to find his surgery was a success. Laura finds Rita. 

“Subconscious Patrol” deals with some heavy ideas and character conflicts, but the episode manages to skillfully offset the doom and gloom with excellent dialogue and whimsical imagery. My favorite aspects of this episode are Jane and Larry’s stories, possibly the darkest and most uplifting of the bunch, respectively. I really didn’t care for Jane much at all when I saw the first season, and in fact, I can’t remember when she started growing on me. At some point, it became clear that most of the problems with Jane come from the alternate personalities trapped in Kay’s body. Jane has spent much of the show trying to help Kay either by getting what she needs or helping her become self-sufficient to go get it herself. In this season especially, the other alternates have been pushing back on this. They don’t want Kay to get better or grow stronger because that might spell their destruction. It really shocked me when Kay told Jane that she wishes she would die. I would understand (and agree, frankly) if Kay wanted her other personas to die. They’re endlessly annoying and simultaneously want Jane to do all the heavy lifting and for their way of life to continue uninterrupted. They want Kay to wallow in her childhood trauma and self-pity rather than to heal and mature. They only care about what’s best for Kay insofar as it helps, or at least doesn’t hinder, their own goals and sad little “lives.” I don’t understand how beings who exist to help and protect can be so selfish and short-sighted, but I digress. 

I almost can’t believe Kay straight-up wants Jane dead. It seems uncharacteristically cruel coming from a girl who’s been shown to be anything but, and Jane has consistently been Kay’s one ally and advocate in the underground. I don’t understand Kay’s claim that everything Jane does causes her more trauma and anguish. Is she referring to what Jane does in real life, in the underground, or both? How can Kay think this way after everything Jane has done for her, most of the time while contending with the other alternates? I was also caught off guard when Kay revealed that the other personas were already gone. I assume she made good on what she said and killed them, which is pretty disturbing. If all the alternates do is bring Kay more pain, it makes sense to face her problems head-on, making them irrelevant. I just hope she doesn’t really end things with Jane in this way; she deserves better, even if the others really don’t. I like the alternate puppets a lot, and this provides the always great Diane Guerrero with the opportunity to show off her voice acting chops before voicing a character in Encanto next month. The visuals of the subconscious world are spectacular in general, especially after the guys find puppet Jane and they ride through a trippy kaleidoscope. 

I like the basic idea of Cyborg’s storyline. He feels like his childhood was stolen, and he was forced into behaving like a soldier, never showing vulnerability or making mistakes. I’m not sure it was necessary or the best creative choice to focus so much on the racial aspect, though. The thing about black toys rings true; any collector will tell you that historically, stores ordered fewer black dolls (when manufacturers made them), and I assume this applies to action figures as well. But showing Vic throwing the figures on the floor only to turn it around and make it about how the store manager (not even the owner) is racist was a strange move. Cliff is one of my favorite characters, but his story was just more of the same old, same old. To be fair, I think that was the point. They show how cyclical he is, repeating the same old mistakes and wasting a second chance with his daughter to do drugs and chat with a camgirl. Larry comes to terms with his past, both his mistakes and the parts he couldn’t control, and reconciles with his subconscious self. This was a perfect way to bring this character full circle, and I can’t wait to see where they take him next. I really hope he doesn’t die; same with Cliff. I find it unlikely that they would kill off another main character after Niles earlier this season. Rita’s relationship with Laura continues to become more interesting. I loved their conversation about art and how it saved Rita’s life after Laura ruined it. Laura sees art as something losers focus on to make their lives bearable. I really empathize with Rita here, and I know people who think like Laura. This is a perfect display of their ultimate incompatibility. It’s such a shame, too, because I really loved Laura right up to “Bird Patrol” and was rooting for her. “Subconscious Patrol” also confirms that Rita doesn’t have her previous memories of the Doom Patrol.

“Subconscious Patrol” is a good episode but not a great one. There are elements of greatness, like Rita and Laura, Jane and Kay, and Larry facing his past. However, for me personally, Vic and Cliff’s subplots drag the episode down a bit.