While
this episode takes a few swerves that don’t feel fully thought out for me,
making it seem like the script could’ve used maybe one more pass, it’s a solid
episode on the whole. The mystery rolls
out nicely, the one-shot characters are well-defined, and – best of all for me
– the Doctor and the companions are all used effectively.
When
the Doctor receives a delivery from Kerblam!, an interplanetary retailer that
bears a more-than-passing resemblance to Amazon, her package also contains an
anonymous cry for help. Our heroes go
undercover at the megacorporation to try and suss out what’s wrong, where they
encounter creepily-cheery robots, a rash of disappearances, and the makings of
a conspiracy.
As I
said, there are a few aspects of the story that don’t quite work for me; for
the sake of spoilers, I won’t go into details, but they do leave the episode
with a bit of an aftertaste. That’s
disappointing, because it’s otherwise a very solid story. I like the theme it explores of the changing
position of humans in the workforce after automation takes over, and each of
the one-shot characters feels distinct.
The
mystery moves along at a good pace, and it offers everyone an opportunity to
make valuable contributions, which I appreciate. It takes more of a classic Who approach of splitting the characters
up, both individually and in various combinations, which often feels like the
best way to make the most of a more crowded TARDIS. The undercover operation, with different
characters being assigned to different departments in the warehouse, is a handy
way to get that done.
As
such, everyone is properly involved in the adventure. Yaz gets herself first in, then out of, a
dangerous situation, Graham comes up with a good way to get his hands on some
important info, and Ryan uses his past experience with factory work to find a
needed solution. It’s nice to see them
going off on their own and then coming back together with what they’ve found,
with the Doctor steering the investigation as it needs, doing plenty of
snooping, suspecting, and technological improvising.
Beyond
that, they’re just fun. I love the
Doctor’s look of utter disappointment to learn that climbing on the conveyer
belts isn’t allowed, and her irritation at how convoluted conspiracies are is
amusing. We also get Graham nearly dying
of boredom while a robot conducts his orientation, Yaz laughing at her coworker’s
dad jokes, and Ryan explaining his dyspraxia in an awkward but very
genuine-sounding way. Overall, there’s
just a good back-and-forth between the gang that’s super appealing and
enjoyable to watch.
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