Skip to Content

Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 5 Recap & Review

DC’s Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 5 explores Rita and Madam Rogue’s connection, and introduces the Sisterhood of the Dada.

doom patrol season 3

Warning, this recap and review of Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 4 will contain spoilers. So if you have not yet watched this episode on HBO Max and would like to remain in the dark, please come back at a later time.  If you missed our Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 4 recap, check it out.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 5
“Dada Patrol”

This episode kicks off with Jane talking with Kay, who has decided she would like to come to the surface and take over for a while. Viewers also see Vic in a conversation with his father, letting him know that while he is upset, he does appreciate all that he has done for him, and understands why he did it.

But Doom Patrol season 3 episode 4 really kicks off when Madame Rogue calls a team meeting — to which Rita continuously explains to her she is not the leader, and they are not a team. Laura explains that she has realized the Doom Patrol let the Sisterhood of Dada free from the ANT Farm when they broke out and she wants to hunt them down and kill them. The Patrol refuses, saying they are not the type to kill people. They can track them down because they are leaving graffiti sigils “The eternal Flagellation is coming”. Laura asks them all to infiltrate the Sisterhood so they can take them down from the inside. 

Rita remains behind with Laura, and Laura shows her the video that she had discovered. Rita is in the video and this makes her very happy, thinking to herself she wasn’t crazy when she interacted with herself earlier in the season. The two drink and talk and long story short Rita give the gauge she stole from the time machine back and the two work together to get it working again.

doom patrol season 3

Cliff has received medication for his Parkinson’s Disease, however it should come as no surprise at how impatient he is. The bottle said that it can take months to see results, so he decides to take a whole ton of them all at once — and of course, ends up super high. Meanwhile, Larry has something under his skin that is crawling around under his bandages and is creeping him out quite a bit. As they are traveling to find the Sisterhood, Cliff calls it a pimple and tries to pop it (remember, he is super high). This causes them to crash the bus, but luckily they seem to be in the right area for the Sisterhood.

This is where everyone in the Doom Patrol splits up — something that seems to be a reoccurring theme with them this season. Cliff ends up following around some weird flying thing, and ends up in a room with a Japanese woman who is behind glass. At first he cannot understand her because he does not speak Japanese, however she waves her hands around and now he can. He explains how he is scared to die now, which is a new feeling for him, and is partly because of his grandson.

As Jane explores the woods she ends up inside a sweets shop where she meets a strange woman. This woman explains to her that they are all inside of her head and while she loves a good party, she only wanted to talk to Jane. She goes so far as to separate her from the Underground so that they can have a private conversation. Well, all of the Underground besides young Kay who is at the table next to her enjoying some sweets.

doom patrol season 3 episode 5 shelley byron

The woman introduces herself as Shelley Byron, also known as the Fog, who comic book readers will recognize as a version of the character Byron Shelley. Byron is a member of the Brotherhood of Dada, which Season 3 of Doom Patrol is taking from the comics and gender swapping. She explains that she was used as a dragon — the ANT Farm would drop her in when they needed her and she would gobble whole towns up. She needed a place all her own which is why she created the sweets shop. She tells Jane that they have more in common than she thinks they do. 

Hammerhead starts banging on the sweets door, and Jane feels that this means they are afraid for Kay. Shelley asks if they are afraid for her, or OF her and Jane stops to think on it for a second. Shelley asks her if it would be nice to be alone with her thoughts and only her thoughts — Kay is the one that answers though, and says she would like that.

As for Larry, as he is lost in the woods he comes upon his son Paul. He calls out for him as he chases him down, but when he turns around to face his father he pulls out a gun and pulls the trigger. It isn’t loaded though and he drops it into the leaves. A lobster crawls out of it before Paul starts rambling about strange things and falls to his knees.

Vic comes across a man who is part man, part bicycle, and creating art in the middle of the woods. He is asking Vic why he is — and he does not like what Vic’s answer is. 

Back to Cliff who ends up feeling so much better after talking to the Japanese woman that he hugs the glass, which of course cracks. The Japanese woman puts on an oxygen mask, clearly afraid of the outside should it break all the way. Cliff tells her that she is nice, but he needs to go be with Rory, his grandson. He is ranting now saying he should be living life not on a mission because of Laura De Mille. The woman perks up when she hears this name, clearly recognizing it.

However she is not the only one who heard the name, because they are all in Shelley’s head, everyone hears it. The man that Vic is talking to, Shelley, and the woman who was in the ice cream truck that Cliff passed by earlier. She was asleep early but is awake now. She goes to Cliff and she punches him through the glass that is holding the Japanese woman. 

doom patrol season 3

Hammerhead also breaks through the glass, into the sweets shop. Just then Shelley grabs Jane and hugs her. She says “see you on the other side” and “give Laura De Mille my best” before doing something to her that clouds her eyes. The whole Doom Patrol wakes up on the bus, except Paul is there too. They take him back to the mansion where Rita was there waiting to brag to Larry about discovering she is a time traveler, but the team is very distracted.

Vic seems to be taking it the hardest. As he was leaving the man he was speaking to asked him if he was the color of his skin, or the robot parts inside of him — something that is clearly in his head now. Cliff goes back to his laptop and takes a bunch more pills, then sends a message to his daughter for Rory, saying Grandpa is getting better. Even though Vic had warned him earlier not to click on pop-ups, one about girls pops up and he clicks it. 

Inside the Underground Jane goes to see Kay but is blocked by a few of the personalities. They say they are keeping an eye on her, and will not let Jane in. Larry puts his son to bed with a wet towel on his head, promising to get him better. As the camera pans out, the bump the back of his neck that is under his bandages starts to glow. 

Rita and Laura are very drunk after a whole day of drinking and sitting on the couch. Rita is saying there is the old age adage of if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself — talking about the rest of the team couldn’t infiltrate the Sisterhood of Dada and don’t even want to go back and try again. When she calls herself a time traveler, Laura laughs at her, saying she has known her for less than 48 hours but she knows that isn’t who she is, or ever will be. 

This encourages Rita to take the keys to the time machine and take it out for a spin. Where to? Well, we will have to wait for the next episode to figure that one out.

About Doom Patrol Season 3 Episode 5

After receiving vital information about her past, an out-of-sorts Madam Rogue grapples with her future, enlisting the Doom Patrol for a mission that thrusts them deep into a perplexing society. As the rest of the team attempts to infiltrate their target, Rita discovers a surprising connection to Rogue at home.

doom patrol season 3

About Doom Patrol Season 3

DOOM PATROL reimagines one of DC’s most beloved groups of superheroes:

  • Robotman aka Cliff Steele (Brendan Fraser)
  • Negative Man aka Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer)
  • Elasti-Woman aka Rita Farr (April Bowlby)
  • Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero)

All led by modern-day mad scientist Niles Caulder aka The Chief (Timothy Dalton). Each member of the Doom Patrol suffered a horrible accident that gave them superhuman abilities, but also left them scarred and disfigured.

Part support group, part Super Hero team, the Doom Patrol is a band of superpowered freaks who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them. Season three opens on the culmination of Dorothy’s (Abi Monterey) confrontation with the Candlemaker that leads to a devastating loss.

The Doom Patrol is at a difficult crossroads and each member struggles to face who they are and who they want to be. And things get a whole lot more complicated when Madame Rouge (Michelle Gomez) arrives in a time machine with a very specific mission, if only she could remember it.

The first three episodes of Doom Patrol season 3 will debut THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
with subsequent episodes launching weekly every Thursday through November 11 on HBO Max.