Doctor Who Series 13 First Impressions: Episode 4 (Flux Chapter Four: Village Of The Angels)

Two kind of gonzo episodes of Doctor Who in a row in the Chibnall era? What, did they hear me or something? We're 2/3rds of the way through Flux now, and that dreaded shit I keep mentioning is starting to come into play now. Chibnall passing the buck and delaying answering things in order to raise more intrigue and keep the viewer on the hook. At this point, the delayed narrative tactic is Chibnall Who's equivalent of a magical girl betrayal arc for me; it's a storytelling element that, done poorly, makes me wary of any flirtation with it in subsequent media. Unlike the rest of Flux, Chapter Four here actually has a cowrite with Maxine Alderton. As we did back in Series 12, one has to be careful not to fall into the biased trap of stating sincerely "every strength in the episode was due to Alderton and every weakness was due to Chibnall". It's extra tricky this week because... well, get me out of this pitfall, because it feels kind of true. You can feel Chibnall's fingerprints on key parts of the episode, and those are the parts that don't hold up. Before we get into those, let's get into what does work. Let's get into the Angels.

I mean, we once again find ourselves in the tricky situation where it's the era I like that the story is actively trying to nostalgia mine. The Moffat years! It's the Weeping Angels again, that iconic legacy monster I remember from 14 years ago! Even more impressive is, like last week with Gamer Angel and Phone Angel, Chibnall and co. bucked my expectations. I admit it, I fully expected the Angel return this series to be a back-to-basics Blink approach. After so much RTD era nostalgia mining in Series 12, the idea that Chibnall and co. wouldn't just gloss over all that weird alchemical bullshit Moffat made the Angels capable of was a shocking one. Well, here we are. They actually saw Time Of Angels/Flesh And Stone, and are full-on pulling from that wheelhouse. The image of an Angel becoming an Angel, the old dust in the eye bit, the Angels using technology to vocalize and taunt their prey... Yeah, it's all here. One almost is impressed at the fact that this gonzo bullshit was remembered, but just showing up and showing us things we recognize isn't enough to impress. (On a completely unrelated note, y'all see the reviews of Ghostbusters Afterlife? BIG OOF.) To the episode's credit, it does give some fun twists on the old concepts. I really like the drawing of the Angel, and how it gets torn up and then reassembled by its own power and lighting the thing on fire only makes things worse. The idea of trying to make people sneeze so they shut their eyes is also a neat little trick! It's welcome little things like that that help, and even just bringing the Angels back to play with that full-on gonzo alchemical bullshit is a fun treat. At this point, the image of an Angel being an Angel and dust in the eye and stuff like that has become a recognizable signature of the Angels. It's expected now, like how when you see Daleks you expect extermination and racial purity and stuff like that. The flip side of that, of course, is that those Dalek stories use those recognized elements to tell new stories and run with new themes based on those signifiers. Just trotting out an Angel on a TV and dust coming out of someone's eyes would be hackneyed nostalgia. Something new has to be brought to the table. Something is. Oh, but how the monkey's paw curls.

Some more positives before I delve into the (presumed) Chibnall side. In addition to Time Of Angels/Flesh And Stone, it feels like someone sat down and watched Hide, from Series 7. That's a bit of a deep cut to pull from, and I enjoy that episode. To bring up a negative real quick, it's a little concerning that Doctor Who, a show that historically genre mashes, is now story mashing itself such that its newest episode can be summed up as Time Of Angels/Flesh and Stone meets Hide. Oh, but then we have the Angel inside Clare. Which, presumably, is the same Angel as Gamer Angel and Phone Angel from last week who was luring the Doctor and friends into this plotline. The idea of extending "the image of an Angel becomes an Angel" to "a premonition of an Angel becomes THAT Angel" is some REAL CRUNCHY GONZO BULLSHIT THAT I AM HERE FOR. Clare prophecized this Angel and this Angel came to be inside her head. (This leads not only to the aforementioned dust in eye bits, but the image of Clare seeing Angel wings on herself in a mirror. Two for two with mirror imagery, too. I really am being pandered to!) What a lovely strange bit of pure gonzo. It would be a shame if someone's fingerprints got all over it. Oh, hello, Chris, what are you-- OH GOD! So. We have the angel in Clare as a renegade trying to escape the other Angels in the episode. These Angels being... big sigh and deep breath... Division goons. Now, one could be uncharitable and go on a tirade about how Chibnall has taken Moffat's most iconic monster creation and slapped his own origin story Lore Bomb onto them. I don't think that's what he did, and that these are still a faction of the Division. Even so. Lord, this is more of Chris trying to make the Division out to be the Biggest Baddest Motherfuckers In The Universe, and I just don't buy it. You just can't slap that in out of nowhere. It doesn't work. Once again we tease a character, this Angel, who knows everything ever about the Division and can reveal all the Doctor's secrets. That's a non-starter. It was disastrous when it was tried in The Timeless Child and it will no doubt be disastrous if pulled here in the climax of Flux. Even Andrew Cartmel and friends knew they couldn't go all in on this kind of shit in 1988, Chris what are you doing?

Reckoning with it down the road, as always. If nothing else, the cliffhanger is easily the most effective and shocking of Flux so far. Flux incoming? How will they get out of that one, I wonder. Sugar skull man's gonna Thanos Snap? Hm, could be tricky to escape. Angel taking the TARDIS for a ride? Well, it just ferries us to next week. I have no goddamned idea how we resolve the companions trapped in 1901 while the Doctor has been transformed into a fucking Weeping Angel to be taken back to the Division. I do genuinely wonder how they'll get out of that one. Oh, and speaking of Chibnall fingerprints... more reminder that Bel and Vinder exist. It's not bad, and at least we know who these people are, but it's very much just minute advancing of the plot. I'm sure next week they'll be meeting up. That's Village. I do really like the slight twists on the Angels and seeing them back again, but to what end does this accomplish? There are enough innovations and spooky imagery and gonzo bullshit that I can call it entertaining, but we're hitting what I will coin the Chibnallian Breaking Point with the Division. 2/3rds of the way through Flux. There are only five stories in his era left. You have a year, Chris. It really and truly is time to stop passing the buck and start telling your story. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. If he delays, it's more frustrating teasing nonstarter designed to keep me glued to the screen. If he pulls the trigger, it's shrapnel from the Lore Bomb. A valid winning move is not to play, but fuck it. I got a podcast depending on me and morbid curiosity. Let's see where you want to go with this, Chibnall. If nothing else it will give me something to write about.