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locker_monsterHeaven help you if you're afraid of spiders and you had no idea what this week's episode was about. Though, with a title like "Arachnids in the UK", it's not hard to figure out what the main focus of the plot is.
I think I can firmly say that this is the first episode of the season that I was quite indifferent about. There are some character moments that I appreciated, but overall, I mostly came away with "meh". I guess there's always one of these stories, the episode where the Companion makes it home after their first trip out in the TARDIS and there's an invasion of a sort going on. It's here where the Companion can put their newfound experience to work. If it's a theme we've seen more than a few times, then it does start to get a little hard to do anything fresh.
I was quite reminded of "The Green Death" in that that episode also had oversized creatures due to something from beneath the Earth. Does mixing genetically engineered spiders with toxic waste make sense? I'm not sure I totally followed the whole pheromone thing in regards to how the person in Yaz's complex died, but this is Doctor Who, so accurate science isn't exactly its top concern. However, they do bother to mention that once you start to scale up smaller creatures, like spiders or ants, they can only get so big before they get crushed under their own weight. As a way to deal with the mother spider, it was the most humane thing they could do. Of course, then the gun wielding American had to come in and ruin everything.
They definitely made a statement with Robertson. He's not exactly Trump, but he's certainly a derivative of Trump. I think I could have used less of him. You do need someone to blame, and hate, in the episode, but I'm not sure what he added overall to the episode. Actually, there were a lot of people running around in the hotel. You already have Team TARDIS, but then there's Yaz's mom, Jade, and Robertson. Usually, you only have a large group so people can get picked off one by one, but they didn't do that, so I guess some kudos is needed since Chibnall felt no need to indulge in a cliché. He also didn't conveniently have Robertson get eaten by one of the spiders as a comeuppance, which probably would have happened in another episode with similar circumstances. Chris Noth was certainly chewing some of the scenery, so I hope he had some fun with this.
The thing I enjoyed the best was the personal stuff with the team. Thank god we got to learn more about Yaz and her family. Najia now joins the long line of mothers who disapprove of the Doctor. I thought maybe Yaz had a terrible family or something, but they seem average. An annoying sibling, a embarrassing father, and a nosy mother. But maybe that's why Yaz wants to travel. She has this average life. Even being a police officer doesn't do anything to make it more exciting. So I can get why she leaves with the Doctor. It's the same sort of wanderlust that a lot of the other Companions have had over the years. Ryan leaves behind his absentee dad to embrace his new Team TARDIS family. And then there's Graham. Poor Graham. He leaves so he can leave his grief behind. I don't know if that's healthy. He claims travelling with the Doctor will help him to get over his grief, but I wonder if he's actually just running away and he won't be dealing with his loss. I'd actually be interested in seeing that. Like, we'll have a moment when Ryan calls him out on it.
And oh my god, the Doctor is so happy when everyone comes back. Her face just lights up. It's nice that she warns them about life in the TARDIS before they leave. They won't be the same people when they come back. I really liked that line because it's so damn true. Time and space travel will certainly change you. I'm also noticing how short the Doctor can be with people. She doesn't shut them down with yelling, but she can issue a lot of orders and she expects people to follow her lead. Essentially, that boils down to a lot of scenes where she's just telling everyone what to do. This annoys me slightly because it makes it seem like no one has any initiative. The Doctor is good with plans, but that shouldn't mean that the Companions or the guest stars shouldn't have ideas of their, too.
Random: What was with the, I'm going to use the UK term here, bum bag that the Doctor was wearing? It's just there with no mention of why she's wearing it. I think she reaches into it to grab the psychic paper, but why bother with a bag when the coat has pockets bigger on the inside? Is there some cut scene where the Doctor tries it on and likes it? That would be very much the Doctor, liking something that no one else thinks is cool. The Time Vortex is so pretty and elaborate now. I liked how there were numerous branches, indicating different time paths. Did they film this episode earlier in the shooting schedule? I feel like this was shot with the premiere in the same block. Maybe that explains the sudden appearance of the bum bag. It was something they wanted to do early on, but then dropped it when the show went to film in South Africa. I actually felt sorry for the spider in Yaz's neighbour's place. The Doctor show such sympathy towards it. It was one instance when I thought the giant spider was cute. Najia hounding Yaz about whether she's dating any of her new friends was typical TV mother, but you do get a funny little twist now that the Doctor is a woman. I think Najia would be happy if her daughter was dating someone, regardless of gender. All of the spiders were CGI. Gone are the days of the fake rubber spider.
I have no idea what next week's episode is about, so that should be fun. But can we please get some episodes not written or co-written by Chibnall? Please and thanks.
I think I can firmly say that this is the first episode of the season that I was quite indifferent about. There are some character moments that I appreciated, but overall, I mostly came away with "meh". I guess there's always one of these stories, the episode where the Companion makes it home after their first trip out in the TARDIS and there's an invasion of a sort going on. It's here where the Companion can put their newfound experience to work. If it's a theme we've seen more than a few times, then it does start to get a little hard to do anything fresh.
I was quite reminded of "The Green Death" in that that episode also had oversized creatures due to something from beneath the Earth. Does mixing genetically engineered spiders with toxic waste make sense? I'm not sure I totally followed the whole pheromone thing in regards to how the person in Yaz's complex died, but this is Doctor Who, so accurate science isn't exactly its top concern. However, they do bother to mention that once you start to scale up smaller creatures, like spiders or ants, they can only get so big before they get crushed under their own weight. As a way to deal with the mother spider, it was the most humane thing they could do. Of course, then the gun wielding American had to come in and ruin everything.
They definitely made a statement with Robertson. He's not exactly Trump, but he's certainly a derivative of Trump. I think I could have used less of him. You do need someone to blame, and hate, in the episode, but I'm not sure what he added overall to the episode. Actually, there were a lot of people running around in the hotel. You already have Team TARDIS, but then there's Yaz's mom, Jade, and Robertson. Usually, you only have a large group so people can get picked off one by one, but they didn't do that, so I guess some kudos is needed since Chibnall felt no need to indulge in a cliché. He also didn't conveniently have Robertson get eaten by one of the spiders as a comeuppance, which probably would have happened in another episode with similar circumstances. Chris Noth was certainly chewing some of the scenery, so I hope he had some fun with this.
The thing I enjoyed the best was the personal stuff with the team. Thank god we got to learn more about Yaz and her family. Najia now joins the long line of mothers who disapprove of the Doctor. I thought maybe Yaz had a terrible family or something, but they seem average. An annoying sibling, a embarrassing father, and a nosy mother. But maybe that's why Yaz wants to travel. She has this average life. Even being a police officer doesn't do anything to make it more exciting. So I can get why she leaves with the Doctor. It's the same sort of wanderlust that a lot of the other Companions have had over the years. Ryan leaves behind his absentee dad to embrace his new Team TARDIS family. And then there's Graham. Poor Graham. He leaves so he can leave his grief behind. I don't know if that's healthy. He claims travelling with the Doctor will help him to get over his grief, but I wonder if he's actually just running away and he won't be dealing with his loss. I'd actually be interested in seeing that. Like, we'll have a moment when Ryan calls him out on it.
And oh my god, the Doctor is so happy when everyone comes back. Her face just lights up. It's nice that she warns them about life in the TARDIS before they leave. They won't be the same people when they come back. I really liked that line because it's so damn true. Time and space travel will certainly change you. I'm also noticing how short the Doctor can be with people. She doesn't shut them down with yelling, but she can issue a lot of orders and she expects people to follow her lead. Essentially, that boils down to a lot of scenes where she's just telling everyone what to do. This annoys me slightly because it makes it seem like no one has any initiative. The Doctor is good with plans, but that shouldn't mean that the Companions or the guest stars shouldn't have ideas of their, too.
Random: What was with the, I'm going to use the UK term here, bum bag that the Doctor was wearing? It's just there with no mention of why she's wearing it. I think she reaches into it to grab the psychic paper, but why bother with a bag when the coat has pockets bigger on the inside? Is there some cut scene where the Doctor tries it on and likes it? That would be very much the Doctor, liking something that no one else thinks is cool. The Time Vortex is so pretty and elaborate now. I liked how there were numerous branches, indicating different time paths. Did they film this episode earlier in the shooting schedule? I feel like this was shot with the premiere in the same block. Maybe that explains the sudden appearance of the bum bag. It was something they wanted to do early on, but then dropped it when the show went to film in South Africa. I actually felt sorry for the spider in Yaz's neighbour's place. The Doctor show such sympathy towards it. It was one instance when I thought the giant spider was cute. Najia hounding Yaz about whether she's dating any of her new friends was typical TV mother, but you do get a funny little twist now that the Doctor is a woman. I think Najia would be happy if her daughter was dating someone, regardless of gender. All of the spiders were CGI. Gone are the days of the fake rubber spider.
I have no idea what next week's episode is about, so that should be fun. But can we please get some episodes not written or co-written by Chibnall? Please and thanks.
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