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Bad Wolf pt 1 S01E12

 

1. Summed up in one sentence

The one in which the Doctor and company get stuck in extremely deadly game shows, and Captain Jack isn't allowed to say hello to anyone.

2. The Doctor 

It's incredibly hilarious to find the Doctor stuck on awful reality tv. And not only is the show awful, but it has deadly consequences. My favorite part is when the program tells him he's on public television so he's not allowed to swear and he says, "You've got to be kidding me." Yes, the last of the time lords, the mighty time traveler is stuck in a morbid version of Big Brother, where you don't only get evicted from the house, but you get disintegrated. 

But the Doctor quickly sees not all is what it seems. For one, he's able to exit the show unscathed and is allowed to explore the television station, which of course happens to be the one they visited several episodes back in "The Long Game," only 100 years later. It's almost as if the Doctor and his compatriots were brought here for a purpose . . . . only the purpose seems to raise more unnerving questions than answers for the Doctor.

3. The Companions

Rose and Jack get stuck inside their own deadly games as well. There is humor initially because the Doctor, Rose, and Jack really think these are just harmless, superficial games and are completely puzzled by the emotional intensity of the other contestants. They finally get it when someone gets disintegrated.

Rose and the Doctor have a rough go at it, watching contestants get disintegrated while they wait for their turn to either win the game or die. But our dear old Jack has a great time most for the most part, which suits him well. He basically gets to be a Ken Barbie doll trying on different outfits with the advisement of some very female presenting robots, with plastic boobs and all. It isn't until the robots talk of dismemberment in the name of fashion that Jack has had enough and escapes.

4. The Villain

So, we're revisiting the setting of the episode in which there is the gelatinous giant tape worm thing living on the ceiling controlling the news. Though there is a very similar type villain on the upper floors of the tv station, it's a little more ambiguous and creepy this time around. 

We get to see some glimpses of who is presumably controlling all this bloodshed, and it's some albino looking woman connected to a bunch of cables, very Minority Report. She doesn't really seem present, which leaves us slightly doubtful of her actual role in all this. Who else is behind this? Who might be controlling her? We find out at the end of the episode the answer to these questions: 

The Daleks.

Of course it's the Daleks. There are seldom few Doctor Who finale episodes that don't involve the Daleks. 

5. The Score

7/10

This episode was delightfully funny, morbidly distressing, and satisfyingly creepy. It's interesting to see the show runner Russel T Davies try to slam different parts of the season into the season finale. I don't really recall any other season off the top of my head that tries to revisit so much of the season within the last three episodes of the season. Probably cuz it doesn't feel all that necessary and is kinda messy. But that's Russell T Davies as a show runner for you! Incredibly messy, and so over the top extra, but some reason it doesn't bother me as much as other show runners' shortcomings.

Maybe because I view Doctor Who as a whole messy and ridiculous, and it's not really a bad thing. I find the Davies Era very endearing because it can become such an epic mess at the end of the seasons.

6. The Very Whoiest Moment

I really like the part when that lady with tendrils of cords finally comes alive and starts talking with the Doctor. A solar flare gives her an opportunity to speak freely because the Daleks are blocked off. It's a lovely moment where the episode comes together when we realize that it was this poor woman that brought the Doctor here so he can help. It wasn't nefariously done. The Doctor finally understands why he's here and listens to her message of distress. He's there for her when she's finally able to have a human moment before the Daleks take her and kill her.


And we will continue with the death and destruction in the next episode.




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