Review of Time Heist
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.
In retrospect, it seems inevitable that Doctor Who would eventually spoof a caper film. It’s too bad they spoiled one of the major twists right in the title.
For the most part, it worked pretty well. The conceit that the whole team had to go in without any conscious knowledge of the plan (read: convenient amnesia) made for a nice twist on the “this is how it’s going to go down” reveal as the heist unfolded. I even thought it made sense the first time around (though knowing how it all turned out brought up several questions on subsequent viewing).
And far be it from co-writer Moffat (one has to wonder how much of the script had to be manipulated to fit the series arc in order for him to get that billing) to leave well enough alone. Almost from the get-go, we get anvil-on-the-head reminders of loose plot threads when the TARDIS’s phone rings. After all, few people (including Clara) have that number. “And some woman in a shop. We still don’t know who that was.” Oh really? Gosh, I’d completely forgotten that! [End sarcasm.]
At face value, though, it’s another nice romp with no stakes (a common Moffat theme: no one actually dies). I liked the co-conspirators, and was nominally invested in them—enough so that I was initially pissed that Saibra, a young black woman, was almost immediately replaced with the image of and old white dude. Once I realized that was a temporary disguise and not a permanent cast change, I could forgive it, though it did ruin an otherwise awesome “walking into the bank to rob it” cast photo.
When Saibra apparently died, then, you’d think I’d’ve been angry. But even on first viewing, I didn’t really believe she’d died. The shimmer looked too reminiscent of what we saw earlier in the series (specifically, in Into the Dalek, when Gretchen died). I completely expected her to show up in Heaven with Missy. Of course, adding Missy to the mix would’ve confused things far too much. She looks so much like Ms. Delphox/Director Karabraxos (and Mdme Kovarian, and Miss Foster, and…) that casual viewers would never have followed all the twists.
Instead, we get the Doctor not cottoning on until he means himself to, working his way around the Teller. (An aside: finding the Teller cocooned reminded me very much of the 456 in Torchwood: Children of Earth. I started wondering if there were a clue there about the Doctor’s new face.) It’s all very clever, if you don’t ask too many questions.
For example, why can’t the TARDIS materialize inside the vault when there’s not a solar storm to throw off its navigation? Yes, I can come up with a reason, but that’s one of those lazy fill-in-the-blanks-yourselves details I’d like the writers to state explicitly instead.
Also, why didn’t the Teller catch on that two of the caper crew were still planning to rob the bank after they found their way back in, disguised? The explanation given:
“You think we’re dead, so the Teller thinks we’re dead, and we play the creature at its own mind game!”
is oblique at best. Maybe it doesn’t get that information from the Doctor or Clara, but surely Saibra and Psi can’t hide it from the Teller, too. But it sounds clever and suitably Machiavellian, so it’s nice to pretend it makes sense.
Which is why—instead of rage quitting—I’m using my own version of a memory worm so I can believe the last line of the episode didn’t happen.
~touches memory worm~
To summarize, it was an overall enjoyable episode with plenty to like (though not love) and nothing to hate. I won’t mind watching it again.
Onwards and Upwards?
I actually enjoyed this episode quite a lot. Yes the most impregnable bank in the universe seems to be a tad too easy to break into, but it all seems fairly plausible, apart from the maybe convenient impact of the solar storm, but it moved along at such a pace that I was OK with the flaws I saw. I suspect the 45 minute format works well at this pace.
Also, I have to say I have a lot more time for Psi and Saibra than I have for the Paternoster gang. I thought that given there was so little information on these two initially that I was engaged with their story pretty quickly, so that must have been sufficiently well written to satisfy my tastes. The only jarring dialogue was the discussion between the Doctor and Saibra and the line she came out with about not being able to look at your own eyes (or whatever, I really can’t remember, but it grated with me, whatever it was) however, I guess it was necessary to push the plot along later on.
I was OK with the disguised Psi and Saibra rescuing the Doctor and Clara but I was a little surprised that they had infiltrated into such prominent guard positions so quickly after returning, but perhaps that’s a minor quibble.
So far this season for me has managed to deliver, competent episodes and no obvious Curse of the Black Spot type clunkers. Here’s hoping the quality goes onwards and upwards
Your own eyes
I think the line about not being able to look into you own eyes without feeling hate was a cunning clue that the Archetect was The Doctor. The only part of the Archetect you could see in the video was his eyes and The Doctor hated him on sight. Which doesn’t seem reasonable. Yes, the Archetect had put them all in danger but they had all seen the video in which they stated that doing the bank job and being in danger was of their own free will and for valid reasons, even if they didn’t currently remember what those were. Why should The Doctor feel such intense hatred if the Archetect was only facilitating The Doctor to do what he wanted to do unless there was something else going on?
Strong series
Yes, it has been a strong series through this episode. I think that as someone who writes reviews, I perhaps think about the plot lines more than a casual fan might, and that often causes me to find fault where I might not have otherwise.
As for quality going onwards and upwards, I’m less optimistic than you. They can’t all be winners. 😉
Amnesia
The whole point of a heist/caper plot (as far as I’m concerned) is that the characters understand how the robbery is supposed to work before they go in and the audience gets to see how they either pull it off flawlessly or improvise and cope if unexpected things go wrong.
I understand that the limited time alloted to a New Who episode makes watching the characters first plan, then execute an intricate robbery impractical. But the amnesia conceit makes the robbery gang, including The Doctor, look less like professionals doing something clever and more like clueless dupes. And it brings up some unfortunate questions. If The Doctor was able to sneak inside to plant the bag full of injecters in a handy spot then why did he need to sneak back out and back in again with his gang?
I suspect that if the episode had had more time to unfold it would have been more interesting and made more sense. Perhaps it should have been a two parter.
Time constraints
“If The Doctor was able to sneak inside to plant the bag full of injecters in a handy spot then why did he need to sneak back out and back in again with his gang?”
Yes! I had that same question, but never managed to articulate it! An interesting story, but with a few too many grey areas in the plot department. I don’t know that making it a two-parter would have solved the problem, but I doubt it would’ve hurt.
Injectors
“If The Doctor was able to sneak inside to plant the bag full of injecters in a handy spot then why did he need to sneak back out and back in again with his gang?”
Also, how did the bag stay undetected in the corridors under the bank? I haven’t seen the episode since it was broadcast but I seem to recall the bag was just sitting out in the open, not hidden.
It would have made much more sense if the injectors had been in the safe deposit box with the dimensional bomb. But story wise, finding the bag gave the gang an excuse to stand around and talk for a while. Which led to character development but seems a waste of time since their entry had been detected and the bank guards were looking for them. Shouldn’t they have been spending that time, you know, robbing the bank instead of having deep meaningful conversations?
Slow reveal
Ah, the perils of a slow reveal. 🙂