In Review: Doom Patrol (S4 – EP5) Youth Patrol

Synopsis: In Youth Patrol, Rita awakens unexpectedly aged and a mishandled spell teenage-ifies the Doom Patrol just as Willoughby asks for their help stopping the rise of Immortus and the end of the world as they know it.

The Story

Having gotten away from Janus a couple of weeks back. Rita Farr awakens to find that she has aged to a point where the fine lines are beginning to show up. Desperate to regain her youthful complexion she goes to a box of Dr. Calder’s old experimental potions and unleashes a youth spell on herself and other members of the Doom Patrol just as Willoughby shows up to ask their help in taking on Immortus. To make matters worse Willoughby is also affected by the spell which means it’s a race against time to find a remedy before they all de-age into a twinkle in their parent’s eyes.

Elsewhere, Larry is still trying to reconnect with the negative spirit Keeg and finds himself reliving traumatic past experiences and meets with the mysterious Mr. 104.

The Acting

Mark Sheppard makes a welcome return as Willoughby and adds to the fun of seeing the Doom Patrol act even more like teenagers than they normally do. This magic spell that Rita has unleashed proves to be a rather fun plot device as it allows Michelle Gomez to have a heartfelt scene with the younger teenage version of Rita in which Gomez’s Madam Rouge apologizes for having hurt her best friend. Meanwhile, most of the comedy element of this episode comes from Brendan Fraser and Diane Guerrero as Robotman and Crazy Jane fully embrace their teen years.

Overall

Youth Patrol makes for a rather fun caper that doesn’t fully resolve as some things remain open for next week as the gang still needs to help Willoughby take on Immortus. This Immortus storyline does answer one burning question, which has likely bugged fans for a while. That question is why haven’t any members of the Doom Patrol aged at all given that they were being looked after by Dr. Calder for a few decades before we met them?  But you really need to watch the episode to get that answer as it is a rather long-winded explanation to put down here.