DISCLAIMER: This recap of Doom Patrol Season 4 Episode 11, “Portal Patrol,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Welcome back, Doomies! It’s hard to believe we’re at the penultimate episode, and next week is the last ever Doom Patrol installment. “Portal Patrol” certainly made me weepy in a few parts, especially toward the end. Jane acknowledging her trauma and getting on the path to healing from it profoundly resonated with me. Laura’s self-hate is also relatable. I love that Niles and Willoughby returned for what’ll surely be their last appearance on the show. It feels fitting, given how much of the Chief’s DNA is all over this series. Here’s hoping Dorothy and Casey reappear next week for the last hurrah.
“Portal Patrol” might not tie everything in a bow, but it sets the stage for the series finale and a showdown. It also feels wonderfully character-driven as it moves our characters toward a resolution. It’s wonderfully acted, deliciously dark and comfortingly weird. All the heart and biting humor Doom Patrol is known for is there, too. I’m going to miss this show.
Ready to delve into “Portal Patrol”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with Jane (Diane Guerrero), Vic (Joivan Wade), Laura (Michelle Gomez), Cliff (Brendan Fraser/Riley Shanahan) and Larry (Matt Bomer/Matthew Zuk) falling through the timestream after Immortus tossed them through a portal. It’s not looking good, folks. Thankfully, Vic’s new and improved Cyborg tech saves the day. His updated Grid creates a small pod to protect them.
While inside, Vic concocts a game plan to get them back home. Firstly, there are tons of portals through which they can enter. Secondly, Keeg left Larry’s body and surveyed the area, finding bits of longevity on the other side of these different portals. Vic believes if they split up, they can retrieve the longevities and use them to save Rita and themselves. He plans to stay in the pod, where he’ll send out an SOS to all parts of the timestream, hoping that someone will respond. Look at my boy! He’s a born leader.
Jane grabs Larry’s hand out of fear, so they leap from the pod together through a portal. Meanwhile, Cliff and Laura enter separate gateways. Laura winds up in the Ant Farm in 1949. She spots a door with the tags “Project Immortus” and “Niles Caulder.” It’s time to reunite with the Chief. At the same time, Jane and Larry arrive at the Doom Manor in 1996. They see Cliff standing in an empty room, staring listlessly out the window. This is when Niles informs Cliff that his family is dead (even though Clara survived). Jane and Larry temporarily part ways.
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Next, Cliff lands in a bar in Paraguay in 1948. We see Niles (Timothy Dalton) reunite with Willoughby Kipling (Mark Sheppard), who drinks the place dry. Niles is on the run from Heinrich Von Fuchs’ Nazi henchmen. He boasts his fragment of Immortus as a necklace. Suddenly, Niles meets Cliff, who’s notoriously very anti-Chief. Cliff explains that Niles will create him and the rest of the Doom Patrol in the decades to come. Of course, Willoughby comprehends the implications of learning about the future before it happens.
Cliff needs the Immortus necklace for apparent reasons. Niles pulls a knife on Cliff, which seems pretty pointless (hee-hee). Cliff attempts to harm Chief by squeezing his neck; however, Willoughby casts a spell to freeze Cliff in place. Meanwhile, Larry runs into the adult version of the Negative Spirit he used to have. I remember that guy. Naturally, Keeg is drawn to him. Larry notices the bandages on his face are bloody — an unfortunate symptom of dying. He sees another version of himself emerge from the greenhouse. This Larry’s eyes glow blue. The Negative Spirit has total control over him.
Then, Jane discovers all the tapes from Niles’ conversations with Kay’s alters. Niles, in a wheelchair at this point, finds her. He wonders why she’s rapidly aging. Jane explains she’s from the future, where they no longer have their longevities. In the timestream, Vic sends out incessant SOS calls, hoping a helpful soul will answer. At the Ant Farm, Laura transforms into a rat and scurries under the door. She sees Niles conducting experiments for Project Immortus.
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Later, Jane tells Niles she doesn’t have access to The Underground or her fellow alters anymore. She also can’t solve the puzzle in her room. Perhaps snagging the Chief’s pretty Immortus necklace will solve all that. Meanwhile, in Paraguay in 1948, Cliff tries to persuade Niles to give him the Immortus fragment. He discloses that the people he loves, the Doom Patrol, are in trouble. They’re dying. Cliff reveals that Niles has royally screwed them over. Therefore, he owes them this much. Of course, we know Niles is saving the Immortus fragment so he can live longer for Dorothy.
Next, we see Deric (Elijah R. Reed) teaching his robotics club in Detroit. Vic communicates through the small robot on Deric’s desk. Success! At the Ant Farm in 1949, Laura knocks Niles unconscious and transforms into him as a version of herself enters the room. 1949 Laura wants to join Project Immortus, feeling her talents are well-suited. However, present-day Laura, as Niles, discourages her from participating. Our Laura proceeds to leave the room as a rat. Then, 1949 Laura captures her, realizing something was amiss during her conversation with Niles.
Meanwhile, 1996 Larry gives our Larry extra bandages for his bleeding face. Our Larry wants Keeg to stay with this Larry and the adult Negative Spirit (Keeg’s father). Unfortunately, 1996 Larry declines to help Keeg. Inside Doom Manor in the same year, Jane and Niles discuss the problem at hand. Jane reveals that Chief isn’t alive in her time. He keeps a glass of a magical beverage courtesy of Willoughby that can erase his memories.
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They chat about Jane’s purpose. Maybe she’s meant to help the other alters find peace. However, Niles divulges that Jane may never discover that peace herself. Vic realizes during his conversation with Deric that he’s talking to his friend from the future. Vic has influenced the robotics club significantly, teaching one exceptionally bright student everything he knows.
In 1948 Paraguay, Niles removes Cliff’s hand from his neck. Niles apologizes for what he’ll do in the future to Cliff and his friends. However, he’s not that man yet. Suddenly, Von Fuchs’ henchmen burst through the bar entrance. They’re after the Immortus necklace and armed with weapons that fire an electrical charge. Of course, that spells “deadly” for Cliff. Cliff begs Willoughby to remove the freezing spell. After this, Niles kills one of the henchmen with a knife and encourages Cliff to take out the other one.
Next, Cliff ejects the other from the bar with a powerful kick. Niles is impressed. At the Ant Farm, our Laura reverts to her human self while 1949 Laura interrogates her. Our Laura reveals she’s there to help her friends. She’s on the path of redemption now. 1949 Laura insists they don’t need redemption. They’re good, right? Meanwhile, Willoughby and Niles help Cliff to his feet after he freezes due to Parkinson’s. Then, one of Von Fuchs’ henchmen storms the bar, sending an electrical blast toward the Chief. Cliff throws Niles out of the way. Niles hits the bar with a thud, snapping his spine. So, this is how it happens?
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Willoughby uses a clever spell involving a liquor bottle to choke the life out of the henchman. Side note: I’d watch a prequel or spin-off with Willoughby and all his fun spells. Anyway, Cliff panics, realizing he’s responsible for paralyzing the Chief. However, he has a mission to do. Cliff grabs the Immortus necklace. Willoughby chastises Cliff for stealing from a dying man, so Cliff returns it.
At the Ant Farm, our Laura punches 1949 Laura. In the future, Deric and his students work out a way to save Vic. The Vic of that time enters the classroom in his signature red tracksuit. He tells his past self that the calculations devised by the bright student will pan out. Why? Because he checks everyone’s work. Our Laura beats the snot out of 1949 Laura, grabbing the “Weapon” stamp and smacking it against her head. Laura still has a long way to go regarding self-love. This feels like self-loathing. It’s a haunting moment, acted beautifully by Gomez. A portal appears right after our Laura tells 1949 Laura that she hates them. Our Laura falls through it.
After returning the Immortus necklace, a portal materializes in the bar for Cliff. He, too, falls through it. In 1996, our Larry learns he will experience a new life with Keeg. They’ll become some kind of sun — or the sun. 1996 Larry is pretty damn vague. Before our Larry can get clarification, he’s sucked into the portal that forms behind him.
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Jane tells Niles she’s made progress, befriending the other “lunatics in this house.” Niles muses that the others are extensions of her purpose. If Jane “lets it out,” perhaps it’ll free her to do more than she could’ve imagined. What if Jane’s solving her puzzle will free Kay to search for peace? After all, Kay created Jane and the other alters. Niles insists that Kay was the one who endured the trauma.
Suddenly, Kay (Skye Roberts) and the alters appear behind the Chief. They urge her to “say it.” Jane admits she was raped by her father, asserting that it happened to all of them. This is a huge moment, as we’ve never heard her acknowledge it. It explains the flashbacks to that moment she was having in last week’s episode. Guerrero really shines in this episode, delivering an understated, nuanced and achingly vulnerable performance. Jane has come a long way.
Suddenly, the last piece of the puzzle materializes in Jane’s hand. She slips it in. The completed puzzle emits a kaleidoscope of colors. I love this so much. She’s healing. Next, Jane returns to The Underground, where Kay and the alters wait for her. The train is functioning again. Those same kaleidoscope colors appear on the train’s windows as they ride from the station. The station crumbles behind them. Kay insists they don’t need it anymore; they’re all together now. That is until the portal appears for Jane. She vanishes.
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After that, we see 1996 Niles at the table where Jane was. He looks at the Willoughby’s memory-erasing concoction. He doesn’t drink from it, but he smiles. Our heroes return to the pod that’s free-falling through the timestream, where they reunite with Vic. None of them retrieved the bits of longevity they were sent to fetch. But not all is lost. Jane’s on the pathway to healing, as is Laura. Larry discovers he might have a new purpose. Cliff appears to have softened more toward the Chief.
In an uncharacteristic move, Jane delivers the pep talk. Everything waiting for them in Cloverton — the Were-butts, Immortus and their seemingly inevitable deaths — they can face it down together. Who knows? Maybe they can save the world and themselves. Cliff, Larry, Vic and Laura agree to it. They’ll combine forces and kick ass.
One last time.
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Do you think our heroes will manage to live beyond the series finale? Will they save the world from Immortus and the Were-butts? Will Cliff finally hold his grandson? Only time (and one more episode) will tell.
Doom Patrol drops its series finale on Thursday, November 9, 2023, only on Max.
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