Rescued from space, the Doctor and her new companions find themselves caught up in a race on a desolate planet. Episode one skipped the opening sequence so we could get everyone established, and now episode two kicks us off with it. Drastically different from the opening sequences we've had since "Nu Who" began, we open on swirling purple energy that takes a sort of Rorschach blob look, essentially a new take on the classic intro from the original series. Along with this, the theme song feels much closer to the classic sound than recent incarnations, and gave me a smile when I heard it. The group is still floating helplessly in space when a ship suddenly rockets into view, then grabs Ryan and Graham with a claw. After flashes of medical assistance, Ryan wakes to Graham, who assures him they're alive and surprises him with the news they're on some woman's spaceship. When Ryan is confused how they even got to space, then on this ship, the captain explains she "scooped" them and says that, along with some guy's dangerous move coming out of hyper drive, they could have been killed. Graham tries in vain to explain that they don't know what she's talking about, but she assumes they're feigning ignorance, calling Ryan a funny "bonus" when she says they're approaching the "final planet" and he asks what that means. Graham says he doesn't know where the Doctor and Yaz are, and that the captain won't look. When he tells her to try, she says it'd be pointless because they're dead if they're still out there. The two are, in fact, on another ship, where Yaz wakes as the Doctor yells at its male captain, with whom the Doctor is arguing about what to do. The Doctor notices the planet the two captains are going for, which the captain says is basically named "Desolation." He manually turns on the shields, a sign to the Doctor that his ship is ancient. She suggests they disconnect the rear section, which would allow them to crash land, and though reluctant, he agrees when she points out they'll die otherwise. The other ship successfully lands, and the amazed Ryan and Graham follow the captain as she surveys the atmosphere. While the Doctor and the others crash, she assures Yaz they won't be dying yet, then takes partial control while having Yaz grab the stabilizers. They finally crash land, almost crushing the others, but everyone reunites safely. The Doctor welcomes them to their first alien world while promising to get them home. The female captain, Angstrom, mocks the other, Epzo, for crashing, and the two argue about their mutual situation, with her pointing out they have even "bonus" amounts. A sound draws their attention, and the others can only follow as they walk into the desert, with a quick joke about Pythagoras as the Doctor gives Graham sunglasses. The group finds a tent, and as the camera focuses on some bandages on the ground, the two racers enter. Before the others do, the Doctor urges caution and reveals the other beings have implanted translators in their necks to allow communication, much to Graham's annoyance. The inside of the tent is lavish, and a man, Ilin, sits in the center. The Doctor quickly reveals everything is a hologram. She explains their situation to Ilin, who tells them they are intruding on the last "Rally of the 12 Galaxies." Angstrom and Epzo are the only ones who remain of 4,000 participants. The prize, some cash amount the others don't know, would allow the winner's planet to live lavishly. Ilin tells Angstrom and Epzo to cross the mountains to find the "ghost monument" and win, at which point only that one will be transported away. Angstrom's disbelief gets Ilin to threaten her, reminding that she knew the risks, noting that big risks come with big rewards. Graham asks what happens to them, and Epzo tells him to shut up. When he suggests they show solidarity to fellow humans, Epzo and Angstrom reveal they are two different kinds of alien and have never heard of humans before. The Doctor points out the test's cruelty, and when Ilin says it's a test of "our" survival, she uses her screwdriver to reveal he's incredibly far away. He reveals he started and competed in the contest, and will now finish it, telling the contestants they can't hurt or kill each other. Urging them to not drink the water or travel at night, he ignores the Doctor's questions of why and says they have a single means of transport over the water. The Doctor demands to know what the monument is, and he simply says the ancient settlers named it, as it appears in the same place every 1,000 rotations. Angstrom grabs her tracker and sets out with Epzo, who is happy he'll soon get to smoke a special celebratory cigar. The Doctor finally convinces Ilin to tell them what the monument looks like, bringing up a hologram of the TARDIS. She thanks him but scoffs when he says he's sorry he can't help more, and he ends the entire hologram. Excited, the Doctor tells the others about the TARDIS, having realized she calculated correctly but the planet fell out of orbit, which is why they wound up in space. She explains that she can stabilize the TARDIS to fully appear if they reach it in time, promising to get them home, and they set off after the racers. Ryan has doubts about the Doctor, but the others are willing to trust her, and she comes upon the Epzo threatening Angstrom with a blaster. She points out he can't use it due to the rules, mocking his machismo, and paralyzes him with Venusian Aikido. Graham suggests he and Ryan try to get the ship running, and though Epzo remains aggressive and assumes they're a plot to cause trouble from Ilin, the Doctor points out that they're all simply going to the same place. She then learns there are flesh-eating microbes in the water and the air is somewhat toxic, and inside the ship, Graham tries and fails to get Ryan to open up about Grace. Ryan is able to deduce that the engine isn't the problem; they're looking at a solar battery. The Doctor and Graham then set about checking if the panels are misaligned or the power isn't being fed properly. Outside, Angstrom tells Yaz about her planet, but doesn't trust her enough to open up about something that happened, and the Doctor giddily reveals they've fixed the ship. On the trip over, the Doctor points out the oddity of having old societies here yet the planet being devastated. Epzo says it doesn't matter and continues his loner ideals, revealing his mom tricked him into falling from a tree as a child, which taught him he can only trust himself. The Doctor simply counters that people are stronger together, and when Epzo falls asleep, Angstrom details the race, explaining that it's worth it to save her planet, which is being systematically cleansed. She tells Yaz to not take her family for granted, and they all go to sleep, with Ryan later waking again to Graham. Having crossed the water, Epzo brags about his special cigar and how it self-lights. They come to ruins, causing the Doctor to again wonder what happened to the people, and Epzo and Angstrom walk off. Everyone wanders through the dusty ruins, and after the Doctor notices the suns are setting, they find themselves surrounded by robot guards She tells them to walk carefully out of the area, but Epzo's blaster fire nearby sets off all the robots, forcing them to run for their lives. They find themselves in a small room with targets, realizing they've entered a shooting range. Ryan picks up a gun despite the Doctor's complaints and rushes out, only for the robots to recover from his shots, forcing him to return screaming. Taking cover, the Doctor is able to use a broken robot to send out an EMP, disabling the others. Angstrom finds the wounded Epzo, who turns down her help, and the group arrives shortly after. The Doctor gets snippy with Epzo for asking what she did, and she explains to the thankful Angstrom that she has discovered maps and the location of the bots' base from what she did. The group goes down a ladder, where the Doctor again brings up how the planet's society must have been advanced to build all this. Graham notices scorch marks, but the Doctor decides they can only go forward, and opens a locked door she comes across. They find what seems to be a lab, and though Angstrom is nervous and wants to leave, the Doctor points out they already entered the ruins with no knowledge, and moving on when they could learn something would be foolish. Epzo says again that it doesn't matter, and the Doctor snaps that something catastrophic happened, and that some people care about others, telling Epzo to go tend to his wound and take a nap, and maybe they'll wake him. He does so, only for bandages on the ground to move, and the Doctor discovers a network of tunnels that would give them a path at night to the monument. Ryan and Yaz discover surveillance footage that shows robots at the ladder, and the Doctor finds writing on the floor that gives her a surprising revelation about the people who lived there and what happened to them. The remainder of the episode focuses on the group's desperate struggle to reach the TARDIS, trying to work together along the way. For me, this episode was a good way to capitalize on what the previous set up, in more ways than one, though part of that comes with the message's decryption.
The sudden rescue from Epzo and Angstrom is a good, simple way of solving the problem of how the group will escape from the vacuum of space. Of course, in typical Doctor Who fashion, it's out of the pan and into the fire as some of them are crashing, and they all seem to be captives of some sort. It's never really made clear what the two meant by calling them "bonuses," but I like that we don't understand anything that's going on until we get to Ilin. One aspect of the show that people likely expected was the issue of men trying to talk over the Doctor, and other similar issues women face on a daily basis. Both Epzo and Ilin are examples of what is considered toxic masculinity, constantly ignoring, talking over, and trying to intimidate others. Part of this that I really liked was Epzo's claim that being alone is better, which is a typical character trope but is used effectively here. Obviously, Epzo has a reason for thinking this, and it has caused his more aggressive nature since he thinks he can only rely on himself. A big point of the episode is therefore to both teach him humility in listening to others as well as how to work with others to achieve a common goal. On the other hand, you have Graham and Ryan helping to be a better example of proper masculinity, especially Graham, who constantly stands up to Epzo. In another emotional area is Ryan, who seems angry about Grace's passing and unwilling and/or unable to talk to anyone about it, especially Graham. He cheers up a bit when Graham brings her up and says she'd be saying "You're on an alien planet; how cool is that," but refuses to talk about how he feels. A good part about how these issues are handled is they aren't hammered into you, as some past issues the shows handled were, like taking on the fan fear of an older Doctor with Capaldi by having Clara constantly grumpy with the twelfth Doctor. Jodie Whittaker does a great job this episode, taking the men's ignorance relatively patiently at the start and finally snapping at Epzo and putting him in his place after his gunfire almost killed them and she saved them. I got quite a bit of pleasure when she, after repeatedly hearing him ask why she cares, snaps that some people care about others and to just go nap like he's good at, and maybe they'll wake him. The discovery of the TARDIS and revelation of why they were brought to the planet is a great way to get the crew tangled up with the racers. Much like with the new opening, this is the first episode where we get to see the interior of the new TARDIS, and I for one was blown away by how different it is. It will definitely take time to get used to, but it has an interesting feel to it that reminded me a bit of the ninth and tenth Doctors. Next week the gang is heading to Rosa Parks, and while some might assume it's just a way for the show to focus on "PC" issues, I'm excited to see what they do. Of course an important aspect of the show is visiting strange worlds and times, but at its roots, Doctor Who was an educational show. If you go back and watch some of the early Hartnell episodes, the characters gave a lot of historical information as they traveled to different years on Earth. This was an aspect I felt came back in a way with Capaldi, and I'm glad they're continuing the trend, happy to see what they'll give us next week.
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