Here we go! Starting off series 13, a pandemic-shortened season billing itself as an epic 6-episode event and the beginning of the end for Jodie Whittaker’s tenure as the Doctor (the same goes for Chris Chibnall as showrunner.) This is a fun and exciting but crammed episode, full of new characters, different locales, and hints of the larger story to come.
The Doctor has been in pursuit of an alien warrior named Karvanista, though she won’t tell Yaz why. They follow him to Earth, where he’s set his sights on abducting a seemingly-ordinary bloke named Dan. But as they track Karvanista, there are strange portents of something worse out there: the Doctor is seeing unexplainable visions, and the TARDIS is malfunctioning in ways it never has before. Something’s coming, something big.
First of all, there is a lot going on here. Just for the main threads, we’ve got the introduction of Dan, Karvanista’s interactions with both him and the Doctor-Yaz, and the freaky goings-on in the Doctor’s visions, including some extra scenes on that side of the story we get to see that she doesn’t. But there are hints of lots of other stuff too. We’ve also got a lone observer on a farflung space base, Victorian Liverpool, Sontarans, Weeping Angels, a friend of the Doctor’s that she hasn’t met yet, and references that tie back to the Timeless Child plot from last season. Obviously, the goal is for it to all come together by the end of the six episodes, but for now, while much of it is interesting, it feels like a little too much to be thrown at us all at once.
Still, the episode has good bones, and I’m looking forward to what’s coming. At this point, the main baddies look to be rather typical of Chibnall-era villains, creepy aliens who look like they may or may not have been one-off demons on Buffy, running around being ominous and creepy. They’re probably my least-favorite part of the main story, but we’ll see if the six-episode structure gives them more time to develop, and there are hints at connections that may prove interesting. That said, I really enjoy all the stuff with Karvanista. His design (and that of his ship) are pretty cool, he has great interactions with both the Doctor/Yaz and Dan, and his storyline goes to unexpected places. I also like our introduction to Vinder, the guy outposted on the space base. He’s played by Jacob Anderson, a.k.a. Grey Worm from Game of Thrones, so that’s an immediate plus, and I was quickly drawn into his scenes. Even though I still don’t know most of what’s going on with him, his character/overall vibe kept my interest.
The Doctor and Yaz are so much fun together. I love the cold open of them bantering and bickering as they escape an impossible situation, and it’s neat to see how much Yaz has really come into her own between seasons. She’s learned how to copilot the TARDIS and has acquired some other new skills, and she just carries herself with an increased self-assurance. And while she and the Doctor have been having a blast, Yaz doesn’t just let the Doctor’s secrets and evasiveness slide. The Doctor, meanwhile, is equally focused on averting the impending crisis and finding some answers of her own, though she still finds time to be an absolute delight in between. I especially like her realizing that her voice-activated system may have been set back when he was Scottish, along with a scene where she rattles off a rapid-fire set of vague directions to Yaz, instructs them to synchronize watches, remembers she isn’t wearing one, and cheerily runs off.
As for our new companion, I’m prepared to enjoy Dan. He certainly appears to be a sympathetic character and has some clear backstory/characterization from the start (even if not all of it seems to hold together at the moment.) Of course, we also learned a fair amount about Ryan, Yaz, and Graham in their introductory episode, and not much was done with that since, so we’ll see if we follow up on any of these details or if Dan will just stay slotted in a companion mode. I enjoy his scenes with Karvanista, the latter of whom learns the difficulties of trying to project authority as an invading alien on Halloween.
The whole episode is a lot, and plenty of it has yet to make sense, but I had a good time. I’m looking forward to knowing more, and most importantly, I’m excited for what the rest of this season has in store. Bring it on!
No comments:
Post a Comment