#27 (13.6): The Vanquishers.

Azure and Swarm torment the Doctor.  Well, one of the Doctors...

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 60 minutes. Written by: Chris Chibnall. Directed by: Azhur Saleem. Produced by: Pete Levy.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor's escape from Swarm (Sam Spruell) and Azure (Rochenda Sandall) is successful... partially. Swarm touches her just as she transports back to her universe, and the combination of the Ravager's destructive power with the transport has the effect of splitting her in three. One Doctor ends up on Karvanista's ship just as the Sontarans assault the Lupari blockade. Another Doctor reunites with Yaz, Dan, and Jericho in the Williamson Tunnels beneath Liverpool.

A third Doctor, however, remains on the station outside the universe. As her other fragments of work to unravel the plans of the Sontarans and their ally, The Grand Serpent (Craig Parkinson), Swarm and Azure bask in the opportunity to torment their old enemy, taunting her:

"This is better than we could ever have hoped. We have everything we need. Division... The power to destroy your universe... And you!"


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Split into three personas, which she admits is confusing, exhausting, and frightening. That doesn't stop her from using it to her advantage - as when she deliberately sets herself up to be captured and interrogated, all so that she can be rescued after she's gathered needed information - rescued by another version of herself. Much like Amy in Steven Moffat's Space/Time sketch, she seems to fancy herself; she mentions having "a crush" on herself and, even when her form is adopted by a sinister entity, she pauses to note how good she looks in that variant's dark jacket (the dark jacket does suit her, by the way - Maybe we can get a wardrobe change for the specials?).

Yaz: The episode opens with her still emulating the Doctor, as when she thinks fast to open a particularly dangerous door to deal with a squad of Sontarans. Is overjoyed at the Doctor's return... until the Doctor begins rattling off technical terms with no explanation, leaving Yaz complaining, "normal service resumed." When the Doctor apologizes for shutting her out earlier in the season, saying she should have confided in her, Yaz doesn't fully let her off the hook; "Yeah, you should have," she says flatly, but makes clear that she's still willing to listen if the Doctor wants to start including her.

Dan: John Bishop continues to make the most of every small moment Dan gets... Which is fortunate, as for most of the season, small moments are all he does get. He's particularly sidelined here, with releasing a prisoner being the most significant moment he receives. There's a lot going on, so it's understandable that some characters end up underserved. Still, I'm left to wonder why he was even introduced if the season wasn't going to do anything with him.

Professor Jericho: At the opposite extreme... in a mere three episodes, Kevin McNally's Jericho has come to feel like an integral part of the series. He's emerged as my favorite character of the season: a mild-mannered, somewhat fussy academic with a core of steel. He gets some strong scenes here, thinking nothing of putting himself in danger to save his friends. I love his confrontation with a Sontaran who sneers that he's a "nameless human," to which he proudly declares himself to be "Professor Eustacius Jericho, scourge of scoundrels" - only to immediately regret not having written his autobiography, as that would have been such a good title.

The Grand Serpent: Has allied himself with the Sontarans as part of a long-range plan to install himself as Earth's ruler. He is unruffled when the Doctor points out that the Sontarans will inevitably betray him; he's already anticipated as much and plans to beat them to it. He is thrown, however, by how unbothered the Doctor is by his interrogation. When he realizes that she's actually getting information from him rather than the other way around, he tries to just kill her - but it turns out he's picked the wrong day to use his favorite parlor trick...

Swarm: Delights in inflicting pain, both psychological and physical. He teases the Doctor with her hidden memories, using his abilities to obliterate those memories - which manifests as physical agony. He literally disassembles the Doctor, only to rewind her to whole so that he can do it all over again. He and Azure boast that they'll do the same to the universe, rewinding the Flux until everything is intact and then unleashing it again, all to revel in the destruction. Not a smart boast, in this case, as this very plan provides the solution (although that solution is not very clearly communicated by the episode itself).

Azure: Every bit as sadistic as Swarm, as she dangles the Doctor's fobwatch in front of her. But she also has an inquisitive side, glimpsed in an excellent scene in which she asks the Doctor to explain why her valuing of life is better than the Ravagers' appetite for destruction. She doesn't seem to be sneering at the Doctor in that moment.  She is genuinely curious - and when she returns to taunting and tormenting her afterward, there's a sense that she's angry at how unsatisfactory she found the Doctor's answer to be. Rochenda Sandrall has been good all season, and I'm glad this episode allows her this one moment in the spotlight.

The Sontarans: Chris Chibnall again proves how good he is at writing the classic villains. He repeats the balancing act of War of the Sontarans. On the one hand, they are funny and even occasionally ridiculous, as when one Sontaran takes delight in raiding a convenience store's supplies of chocolate. At the same time, they have never been more ruthless. At one point, one gloats to Karvanista about ejecting Lupari out of airlocks to die in space, then mocks his prisoner's fury. Also, the Sontarans' plot to use their enemies to gain dominance over the Flux is genuinely clever, and it might well have succeeded.

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart: The Grand Serpent ends up fixating on Kate, who announces herself as the head of the resistance against the Sontaran Occupation. I can't help but wonder if something was left on the cutting room floor, however, because Kate ends up doing very little - certainly nothing that should draw the Serpent's personal attention. At least Jemma Redgrave remains a welcome presence, making the most of her confrontation scene with the Serpent. I just wish she was a bit more central to the episode, and that she had more scenes opposite Jodie Whittaker's Doctor.

Karvanista/Bel/Vinder: Speaking of underserved characters... It's appropriate that these three end up forming a sort of group of their own; after all the setup earlier this season, none of them gets enough of a payoff. Karvanista at least gets a good scene opposite the Doctor, bemoaning that there was a time that he would have done anything for her, and that she rewarded his loyalty by leaving him. Bel and Vinder don't even get that much. On the one hand, their story doesn't go to the obvious ending I had anticipated (once the unborn baby was revealed, I fully expected them to end up being the Doctor's parents); on the other hand, it doesn't particularly go anywhere else. In the end, this season would have been much the same had they not been present at all.


THOUGHTS:

Appropriately enough for a finale, The Vanquishers not only concludes the Flux arc, it also more or less represents it in miniature. All the season's strengths are evident. The episode is fast-paced and well-acted, with a genuine sense of urgency. All three villains are effective: The Sontarans, the Serpent, and the Ravagers all work well, and each group has its own separate agenda. The Doctor is central and proactive, getting at least one good scene opposite each of the villains.

However, the finale's multiple underserved elements make clear that the season tried to do too much. Look at the characters that this episode failed to use. The Bel/Vinder plot comes to nothing particularly interesting; had it been excised from the season, the main thing we'd have lost would have been the Grand Serpent's introduction, which could have been fixed with a slight alteration to Survivors of the Flux. Maybe then, more could have been done to develop the antipathy between the Serpent and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, who is so little-used here that I'm not sure why they bothered. Even Dan, one of the season's regulars, has spent half a season being eclipsed by the more interesting Professor Jericho; why not introduce Jericho in Episode One and make him the male companion for the season, given that unlike Dan he actually does things to advance the story?

I like both season and episode as they stand. Across all six episodes, I've remained engaged and sometimes quite gripped.  Jodie Whittaker is in full command of the role at this point, and every episode has offered at least a couple of very strong dramatic scenes.

The Vanquishers is ultimately a decent finale to an overall pretty good season. I just can't help but feel that, had the redundant threads been removed, the arc might have been tighter and more focused - and the resolution (which I didn't fully catch until my second viewing) might have been a lot clearer.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

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#26 (13.5): Survivors of the Flux.

Dan, Yaz, and Professor Jericho search for answers while marooned in the early 1900s.

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 50 minutes. Written by: Chris Chibnall. Directed by: Azhur Saleem. Produced by: Pete Levy.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor has been taken by The Division, which leaves Yaz, Dan, and Professor Jericho (Kevin McNally) stranded in the early 20th century. The Doctor anticipated this, however, and left Yaz a clue: a hastily recorded message giving her friends a mission to find out anything they can about the invasion that she's sure will come. The search leads them from pyramids to ocean liners... until the answer literally walks through their door in the form of 19th century Liverpool eccentric Joseph Williamson (Steve Oram).

As Yaz and her friends work to unravel the coming plot, the Grand Serpent (Craig Parkinson) is already bringing it to fruition. Using time travel technology of his own, he infiltrates the latter part of the 20th century, nudging UNIT's development just enough to fit his own agenda - while leaving a pile of bodies in his wake.

Meanwhile, the Doctor finds herself on a space station where the mysterious Awsok (Barbara Flynn), leader of The Division, reveals that she unleashed the Flux to destroy the universe. Her reason for doing so? The Doctor herself!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Finally learns the reasons the Flux was unleashed. There's a decent moment when she is tempted by a promise to restore her lost memories... but since we never doubt that she'll refuse, the moment ends up being interesting more for its potential than its realization. Jodie Whittaker has been terrific all season, but this time she comes across a bit flat - probably because her role this time amounts to little more than "receiver of plot information."

Yaz: Takes charge in the Doctor's absence, effectively paying off the question she wrote on her palm: "What Would the Doctor Do?" Stranded in the past, with only a brief message from the Doctor to guide her, she focuses Dan and Professor Jericho on anticipating the alien threat. She also shows a hint of a ruthless side; after a would-be ocean liner assassin avoids questioning by killing himself, she coldly orders her companions to dump his body overboard, which briefly startles both of them.  Mandip Gill is clearly enjoying her turn in the spotlight - and at the same time, looks fantastic in her Edwardian Adventuress getup.

Dan: His Encyclopediac knowledge of Liverpool history comes into play, as he recognizes the name "Joseph Williamson" when the mysterious 19th century traveler (Steve Oram) mentions it. That leads him, Yaz, and Jericho to the Williamson tunnels. When they find Williamson, Dan talks to him "one Scouser to another" - which quickly leads to him being slapped by the historical figure and threatening to slap him right back. Dan's compassion also shows itself when he catches Yaz in a moment of sad contemplation. Knowing the reason, he immediately offers reassurance that they'll see the Doctor again.

Professor Jericho: At this point, Kevin McNally's professor has become a de-facto companion in his own right... and I have absolutely no complaints about that. He, Dan, and Yaz make an engaging trio as they travel around the early 20th century world, hunting down any clue they can find. He's mostly a light comic figure here, but he receives a few moments that remind us that there's more to him than that, notably when he talks about his awareness of the horrors of World War I, only a little more than a decade off from where they've found themselves.

Bel/Vinder: They appear only briefly, just enough to put them in place for the finale. Bel ends up with Karvanista, just as the Lupari shield around Earth reaches a crisis point. Meanwhile, Vinder is captured by the Ravagers - but he seems to have anticipated this, and he declares that he has a plan. At this point, I'm fairly confident about where the Bel/Vinder subplot is going, but I genuinely like both characters and am interested in seeing how they reach their obvious destination.

The Grand Serpent: The Yaz/Dan/Jericho scenes are the episode's most enjoyable, but the Serpent's thread is the most interesting. His infiltration of UNIT allows for a lot of nods to the Classic Series, including references to The War Machines and a very welcome voice cameo. Parkinson's villain is highly effective, his cold disdain apparent even to the men who have allied with him - all of whom eventually come to regret that alliance...

Kate Lethbrige-Stewart: Jemma Redgrave makes a brief return, as we learn the reasons behind UNIT's shutdown. Kate is unfazed as she confronts the Serpent, brushing aside his artificially pleasant demeanor with a cold, "I see you." When he attempts to add her to his list of victims, she "goes dark" - presumably putting her in place for a larger role in the finale.


THOUGHTS:

To get the bad out of the way up front: The resolution to Village of the Angels' brilliant cliffhanger is a gigantic letdown, on the level of "Sarah Jane falls to the safety of a previously unseen ledge." Earlier this season, War of the Sontarans ended on an edge-of-the-seat cliffhanger which was resolved in an unexpected but perfectly in-character manner in Once, Upon Time. Here, the resolution feels like a lazy hand-wave.

I generally enjoyed the rest of Survivors of the Flux. It's probably the season's worst episode - but it earns that title largely by default. It's a set up episode, all about putting pieces in place for the finale, with little real identity of its own. There are a few decent character moments for Yaz and Dan, but this is basically an hour of "plot, plot, and more plot," which leaves little room for strong emotional engagement.

This is also the closest to a Doctor-lite episode that the Chibnall era has delivered. I doubt the Doctor is on screen for more than twenty minutes (if that), and virtually all of her screen time is devoted to Learning What the Plot Is. As I indicated in the "Characters" section, it's as well that she's not in much of it; her thread, while vital in informational terms, is easily the least enjoyable.

Hopefully, all the information imparted here will keep the finale from being a repeat of The Timeless Children's tedious exposition-fest. That said, to me this is the least engaging installment of the season. It's a necessary episode, and perfectly fine for what it is. But taken on its own, it's no more than "OK."


Overall Rating: 6/10.

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#24 (13.3): Once, Upon Time.

The Doctor's companions become unstuck in time...

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 49 minutes. Written by: Chris Chibnall. Directed by: Azhur Saleem. Produced by: Pete Levy.


THE PLOT:

"You don't mess with time. You don't put yourself and your friends in the midst of a time storm... Unless there's no alternative."

In the Temple of Atropos, Swarm and Azure have placed Yaz and the astronaut Vinder (Jacob Anderson) directly in the path of a time storm, prepared to unleash the full force of time through their frail bodies. To rescue them, the Doctor does the unthinkable. She grabs Dan to keep him out of the way of her new/old enemies and hops into the storm, taking the burden on herself while hiding her friends within their own time streams.

It's not called a "storm" for nothing, however, and none of them are able to remain at any fixed point. Dan finds himself in Liverpool, reliving his not-quite relationship with Diane (Nadia Albina), in a city that feels not quite right. Yaz experiences moments from her past, but details are not quite right - and she's somehow being stalked by a Weeping Angel.

The Doctor is also thrown into her past. Specifically, her past with the Division, on the day that the Division Doctor (Jo Martin) confronted Swarm and Azure at the Temple - the beginning of the current conflict tucked within a memory that's been hidden from her...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Earnest in her concern for her friends, but at the same time desperate to learn more about her past. Once she realizes that she is reliving the actions of the Division Doctor, she stops resisting. Jodie Whittaker gets to vary her usual performance, adopting the cold swagger of Jo Martin's variant while threatening her enemies with "execution... erasure of identity... (or) isolation prison terms for the infinite duration of the universe." Once the crisis has passed, her secretiveness reasserts itself, and she snaps at Yaz twice in short order for pressing her for information.

Yaz: Really needs to get the Doctor alone for a full, uninterrupted conversation. Not just about the secrets, but about the frankly shabby and disrespectful way she's been treated. The Doctor has been either dismissive or hostile on almost every occasion that Yaz has attempted to get information from her. In this episode, she yells at Yaz: "You don't understand anything!" Well, how can she, when you refuse to tell her anything? At this point, the friendship/relationship between Thirteen and Yaz feels exponentially more toxic than the one between Twelve and Clara ever did; at least with Clara, I felt the mutual affection, whereas here everything seems to be flowing exactly one way.

Dan: Mostly sidelined this time, though I did enjoy the scene in which he gradually realized things were "off" while reliving conversations with Diane. Dan remains positive and enthusiastic. Of all the people gathered in the Temple, he's the one who comprehends the least. But when Swarm gloats, Dan is the first to insist that they will stop him.

Vinder: We learn exactly why he was stationed alone at the edge of nowhere. After receiving a commendation for heroism, he was granted a prestigious assignment at the side of the Grand Serpent (Craig Parkinson), a high-ranking political figure. The Serpent proved to be as cold and untrustworthy as the title implies, and when Vinder attempted to do the right thing... Well, it didn't go well, hence both his isolation and bitterness in The Halloween Apocalypse. Given his best material so far, Jacob Anderon delivers his best performance in the season to date.

Bel: A separate thread follows the adventures of Bel (Thaddea Graham), a survivor of the Flux. She narrates her thoughts to "Tigme," a recording device, as she evades Daleks, Cybermen, and strange blue particles that devour everything in their path. Her goal is to be reunited with her lost love. That person's identity is no particular surprise, but it is withheld until the final moments - likely to create a sense of pieces of falling into place in an episode that otherwise resolves fairly little.

The Division Doctor: Jo Martin is only briefly glimpsed, just long enough to establish that the Doctor is reliving the events of this incarnation. In her short screen time, she manages to again project both intelligence and toughness. In both her moments and the scenes in which Jodie Whittaker re-enacts her confrontation with Swarm, I'm left with the same thought as in Fugitive of the Judoon: This may be the Doctor's past, but there is a coldness and ruthlessness here that doesn't really feel like our Doctor. I'm both suspecting and hoping that consistent thread is leading somewhere.

Swarm, Azure, and Passenger: "Ravagers." That's the designation given to them during the raid on Atropos, and it seems a fitting title. In the past, we again see the older form of Swarm (Matthew Needham). He and Azure gloat before their downfall, just as they do in the present, with the rejuvenated Swarm (Sam Spruell). We also learn what "Passenger" is: Basically, a plot device, but one used to good effect in two different scenes.


THOUGHTS:

Readers of my reviews likely know by now that I have a particular affinity for shows that nod at the surreal. Sudden jumps in time and space, rapid shifts from day to night, things that are askew and even confusing... For whatever reason, I tend to respond to these types of elements.

Which is to say: Once, Upon Time is a perfect fit for me. I also think it's largely well-constructed. There are three main threads: The Doctor reliving the raid on the Temple; Vinder's backstory that led to his assignment; and Bel's attempts to evade danger in a post-Flux universe while searching for her lover. Vinder's thread is purely focused on the past, on finally letting us know who he is. Bel's seems to be in the narrative's present, showing us the devastation caused by the Flux. The Doctor's links past and present; she's reliving events from long ago, but they are connected to the current conflict and experiencing them provides her with a solution. All three storylines are effectively paced, and the ending leaves them feeling all of the same piece.

On a less positive note, I've become impatient with the recurring appearances by Steve Oram's 19th century character. His scene at the start of The Halloween Apocalypse intrigued me. But his scenes since have done nothing to flesh out his role; he just seems to be popping up for a minute each week to make sure viewers don't forget about him. In a busy but otherwise well-controlled episode, his appearance here briefly throws the structure off-kilter for no good reason.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of this installment. For the most part, this was delivering exposition, but it did so vastly more enjoyably than The Timeless Children did, carrying the same sense of momentum that has been the highlight of the season thus far. Oh, and it ends with another good cliffhanger.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

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