Doom Patrol Season 2: 8 Major Things That Are Happening With The Characters

Doom Patrol Season 2 team art

After firmly establishing itself last year as one of the most wonderful and weird things playing on the small screen right now, Doom Patrol is now back for its second season, and thus far it has been fantastic. The titular team has recovered both from the battle with Mr. Nobody and being insect-sized, but replacing those problems are a whole host of other issues plaguing everybody internally and externally. The DC Universe/HBO Max series is going to strange and emotional places, and week-to-week we are excited to see what the next chapter will deliver.

To help you keep up with everything that’s been going on thus far in Doom Patrol Season 2, we’ve put together this handy little guide – which provides quick updates about what’s going on with the members of the main cast and the larger serialized story that is developing in the background of each episode. We’ll start with the mad scientist known as Chief, who is definitely nobody’s favorite person after the Season 1 revelations that he experimented on the team in pursuit of trying to live forever.

Niles Caulder a.k.a. Chief in Doom Patrol Season 2

Niles Caulder Is Dying, And Seeking Immortality Again

After the failed experiments that were Robotman, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, Crazy Jane, and Cyborg, Niles Caulder finally achieved his goal of immortality with the acquisition of a talisman that he wore around his neck... but now that talisman is gone, as Chief traded it to Willoughby Kipling (Mark Sheppard) for the magic needed for the team to grow big again. Having already lived far longer than any normal human, he is now dying, but now looking for a new method of immortality so that he may live one day longer than his daughter, Dorothy.

Dorothy in Doom Patrol Season 2

Dorothy’s Imaginary Friends Are Terrifying

Dorothy, who is the daughter of Niles Caulder and a primitive woman named Slava, has been the most important new character in Doom Patrol Season 2 – but one interesting thing about her is that she comes packaged alongside some special friends. For an unknown reason, she has the ability to bring her imaginary friends to life. What’s unfortunate is that they are totally terrifying, including Herschal, a giant spider, and Darling-Come-Home, a 1950s housewife with a lightbulb for a head. But they aren’t even the scariest of the bunch…

Niles vs Candlemaker in Doom Patrol Season 2

There Is One Imaginary Friend Who Is Extra Terrifying

When Dorothy gets overly emotional or scared she loses her ability to keep control over her imaginary friends, and the worst case scenario in any situation is the arrival of Candlemaker. The giant monster/candelabra functions by getting Dorothy to make wishes, and when she does he unleashes pure chaos and destruction. Based on the evidence presented, it seems like he is being set up as the central villain of Doom Patrol Season 2.

Robotman in Doom Patrol Season 2

Robotman Is Going To Be A Grandfather, But His Daughter Wants Nothing To Do With Him

None of the Doom Patrol members are particularly happy about the revelation about Chief’s motivations, but Robotman a.k.a. Cliff Steele certainly takes the news the hardest and responds with the most rage. On top of that, his family issues continue to get more terrible. After learning that his daughter is pregnant with his first grandchild, Cliff drove to Florida to try and start a new relationship with her, but it went horribly and resulted in both the cops being called and him doing serious damage to the team bus.

Rita Farr in Doom Patrol

­Rita Wants To Be A Superhero

Following the movie set accident that resulted in her becoming “deformed,” Rita Farr opted to spend years and years away from the public eye in Doom Manor – but now she possesses a new confidence thanks to the strength given to her by those she loves. She has long seen her abilities as a curse, but now she is working to try and gain better control over them so that she may perhaps be like Cyborg and become a bona fide superhero.

Negative Man in Doom Patrol

Larry’s Son Is Dead, But He’s Back In Contact With His Family

In Season 2 of Doom Patrol, Negative Man a.k.a. Larry Trainor finds himself emotionally out of sorts reckoning with the understanding of what happened to his family prior to his accident. What really drives this home is learning about the death of his oldest son, Gary, but the positive thing that comes out of the experience is that he has the opportunity to reconnect with his younger son, Paul.

Jane in Doom Patrol

Jane Is At War With Her Personalities

Being part of a host with 64 different personalities each equipped with their own superpower means that Jane is used to internal conflict, but things have definitely gotten much worse for the young woman in Doom Patrol Season 2. While Jane has spent a long time as the dominant personality, there are many others who believe that change is necessary. It is viewed by the collective that Kay Challis, the original personality, must be protected at all cost, and it has been made clear that not everybody believes that Jane is up for the task.

Cyborg with Roni in Doom Patrol

Cyborg Is Getting Help For His PTSD, And Has Met Someone With A Dark Past

Between the death of his mother, being brought back to life with cybernetic parts, and assaulting his father while under the influence of Mr. Nobody in Doom Patrol Season 1, Cyborg a.k.a. Vic Stone has more than a few things that he needs to work out, but in Season 2 we’re finally seeing him reach out to try and get some help. During a trip to Detroit he visited a PTSD support group and met a woman named Roni Evers, who ended up being the first person he had sex with after his accident – though the status of that relationship isn’t clear after Vic gets stood up and receives an email from Roni detailing some pretty horrific things she did while serving in the military.

What will unfold next in the world of Doom Patrol? Given the regular weirdness of the show, we really can’t say, and that’s a fact that delights us. Check out new episodes of the series weekly on DC Universe and HBO Max, and stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more features and news.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.