The trouble with reviewing Extremis is that it is really just a prelude to the next episode. The episode confirms that Missy is the person inside the vault and also introduces the sinister Monks but the ramifications of these revelations will not be felt until the following episode.
For the entirety of the episode, the Doctor is sitting outside the vault, on guard. The reveal that Missy is inside the vault is presented in flashback sequences wich show the Doctor and Nardole, fresh from their River Song relationship, rescuing Missy from a planet of executioners before bringing her into the vault. These scenes imply that the Doctor and Narole must have already been looking after the vault during the events of The Return of Dr Mysterio. In these flashbacks we get to see more of Missy's vulnerable side when she begs the Doctor to let her live if she follows the path of righteousness. Whether she is sincere in this remains to be seen. Whether there is anything or anyone else inside the vault remains to be seen, but this certainly advances the story arc.
The rest of the episode revolves around a recording from a digital world sent by a digital Doctor to the real Doctor. This world is being run as a simulation for the Monks to test an alien invasion. Inside the digital world, a book called the Veritas has been translated and reveals the artificiality of the world. The Catholics have already killed themselves, shortly followed by the CERN and the President of the United States. The Doctor, Bill and Nardole spend the adventure trying to locate the Veritas to understand the reason why people are committing suicide.
The last time the show involved the Catholic Church was in The Massacre. Now we have the modern Pope who is much of a celebrity guest as Charles Dickens in The Unquiet Dead or Richard Nixon was in The Impossible Astronaut. He is more of a plot device than a character, a means of involving the Doctor in this adventure. The other major Catholic character is Father Angelo, the go-between, who is a straightforward character.
They go to a place where ancient books of a heretical nature are held. This decent looking location is pretty similar to Underhenge of The Pandorica Opens or the Under Gallery from The Day of the Doctor. They soon find that the Crypt is filled with red robed creatures called Monks who are also evil as evil. They look creepy with their corpse like faces and red wrath robes but they have little personality as of yet.
Nardole and Bill find a portal to CERN where they find out what the Veritas actually is. The world is fake. Every seemingly random action is actually planned in advance. It is like the Matrix, and videogame references are abound, a rarely explored genre for Doctor Who.
Nardole disappears an Bill goes to the White House where the Doctor has realised the truth. He has decided not to be a little byte of data and will email the real Doctor. This whole adventure has been a message to the real Doctor all along. The scenario is somewhat similar to one that Joss Whedon and his writing team posited in Angel. If our existence is meaningless then what we do is meaningful.
With a very plot focused episode, Bill feels more like a generic companion this week. We do get to see her on a date with a girl called Penny. The scene of her finding the Pope and the Catholic Priests in her bedroom is a funny sequence to bring the Doctor into the adventure, even if it is somewhat reminiscent of Clara being called away from a date by a Spaceman in Listen. As Bill joins the adventure we get the interesting fact that the Doctor does not tell Bill that he is now blind because it will be true.
One companion who does benefit from this story is Nardole. He is the Doctor’s conscience who reminds the Doctor why he is pretending not to be blind. He is also secretly a badass and is quicken the uptake in all things. He is the first of the two companions to work out that the world is an illusion. The character has truly grown to be a force equal to his two compatriots.
The digital Doctor is generally withdrawn for most of this adventure, reluctant to let anyone know his weakness. Blindness is not a complete impediment for the Time Lord. The sonic sunglasses which give him vision somewhat like Neo from the Matrix. He also uses equipment so that he will be able to read the Veritas. When your back is against the wall how would you act? Would you try to be heroic good or will you reveal yourself to be evil or a coward? This is the dilemma faced by the Doctor in this adventure. Having been blinded in Oxygen, he is now faced with situations getting worse with the digital universe.
I had a hard time determining how I felt about this one. To an extent, the plot was a 21st century equivalent of The Android Invasion. The alien Monks were running a simulated invasion of Earth. albeit on computers instead of building a whole physical world. This is only really like a Part One of a story. How the Monks ultimately planned their invasion will be seen next week. It will be interesting to see how our heroes react to this threat.
6/10
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