Doctor Who: Smile (10x02)

I really like Bill. She's not enough to save a fairly lackluster episode, but I do really like her.

Cons:

I have a couple of problems with the plot of this episode. The first is that it can't seem to decide what its message is. At first I thought we were going to look at the psychological and physiological realities of emotions. The fact that a person can smile and actually force themselves to be happier is quite interesting. There's a message here about the way robots would perceive human emotions, and how they would process and handle humanity in general. At the end, the Doctor pulls out a typical 11th-hour style fix-it, and the story is suddenly about the emergence of a new life form, and the need for cooperation between the indigenous population, and the new colonists. This ending really undercut the key themes being explored in the rest of the episode.

The other problem I have is that Bill and the Doctor were both kind of idiots in this one. There's a moment where Bill starts asking "what's in all of these pods?" and can't figure it out until the Doctor literally says that the human colonists are in cryogenic pods on the space ship. That was so obvious. It made me angry that it took her so long to get it, especially since she's made a point of talking about her love of sci-fi. Similarly, the Doctor doesn't figure out that the robots are trying to "help" humanity by "deleting" unhappy people, until close to the very end. I literally understood that in the teaser. Duh. The Doctor also does a lot of over-explaining, as he finally grasps on to the "plot twists" that any half-conscious viewer picked up on way earlier. It was way too exposition-heavy.

Also, I normally appreciate the Doctor pulling a crazy fix out of nowhere, as I think that's part of the fun of the show. But the fact that he fixes the problem by taking a new species, who he has just realized has sentience, and forcibly removing their memories so that the races can have a fresh start? That's... a bit of a mixed message if I ever saw one.

Pros:

Bill is pretty great. She's full of that optimism and curiosity that's so nice to see in a companion. She's a genuinely good person who wants to help, but she also defers to the Doctor's supposed "expertise" in serious situations. She doesn't run in and muddle things up just because she wants to get involved, but she also doesn't let the Doctor trick her into staying behind. A great balance. She's curious about the Doctor without letting that curiosity be her driving motivation. She wants to see the world and explore, but she does also want to learn more about this mysterious guy who has the key to adventure. I really liked her observations about the TARDIS. She keeps asking why it's a police box, and later, when she asks why the Doctor has to be the one to solve the problems, she notes the text on the outside of the box and realizes that the Doctor thinks of himself as the emergency helpline that can get people out of trouble. This was a great way for Bill to learn more about her odd friend.

I really wish the episode would have gone more into the Doctor's psyche, but I loved what we did get to see. The Doctor is often a deeply unhappy person, especially in his current incarnation. The fact that he had to smile and insist on being happy was really interesting, as it gave us a chance to square off with this "fake it til you make it" ideology that the Doctor is so fond of.

I also like that the Doctor makes several incorrect conjectures on his way to finding the truth. I mean, sure, the truth was pretty obvious from early on, but it's refreshing when the Doctor fails sometimes. He can't always get the full picture right away!

This season's big mystery is the vault - apparently the Doctor made some sort of vow not to go off-world, so that he can protect the contents of a vault. We don't know who he made the vow to, what's in the vault, or how Nardole fits in to all of this. I like this plot thread, as it can be pushed far into the background (as in this episode) without fading entirely out of our minds. It can be pulled to the forefront when needed, and as long as the secret behind it is sufficiently exciting, will probably make for a very intriguing conclusion to Capaldi's run as the Doctor.

So... there you have it. A bit of a dud in terms of the individual plot. But there were some good things in here, and Bill continues to be delightful. The relationship between the companion and the Doctor is always the most important thing to get right, and so far, this season is getting it right.

7.5/10