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Review: The Rebel Flesh
The Rebel Flesh is the fifth episode in Season Thirty-Two of Doctor Who
When a solar storm sends the TARDIS to an Earth a short distance into the future, the Doctor ends up negotiating between a group of humans at an acid factory and (thanks to some solar radiation) their suddenly independent thinking and sentient clones. “The Rebel Flesh” is the first of a two-part story and it has a lot of promise. The problem is that it never really evolves beyond promise and comes across more of a gooey mess than anything else.
The premise of the story is great; clones, the importance of identity, the rights of the clones versus their human counterparts, whether the clones are monsters or not – all of these things are raised by the plot in a very organic way. From the moment the Doctor starts scanning the goo which is used to create the clones and hints at sentience, the concept that the clones could be alive is put forward. So it’s not too surprising when the solar storm releases the mind control of the humans on their clones and the clones come into their own.
That leads to a couple of great scenes where the humans are forced to acknowledge that the clones they were using for grunt work, whose lives they’ve treated as disposable, who they’ve gifted with their physical features and memories, might possibly be as “real” as they are. The scenes that stand out are Clone!Jimmy (Mark Bonnar) arguing with Human!Jimmy about missing their son and their home, Clone!Buzzer (Martin Lancaster) revealed to have a heart when he’s killed and Clone!Jennifer (Sarah Smart) recalling getting lost as a child to Rory (Arthur Darvill).
The opposing view that the suddenly independent clones are aberrations, mistakes and monsters is voiced by Cleaves (Raquel Cassidy) and portrayed through the clones’ actions of taking the acid protection suits and Clone!Jennifer’s initial freak out at Rory where she comes very close to looking like the demonized version of the Mayor from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Are the clones only doing what is necessary to protect themselves or are they truly monsters?
Unfortunately, the philosophical debate is somewhat hampered by all the running around in among the ruins. Moreover, at a couple of points, I lost track of who was the duplicate and who was the human (although for the most part the duplicates are kept in their melted goo-faces so as to identity them). All of which was confusing and distracting from what was an interesting premise.
There are also a couple of other elements plot-wise that just don’t work. The first of these is Rory’s sub-plot with Clone!Jennifer. It’s actually great to see Rory getting a sub-plot as he’s mostly been used to be a foil for Amy rather than as a character in his own right. Here, the sub-plot is focused on Rory getting involved and making his own decisions rather than simply following Amy’s lead. And it’s not a bad little sub-plot; the reasoning that Rory goes to look after Jennifer because he’s a nurse is OK; his change from fear to protectiveness of her is also OK (especially with the scene about the childhood memory), and even the note of someone other than Amy liking Rory and perhaps giving Amy a taste of jealousy is OK. But it all doesn’t somehow come across as believable. Rory’s surge of protectiveness is too great for such little interaction; his decision to leave Amy to go look for Jennifer doesn’t feel right for the character since his epic 2000 year wait for Amy.
The other element that doesn’t work at all is the supposed surprise of Clone!Doctor. From the moment the Doctor gets his hands in the goo, it’s fairly well sign-posted what’s going to happen especially with the shots of lips saying “trust me.” The big dramatic reveal of Clone!Doctor towards the end therefore isn’t so much a big dramatic reveal as it is a damp squidgy ‘yes I saw that coming a mile away.’ I remind myself again that for the kids in the audience maybe it was a big dramatic reveal but I’m still thinking no…kids today are really smart.
The special effects and the make-up department get their usual kudos – both do a good job. From the TARDIS riding out the solar storm, the clone dissolving into acid and Clone!Jennifer’s shape-shifting attack, all the special effects are seamless and fit well into the live action. The make-up of the clones is very well done too; the melted faces of goo are scary and frightening while at the same time being recognizable.
Overall, “The Rebel Flesh” does its job of setting up for a second part but it doesn’t so much leave the agonizing burn of ‘I want to know the rest of the story right now!’ that followed last season’s “The Time of Angels” (31.04), but rather the ‘I really hope the next part is better’ that followed last season’s “The Hungry Earth” (31.08). It’s OK but it’s not amazing and I’m expecting better things in the conclusion.
Originally posted at GeekSpeak Magazine
When a solar storm sends the TARDIS to an Earth a short distance into the future, the Doctor ends up negotiating between a group of humans at an acid factory and (thanks to some solar radiation) their suddenly independent thinking and sentient clones. “The Rebel Flesh” is the first of a two-part story and it has a lot of promise. The problem is that it never really evolves beyond promise and comes across more of a gooey mess than anything else.
The premise of the story is great; clones, the importance of identity, the rights of the clones versus their human counterparts, whether the clones are monsters or not – all of these things are raised by the plot in a very organic way. From the moment the Doctor starts scanning the goo which is used to create the clones and hints at sentience, the concept that the clones could be alive is put forward. So it’s not too surprising when the solar storm releases the mind control of the humans on their clones and the clones come into their own.
That leads to a couple of great scenes where the humans are forced to acknowledge that the clones they were using for grunt work, whose lives they’ve treated as disposable, who they’ve gifted with their physical features and memories, might possibly be as “real” as they are. The scenes that stand out are Clone!Jimmy (Mark Bonnar) arguing with Human!Jimmy about missing their son and their home, Clone!Buzzer (Martin Lancaster) revealed to have a heart when he’s killed and Clone!Jennifer (Sarah Smart) recalling getting lost as a child to Rory (Arthur Darvill).
The opposing view that the suddenly independent clones are aberrations, mistakes and monsters is voiced by Cleaves (Raquel Cassidy) and portrayed through the clones’ actions of taking the acid protection suits and Clone!Jennifer’s initial freak out at Rory where she comes very close to looking like the demonized version of the Mayor from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Are the clones only doing what is necessary to protect themselves or are they truly monsters?
Unfortunately, the philosophical debate is somewhat hampered by all the running around in among the ruins. Moreover, at a couple of points, I lost track of who was the duplicate and who was the human (although for the most part the duplicates are kept in their melted goo-faces so as to identity them). All of which was confusing and distracting from what was an interesting premise.
There are also a couple of other elements plot-wise that just don’t work. The first of these is Rory’s sub-plot with Clone!Jennifer. It’s actually great to see Rory getting a sub-plot as he’s mostly been used to be a foil for Amy rather than as a character in his own right. Here, the sub-plot is focused on Rory getting involved and making his own decisions rather than simply following Amy’s lead. And it’s not a bad little sub-plot; the reasoning that Rory goes to look after Jennifer because he’s a nurse is OK; his change from fear to protectiveness of her is also OK (especially with the scene about the childhood memory), and even the note of someone other than Amy liking Rory and perhaps giving Amy a taste of jealousy is OK. But it all doesn’t somehow come across as believable. Rory’s surge of protectiveness is too great for such little interaction; his decision to leave Amy to go look for Jennifer doesn’t feel right for the character since his epic 2000 year wait for Amy.
The other element that doesn’t work at all is the supposed surprise of Clone!Doctor. From the moment the Doctor gets his hands in the goo, it’s fairly well sign-posted what’s going to happen especially with the shots of lips saying “trust me.” The big dramatic reveal of Clone!Doctor towards the end therefore isn’t so much a big dramatic reveal as it is a damp squidgy ‘yes I saw that coming a mile away.’ I remind myself again that for the kids in the audience maybe it was a big dramatic reveal but I’m still thinking no…kids today are really smart.
The special effects and the make-up department get their usual kudos – both do a good job. From the TARDIS riding out the solar storm, the clone dissolving into acid and Clone!Jennifer’s shape-shifting attack, all the special effects are seamless and fit well into the live action. The make-up of the clones is very well done too; the melted faces of goo are scary and frightening while at the same time being recognizable.
Overall, “The Rebel Flesh” does its job of setting up for a second part but it doesn’t so much leave the agonizing burn of ‘I want to know the rest of the story right now!’ that followed last season’s “The Time of Angels” (31.04), but rather the ‘I really hope the next part is better’ that followed last season’s “The Hungry Earth” (31.08). It’s OK but it’s not amazing and I’m expecting better things in the conclusion.
Originally posted at GeekSpeak Magazine