DC Universe ’s Doom Patroldives late into the melodic theme that all of its superpowered heroes ’ truthful metier aregrounded in the traumas that made them social outcasts . For each of them , becoming extraordinary also meant swallow sealed the true about themselves and being willing to let sometime portion of their lives go so they could move on to boastful , more complicated things .
Over the preceding pair of episodes of Doom Patrol ’s first season , the team ’s been coming into its own after the recentarrival of Cyborg , aka Victor Stone . Vic see Robotman , Elasti - Woman , Crazy Jane , and Negative Man ’s potential for grandness , though they themselves do not . With the arrival of thevillainous Mr. Nobodyand the Chief ’s disappearing , the fledgling Doom Patrol has been thrust into situations like covering up an accident of their own making and get across down a town that gets consumed by an interdimensional donkey . And each of the emergencies has given the squad members opportunities to better understand one another .
In their own ways , at at their own time , each Doom Patroller has opened up about their lives in way both large and modest , but Negative Man , in especial , has been relatively guard about speaking at duration about his past and the nature of his abilities . In the most recent installment , “ Puppet Patrol , ” Doom Patrol continues to unpack secrets about Larry ’s history , and the way the show goes about it adds a new layer of depth both to the show and to Negative Man ’s character in a great sense .
“ Puppet Patrol ” follows as the Doom Patrol makes its way of life to Paraguay where they believe they might be able to find the next clue lead to the Chief ’s location . Though no one on the squad except Cyborg is really all that game for the route slip , everyone begrudgingly agree to go — and , in being hale to drive there in an RV for two weeks , the episode spend some time fleshing out personality moral force at drama .
When Robotman and one of Jane ’s more aggressive personalities are n’t at one another ’s throats , they actually get along quite well , with her run into him as something of a goof to joke around with and him seeing her as a mentee of sort , perhaps to take his mind off his girl who believes him to be dead . Despite her airs of being above vigilante justice , Rita does respond well to Cyborg ’s challenges of her reliable grit , though she ’s loathe to admit it , and Cyborg really just wishes that everyone would quit fucking around and step up to the plate . Larry ’s major struggle is with himself — specifically , the strange energy being residing within his body that ’s show itself to have a certain point of rebelliousness and disdain for him .
When the being is alfresco of Larry ’s body , it ’s able to protect him and crusade off whatever danger they might be facing using its unusual powers , but Larry himself becomes unconscious and vulnerable . More than that , though , the “ Negative Spirit , ” as Jane add up to call it , has a penchant for removing itself from Larry on purpose whenever he tries to do something that displease it . Though Larry ’s attempted to tersely reason with the Negative Spirit , it ’s cleared they ’re at betting odds with one another , and as “ Puppet Patrol ” unfold , this struggle takes on a novel meaning .
The crowd ’s search brings them to the Fuchtopia estate where Nazi mad scientist Heinrich Von Fuchs offers citizenry the chance to become metahumans for a substantial cost . Under the pretext of need to undergo Von Fuchs ’ “ Morden ” function , Robotman , Jane , and Negative Man posture through a puppet show explaining how Von Fuchs accidentally create Mr. Nobody before being critically shot by the Chief in the past .
have intercourse that the Chief might be somewhere nearby , the hero split up to search Fuchtopia for polarity of his whereabouts , and it ’s here where “ Puppet Patrol ” begins to do some of its most interesting character work . While Jane and Robotman are in use fighting a blonde - hairy , lederhosen - adorn horde of hive judgment Nazis , Negative Man trip up across the machine that gave Mr. Nobody his abilities and , believe that it might be able to separate the Negative Spirit from him , he impulsively steps inside it and turns it on .
“ Puppet Patrol ” is also intercut with a routine of flashback to Negative Man ’s past when he was still just Larry Trainor , hotshot Air Force pilot program with his essence set on being part of Project Mercury . For all of Larry ’s professional success , his personal life is in a state of constant hullabaloo because he ’s living a Trygve Lie in the closet . Though Larry have sex his married woman Cheryl and their kids , his essence is with his fellow Airman John , who he can only be with in stolen moments on base , careful that the two of them are never found out .
Taken at grimace value , Doom Patrol ’s spin on Larry ’s character is equal parts progressive and played out . He ’s gay , and that ’s great , but his is yet another queer stock story rooted in catastrophe and pain that culminates with him being unable to live his life the way he really wants . But “ Puppet Patrol ” demonstrates that the show ’s writers understand the riskiness of fall into that narrative ambuscade , and does important work to give deepness to Larry ’s life in a way that break his backstory worked up import .
Rather than never really empathize what it is about their relationship that is n’t process , Cheryl confides in Larry after his calamitous accident that she knows he ’s gay . She ’s always known , and the rationality she ’s leaving him is n’t that she wants to hurt him , it ’s because she truly require for both of them to be happy . For his part , John ’s willing to bide by Larry ’s side , even if it means doing it through the fatheaded walls of jumper lead necessary to keep Larry ’s huge radiation from killing anyone he comes in contact with . After losing nearly everything , being with John is all Larry wants in the world but , in the same way that Cheryl understood that she deserve happiness , he understands the same about John , and that the two of them could never be together because of the fortuity ’s consequence on his body . And so , John leaves .
What Larry does n’t understand , but “ Puppet Patrol ” strongly suggests , is that the Negative Spirit dwelling within him is n’t necessarily a foreign being the means he ’s take on it is , but perhaps a manifestation of all the parts of himself that he ’s pent-up . In DC ’s comic , the specific nature of Negative Man ’s baron has varied over the days , range from Larry having almost complete control over the Negative Spirit to it being an outright malevolent force that actively dislike their family relationship .
Doom Patrol seems to be preparing to part the departure as Larry goes on to manage with his feelings and , one imagines , gradually continue to open up to the rest of the squad . The more Larry lets go of what Jane address his “ OCD Alpha douche waffle ” inclination , the potent his bond with the Negative Spirit is likely to become , and as that happens , Doom Patrol ’s going to terminate up being that much more enchanting of a show .
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