My Review of Flux continues....
5. The Actual Central Premise
One of the biggest judgement calls I make on this particular Point of Criteria is based on a very simple question: How original is the Core Idea?
While there are all sorts of subplots running through it, the central premise of Flux is the concept of dealing with a Universe-wide disaster. In many ways, it's Part Four of Logopolis with a real budget!
Even if it does slightly resemble something that was briefly explored one time before, most of what we see in Flux is brilliantly creative and unique. This Umbrella Season could have easily re-created what Voyage of the Damned did a few seasons previously. It could have employed all the stereotypical tropes that we've seen in disaster movies from Days Gone By. I did take the trouble to review Voyage a few years ago (Christmas Specials From Worst to Best: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/11/book-of-lists-christmas-specials-from_24.html). One of the strongest remarks I make in that review is: "Disaster Movies were a pretty awful genre - why create something that pays tribute to them?!"
What I love about Flux is that it deals more with the realistic outcomes of a disaster. We have refugees struggling to survive and the monsters that exploit them. We have greedy dictators trying to hang on to whatever is left after the disaster hits. We have the dispossessed trying to find each other. We even have the shocking discovery of what caused the whole nightmare to happen. These are things that occur all the time in disasters that shake the world. We're just seeing them displayed on a Universe-wide basis and in a sci-fi context. And it's done brilliantly.
Easily, the cleverest of all the central themes of an Umbrella Season. Also, the most realistic. Flux was a brilliant idea from Chibnall. Hate his other two seasons all you want (and, really, it's genuinely difficult to dislike either - if we're being honest and objective!), this is a great concept for an Umbrella Season.
6. Quality of the Stories
Halloween Apocalypse
As already stated, I love the pace of this story. I am pretty happy with the Foundations of the other two Umbrella Seasons, but this one really is amazing. Everything whips along wonderfully and keeps me on the edge of my seat for the whole ride.
That opening was just a bit tricky. Yes, it's fun and frantic. But the whole escape sequence is, perhaps, just a little hard to believe. The Doctor and Yaz probably should have just plummeted to their dooms rather than soar along on a gravity bar with their wrists in handcuffs. Those kill discs also seem to have some pretty nasty stormtrooper aim! But I can let it go for the simple reason that it's still a wickedly enjoyable sequence to watch. And it is a great way to start the whole saga.
It is interesting how the first installment of any Umbrella Season introduces, at least, one great recurring character. Key to Time gave us the White Guardian. Trial of a Time Lord had Glitz. For Halloween Apocalypse, it's Karvanista (technically, we meet a few other recurring characters for the first time in this episode who are all quite likeable - but the Lupari Commander is my favorite!). He's presented in such a great way in his first story. Initially, we assume he's actually an evil alien of some sort. As the story progresses, we discover he's quite the opposite. But he still retains this irascible side to him that has such great charm. I really hope that, like Glitz and the White Guardian, he will have a presence outside of the Umbrella Season he first appears in.
Halloween Apocalypse also does a great little job of setting up the Sontarans and the Weeping Angels for the episodes that they have coming. The short teases both of them get are quite enjoyable and give us something to look forward to.
Those last few minutes of the episode are, perhaps, the most impressive. The Flux turning its attention to the TARDIS and the attack the Doctor rigs with Vortex energy is all very suspenseful and exciting to watch. I absolutely love that the Doctor's clever twist seems to completely fail (but will have interesting consequences in future episodes). Rather than hampering the Flux and achieving escape, we're left with a really brilliant cliffhanger.
Not just a great Foundation. But a fantastic episode, in general.
War of the Sontarans
Let's just get this out of the way:
War of the Sontarans is the best Sontaran story ever.
Many fans will argue that The Time Warrior is Numero Uno. And, up until War, they may have been right. But Time Warrior did have its problems. The biggest one being that there wasn't quite enough plot for the four episodes and we did get some nasty padding in the latter half (it does have some plot holes, too. I make fun of some of them, here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/06/complete-and-utter-silliness-few-of-my.html). The other Classic Who stories involving this warlike species are all half-decent. But none of them shine quite as brightly Warrior.
Up until this story, New Who tales involving the Potato Heads are a bit of an abomination. The Sontaran Stratagem/Poison Sky seems to get almost everything about Sontarans wrong. And the actual plot is nothing particularly impressive. And I do really like Strax as a character. I even get that he's probably a clone of a clone so that would make him sillier and more bumbling. But he does continue this downward spiral of making the Sontarans into a bit of a joke.
Finally, War of the Sontarans re-dresses the balance. Their plans to change human history (resisting the perverted quote, for once!) is a sound one. The huge battle scene where the British soldiers seem largely incapable of doing any real harm to them restores their sense of power. Their cruelty as they execute human spies right in front of Dan makes them into valid monsters. When the Doctor and Commander Skaak meet for parlez, the scene is executed with the sort of finesse we expect from these confrontations.
At long last, the Sontarans are being done right, again.
But it's not just the fact that War of Sontarans restores them to their former glory that makes me love this episode so much. It really is a tightly-written, well-directed, excellently performed Doctor Who adventure. While even Time Warrior had a few problems - this story seems largely flawless.
I also like that the writer realizes he can't do a total about-face and still makes the Sontarans ever-so-slightly comical, in places. Most of the time, these moments are given to Dan Starkey. Who does just the right amount of "pulling back" whenever he does have to be a bit silly.
Once, Upon Time
I'm a bit amazed people don't go on more about how brilliant this episode is. To me, it's just about on par with Heaven Sent.
We don't even get a minute in, and I'm already "sold". That really was a wicked cliffhanger that they created at the end of War of the Sontarans. We have no idea how Vinder and Yaz will be saved. But the great little trick the Doctor pulls was quite an excellent twist. Even though there are clearly three places available on the Mouri platforms so that Dan can be saved, too - we don't see it coming.
The imagery of the whole episode is quite spellbinding. The Doctor hovering around in some strange version of the Time Vortex with giant Mouri looking down on her is wonderfully imposing. The way she keeps appearing - sometimes solid, sometimes ghostlike - in the timestreams of the others to let them know she's trying to help them is also a great visual. Yaz, Dan, Vinder and the Doctor all existing as characters in the others' past with only momentary flashes of the real people they were meant to be was a very cool device. Even the way the Weeping Angel is pursuing them worked great. There's just so much going on in the story that makes it a wildly engaging spectacle.
But, of course, the moment that truly gets us foaming at the mouth is seeing the Doctor on a mission for the Division. It's absolutely gorgeous when she passes in front of the mirror and has a whole conversation with the Fugitive Doctor. It's near-impossible to not fall in love with the execution of that sequence. I adore the various ways in which the Fugitive Doctor is inserted into a story. She meets the Doctor for real in Fugitive of the Judoon. Has a more surreal encounter with her in the Matrix during The Timeless Children. And now she's a mere reflection that talks back to her. This character is being used in the most awesome of ways within the series.
The episode is also a great vehicle for filling us in a bit more on where both Dan and Vinder come from. This kind of backstory can, usually, take quite some time to tell. Here, it's accomplished in a brief handful of flashbacks. It's also nice to get an introduction to the Grand Serpent. Again, it's done very economically and will give us a nice pay-off later. The sideplot that begins with Bel in this episode is another great treat. I love the argument she has with the dying Cyberman!
The whole ending is also very smart. To just repeat what was accomplished in the Doctor's flashback was another solution sitting right under our noses that we never see until it's properly revealed. I also love the Doctor pleading with the Mouri to let her see just one more memory from her life as the Timeless Child. It actually creates some gorgeous pathos for her. Not knowing her full past is tearing her apart. It was great seeing some of that torment on display, here.
I try really hard to find something I dislike about this story. I'll keep putting in the effort, though. If ever I come up with something - I'll let you know!
Village of the Angels
Let's just get this out of way:
Village of the Angels is the best Weeping Angel story ever.
To have made this claim, I'll admit, for War of the Sontarans was pretty bold. To say such a thing about Village of the Angels is probably completely outlandish. Blink was written with a timey-whimey plot so tight you could bounce quarters off of it. It's considered a Classic by many and has rightfully earned the title.
And yet, I find Village to be just a little bit better. It does do some cool timey whimey stuff, too. The fate of the poor missing girl in the plot is extremely clever and genuinely tragic. But there's also a beautiful subversion of the formula. Claire's brief appearance in Halloween Apocalypse leads us to believe that there will be more "timey whimeyness" with her too. But it's something far different and more sinister. The sequence inside her mind with the Doctor and the Rogue Angel is wonderfully creepy.
While Village has all the basic components of Blink, what really makes it superior is how it uses so many other traits about Weeping Angels that were established in other stories about them. Particularly, of course, the concept of "that which retains the image of an Angel can become one". The Angels' attempts to attack through Claire's sketch or manifest themselves on the polygraph are wickedly brilliant.
On top of that, Village adds significantly to the lore of the Weeping Angels. We discover, for instance, that a double attack from an Angel is fatal. And, of course, there's the insanely diabolical way in which they can create a Quantum Extraction. The Doctor being transformed at the cliffhanger will be indelibly stamped on our memories. It's an incredible visual
I've already talked about the mad intensity that kicks in once Jericho discovers a whole brood of Weeping Angels congregating in his front yard. The near-futile battle to keep them out of the basement is thoroughly riveting. But I particularly love the moment where an Angel starts trying to break Jericho down with his own voice. We discover an incredible strength of character from the professor in that scene. I'm so glad he continues along in the season after this story. He was yet another recurring character in Flux that I fell madly in love with.
Again, Blink is an absolute work of art. When we view it as just a great episode of Doctor Who, it is the better of the two. It will, in fact, continue to hold its place in my Top Six Episodes ranking (Oops! Another Link! https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who_14.html). Here is the weird part, though: If we look at it as just a Weeping Angel story - Village does the better job.
Not sure if that makes any valid sense. But it's how I feel!
Survivors of the Flux
As already covered when we analysed the Momentum of the season, Survivors of the Flux creates a gorgeous change of pace. Four solid episodes back-to-back that never seem to slow down was intensely awesome. But it's nice that Episode Five allows us just a little time to catch our breath.
Yaz, Dan and Jericho's attempts to discover the date of the end of the world and break out of 1904 are very entertaining. The encounter with the hermit on the mountain is, of course, a highlight. But I also love the joke with Karvanista and the Wall of China. Another great subversion of a formula. Normally, such an effort is rewarded by getting the characters out of their trap. I love that it fails. Karvanista, basically, calling them stupid from the future is a gorgeous deadpan moment!
Finally getting some solid answers about the Division is the other high point of this episode. The "tease" we first get of Tecteun in Once, Upon Time makes this moment all-the-more interesting. Bringing back the Ood was also a nice touch. But the Doctor realizing who she's actually dealing with and yelling at her for making a choice that affected a life she no longer remembers was a beautifully surreal piece of drama. Some great pay-off is made here about the whole mystery of the Timeless Child. The full story still hasn't quite been told, but this is an awesome contribution to the saga.
Best of all, however, is the return of the Grand Serpent and his sinister plot to topple UNIT. Yes, the soundbyte of the Brigadier from somewhere off-camera is pure fan-service. But it's impossible not to love it. And Kate's scene kicked ridiculous amounts of ass. Had this plot thread not been included, I don't know how well this episode would have fared. But the inclusion of this storyline makes it absolutely brilliant.
It's a very different episode from the rest of Flux. But it's still great!
The Vanquishers
The "trickiest" of all the episodes. There are lot of expectations riding on it. And, after so many excellent episodes in a row, it does almost seem doomed to fail.
And yet, it does remarkably well All those divergent plot threads really start weaving together nicely. There's a satisfying resolution to it all with the Doctor doing her famous trick of using her enemy's own resources against them. I also love that yet more respect is paid to the Sontarans. After almost being the butt of a joke in the rest of New Who, it's quite cool that they actually come off as the most powerful of all the recurring monsters. They take out the Daleks and Cybermen with little or no difficulty.
The Doctor suddenly existing in three forms at once was also great fun. Particularly as two of her three versions do start working together quite nicely. In some ways, this is quite similar to what we got in the Series Four finale. But it's less contrived and doesn't have to include a horrifically-sappy love story with Rose!
It is just a bit difficult that this episode does come across as the weakest of the season. Like Terror of the Vervoids in Trial of a Time Lord, it only gets this status because the rest of the stories are just so damned amazing. But this becomes even more complicated because this is the final episode of the season. We needed it to be the strongest.
And yet, as I said when I analysed the Conclusion, the re-watch factor does have a significant role to play in all of this. As I view The Vanquishers over and over, I realise the exact opposite about it. It's actually the best episode of the season. It's just that there is so much to take in that you need to re-experience it a few times before its full magnificence affects you.
Flux ends beautifully thanks to the strength of this final episode.
We did it! We got all these entries written in just one short month (more or less - I did actually finish writing this in April, but didn't publish it til May)!
In the same way that the introduction was individually handled in March, we will take on the Conclusion all by itself in May. We'll give a Final Verdict on the strength of each season and then see how they rank up against each other.
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