It’s funny that some episodes are harder to write about than others.  I go back and rewrite things over and over again because I have new ideas about it, and an episode that has so much to say also has so many comments that come to mind.  On top of that, I think this season of Doctor Who is a very strange one.  I like the social commentary that Russell T. Davies has given us, but there’s something distinctly un-Doctor-y about this season.  Episode three, while fantastic, had the Doctor rooted to the spot.  Episode four, a fantastic horror story, had the Doctor unable to be in the story.  Now episode 5 keeps Ncuti on the outskirts of a FaceTime call for the bulk of the episode.  My attraction to this series, in all of it’s incarnations, has always been that ball of energy that is our lead character.  This season is feeling like the energy level is decidedly low.  I hope that changes soon. 

Having said that, Dot and Bubble does offer some solid commentary.  Everyone is calling this a Black Mirror-like episode and it’s pretty clear that it is a commentary on the technology of our lives and where that could lead us.  We see technology taken to the next level and it’s not necessarily good for us.  Having said that, like any tool, it can be used for good or bad and it’s in the nature of good drama that we need to look at the negative side.  Lindy is the main character and she can’t walk without her phone in hand… Sorry, I must have been thinking about today’s youth … I meant to say, she can’t walk without the Dot and Bubble activated in front of her.  This commentary goes a step further in showing us that we become so engrossed in our little bubble, pun fully intended, that we can be eaten by slugs.  Think about that: we are so oblivious, we can be eaten by one of the slowest creatures in the universe.  Worse, it shows us that we can get caught in an echo chamber.  This happens in our real world;  we find ourselves in very tight bubbles of our own belief system often supported by AI Generated content that fuels our fires.  I’ve seen this recently in some elderly friends: they get caught in an idea then find communities who share that same belief system, which then fans the flames until it’s all the person believes.  Gone is rational discussion around it.  Caught in that sort of loop, they can’t be swayed no matter how many facts are brought to light.  Dot and Bubble helps exacerbate the problem for rich kid Lindy who is so caught in her own bubble that she is insufferable to anyone who is able to see past that bubble.  If you look at what we do here at the Junkyard, especially with our joint reviews, we actively challenge one another.  Our readers offer their opinions and in some cases, help sway us.  When a bubble is dangerous is when the people talking are only parroting one another without thinking about both sides.  (The more I see us talking to one another, especially after an episode like this, the more grateful I am to our readers who help us see other points of view!)

Lindy is surrounded by her “favorite” people but as we’ve said before, there’s a difference between favorite and best, and these may not be the best people for her to associate with.  It’s a decidedly rich, white crowd that she spends her time with.  While I noticed her friends, I didn’t think anything of it, because I just assumed they cast for the most suited to Lindy’s personality, not that they were making a racial commentary.  Even as I rewatched it, when Lindy hung up on the Doctor, I didn’t interpret it as a racial thing, I interpreted it as her getting  a call from a telemarketer ranting about monsters.  I get it.  I hang up on telemarketers too, and I don’t think about their race, color, religion, or orientation.  I think: why are you bothering me after a long day of work?  I also thought about the fact that when Ruby came on, she started by complimenting Lindy’s top, so that didn’t send off any flares either.  So I didn’t see any of that as an issue until later but then it becomes impossible to disregard.  Then it kicks you firmly in the gut.  It’s damnably clever writing.  I refused to believe it right up until the end when Lindy said that disgusting line to the Doctor: “You, sir, are not one of us.”  The Doctor, ever the hero, doesn’t care: he wants to save these people because that’s what a hero does.  (“You can think absolutely anything…”)  The new leader of the group even says they should go “before we’re contaminated”.  Wow… talk about disgusting, and as mad as it made me, I realized that was exactly the way I should be feeling!  That very insular group doesn’t think to expand their horizons and misses out on life, in the very literal sense by the end of the episode. 

The commentary is made more pronounced when Lindy told the Doctor, “you had an obligation to save us, obviously” as if what he did was what he was supposed to do.  Again, the insularity of the rich kids means they don’t see the real world, but what kid does?  It’s just that the insularity of the group, in their own echo chamber, completely misses the danger of that very insularity.  Meanwhile, it’s fully acceptable to her that she was the reason a man died.  It’s a commentary on the negatives of privilege as much as social media.  But that is also what put me off.  I didn’t mind a commentary on social media.  I wouldn’t mind a commentary on privilege.  I also don’t mind a commentary on racism.  But was it timed appropriately in trying to cram all of that into one episode?  I don’t know.  I think it would have been more effective to use the episode as a medium for discussion alright but maybe only one or two of those things, not all three.  I think they all work to some extent, but they all needed room to breath as well, and we don’t get that here.

Speaking of Ricky September (“You’re so good at walking!”), I loved the itsy bitsy bikini song.  I remember it but this is just an updated and more upbeat rendition that became more popular on this alien world.  Maybe it was a race that just started to get music from earth, as media slowly travels through space.  I thought it was pretty clear that they people on this planet were not human because one gets pulled away as Lindy steps around it and a trail of green blood is left behind.  Ricky’s betrayal was a gut punch, but he should have seen it coming because he has to remind Lindy when she speculated that it might be her best day ever, “There’s still thousands of people being eaten alive.”  Her response says it all, “Yeah, but…”  Oh, you poor, shallow fool…

Now, with all that being said, I do have to compliment Callie Cooke who plays the part of Lindy perfectly.  She’s portraying a character that is horrible but she does it well.  The decision to put the camera so close to Callie’s face through so much of the episode must have been weird for the actress, but she has an immaculate beauty that is captivating so I won’t complain despite how much I disliked Lindy.  Additionally, the visuals are amazing when her retina is surrounded by a square during her time in the bubble.  Great stuff and I love the attention to detail.  On the other hand, there’s no way I believe Ricky is between 17-27.  He reminded me of someone, but the only name that came to mind was Eddie Izzard, but I didn’t want to do that to Tom Rhys Harries.  (No offense to either of them!)  The visuals aside, the music also was great, including the aforementioned song.  

There were a few interesting things to mention as well.  My friends and I were discussing how touchy Ncuti’s Doctor is with Ruby in earlier episodes and we didn’t know if she was actually ok with it.  I think she’s receptive and takes it in the spirit it’s intended but it was nice to have it acknowledged in this story.  When Lindy gets her first hug from Ricky and shortly thereafter, he grabs her hand to bring her to safety, I found it interesting that he asked if it was ok.  “I should have asked… is that ok?”  I hadn’t thought much of the huggy-ness of this Doctor until that was brought to my attention so the inclusion of the permission stood out to me positively.  

Yet again, we have to discuss the twist in the end… Susan Twist is playing Lindy’s mom.  (Good job raising such a vapid individual, Mrs. Pepper-Bean.)  But this is the first time there’s clear acknowledgement that both Ruby and the Doctor recognize her.  73 Yards gave us Ruby thinking she looked like someone else – namely the face on the ambulance – but she dismisses it.  We’ve all seen people who remind us of someone else, but this time, the Doctor sees it too.  When he says something about it, Ruby realizes they’ve both seen her before.  But notably, Susan Twist never sees them.  Think about it: she didn’t see the two of them invading Lindy’s bubble.  The hiker may have seen Ruby but she didn’t see the Doctor.  The cafeteria worker has her back turned when the Doctor is there, and when he turns, so does she, so they never made eye contact.  How can that possibly be meaningless?  I can’t believe she’s who I wanted her to be at this point, not as the mother of such a being as Lindy, but I still hope for a big reveal in the end.  (I have seen the trailer for next week – things look interesting indeed!)

Overall, this is an episode people will probably talk about for a long time.  Whether it was good or not isn’t really the question this time.  It’s more a question of: did the message leave a mark.  As a fan of intelligent science fiction, I sure hope so, but I’ll see when I go to the next convention, based on how many of the fans are still walking around with their faces in a phone… I have 2 months to find out!  In the meantime, I can’t wait to read what comments we get here on the Junkyard.  This is one episode that I think will bring about a great many comments, and I can’t wait to see what we find in our bubble.  ML