When Season 2 of Doom Patrol aired on HBO Max in mid-2020, things didn’t go precisely as planned. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the filmmakers behind the show were unable to shoot the season finale, and thus fans had to settle for only nine excellent, clever, hilarious, and emotional episodes instead of 10. It also had the side effect of ending things for the characters in an extreme cliffhanger place, and we’ve been waiting more than a year for resolution.
Thankfully that resolution is almost here, as Season 3 of Doom Patrol is set to begin airing on HBO Max this month. But just in case you’ve forgotten a few details about what’s happening on the series, we’ve decided to put together this handy guide that will refresh you on where things stand for all of the main characters.
Niles Caulder a.k.a. The Chief Is Dying As Dorothy Reaches Maturity
The main arc in Season 2 of Doom Patrol centered on Dorothy Spinner, the daughter of Niles Caulder, and the terrifying looming consequence of her maturity. She has the ability to warp reality and make the imaginary become real, and one of her imaginary friends in particular – Candlemaker – has the potential power to end the world. The girl coming of age seems to impair her ability to control what she conjures, and in the finale things got extreme.
In addition to getting all of the Doom Patrol members to come face to face with their imaginary friends from childhood, Candlemaker is unleashed, and he turns all of the heroes to wax statues. Having traded away his immortality, Niles is slowly dying, and the final moment of Season 2 featured him feebly and desperately reaching out while Dorothy went to face off against her flame-covered foe.
Jane Is Fighting For Control
As a young woman, Kay Challis developed 64 powerful personalities to cope with the trauma and abuse she experienced as a child, and Jane has been operating as her primary for years – determining the best course for Kay’s life. Unfortunately, her leadership was called into question at the start of Season 2, and further complicating matters was the return of Kay’s original primary, Miranda.
The various personalities were under the impression that Miranda had committed suicide by jumping down a well, so her resurrection seemed miraculous, and when she's calling the shots for Kay she appeared to have her best intensions in mind. As we learned in the Season 2 finale, however, the actual Miranda is indeed dead, and it is instead a different entity altogether who has been trying to push Jane aside and take control.
Rita Farr a.k.a. The Beekeeper Is Dealing With Mom Issues And Wants To Be A Superhero
Rita Farr, who has long been embarrassed by her elastic powers, made some serious psychological breakthroughs in Season 2. She came to terms with the reality that her mother performed sexual acts so that she could get roles as a child star, and began an effort to try and put that part of her life behind her. Her way of doing this? Becoming a superhero called The Beekeeper.
What starts out as a tiny role in a local stage production turns into dreams of being a costumed vigilante – and her confidence is only raised by an experience that sees her stopping a mugging with one stretchy punch. That high doesn’t last long, though, as her first opportunity to confront a murderer sees her lose her nerve.
Vic Stone a.k.a. Cyborg Has Been Scorned By A Woman Who Has Become A Killer
Said murderer who gets away was Roni Evers, and what makes Rita’s unheroic moment at least a bit more understandable is that Roni has a complicated relationship with Vic Stone a.k.a. Cyborg. When Rita was in the military, an IED explosion left her nearly dead, but experimental procedures were used to keep her alive, and then she was used by Quorum, a top secret government agency, to carry out black ops. Uncovering this dark history created tension between her and Vic after they first came together, but Vic was drawn closer to her after discovering that her internal tech was designed by S.T.A.R. Labs and Caulder Robotics – the lab Vic’s father works for, and the company owned by Niles Caulder.
With this information, Roni begins exacting revenge against those who used her, starting with Lucas Decker, the VP of Quorum. Cyborg realizes that she is responsible, but he is unable to stop her.
Larry Trainor a.k.a Negative Man Is Torn Between Space And Earth
While everyone deals with internal conflict, Larry Trainor’s situation is a bit more complicated. After all, his body is occupied by a sentient radioactive energy referred to as the Negative Spirt. Because of this, Larry not only has to deal with the conflicts of his life as a human – which includes painful memories of hiding his homosexuality from his family – but also his interstellar passenger.
Larry’s relationship with the Negative Spirit became more complex in Season 2 thanks to the arrival of Valentina Vostok, a cosmonaut who has her own Negative Spirit. Valentina’s bond with the glowing being is far more harmonious, and it causes Larry to question if being Earthbound is what is best for him and his future.
Cliff Steele a.k.a. Robotman Wants To Get To His Daughter’s Wedding
Cliff Steele spent most of his life as a normal human being a generally selfish and terrible person, but since being “saved” by Niles Caulder and becoming Robotman he’s begun making steps towards change. The most important part of this quest is trying to repair his relationship with his daughter, who he reunites with in Season 2 – discovering that she is both pregnant and engaged to be married.
The magic phrase “I'm stupid, I fucked up, and I'm sorry” gets the father and daughter back on the same track when she comes to visit him at the Doom Manor, and he is elated when she offers him an invite to come to her wedding. Sadly, it’s an event that he may not be able to make, as like his other teammates, he has been turned into a wax statue by Candlemaker, and making matters even worse for him personally is that he is broken into a hundred pieces.
How will the Doom Patrol unfreeze themselves? How can they defeat Candlemaker? What kind of adventures will they go on next? We’ll find all that out and more when Doom Patrol Season 3 premieres this Thursday, September 23 on HBO Max. To see all of the other shows set to premiere their new episodes this season, check out our 2021 Fall TV Schedule.
