C+Q - Before the Flood (2015)

Yeah...this episode wasn't that great. I mean it was definitely watchable and nothing horribly offensive happened but it was just kinda...bland. Everything that happens in this episode is the least interesting possible version of what could've happened. It feels less like a fully-formed episode and more like a box-ticking exercise. It very neatly and calmly went through the list of unanswered questions from Under the Lake and answered them one-by-one. We needed to see the undertaker when he was alive, so he shows up for one scene and one scene only. We needed to see the writing appear on the wall of the ship, so it just happens. We needed to have a big climactic villain, so the Fisher King shows up, stomps around in the darkness for a bit, and then gets comedically washed away in a big wave after what felt like a minute of screen time. I mean, fuck, even the relationships felt like box-ticking. "Oh look, we've ended up with two male and two female survivors. We'd better pair them up into neat little boy-girl romantic couples!" Overall, it was just a huge disappointment.

Weirdly, although I hate a lot of things about this episode, I don't seem to hate what everyone else hates. I personally love the opening, with the Doctor talking directly to the camera and playing the Doctor Who theme on his guitar. Not only did this episode's rock version of the theme tune actually sound like a huge improvement, emphasising the iconic bassline and giving the whole thing more of a kick, the Doctor's lecture on the bootstrap paradox is really interesting and addresses a lot of elements from the Moffat era, like Amy Pond naming her daughter after her daughter. I know a lot of people got really up in arms about the Doctor breaking the fourth wall, as if the opening to Listen or the ending of The Feast of Steven didn't happen. Maybe I just have a higher tolerance for whimsy, but I love it. I also don't mind the sonic sunglasses and I really don't get why people are so offended by them. Are they a gimmick? Yes. So was the sonic screwdriver. They're both just...things. They serve a function within the story. They're literal plot devices. Macguffins. The Doctor could show up next episode with a sonic kettle and I wouldn't give a shit. I understand that some people don't like them (sing along with me if you know the words: OPINIONS ARE SUBJECTIVE AND ANYTHING YOU READ IN ANY OF MY REVIEWS THAT MIGHT MAKE YOU THINK I BELIEVE OTHERWISE IS EITHER HYPERBOLE OR A JOKE!!!), but while some people think they're merely bad, I've heard plenty of people ranting about how the sonic sunglasses are indicative of everything wrong with the show. I just don't understand that viewpoint, sorry. To me they're just a harmless bit of fun.

No, what I really hate about this episode is how underused some of its elements are. Paul Kaye is absolutely wasted as Prentis who I thought was a genuinely amusing character. Similarly, the Fisher King, as I've already said, only appeared for what felt like a minute of screen time despite being an absolute marvel of design backed up by a chilling vocal performance by Peter Serafinowicz. If he'd've had more to do and wasn't defeated so quickly, he could've easily been the most memorable and impactful villain of Series 9, and this is a series that opened with both Davros and Missy. The Doctor's whole speech about "robbing people of their deaths" is a bit weird too. Why has he never said that to the Cybermen? I understand that robbing people of their deaths is part of Series 9's overall theme that foreshadows Ashildr from next week's episode, but still, the idea needed expanding upon. That's not to say that this story wasn't long enough; as a two-parter it had a perfectly adequate amount of time to develop its core ideas. However, this time was misspent on the TARDIS going back in time by half an hour for no reason whatsoever. When it happened, I remember checking the time to see when the episode would be over. It's the exact moment I lost interest. This two-parter had such a great premise and such an amazing first half that established that premise beautifully. But when it came time to deliver in part two, it all fell apart.

And now, some quick-fire thoughts: how did Cass manage to understand Clara without her interpreter? I'm not deaf, so I could be greatly underestimating her ability to lip-read, but on a pure script level, introducing a character who needs an interpreter before having that interpreter leave but the character can still understand people is a plot hole. How did the Doctor's coat rip? I understand why it had to rip to act as a form of countdown to build suspense for when he turns into a ghostie, but when did it actually happen? When the Doctor wrestled Bennett to the ground? Dr Who has been in far more action-packed scraps than that in the past and came out without a scratch. It just came across as being too easy. Was the companion name-dropping really necessary? And is the "Minister of War" the villain of Series 9 or is that just a random unseen enemy name like "the terrible Zodin" that we'll never actually meet? Because if it's the latter, it was unnecessary, and if it was the former, it sounded about as natural as the "Medusa Cascade" line that was crowbarred into Midnight.

This episode wasn't entirely unwatchable but it definitely could've been a lot better. Doctor Who has been on quite a roll that started back with Dark Water last year, but finally the bubble has burst. Oh well. This high was never going to last forever, and overall the hit to miss ratio of the Capaldi era has been way higher than it was during Series 6 and 7. Overall, the show is improving, but it's still capable of episodes that are just kinda...meh. And that's the best I can say about Before the Flood. It was meh.