Doctor Who has been absolutely on fire so far this season, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be without its fault or even a less than spectacular episode here and there. This season has been very strong and fans luckily have gotten a complete roundup of two-part episodes that deliver solid stories that stand on their own. This week, the show continued on with “Sleep No More,” which was another fine installment for the season, but definitely felt like it lacked originality compared to everything else that we’ve seen so far.
A show like Doctor Who presents us with infinite plot possibilities, and so far through nine seasons, it’s pretty amazing that the writers have avoided repetition and been able to stay creative and fresh. That being said, it’s no surprise to see some similar themes and ideas creep up. The episode focuses on another monster that is somehow influencing people and causing them to do evil things. The whole mystery of the episode revolves around the Doctor solving this before it can spread across the universe. “Sleep No More” feels a lot like the “Before the Flood” and “Under the Lake,” episodes that had the Fisher King attempting to take over the world by creating more and more ghosts.
This episode opens up somewhat strongly with interesting ideas and the introduction of the Morpheus machine. Although Doctor Who has previously explored dream related topics, this was something fresher but eventually fell back into some repetitive patterns. The biggest problem with this episode is the supporting cast; similarly to other episodes in this season, supporting cast members brought in for the stories are relatively bland and offer nothing to care about. “Sleep No More,” leaves viewers stuck with another generic military team that plays up the typical personality types. I didn’t feel like we really get to know these characters too well which makes their deaths completely irrelevant. Aside from the military team, there is Rassmussen, who is interesting but sort of just comes and goes throughout the episode. Even when we finally begin to discover who he is and what he’s about, the episode reveals he is just a shell of the true Rassmussen and has been taken over by the sandmen. He is gunned down so quickly, his plan isn’t even revealed in person, it happens over a video left for after he has died.
I was really disappointed that Rassmussen didn’t get developed some more, but I guess it was trying to play up the whole horror side of the episode. All of “Sleep No More” gives off a huge horror vibe that plays on the found footage style. This was a really neat aspect for the show to incorporate but eventually it felt like the horror was valued more than the actual story and character development. Once again, the sandmen looked fantastic and the costume and makeup departments deserve a pat on the back, but I wish there had been a different plot to introduce them through.
By the end of “Sleep No More,” I felt rather bored. Not because it was necessarily a bad episode, but more because it was something I had seen before. Clara is the one in danger but it felt less threatening compared to the situation she was in during “Before the Flood,” and “Under the Lake.” The ending to this episode was extremely ambiguous and doesn’t seem like it will be continued next week. I think this interestingly might come back into play for the finale because it’s the first type of threat we’ve seen that disappears without knowing the Doctor fully stopped it. “Sleep No More, wasn’t the worst episode of Doctor Who that I’ve seen, but it was definitely my least favorite of this season. I expect things to pick right back up, but it was surely disappointing to see a repetitive plot so closely after what it was copying.
Other thoughts:
I’m curious if Clara having the sleep in her eye will be how they write her off the show. Maybe if the sandmen come back into play for the finale she will be tragically converted? I guess we’ll see. Probably a long shot but it popped into my head.
[Photo via BBC America]
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