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| "Dude. I just love this color green!" |
Doctor Who Series 9 completes its first story arc with
The Witch's Familiar: the follow-up to last week's premiere, The
Magician's Apprentice. This installment isn't quite as excellent as the
first episode, but it isn't too far behind either. A story rooted in the
philosophical questions at the show's heart, the Magician/Witch arc gets
this series off to a great start, with an even blend of the previous series'
strengths and some welcome thematic returns to original Doctor Who's
roots. Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are both in excellent form, and
Steven Moffat's writing is mostly quite strong, only briefly lapsing into his
more irritating self-indulgences.
In many ways, this two-parter feels like a spiritual sequel
to the Tom Baker-era classic Genesis of the Daleks; not just because
there are Daleks involved, but because of the questions that it asks related to
the ethics of time-travel, and the ways in which it asks them. The overarching
theme of this arc is the slippery, sometimes-nebulous line that separates good
and evil people, and the question of whether this distinction is real or
artificial. We see this theme explored in the dynamics of two pairs of
characters: The Doctor and Dalek-overlord Davros, and Clara and the sociopathic
Missy. The interplay between these characters is surprisingly complicated, and
frequently occupies the nebulous gray area between conventional norms of good
and bad. It asks us to examine the situations from the perspectives of
characters we are used to rooting against, and to see them as more than just
antagonists.
It is in these moments – quiet conversations that make up the
heart of the episode – that The Witch's Familiar is at its best and most
compelling. Ideas and philosophical questions are clearly what Moffat is most
interested in, and they are where his writing is the strongest. The Doctor and
Davros scenes are especially good; indeed, I'm not sure those two have talked
for so long and with such depth since Genesis of the Daleks 40 years
ago. We also see a bit of a different side of Missy than we did last season,
with a subtle shift from villain to antihero. It makes her character a good
deal more interesting; I would love to see antihero Missy become a regular part
of the TARDIS team, rather than just a foe lurking in the background.
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| "Sweet. These ARE the droids I was looking for!" |
However, when the episode leaves this philosophical territory
and enters the realm of action, that is when the flaws of Moffat's writing
occasionally rear their heads. It's fairly clear that the episode is more
interested in the former area, and simply requires the action scenes to move
events forward and provide exciting set-pieces. The action feels somewhat
perfunctory as a result, and there are a couple occasions when Moffat leans too
heavily on silly or hastily-explained plot devices to resolve situations that
the script honestly doesn't have time for. But this only happens a couple
times, and the scenes in question are brief, as the heart and soul of the
episode are elsewhere. These moments are frustrating, but the strengths easily
outweigh these smaller weaknesses.
It may be a bit more uneven than The Magician's Apprentice,
but The Witch's Familiar is nonetheless a very good episode when at its
best. It proves that Doctor Who still has plenty of interesting ideas to
explore, and that even after half a century the Daleks and Davros can still be
used to create compelling, fresh stories. If series 9 continues along this
vein, it will be a very good series indeed. This two-parter has proven that
Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor and Coleman's Clara Oswald have both grown into their
own as very strong leads, and I cannot wait to see what new things this series
has in store for them.
Score
- Christopher S. Jordan
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