"The Well" - Doctor Who s15e03 Review
An old foe returns...?
This review is going to have full spoilers at a certain point. No way can I talk about this episode without spoiling what it’s about. No spoilers to start, but just be warned.
Full disclosure: the rumor mill did reveal the big secret at the heart of this episode. I did know it going in, and it was still utterly thrilling. At the heart, it’s always better to not know things, but the best stories don’t hinge on these moments. It’s like knowing who goes home on this week’s Survivor. It’s better not knowing, but if the episode is doing its job, it shouldn’t affect the interpersonal dramas that bring us to that moment.
For “The Well”, that’s extremely true. But this is also one of those episodes that did get a lot of hype because of that big spoiler online. It’s also an episode that Moffat posted about on Instagram, touting it with “Blink’s long day may be over.” While I don’t think that’s quite true, it’s clear why he said it and it’s fully fitting into the zone of Doctor Who that’s straight for me. Much as I liked “Lux”, this is the one to beat this season so far.
And it’s crazy we’re still in what’s usually the traditional run of this season’s episodes. God.
Space Marines
The big thing that stuck out immediately was RTD (and his co-writer Sharma Angel-Walfall) doing an episode that features The Doctor and Belinda joining up with a band of space marines. Was a time where Doctor Who did this somewhat regularly, specifically in the 5th and 6th Doctor eras1. RTD never really did space marines during his tenure, the closest being probably “The Doctor’s Daughter” (and even then that was more of a military civil war thing on an alien planet, which is not the same). He’s definitely played within the larger subgenre of “Gun” stories (“The Impossible Planet”/“The Satan Pit” comes to mind) but this sort of… rah military rah thing is practically nonexistent in Davies’ world.
The biggest example of Space Marines (or the one that first comes to mind, anyway) is “The Time of Angels”/”Flesh and Stone”, in which Moffat consciously rips off Aliens for his big episode where he brings back the Weeping Angels. There, the Space Marines are also members of the clergy, sort of Holy Warriors or whatever. Moffat covers them somewhat again in “A Good Man Goes To War”, but the whole point of that episode is that The Doctor doesn’t give them a chance to do anything.
With “The Well”, Davies does something similar. Considering that this is a sequel to a previous RTD story, it’s hard to say he’s not cribbing from Moffat in that respect. But also… I don’t really care. The space marines aspect of this isn’t the gross deference The Doctor shows in “Earthshock” and he has a healthy skepticism, which proves correct when things start to go bad.
Sequel. ***Full spoilers you’ve been warned
It is insane that RTD woke up one day and decided that he was going to try to top of one of the most popular stories he ever penned. “Midnight” was previously untouchable, a perfect one-off, Companion-lite story that functioned like a play and drafted off of all of Davies’s strengths and none of its weaknesses. Also, it’s one hell of a creepy episode. If it’s not in the top third of that season, it’s because Series Four is absolutely bursting to the seams with quality.
And yet, Davies deploys everything perfectly. He and Angel-Walfall build this off the tried-and-true template of The Doctor and his companion landing somewhere, learning about a problem, discovering the rules, figuring out the mystery, and then enacting a solution. The lead up to the big reveal is fantastic, with the cross-cutting intensity you’d see from a Davies cliffhanger only deployed in the middle of the episode when everything changes.
If there’s an issue, it’s that this incarnation of whatever monster is on the planet Midnight isn’t quite the simple incredibleness of whatever possessed Sky on the Crusader 50. And yet, Davies makes up for it in clever ways, tucking in fantastic blink-and-you-miss-it scares, fun plants (the shattered mirrors), and a terrific guest actress in Rose Ayling-Ellis playing the role of Aliss2. Davies continues to make Midnight some deep, upsetting planet where the nature of its threat are never 100% clear.
Gatwa is on fire here, aware that he’s getting a followup to an episode that probably scared the pants off him as a kid. His empathy and emotion as he tries to save Aliss and later Belinda really shine. It’s not very often we see The Doctor on the back heel, but this is one of those great episodes where he is one. And, of course, Verada Sethu is great in her role as companion, even though her getting so excited to do another costume change is rather funny. Giving Bel the “I have to get home” arc is not as a narrative propellant, but not so good when these seasons are so truncated. Maybe she stays on the “I need to get home” track for the rest of the season and it doesn’t get old. We’ll see.
So far, this is shaping up to be a great season. Even the clips for next week have me giddy beyond belief.
Random Thoughts
Love the macho energy of assuming things were fine and the chaos that came from the resultant Code Red. Man, dudes, you sure showed that monster.
Great little monster flits and hints all throughout the episode. Really amazing visual spookiness.
RTD has worked really hard to create narratives that portray diverse casts. Here, Alisa’s disability ends up being an asset rather than a burden. He also gives the marines a visual text-to-speech function, which is great and futuristic and an easy-but-great way to be inclusive and normalize accessibility
The overhead shot of the Aliss clock was so hokey and so stupid but so wonderful. Davies really bringing the fantasy. Stoked that it’s one of those problems/solutions that doesn’t function on Newtonian logic.
That last beat did feel like a bit of a stretch and a bit too Twilight Zoney, but considering that it’s left intentionally oblique as to what exactly happened here it did work for me.
Millie Gibson next week!
Season 15 Rankings
The Well
Lux
The Robot Revolution
The big obvious example is “Earthshock”, which is a blast and a half the first time until you realize that Eric Saward really, really loves the prospect of military sci-fi in his Doctor Who.
I also love the way they direct her in the space. The openness of the set adds to the feeling that things are not going okay. It feels like we’re watching some weird stage show and it’s deliberately offputting.