Doctor Who 10.06 - "Extremis"

[lizbee]

WELL THEN.

(But first: once again, I applied Jamberry nails while I watched, and I am particularly pleased with this fortnight's design and its relevance to matters TARDIS-related.



Well, that was a wild ride! I spotted that it was a simulation ... hmmm, around the time Nardole vanished, because I kept wondering what happened to the email the Doctor had received. But that's not a criticism -- I was just far enough ahead of everyone else to feel clever.

Also, there is a very good interview with Steven Moffat here. (I strongly suspect it was conducted by email, not just because of the format, but Moffat's foot stays firmly out of his mouth. Bless.)

So we have:

- the Pope
- Missy
- the Pope interrupting Bill on a date
- which is actual nightmare fodder if you're gay, and I was kind of a bit relieved for Penny's sake that it was just a simulation because HELLO decades of therapy
- Bill and Nardole sort of bonding -- actually, they've been getting along better since last week
- we learn why Nardole joined the Doctor, and also that River has given him special permission to kick the Doctor's arse
- (let's face it, most people just kick it anyway)
- I ate half a block of chocolate while I was watching this, just from the stress, and now I feel queasy, damn you, Moffat!

IN SHORT, this was weird and complicated and scary. I loved the story of how Missy came to be in the Vault, and how the Doctor escapes being used as an executioner in the process. (They should have guessed that would end badly, I mean, really. Handsome Executioner Overlord Dude left it way too late to look up the Doctor's Wikipedia page.)

I was also pretty happy with the portrayal of the Vatican, in that the humour largely came from the incongruity of the Pope and various Cardinals turning up in unexpected places, and that serious stuff was treated seriously. Which is to say, when they explained that all the translators who had worked with Veritas had committed suicide, I was thinking, "Does Moffat know how significant that is, for practising Catholics who work at the Vatican?" And then he explained it.

Likewise, most of the humour in the Doctor's blindness came from his own refusal to admit it, so it was driven by character rather than "lol disability". But I remain nervous about future episodes, because that is how I roll.

And now I have to scoot off to brunch and also a day of making craft stuff for Continuum! So I'm going to hit post, share your feelpinions below!

Comments

[skipthedemon]

It was good.

Theory about Missy...90% canon? I'm not clear on whether the Doctor and Nardole are concerned more about Missy getting out wreaking havoc out of revenge or glee at being free or something, or whether they're worried about the Death Index punishing the Doctor and possibly his favorite planet to boot.

[copracat]

That was pretty awesome. I disagree that everyone would become immediately nihilistic, though. Surely among the people at CERN there were die hard gamers whose first thought was, "Right, let's win this sucker from the inside. Level up." Or something like that.

Just me?

[beccaelizabeth]

not just you.

[thefish30]

I found the idea of everyone suiciding out of despair both unconvincing and unhelpful. Surely at least a few would take the eat drink and be merry approach? My first thought when they said "suffering is information," was that people were killing themselves in order to avoid giving any more information to the invaders, a much more compelling and uplifting reason.

I think your idea is even more likely, but I guess didn't fit so well with the rest of the plot.

[kerravonsen]

My first thought when they said "suffering is information," was that people were killing themselves in order to avoid giving any more information to the invaders, a much more compelling and uplifting reason.

I agree. Because the dialogue with the CERN guy was something like:

"We're saving the world."
"How is blowing yourself up saving the world?"
"Because this is not the world!"

They were killing themselves to mess up the simulation.

[ironed_orchid]

I liked it in the hesitant way I often feel with the two part episodes.

Your list of stuff is a good list.

[garpu]

Haven't actually seen it yet. Came over wondering if it would annoy me the way the Church (or their version of it) comes up. If it didn't annoy you, then it probably won't annoy me. :)