Review: The Almost People
03/09/2011 03:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rachel500The Almost People is the sixth episode in Season Thirty-Two of Doctor Who
As a follow-up to “The Rebel Flesh” (32.05), this episode, which inevitably resolves the conflict between the clones and humans through judicious loss on both sides, is OK. As a prequel for the mid-season two-part story that is coming, it’s astoundingly good, shockingly wow, and any other superlative adjectives that you might want to say when something literally makes your eyes pop and jaw drop.
Let’s talk about the episode as a follow-up first though, because that was supposed to be its primary function -- right? Hmmm. Well, maybe. Maybe not. I’m not quite certain the whole two part story hasn’t been an extended prequel to the next episode but I digress.
“The Almost People” is an OK follow-up. It’s not outstandingly good; it’s not outstandingly bad. It’s just average. There’s lots of swapping of shoes and spot the clone going around. Firstly with the Jennifer clones where it turns out there was two of them; one hellbent on the destruction of humanity, one quite sweet and vulnerable. It’s the sweet and vulnerable one that Rory was trying to save; the hellbent one who isn’t at all stable and who ultimately is the monster of the piece. At least the fact that there are two makes sense of the confusing behavior of Jennifer in the previous episode.
Of course, it still doesn’t provide an explanation for Rory’s sudden need to run off after Jennifer leaving Amy behind. Nor does it provide an explanation in this piece for why Rory is so easily tricked into locking up his wife! Seriously, lack of believable character motivation here makes for a lack of believable character action although Arthur Darvill tries his best to sell it. Actually, I’m surprised that the obvious character motivation -- that Rory understood what it was not to be human but to be Rory (since he has the memories of being his Auton double who waited 2000 years for Amy) isn’t expressed somewhere in the story. Maybe it was and I missed it in among the whole spot-the-clone thing. Playing to Rory’s innate compassion and goodness just isn’t enough in this case. Maybe Rory is a clone too.
The Doctor’s Clone and his interaction as a double act is very well done and kudos to Matt Smith for pulling double duty. His motivations are very well-established through his years of meddling and trying to help. The swapping of shoes so that the “real” Doctor and the Clone swap identities without anyone being any the wiser – proving that the clones are as real as the original humans is very well done and not too well-signposted so it is a surprise, even though a suspected one, when it is revealed. His manipulation of Amy with the swap though seems bizarre (until the end). The Doctor and his Clone are undoubtedly the best part of this story. The opening segment where the clone has issues with the regenerations and the voices of the previous Doctors are heard is genius. I loved, loved that bit.
But really that is the best bit of the story because the rest is very much a paint-by-numbers approach to clone story-telling. The majority of the clones die in heroic ways (or in the case of CloneMonster!Jennifer in not-so-heroic ways). One human and one human survive to tell the tale and right the wrongs done to the flesh clones going forward. It’s not particularly original or inspiring. The guest cast do perform it well for all that; Mark Bonnar chews up the scenery nicely in his death scene, Leon Vickers does OK with Clone!Dicken’s sacrifice, and Marshall Lancaster is fine in Buzzer’s last scenes. The women get the better storylines with Raquel Cassidy great in both clone and human form, and Sarah Smart very creepy as CloneMonster!Jennifer.
I also have to say that the production quality continues to be high quality from the eerie set design to the CloneMonster!Jennifer’s transformation into something very not-human to the make-up throughout to the costuming and the very nicely inserted holographic telephone call.
But the quality of the production and the acting cannot quite sway this episode from OK to brilliant. It’s just not. It has moments but doesn’t come together as a whole piece, in my opinion. What does shift it in the end is the last five minutes of total gob-stopping OMG! I NEED TO USE CAPITALS WHEN TALKING ABOUT THIS ON THE INTERNET FORUMS shock as the truth about Amy is revealed.
She’s a clone! An Almost Amy! And the real Amy is pregnant and about to give birth!
OK, so it’s at this point where the Doctor’s manipulation of Amy makes sense; where the entire two-part story of “The Rebel Flesh” and “The Almost People” starts to take on an importance that it failed to grasp as a stand-alone concept. Suddenly I was excited. Suddenly I’m eager to rewatch it again because I think the revelations mean something more and will tell me what’s to come. In many ways this two part story reminded me of last season’s “The Hungry Earth” (31.08) and “Cold Blood” (31.09) -- on their own they’re not great but the last five minutes provide that moment of inspiration that carries them through.
Overall, I am disappointed a little that this two-part story couldn’t have been called brilliant without the last five minutes. The concept of the clones, who is real and who is the monster, the value of life, the two Doctors…it’s all kind of wasted by the so-so story. But as the set-up for the next episode it’s inspired: I can’t wait.
Originally posted at GeekSpeak magazine
As a follow-up to “The Rebel Flesh” (32.05), this episode, which inevitably resolves the conflict between the clones and humans through judicious loss on both sides, is OK. As a prequel for the mid-season two-part story that is coming, it’s astoundingly good, shockingly wow, and any other superlative adjectives that you might want to say when something literally makes your eyes pop and jaw drop.
Let’s talk about the episode as a follow-up first though, because that was supposed to be its primary function -- right? Hmmm. Well, maybe. Maybe not. I’m not quite certain the whole two part story hasn’t been an extended prequel to the next episode but I digress.
“The Almost People” is an OK follow-up. It’s not outstandingly good; it’s not outstandingly bad. It’s just average. There’s lots of swapping of shoes and spot the clone going around. Firstly with the Jennifer clones where it turns out there was two of them; one hellbent on the destruction of humanity, one quite sweet and vulnerable. It’s the sweet and vulnerable one that Rory was trying to save; the hellbent one who isn’t at all stable and who ultimately is the monster of the piece. At least the fact that there are two makes sense of the confusing behavior of Jennifer in the previous episode.
Of course, it still doesn’t provide an explanation for Rory’s sudden need to run off after Jennifer leaving Amy behind. Nor does it provide an explanation in this piece for why Rory is so easily tricked into locking up his wife! Seriously, lack of believable character motivation here makes for a lack of believable character action although Arthur Darvill tries his best to sell it. Actually, I’m surprised that the obvious character motivation -- that Rory understood what it was not to be human but to be Rory (since he has the memories of being his Auton double who waited 2000 years for Amy) isn’t expressed somewhere in the story. Maybe it was and I missed it in among the whole spot-the-clone thing. Playing to Rory’s innate compassion and goodness just isn’t enough in this case. Maybe Rory is a clone too.
The Doctor’s Clone and his interaction as a double act is very well done and kudos to Matt Smith for pulling double duty. His motivations are very well-established through his years of meddling and trying to help. The swapping of shoes so that the “real” Doctor and the Clone swap identities without anyone being any the wiser – proving that the clones are as real as the original humans is very well done and not too well-signposted so it is a surprise, even though a suspected one, when it is revealed. His manipulation of Amy with the swap though seems bizarre (until the end). The Doctor and his Clone are undoubtedly the best part of this story. The opening segment where the clone has issues with the regenerations and the voices of the previous Doctors are heard is genius. I loved, loved that bit.
But really that is the best bit of the story because the rest is very much a paint-by-numbers approach to clone story-telling. The majority of the clones die in heroic ways (or in the case of CloneMonster!Jennifer in not-so-heroic ways). One human and one human survive to tell the tale and right the wrongs done to the flesh clones going forward. It’s not particularly original or inspiring. The guest cast do perform it well for all that; Mark Bonnar chews up the scenery nicely in his death scene, Leon Vickers does OK with Clone!Dicken’s sacrifice, and Marshall Lancaster is fine in Buzzer’s last scenes. The women get the better storylines with Raquel Cassidy great in both clone and human form, and Sarah Smart very creepy as CloneMonster!Jennifer.
I also have to say that the production quality continues to be high quality from the eerie set design to the CloneMonster!Jennifer’s transformation into something very not-human to the make-up throughout to the costuming and the very nicely inserted holographic telephone call.
But the quality of the production and the acting cannot quite sway this episode from OK to brilliant. It’s just not. It has moments but doesn’t come together as a whole piece, in my opinion. What does shift it in the end is the last five minutes of total gob-stopping OMG! I NEED TO USE CAPITALS WHEN TALKING ABOUT THIS ON THE INTERNET FORUMS shock as the truth about Amy is revealed.
She’s a clone! An Almost Amy! And the real Amy is pregnant and about to give birth!
OK, so it’s at this point where the Doctor’s manipulation of Amy makes sense; where the entire two-part story of “The Rebel Flesh” and “The Almost People” starts to take on an importance that it failed to grasp as a stand-alone concept. Suddenly I was excited. Suddenly I’m eager to rewatch it again because I think the revelations mean something more and will tell me what’s to come. In many ways this two part story reminded me of last season’s “The Hungry Earth” (31.08) and “Cold Blood” (31.09) -- on their own they’re not great but the last five minutes provide that moment of inspiration that carries them through.
Overall, I am disappointed a little that this two-part story couldn’t have been called brilliant without the last five minutes. The concept of the clones, who is real and who is the monster, the value of life, the two Doctors…it’s all kind of wasted by the so-so story. But as the set-up for the next episode it’s inspired: I can’t wait.
Originally posted at GeekSpeak magazine
