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locker_monsterThis episode reminded me of "The Visitation" with a bit of "The Curse of Fenric" and "Tooth and Claw" thrown in.
The time period certainly evokes "The Visitation" and dead people rising up has a touch of the Haemovores to it. Then you have the alien who wants to take over the monarch, like with Queen Victoria in "Tooth and Claw". That isn't to say this is a bad episode for recalling elements from other plots. I quite enjoyed the episode, at least, until the last 10 minutes or so. But before that, there was plenty of tension and mystery and just enough humour that it didn't seem out of place.
This is really the first episode that has a character looking down on the Doctor because she's a woman (there was a bit in "Arachnids in the UK, but it was just one scene). King James immediately dismisses her as useless and, oh man, the Doctor is not pleased. People don't always listen to the Doctor, but few ever all out just assume the Doctor is a pointless nobody. In an episode about looking down at women, this was an obvious place to have that conversation. But it's good that they waited so long before anyone had a speech about the stupidity of the Doctor's new sex. Though, the Doctor has that line along the lines of "If I was still a bloke people would listen to me" that I was wish hadn't been in there. The Doctor shouldn't be comparing their current self with past selves (and it also implies that the Doctor had better powers of persuasion as a man).
I knew the second that the episode was about witchcraft that the Doctor would be accused as a witch. People in the past are usually suspicious of the Doctor's ways and this time period makes it even worse (and, of course, the Doctor being a woman now also plays into it). I'm trying to recall if anyone has purposefully tried to drown the Doctor before. That level of bodily harm is a rare circumstance. The episode isn't very subtle about getting the Doctor to that moment. All of the Companions run off to follow the mud corpses, when one of them could have easily stayed behind with the group. You know the Doctor won't drown, so the scene ends up being a bit of spectacle but it also becomes about King James trying to do the right thing. Willa, and hopefully King James, learn not to give into their fears by the end of the episode, which, again, is a nice message.
But then you get into the reveal that Becka has been infected with the mud and the episode kind of lost me. First off, it's a long sequence where a lot information is dumped on you. The Doctor seems to know a lot about the tree as a lock from just a cursory examination. And then, everyone gets knocked out. For a second, I seriously thought that was the end of the episode. But it's not and you lose some of the momentum by going to black at a critical moment. The other thing that bothered me is how the Doctor knew that the smoke from the tree would bother the Morax. I know the Doctor can do those intuitive leaps, but there's no evidence for the basis of that assumption. Using smoke would imply that the Morax can absorb the smell or the particulates, but can a creature that's liquid breathe like us? Also, why does it take the Morax so damn long to get King James to the ruined tree? Yes, the Doctor and team need time to break up the tree and formulate a plan, but surely the hill isn't that far from the dunking pond. But anyway...
Random: Alan Cumming was clearly having a blast being King James. Yet again, I need to read up on history. Was King James notorious for hunting down witches? The team was trying to visit the coronation of Elizabeth I? I'm sure if the TARDIS had taken them there, there would have been aliens involved like with Elizabeth II. The Doctor zeroing in on the apple bobbing made me laugh. It's such a Doctorish thing to do. Why does Yaz go talk to Willa? I get that Yaz will always be concerned about people's safety since she's a police officer, but Ryan could have connected more with Willa since he recently lost his gran as well. Of course, then we wouldn't have had scenes with King James admiring Ryan. I like that Graham commits to wearing the Witchfinder General hat for most of the episode even if it's a bit ridiculous. The Doctor quoting Arthur C. Clarke before the TARDIS disappears was a great way to end the episode.
I have no idea what's going on next week. The team's in Norway? Though, I am bummed we are down to the last two episodes.
The time period certainly evokes "The Visitation" and dead people rising up has a touch of the Haemovores to it. Then you have the alien who wants to take over the monarch, like with Queen Victoria in "Tooth and Claw". That isn't to say this is a bad episode for recalling elements from other plots. I quite enjoyed the episode, at least, until the last 10 minutes or so. But before that, there was plenty of tension and mystery and just enough humour that it didn't seem out of place.
This is really the first episode that has a character looking down on the Doctor because she's a woman (there was a bit in "Arachnids in the UK, but it was just one scene). King James immediately dismisses her as useless and, oh man, the Doctor is not pleased. People don't always listen to the Doctor, but few ever all out just assume the Doctor is a pointless nobody. In an episode about looking down at women, this was an obvious place to have that conversation. But it's good that they waited so long before anyone had a speech about the stupidity of the Doctor's new sex. Though, the Doctor has that line along the lines of "If I was still a bloke people would listen to me" that I was wish hadn't been in there. The Doctor shouldn't be comparing their current self with past selves (and it also implies that the Doctor had better powers of persuasion as a man).
I knew the second that the episode was about witchcraft that the Doctor would be accused as a witch. People in the past are usually suspicious of the Doctor's ways and this time period makes it even worse (and, of course, the Doctor being a woman now also plays into it). I'm trying to recall if anyone has purposefully tried to drown the Doctor before. That level of bodily harm is a rare circumstance. The episode isn't very subtle about getting the Doctor to that moment. All of the Companions run off to follow the mud corpses, when one of them could have easily stayed behind with the group. You know the Doctor won't drown, so the scene ends up being a bit of spectacle but it also becomes about King James trying to do the right thing. Willa, and hopefully King James, learn not to give into their fears by the end of the episode, which, again, is a nice message.
But then you get into the reveal that Becka has been infected with the mud and the episode kind of lost me. First off, it's a long sequence where a lot information is dumped on you. The Doctor seems to know a lot about the tree as a lock from just a cursory examination. And then, everyone gets knocked out. For a second, I seriously thought that was the end of the episode. But it's not and you lose some of the momentum by going to black at a critical moment. The other thing that bothered me is how the Doctor knew that the smoke from the tree would bother the Morax. I know the Doctor can do those intuitive leaps, but there's no evidence for the basis of that assumption. Using smoke would imply that the Morax can absorb the smell or the particulates, but can a creature that's liquid breathe like us? Also, why does it take the Morax so damn long to get King James to the ruined tree? Yes, the Doctor and team need time to break up the tree and formulate a plan, but surely the hill isn't that far from the dunking pond. But anyway...
Random: Alan Cumming was clearly having a blast being King James. Yet again, I need to read up on history. Was King James notorious for hunting down witches? The team was trying to visit the coronation of Elizabeth I? I'm sure if the TARDIS had taken them there, there would have been aliens involved like with Elizabeth II. The Doctor zeroing in on the apple bobbing made me laugh. It's such a Doctorish thing to do. Why does Yaz go talk to Willa? I get that Yaz will always be concerned about people's safety since she's a police officer, but Ryan could have connected more with Willa since he recently lost his gran as well. Of course, then we wouldn't have had scenes with King James admiring Ryan. I like that Graham commits to wearing the Witchfinder General hat for most of the episode even if it's a bit ridiculous. The Doctor quoting Arthur C. Clarke before the TARDIS disappears was a great way to end the episode.
I have no idea what's going on next week. The team's in Norway? Though, I am bummed we are down to the last two episodes.
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