What I’m Watching: Doom Patrol

Doom Patrol: Season 1, Episode 13 “Flex Patrol” (B+)

I guess I hadn’t realized that the man in the cell next to Vic was none other than the legendary comic-leaving Flex Mentallo, whose coolest ability in my opinion is his ability to hear and understand things that others only hear in their heads, namely Grid and the negative spirit. Watching him being broken at the ant farm as he was planning his escape so many years ago with the spirit was tough, and his current state when they found him was indeed poor. I like that he described a chief’s evil twin brother taking his place only for Jane to realize that he was describing a soap opera, which led to the episode on which Cliff happened to have made an appearance. Hearing him champion the Daytime Emmy buzz that never materialized for his wooden acting was entertaining, and it’s nice to see some friendly bickering and mockery happen when the fate of the world is at stake most of the time. I was surprised to recognize Ed Asner, who will turn ninety later this year, as the patient who Rita helped not knowing that he was actually Mr. Nobody, who apparently believes that he scored a victory in convincing her to have Vic sit out the big battle as they finally take the fight to him. We’re back to the manipulative fourth-wall antics of Mr. Nobody, pausing his iPad as he sits in his Doom Patrol gear and burns the show poster down to celebrate the fact that, with just two episodes left in the season, things are really heating up.