Who Review: Flux Chapter Six: The Vanquishers

Last time, the Doctor was about to be disintegrated by Swarm. She slips past him, however, and discovers from Tecteun’s Ood that if she removes the conversion plate that was put on her to survive transportation to Division control center, she will be pulled back into the universe. She needs to rescue her friends and find a way to stop the Flux, so she rips off the plate, just as Swarm touches her head. Somehow this splits the Doctor so she is now present in three realities: the Division ship, the tunnels in Liverpool, and Karvanista’s ship. But how long can the divided Doctor withstand the power of the Ravagers (Swarm and Azure)? And what part in all of this do the Sontarans play…?

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those who haven’t seen the episode. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

And so we come to the season finale, the wrapping up of the Flux story, where all the loose ends get tied together, we find out what it was all about, and how the Doctor and her friends saved the day. At least in theory. If you’ve been following my reviews, you’ll know that I’ve been hoping for a well-thought-out conclusion that explains and, perhaps, forgives some of the clankier parts of the story, and leaves no thread dangling. As critical as I am of Chris “Chibbers” Chibnall and his less-than-stellar writing and show running, I’ve been hoping that this would be his redemption. That this series would show himself to be capable of turning out some great Who. A couple of the episodes (or “chapters”) held promise, namely “War of the Sontarans” and “Village of the Angels.” So. How did he do? Let me say, that the final part of this six-part story was…

… a hot mess.

But let’s start on a positive note. Back when I reviewed chapter one, I made a list of all the plot points Chibbers threw into that episode that would or should be addressed by chapter six. The list looked a bit like this:

• the Flux
• Swarm
• the Time Lord Division
• Swarm’s sister Azure
• Vinder
• the Lupari
• Karvanista
• Dan Lewis
• Diane
• Claire
• A Weeping Angel
• Sontarans
• Joseph Williamson
• Various throw-away references to Who: Weeping Angels, Sontarans, Nitro-9, the Doctor once being Scottish, Vinder’s outpost being called Rose

How did he do? Pretty well, actually. We now know what the Flux is, who’s controlling it, and why. The Flux is made up of anti-matter, is controlled by Division, and they’re using it to destroy the universe with the ultimate goal of getting rid of the Doctor. The Ravagers are Swarm and Azure, so we know about them. Also, we know that Division was a faction of the Time Lords that included the Doctor a long time ago, but the Doctor doesn’t remember because Division wiped her memories up to the First Doctor and put them in a fob watch. The Ravagers ultimately want revenge upon Division, including the Doctor, even though she remembers nothing about her time in Division.

We know about Vinder and his relationship with Bel, the Lupari and their ships that are protecting Earth, and Karvanista, one of the Lupari who, it seems, used to be a companion of the Doctor’s back in those forgotten days, but the Doctor abandoned him in some terrible way that he can’t talk about because of a device Division put in his head that will kill him if he does.

Dan we know to be the Doctor’s useless new companion who will travel the world with Yaz, drawling inane jokes, and acting like a two-by-four. Diane is Dan’s friend who almost went on a date with him, but after being trapped in a Passenger with Vinder, where she shows herself to be impressively resourceful and clever, she thinks better of it. Claire is a percipient, or seer, who has visions that made her the perfect vehicle for a Weeping Angel, and is useful to the Sontarans for helping them see when the culmination of the Flux event will be.

The Weeping Angels are, basically, a vehicle for getting the Doctor back to Division. They featured in an entire story, possibly the best of the series, for that sole function. The Sontarans, on the other hand, had a whole episode and are the principal baddies for the finale. They figure out they can use the Flux to become rulers of the universe by summoning the Daleks and Cybermen to a “peace conference” shielded by the Lupari ships, then, having captured the Lupari ships, they would re-arrange them so they only shielded the Sontarans, leaving everyone else to the tender tendrils of the Flux.

Joseph Williamson’s tunnels play an important part in the story since they are built around ruptures in space-time that Williamson stumbled upon. Each tunnel has a doorway that is a portal to another time or place in the universe. The important part they play in the story is as a convenient way for Yaz and Dan to get back to the Doctor. And they use Doorway Nine to destroy the Sontarans who invade. Oh, and they use Doorway Seven to exile Prentis. So, yeah… not just a plot device. No, not at all.

As for the throw-aways, aside from the Angels, Cybermen, and Sontarans, they were all pretty much throw-aways. Squee-candy for the Whovians. I hoped they wouldn’t be, but Chibbers has a habit of disappointing by not disappointing.

There are so many things about this story I could complain about, but I’m sure the internet is already full of reviews and videos taking it apart, so here are the things that struck me most.

First, let’s deal with the whole Timeless Child thing. I talked about it some last time, about how the Doctor seemed willing to let the universe burn so she could get her memories back. In the end, the Doctor resists all temptation, and even when the fob watch is opened, she just sees the same vision of the dilapidated house she saw in chapter one. Finally, she throws the watch into the TARDIS telling the ship to put it somewhere she can’t find it… unless she really wants it. This suggests we’re not done with this storyline. But let’s consider how integral it was for this story. Did the Doctor’s time with Division have to be part of her “Timeless Child” memories? Could she not have been with Division as the First Doctor, and Division removed only those memories from her? Could this story have been told without invoking the “Timeless Child”? I think so.

To give some credit, I think the idea of the Doctor having once worked for a renegade Time Lord group that wiped her memory of her time with them, and who now are hunting her, is good. The added threat of the Ravagers seeking revenge on Division and the Doctor is also good. That itself could have been a very workable story without the Flux. In fact, using the Flux to get the Doctor seems like serious overkill. Many foes in the past have managed to capture the Doctor and even nearly kill him/her without such extraordinary means.

Next, there’s Diane with Vinder in Passenger. You might have noticed that Diane is missing her right arm from the elbow. This isn’t CGI. Nadia Albina, who played Diane, was born this way. I applaud Nadia for not letting her condition hamper her career, and she does a great job in this story. However, I think Chibbers borders on patronizing in the way he makes her special. Vinder is effusive with praise for how she discovers things they don’t teach till the last class of the Academy, telling her she should teach there and being amazed at her shooting skills. I think it’s impressive enough that she turns down a date with Dan. Good judgment!

The Doctor becoming three entities is a bit convenient. I don’t recall there being an explanation as to why that would happen when Swarm touches her. And how did her other two selves conveniently end up in the tunnels and Karvanista’s ship? The Ood just said she’d be thrown back into the universe if she removes the conversion plate. Is she using her Time Lord trickery as she did in “Once, Upon Time”? And how did she get the Passenger to appear in space? I don’t recall the Doctor taking it with her.

Let’s talk for a moment about the Sontarans. These are supposed to be a vicious clone warrior race who have no mercy and consider dying in battle to be the most honorable way to go. I’ve mentioned before how it undermines their menace when they’re made a laughing stock. I think Moffat started the trend when he included Strax in the Paternoster Gang, though I think the justification for this was that Strax felt indebted both to the Doctor and Vastra, so it was a matter of honor. Chibbers, however, has to go the extra mile, making the Sontarans both a global threat and also chocolate addicts stuffing their faces at the corner shop. Yes, they need nutrition, and the kind of food found in the candy aisle may appeal to their particular culinary requirements. I can accept that. But do they need to go around with shopping baskets gathering up bars of chocolate? Do we need to see them with chocolate-smeared faces, giggling like children? And, would they really be so easily bought off with the promise of more sweets by the Doctor, as if they really are children? The Sontaran saying “chocolate” with relish and delight was… cringe-worthy at best.

Also cringe-worthy was the scene between the Doctor and Yaz toward the end. The Doctor turns to Yaz and apologizes for not “opening up” to her and telling her what was going on with her. There then follows a tearful, heart-rending dialog about being honest with each other, etc., etc. Excuse me? Since when was the Doctor required to “open up” and be “honest” with companions? And the look between the Doctor and Yaz… is Chibbers trying to suggest a romantic relationship here? Given the cultural pandering of the past two seasons, I wouldn’t be surprised. And that would be a disaster. Leaving aside the gender issue, the Doctor didn’t even have this kind of relationship with Rose, and that’s the closest the Doctor has come so far to a romantic relationship with a companion. There was obvious affection between the Doctor and Rose. But such a relationship couldn’t work and the Doctor knew it. The Doctor does not have romantic relationships with companions. The Doctor is alien, with alien emotions that don’t always correspond with human emotions. The Doctor has compassion for companions but never feels obliged to tell them everything or anything. Companions are free to come and go as they please if they don’t like the way the Doctor operates. This is Doctor Who, not Broadchurch!

Thinking about the entire series, the whole “Flux” story, I consider each of the story threads and ask, “How important is this thread to the whole story?” Could we lose, say, the Prentis and Kate Stewart thread and still have a story? I’d say yes. The Ravagers? They could go. Bel and Vinder? Them too. Really, the critical components of the story are the Flux, the Sontarans, and the Lupari. And perhaps Division to explain why the Flux exists. These are the only elements that need to come together for the story to work. Everything else is superfluous to that story. “Village of the Angels” could be a stand-alone story (my guess is it was originally a stand-alone story that Maxine Alderton gave to Chibbers which he crowbarred into his Flux story). “War of the Sontarans” could also be a stand-alone.

I’m reminded of the two-part Season Four story “The Stolen Earth”/”Journey’s End” wherein Sarah Jane, Captain Jack, Rose, Martha, Mickey, Jackie, Donna, the Doctor, and Torchwood all had story strands that came together at the end. Each had a plan for stopping Davros that ultimately failed. In the end, Davros brought them together and together they defeated the Daleks. Then they all piloted the TARDIS to pull Earth back into alignment. While each story thread ultimately failed, they all served the purpose of bringing the team together so they could fight the Daleks.

In “Flux,” the Doctor takes control of the Lupari ships so they expose the Sontarans to the Flux. Bel and Vinder knock out the Sontaran communications. And everyone else essentially looks on. Sure, Diane suggests using a Passenger to vacuum the rest of the Flux, but the Doctor does the work. The Doctor sent everyone off with jobs to do, but how exactly did they all contribute to the final solution? Maybe I’m missing something, or forgetting something, but it seems to me they all did a lot of work for no real purpose.

And what about the universe? Sure, the Doctor sucked up the rest of the Flux using the Passenger, but that doesn’t fix all the planets that had been destroyed by the Flux. Is Earth the only planet left in the universe now?

So, no, chapter six did not live up to my hopes. Dan was still not likable (and John Bishop should still stick to stand-up comedy, regardless of how good he is at that). Yes, the story tied up loose ends and explained what was going on. But it wasn’t very satisfying. Lots of happy coincidences and pointless activity leading to a finale that was a bit… blah.

As for the entire “Flux” arc, the best I can say is that it wasn’t as preachy as past seasons. Chibbers pulled back on the Social Justice Warrior virtue signaling to actually try to tell a story. And he tried, I’ll give him that. As I said, a couple of chapters weren’t bad. But the sum total just never lived up to the promise of (some of) its parts. Perhaps the original series was 10 episodes long, but then he had to cut it down to 6? That might explain why the story is uneven, and why its framework seems so fragile. Or it could simply be that Chibbers isn’t a good Who writer or Who showrunner.

There are a couple of specials planned for next year, starting on New Year’s Day, before Jodie hands in her TARDIS key and Russell T. Davies takes back the helm. Sadly, it looks as if Dan will be a part of the crew for those. But at least we don’t have to put up with him for a whole series.

Did you see this story? What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments…