Doctor Who is a show of many shows, and what I mean by that is that it can essentially twist and turn its plot in any time, space or direction to deliver some phenomenal episodes and stories. The thing I love about Doctor Who, is that it has become one of the few shows that always has me guessing with absolutely no confidence behind my theories. There are plenty of television products that feed us hints or foreshadows about the ending or twist, which, for me, is perfectly okay because I love trying to speculate. With Doctor Who, I honestly have just given up at this point, which is weird to admit because it bugs me, but I know I can’t do anything about it. This week’s episode, “Before The Flood,” actually did something different by essentially revealing the outline for the plot through a fourth wall breaking pre-intro scene that has the Doctor explaining the bootstrap paradox (look it up!) through the example of Beethoven. In a way, this is providing viewers with a generalized idea of how Doctor Who works as a show, in that literally anything can happen.
So, assuming you didn’t search what the bootstrap paradox is, it basically is the idea that something can exist without ever being created. Timey-wimey, I know. “Before The Flood” ends up sending the Doctor back to the source to investigate the city before it ends up underwater in hopes that he will discover the origin of the writings on the wall. One of the things I love the most about the Doctor is how he problem solves as he goes, which happens to cause some collateral damage when he is dealing with something he has no experience in. “Before The Flood,” honestly delivers the best display of this because while the Doctor wants to save everyone, his lack of understanding can cost other’s their life, but he’s able to hide any torment he suffers from the inability to save people who deserve to live. In tonight’s episode Bennet actually calls the Doctor out for this, which is sadly amazing.
For the Doctor, he needs to take in what’s happening to come to a solution, and in last night’s episode it takes the death of O’Donnell to confirm his theories which lead to him saving the day. In most cases, this is easily chalked up to the fact that the Doctor is able to save more people from dying thanks to O’Donnell’s death; yet, rather than being able to move on through that rationalization, he has to face Bennet who is angry and upset that he just watched the woman he loves be used as a guinea pig. He claims the Doctor knew that O’Donnell would die and wonders how someone can just sit back and let it happen. I found that this really echoed the ideas established in the first half of the episode because it continues to really show just how alien the Doctor can be, and sometimes he will lose sight of just how many lives he ends up playing with.
Now, coming back to the bootstrap paradox, it really messes with the question of whether or not the Doctor actually knew what was happening. He needed to see O’Donnell die in order to know that she came next, but by having Clara be second on the list he would always ensure he saves her before that time comes. The episode is really fun in how it sends us on a mystery with the Doctor picking up clues here and there only to realize that we are witnessing the solution. The Doctor hears the list of names which gives him the clue that O’Donnell is the next name up before Clara. He probably has a pretty good idea that the list is revealing who will die next, but until he actually watches O’Donnell prove it true (meaning Clara is next up) he isn’t fully sure. We are presented with information that exists without being created.
I really like when Doctor Who tackles the idea of paradoxes, especially seeing the Doctor work his way out of them. Paradoxes are really tricky and honestly mess with your brain in the basic, which came first, the chicken or the egg, scenarios. I always have to sit there for a moment after the conclusion and make sure I really understand it. Although I wish that both of the episodes in this story had more time to flesh things out, they really nailed the bootstrap paradox theme well with an understandable walk through as the episode progresses. Doctor Who is a show that always keeps us on our toes; it’s constantly introducing people to new ideas or things they have heard of but might not understand. The show finds more and more ways to connect with its viewers, whether it’s emotional or having fun when teaching science or history topics, which is why Doctor Who continues to be one of my longstanding favorites.
Other Thoughts:
- Rock opening? Hell yeah.
- The art and special effects were really amazing over these two Doctor Who episodes. The ghosts looked really cool and spooky with those gaping black eye holes, and the Fisher King was really well-done as well and looked super cool. Even the spaceship and underwater station; everything was just very smooth and not clunky at all.
- So… who wrote Beethoven’s 5th?
[Photo via BBC America]
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