How awesome of a title is “The Pyramid at the End of the World,” by the way?
After kicking off with a tour de force like “Extremis,” the Monk trilogy ended up being one of the most intriguing multi-episode stories Who has done so far, dealing with themes of love, consent, truth, the media, and so on. While I thought “Pyramid” was a worthy follow-up to its predecessor, “Lie of the Land” proved to be an unambitious and underwhelming ending.
“Pyramid” had a really fascinating premise. A, well, pyramid has appeared in the middle of an area surrounded by the US, Russian and Chinese armies. Within are the Monks, and they tell the Doctor they will not take over the planet until they are asked. And they’re pretty positive that someone will ask. It turns out that the Monks are anticipating a cataclysmic event that would destroy every living thing on Earth, an event that’s mere hours away, and their occupation of the Earth would spare its people from death. The Doctor and company are considerably wary, as they always are, and now it’s a race to find and prevent whatever disaster the Monks have foreseen so no deal will have to be made.
If there’s one word I would use to describe this episode, it’s foreboding. For two reasons. First, the knowledge that this story was a trilogy automatically led me to predict that things wouldn’t end quite the way our heroes wanted them to. Second, and this one’s within the narrative, the frequent check-ins with the visually-impaired and hungover scientists currently working on a dangerous biochemical project made it clear that the world-ending event had nothing to do with the soldiers at the Pyramid or the Monks themselves. Was it telegraphed a bit too much? Perhaps, but it, along with the Doctor’s monologue at the start, foreshadowed the big twist of the episode: Bill asking the Monks to invade so that the Doctor would regain his sight.
Oh, yeah! It’s probably important to note that the Doctor is still blind here, and he pays for not telling Bill. Big time. And that’s really what the episode is all about isn’t it? Consequences. Again, as the Doctor says in his monologue, we could have very well set off a chain reaction that led, or is leading, to something terrible for ourselves or someone else. Because Erica broke her glasses and her hungover partner was…well…hungover, they almost killed everyone on Earth. Because the Doctor decided to keep his blindness a secret from Bill, he almost died and she had no choice but to strike a deal with the Monks. Way to weave a theme there.
All in all, it was a solid episode, one which served as a good follow-up to the previous one and set up the next, but was still good in its own right. And that’s how all good middle chapters in a trilogy should be. Unfortunately, the third installments don’t often stick the landing…
EXHIBIT A:
As “Lie of the Land” began, I noticed the similarities between it and Series 3’s “Last of the Time Lords.” The world has been conquered by an enemy, the Doctor is their prisoner, and it’s up to the companion to set things straight. Also, both episodes sort of fall apart at some point along the way.
My experience with “Lie” wasn’t dissimilar to my experience with “Smile,” in that I got super excited by an idea that the episode was presenting, only for me to be disappointed by the way it’s quickly tossed aside. The only difference is that I didn’t realize I had been bamboozled until after the episode ended.
So we’re led to believe that not only is the Doctor incarcerated by the Monks, but he’s also aiding them by hosting a frequent propaganda broadcast. When Bill confronts her tutor, the Doctor seems firm in his belief that the Monks’ occupation, a fascist reign, is what humanity needed all along. He’s so unwavering that Bill freaking shoots him, and he begins to regenerate, and I’m thinking “Wow. This is good stuff. Having the Doctor be the villain for once, and having the companion be the one who saves the world singlehandedly? Awesome! Thi- Crap. It’s a ruse, isn’t it?”
Because this “twist” happened so early in proceedings, I got lost in the remaining action and didn’t get a chance to think about the amazing opportunity the show just squanched. I’m not just talking about the whole “Doctor is the bad guy” thing from earlier, but the exploration of a relevant issue instead: In today’s world, and with the media “telling us” what to believe, some may be experiencing situations similar to Bill's. And I think exploring the fact that we’re going to encounter people who don’t share our opinions and feelings toward certain things through the Doctor and Bill’s relationship in the episode, and how having conflicting opinions is OK.
I think both “Lie of the Land” and “Smile” are signs that the series might be losing the sci-fi edge it once had. Like, remember that fantastic scene in “The Zygon Inversion” last season, with the Doctor’s monologue about terrorism and war? Where did scenes like that go?
Even though the cop-outs are big negatives towards my verdict, “Lie of the Land,” still had a few things to like: Missy, Bill meeting Missy, and Bill’s conversations with her “Mom” (which makes me think she’ll play a part in the finale somehow).
Because this review is going up after “The Empress of Mars” has aired (Sorry about that), here’s the preview Episode 10, “The Eaters of Light.”
Noah
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