Doctor Who S11 E7 Recap
"The future is quite confusing for my programming"
Doctor Who S11 is coming to a close, and with four episodes left Kerblam! kicks off the lead up to the finale with what felt like a classic-modern who story. The Doctor gets a package with the note "Help Me" written on it. Intrigued, she takes her companions along to the moon where Kerblam! operates. A sinister underbelly of a good natured futuristic Amazon and a slow boring pace pulls you along for the ride.
To be honest the last few episodes haven't had a lot worth writing about. Demons of the Punjab was an interesting historical piece that hit home for Yaz, The Tusranga Conundrum had an interesting concept, and this latest episode felt like it was taken straight out of Matt Smith's era, and yet each episode while they had their moments fell flat for me by the time the credits rolled and I think I've finally figured out why.
Doctor Who, in the modern era at least, has always been corny, optimistic, fun, and at times heroic. This new era with Jodie Wittaker, however, is vastly different in tone. The remodeling of the TARDIS and the overall serious tone that was put in place has affected the episodes that wanted to be fun and lighthearted, like this one. While Jodie has her moments she feels more serious like Capaldi's interpretation in the beginning, and because of that it clashes with the tone that the writers are striving for, and what has worked for over a decade. The first few episodes felt like they were able to handle this awkward balance, but last episode and this one had trouble because the stories didn't lend themselves to this incarnation of the Doctor that well, or vice versa.
The companions this time around are somewhat useful. It's quite interesting how little character development they've had since the beginning episode. Speaking of which, Ryan once again brings up his dispraxia, and yet again we don't see how he is affected by it. I did think it was clever that he's back as a warehouse packer essentially on the moon this time around. It's a nice little callback for him to remember where he was and how far he has come, and like his character development apparently not very far.
The problems I had with this episode were mainly how familiar everything was. The Doctor got a mysterious cry for help, they go to a futuristic work place that has a sinister mastermind behind it, there's a third act twist, and I couldn't help but think we have explored this type of episode in modern who numerous times already.
Overall, this episode landed in the middle for me where it's interesting but not one I'd likely want to go back and watch again. Sadly this is how I felt for the last few episodes and I sure hope that the next three will pick up the pace.
Key Points
- Fez's are cool
- Kerblam! is Amazon of the Future!
What did you think of this week's episode? Do you think Doctor Who will stick the landing by the time we arrive at the finale?
