Boom. Pondered

I sometimes think of the world we have lost.

In the last century, Boom would have worked very well over four episodes. Treading on the landmine would be the cliffhanger at the end of Episode One. The Doctor would have extricated himself at the end of Episode Two only to meet the ambulance. Episode Three would have shown the Doctor in the Anglican Marine compound unpacking the riddle and the big reveal (spoiler – there is no enemy other than a corporate algorithm) would have emerged at the end of that episode. Episode Four would describe how the Doctor defeats the algorithm.

The twenty-first century Whoniverse has to cram everything into Episode Two.

On the other hand, this is a satisfying “bottle episode” which involves a Ncuti Gatwa frozen, trapped on a landmine, for most of its duration. The success or failure of this story therefore depends on how well he communicates the struggle to “keep it together” in such trying circumstances. Indeed, Ncut Gatwa’s face is the chief terrain of the story. He needs to keep it together – he needs to control himself, or the mine will blow. And yes – his face can carry the weight of the story. This rather serious Moffat episode (coming straight after two comparatively jaunty RTD stories) involves the greatest acting test fo Ncuti Gatwa yet – and it’s a test that he passes. There’s a certain amount of sweating he’s permitted but the emotion is absolutely communicated in terms of the effort to restrain emotion.

By contrast Ruby’s determination to share her fate with the Doctor by coming too close seems a bit too easy. “Good luck with that” she says as she is ordered to stay away. Her courage would look more impressive if we could see a bit more fear. She’s walking towards a primed landmine that could go off any moment. The magnitude of such a decision could have been registered better.

The ambulance is a creepy idea, a device that performs a version of a “wallet biopsy” before any deciding whether your continued existence is cost effective. Now in the old days we would have fought our way to behind to curtain, to put at least one other evil face on the military industrial complex, a face other than the face of the ambulance. Of course, in the context of a longer season arc we may learn more about such unacceptable faces of capitalism.

The Anglican Marines are an intriguing bunch. There is something amusingly jarring about hearing clerical titles applied to a military command structure. In this outing at least, we get a stronger sense of their being a people of faith. Vater is dead but not gone, declares the orphaned Splice. But given the refinements of AI technology, to what extent is this actually a theological belief at all? What are the implications for continued belief in the immortality of the soul in a world (almost upon us) in which human personalities can be preserved almost indefinitely?

We’d need a classic four parter to discuss this properly. Or a six parter. Or an eight parter.