{"id":7339,"date":"2019-07-03T13:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T20:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7339"},"modified":"2019-06-25T09:21:54","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T16:21:54","slug":"mark-watches-doctor-who-s11e02-the-ghost-monument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/07\/mark-watches-doctor-who-s11e02-the-ghost-monument\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: S11E02 – The Ghost Monument"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second episode of the eleventh series of Doctor Who<\/i>, the team is deposited on a planet named Desolation in order to reunite with the TARDIS. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of genocide<\/b><\/p>\n

This was just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 wow, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. This is about as pitch perfect as Doctor Who<\/i> could be for me, as literally everything I love about this show appeared in a single episode and was executed brilliantly. Emotional themes? Terrifying suspense? Cinematic camera work? Evocative acting? IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S ALL HERE. I loved this so much LET ME YELL ABOUT IT.<\/p>\n

Where was this filmed?<\/b><\/p>\n

Because seriously, part of the reason this was so convincing was that the location chosen for this episode felt otherworldly. It genuinely seemed like some distant planet whose population had been killed off, that was used for the end stage of some massive intergalactic race. And the production team used this location perfectly<\/i>. Not a moment in this episode is wasted, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so pleased with how this managed to be both aesthetically gorgeous while also telling a fantastic story. We had to believe that this place once held some massive civilization and that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now the most dangerous place imaginable, and this did both.<\/p>\n

Competition<\/b><\/p>\n

Over the course of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Ghost Monument,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Chris Chibnall\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s script asks us to consider what it means to work with those around us. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presented to the viewer in two forms: the Doctor struggling to return her companions to their home, and Angstrom and Epzo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s competition. At this point in the series, the Doctor doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know Yaz, Ryan, or Graham very well. (Though I did notice that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already calling them her best friends, which warmed my heart.) But she fundamentally makes it her mission to locate the TARDIS and get them back home. Which is like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 very typical of the Doctor! She helps people. But this story is so much more than this basic drive. Instead, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about how all four of them work together and support one another, no matter their differences, their fears, or their issues. Yaz waits for Ryan to descend a ladder at one point and does not make him feel terrible for his dyspraxia; later, the Doctor encourages him so that he can deal with his fears and mobility. Graham tries to comfort a grieving Ryan; Graham and Ryan both help repair the boat that allows the group to cross a massive body of water that would kill them otherwise. The adversity of this situation brings these four people closer together, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a delight to watch this happen.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contrasted, though, with what we initially see of Angstrom and Epzo. In their initial scenes, their competitive nature seemed more playful, but once the two of them received their final task from Ilin, Epzo became\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, he was a lot. And for what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth, Chibnall\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s script does a fine job showing us why<\/i> he is that way. Both these characters have vastly different backstories, yet they inform what we see in the present day. In Epzo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case, he was raised with a specific kind of cynicism, one that urges him to never trust anyone but himself. And we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not talking about Mulder-style, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Trust no one\u00e2\u20ac\u009d dramatics. The man literally distrusts anyone he meets, and he assumes the worst of them. It certainly got him to the final task, but he stands out in a glaring contrast with the Doctor and her companions. And with Angstrom! She has a very real reason to want the final prize, and I think anyone would understand if she had acted selfishly to get it. (And at one point, Graham even encourages her to get a head start so she can get to the Ghost Monument first.)<\/p>\n

But Angstrom is not so willing to turn her back on others, and the genocide that her people have suffered at the hands of the Stenza (more on that plot point in a bit) has affected that. I got the sense that she could not be cruel to others. So much cruelty had been enacted on her; why would she turn around and do the same thing to anyone else? So, Chibnall sets this up so that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to dislike Epzo and want Angstrom to win, but this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that simple. Instead, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both pushed towards a surprising but heartwarming solution: both<\/i> of them end up winning the grand prize and splitting it, rather than taking out the other. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like Epzo is ecstatic or makes some massive change in morals or personality. He has to be convinced<\/i> of this in the end, but the compromise still happens. He has to trust other people, and guess what? He survives in the end. He wins<\/i> in the end. Maybe he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll learn! Maybe not.<\/p>\n

The Stenza<\/b><\/p>\n

I certainly did not expect that this episode would continue the story introduced to us through Tim Shaw. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Woman Who Fell to Earth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d gave us the Stenza, a race who hunt trophies\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhumans!!!\u00e2\u20ac\u201don Earth and take them back to live in permanent stasis between life and death. And while the Doctor and her companions rescued Karl and sent Tim Shaw back to their home, things were left unanswered. Hell, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even think to ask questions about all this until now, but: how many humans have the Stenza \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hunted\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? How many are still in stasis on their world? How many worlds have the Stenza \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cleansed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? Have they conscripted other worlds to build weaponry for them, too? Are the remnants of cloth we see here the only ones in the galaxy, or would we find them on other worlds that the Stenza have destroyed? WHY DID ONE OF THE REMNANTS INSIST THAT THE DOCTOR HAD A SECRET BURIED WITHIN THEM REGARDING AN ABANDONED CHILD? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing, then, that this is all part of a longer arc. Who exactly are the Stenza, and WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON.<\/p>\n

Interior<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the new TARDIS interior is so strange and organic and UTTERLY PERFECT FOR THIRTEEN. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so impressed!!! Biscuits! The tiny whirling TARDIS!!!<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Ghost Monument\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– The paperback edition of my debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now OUT!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"