Doctor Perseus Reviews: Doctor Who S10E8 "The Lie of the Land" · 10:58pm Jun 5th, 2017
As a conclusion to the Monk Arc, I was very much looking forward to this episode. So was this episode a satisfying farewell to the Monks? Yes...and no. Honestly, I might even consider this my least favorite of this trilogy.
As always, the performances from our main cast were splendid. Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie have a wonderful dynamic. I’m really hoping that Bill gets to say on for the 13th Doctor’s first season. I even want Nardole to stick around. Before this season aired, I had my concerns. But they’ve further cemented themselves as a great TARDIS team. Plus Bill and Nardole starting to grow on each other is really adorable to see (even if Bill wants to kick Nardole’s ass every now and then). But I’ll go ahead and discuss the “regeneration” scene. Overall, I think the only reason this scene exists was just so they could have an epic shot for the trailers. The scene itself felt a bit dragged out only for it to be a ploy by the Doctor to test Bill and see if she was truly free from the Monks’ control. The acting was great but the scene itself felt short a bit. A somewhat fitting metaphor for the episode as a whole.
This episode has great pacing, an interesting 1984 tone, and excellent cinematography. But it sort of feels a bit less tense the longer it went on. I have to say that, overall, the Monks were a disappointing villain in this episode. While they had a creepy introduction in Extremis and some interesting depth in The Pyramid at the End of the World, they were mostly absent for their final outing (as of now). They’d walk in here and there and there’s one gunfight towards the end. But they’re mostly just an unseen threat looming over our characters’ shoulders from across the ocean. We don’t even see the main Monk who appeared to be the leader in the past two episodes. I was expecting more from these villains. We still hardly know anything about them. Why did they want to take over the Earth? Why did they need consent? Was there a bigger goal in mind? We don’t really know and we’ll most likely never know unless they get another appearance in a future season. Mystery and intrigue works for some villains but, for others, answers are more than welcome. Though I will say that I liked how Bill defeated them. It was sort of a spiritual sequel to The Rings of Akhaten in that regards.
Thankfully, Missy is able to make up for what the Monks lack. It was great to finally see Bill meet Missy. It’s sad that this will be Michelle Gomez’s last season but she’s at least still having the time of her life as the insane Missy. And towards the end we also get to see the character get a surprising amount of depth. Whether this is a ploy or real will most likely be answered in the finale. But I am very much interested in seeing where Missy goes from here.
So, overall, I liked this episode but was a bit disappointed by it. The previous two episodes set up for a much bigger conclusion than what we were given. But I think we can all agree that Peter Capaldi gave some of his scariest faces in this episode. That smile on the TV still sends chills down my spine.
What did the rest of you think of The Lie of the Land?
I liked how the episode was called "The Lie of the Land". It's playing on the word "lie".
It's an interesting concept with the Monks taking over and making it seem like they've always been there. It's like the reverse of The Silence. It is very 1984.
I kind of didn't appreciate the fake out with the Doctor's regeneration. What I don't get though is if defeating the Monks required Bill to become effectively braindead, how did she survive the process of rejiggering the Monk's memory altering machine?
I read a theory somewhere that the Monks may be connected to an ancient Time Lord called Omega. It's not much, but it might be revealed if that is so at some point. I am in the process of catching up with Doctor Who at the moment so I don't quite know what happens at the end of this season.
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I'm not a big fan of the fake out regeneration either. It's clear they only really did that to create an exciting scene for the trailers and to further tease Peter Capaldi's actual regeneration later this year.