Cyborg Patrol

"Cyborg Patrol" is the twelfth episode of the first season of Doom Patrol. It premiered on May 3, 2019.

Synopsis
With Vic captured by the Bureau of Normalcy and held at the Ant Farm, his father, Silas Stone, hatches a plan to break him out with the rest of the Doom Patrol, but everything doesn't go according to plan.

Plot
A woman brings a platter with a fast food hamburger on it to a conference room in the Ant Farm, where Darren is reporting to his superiors in the military that Wilson is a traitor and a defector. His superiors are worried that Wilson disappeared along with Danny the Street, and question if Darren can carry out their assignments. Darren reports that the previous day's operation yielded something interesting. He hands out his report and says that the applications of Cyborg are limitless, and the intelligence they gather is worth endangering their relationship with STAR Labs. General Wampus warns that they can't upset the butts, and another man, Patterson with GS-9, wonders how Darren's team apprehended Cyborg. Darren merely says that it was surprisingly easy.

In a chamber beneath the conference room, dozens of technicians monitor the Switchboard. Two technicians examine Vic, who check his nanite regeneration and confirm that his operating system is missing. They taser him and Vic screams in rage.

At Doom Manor, the team gathers to discuss Vic's disappearance. Larry confirms that Jane saw the same symbol that he has on a patch from the Bureau of Normalcy. He explains that originally it was the Bureau of Oddities, a secret division of the government tasked with investigating the unusual. After World War I, the Bureau's mission changed to containment, weaponization, and eradication. Larry admits that he was one of their assets, and they studied and tortured "them" for years. He says that the Ant Farm is the Bureau's research and containment facility. They can't go there because there's no way in or out of the Ant Farm. Niles got Larry out of the Ant Farm, and Larry suggests that they talk to Silas. Rita and Jane both disagree, and Jane says that Vic doesn't trust Silas. Jane says that Vic removed Grid because it was malfunctioning.

Silas arrives and insists that Vic is there because Grid was compromised 12 hours ago inside of the manor. They go to Vic's room and find bloody cloths and surgical tools. The computer with Grid comes on, and Silas wonders where Vic is. Larry tells Silas that Vic is at the Ant Farm.

Vic tries to find a way out if his cell 721 without success, and a man in the next cell tells him that escape never works. Looking through a vent, Vic sees Prisoner 722, who tells Vic that it's not so bad there and they get to serve their country. People come to get them, and they leave, and 722 doesn't remember what happens but there's always a perk afterward. He vaguely remembers that he's been there since the 60's. Vic sits down on his bunk and realizes that his system is rebooting.

Silas discovers that Vic was running diagnostics on Grid, and explains that there's an emergency protocol to repair damaged tissue if Vic is injured. He insists that he built the protocol to save his son's life, and Jane says that it doesn't matter what they think. Rita wonders if the nanite would repair healthy tissue, and Silas admits that he doesn't know.

Grid comes back online and tells Vic that any deterioration will be reversed. It explains that the protocol restored it, and it and Silas already discussed the situation. It replays video of Vic setting off the explosion at the lab, and then activates an emergency shutdown when Vic goes berserk.

Silas calls his contacts in the government, but they all claim to know nothing. He points out that the Bureau has no reason to contact him, and his name and influence mean nothing. Silas asks the team to break into the Ant Farm with him, and Rita objects but eventually gives in. Vic's father says that he needs to see Niles' closets.

Grid asks Vic repeatedly if he wants him to run another diagnostic. 722 hears it and tells it to stop, and Vic realizes that 722 can hear it. Grid realizes that the AI is real and it asks Vic if he wants it to run another diagnostic. Darren and a technician watch, and Darren figures that Vic is nuts.

Silas leads the team to a parking garage, and the Spirit "tells" Larry that it doesn't want to go back to the Ant Farm. He agrees but says that they need to do it for Vic. Silas leads the team to a door at the top of the garage, opens it to reveal an elevator. Jane and Larry put on Bureau agent costumes while Cliff pretends to be a prisoner that they're bringing in. Silas activates a secret switch dropping the elevator to the Ant Farm, and they enter the facility. One of the yellow-clad Operators stares at Cliff, and Larry tells Cliff not to stare.

Darren and his soldiers arrive and yell at the team to freeze, and then subdue the heroes. Darren sucks the Spirit into his energy gun and then offers to take Silas to Vic. As they go, Silas tells Darren that Niles is MIA and there's nothing he can do about his betrayal, and insists that he's out. Vic is crouched in the corner of his cell, muttering to himself. Darren ushers Silas in and locks the door behind him, and Vic sees images of Silas operating on him. Going to the window, Darren says that they did nothing to Vic and found him the way he is, and there's no take-backs on the deal. Vic wonders what deal Silas made.

One of the technicians, Forsythe, straps Larry to a chair and holds up the chamber holding the Spirit. He says that they never stopped working on Larry even after he left.

Lab Tech Lee examines Cliff, magnetically held to the ceiling. She says that Cliff's body is of primitive design and says that she's seen plenty of brains stuffed into mechanical bodies. Lee recommends Cliff for the scrap-and-recycle program.

Agent Dirk Ellis wakes up Jane after duct-taping her to a chair, and shows her Rorschach patterns. She doesn't respond and Ellis picks up some surgical equipment and says that he's paid off everyone to look the other way while he gets revenge for when Jane broke his arm in their earlier fight. Jane isn't impressed.

Lee gets a ladder to climb up to put a "scrap" label on Cliff's head.

Forsythe is eager to examine the Spirit for decades to come, and notes that Larry's survival isn't so sure.

Vic wonders why Silas did what he did, and Silas insists that he had to. He promises Vic that it will all work out and secretly winks at his son.

Earlier Today
The team discuss their plan to get captured on purpose, and Silas admits that there will be physical and mental torture. Rita wonders how Silas rescues the team, and Silas tells her that she'll do the rescuing.

Now
Rita oozes out of Cliff's mouth, takes on human form, and puts on a Bureau uniform. Lee comes back in and Rita releases the magnet, dropping Cliff on Lee.

Ellis dances to the music from Reservoir Dogs, but it still doesn't intimidate Jane. He changes the player to 90's romcom music, and Karen manifests to "her" song and falls in love with Ellis. She casts her love spell and Ellis releases her, and then he leads her out and insists that they're meant to be. Cliff and Rita find them and Cliff complains that it's not part of the plan. Karen asks Ellis to take care of them, and Cliff breaks his hand. A stray shot sets off the alarm. Jane returns and punches Ellis unconscious.

Larry hears the alarms as the Ant Farm goes into lockdown, and concentrates on the Spirit.

Darren and his agents are searching for the team, and Wampus calls.

Once Silas confirms that Darren has left, he tells Vic that there's a plan. They need Vic's help to get out of the Ant Farm. Grid reports that deceit is detected.

Rita complains that Jane escaped without her.

Wampus meanwhile complains that the situation is out of control.

Cliff and the others break into the lab with Larry and free him, and Larry picks up the energy chamber and takes the Spirit with him. As they head to the high-priority wing to get Vic, Cliff wonders about the rest of the prisoners.

Larry releases the Spirit and it flies through the Switchboard room, knocking out the Operators and freeing the prisoners. All of the Ant Farm's prisoners leave their cells. Darren and his soldiers intercept the team as they leave, and Darren admits that his wife was a big fan of Rita's. He complains that one fork had the wrong handle at his wife's 50's party, and he jammed the fork into her eye over and over again. Darren insists that they have to protect what is normal. Technicians run past them in a panic, and a horde of butts run after them. The soldiers open fire but there are too many and the butts overwhelm them.

Wampus receives word that the butts are loose, and wishes the soldiers good luck.

The team steps into a side hall and watches as the fanged butts kill Darren and his soldiers.

Wampus says that it's been an honor and shoots himself.

The cell door opens, and Silas holds up a chip and Says that it's Grid. He says that it's an emergency trigger and could save Vic. Meanwhile, recovered footage plays on Vic's internal drive of Silas saying that if the technology works then they could restore wounded soldiers. When Silas tries to plant the chip in Vic, Vic figures that he's lying and asks why he made him a monster. Silas insists that he saved him, and Vic. On the video, a technician warns Silas that the nanites could go rogue and there'd be nothing left of Vic, but Silas doesn't care. Vic looks at Silas in shock and then beats him to death.

Nobody appears and tells Vic that he did it, and congratulates him on his "masterpiece". He assures Vic that it was all him, and says that the last video wasn't even real and was his creation. Nobody says that Vic couldn't wait to get the goodbye and now he's killed his father. Vic goes to his father and Nobody tells him that Silas really loved Vic and only wanted the best for him. He laughs and disappears, and Vic holds his father's body and begs him to wake up. The team arrive and sees Vic crying.

Starring

 * Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane,Karen,Hammerhead,and Flit (inhabiting Kay Challis's body)
 * April Bowlby as Rita Farr
 * Joivan Wade as Vic Stone/Cyborg
 * Alan Tudyk as Eric Morden/Mr. Nobody
 * Matt Bomer as Larry Trainor
 * Brendan Fraser as Cliff Steele/Robotman

Special appearance by

 * Timothy Dalton as Dr. Niles Caulder/The Chief (credit only)

Also starring

 * Riley Shanahan as Cliff Steele/Robotman
 * Matthew Zuk as Larry Trainor

Guest starring

 * Phil Morris as Silas Stone
 * Devan Chandler Long as Flex Mentallo
 * Jon Briddell as Darren Jones

Co-starring

 * Mac Wells as Agent Dirk Ellis
 * Ritchie Crownfield as General Wampus
 * Keith Flippen as GS-9 Patterson
 * Darla Delgado as Major Arbuckle
 * Benjamin Davis as Lab Tech #1
 * Kenneth Nance Jr. as Lab Tech #2
 * Alicia Ying as Lab Tech Lee
 * Ted Ferguson as Old Forsythe
 * Inga Eiss as Agent #2

Trivia

 * After weeks of being alluded to, and a few flashback appearances, viewers finally got a deep look at the infamous Ant Farm. If you want a better look at the government’s weirdest facility, check out 1991’s Doom Patrol #43 (written by Grant Morrison, penciled by Steve Yeowell and Richard Case).
 * Ant Farm captivity can get pretty lonely, but Cyborg was lucky to find a friend named 722. His next-door neighbor can’t seem to remember much of his prior life, similar to his comic book counterpart... We first met this unnamed, bearded man on Danny the Street in 1990’s Doom Patrol #35 (written by Grant Morrison and penciled by Richard Case). Fortunately, he eventually regained his memory. If you’ve been paying attention, you can figure out who he turned out to be!
 * While Cyborg was battling the influence of Grid, 722 was enjoying a soap opera called Secret Hearts. Secret Hearts was the name of a romance anthology comic that DC published for 153 issues. Secret Hearts was also the title of a soap opera within the DC Universe that was filmed in New York City. Linda Danvers, Supergirl’s alter-ego, starred as Margo Hatton before quitting the show in Superman #376 (written by Paul Kupperberg and penciled by Carmine Infantino).
 * Rita may not be fond of the things her body can do, but this week it came in pretty handy. She was able to hide inside Cliff’s body, allowing her to infiltrate the Ant Farm undetected. It’s a neat trick, and it comes from the Doom Patrol’s very first appearance -- in My Greatest Adventure #80(written by Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, penciled by Bruno Premiani).
 * Cliff discovered the drawback of having a metal body when a magnet trapped him on the ceiling. Unfortunately, this is a familiar problem for his comic book counterpart, who has been bested by magnets on multiple occasions. In fact, Cliff’s predicament this week was similar to a moment in Doom Patrol #106 (written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Bruno Premiani), in which a giant ceiling magnet trapped the unsuspecting Robotman. Perhaps the sarcastic talking toaster would’ve fared better.
 * This week the Doom Patrol had a brief rematch with agent Darren Jones...Before he was devoured by a stampede of escaping butts. He told the team an off-putting story about using a fork to stab his wife’s eyes out when her dinner placement was less than perfect. While that anecdote may have seemed like an odd non-sequitur, it’s actually a reference to a moment that played out in 1990’s Doom Patrol #35 (written by Grant Morrison and penciled by Richard Case). Here, Jones equipped his home with its own laugh track to further the idea of having “the perfectly normal family life.” Like his television counterpart, Jones used a fork to stab his wife’s eyes out, while the laugh track played in the background. His wife reappeared in the next issue wearing googly-eyes glasses.