#I got which season Turlough shows up in right FIRST TRY without looking it up

[fanonical]

if season 20 of doctor who came out now, turlough would be a tumblr sexyman and you can not convince me otherwise

[rochellespen]

Watching Doctor Who Season 37 (Series 11), Episode Two

After taking the time to have a bit of nonlinear fun with Thirteen’s debut episode, it looks like Chibnall decided to go with a simple, running down corridors adventure that would not be out of place at all in Classic Who.

Whether this is a good or bad thing, I guess depends on who you ask. Me, I like to have a nice balance between the clever, thought-provoking, mind-bending Who and the more straightforward action romp Who. In other words, I think episodes like say, Blink, need some episodes like 42 to give us a good mix of fun and cerebral. 

So seeing as I was fairly certain that this would be much more of the latter, I went in with an adjusted set of expectations. Now comes the question, were those expectations met?

Let’s find out by taking at look at The Ghost Monument.

Spoilers (for those who still need them for the episode) underneath the read more....

Episode Thoughts

This episode gave us this Doctor’s intro credits finally. It’s certainly a change from how other New Who seasons which have normally given us a much more defined “tunnel” or spiral look for us to travel through the credits. However, I also couldn’t help but think that it reminded me a bit of the watery, morphing credit sequence from Hartnell’s era. 

By necessity, really, we got the admittedly cool cliffhanger out of the way by having everyone “scooped” out of space by a pair of dueling humanoid aliens. Graham and Ryan end up on the ship with a pilot who doesn’t believe a word they say while the Doctor and Yasmin end up on the ship that’s about to crash...which seems painfully apropos in relation to the Doctor....XD

I happened to notice in the end credits that this episode was shot in South Africa, a first, I believe, for Doctor Who. It’s a great choice for something beautiful and yet desolate and definitely different from the standby rock quarries. Watching everyone wander around these deserts with the yellow tinged lighting gave it a realistic alien feel.

In fact, I really liked the cinematography for this episode in general. A friend of mine mentioned that episodes in this season almost seem like a movie and I have to agree based on what I saw with the outer space and desert sequences.

Anyway, after some typical Doctor pulling everyone out of a crisis moments, we’re given our plot of two contestants in a race to save their families from some unknown (well, to us anyway...) threat. This certainly isn’t the first time that a race with a life-changing payoff was a central plot point on Doctor Who (Enlightenment, anyone?), but I did appreciate that we were given the details over the course of the episode rather than give us a big info dump at the beginning. 

From there, the action of the plot is mainly a backdrop for continuing theme of how people are better off working together than on their own, a point that is illustrated in more than one way. Ryan tries to have his Halo moment and shoot his way past the sniper bots, but that ends with him screaming in retreat. Epzo keeps trying to go it alone so he can win the race and almost ends up getting killed more than once. It’s a bit obvious, but it’s also a solid way to let plot complement a story’s theme.

By the way, sniper bots...I kind of wish that we had spent more time on that. Or maybe not. Maybe it would have just turned out to be a bit too much like Raston Warrior Robots.... Ether way, we did get some good action sequences out of them.

What we also get are some questions and connections without resolutions. So...apparently the Stenza which attacked Earth in the first episode was also involved with wiping out Epzo’s and Angstrom’s planets? And had something to do with the scientists who were captured and tortured into making the planet Desolation a killing test ground? I’m thinking we might have a season long plot line forming here. 

Much more distressing to me was that bit where the sentient mummy wrappings (yes, that’s what they looked like to me) became all cryptic while taunting the Doctor and mentioning things like “the Timeless Child”. We’re not going to have another Moffat type build up to absolutely nothing, are we? (I keep trying to forget about “the Hybrid”...). I guess only time will tell....

I suppose it is nice to have a happy ending with everyone living this time (the Ninth Doctor would be so proud...), but it did feel more than a bit forced for Epzo to suddenly decide to cooperate to give himself and Angstrom a win to save their families. Especially when you consider his firm “I have to be out for me because no one else will” stance for the rest of the episode. Having seen a character with a similar viewpoint develop and change more gradually on Doctor Who in the past (Turlough), it feels odd to have Epzo reform so quickly. 

Chibnall wisely put an end to the Doctor chasing the TARDIS by having it appear at the end...with a new interior and everything. I’m sorry, Doctor, but while you might like it for once in your lifetimes, I wasn’t that thrilled with it. But maybe it will grow on me.

Character Thoughts

While Epzo’s characterization mainly revolved around the theme of not trusting others and only relying on one’s self, Angstrom’s characterization felt more subtle. I enjoyed her interactions with Yasmin and the Doctor when talking about family and the burden she has to save them. 

On a slightly rant-y side note, I did notice the moment where Graham mentioned that the Stenza was responsible for his wife’s death and Angstrom responded “mine too”. As it played out in the episode, it was a gentle moment of solidarity between a companion and a guest character. But I also have to wonder if moments like this are what some people were raving about with Doctor Who suddenly becoming all “SJW, virtue-signaling”. Really? Because of a casual mention like that? If anything, I thought it hit just the right note of making sure to acknowledge representation while also not drawing undue attention to itself. Geez, some people are just awful....

We’re also given some more development on the ongoing situation between Ryan and Graham. Ryan still can’t see Graham as his family while Graham clearly wishes he would. Although, we’ve also seen hints of how Graham can probably seem like a patronizing, “back in my day we knew things” kind of guy even if he isn’t trying to come off that way. Thus, I like how the writers are not making any resolution between them easy and quick.  And I look forward to seeing how they will continue this through the season.

Sadly, Yasmin didn’t seem to have as much to do, other than be a sounding board for Angstrom’s characterization. Then again, their moments were lovely and it’s unrealistic to expect the writers to full flesh out such a large companion team with every episode. So I’m hoping her turn will come later.

The Doctor, well the Doctor continues to intrigue me as far as how Whittaker is developing her.  Her scene with the holographic Ilin was a nice bit of snark and sparring. And she’s continuing to show other classic Doctor traits such as her abhorrence for guns and violence and her insatiable curiosity about everything going on around her. 

One important thing that I really appreciate is that, during those times when it seems like she’s not trusted or people around her have her doubts about her pulling off her plans and promises, it has nothing to do with her being a woman. Instead, it has everything to do with her being a high-energy babbling, flake-o who gets distracted by everything...at least on the surface.  XD

And I love that. I love that she’s not taken seriously at times because she just can’t stop being herself as well as perhaps her apparent youth (which implies inexperience). It reminds me a lot of what Five and Eleven had to put up with at times when people mistook their youthful appearance and enthusiasm for naivete. 

I think that one thing that surprised me though was that moment of faltering confidence at the end of the episode. It’s rare for the Doctor to openly express dismay over not following through with a promise and even though she brushed it off once she was in the TARDIS again, it was a moment of vulnerability that’s impossible to forget.

The Last Word

Was this a perfect episode with neatly tied up plot resolution? No. It had it’s thin parts and bits that could have been developed better. 

Did it meet my expectations for a Doctor Who romp? Actually, yes. The plot moved along at a good pace while still giving us some substantial characterization. The camera and effects looked great and we’re given some questions to keep thinking about for later episodes.

And while it didn’t end on another mind-blowing cliffhanger, there’s enough good will built up by the end that I certainly want to see what lies ahead for our new friends in the TARDIS.