Doom Patrol S01E09 Review: The Crowd In Jane's Mind

Doom Patrol, Season 1, Episode 9: Jane Patrol

As much as I'm not a big fan of fiction that over-dramatize and exoticize mental illness, I am still a massive, massive fan of any 'mindfuckery' style book or TV episode. Especially when it's been hinted at throughout the past eight episodes! Sure, not all of Crazy Jane's personalities have had their day in the limelight. Like, Lucy Fugue, Flit or Silver Tongue basically only shows up to demonstrate Jane's "different personality, different powers" gimmick, and for the most part the only real major personalities we've seen from Jane is, well, Jane herself and the uber-abrasive protector alter Hammerhead.

But this episode takes part mostly in Jane's mind as Jane, the 'primary' personality whose job is to deal with the outer world, starts having second thoughts about whether she really wants to be the primary anymore. And I do like how the dozen or so personalities we meet in the Underground all have unique looks and faces (instead of 'how can we doll up Diane Guerrero's hair this time')... and most importantly, roles. I'm not sure what the chain-wielding Nun is supposed to represent, but we get to see some of them with interesting roles. Hammerhead, as we've consistently seen, is the abrasive 'protector' alter that fucks shit up when things need to be fucked up. The Secretary helps to keep order in a logical way. Driver 8 helps to ferry personalities back and forth. Even the creepy, horror-movie-monster Black Annis seems to be a personality that protects the dark, deep fear that Jane has.

And, of course, this allows for some pretty wacky visuals, too. The idea of a tram that goes back and forth from the Underground to the surface; the jail cell with Jack Straw the scarecrow doll (who's apparently an alter); the three-headed prophetic Sisters; the giant puzzle-storm that takes the form of Kay Challis's abusive father... I could go on and on, but suffice to say that I really enjoyed this episode and all the visuals here.

Of course, it's not just Jane running around talking with her other personalities either. In the real world, Rita and Cliff have gotten Jane back to the Doom Mansion, and thanks to some interesting choice of words and a fun reference to the Magic School Bus, the Negative Man entity decide to zip out, and allow Robotman's psyche to enter the Underground. Other than allowing an external factor to basically, well, be the literal embodiment of therapy and accepting help from others who care for you, but also a clever way to get Brendan Fraser to do a whole episode of acting with his own face. It's, quite literally, letting someone in to talk about your problems with.

People who are already familiar with these sort of stories can easily figure out the source of young Kay Challis's trauma before she fragmented into 64 personalities. It's her sexually-abusive piece of shit father, who briefly cameo'd in Mento's Shining mansion as a wave of puzzle pieces. But Cliff (and I think, Jane) has to figure this out on their own.

And, well, it's just a really fun ride. While Hammerhead is a very welcome and familiar face, I do really like the addition of other alters... and the neat sense of history. Apparently, the previous 'primary', Miranda, freaked out, is now gone, and her old station turned into some horror-show. Honestly, it raises the very real possibility of the current Jane primary dying or being lost in confronting her/their greatest fear and opening a way for Penny-Farthing or Hammerhead to take over.

Penny, by the way, is low-key the MVP of the show. While Driver Eight was willing to allow Jane the time she needs to find her own answers, the rest of the Jane personalities are extremely hostile towards Cliff. Even Hammerhead! (Or maybe I should say, unsurprisingly, Hammerhead) Penny's the only one who tries to talk to Jane about the mysterious, peaceful lake-side memory the had, and while constantly talking about what a coward she is, she is also more than just 'the non-confrontational British farmgirl'. Despite being, well, overly polite and shy and kind of cowardly, Penny is far more than willing to break Cliff out of the mental jail (with help from Jack Straw) and the two of them retrace Jane's steps into the darker parts of their psyche.

My guess is that Penny-Farthing also represents the parts of Jane's personality that wants to reach out to someone for help. And the fact that the second-episode meeting where Cliff gave Jane hope is a memory that Jane's mind have shoved deep into the subconscious because it gave Jane hope clearly shows that despite Jane's brusque attitude towards Cliff, a lot of his good-intentioned bits of trying to befriend Jane certainly worked.

Which, by the way, is an interesting bit... the entire Underground is utterly dark. The subway station, the darkened town square that we see the personalities show up in, the lairs of the Weird Sisters and Black Annis, Miranda's old office... really, the only bright parts of this episode is the mysterious field memory, as well as actual memories that Penny and Cliff work their way through. Ultimately, of course, Jane ends up confronting the giant puzzle-monster buried deep, deep within Jane's psyche, as this massive, hellish personification of her fear and trauma... and I do like that ultimately it is Jane that ends up talking puzzle-dad down. Sure, Cliff tries to give a pep talk but the scripting makes it clear that while Cliff tries his best, it's not a case where someone comes in to just give a pep talk and everything is okay (although Cliff forcibly admitting that he's a robot to get past Annis is certainly a powerful scene). No, Cliff's real function there is to get beaten up and eaten by puzzle-dad, causing Jane to realize how much she cares for Cliff.

Ultimately, Jane manages to defeat 'Daddy' to save Cliff, and this eventually causes Jane to become the primary personality again. And... and I do love that the show (and Jane herself) acknowledges that this isn't done. Because, as ugly as it is, traumas don't just get resolved in a single sitting of... let's call it 'therapy'. But it's a start, and if nothing else, it's a nice little moment for Jane and Cliff. Next episode seems to be an exploration of what wacky hijinks Victor and Rita got up to while Cliff, Jane and Larry were unconscious.

Easily hands-down my favourite episode of this season for sure.

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• The Crazy Jane personality watch, which are all, surprisingly, taken from the comics! So far we've got the 'original', Kay Challis, and the 'primary', Jane; and this episode features, in order, Karen, Hammerhead, Kit w' the Canstick, Scarlet Harlot, Lucy Fugue, Silver Tongue, Jill-in-Irons, Mama Pentecost, the Nun, Pretty Polly, Flit, Baby Doll, the Secretary, Driver 8, Penny-Farthing, Driller Bill, The Weird Sisters, Jack Straw, Miranda (not seen), Black Annis and 'Daddy' might be a personality as well. Some of the specific appearances and powers have been altered, but for the most part they're pretty faithful to the comics I've read about Jane.