Doom Patrol Season 2 Finale Ending Explained

Doom Patrol‘s second season came to an end this week with the episode “Wax Patrol” and even though the DC Universe/HBO Max series may have been shorted one episode thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, thing still ended in a place that brings together the various threads of the season while also leaving a wild jumping off point for a potential third season. That jumping off point happens to be a major cliffhanger, however, one that may just leave fans wondering where the Doom Patrol can possibly go from here. Now, we’re breaking it down.

Warning: Spoilers for the Season 2 finale of Doom Patrol, “Wax Patrol”, below.

Unlike the Season 1 finale which saw the truly insane escape from a painting via being eaten by a giant cockroach named Ezekiel, the Season 2 finale “Wax Patrol” was a little more subdued as it saw the team descend on the county fair after to aid Dorothy against the Candlemaker. The episode also saw Jane — who was thrown into The Well in the Underground However, when they get there, they find themselves having to face off with their own imaginary friends.

It’s a move that forces most of the team to face their own personal traumas, things that have been haunting them through most of the second season. Rita faces off with a paper doll from her youth, one that forces her to face the trauma of having seen her mother have sex with a studio executive in order to get her a part as a child. Vic faces off with Dr. Cowboy, a creation that looks like his father but is simply there to validate him as a stand in for the love he didn’t receive from is actual father. Cliff ends up facing off with Jesus, who he turned to because of his fractured relationship with his own father. Larry and Miranda don’t end up dealing with imaginary friends. Larry says he doesn’t have one and Miranda ends up passing out as things get a bit unsettled in The Underground.

Whoever each of the Doom Patrol faces — or doesn’t face — what ends up happening to each of them is the same. They all end up waxed, the Candlemaker having been in control of their imaginary friends. In the case of Cliff, it’s particularly brutal as his fight with Jesus literally tears him apart, Robotman bits flying before the wax coating of doom. In fact, the only people who don’t end up waxed in the episode are Niles and Dorothy, who realizes that she has to step up and take on the Candlemaker herself.

Does that mean that everyone is dead? While things don’t look good for the Doom Patrol, that’s probably not exactly the right way to look at things. Series showrunner Jeremy Carver told TVLine that even before COVID-19 shifted things, “Wax Patrol” was meant to be a cliffhanger.

“We made some changes on the fly,” Carver said. “Even in the last few days of production, there was a little bit of triage as we decided what we wanted to add to make things work. We did a little bit of work in post as well, but we were probably more fortunate than [many other shows affected] in that Episode 9 was intended to be a cliffhanger anyway.”

He also said that there is still more to explore, should the series get a third season, something that Doom Patrol fans are very hopeful for.

“Oh, we all do. No one likes to have unanswered questions,” he said. “I think there’s enough there that people can go away with some satisfaction. There’s a little more we want to say about this, and should we get the opportunity, we’ll be saying it. I could play coy and say that what you see is what you get, but I’ll be honest with you and the fans. There’s a little more there to deal with, and we’d really love the opportunity to do it.”

Doom Patrol is now streaming on DC Universe and HBO Max.

What did you think about the Doom Patrol Season 2 finale? Let us know in the comments.