4 episodes in! So far, so good!
Talking about these 2 episodes should prove interesting, since I feel like “Thin Ice” was an all to familiar (but fun) Who story, while “Knock Knock” was actually pretty clever and original.
“Thin Ice” was an episode that played it safe most of the time, but that’s not the worst idea after the disappointment that was “Smile.” The general story of “Save the misunderstood beast” or “Stop the evil and greedy businessman from being too darn evil and greedy,” has been done a few times before (see “Planet of the Ood” and “The Beast Below”), and the Victorian-era is an oldie but goodie setting. “Thin Ice” doesn’t do much to change the formulas up or pull the rugs out from under us in any way. In the end, the beast is freed at the end and the evil businessman drowns. Nothing new.
But, I think what makes “Thin Ice” so fun is it allows the Doctor/Bill relationship to be pretty much front and center, rather than sort of at the side lines as it was in “Smile.” Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie have a pretty great rapport going on, and I like how the banter doesn’t sound like the same kind of banter the Doctor and Clara had. While that sounded like a bickering, but loving, couple, the Doctor’s dynamic with Bill is very much a teacher and his student, who just happen to be best friends, and I think the difference is so apparent to me because of how strong the writing for Bill is and how well the writers seem to know what makes her tick. On the flip side, I thought that Bill’s concern with the Doctor’s past was resolved a bit too quickly. I mean, she starts asking him all these questions, and then says “We’re good now” in the very next scene. Perhaps this was the only attempt to steer away from something overly familiar, since introducing friction between the Doctor and the companion early on is also a not unfamiliar idea (see “The Runaway Bride” and “Gridlock”), but, especially with Bill, it would’ve been an intriguing thread to pull on for a bit longer.
So after an episode that was very much a retread, it only made sense that the very next episode, “Knock Knock,” turn out to be quite unique. It’s Doctor Who’s take on the teen horror film. You’ve got the haunted house, the strange landlord, the fakeout scares, the characters being picked off one by one…and it all turned out to be effective.
Let’s start with the supporting characters, who I actually really liked. Let’s face it, the only reason they’re there is to be cannon fodder, but I want to LIKE MY CANNON FODDER, DARNIT! Sorry. Didn’t mean to yell. Anyways, the actors brought a lot of charisma and personality to the roles, so even when they were blatantly doing things that get you killed in a haunted house story (pretending to be in danger, leaving to call 911, trying to runaway from the landlord, etc.), I still liked them.
The landlord, played by David Suchet, was the highlight of the episode. Suchet’s performance was suitably unsettling, constantly shifting from the eccentric caretaker to the creepy caretaker. The mystery surrounding him and the house turned out to be pretty intriguing. To be honest, I was expecting him to to be some sort of alien entity, or a vessel for the beetle-like creatures, but he turned out to be a son doing whatever he can to take care of his sick mother. Aww. And I liked how they went with that over him being a father caring for his daughter. The son/mother route not only seems a bit more original, but also more tragic. When you realize that the guy is, at his core, a concerned and isolated kid, it gets ya right in the feels.
And to end it all, we get some more hints towards the mystery of the vault. In “Thin Ice,” we learned that the question wasn’t “What’s in the vault?” but “Who’s in the vault?” In “Knock Knock,” it turns out that this person is someone who can not only play the piano pretty well, but is also someone the Doctor seems perfectly comfortable with talking to and eating with. The kneejerk answer is,and always will be, the Master, but I hope the answer is someone we seriously don’t expect. I would very much like to be bamboozled, thank you.
Tomorrow’s episode sees Nardole joining the Doctor and Bill on an adventure involving killer space suits. So, your regularly scheduled Doctor Who then…
Noah
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