Puppet Patrol

"Don’t you get it? I have no say in our relationship, Larry. It’s always about you. Your career and your family."

- John to Larry on the problems with their relationship

"Puppet Patrol" is the third episode of the first season of Doom Patrol. It premiered on DC Universe on March 1, 2019.

Synopsis
The Doom Patrol set out for Paraguay where they discover the Nazi doctor who created Mr. Nobody and the connection between The Chief and the two villains.

Plot
Jane walks down the streets of Cloverton, putting up posters asking if people have seen the lost Niles. A group of townspeople follow her, yelling at her to go away and yanking down her posters. Hammerhead takes over and staples a poster to one of their foreheads.

At Doom Manor, Vic sits in his new room and remembers the past which still haunts him.

Vic's mother says that Vic will be sitting out football for three weeks. He snaps at her and knocks over a beaker, which explodes and inadvertently results in her death, and the serious injuries that lead Vic to become the way he is today.

Vic reviews the security footage of the lab on the day of the incident. He watches himself blow up the lab and confirms that it hasn't been tampered with. His processor AI, Grid, Brings up an identification of Mr. Nobody as Eric Morden.

Cliff and Rita go through Niles' lab looking for information on Nobody. He finds a file about himself, just as Rita locates a photo of the donkey and shows it to Cliff. Rita starts to lose control of her body and leaves, and Vic comes in. Cliff shows him the photo, which has a village in the background, and Vic says that he's gathering everyone for a briefing.

Larry wakes up on the rafters in the infirmary. There's a note taped to his face, and Larry is disgusted at the response from the negative being.

California, 1961
Larry and John are in the back of a truck kissing, and Larry worries about making sure his jet is tested. John assures him that everything will be fine, and says that America would hate him if they knew he was bisexual. He tells Larry that he put in for a discharge because he's tired of tiptoeing around people who would beat him if they knew he was gay. John asks Larry to go with him, and Larry complains that John is unburdening on him the night before his test. His lover complains that it's all about Larry and his career and family, and John walks off. Larry goes after him and says that they'll work it out, and asks John to let him think about it after the test flight. John agrees but says that he's going no matter what Larry decides.

Present Day
Jane comes in to get Larry. Once everyone meets, Vic explains that they know Nobody was Eric Morden, a member of a supervillain team from the 1930s. Rita wonders if they're the best people to hunt supervillains, and Vic continues, saying that the photo puts the donkey in Paraguay in 1948. He insists that Niles saved all their lives and figures that they're all that Niles has. Vic says that he can get a private jet to Paraguay

After the meeting, Vic calls Silas and asks for the jet. Silas refuses and says that since Vic is on his own mission, he can't use any STAR Lab resources and hangs up.

The group gathers outside the manor, and Vic pulls up in a bus. He tells them that there's been a change in plans and admits that it will take two weeks to drive to Paraguay. They take turns driving and it doesn't go well. Larry waits until everyone is asleep and then tells the negative being that what it did was uncalled for. He insists that it's his body and he can call the shots, and the negative being flies out of him, smacks into the engine, and blows it out. It reenters Larry's body as the bus skids over to the side. Larry explains that the negativ entity inside burned out the engine, and insists that he'll get it under control.

That night, the team pushed the bus to a motel and subsequently checked in. They only have one room left, and Larry sits outside and remembers the past.

California, 1961
Larry returns home and finds Sheryl waiting for him. He assures her that everything will be fine in their future, but Sheryl isn't convinced. She says that he promised things would change after they moved there, but it's the same as every other place that they've been. Sheryl wonders if it's her fault, and Larry tells her that she hasn't done anything wrong. His wife says that she keeps waiting for Larry to change and wonders if she's the one who needs to change. Larry admits that he's scared that he could die and the only thing keeping him sane is thoughts of his family. He tells Sheryl that he can't do it without her, and she pulls away from his hug and suggests that they go to bed.

Now
Jane gets a candy bar from the machine and Larry asks her how she manages to keep her personas in line. Jane tells him that they're not "her" personas and she respects them and their right to exist, and if he did the same then the negative being might not treat him like the enemy.

Later, the group sits in the motel room and watches a movie.

The next day, Cliff goes to a pay phone and looks at the note with his daughter's phone number. He doesn't dial it, and sees a cat laying on the sidewalk.

As Rita flosses for 45 minutes, Vic looks for the missing bus keys. In the bathroom, she tries to regain control of her body but with no luck. Cliff finally admits that he took the bus keys, and Jane tries to get Rita to come out. Rita tells them to leave if they're in a hurry, and Vic says that they don't leave anyone behind. Jane reverts to her Flit persona and teleports Cliff and Larry to Paraguay, just as Rita comes out. Jane explains that Flit does what she wants when she wants, just like the negative being. Cliff figures that they don't need Vic, but has no idea how to proceed.

Jane puts up a Niles poster, and a tourist--Steve--sees her and says that the bus will be there any minute. He sees Cliff and Larry, and asks what they're getting. Steve explains that he was saving up for "the Morden".

Vic works on the bus engine, and a man, Ring-Ding, comes out. He sees Vic and asks what the Justice League is like, and wonders where his jet is.

As the trio wait for the bus with Steve, who says that he doesn't know what The Morden is and he can't afford it so he's getting magnet feet instead. A bus arrives and takes them to the jungle village of Fuchtopia. A greeter, Greta, tells them that the orientation is about to begin. She takes them to a theater where a puppet of Von Fuchs explains his life story. A lot. Eventually, Hitler found his ideas interesting.

Vic checks on Rita and finds her eating by the pool. He tells her to act like she cares about finding Niles, and Rita says that there's nothing they can do and all they can do is wait for the others. Vic says that she's a chickenshit, not a star, and wonders why she didn't stay behind. Rita asks why he brought the rest of them along, and figures that he's as afraid as the rest of them before walking off.

The Fuchs puppets say that he came to Paraguay after World War II and was transforming Morden when Niles came in and shot Fuchs and Morden, took Fuchs' satchel, and left. However, Morden transformed into Nobody anyway, and now Fuchs' descendants continue his legacy by selling people superpowers. Steve applauds as the show ends.

After comparing notes, the team meets with Fuchs' representatives and say that they want to gain superpowers. Jane's credit card is declined, and she provides another card. Cliff and Larry also have payment issues, and Larry steps away to check on things.

Jane's representative, Franka, doesn't have any better luck with Jane's second credit card and tells her that she and her friends have to leave. Jane tells her that she has 64 superpowers and will offer some of her blood so they can make more superpowers. Frank goes to check with her superiors.

Cliff explains that he's a brain in a can and doesn't feel anything. The representative, Greta, tells him that he must feel something or he wouldn't be there.

Franka takes Jane away.

Larry wanders off and finds the transformation chamber. He looks inside the pod and remembers the accident and the doctors working on him after he crashed.

Larry wakes up and finds all of the doctors and nurses dead on the floor. He wanders through the hospital and another orderly collapses in front of him. Men in hazmat suits approach Larry and tell him that his radiation levels are off the charts and he's a danger to everyone around him. Later, Sheryl talks to Larry via the intercom and explains that their sons are staying with her folks. She told them that Larry might not be coming home, and Larry begs her to hang on and he'll get out. Sheryl says that she can't do it anymore and he can't fix it and never could. Larry says that he can change, but Sheryl says that they should admit that they can do better than what they have. She tells him that she hopes he finds the love that he deserves if he recovers and walks off, crying.

Larry enters the pod and figures that it's time to see what "better" looks like.

Vic goes to get some candy and Rita sits on a nearby bench. He apologizes for snapping at her earlier and admits that it's all gone to hell because he's been trying to prove himself to Silas. Vic offers her the candy bar and says that he doesn't know what to believe. Rita talks about how she eats to maintain her form, but she's starting to lose control since Nobody got into her head. Silas calls Vic and says that the STAR jet is ready at the nearby airport. Rita wonders if they want it.

Franka takes Jane to the theater and the Fuchs puppet gestures her off-stage. The real Fuchs is in a life-support chamber, someone working the bellows.

The pod glows with energy as Larry puts himself in the restraints.

Fuchs asks Jane how she obtained so many metahuman abilities, and says that he needs to meet her personas and behold their powers. Jane tells her that they don't control her and she doesn't control them, and Fuchs offers to assist her.

In the pod, the bandages float off of Larry, revealing his unscarred body. The negative being drifts out of Larry's body and he figures that it's over and he's free.

Fuchs says that he can extract the other personas and their powers, leaving Jane alone in her body. She refuses, and Fuchs asks if she's the core persona. Jane doesn't answer and Fuchs chuckles.

Larry tries to walk out, but the negative creature blocks his way and refuses to let him go. He tells it to get out of his way.

Fuchs figures that there was a trauma in Jane's past, causing her mind to splinter. Jane says that a group of scientists like Fuchs did terrible things to a girl, and Niles helped her escape them.

Greta hears something banging in the distance and walks out without a word.

Fuchs insists that Niles is a fraud while he is a genius, Jane points out that Fuchs is in an iron lung and the German laughs.

Larry wonders why negative energy being won't leave him alone, and it echoes his words.

Cliff follows Franka and comes to a group of young Fuchtopians saying that he should remain where he is. They say that a friend of Niles is an enemy of Fuchs.

Fuchs tells Jane that they're not so different, and boasts that he's a single personality spread over many bodies. The young Fuchtopians appear and Fuchs laughs in triumph.

Cliff kills the first Fuchtopian and gives the rest the finger.

The Fuchtopians attack Jane, who switches personas and powers and kills them.

Cliff proceeds to kill the other Fuchtopians..

Larry says that he had a life before the negative creature and knew who he was. "John" appears" and says that Larry screwed it all up.

Fuchs tells Jane/Silver Tongue that he underestimated her and they could do wonderful things together. Silvertongue kills him, reverts to Jane, and says that she waits. Dying, Fuchs tells her that nothing in her life belongs to her, including the victory.

Cliff stares at the corpses and wonders what he's done. Jane comes up behind him and ducks Cliff's instinctive blow, says that he doesn't have to apologize, and goes.

As Larry reaches for John, Cliff opens the pod and Larry reverts back to his bandaged self. Larry walks out, and Jane turns into Sun Daddy to destroy the lab. Once she's done, the three of them go back to the village and find Vic and Rita there. Vic directs them to the jet, and Jane gives Rita the Niles puppet. On the ride back, Larry looks out the window and remembers the past.

In the lead-lined containment chamber, Larry stares at his glowing hand. John calls over the intercom and says that he and a couple of the boys from the base came to see Larry. He says that he re-upped and isn't going anywhere. Larry looks at his glowing hand and tells John to go. John agrees and tells him to be good.

Silas calls Vic, who thanks him for his help and abruptly hangs up.

Cliff looks at the note with his daughter's phone number, then crumples it up and throws it away.

Jane writes "Control is a weapon for fascists" on the window.

Back in Fuchs' lab, Steve comes out of a transformation pod and asks if he was supposed to be in there so long. He discovers that his body has become animal, vegetable, and mineral--along with a dinosaur head--and laughs in triumph.

Trivia

 * When Rita was reading a magazine, the back cover had a picture of the Charmed 2018 reboot.
 * When Jane is putting up posters of The Chief, she sees a flyer for a missing hamster that answers to the name Hamibal Lector, a reference to the serial killer and cannibal Hannibal Lecter in the 1991' film  The Silence of the Lambs.
 * The movie the gang is watching is 1968's Night of the Living Dead, specifically the part when the character of Johnny is heard saying “they’re coming to get you Barbara”.
 * The creature that Steve, the tourist transforms into is known as Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man and was first seen in 1964's Doom Patrol #89 (written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Bruno Premiani).
 * The hybrid villain was created when Dr. Sven Larsen experimented on himself so he could get revenge on Dr. Niles Caulder for “stealing” an idea of his.
 * While looking through the Chief’s files, Cyborg learns that Mr. Nobody was once a member of a villainous group called the Brotherhood of Evil. The group first appeared in 1964's Doom Patrol #86 (written by Arnold Drake and Howard Purcell, penciled by Bruno Premiani and Howard Purcell) where they were assisted by their henchmen Eric Morden.
 * Like his television counterpart, Eric became the surrealistic super-villain Mr. Nobody after leaving the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood of Evil has had a rotating membership over the years, and in 1968's Doom Patrol #121 (written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Bruno Premiani), they actually succeeded in destroying the Doom Patrol!
 * The team also discovered that the Chief has a chocolate addiction. In the comics, this began when writer Grant Morrison and penciler Richard Case began their epic run with 1989's Doom Patrol #19.
 * Niles would occasionally be shown eating a chocolate bar while speaking to the team. At first it was just a visual gag, but by 1990's Doom Patrol #34, the Chief refused to finish operating on Cliff’s body until he had more chocolate. The Chief’s chocolate addiction has since become one of his defining characteristics.
 * Flit, one of Crazy Jane's 64 different personalities was hinted at in Donkey Patrol, but was officially seen in this episode. She was first ntroduced in 1989's Doom Patrol #20 (written by Grant Morrison and penciled by Richard Case), Flit has the power of teleportation, which comes in handy... When she chooses to come out and use it.
 * A glimpse into what life was like for Larry after he first fused with the Negative Spirit was shown this week. His military quarantine cell was similar to what readers saw back in 1966's Doom Patrol #106 (written by Arnold Drake and Jack Schiff, penciled by Bruno Premiani and Morris Waldinger). Like his television counterpart, Larry sent his visiting loved ones away, except it was his mother instead of a boyfriend.
 * The machine that Larry stepped into while visiting Fuchtopia was similar to one the Chief built for him in 1965's Doom Patrol #95 (written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Bruno Premiani). In both cases, the machine was used in an attempt to separate Larry from the Negative Spirit, and in both cases it failed.
 * In the comics, Cliff didn’t want to be the only freak left, so he sabotaged the machine, which temporarily swapped Larry and Rita’s powers. Needless to say, this incovenience the Doom Patrol later when they had to battle Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man later that issue.
 * While trying to fix the Doom Patrol’s caravan, Cyborg runs into an overeager fan who exclaims “Super Friends!” as he takes a selfie. While the phrase may seem like just a goofy expression, Super Friends was actually a cartoon featuring the Justice League that ran for 9 seasons.
 * Cyborg became a regular cast member in its final season, first appearing on screen in the episode “Seeds of Doom”.
 * Batman is directly referenced, and Cyborg claimed that he hasn’t met the Caped Crusader yet. Batman and Cyborg first met in 1980's New Teen Titans #4 (written by Marv Wolfman and penciled by George Perez), when the Justice League and Teen Titans had a scuffle. Victor introduced himself to the Dark Knight by choking him and throwing him across the room.
 * Aquaman was also referenced this week. The King of the Seven Seas first teamed up with the Doom Patrol in 1988's Doom Patrol #17 (written by Paul Kupperberg and penciled by Graham Nolan). Although Aquaman was an admirer of Cyborg’s work with the Teen Titans (as revealed in 1985's New Teen Titans #6), the two heroes didn’t have a direct interaction until 2005's Teen Titans #21 (written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Michael McKone).