Early into this season of Doom Patrol, the show’s heroes end up having to deal with a paranormal threat drawn to their manor because of the powerful, reality-bending orgasms that Rita Farr demands Flex Mentallo give her in order to help clear her mind. Though the Doom Patrol’s able to defeat the sex demon threatening to bring about an apocalypse, they’re never quite sure just what to do about the handful of fornicating ghosts who end up manifesting on the property as a result of the sex demon’s presence.
Since they first appeared in the episode “Sex Patrol,” Doom Patrol’s sex ghosts have existed in the show’s margins, drifting through the walls mid-coitus just as a central character makes some sort of grand proclamation about what’s going on. While the team’s largely moved on from being concerned about ghosts, Doom Patrol’s kept the horny spectres around to remind you just how ridiculous the show consistently is, even in moments when it’s asking you to take it seriously.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/08/doom-patrols-abrupt-season-2-finale-burns-bright-before-going-out-like-a-light/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/07/ktg6aoe3dxb43eoi1job-300×169.jpg” title=”Doom Patrol’s Abrupt Season 2 Finale Burns Bright Before Going Out Like a Light” excerpt=”Besides the usual themes of self-discovery, Doom Patrol’s second season has been all about finding out what to do about Niles Caulder’s increasingly dangerous daughter Dorothy. We knew some kind of standoff was inevitable, but leave it to Doom Patrol to find a way to pull us even deeper into…”]
In a recent interview with TV Line, Doom Patrol executive producer Jeremy Carver explained how the sex ghosts are meant to, among other things, remind you of what the team’s been through and how they have the deal with the consequences of their actions.
“What I call the tendrils of different things we introduce over the episodes are one of the most enjoyable things about the show,” Carver said. “We can keep calling back to these things that we plant in the show. If we’re going to cut away to an empty house, why not have some sex ghosts necking in the background?”
What’s been so charming about the sex ghosts is their apparent lack of any sort of interest in the goings-on of the mortal realm, something that helps in grounding a show that’s otherwise often too wild for its own good. While Jane’s personalities have been bickering with Dorothy’s imaginary friends, who are all clearly harbingers of some sort of doomsday scenario, the ghosts have just been off in the background banging like animals because it’s all they know how to do.
Though it doesn’t exactly feel appropriate to describe the sex ghosts as being integral parts of Doom Patrol’s mythos, they do embody the sort of weird energy that’s a big part of what makes the show so memorable. It’s unclear what might become of the sex ghosts if Doom Patrol is renewed for a third season, but one imagines that they’d probably just keep on keeping on in some far off wing, blissfully unaware of the outright scene they were making.