Doctor Who: Rosa (11x03)

This episode terrified me. I mean, before I watched it. There were about a million things that could go so, so, wrong in tackling this story. And? I... think they pulled it off, actually!

Cons:

The character of Krasko was a little undefined. He's the dude from the future who has come back to mess with Rosa Parks and change history. We know he's a criminal in the future, and it's sort of implied that he's just a lone crazy person, not part of some bigger conspiracy... but in any case, I think I needed some firmer answers about who he was and if he was just a lone racist monster, or if he represented an attitude that still prevailed in the distant future. I could have done with less of him, or... more. As it was, he was just kind of there as an excuse for plot to happen.

Pros:

Okay. I'm going to try to not make this review really, really, long, but I think I need to talk about the good things about this episode point by point, because I had so many fears going in that they were going to screw this up. I want to list some of the things that this episode did right that I really, really worried it would get wrong, and then we can turn to the other good stuff, too.

Point one - Rosa Parks is an activist, and her protest is intentional. There's this gross bit of misinformation that Rosa Parks was just tired after a long day, and that's why she refused to give up her seat. I was worried they would go this route, but no. Rosa was a hero, and she is presented as such in this episode.

Point two - I worried that somehow the Doctor would be responsible for Rosa's decision, or the Doctor would inspire her somehow, but no. Rosa Parks gets to be the hero of her own story, and the Doctor is not the reason for any of it. She's a witness to it, and that's all it should be. The final moments, with Rosa being arrested, while "Rise Up" plays in the background... it would have felt like too much, you know? It's a little hokey, such an inspirational power-house song playing during that moment. But it works because despite the triumphant tone of the song, the scene itself does not feel like triumph. It feels like someone pulling up their bootstraps, ready for a long, hard journey. And the end of the episode cements that, as the Doctor and her companions discuss the hard life that Rosa Parks led, and how it took until the end of her life before she was widely regarded as the hero that she was.

Point three - I thought the plot was going to be about the Doctor and her companions orchestrating the events so that they would happen the way they needed to. And while that's sort of what was going on here, it was actually a bit more subtle than that. These visitors from another time were there to guard the correct version of events, not to make them happen. So, sure, they interfered, but only to undo the interference of Krasko.

Point four - I worried about one of the first adventures for Ryan and Yaz as companions being one where they had to confront racism in the past. We've seen modern Doctor Who companions face this stuff before, both with Martha and with Bill, but in both of their cases, the racism of the past was a couple of comments, and then the episode moved on to the larger plot. Fair enough, those episodes weren't specifically about race. This one was, and I thought - oooh, I'm not sure I want to watch this. And indeed, it was really, really hard to watch, but it wasn't over the top, and it wasn't without a very strong point. Which brings me to:

Point five - Probably my biggest fear, and one I actually thought was coming true at first, was that this episode would be about how racism is a problem of the past, and not one of the present or future. As a tangent to this, we also have the optics of British people coming to America to observe the horrors of American racism, and I worried that the episode would distance British folks from that racism and try to claim innocence. Obviously, Ryan and Yaz receive quite the culture shock, from Ryan being slapped by a man for daring to address his wife, to Yaz and Ryan both being refused service in a restaurant, to, of course, being forced to sit on the back of the bus. The moment that the episode went from "good" to "great" for me was when Yaz and Ryan discuss the racism they face in their normal lives, with Yaz being called slurs on the job, and Ryan getting stopped by the police for no reason. It was sort of "Racism 101," you know, the kind of stuff that "woke" people are obviously already aware of. But this is a family program, and I'm willing to bet that some kid somewhere saw that scene and had a light-bulb moment, because I remember my own light-bulb moments as a young kid watching children and family programming. That's powerful stuff. Also, bringing it back to Krasko for a moment, this episode tells us that, unfortunately, even in the distant future of humanity there will be those who hold on to ancient prejudices. The problem will never be totally fixed.

But Yaz nails it on the head when she talks about the fact that racism, while still a very real part of our reality, is also something that can be fought against, and that real progress can be made. Some people will say that it's time to stop complaining, because look how bad it used to be, and how much better it is now. But those people are missing the whole entire point. It didn't just "get better." People like Rosa Parks fought very hard, and sacrificed their lives, in many cases, to make it better. So that Yaz can be a police officer, and Ryan and his step-grandfather can be a mixed-race family.

Okay. I think I'm done with my list of things I was scared about when I started this episode. I want to turn to a few other things I'm so pleased about.

For one, although the Doctor was a vibrant and interesting presence in the episode, we spent a lot of time focusing on Yaz and Ryan, and the final reaction shot we see as Rosa is being arrested is of Ryan. In fact, Ryan and Rosa share a look. It could have been the Doctor and Rosa, but no. It was a moment of solidarity between the only two people who could fully understand that moment for what it was.

Another really powerful moment was when the Doctor and her companions realized that they were part of the story - that in order for Rosa Parks to change history, the Doctor and Graham had to be the people that stayed seated, that led to Rosa being forced to stand, that led to her keeping her seat. Graham says he doesn't want to be a part of this, but the Doctor says he has to. It was... it was hard, and it was strange, because in some ways it was this moment where white people made the choice to allow a black woman to sacrifice something for the greater good. Their interference might have saved Rosa Parks a great deal of pain, or maybe not... the point is, the larger theme in this show about not interfering in fixed points in time mixed with a social message about being a bystander in a way that left me feeling uncomfortable. But in a way I think it was meant to make me feel. Graham couldn't distance himself from what was happening. He couldn't say "I'm not like those white people." He had to sit in his privilege and let it protect him, for a larger, greater, good.

I could go on and on, but I'll wrap things up. I really enjoyed this episode. It far surpassed what I thought it would be able to accomplish. I was so scared I was going to have to rip this one apart, but actually... I'm pretty pleased. As a final note, I'd welcome anyone to tell me why I'm wrong - as a white woman, I should by no means be setting the bar for what is acceptable when telling a story like this one. I can only share my opinion, and do my best to learn and grow!

9/10