[theme music playing]
[Torminox laughing]
-[Torminox speaking] -[clicks]
The night was dark.
The darkness had such a hold,
not even the moon would dare show its face.
My whole body burned with frostbite
as I trudged through the cold mountain air.
After days of climbing,
there it was.
A museum perched in an impossible place.
[sighs softly]
-I pounded on the door -[knocking at door]
and finally found the man I had come to see.
Horst Eismann.
An unseemly curator of rare and mysterious artifacts.
Before my father Niles passed away,
he traded this necklace to Horst
in order to help me and The Doom Patrol.
But I desperately needed it back.
I told him that if I had the necklace,
I might be able to conjure my father from the afterlife
and tell him all the things I had never had a chance to say.
He just glared down at me.
"No"
was the only word he could be bothered to utter.
If he wasn't going to give me my father's necklace,
I'd have to take it back.
[Candlemaker growls]
[man grunts]
[thudding]
[grunts]
Once I had the necklace,
my friends Crystal and The Dead Boys
helped me summon my father
and...
our reunion was everything I'd hoped it be.
This necklace
kept my father alive so he could spend nearly 100 years with me.
And even though he's gone, I know he'll always be in here.
No matter how impossible the odds may seem,
love always wins out.
[all clapping]
[Asa reading] "Fuck off and die"?
How many times are we going to come back and do this?
As long as it takes for our message to stick.
Let's get to work, ladies.
♪ I got this loving feeling♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ You give me something To believe in ♪
♪ Everybody say ♪
♪ "What are you on brother? ♪
♪ Give me some of that" ♪
♪ I can't get enough ♪
♪ No, I just can't get enough ♪
[Maura] Survived another day out there, ladies.
Can't wait to get home.
[girl laughing] Stop!
Cut it out.
[Asa] You want me to say something?
[girl] Dude.
Let's just go.
♪ I got this loving feeling ♪
♪ Oh♪
♪ You give me something To believe in ♪
[chattering indistinctly]
♪ Give me some of that ♪
♪ I can't get enough No, I just can't get enough ♪
[chattering indistinctly]
Thanks, Danny.
There's no place like, oh--
Okay, come on now.
Now you know I love you, D.
But it looks like we're hitting maximum occupancy here.
You holding up okay?
[Danny beeps]
I know, baby.
We all are.
[people chattering indistinctly]
[Danny beeps]
I'm fine.
I'm not a kid anymore, Danny.
Please stop hovering.
Is she okay?
[Danny beeps]
[knocking at door]
What?
[Maura] If I promise not to ask if you're okay,
can I come in?
[sighs]
Fine.
[footsteps approaching]
If Danny sent you,
I'll tell you the same thing I told them.
I don't need anybody to help me.
I'm just here to ask if you wanted to do a little karaoke,
-but I'm guessing the answer-- -No.
You sure?
We can do Pure Imagination.
-Ooh. -[chuckles] Mmm-hmm.
Definitely no.
Okay.
I get it.
After the day I've had, I would love nothing more
than to lock myself in my dressing room
and curl up into a ball.
[mimicking Dorothy] Why Maura Lee?
What happened to you?
Are you okay?
[in normal voice] Oh, I'm fine, Dorothy.
It's not worth getting into, but thank you for asking.
-I was going to ask. -Mmm-hmm.
The point is,
whenever I feel like nobody gets me,
I put on my best wig,
sashay onstage, and belt one out to the back row.
You can't help but feel seen in the spotlight.
That's nice.
If you ever need to talk, you know we're always here, right?
I do know that.
You are always here.
Danny is always here.
None of you will do what I ask and just leave me alone.
Well, it's hard for Danny to leave you alone
when you're sitting right on top of them.
[chuckles]
You know,
you shouldn't take Danny for granted.
Believe me when I tell you things are tough out there right now.
More than ever, people need Danny.
We're very lucky to have a safe space to come home to.
[people chattering indistinctly]
[buzzing]
[Maura chuckles]
Space Case.
This your girl?
She seems very... peppy.
She's awesome, actually.
She saves the universe from bad guys.
She's never afraid to do what she has to.
Okay.
Sorry.
Okay, no tea, no shade.
You can't stay cooped up in your room like this every day.
We've been down this road before, remember?
Maybe you should get out a little more.
Didn't you literally just tell me how bad it is out there?
Well, you can take care of yourself.
Don't you got all those little imaginary friends to back you up?
Okay. Thank you.
-Are we done here? -Oh, excuse me, Ms. Thang.
This Veruca Salt routine is getting really tired.
So maybe pull it back a tad, okay?
What do you want from me?
I want you to quit sitting around here
reading about someone else's adventures,
and go have some of your own.
I'm fine where I am.
It doesn't seem like it.
Where else am I going to go?
What about the Doom Patrol?
Don't you think that's what Niles would want?
No.
He'd be thrilled, actually.
I'm right back in my prison cell where I belong.
Okay.
If you don't feel like any of us understand what you're going through,
try to find someone who can.
Make new friends. Got it.
[fire crackling]
[devices buzzing]
Hello?
[electric buzzing continues]
What's going on?
Asa Diamonds?
That you?
Go back inside.
-I'm not a little-- -I said go!
Asa?
Honey?
You okay?
Where did everyone--
[screeching]
Oh, shit. Dorothy, I'm coming in.
[Danny beeps]
Danny, you gotta jump, like now, okay?
[Danny beeps]
Dorothy, get away from that--
[banging]
-It can't be. -You know these things?
They look just like...
They're the bad guy's foot soldiers from my comic book.
Dorothy, sweetie,
now might be a good time to introduce us to your friend, the Candleman.
He can't help us.
-[Maura] From what I heard, I'm pretty sure he can-- -[Dorothy] He can't.
The only one who knows how to deal with these things
is...
[thunder rumbling]
[thudding]
[knocking on door]
[sighs]
[exhales]
Space Case?
Heya, kid.
Is this...
-Did I-- -Listen, I'd love to do proper intros,
but we better shake a leg.
If the Vectra are here, that means he can't be far behind.
Who?
Torminox.
Hmm.
[screaming]
What the hell did that TurboTax guy do to them?
[both] Torminox.
That no-good chrome dome turns anyone he wants
into his own personal storm troopers.
They're called the Vectra.
But our people are still in there somewhere, right? We can fix them?
First we've got to fix that Torminox right good.
But not to worry.
Space Case is on the case.
Cool.
I've gone up against that purple-faced chucklehead 143 times.
You know how many times I won?
-I'm guessing one-- -143 times.
So if that slimy space scoundrel rears his ugly head,
I'll be sure to give him the old one-two.
Until then, it may be best to make a quick getaway and regroup.
How?
Do you have a hyper-speed capable, titanium alloy,
intergalactic starship?
It's in the shop.
Oh. Hmm.
Well, we may be able to--
[sniffs] Holy mackerel, what's that?
[Maura] What's what?
Whenever I suck in air through my nose,
I can sense something. [sniffs]
Oh, it's giving me a strange, empty feeling in my...
stomach.
It's making me...
[Dorothy] Hungry?
I guess so.
What do I do?
[Dorothy] Here.
Mmm.
Mmm!
Great Caesar's ghost!
That is top notch!
[chuckles]
Okay, sweetie, you're up at a Katy Perry.
And I'm going to need you to bring it way down to an Alicia Keys.
Dorothy? A word?
Mmm.
So...
are you really out here trying to tell me...
that this crazy ass white lady is some kind of fictional character?
Yes.
-How? -I don't know.
Those things were banging on our door,
and then, I had a comic,
and then... poof!
And I thank you for that poof.
I do.
But maybe just stuff your cute little friend back into your head, okay?
That's just it, I can't.
I don't think she's imaginary.
I think maybe somehow...
I pulled her out.
-[Maura] You can do that? -[Dorothy] Not usually.
My imaginary friends are all my own creations.
-[Maura] Is this Tampax? -[Dorothy] Torminox.
-Whatever. -Yes.
The scuzziest scum-sucking, space monster in the Galaxy.
[Maura] Fictional galaxy.
He's also her dad.
[Maura] This busted ass eggplant is that girl's daddy?
Well, he wasn't always like that.
He was Richard Frank before he became Torminox.
But what does he want with us?
Maybe Casey would know?
Just a few more bites.
Then after that Space Case is on the case.
[squealing]
That's one of her catchphrases.
No, yeah, I'm getting that.
Does she know she's not real?
I don't think so.
Should we tell her?
No.
Not yet, at least.
Right now she's our best bet at getting our friends back.
Okay, we won't tell her.
Tell me what?
-[Dorothy] Nothing. -Now you're my new super-team, right?
-[Dorothy] Definitely. -Are we?
And super-teams don't keep secrets.
Especially from their mission commander.
So whatever intel you've got in the hopper won't phase me.
Promise.
[buzzing]
[electricity crackling]
[Space Case] Is this me?
Did someone on your planet hear about my adventures
and write them into a picture story?
[Dorothy] Not exactly.
You sort of... are the story.
What?
Hey!
Okay, buddy, that's it.
What is she...
Her special power.
Time to pay the electric bill.
Her quips are cheesy, I know, but I still love them.
-Dorothy. -What?
Is she about to light up our friend like a Christmas tree?
Oh, my God.
No, no, no, no, no...
Sorry, Boo.
What are you doing?
That's not a Vectra.
That's one of our friends.
You can't just vaporize them.
Why not?
Because they're not a comic book character.
This is the real world.
Death is...
Death is permanent here.
The real world?
You're fiction, baby.
Space Case is your secret identity.
Your real name's Casey Brinke.
What? No.
Who's Casey Brinke?
Definitely not me.
Nope, no way.
And even if I was, there's no way for you to know that.
Wait, Casey Casey.
I know a lot more than that.
[Dorothy] When you were seven, your father, Richard,
got into a horrible lab accident.
[yelling]
And it turned him into the monster he is today.
[laughing]
I know, years later,
your mother faced Torminox
and sacrificed herself to save the universe.
And, I know Torminox didn't die in that explosion.
He never dies, does he?
He always finds a way to come back.
-Yes. -From that day onward,
you spent years in training,
harnessing the power you inherited from your mom.
[grunts]
[Dorothy] You dedicated your whole life
to stopping your father at a great personal cost.
And you've been fighting him ever since.
One hundred and forty-three times.
You loved your father once.
But, after he turned into Torminox,
you knew he was gone.
As far as you're concerned, he may as well be dead.
How do you know all this?
Where did you get this?
I found them all in my friend Flex Mentallo's room.
But where did he get them?
I don't know.
[electricity buzzing]
He's here.
Run!
[Space Case] Move!
[Torminox] There you are.
-I take it that's... -Torminox.
In the flesh. I came for one thing.
And, what's that?
Your necklace.
Give it to me and no one else need suffer.
No.
Very well then.
[both] No!
What are you doing here?
Blasting you into stardust,
if you don't call off your goons and turn these people back.
I have no quarrel with you, daughter.
Leave this place. Please...
Please. What are you...
-You never... -What are you doing?
You never say please.
I can't.
[Torminox] Finish this.
[breathing heavily]
You have every right to hate me right now.
But I need you.
Please.
Who are you...
[Candlemaker growling]
[snarls]
[Dorothy] Candlemaker!
Go now.
Come on, listen to your friend.
I'm so sorry. For everything.
[Candlemaker] Go!
[groaning]
[Maura] In here...
What does he want with my necklace?
I don't know. But whatever it is, it can't be good.
What happened to you back there?
I don't know.
How could you stand there and do nothing?
I'm sorry. That...
What happened to "Space Case is on the case"?
You never hesitate,
especially when it comes to your father.
You're right.
I've destroyed Torminox 143 times.
I pushed him into a volcano.
I froze him in liquid nitrogen.
I hit him with an asteroid.
But something was different this time.
I felt something.
What?
Well...
You said it yourself before. He always comes back.
But what if this time he didn't?
When I looked into his eyes,
something came to me.
I'm not even really sure you could call it a memory,
but he was pushing me on the swing
and we were happy.
Really happy.
As much as I hate Torminox,
he's all I have left of my father.
So, if what you say is true and death is really permanent here
and there's no coming back...
then he'd really be gone
and what would I be left with?
What would I even do with myself?
Maybe you don't have to find out.
What do you mean?
Maybe your father is still in there somewhere.
Maybe you can get through to him.
No matter how impossible it might seem to reach someone,
there's always a way.
Just ask Dorothy.
It's true.
You can.
[rustling]
Oh, hell no.
You can't. It's not safe out there.
Don't care.
Hey, what is your problem?
Haven't you kids already done enough damage?
If you're going to be out here spreading that kind of hate,
then best be able to look me in the...
I'm sorry, I was only trying to help.
I see what those guys keep doing to your mural.
Not everyone here feels the same way they do.
Thank you.
How much paint you got?
[whooshing]
[torminox laughs menacingly]
I see you've finally come to your senses.
Let's make this simple.
Your friends for the necklace.
You don't have to do this.
You don't have to be the villain.
You were something more once. Remember?
[light flickers on]
You were my dad.
-[groans] -No!
The necklace.
Now.
This is all I have left of my father.
I wanted to tell him all the things I needed to say.
But I never did.
That's of no concern to me.
Can it, Telefax.
What do you mean?
It's a lie.
Candlemaker and I never went to get this back.
Crystal and the Dead Boys had to get it for me.
The truth is, I haven't talked to the Candlemaker in months.
Or any of my friends.
I locked them all away.
Why?
Because they reminded me too much of my father.
Everyone does. My friends, Danny, the Doom Patrol.
All they do is remind me of what I lost.
I thought that if I conjured him for just a few minutes,
I might be able to tell him how much I loved him.
But the more time passed, the more I realized
that's not all that I needed to say.
I'm not the person I used to be.
I'm confused.
I'm scared and I'm angry.
And he was supposed to help me through it.
He kept me a child for so long and now that I'm finally growing up,
he's not here.
And I hate him for it.
I want to say all of these things to him.
But maybe some things are better left unsaid.
She needs her Dad.
Fuck you for turning your back on that.
Don't blame yourself, Danny.
You've done so much for everyone here.
But no matter how hard you try, you can't protect us from everything.
Not by yourself.
I know how hard things can be out there.
Believe me, I get it.
But, tonight, someone reminded me that there are still
good people in the world. People who want to help.
True allies.
And if we ever really want to change the world,
we need to start living in it.
I think it's time for us to move on to something new.
Including you, Danny.
Ever since you became an ambulance, you've been doing triage, honey.
We all know that you'll always be
a safe space to heal to anyone and everyone, who needs it.
But it's time we start making safe spaces of our own.
In the real world.
Does this mean we have to leave?
But what if we're never ready?
♪ If you feel like singing A song and you want ♪
♪ Other people to sing along ♪
♪ Just sing what you feel Don't let anyone say It's wrong ♪
♪ And if you're trying To paint a picture ♪
♪ But, you're not sure Which colors belong ♪
♪ Just paint what you see ♪
♪ Don't let anyone say It's wrong ♪
♪ When there's a light White light ♪
♪ Inside of you ♪
[song continues in the background]
Is there anything I can do?
Everything my dad and I ever said,
ever felt, ever suffered through,
none of it was really ours.
There was something there, though.
I saw it in his eyes,
just for a second.
I think he can change.
I want to meet whoever wrote our story
and make them write us a new one.
I could use the change of scenery.
Need any help?
[both laugh]
♪ There are rules That I'm meant to break ♪
♪ You could call this A great mistake ♪
♪ We could always Play it safe ♪
♪ But that's no fun ♪
♪ We could run ♪
♪ Hold me close And hold me fast ♪
Thank you, Danny.
♪ Some moments Meant to last This ain't one ♪
♪ We could run ♪
Where to?
Cloverton.
[both chuckle]
♪ We could run ♪
Immortus will rise.
I did what you asked.
Good.
I need to be the man I was for Casey.
You're certain Immortus can help?
Oh, yes.
When Immortus rises, our pasts will be cleansed.
We'll have everything we've ever dreamed of.
And I assure you, Immortus will rise.
[young Casey laughing]
[theme music playing]