The Bootstrap Paradox (yes, I Googled it) is the idea that an object or information can exist without yet being created. That, through time travel, someone from the future can actually create aspects of their past. It’s long been a heavy feature of many science fiction 4th dimensional travel outings. It was the entire premise of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (admit it, you just made the guitar noise in your head) with the duo being helped to greatness by their future society. It’s produced great comedy setups like Lister discovering he’s actually his own dad in Red Dwarf. It’s produced many great plot twists and of course, made many appearances on Doctor Who such as this week’s episode; although this time, it gets a little too tangled up in it.
After the Flood – In order to save Clara and the remaining base members from the ghosts, the Doctor travels back in time to the origins of the alien spacecraft. Yet a haunting image makes Clara think he won’t succeed.
When you can travel trough time, the laws of sequels don’t always apply as this week concludes a 2-part story hundreds of years before last week’s Under The Lake, a pre-sequel if you will. In any other show, that would be a recipe for disaster but in the timey whimey world of a Time Lord, it just works. We want Doctor Who to keep the madness on a long leash so why shouldn’t that extend to series continuity so let the “reverse engineering the narrative” roll on. The trouble is the story in question becomes less entertaining for the heavy chains of explanation round its neck, especially through the first half. It’s almost like the prior episode didn’t do enough groundwork leaving this one to shovel frantically for all its worth. It’s a shame because there are many good elements in play. The early ghost mumblings setup a Final Destination style pre-determination. The living version of last week’s ghost Tivollian is incredibly fun as he gets warm fuzzy feelings at the thought of his planet being conquered again. The subject matter of the Doctor’s death rears its head yet again, but this time, in the face of apparent certainty, becomes a lovely little moment reflecting Clara’s love for the Doctor, “Die with whoever comes after me”. Then, there’s a revealed big bad, The Fisher King. He looks cool, like a cross between the Independence Day pilot suits and General Grievous. He sounds incredible, voiced by Slipknot’s mouth all-mighty Cory Taylor no less. Yet he never really feels involved enough in the episode’s story to feel like a true villainous presence. Even his eventual defeat feels like a rushed cop out that could have been done better.
The cause of the problems is simple enough. We spend far too much time with Clara, Cass, and Lunn in the future. While their scenes have their moments (like Cass’s deafness stopping her hearing the scraping axe behind her or the Doctor’s conversation with his ghost self), they take up too much of the episode causing the 1980's story to rush through its material. Yes, some of the plot points require their communication through time, but if could have been handled more efficiently for a better overall episode. That said, there is a rewarding level of cleverness to the reveals behind the mystery with just the tiniest thread left hanging for us to wonder over. There are very good arguments made about the Doctor’s morality and double standards regarding who he changes history for. In true Who style, there’s also a few brilliant fun moments against the run of play. The best by far being O’Donnell’s smash transition from mature composure to childlike euphoria over the TARDIS “it’s bigger on the inside” physics. O’Donnell also drops a blatant hint of things to come as she mentally maps herself into 1980 form her military intelligence back story. She mentions that they are before Harold Saxon (referring to the John Simms/The Master storyline of the David Tennant era) and “The Minister of War” that the Doctor does not know.... yet.
Just like the first two episodes when viewed as one, Under The Lake and Before The Blood grow in strength with synergy. Yet in just the same way, they struggle more when viewed as individual episodes. This couple's seating plan of episodes is set to continue with a further two double features on their way, leaving only 4 stand alone episodes out of 12. Despite some teething problems, this still feels like a good move for the show. It lets even guest staring characters become more developed, negates the needs for as many disposable villains, and leaves us hanging on more cliffs. Yet After the Flood is the least successful episode of the series so far in the way it reflects the pitfalls of such ambition, getting too complex for your own good. It’s still an episode with plenty of charms to it. The fake Russian village in Scotland is nice and eerie; Peter Capaldi is still brilliant, and his guitar needs to become a series regular (spot its amp from Magpie Electricals). We may not get carried away in the flood but it’s still worth getting wet.