Two-part episodes are something that Doctor Who has always managed to pull off pretty well. The multi-episode plot arcs are a lot of fun because they allow for a story to be double the normal run time length and open up the opportunity for a well-developed episode. Doctor Who has been on and off with its use of the two-part episode and the quality seemed to dip as well. There was a decent stretch where the two-parters delivered some of the best stories that Doctor Who has ever seen, but the trend quickly became less frequent. The 9th season seems to be on the right track with what we’ve seen so far.
The first pair of episodes brought the viewers a really well told story that focused on the Doctor and his past relationship with Dalek creator Davros. It was really pleasing to get so much out of the first two episodes, and after “Under The Lake,” it seems like these will be just as good. Doctor Who is such a complicated show that extended episodes really benefit it and never feel unnecessary. I think the reason they work so well for Doctor Who is because there is usually already some type of mystery within each episode, this just allows for a bigger explanation and look into what is causing the mystery to happen. The show can feel pretty procedural when it’s having a slow point in its season, but two-part episodes have the ability to bring Doctor Who out of a slump. While these types of episodes can become just as procedural, the idea seems to be off to a successful start this season by changing things up.
Normally, we watch the Doctor face some un-explainable problem that he spends the first episode assessing only to dive into the background during the second episode to truly understand why they are hunting, haunting or trying to harm humans. These episodes have allowed us to care for these third party characters because the longer story length opens up more time to explore character background. Yet, this season, Doctor Who has decided to do things a little differently. In the first two episodes I felt like the plot was solely revolved around the Doctor and Davros, with Missy and Clara’s B-Plot seeming relatively boring. In this week’s “Under The Lake,” we get another first part that seems to put a lot of focus onto the Doctor while leaving the supporting characters kicked to the curb.
This isn’t a bad thing though. Peter Capaldi is an amazing Doctor; he was the highlight of the otherwise disappointing previous season and can really carry the episodes well. I thought “Under The Lake,” really showed off his talent in the role by having him truly seem like an alien for once. The Doctor has spent his life traveling around and encountering things, so when he discovers the ghosts in this episode it excites him. His character views this as something exciting whereas the crew of the ship is scared and upset because their friends are being murdered and converted to ghosts. They display this really well because they keep the Doctor charming with things like his note card “I’m sorry for your loss,” speech. This sets up a fun dynamic as the episode progresses because the Doctor can still come across something he doesn’t know about.
What’s neat about the plot established in “Under The Lake” is that the cliffhanger leaves us completely in the dark. The Doctor claims he has to go back to the source in order to discover what is truly going on. What I find interesting about this, is that it opens up the possibility to really make these episodes stand out on their own and not just as a pair. When two-part episodes find the most success, it comes from having to individually solid episodes that can hold their own. “Under The Lake” has an interesting enough plot that it was just a good episode. It knew what it wanted to accomplish and didn’t try to force something overly complicated.
The only thing that I felt this episode didn’t do overly well was provide depth or story for the supporting characters. In the past, there has always been as least one person or employee who survives and has some type of impact on saving the day. In this episode we didn’t really get to know the characters in this underwater station which also made character deaths way less impactful.
This was another very solid episode for Doctor Who and this season has delivered three outstanding episodes so far. The cliffhanger was definitely an amazing one that has me curious to see if the next episode will be an adventure between the Doctor and the two crew members in the past at the source of this mystery. “Under The Lake” was another well-constructed episode that isn’t left being reliant on next week’s conclusion. The ghosts alone create enough unknown to give this part one plenty of substance to keep the episode interesting. This is how you accomplish a successful two-part arc, and if this is the level of quality that this season plans to deliver, then I’m looking forward to Doctor Who each week.
[Photo via BBC America]
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