Doom Patrol, season 1, episode 7, “Therapy Patrol,” may have introduced the series’ strangest character yet with Admiral Whiskers - a rat who, like Batman, has devoted his life to avenging the death of his parents. Granted, Admiral Whiskers doesn’t wear a costume and does not seem to have devoted his life to the same intensive level of training as Bruce Wayne. Still, the little rodent is easily a match for the Dark Knight in determination and efficiency.
Wacky character ideas like vigilante rats are par for the course in Doom Patrol, which is based on one of DC Comics’ most esoteric and outright weird comics. The titular team’s membership includes a woman with 64 distinct multiple personalities, each of which has their own super power. Their arch enemy, Mr. Nobody, is the reality-altering victim of a Nazi scientist’s experiment and is also convinced (perhaps not unjustly) that he is the show’s narrator. And the show’s supporting cast includes a doomsday prophet who just happens to be a cockroach.
“Therapy Patrol” opens up with a Rashomon effect sequence, as we see the events of one morning play out from the individual perspectives of Rita Farr, Larry Trainor, Victor “Cyborg” Stone, Crazy Jane and Cliff Steele. Each character has their own baggage to deal with, which distracts them even as they interact with the rest of the residents of Doom Manor. This culminates in Cliff, who is in a manic mood, suggesting that they should all indulge in some group therapy and reveal their darkest secrets to one another so they can’t be used as ammunition by the villainous Mr. Nobody. The session does not go well, however, and ends with Cliff collapsing on the floor while seemingly speaking in tongues and hallucinating, before powering down as a rat climbs out of his open mouth.
After the rat runs off, the Rashomon sequence begins anew, as a title card introduces us to Admiral Whiskers and we open on Doom Manor (6 Episodes Ago). It is here that we see a mommy rat run over by the team’s bus, driven by Cliff Steele, whilst in the middle of demonstrating to her baby how to safely cross the street. As the baby rat cries, he is comforted by Mr. Nobody (aka The Narrator), who encourages him to focus on the sorrow he is feeling and “feel it harden into that icy cold blade called vengeance!”
Admiral Whiskers proves to be an apt pupil and follows Mr. Nobody’s instructions to find “the thoughtless cretin responsible for your mother’s annihilation” and proceed to destroy his mind, heart and soul. While that’s something of a tall order for a rat, Admiral Whiskers is still able to sneak into Cliff’s room while he is in sleep-mode. From there, it’s a simple matter to crawl into his robotic body through a still-open wound in his arm from an earlier battle and start gnawing his way through Cliff’s wiring, prompting Cliff’s breakdown earlier in the episode.
While it’s all but certain that Cliff won’t be out for the count long, Admiral Whiskers has still effectively neutralized the team’s heaviest hitter for the foreseeable future. What makes this victory truly ironic is that the rest of the team have no idea that this stealthy, subtle attack is Mr. Nobody’s handiwork or that Admiral Whiskers, like Batman, was an agent of justice, albeit one not opposed to lethal force. Perhaps next week will see a new peace bloom after Admiral Whiskers and Robotman discover that both of their mothers were named Martha? Then again that might be too silly, even for Doom Patrol.
