Doctor Who: Episode 2

Episode 2

This episode is undoubtedly stronger than the series' pilot. A possible reason could be its multifaceted characteristic, one that I did not expect a light-hearted science-fiction show would embark on. Not only does the episode integrate science-fiction elements for the audience's entertainment, it repackages tidbits of our reality to critique society.

We've established in our class discussions that television shows are receivers of social influences. The episode exhibits this by diving into the issue of politics, a point of both interest and conflict in any time or space. Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta's devious plan was triggered by one corrupting trait - lust for money. Casting the wealthy such as the "last human" as the greedy villain was a necessary choice for the episode to mirror society. Cassandra used the Adherents of the Repeated Meme to stage a hostage, including hers, in order to claim compensation. Afterwards, she made her escape and left the others to die so she may rightfully own their corporate holdings to fund her 709th operation. Five billion years into the future yet people, be it human or alien, still hunger for money because the line between "need" and "want" had yet again been ignored. It makes me wonder if beauty can kill guilt as well.

Beyond this dismal message, I found that the episode introduced human aspects to an otherwise alien-centered storyline. In a conversation Rose had with the Doctor, realizing that her mom was dead five billion years in the past affected her. This re-introduced death through the perspective of a daughter while capturing the importance of time. Furthermore, the episode implicitly addresses an end for Rose Tyler. When the Doctor said that "Everything has it's time, and everything has to die", I realized that this was the end of Rose's gallivanting, a realization she had during her conversation with Raffalo. Reality finally sank in. She realizes her irrationality upon accepting an invitation from a stranger; proving that even the impulsive have their limitations.

Moreover, "Doctor Who" noticeably established the viewer's stability towards its characters through several ways. First was through our growing familiarity with Rose and the Doctor. I began to expect playful banter between the two and the delivery of ridiculous lines from the Doctor (ex. "I bring you air from my lungs"). This line was perfect for the series as it used humor to juxtapose the truth behind two different realities - our reality vs the "Whoniverse". In the "Whoniverse", the Doctor's gift was contextually logical. In our reality, his gift was ridiculously strange. These realities were yet again compared when "Tainted Love" was played as "classic music" from a jukebox which they referred to as an "Ipod".