Doctor Perseus Reviews: Doctor Who S10E3 "Thin Ice" · 8:49pm May 3rd, 2017
Time for our first trip to the past this season. And Series 10 continues with its consistently good quality. While I don't think I'd consider this a personal favorite of mine, this episode was still really good.
This episode gave us several more scenes that further establish Peter Capaldi as a great Doctor. The punch scene and his speech about how mankind truly progresses will surely go down as some of his most memorable moments. Right up there with the War Speech and his "I am the Doctor" speech. Bill also continued to shine in this episode with the trend of her asking important questions that really haven't been asked before. Bill's worry about changing the past and her focus on the butterfly effect is something we really haven't seen a lot of in the past. Pretty much all of the modern companions didn't show as much worry about going into the past as Bill did. It was also fascinating to see Bill coming to realize how death seems to follow the Doctor everywhere, as well as her conflict with how the Doctor "moves on" from death in the moment. It's an important moment that every companion haves during their early episodes. Clara's "things just got real" moment from Cold War is another prime example. Though I must say that one little continuity error bugs me. Bill claims that the little boy drowning was the first death she saw. Yet, in the last episode, she was clearly in the vicinity of a woman who got vaporized right before her eyes. Maybe she was looking away at the time? I dunno. Bill's conflict is still understandable but that little continuity error does bug me a bit.
One thing I have to praise this episode for is how it approached 19th century racism. I expected they were going to do this at some point due to Bill being the first companion of color since Martha. And what Bill experienced in this episode might have almost been worse than what Martha experienced during her time in 1913. Lord Sutcliffe referring to Bill as a creature was a quite jaw-dropping moment. Many of us good people don't like to think too much about times like this. And it's really sickening to realize that there was a time where people were seen as creatures and/or property just because of their skin color. Along with that, these couple lines bushed the boundaries I expected this show to go:
Bill: Regency England. Bit more black than they show in the movies.
Doctor: So was Jesus. History's a whitewash.
The featured creature of the episode was nothing too much to write home about. Just a giant sea creature under the ice that isn't really evil. Not bad but nothing too noteworthy. The ending of the episode was far more interesting than the creature.
So far, Nardole has been pretty underused. I'm really looking forward to when the Doctor, Bill and Nardole finally become a true TARDIS trio. As of now Bill and Nardole don't seem to care for each other that much and the Doctor is being torn between his oath and his new friend. I'm sure they'll come together over the next few episodes. Plus, Nardole's ending scene with the Vault has raised even more questions. What's in the Vault? We'll find out soon enough.
Overall, I really liked this episode. Another solid entry to Series 10.
What did the rest of you think of Thin Ice?
I kind of like that moment where The Doctor determines Lord Sutcliffe can't be an alien because an alien wouldn't be that racist. However, in some of those moments commenting on the racial stuff, I couldn't help but feel like the writers were like saying "Hey! Let's see how social justice-y we can get!" Or maybe you're right, and it's a hard thing to think about and I'd rather not have Doctor Who remind me of it.
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I'll admit that there were a couple minor SJW-esque moments this season but none were major enough to come close to ruining an episode for me or anything like that. I think it's fine for Doctor Who to tackle these subjects when given a fitting setting and time. When there's a companion of color and they travel back to a setting like 1800's England or something like that, you kinda have to address things like that.
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Well, that is an apt assessment.