Hair Patrol

"Hair Patrol" is the tenth episode of the first season of Doom Patrol. It premiered on DC Universe on April 19, 2019.

Synopsis
Vic and Rita find the mansion infiltrated by Ernest Franklin, a dangerous man called The Beard Hunter, who’s been activated by the Bureau of Normalcy to find Niles Caulder. Meanwhile, we learn the tragic love story between Caulder and an immortal woman named Slava that started Niles on the path towards the man we know today.

Plot
In Northern Yukton Territory, 1913, Niles Caulder and a companion work for the Bureau of Oddities. They are investigating the sighting of a horned-creature. Niles goes off on his own to relieve himself, but notices a unique footprint in the snow. Suddenly, wolves start to howl and one approaches Niles, but his friend appears and shoots the wolf. Another wolf leaps towards the friend's face, seemingly killing him. Niles runs away and tumbles down a hill, breaking his left leg. The wolves surround Niles once again, but disperse when an unknown sound is heard. Then, the mysterious horned-creature approaches Niles.

In West Seneca, New York, 2019, a mother yells at her son, Ernest Franklin to go to the supermarket. Ernest unwillingly travels there, and at the cash register he is ambushed by the Bureau of Normalcy. They ask Ernest to capture Niles Caulder and bring him in for questioning. A female agents refers Ernest as the Beard Hunter, who later agrees to the mission.

In 1913, Niles wakes up in a cave. He hears a creature wail and crawls away quickly, eventually discovering a dead body. He is then pulled away by an unknown entity.

In 2019, the Beard Hunter reaches Covington and finds a Jane's wanted poster searching for Niles Caulder. Meanwhile, Cliff, Larry, Rita, and Vic contemplate on how to wake up Jane, as seen in the previous episode. The Negative Spirit suddenly emerges from Larry's body and touches Cliff's head, sending him into the Underground.

In 1913, Niles wakes up in the cave near a campfire. He sees another hairy human-looking woman on the other side of the campfire and pleads with her not to harm him. He crawls closer to the woman and asks her if he can move closer to the fire. The woman becomes enraged and beats Niles, who is still on the ground due to his leg injury. She puts out the campfire and leaves.

In 2019, Vic tells Rita about gender-queer, teleporting street Danny. He gives Rita the comic book Danny supplied him with, and Rita notices a man is missing in a famous advertisement. Meanwhile, the Beard Hunter breaks into the mansion and inserts a tool down a bathroom sink. The tool pulls up some hair, which the Beard Hunter swallows completely. His head starts to distort and he passes out.

In 1913, Niles writes in his journal that he has been at the mercy of the primitive woman for weeks. He explains to the woman that he needs to go home and offers her to go with him. She doesn't understand, and Niles comes to the realization that he will not be allowed to leave, and angrily yells at the woman. He runs to another part of the cave and tries to dig a hole so the dead body he discovered earlier can be buried. The woman follows Niles and drags the body, urging Niles to follow her. He follows her through the woods into a circle of tall stones. On one of the stones, Niles notices a carving of a tribe. He believes she has existed within the tribe for generations, and wonders if she was graced with eternal life. She frees him of the ropes binding his hands, and allows him to burn the dead body. The woman continuously mutters "Oyewah", and closes her eyes, moving her body to mysterious rhythm. This summons the horned-creature.

In 2019, the Beard Hunter wakes up, tied to a chair, confronted by Rita and Vic. The Beard Hunter explains he is looking for Niles Caulder. The Beard Hunter asserts he is known by many names, including 'El Cazador de Barba' in Spain, a pogonophile in his psych profile, and the Beard Hunter. Rita asks why the Beard Hunter doesn't have a beard, to which he says he has a hormone disorder. He also reveals that he consumed Niles' essence when he ate Niles' hair. The Beard Hunter says knows the truth about Niles and where to find him because Niles' beard calls out to him throughout time and space.

In the 1910s, Niles and Oyewah walk across an icy plain. Niles suddenly falls through the ice into freezing water. He becomes ill and the woman takes care of him. Later, Niles sees the woman vomit and she then collapses. Niles believes the two of them can't survive the cold without each other; soon the two become intimate and have sex.

In 2019, the Beard Hunter is still tied to a chair and attempts to jump around, falling to his side. He sniffs the floor and inhales one of Vic's stray beard hairs. Meanwhile, Vic tells Rita they should let the Beard Hunter go and put a tracker on him. They hear a loud thud from the other room and rush to now-freed Beard Hunter. The Beard Hunter talks about Vic's past, which he learned from swallowing his facial hair, and allows the Beard Hunter to connect to Vic's brain stem. Vic attempts to shoot the Beard Hunter with his arm cannon, but his internal system stops him and says that an unknown threat was detected and their post has been compromised. Grid suddenly activates the arm cannon, which allows the Beard Hunter to escape. Vic shuts down the system using code-word "Elinore". Rita allows the Beard Hunter to leave.

In the 1910's, Niles writes in his journal about how he chooses to remain in the north. He feels liberated, and becomes more disillusioned with time. In 1916, Niles sings a song while alone in the woods. A second voice starts singing the same song, and Niles discovers it is his old friend from the Bureau of Oddities that he was on the initial mission with. The friend is surprised to find Niles alive. He reveals to Niles World War I is underway, and the mission of the Bureau has changed from exploration and discovery to completely exterminating the abnormal. The friend reveals he knows about Niles' intimate relationship with Oyewah, and forces Niles at gunpoint to lead him to her nest.

In 2019, Vic believes something is wrong with his system. Rita reveals she slipped the tracking device Vic gave her onto the Beard Hunter. Suddenly, Jane and Cliff return from the Underground, and the Negative Spirit returns to Larry. Jane leaves the room, and Vic asks Cliff about what happened in the Underground, but Cliff says that it is not his story to tell.

In 1916, Niles' friend reveals he is underwhelmed with Oyewah, as he believes her to only be a "hairy little troll". Niles leads his former friend across an icy plain, but suddenly the ice breaks. Niles' allows his former companion to drown in the freezing water; he then throws his journal into the water to protect anyone from finding Oyewah. Niles walks to a camp in the woods, where members of the Bureau are taking up shelter, and surrenders himself.

Niles returns home and lies to the Bureau, stating there is nothing abnormal in the north. In the back of the room, Mr. Nobody enters and starts loudly clapping. It turns out that Niles was reminiscing on old memories, and Mr. Nobody eavesdropped in. Mr. Nobody asks Niles to answer one question, and if Niles does, everything will go back to normal. He asks Niles, "Where is the girl?" Niles doesn't answer, leading Mr. Nobody to believe Niles' goal all along has been to protect Oyewah. Mr. Nobody threatens to hurt the Doom Patrol, but Niles tells Mr. Nobody they are stronger than he thinks.

In 2019, the Beard Hunter opens a door to a never-ending white staircase. He traverses downward and finds an eyeless doll in a wheelchair that looks like Niles. The doll begins to speak, confusing the Beard Hunter, and suddenly the horned-creature appears from behind. The Beard Hunter screams and drops his flashlight to the floor.

Starring

 * Diane Guerrero as Kay Challis / Crazy Jane
 * 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

Also starring

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

Special guest starring

 * Max Martini as Alistair

Guest starring

 * Tommy Snider as Ernest Franklin/Beard Hunter
 * Pisay Pao as Oyewah

Co-starring

 * April Billingsley as Checkout Lady
 * Joan Van Ark as Mrs. Franklin

Trivia

 * This episode introduced the Beard Hunter, a strange foe even by the Doom Patrol’s standards. The Beard Hunter made a single, albeit memorable, appearance in 1991’s Doom Patrol #45 (written by Grant Morrison and penciled by Vince Giarrano), in which he was hired by the Bearded Gentlemen’s Club of Metropolis to retrieve the Chief’s beard. Like his television counterpart, Ernest had a contempt for those with beards due to his inability to grow one of his own. But his ability to link to a person's brain stem by consuming their facial hair is entirely a creation of the show
 * For weeks, fans have been asking why Niles doesn’t seem to age. This week we found a possible answer: Niles may have discovered the secret to eternal life from his primitive companion. Niles' quest for the secrets of immortality was first chronicled in 1964’s Doom Patrol #88(written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Bruno Premiani). In this issue, he made a breakthrough without meeting any primitive females, but decided to keep his research a secret. Like his screen counterpart, Niles was worried about the secrets of eternal life falling into the wrong hands. This put him at odds with General Immortus, an aged warlord who will stop at nothing to get Niles to reveal the formula.
 * While searching for clues in the pages of My Greatest Adventure, Rita notices that “the hunk” is missing from the cereal ad. The cereal is called “Mentall-o’s," and Rita’s description indicates we’ll soon get our first look at Flex Mentallo. Flex is a member of the Doom Patrol who was inspired by the popular Charles Atlas ads that appeared frequently in vintage comics. Flex was first seen hanging out on Danny the Street in 1990’s Doom Patrol#35 (written by Grant Morrison and penciled by Richard Case). His secret origin was finally revealed during 1991’s Doom Patrol #42 (written by Grant Morrison, penciled by Richard Case and Mike Dringenberg). The story parodied the Charles Atlas ad as Flex recounted how he went from a weakling to a hunk. It was later revealed that Flex was created by a psychic child who'd drawn him in a comic titled My Greatest Adventure.
 * In his confrontation with the Beard Hunter, Cyborg was surprised when Grid ignored his commands. When we looked at the Easter eggs in “Donkey Patrol,” we advised Victor to keep a close eye on Grid, as it appears those fears were justified. While fighting against the Crime Syndicate in 2013’s Justice League #23 (written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis), Grid went rogue and took over Cybrog’s body. The AI system eventually split off into its own body, helping the Crime Syndicate battle the Justice League. Grid had always desired more, not content just being Victor’s operating system. Let’s hope his screen counterpart is only experiencing technical malfunctions. But judging from the comics, it appears we have cause to worry…
 * This week revealed more of the Chief’s mysterious backstory, including his stint as a researcher for the government. (It seems former James Bond star Timothy Dalton has a habit of playing characters who are agents of their nation.) Niles' stint as a civil servant was taken from 1988’s Doom Patrol #12 (written by Paul Kupperberg and penciled by Erik Larsen). After being presumed dead, Niles hid from his former teammates and took a job as a government advisor. The Chief’s expertise was heavily valued, and he reported directly to President Ronald Reagan. Like his screen counterpart, Niles left his government work to embrace a life of studying the abnormal once more.
 * One of the weird things viewers witnessed this week was a giant arctic monster materializing out of thin air. It appeared that the Chief’s primitive companion had the ability to conjure imaginary friends into existence. This ability has been a recurring theme in the Doom Patrol comics. We’ve already mentioned Flex Mentallo coming to life from the imagination of a child, but there’s also Dorothy Spinner.
 * The young girl with the apelike face first appeared in 1988’s Doom Patrol #14 (written by Paul Kupperberg and penciled by Erik Larsen), before formally joining the team the next year in Doom Patrol #23 (written by Grant Morrison and penciled by Richard Case). In the latter issue she revealed she had the ability to bring her imaginary friends to life. Some online theorists are noting the primitive woman in “Hair Patrol” looks like she could be related to Dorothy.