“The Church on Ruby Road” (review)
Dec. 27th, 2023 12:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivverOkay, I’ve watched it twice now and the bottom line is, this episode was a lot of fun. It concentrated on who the companion Ruby is, not on the Doctor, so the Doctor’s personality is still up in the air, but on the other hand, he was definitely enjoyable to watch.
Very spoilery and speculative.
If I had to choose a single word to describe this Doctor, it would be “charming”. He is entirely capable of winning over anyone with that smile. He has not, however, displayed any alien qualities yet, and so far seems even more human than the Tenth Doctor (whom most people have called the most human modern Doctor). I’m not concerned, though, as this episode didn’t focus on him. I’m content to wait for the new season to really find out who he is.
I will say that I really enjoyed watching him running after the goblin ship on the roof, easily hurdling the struts (whatever you call them). He’s the most physically active, dexterous, and graceful of the modern Doctors. (Ten was physically active and rather dexterous, but “graceful” is certainly not applicable.)
The episode was all about Ruby: how she was fostered, her family, her occupation and friends, her search for her birth mother. We piece all this together from seeing scenes of her life over three days and the filming of her “foundling search” TV show with Davina McCall, but all of it is also relevant to the main plot of the episode - the goblins adding flavor to the coincidences surrounding the baby Lulubelle - and thus doesn’t feel forced; it all develops and informs us naturally. She then gets caught up in the adventure and works with the Doctor because she’s trying to protect the baby.
Ruby isn’t quite sure about this mad world she’s been pulled into and is terrified, but she also steps up when she needs to, using her musical talents (demonstrated earlier in the episode) to improvise to the Doctor’s song and distract the goblins long enough for them to escape. Then it’s up to the Doctor to figure out what the goblins did to get their dinner and figure out how to counteract their plans.
I absolutely loved the goblins being creatures of luck and coincidence, and the Doctor having to learn how to interpret their language and science. RTD had said that this episode would be delving into fantasy and mentioned the goblins, and yet the fantasy is explained as a different type science, just like the Carrionites’ “magic” had been explained as science. Sure, it’s not hard speculative fiction, but this still keeps the show in science fiction rather than moving it to science fantasy (as it has been in the now-not-so-recent-past), and that makes me happy. I do hope we get to explore this more sometime in the future (not necessarily this season).
I’m of two minds about the musical number on the goblin ship. On the one hand, I did like the number itself, as well as the song. (I’m wondering if some of the things mentioned will be coming up next season.) It just bugged me a bit because we just had a musical number last episode (the Toymaker’s in “The Giggle”, which was also awesome) and I did think that I hope this isn’t a pattern.
I’m very pleased with the Doctor’s use of the word “mavity”, which indicates to me that he’s still aware that it’s messed up and needs to be fixed, and that it will be a plot point during the upcoming season. (Just to be clear, the Doctor knows that the word changed and is currently wrong. Early on in “Wild Blue Yonder”, Donna says “mavity” without having ever heard it before [Newton said it after they had left] and the Doctor throws her a look. Then later, he says “gravity” and she doesn’t know the word, and he corrects himself so she understands. The real mystery is why he’s waiting so long to fix it.)
The big question at this point is, who is Mrs. Flood? The interwebs are rife with speculation: Susan, the Rani, Ruby herself from the future, Ruby’s mother. I have no ideas yet. I don’t think it’s Susan, the Rani, or any other Time Lady (or Time Lord; why not?) who knows the Doctor from the past, because while she knew it was a TARDIS after seeing it dematerialize, she didn’t recognize the police box beforehand. For the same reason, she’s not likely to be Ruby herself. Ruby’s mother? Maybe, but that opens another whole can of worms: why would Ruby’s mother know it’s a TARDIS; is she playing some kind of long game starting with placing her baby on a church doorstep nineteen years ago, and if so, why; etc. I don’t expect any clues for this for at least a few episodes.
Okay, so, action-y? Check. Interesting? Check. Clever? Check. Entertaining? Check. Consistent? Check. Mysterious? Check. Interesting Doctor? Check. Interesting companion? Check. Well, I would have liked a non-teenager, but that’s okay. All in all, this was a fine intro episode, and I’m excited for the season to come.
Very spoilery and speculative.
If I had to choose a single word to describe this Doctor, it would be “charming”. He is entirely capable of winning over anyone with that smile. He has not, however, displayed any alien qualities yet, and so far seems even more human than the Tenth Doctor (whom most people have called the most human modern Doctor). I’m not concerned, though, as this episode didn’t focus on him. I’m content to wait for the new season to really find out who he is.
I will say that I really enjoyed watching him running after the goblin ship on the roof, easily hurdling the struts (whatever you call them). He’s the most physically active, dexterous, and graceful of the modern Doctors. (Ten was physically active and rather dexterous, but “graceful” is certainly not applicable.)
The episode was all about Ruby: how she was fostered, her family, her occupation and friends, her search for her birth mother. We piece all this together from seeing scenes of her life over three days and the filming of her “foundling search” TV show with Davina McCall, but all of it is also relevant to the main plot of the episode - the goblins adding flavor to the coincidences surrounding the baby Lulubelle - and thus doesn’t feel forced; it all develops and informs us naturally. She then gets caught up in the adventure and works with the Doctor because she’s trying to protect the baby.
Ruby isn’t quite sure about this mad world she’s been pulled into and is terrified, but she also steps up when she needs to, using her musical talents (demonstrated earlier in the episode) to improvise to the Doctor’s song and distract the goblins long enough for them to escape. Then it’s up to the Doctor to figure out what the goblins did to get their dinner and figure out how to counteract their plans.
I absolutely loved the goblins being creatures of luck and coincidence, and the Doctor having to learn how to interpret their language and science. RTD had said that this episode would be delving into fantasy and mentioned the goblins, and yet the fantasy is explained as a different type science, just like the Carrionites’ “magic” had been explained as science. Sure, it’s not hard speculative fiction, but this still keeps the show in science fiction rather than moving it to science fantasy (as it has been in the now-not-so-recent-past), and that makes me happy. I do hope we get to explore this more sometime in the future (not necessarily this season).
I’m of two minds about the musical number on the goblin ship. On the one hand, I did like the number itself, as well as the song. (I’m wondering if some of the things mentioned will be coming up next season.) It just bugged me a bit because we just had a musical number last episode (the Toymaker’s in “The Giggle”, which was also awesome) and I did think that I hope this isn’t a pattern.
I’m very pleased with the Doctor’s use of the word “mavity”, which indicates to me that he’s still aware that it’s messed up and needs to be fixed, and that it will be a plot point during the upcoming season. (Just to be clear, the Doctor knows that the word changed and is currently wrong. Early on in “Wild Blue Yonder”, Donna says “mavity” without having ever heard it before [Newton said it after they had left] and the Doctor throws her a look. Then later, he says “gravity” and she doesn’t know the word, and he corrects himself so she understands. The real mystery is why he’s waiting so long to fix it.)
The big question at this point is, who is Mrs. Flood? The interwebs are rife with speculation: Susan, the Rani, Ruby herself from the future, Ruby’s mother. I have no ideas yet. I don’t think it’s Susan, the Rani, or any other Time Lady (or Time Lord; why not?) who knows the Doctor from the past, because while she knew it was a TARDIS after seeing it dematerialize, she didn’t recognize the police box beforehand. For the same reason, she’s not likely to be Ruby herself. Ruby’s mother? Maybe, but that opens another whole can of worms: why would Ruby’s mother know it’s a TARDIS; is she playing some kind of long game starting with placing her baby on a church doorstep nineteen years ago, and if so, why; etc. I don’t expect any clues for this for at least a few episodes.
Okay, so, action-y? Check. Interesting? Check. Clever? Check. Entertaining? Check. Consistent? Check. Mysterious? Check. Interesting Doctor? Check. Interesting companion? Check. Well, I would have liked a non-teenager, but that’s okay. All in all, this was a fine intro episode, and I’m excited for the season to come.
