Therapy Patrol

"Therapy Patrol" is the seventh episode of the first season of Doom Patrol. It premiered on March 29, 2019.

Synopsis
After a violent outburst from Cliff, the team engages in some self-led group therapy -- leading to some growth within the group as the members grow closer.

Plot
The group sits in the Doom Manor's sun room and Cliff says that they have to get their shit together if they're going to deal with Nobody. He asks if any of them have issues, and nobody speaks up.

Hollywood, 1930
Rita's parents take her to the dressing room of Ethel Singer. Her assistant Frankie introduces Rita, the Cook County pageant winner and says that meeting Ethel is the prize. Ethel turns on the charm and Rita's parents Vance and Addie explain that Ethel is Rita's idol. The actress talks to Rita, who introduces herself by her stage name.

Today, 8:55 am
Vic knocks on Rita's door and says that there's a team meeting in fifteen minutes. Rita concentrates and pulls herself into human form, and then goes out into the hallway and runs into Hammerhead, who asks what's wrong with Rita's deformed neck. Rita steps on a duct and her leg flows down it, and she calls for help. No one hears her, and she ends up in the basement furnace, and oozes out onto the floor. Rita comes to an abandoned baby crib and says that she's tired of seeing creepy baby imagery, and admits that she deserves what's happening to her. She resolves to be the best "ball of slime" she can be and crawls up the stairs, reforming her human body. However, Rita hears Cliff yelling and reverts to her blob form.

North Dakota, 1935
Larry overhears his parents discussing him. Larry's father insists that the school principal has always had it out for Larry, and his mother insists that it's true that Larry is a homosexual and he'll cost them his standing in the community.

Today, 8:55 am
Vic knocks on Larry's door and says that there's a team meeting in fifteen minutes. Larry gets up and starts putting his protective bandages on, and then suggests to the Spirit that they stay in. It leaves his body, and Larry passes out and finds himself in the back of a truck with John, kissing. He remembers that it was before the accident, and "John" suggests that it might be different. Larry says that it's not real or accurate, but "John" tells him to concentrate on being there. As Larry complains to the Spirit, he wakes up and wonders what it's trying to tell him. The Spirit leaves his body again, and Larry finds himself back in the memory with the details accurate. "John" tells him to just be there with him in their stolen moment, and Larry tells the Spirit that John didn't want an open relationship. He insists that history doesn't change and he's still a hypocrite that ruined other people's lives. Larry wakes up and tells the Spirit not to interrupt him. He returns to the memory and Larry tells the Spirit that it has no idea how hard it was to live with the lies and fear. He says that the context is missing from the fantasy and everyone hated and mocked homosexuals, and "John" says that he's waited a long time to hear Larry say that and wanted him to admit it to himself. "John" tells Larry that he's missing the sunset and they kiss.

Larry wakes up back in his own body, and hears Cliff yelling and the manor shaking. He tells the Spirit that it can be a hero and he wants to see the sunset.

Detroit, 2002
Dr. Jones examines Vic as Vic's mother looks on. He confirms that Vic's shoulder is dislocated and snaps it back into place and then assures Vic's mother that Vic will be fine. Once Jones leaves, Vic tells his mother that he's scared of Silas, who told him not to climb the trees. She says that they don't have to tell Silas everything.

Today, 8:38 am
Vic gets up and looks at his cybernetic body. He knocks on Larry's and Rita's doors and says that there's a team meeting in fifteen minutes. Vic goes to Cliff's room and finds him inactive. He then knocks on Jane's door and she says that he's not the Chief. Vic sits in the sun room and waits for thirty minutes, but no one comes down. He finally gets a notice that a woman, Janice, swiped right on his dating profile. Vic realizes that it's a profile he made as a joke when he was 18, and has 267 notices. They were all filtered by Silas until the recent modifications to Vic.

When Vic calls Silas, Silas says that the messages were distractions. He points out that Vic stole the sat key from him, and explains that Vic need focus and the parental controls were for Vic's protections. Vic says that he'll control his own life, and has his internal program Grid check for Niles in all known data sources. He then contacts Janice and they chat while Vic exercises. Jane dances through the garden as Vic looks on, and Vic searches for someone who doesn't call him "Cyborg". He comes up with Mel, a med student, and Grid sends him everything it can find on Mel including live surveillance footage from a city bus. Grid admits that it can read Vic's subconscious and has been able to do so since Vic lifted the restrictions on it. Vic sends Mel photos of himself and sees Mel look at them in disgust. He has Grid delete his dating profile, and Grid reports that it has found nothing on Niles. It does report an incoming threat, just as Cliff punches him and says that he ruined Clara. The two of them fight and the manor shakes.

Arkansas, 1950
Jane's father looks at her in the crib and watches her cry.

Today, 8:55 am
Vic knocks on Jane's door and says that there's a team meeting in fifteen minutes. She yells that he's not the Chief and goes back to painting the word "Bastard" on a portrait of Niles. Jane then punches it and walks out, meeting Rita in the hallway. Down the hall, Jane takes over briefly from Hammerhead and says to go to the meeting so they can find Niles and he'll explain everything. She finds Cliff in the day room, trying to eat toast, and he says that he's trying to remember what it's like to eat, throws the toast at her, and walks out. Jane goes to the lab and sees all of the videos Niles made of her and their sessions. She watches a video, and Niles says that he believes in connections and life. Niles insists that she can connect with people who will see her and love her as she is. He assures her that he'll be a father to her even if she can't flourish, and Jane destroys the tape and stomps on it.

Hammerhead and Jane alternate in Jane's body, with Jane trying to control herself. She dances through the garden as Vic looks on trying to control herself, and then returns to the lab and continues smashing things. Jane goes back to her room and cries, and hears Cliff yelling and the manor shaking. She follows the noise and finds the Spirit heading the same way. Cliff is in the library tearing apart the shelves and the furniture as Vic climbs in the window

South Florida, 1961
A young Cliff lies in bed, listening to his parents argue in the next room. The boy finally gets up and looks out, and sees his father standing at his mother's door. Cliff's dad promises that he'll be better.

Today, 8:55 am
Vic goes to Cliff's room and finds him inactive. Once he leaves, Cliff activates and looks at the toy slot track that he's set up. He pounds on his robot body and swears, and then drives the school bus down the highway, racing and screaming that he'll eat when he wants to. Cliff drives to Bump's house and confronts him, says who he is, and asks where Clara is. Bump says that Cliff was dead so he took his place, and Clara had no one and he didn't want a brat dumped in his life. He complains that Clara killed his bachelor game and he had to take her to a psychiatrist. Cliff shoves him down, and Bump draws a rifle and fires an energy blast, knocking Cliff through a wall into a library. As Cliff starts smashing the shelves, Clara appears and asks what's wrong with him.

Cliff is in the library tearing apart the shelves and the furniture as Vic climbs in the window. Jane and the Spirit stare at the berserk Cliff, who attacks Vic seeing him as Bump. They fight and Vic manages to take Cliff down. Cliff snaps out of his delusion, and the Spirit flies off. Pacing, Cliff wonders why he's so mad and figures that Bump is a better father to Clara than he would have been. He yells about how he's just the same as his father, and he can't call Clara because it's all him. He collapses on the floor and Rita wheels himself in. Vic wonders if they should leave Cliff alone, and Cliff tells them that he doesn't want to be alone with his thoughts and figures that he's not the only one who needs a talk. He suggests that they need to talk as a group. Jane isn't interested but Cliff says that Niles would do it and says that Rita can tell them what she's going through. She explains that she was stuck in a furnace and no one could hear her screams, and admits that Cliff is right and Nobody turned the original Doom Patrol against each other with their anxieties.

The group sits in the manor sun room and Cliff says that they have to get their shit together if they're going to deal with Nobody. He talks about his stuff, and nobody speaks up. Rita talks about how Nobody has been dangling something terrible that she did over her, and it will come out if they keep looking for Niles. She doesn't want to talk about it, and all she says that is that Rita Farr was never a person but just an illusion. Now she has to confront the truth: if there is no Rita then there's nothing else there. Her legs deform, and Hammerhead mocks her. Cliff says that they have to air everything out, and Rita and Hammerhead both tell him to shut up.

Larry for his part says that it's a waste of time, and Cliff tells him that they can all hear him yelling at the Spirit. He suggests that they might have something to get off their chest, and says that Larry is gay. Larry tells them that it gets lonely not touching anyone for 60 years, and the last person he touched was John and he drove him away. Cliff hugs him, and Larry says that he's only sharing it because Nobody shoved it in his face. He admits that he's been torturing himself and he's sick of it, hurting the Spirit so it hurts him back.

Cliff applauds briefly, and Vic says that he killed his mother. He talks about the argument he was having with her and lashed out in her home lab, and set off a chemical explosion. Silas saved him by turning him into a cyborg, and he wonders if his memories are real. Vic wonders if something could be worse than killing his mother, and questions why Silas doesn't trust him. Baby Doll says that Vic shouldn't, and The Hangman's Daughter shows them the painting she made of what Nobody showed her in the donkey. Larry and Jane start to leave, and Cliff says that group isn't over until Jane shares. He says that she needs someone to talk to and he's seen her tapes. Hammer Head says that they wouldn't listen anywhere, and Cliff insists that it's a safe place. She tells him that he'll never be a father because he can't be a man, and Cliff tells her that he's the only one who can stand her and he only likes 1/64th of her.

Jane walks out and Rita goes after her. Cliff goes with them and apologizes, and sees Jane as Clara. Once Jane leaves, Cliff pounds on his head and the others figure that he's nuts. Rita tells Vic and Larry that Cliff is the only reason they're talking, and Cliff sees them all as Bump, mocking him. He attacks them and Vic grabs him and throws him to the floor. Cliff convulses and then shuts down, and a mouse climbs out of his mouth and scurries away.

Doom Manor (some time back)
The mouse, Admiral Whiskers, watches as his mother gets run down by the school bus Cliff is driving into Cloverton. Mr. Nobody tells Admiral Whiskers that he should let his sorrow turn into vengeance, and he needs to find the person responsible and fuck his mind, heart, and soul.

Doom Manor (8:35 am, today)
Admiral Whiskers enters into Cliff's room, waits until he's inactive, and then crawls into his arm through the hole.

Starring

 * Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane and Hammerhead (inhabiting Kay Challis’s body)
 * April Bowlby as Rita Farr
 * Joivan Wade as Vic Stone/Cyborg
 * Alan Tudyk as Eric Morden/Mr. Nobody (voice only)
 * 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 (physical)
 * Matthew Zuk as Larry Trainor (physical)

Guest Starring

 * Phil Morris as Silas Stone
 * Kyle Clements as John Bowers
 * Charmin Lee as Elinore Stone

Co-Starring

 * Bethany Anne Lind as Clara Steele
 * Alan Heckner as Bump Weathers
 * Lana Jean Turner as Young Rita
 * Greyson Chadwick as Addie
 * Bryan McClure as Frankie
 * Mike Lutz as Vance
 * Candi Brooks as Ethel Singer
 * Braxton Alexander as Young Larry
 * JoAnn Willette as Debbie Trainor
 * A. Smith Harrison as Gerald Trainor
 * Braelyn Rankins as Young Vic
 * Jay DeVon Johnson as Dr. Jones
 * Sailor Larocque as Mel
 * Gibson Todd as Young Cliff
 * Matthew Blumm as Cliff's Dad
 * Kaitlin Baden as Cliff's Mom
 * David MacDonald as Daddy

Trivia

 * Victor seemed surprised when Janice told him that “Booyah!” was his catchphrase. He shouldn’t be shocked, because ever since the 2003 Teen Titans episode “Sisters,” he’s used the phrase multiple times in animation, comics, and even in live-action. It’s kind of become his thing.
 * Waking up in the morning is hard enough for most people, but poor Rita can barely keep her body together. This episode gave us a glimpse of the painful routine Rita goes through each and every morning from when she leaves her bed, and stares at photographs until she can shape her body.
 * This tragic ritual was first discovered by her teammates in 2010’s Doom Patrol #13 (written by Keith Giffen, penciled by Matthew Clark and Ron Randall). Cliff and Larry were horrified to learn of her protoplasmic troubles, which Rita had kept from them because she was ashamed of her blob-like appearance. Her teammates offered their emotional support, but mornings continued to be difficult for her.
 * This week Robotman faced one of his biggest challenges: his own physical limitations. Cliff was in so much emotional pain that his brain wanted to cry, but his robot body was simply unable to shed tears, leading to an intense moment in which Cliff emotionally broke down..
 * Cliff had a similar moment in 1989’s Doom Patrol #19 (written by Grant Morrison and penciled by Richard Case). Robotman had checked himself into a sanatorium, and Doc Magnus tried in vain to cheer up his broken friend. In the comic, as in the show, Cliff lashes out emotionally as he curses the limitations of his robot body to express pain.
 * In a flashback this week, viewers caught a glimpse of Larry’s mother, a woman who had an uneasy relationship with her son due to her inability to accept his sexuality. Larry had a rough relationship with his mother in the comics as well, but for different reasons.
 * We first met Larry's mom in 1966’s Doom Patrol #106 (written by Arnold Drake and Jack Schiff, penciled by Bruno Premiani and Morris Waldinger). Here, we learned that Larry has emotionally distanced himself from his mother because he didn’t want his radioactive condition to harm her. His life with the Doom Patrol continued to keep him from her, and, in 1991’s Doom Patrol #47 (written by Grant Morrison and penciled by Richard Case), Josh Clay informed Larry that his mother had passed away after a heart attack. Although he hid his grief from Josh, Larry privately regretted the fact that he never got to say goodbye to her.
 * During the Doom Patrol’s therapy session, Victor confesses that he’s started to suspect his father Silas has altered his memories. While the notion may seem paranoid, it’s not without precedent. In 2016’s Cyborg #4 (written by John Semper Jr and penciled by Timothy Green II), Victor began accessing lost memories from his time before the accident – memories his father had previously turned off.
 * In "Therapy Patrol", we learned that Larry re-lives key moments of his life when the Negative Spirit leaves his body.
 * In the original Doom Patrol stories, Larry’s body became an empty husk while his consciousness controlled the Negative Spirit.
 * In writer Grant Morrison's run, Larry, a physician named Eleanor, and the Negative Spirit fused together to form a being called Rebis. During that union, the human body of Larry/Eleanor remained fully conscious and active whenever the Negative Spirit was released.
 * In 2017’s Doom Patrol #4 (written by Gerard Way, penciled by Brandon Bird and Nick Derington), Larry was brought to the Negative Spirit’s home dimension to reunite with the Spirit. The Negative Beings rewarded Larry with a gift -- from now on his consciousness would experience a simulated lifetime when the Negative Spirit was released. Even if the Negative Spirit only left Larry’s body for a minute, his mind would experience a full life's worth of hopes, dreams, and fears. It was the Negative Being's hope that Larry would learn crucial lessons from all of this.