Saturday, April 13, 2019

My Review of Doom Patrol's 1x09: "Jane Patrol"


Written by Marcus Dalzine
Directed by Harry Jierjian

Jane (to her father): "You destroy everything. I will not let you destroy him. I hate you. I hate you, you filthy, disgusting man! I am not afraid of you!"

An episode that explored the literal inner workings of Jane was always going to be something of a dark and trippy affair and low and behold, this episode did not disappoint in the slightest. Playing Crazy Jane and her 64 personalities was always going to be a stretch for any actor but Diane Guerrero has really pulled of the character with aplomb and this episode easily marked her best work to date.

At the end of the previous episode, Karen got dragged away to the Underground by a rather pissed off Hammerhead while Jane herself was in something of a catatonic state. Worried about their friend's well being, Larry helped Cliff to venture into the dark recesses of Jane's mind as she underwent her own journey and confronted a rather pronounced demon in the shape of her abusive father.

Before getting to that though, it was nice to see some faces to Jane's personalities such as Hammerhead, Pretty Polly, Silver Tongue, the Secretary and so on as Karen openly insulted the lot of them before getting chucked into a cell and presuming that Cliff had romantic feelings for Jane before eventually disappearing from the rest of the story. Not that losing Karen early into the episode was a bad thing as Penny Farthing, Jack Straw and Miranda all played their part in Cliff's mission to get Jane back.

Jack Straw literally just looked like a straw but helped in getting Cliff out of the prison while Penny Farthing (minus stutter) filled in some of the gaps about Jane's psyche while also being far more helpful and entertaining than she was during the Cult two parter we had not so long ago. Miranda on the other hand just emphasised how messy's Jane's past was before Cliff realised that she had been abused by her father as a child.

Then there was getting to the The Sisters and Black Annis - neither of whom seemed to have Jane's best intentions at heart but in spite of their machinations (and also Cliff's growing influence), Jane did however managed to confront a puzzle version of her father at the Well and come out the other side. As for whether or not she's actually better, I think Cliff might be a little too hopeful there but at least Jane got to confront some demons in this episode overall.

- Other personalities briefly glimpsed at in this episode included Driver 8, Lucy Fugue, Scarlet Harlot, Kit W'the Canstick, Jill In Irons, Flit, The Nun, Mama Pentecost, Baby Doll and Driller Bill.
- Niles again was kept to an old memory, one which Cliff saw in Jane's head but at least next week's episode might show him and Nobody in the present day.
- Not a huge amount for either Rita, Larry or Cyborg to do this week but next episode it seems they'll have enough going on for them.
- Chronology: From where Danny Patrol left off.

Jane Patrol was another strong offering with a delirious look into the character's inner workings, a nice mixture of guest actors portraying her various personalities and along with Jane working through some of her own issues, we did get to see Cliff work through some of his own as well. It didn't advance much of the main plot like last week's didn't either but it still was one of the strongest episodes we've had this season.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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