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| The Doctor has a lapse of confidence. |
1 episode. Approx. 48 minutes. Written by: Toby Whithouse. Directed by: Nick Hurran. Produced by: Marcus Wilson.
THE PLOT
In the corridors of a hotel, as muzak blares over the speaker system, a monster stalks the halls. The people trapped inside are not guests. They are people from all across time and space, taken from their ordinary lives to this structure - a place that is not on Earth, in which the walls and corridors move. Every person has a room. Inside that room, their worst nightmare waits. And once they have found their nightmare, they are ready: First to "praise him," then to become food for the beast.
Into this fluorescent labyrinth come the Doctor, Amy, and Rory. They quickly meet the "hotel's" current group of victims, who have been wandering the corridors for two days. They are confused, tired, and terrified. But the Doctor is here now, so there's no need for any of them to be afraid. He will unravel the mystery and defeat the monster, and everyone will be able to go home safely. There's nothing to worry about. After all, he's the Doctor.
"Praise him."
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: So what was in his room? Whatever it was, it and Rita (Amara Karan)'s words to him clearly are leading him to reassess his nature. We've already seen a tendency toward self-loathing in this Doctor. That tendency is built on here, as he seems to renounce any claim toward goodness. "I'm not a hero," he tells Amy. "I really am just a madman in a box... It's time to see each other as we really are."
Amy: Has absolute faith in the Doctor to save them. She has a compassionate scene early on with Gibbis (David Walliams), a cowardly alien from the most invaded planet in the galaxy. It's a nice scene on its own, well-played by Karen Gillan. The scene takes on added meaning in retrospect, though, when you can recognize it as foreshadowing. Amy's nightmare is of herself as a child, waiting for the Doctor to come back for her. It was the first time the Doctor failed her - and also the first time they met.
Rory: Still the most grounded of the time travelers, and still the most decent. His reaction to one death is to look at that person's picture on the wall and reflect about how much it must have taken for that person to overcome a stutter in his past. "Not all victories are about saving the universe," he says quietly, a statement that has to set the Doctor to thinking.
THOUGHTS
The God Complex is another visually superb episode. It probably wasn't a particularly expensive one. The hotel sets are fairly standard, and much of the running time occurs in a single corridor and staircase, both of which are reused throughout. But these sets are wonderfully shot. Director Nick Hurran employs an array of camera techniques, from tilted angles to speeded-up motion, to lend the proceedings a vaguely surreal atmosphere.
The production is matched by an excellent script, the best that Toby Whithouse has yet written for the series. This script sees him combining plot and character elements just about perfectly. The character material and the story don't compete for attention. They feed each other, the characterization of both regulars and guest cast an inherent component of the story itself.
The regulars are superbly characterized, in a way that builds on elements that have run through the entire season (and in Amy's case, since her introduction). The guest characters are also engaging. Amara Karan's Rita is the only completely 3-dimensional one among them, but all of the "monster fodder" manage to make an impression during their time on-screen. Each character also provides some new hint, giving the Doctor a trail of crumbs to lead him to the truth - even if he gets there a bit later than he might have liked.
Like the last couple of episodes, The God Complex indulges in emotion at the end. However, while I felt those episodes overegged the sentiment, here it's all balanced just right. The Doctor's scene with Amy/Amelia in "her room" works for me in a way that Old Amy's self-sacrifice didn't. For one thing, the Doctor's speech is much shorter, saying only as much as is necessary to achieve the goal. Also, instead of being used to wrap things up neatly and spare the regulars mess, as was the case in The Girl Who Waited, here the emotional moments make things messier. The Doctor resolves the situation, but at severe cost to himself.
The monster's final words hit home, for both Doctor and viewer. As does the episode's final shot, with the Doctor in his TARDIS - increasingly isolated, increasingly disillusioned with himself. It's an interesting place to leave a man who has usually been defined by his confidence, and I'm eager to see where the story goes from here.
Rating: 9/10.
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