The central premise of 'Flatline' is fascinating, between the Foretold and 'The Boneless' writer Jamie Matheson is the guy to call when it comes to inventive monster ideas. Apparently Matheson offered up four different story idea's with drawings of four different monsters. Moffat picked the 'Flatline' one and was so happy with Mathesons script he asked him to do another episode: 'Mummy On The Orient Express'. After this episode I really want to see his other ideas on screen!
This week Clara has to tackle beings that exist in another dimension, ones that only perceive the world in 2D. Outside of the Futurama episode '2-D Blacktop' I don't think this idea has been explored before, so to extrapolate it into terrifying beings who suck us into the walls is a great premise. The Boneless start taking physical form by leeching off of the TARDIS's external dimensions, shrinking it's exterior to a size very similar to that of the toys you can currently find in Toy's R Us (this is an ingenious way to promote the merchandise, intentional or not). It also enables the director/writer to go crazy with the sight gags, hence Clara putting the mini-TARDIS in her handbag or the Doctor using his hands Thing style to get the TARDIS away from danger. These moments are either ludicrously silly or clever depending on your resistance to slightly out there sci-fi idea's but if you can buy the 'bigger on the inside than the outside' bit then why not extend your imagination a little further?
With the Doctor trapped inside the TARDIS Clara is on her own, but thanks to a handy neuro-uplink the Doctor can see what Clara sees, and for once take on the role of observer. This handy metaphor is a great role-reversal as it reveals just how much Clara and the Doctor are alike. I continue to be amazed at Clara's character growth this season, Clara's trajectory is the main drive of the show now. As for Jenna Coleman's and Capaldi's performances, they're predictably amazing and the highlight of every episode. Everyone moaning about this series being 'Clara-Who' are right, she literally becomes the Doctor in this episode. All the hallmarks are there: lying, excessive use of the sonic, the 'I'm the only one who can save you' speeches, turning people into soldiers, she even has her own companion in Rigsby, the only decent supporting character. She's good at it, but to quote the Doctor 'goodness' has nothing to do with it: she's very good at lying to people and being manipulative, particularly in the scene where Rigsby wants to sacrifice himself to become the hero. These past couple of episodes are really taken with the morality of behind the Doctor, past seasons have shown that the Doctor takes ordinary people and makes them better. Yes this has the unfortunate side effect of turning them into warriors willing to put themselves into harms way (Rigsby) but they're still better for it, a symbol for humanity. Clara, (while no where near to anything resembling a bad person) is the antithesis of this, her experience with this Doctor is making her worse, even if it is necessary in order to survive. The Doctor picks up on this, he doesn't seem proud by her actions at the end of 'Flatline' at all. She's no longer his 'carer', acting as his conscience, she now actively gets his way of thinking (thanks to the beach scene at the end of 'Mummy') and starts developing similar traits. All of this is a whirlwind away from the Clara at the end of 'Kill The Moon', angry at the Doctor for leaving her to make the tough decisions. Now she's a bit of an adrenaline junkie, addicted to making these kinds of choices. I wonder if this is how she leaves? Perhaps she becomes so much like him he can't stand the sight of her and leaves her behind? Maybe this was just an interesting detour for this episode, but with only three episodes left her excessive lying to Danny and the Doctor is going to come to a head soon. Also, what's up with Missy and her ipad? She chose Clara? In what way?
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Visually this episode is a bit bland (not counting the SFX). The story takes place on a council estate in Bristol, so there's no flashy recreations of the Orient Express or moon walking here. The dreary choice of environment is unfortunate because every episode of Series 8 so far has had a distinct location that sticks out whether it be Victorian London, the Bank of Karabraxos, Sherwood forest or the overgrown London we're going to see next week. Most of 'Flatline' is set inside a subway tunnel (creepy but generic) so the only thing that returning director Douglas Mackinnon can do is latch onto the idea idea behind the monsters i.e they can come from anywhere. He succeeds in making them visually interesting and scary, although you might want to credit the CGI team for that. They excelled at making a potentially laughable idea creepy, apart from their '3D' form. How to describe them? They look like a video game glitch that's been crossed with a zombie covered in clear gello, it's difficult to discern but the crappy CGI might just have made them look more unsettling, they definitely have a unique look at any rate. It's hard to feel anything towards them though when the characters they're chasing after for most of the episode are bland redshirts that exist solely to be picked off.
The worst thing about 'Flatline' is it's supporting cast, which is surprising because Matheson's last episode had a pretty decent line-up of supporting characters that were fleshed out quickly with a few lines. Here it's perhaps to much to even call them characters, half of them barely get a line in. Christopher Fairbank's Fenton is a grade A arsehole. I know it's intentional but he doesn't evolve at all, he's quite simply a dick to ram home the fact that better people are dying while he's still walking, a message that NuWho has treaded on before (almost line for line) in 'The Voyage Of The Damned'. The other three community service workers have about five lines between them before they're gruesomely dispatched by being 'flattened'. Anyone else? Well the police woman was OK, and the train diver guy seemed....nice? They're given no real personality at all, Rigsby is only one who seemed half decent. Jiovian Wade does a really good job breathing life into a character who's only defining trait is 'graffiti artist'. Everyone else was pure cannon fodder. Considering this episode ran three minutes shorter than normal they had the time to put a bit more into the supporting characters, maybe a conversation or something? But no, they're too busy being chased to be given any backstory. This is probably why I felt uninvolved on my first viewing, if I don't feel anything for the characters being chased then why should I be scared?
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| Who are those two other guys again? |
Another thing that bugged me was the Doctor's speech before wiping out The Boneless. It feels out of place with Capaldi's character, 12 doesn't seem one to boast and it's odd that he would blurt it out now, nine episodes into the series. Add to that the fact that we've seen this speech a dozen times by now (and better), I think we should call these 'I AM THE DOCTOR!' speeches a day for a while. It was also poorly written: 'I AM THE DOCTOR AND I FIGHT MONSTERS SO.....I WILL FIGHT YOU!' Really? The speech and the fact that he basically sonic-ed them away took the wind from the episodes sails a bit.
'Flatline' leaves me in an unusual situation because I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. On the one hand we have another great monster idea coupled with further development for Clara and the Doctor's ever evolving relationship, but then it gets mired down by a weak supporting cast and the fact that it is essentially one long chase scene. I recognise there's some good stuff here but I felt slightly uninvolved while watching it. Maybe after a few re-watches my opinion of it may change, but it's certainly not the best of the Series like some are saying. Having said that, Jamie Matheson should still be brought back for Series 9, he seems like he gets the monster-side of Who at any rate.
+ Excellent monster idea
+ Clara-Who
+ Mini-TARDIS!
+ Addams family gag!
+ Rigsby was OK
Negatives:
- Supporting cast was barely there
- Fenton was a caricature
- One-note episode
- Painful 'I AM THE DOCTOR' speech we've heard a million times
- Did the 3D Boneless look silly or scary?
Overall Score: 7/10
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