Doom Patrol Review: Subconscious Patrol (Season 3 Episode 8)

The Doom Patrol takes part in a surreal group therapy session on Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 8, “Subconscious Patrol.”

When we left the team on Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 7, “Bird Patrol,” The Sisterhood of Dada had zapped the team away somewhere, ending on a pretty big cliffhanger. 

On “Subconscious Patrol,” we see the gang transported into their subconscious, where they come face to face with themselves. Or, a subconscious version of themselves anyway. 

Initially, “Subconscious Patrol” seems like it’s going to follow the format of Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 3 “Dead Patrol,” Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 5, “Dada Patrol,” and a hand full of episodes from Season 1 and 2.

In that format, the gang is separated into different supernatural environments to work through their emotional issue before reuniting with everyone else at the end. The beginning of “Subconscious Patrol” certainly follows that pattern.

However, this time, they are brought together — along with the subconscious versions of themselves — earlier in the episode and work through their feelings as a group. 

This is a welcomed change, because as mentioned in my review of “Dada Patrol,” the format of the earlier episodes is becoming a crutch for the show that can undermine the emotional impact. 

“Subconscious Patrol” manages to achieve the same goals as something like “Dada Patrol” without feeling repetitive (at least in format, but we’ll get to Larry’s scenes in a minute).

Most of Season 3’s episodes have focused on Rita and Laura’s stories, putting some of the other characters on the back burner. “Subconscious Patrol” is the first episode since “Dada Patrol” to center Cliff, Vic, and Larry.

Jane also has significant story progression on “Subconscious Patrol” but her story has been a consistent focus of the entire season. For Jane, “Subconscious Patrol” is more a continuation of the pace we’ve gotten with her arc already. 

The focus on the other characters is mostly a good thing. Their stories needed to move forward and “Subconscious Patrol” reminds viewers why they care about what’s happening with these characters as well.

Larry

The one weak point is Larry’s story. The story and scenes themselves are not bad. Matt Bomer, as always, does a wonderful job, and it’s nice to see those expressive eyes do their thing whenever we get his face. 

The problem is, it feels like we always go back to the same story with Larry. His issues almost always come back to shame about being closeted in the 60s. 

To be fair, it’s not as if the other characters don’t revisit the same issues more than once. However, for Larry, it’s starting to become his defining feature, and it’s getting a little boring.

It also stops being good LGBTQ+ representation when that becomes the entirety of his character. 

I’m not suggesting that that the writers need to completely move past the trauma being forced to stay closeted caused him. That’s not how trauma works. They should, however, find some new aspects of his history and personality to explore. The answer can’t always be homophobia.

Hopefully, whatever happens with this weird worm that Larry more or less gave birth to, will give us a chance to see new layers and aspects of his character because on “Subconscious Patrol,” it’s a story we’ve already seen multiple times.

Cliff

Cliff’s story is perhaps the most unexpected, at least at first blush. 

All season Cliff has proclaimed that he is going to be the best grandpa ever. From the beginning of the series, his biggest motivation has been his daughter. 

To have him reveal that he didn’t even like being a dad because it didn’t make him feel special seems antithetical to so much of what we know about him. 

On reflection, though, it’s not surprising at all. Cliff’s constant and loud assertions that all that matters are Clara and Rory now feel defensive rather than honest. And his determination to be the best dad and grandpa look different after his confession. 

If being a dad didn’t make him special, maybe being “the best ever” would. His motivations to be a good father and grandfather are less about what Clara and Rory need and more about his need to feel good about himself. 

And that’s exactly the point. Cliff’s fatal flaw has always been selfishness. The things he regrets most in his life all came from selfish decisions. He can blame that on his dad, on the seduction of fame and money, whatever he wants, but he made selfish choices that caused pain for those he loved. 

He made those choices, and we haven’t seen him confront that selfishness head-on until now. 

Cyborg

Vic’s story throughout the season has focused on him finally grappling with the tensions between who he wants to be and who he is expected to be. But it’s also focused on the question that that Miles asks him on “Dada Patrol.” Why is he?

Vic can’t know if his decisions are his own without reflecting on why he is who he is. “Subconscious Patrol” takes us back to his childhood and shows us how he came to internalize certain expectations that have guided his sense of responsibility and duty. 

I appreciate that in exploring who Vic is underneath his Cyborg alter ego, they are investigating his identity as a black man and a black superhero.

The series exploration into that has at times felt a bit clumsy. It’s almost like they are hesitant to lean in too much to those themes. They go a little deeper on “Subconscious Patrol,” but it stops short of really interrogating those ideas. 

I’m not sure it’s possible to do justice to that part of Vic’s story on a show with so many characters and stories to serve, but it has been one of the more intriguing parts of Vic’s identity crisis this season. 

And of course, Vic’s story on “Subconscious Patrol” ends with one of the biggest tangible consequences, having his tech removed and replaced with synthetic skin. 

It’s unlikely that this change will be the answer Vic is looking for. If anything, it will bring up more questions and more uncertainty about who he is and force him to dig even deeper for an answer. 

Jane

If Cliff’s story on “Subconscious Patrol” is the most surprising and Vic’s is the most consequential, Jane’s is the most emotionally devastating. 

This has always been where Jane’s story was leading, but it isn’t until “Subconscious Patrol” that Jane sees both what the implications of Kay healing are for her and that it has gotten to the point that she is harming Kay more than helping.

It’s not something I realized either but probably should have. I’ve discussed how the personas of The Underground might become a threat to Kay this season, but somehow Jane was always exempt from those predictions. 

That would be too easy. Jane was never going to get a pass just because we think she’s different than the other personas. What’s more, Kay isn’t wrong. Jane does the most damage because she makes the choices that keep putting Kay in new stressful and traumatic situations. 

It’s difficult to see Jane confronted with that truth, and hard to see how it gets resolved. The show will have to resolve it somehow since it’s been renewed for a 4th season but right now, this seems like an unsolvable impasse.

Before that emotional reveal, Jane’s scenes on “Subconscious Patrol” are the most fun parts of the episode. The puppet versions of Jane and the rest of the Underground are delightful. Greg Berlanti seems to love to turn his characters into puppets (see Legends of Tomorrow) and I am here for it.

Overall Impression

As a self-contained episode, “Subconscious Patrol” is solid. While Larry’s story is the weak link, most of the episode is strong. It is some much-needed focus on characters other than Rita and Laura.

In particular, Vic, Cliff, and Larry were starting to fade into the background of the season. “Subconscious Patrol” corrects that. 

As part of the overall flow of the season, though, “Subconscious Patrol” is a bit lacking. It’s not so much a fault with the episode as it is its position in the season following “Bird Patrol.”. After the build-up to the confrontation between Laura and Rita, anything that breaks that momentum is going to be somewhat of a letdown. 

So, while this is an episode that needed to happen and overall it is done well, it can’t quite capture the magic of the episode that proceeded it or match the excitement of the showdown between Rita and Laura teased at the end.

What did you think of this episode of Doom Patrol? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of Doom Patrol premiere Thursdays on HBOMax.

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