Doctor Perseus Reviews: Doctor Who S10E6 "Extremis" · 8:50pm May 25th, 2017
We are now officially halfway through Series 10. And what better way to celebrate the midway point than with a crazy Moffat episode?
I'll start things off with the only thing that really disappointed me about this episode: the reveal that Missy was the one in the Vault. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm always up for more Missy and I'm certainly interested in seeing where this goes. I was just hoping for something less...predictable. But, again, it does open the door for some more interesting stuff in the future.
Once again, the dynamic of our new TARDIS trio shines through here. Granted, it's a shame that the stuff we saw with them didn't happen in reality (more on that in a bit) but what we saw was still great. Nardole especially got to shine in this episode (both in the Shadow World and in the Missy flashback). It's nice to see how far Nardole has evolved as a character since his introduction as the comic relief character nearly two years ago. Bill also gets some great moments in this episode. From blurting out "Harry Potter" (a fellow fan?), to her awkward first date with Penny being ruined by the Pope of all people (probably not the best person to crash your lesbian date), and finally her emotional reaction to learning that she is not the real Bill Potts. It was also interesting seeing the Doctor dealing with his new handicap. The sonic shades have come back (which I have no problems with since I'm apparently one of the few fans who didn't mind their presence in Series 9) and they've proven their usefulness once again by giving the Doctor temporary but restricted eyesight of sorts. I really am interested in seeing how his blindness further affects the rest of the "Monk Trilogy".
I'm just going to say that the Monks are terrifying. They have a great design and are easily the scariest monster Moffat has given us since the Silence. They almost remind of Dementors...if Dementors could talk and were scarlet instead of black. The twist of most of the episode being a mere simulation created by the Monks so they could essentially playtest an invasion of Earth was really good. Plus it's a nice jab and the whole conspiracy theory about us living in a fake world. What do the Monks have in store for Earth and the Doctor? Don't know but I'm excited to find out. Plus, it's nice to know that the events of this episode don't entirely not matter in the grand scheme of things given that the Shadow Doctor was able to record everything and email it to the real Doctor. So at least the Doctor has some heads up about what's coming.
Overall, I loved this episode. A great start to the "Monk Trilogy" and an interesting continuation of the Vault Arc.
What did the rest of you think of Extremis?
But us living in a digital simulation isn’t a conspiracy theory, it’s a physicist theory based on the likelihood of human life appearing in the universe: like creates like, so the most probable source of the human image is other humans with the technology to simulate themselves perfectly. I also like the idea in the episode because it connects to another show I’m watching with the line about the fake people in video games thinking they’re real. Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, straight from Japan, is a superhero show that blends doctors with video games through viruses. A computer virus has evolved to infect people, and it’s bringing video game villains to life by using people as hosts; these villains are characters who were designed to be evil punching bags for people to entertain themselves by beating up, but now they’re real, and they’re out to even the score.
I remember live tweeting this episode and tweeting something along the lines of "Don't you hate it when you're on a gay date and the pope shows up."
To be honest, this episode made me nervous because of the Church aspect. So much fiction out there has done things from the ridiculous to the openly hateful with the Church. Unfortunately, this episode also annoyed me in that regard because it kept suggesting that Pope Benedict IX was a woman and that The Doctor had some kind of affair with her. Firstly, none of that is true. Though truth be told, Benedict IX was a rather dicey fellow who managed to be forced from the papacy on two different occasions. (I actually didn't think that was possible. It makes me wonder though... 🤔) Secondly, I find problematic because that whole things seems to be an odd allusion to medieval myth of Pope Joan, which I kid you not, some with a vested interest against the Church have tried to insist that it's true.
But all of that probably doesn't matter because it was all in a virtual reality. Perhaps the Monks' VR wasn't perfectly accurate like the Zigerions from Rick and Morty.
But all in all, it was a cool episode with a cool set up for the next two episodes.
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It does always worry me a bit whenever they decide to tackle religious characters or themes. More often than not, they tend to take jabs at it. And as speaking as someone who was raised under said beliefs, it can be quite annoying to see people demonize it a lot (especially considering there's a certain other ideology that's a lot worse and problematic yet nobody wants to talk about that in fear of looking like a bigot...but I'll spare opening that can of worms here). And, yeah, that whole thing about one of the past popes being a woman did feel like an SJW moment of "see, the past was diverse too!" It feels more forced than natural.
But, like you said, this all did take place in a simulation so they could contradict this in a later story if they chose to dive back into this topic again.