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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Well, folks. We are now halfway through Doom Patrol Season 3, and it looks like we’re slowing down the pace. This week’s sixth episode is titled “1917 Patrol”. Executive producer April Fitzsimmons pens the teleplay time, while Omar Madha serves as its director.
According to Warner Media, here is the synopsis of Doom Patrol Episode 306.
Plunged back in time, Rita attempts to navigate the Bureau of Normalcy with help from an oddly familiar group. Meanwhile, Jane gives Kay her first taste of freedom, while Larry finds closure with his son.
In this review, I will be discussing this week’s newest episode. There will be spoilers to follow, as the title of this article suggests. Please read ahead at your own discretion.
Plot Summary
1917
Following last week’s episode, Rita Farr (April Bowlby) uses Laura De Mille (Michelle Gomez)’s time machine and travels to 1917’s Iowa. En route, her memory of her present is wiped clean. To the shock of a woman named Betty Ann (Peg O’Keef) and some locals, Rita introduces herself to the Bureau of Normalcy as “Laura de Mille”. From a distance, Monsieur Mallah (voiced by Jonathan Lipow) and The Brain watch from afar as they plot their “plans for world domination”.
Rita is taken to the Bureau’s headquarters, where she is recruited as a metahuman by De Mille herself. However, after demonstrating her abilities, De Mille renders her “not a weapon”. Rita is then assigned to the Bureau’s mailroom, and eventually, she meets the Sisterhood of Dada, who refer to her as “Bendy”. They hang out in the basement away from Bureau employees due to discrimination at the lunchroom. The group explains that they can either choose to work or get “carded off to the looney bin”.
De Mille takes Rita into the fog via Shelley Byron (Wynn Everett), where they party in an alternate reality. The Sisterhood, including Holly (Anita Kalathara), asks her if they are important. Lloyd (Miles Mussenden) says they rejected the call to adventure because they can’t take the risk and are “lucky to be standing at all”. Rita leads them to stand up against the discrimination, with Sachiko (Gina Hiraizumi) turning the employees into clowns. This leads her to wonder whether her purpose was to take the Sisterhood to safety. Malcolm (Micah Joe Parker) poses the question: “What if your purpose was to show us how to bend and stretch towards a better world? You think there’s something better out there?”
Rita chooses to stay, and she gives Malcolm a paperclip in the shape of a heart.
Present Day
Meanwhile, the other Patrol members attend to their own personal matters.
Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer and Matthew Zuk) watches over his recovering son, Paul (John Getz). His son admits he chose to be a part of the Bureau and is angry that Larry was not there for him as a father. Larry argues, “We all don’t get to choose our paths”. He says he forgives himself and can’t take back what was lost. Instead, he cherishes what exists and was therefore gained. Larry kicks Paul out of the mansion, and his parasitic creature returns.
Jane (Diane Guerrero) takes Kay Challis (Skye Roberts) up to the surface with the intention of finding shoes. Pretty Polly (Hannah Alline) berates Jane for letting Kay take control. However, instead of searching for shoes, Kay learns to ride a bicycle. Dr. Harrison (Catherine Carlen), Polly, the Secretary (Jackie Goldston), and other personas get mad at Jane for putting Kay’s life at risk. Jane argues Kay found joy in spite of the danger that surrounds it.
Cliff Steele (Brendan Fraser and Riley Shanahan) plays computer games while being accompanied by Ginger (Libby Blake), a girl from the pop-up ad. His time with Ginger runs out, and he pays her more money by posting up offers for hot dates with Vic “Cyborg” Stone (Joivan Wade) on the Internet. Cliff is offered money in exchange for the blueprints to his robot design. He gives in and accepts the offer.
Vic ponders on his own purpose. He travels to the spot under the tree that his mother showed him while in purgatory. He makes an appointment at Orsus Labs for his skin.
De Mille finds a clue to Rita’s whereabouts in the burning words, “PIFFLE PAFFLE”.
Support Patrol
Charity Cervantes makes a guest appearance.
Erik Passoja voices Shipley, who narrates Rita’s venture back to the past.
Joseph Mazza, Franco Castan, Jasmine Thomas, and Alexander Roberts portray Bureau Agents Patton, Wilson, Burdette, and Bix, respectively. Ron Clinton Smith plays a Bureau security guard, while Joel Ray Ishman plays a lunch man.
Aaron Gillespie plays Sam, a man who saves Kay from riding into oncoming traffic. Shelli Delgado plays an Orsus Labs receptionist.
Discussion
With this episode, it seems there may be calm (or some calms) before the storm, whatever that may be. Fitzsimmons and Madha do a good job at depicting risks, or what I learned in undergraduate college as “the ‘Fuck It’ principle”. Scott Winig returns as the director of photography, while Leigh Dodson returns as the editor for this episode.
The time-traveling explains how De Mille, and eventually Rita, lose their memory. Shipley narrates: “Rita wept, and every tear that fell represented all the shame and regrets, all the judgy looks and great harms that Rita had endured” are washed away into thin air.
I’m glad there is a return of the Brotherhood of Evil in this season. It would be weird to just introduce them in one episode and not have them play a role in the overarching narrative afterward.
Performances and Character Developments
Bomer and Guerrero are the highlight performances of “1917 Patrol” with their respective parts of the story. Larry comes to terms with what’s happened to him and he doesn’t care if even his son can’t accept that.
Guerrero plays a side of her multi-faceted character that we haven’t seen before. Seeing her as Kay – with the help of the costume designers, Satkovich’s make-up, and Diamantides’s hair – was such a sight. While her personas present themselves as frightening, odd, wild, or a mixture of the three, Kay is somewhat different. Guerrero depicts her as sweet and innocent, naive to what dangers lurk all around her. With this character having stayed in her consciousness for seventy years, it’s safe to say that she needs some experience in the real world.
Jane makes a great point in allowing Kay to take over. She justifies her actions, stating, “We [personas]’re a construct. Kindness may be one of our only commodities … Some things are worth the risk”.
Cliff’s Internet addiction is depicted well. (With people on the worldwide web making thoughtless decisions, this seems realistic.) He should know better than to heed the words of a username, “FuzzyRimJob42”. He also makes the excuse that “I took a risk, and it set me on this hero’s journey…” Some people don’t know that there is a world behind all this technology, and for individuals, such as Vic Stone, one must embark on an adventure to see what lies ahead.
I like that Rita gives Malcolm a metal heart to replace his human one. However, I can’t seem to feel the chemistry between Bowlby and Parker.
Final Thoughts
“1917 Patrol” shows our freakish characters that they can either hide or run from danger. I love that the feminine characters (Rita, Jane, and Larry) depict such courage. Vic wants to get prosthetic skin rather than embrace his Cyborg identity, and Cliff is hiding behind computer screens…
Overall, while there isn’t much action in this episode of Doom Patrol, there shows to be a lack of progress for our characters. Huge credit to Joseph Campbell for putting forth the concept of the hero’s journey. These characters are definitely avoiding responsibilities and are nowhere near heroism.
Doom Patrol Season 3 is available to watch on HBO Max!
Have you seen this series yet? If so, what are your thoughts on it? Let us know! For more adaptation, adaption, comedy, drama, superhero-related news and reviews visit and follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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