Maius Intra Qua Extra

I'm finally sitting down to get my thoughts about the new season and these two episodes, so here goes.


While I think this was a fine episode in general, I wouldn't say it was anything to write home about... except that it's a companion-introduction episode, and possibly one of the best ones for that purpose. The opening scenes of Belinda in real life gave us a glimpse of who she is - a dedicated nurse and a serious person with a healthy dose of self-confidence, skepticism, and sarcasm - and her current living situation. It reminded me of the excellent introduction to Martha and her family in the first minute of "Smith and Jones". Then, even in the midst of a rebel camp with no idea what's going on, Belinda immediately starts helping the medics. Then, the episode itself showed where a good chunk of that self-confidence and skepticism came from: her disastrous relationship with Alan.

The Doctor trying to get information out of a computer monitor also reminded me of "Smith and Jones". When will he learn that data isn't stored there?

Belinda, though, is a breath of fresh air as a companion. She already has an established life, passion, and direction; she's not either starting out or aimless and drifting, and she does not need the Doctor at all, unlike every other modern companion. (Except Graham, who was already established with a family, and only got into the aimless/drifting state because he got mixed up with the Doctor.) She doesn't want to travel with the Doctor because she already knows what she wants for herself. She feels a bit like Tegan but from a later period in life.

I enjoyed the surreality of an entire planet that was based on one of those star certificate things, though you have to wonder, how did that actually start? Like were these people placed on the planet in the already-named star system, or did they evolve into a species who decided to call their star "Missbelindachandra"? It's boggling, but for me, that adds to the charm of the episode.

The "every ninth word" thing was clever, and I liked the way they portrayed it. The Doctor knew exactly what he needed to say and delivered his message cleanly. Belinda had to count on her fingers, because that's actually a difficult thing to do on the spur of the moment. Alan's dialogue was completely natural, as he was speaking through the computer, and so it was difficult for the audience to pick up on it until the Doctor pointed it out. And once that got out, Alan dropped the hidden messaging because it was no longer necessary. I liked that this was kept consistent, unlike the easter egg in "Blink", which, once it was revealed that it was a message from the Doctor in the past to Sally in the present, stopped being cryptic. (Seriously, imagine that you're one of the easter egg hunters trying to figure the video out and go read only the Doctor's dialogue. Why would you have any question about what this is once the Doctor gets to the line, "I've got a copy of the finished transcript. It's on my autocue... I'm a time traveller. I got it in the future"?)

The episode included something very rare in Doctor Who: a firefight in which people actually got hit and killed. And another rarity: the Doctor (or any Time Lord) actually displaying time powers, by absorbing the temporal blast. I know there's a Third Doctor episode in which time is being frozen or something, causing everyone else to freeze, but the Doctor is able to resist the effect and accomplish what he needed to do to turn it off, but other than that, I can't remember any other direct display of the Time Lords' "special relationship with time".

And another common trope: During the firefight, Sasha said, "Take her home, Doctor. Then take me to the stars," and the Doctor responded, "That is a date." My husband and I turned to each other and said, "She's gonna die." And sure enough. Remember: if the Doctor asks you to travel with them in the middle of the adventure, you will not make it out alive.

It was a fun story and a great companion introduction, and (hopefully) a sign of a great season to come.




I'm just going to say this right off: I loved this episode. It doesn't knock "Wild Blue Yonder" out of it's "#1 favorite episode" spot for me, but it's definitely in my top ten. (It's high time I rewrote my top ten list.) We rewatched it the next day, and I'm thinking I'd like another rewatch before the new episode on Saturday (though I probably won't get to it).

So first off, surreality - check! I have always loved the surreal episodes in DW (examples: "The Mind Robbers", "The Happiness Patrol", "Paradise Towers" from classic; "Bad Wolf", "Gridlock", "Dot and Bubble" from modern), and I have to admit I really missed it during the Moffat and Chibnall eras, which drove toward more mainstream sci-fi. Lux himself was definitely surreal, as a two-dimensional cartoon character trapping terrified people in celluloid, but it's more than that. The opening itself was truer than true, with the theater and the moviegoers perfectly coiffed in bright colors and sharp contrasts, and Mom cooing over her son, all Leave It to Beaver. It was more 50s than the 50s had ever been. Reality doesn't really set in until we see Renee grieving for her son.

The Giggle sent a chill down our spines, and using it to introduce the new threat was masterful. It had been effective when Maestro used it, but we'd already known they were a god at that point, so it lost some of its punch. In this episode, we'd known nothing about Mr Ring-a-Ding except that he'd killed a theater full of people (or so we'd thought at the time), which isn't anything exceptional for DW monsters. This Giggle, coming entirely out of left field, was heart-stopping.

After fighting three gods so far, the Doctor is far more prepared for Lux. He doesn't know what to do, but he also doesn't despair, which shows his growth. While he's trying to figure out how to defeat him, he's also guiding Belinda through her first adventure. She doesn't get a lot of initiative or proactivity here, which is fine - still learning the ropes, after all - but she's a quick thinker and adapts to sudden changes without protest.

But you know what my favorite part of the episode was? Lux himself. For the first time, we have a god that doesn't actually revel in death and violence; he just wanted one finite thing - darkness with bright light shining in it. Yes, he imprisoned a theater full of people to get it, but once he had it, he was content. He'd spent three months there without asking for more, and only got aggressive and greedy because the Doctor came in and threatened to take it all away. Compare him to the Toymaker, who enjoyed making the world self-destruct one person at a time and dreamed of killing the Doctor over and over again, or Maestro, who gloried in the decay of worlds and souls that are denied music. And of course, there's Sutekh.

The other glimpse we see of Lux's character is in Mr Pye's flashbacks. Obviously Lux needed Mr Pye to serve him, because he's the projectionist, but rather than enslaving him, he gave him what he desperately wanted: he brought his wife back. He actually rewarded his minion, rather than coercing and punishing him. And when Mr Pye reunited with his wife, Lux actually smiled. He was happy that his minion was happy. How often do you see that depicted in any media?

Chaotic evil villains are a dime a dozen. Chaotic neutral villains are far more interesting. 2-D Mr Ring-a-Ding is a far more three-dimensional character than most DW villains. I also appreciated the method in which Lux was defeated, by actually giving him universal godhood rather than killing or banishing him, acknowledging that he's not actually malevolent.

And just a mention of Mr Pye: a good but troubled man and a wonderful love story.

I loved the nods to storytelling, with the line about 2-D characters can't be expected to have backstory and breaking out of the cartoon world by creating more character depth. And then, of course, we come to the elephant in the room, the fourth-wall break into the living room of a group of fans watching the episode.

It was shocking, eliciting an actual double-take. Is Doctor Who really doing this? Yes, it is. Well, it turns out, not really - it was just another layer of Lux's trap and they were still stuck in celluloid - but, still, there's some truth there, right? But the fans, Lizzie, Hassan, and Robyn, were so real, their reactions to the Doctor so genuine -- they felt like everyone I've ever met at Gallifrey One. Then they sacrificed themselves for the Doctor, and their fear was palpable. I cried. I actually cried at the end of their scene. I don't cry at media easily, and there are a few episodes that have made me cry, like "Human Nature"/"Family of Blood", but no DW episode has made me cry - nothing has elicited that much caring about the characters - since "The End of Time". (Okay, I teared up a little when Ten and Eleven joined the War Doctor to fire the Moment the first time I saw DoTD, but that dried up immediately when they cheated their way out of it.) But I actually cried here.

Remember I said I rewatched the episode the next day? I cried again, even knowing how it was going to end. Just wow.

I have to admit I also loved this scene because of the parallels to one of my AUs, in which the Doctor learns that there is another universe in which his life is a TV show. I even have a story in which a character says something to the effect of, "Oh, so you're a Time Lord. What planet are you from, Timelordia?" and after laughing out loud at Belinda saying "Timelordia", I had to explain why to my husband.

My one disappointment? That all three fans chose the same episode as their favorite. The actual choice didn't matter to me ("Blink" is excellent and a worthy choice), but I would have liked to have seen the third person (Robyn, in this case) choose something else, preferably classic and not Fourth Doctor, like "The Caves of Androzani" or "Battlefield", and have the other two snipe good-naturedly at her a bit (like, "Oh, but you gotta admit, the Weeping Angels are the best!" or "You shouldn't say a regeneration episode to the Doctor!"), like fans and friends always do.

So this was just a long-winded way of saying, omg I loved "Lux". I'd like to hope beyond hope that Lux comes back one day, but on the other hand, that's what fanfiction is for, isn't it?