"Frances Patrol" - Doom Patrol S01E11

For an episode of Doom Patrol that sounded boring, "Frances Patrol" was surprisingly good. It's not tied directly into any of the Grant Morrison issues. although there are mentions of Flex Mentallo and the Ant Farm, and references to sleeves and elbows. So there's that.

"Frances" is basically a character piece. Larry resolves his issues with his past thanks to the Spirit. Cliff resolves his issues with his daughter, Clara (Bethany Anne Lind) after Bump is eaten by an alligator named Frances. Vic finds out he's transforming more and more into a metal man. Jane and Rita mostly play support, although Rita has a few good moments and even uses her real name instead of her stage name. And eats a platter of chicken.

How does this mesh all together? Cliff hears via Exposition Channel that Bump was eaten by an alligator in Florida. Jane calls a team meeting and only Rita and Cliff show up. Cliff convinces Jane to let Flit manifest, and she teleports them to the bar in Florida where Bump's wake is happening. Cliff's daughter is working there as a waitress, and she was raised by Bump and thinks Cliff is dead. While Rita flirts with a local man (Gary Basaraba) and gives her real name rather than her stage name of "Rita Farr", Cliff tries and fails to approach Clara because he's too nervous. When she talks about the gold watch she gave Bump, and he had it on him when Frances the alligator ate him, Cliff decides to get it and prove to Clara he's a hero.

Cliff wades out into the swamp, and Rita rows after him in a boat. And gripes. A lot. I do wish Rita would do something... Elasti-Woman-y. But I suppose the FX involved would distract from her multi-layered approach. She's a 50s actor/queen, and a nervous woman trying to find herself, and generally having a lousy time. Cliff finally tells Rita to go back, and that's when Frances leaps out of the water and attacks him. The next we see, Cliff goes back to the bar, puts the gold watch on the table for Clara to find, and leaves. How he and Rita got back to Ohio and Doom Manor, I have no idea.

The other major plot is Larry having Spirit-induced dreams of two romantic meetings he had with John (Kyle Russell Clements) in the 50s. One was at a motel where they had sex and ate steak sandwiches. The other was at a gay bar where they danced to "Moon River". The Spirit cuts off the dreams, and Larry goes to find the dying elderly John (Tom Fitzpatrick). They having a touching reunion, and while I wouldn't say Fitzpatrick physically resembles Clements, Fitzpatrick makes the role all of his own as a sassy dying gay man. After he and Larry chat on the porch of John's house, John dies and Larry gets one final dream of him and a young John together.

In the secondary (tertiary?) plot, Vic discovers the metal in his body is spreading underneath his skin, making him more Cyborg and less... Vic Stone? Cyman? Jane gets a lead on the missing Flex Mentallo--his wife Delores (Susan Williams)--and arranges a meeting with her. The Normalcy Bureau are there, and Delores is working for them. Dolores uses a device on her sleeve to capture Vic, while Jane fights off her attacker. When she gets back to the bus, Vic is gone.

Vic wakes up in the Ant Farm, where Darren Jones (Jon Briddell) from "Danny Patrol" is there and has imprisoned Vic. Where Flex is, we get no clue.

"Frances" shines thanks to the character development. This is the first time I really felt the relationship between Young Larry and John. While Young John isn't the most forceful presence in the world, Old John is, thanks to Mr. Fitzpatrick.

I'm still not big on the Cliff plot. Not because of the performances of Brendan Fraser and Riley Shanahan as Cliff's voice and body, respectively. But because Cliff spends so much time lashing out, yelling, and trying to reconnect to Clara. It's a bit one note, so having Rita with him as a snarky sidekick helps. She provides the more multi-layered role Cliff lacks.

It's still not clear what the Spirit is trying to do for/with Larry. Get him to accept his sexuality? It doesn't come across as having enough personality or desires for there to be a clear reason why it would want to. Or why it's waited fifty years to do so. Limiting Larry to a gay man dealing with his sexuality, when Rebis in the comics was so much more, seems a bit one-note. This isn't to fault the performance of Matt Bomer, which is fine. Matthew Zuk also does great work beneath the bandages when he's with Old John. And I already praised Mr. Fitzpatrick's performance as Old John.

Overall, "Frances Patrol" is an excellent episode of the series even though it's more a breather episode than anything. Vic has been abducted, the hunt for Flex Mentallo is on so they can find Niles, Larry and Cliff have apparently resolved their personal issues. We've got four more episodes to go: time for Rita to get the stick out of her ass, the group to finally become the Doom Patrol, and to kick some ass on the Ant Farm and the Normalcy Bureau. Which, if the Ant Farm is anything like the comics, involves Flex Mentallo showing up and using his power of Muscle Mystery to transform the Pentagon into a circle.

And then we'll get the Flex Mentallo TV series, and see the Zipper, the Atomic Pile. Dr. 45 and Romantic Rick, Origami the Folding Man, and the Fact. At least, one can hope. Then again, I'm still waiting for Dorothy Spinner to show up.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?