Doctor Who Series 11, Episode 8
“The Witchfinders”
Posted by Sage
I came to this week’s Doctor Who episode fresh off of a binge of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Season 1, which – don’t tell Jughead – I find more enjoyable than Riverdale, plus I’m still high on Suspiria, Luca Guadagnino’s lyrical remake of the nightmarish tale of a coven masquerading as an esteemed dance company. The point is that witches are IN, Becca Savage and her determination to see them all wiped out be (literally) damned.
This episode was basically constructed in a lab for me: penned by a woman, directed by a woman, featuring a witch trial narrative, and Alan god damn Cumming doing the absolute most. An embarrassment of Who riches, really.
I heartily enjoyed my first watch of the episode, though that had to do as much with the company (friends I don’t see enough of), the setting (Chicago TARDIS), and the wine (Trader Joe’s, boxed), as it did the adventure. The second time around was just as fun, but called to mind Kim’s steak metaphor. Because “The Witchfinders,” though it dealt with some big themes, including the Doctor’s current gender actually putting her in bodily danger, it’s not going to have a resounding impact on the season at large. I didn’t realize I’d miss serialization as much as I do, and it’s in this second half of the season that it’s more glaringly missing. Where are we going? What’s the recurring motif? (Besides grandmas, apparently??) What are the stakes?? Where’s my fucking steak, man?
http://steverogcrs.tumblr.com/post/180494673039
There was a lot of chatter before the season started about how the Doctor’s gender would affect the show’s storytelling, and “Witchfinders,” I think, is the most realistic episode yet in that vein. If there are witchfinders afoot, it wouldn’t take long before they set on the curiously powerful and intelligent woman with the magic wand and disappearing box. Thirteen’s exasperation about all the second-guessing is fortifying. She’s not scared, why would she be? She’s just irritated that King James plays into these fears and stereotypes to the point that it makes him ridiculous, and impedes her work. And she owns womanhood in this one, emphasizing a “we” instead of a “they” being at the mercy of silly, scared men. (“If we’re not being drowned, we’re being patronized to death.”) I’m assuming that many a Gally ribbon was born during their initial meeting, wherein King James thinks that the Doctor is merely gossipy decoy with womanly wiles to attract the real culprits. (The psychic paper was ON IT that day, my minds, announcing her as the witchfinder’s assistant. It is no fool.) Another 100 points to Hufflepuff for Graham’s unnecessary but very sweet claim that their group, in fact, has a “very flat team structure.” Bigotry makes him so uncomfortable, and I love him for it.
https://blakelivey.tumblr.com/post/180495270573/set-a-woman-to-catch-a-woman
I called this episode “fun,” but the truth is that no one watching or making it could have been having a better time than Alan Cumming. If you need someone who’s going to chew scenery, sell some off-color jokes, and make a known despicable personal inexplicably likable, he’s your guy. (Has been since SEAN BLOODY WALSH.) King James was putty in his hands – his flair for drama, his bonkers life story, his unquenchable thirst for Ryan Sinclair. It is broad and it is sharp and it is FUNNY, and it’s the kind of guest stint that oozes love for the show. And do not @ me, but he and Ryan actually make a pretty good team. The script does the right thing in not having Ryan be grossed out or keep his distance from King James after the monarch boldly puts the moves on. Instead Ryan sticks with him, tries to find common ground, and eventually saves the king’s life. We all had a good chuckle about it, but the hard truth is that Ryan IS hot, and this was bound to happen eventually. James gets more healing explaining his tragic family story to his crush (who wants to listen!) than he does having people assassinated. And Ryan is too pure to make anyone feel rejected; he even lets King James down gently when TeamFam! is about to re-board the TARDIS.
Why DOES King James get redeemed though? He’s not the one possessed by alien mud, fearing his own destruction at the hands of a rabid populace. He’s the one who apprehends the Doctor and ties her up (with quite a lot of rope, actually), claiming that he has a right to know all the secrets of existence. It’s true that Becca is no prize before the possession. She “married up” as Willa says, and heartlessly leaves her own people behind, going so far as to ruin something that she knew Willa’s granny loved just because she thought she deserved a better view when she looked out her window. But she’s “filled” by the Morax and obliterated, while King James gets to learn a lesson and carry on, presumably to be less satan-obsessed. Ain’t history a bitch?
There are some inherent areas of confusion in episodes like this, that take a real world problem and give it an alien monster bent. The last bit of “The Witchfinders” is the weakest, simply because it’s hard to conjure a fake evil that matches up with the real one that drove the witch trials. The existence of the Morax kiiiiind of lets James, Becca, and their minions off the hook, especially because it proves that there WAS some malevolent force spoiling their crops and bewitching their animals – it just wasn’t a human or demonic one. In reality, there are quite a lot of neutral reasons for those things to happen, and thank god for science. In that sense, the Doctor’s speech about the mysteries of existence does apply. It’s why, when she sees a werewolf or a giant wasp, she’ll appreciate the beauty and wonder of it first, before deciding how she’ll survive it, why she ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS asks the antagonist what it is that they want. Whenever something happens that King James doesn’t understand – or like – he has the nearest patsy snuffed out, whether there’s proof it’s their fault or not. Won’t find out much doing that, as the Doctor emphasizes. People are complicated and so are their motives.
This story does pick up one of my favorite Doctor Who threads: that the concept of Satan is ridiculous and reductive in any universe. (“Impossible Planet”/”Satan Pit” feels when Thirteen says she’s never been a big believer in him. You know who she DOES believe in though? Starts with a Rose, ends with a Tyler.) Every time Becca or King James blames their misfortune (and considering that they’re the most privileged people in the village, uhhhh, okay) on a faceless demon infecting at will for some unknown reason, Yaz, Graham, Ryan, and Doctor practically give an Office look into the camera.
And though I not it’s not a universally held opinion, I LIKE that our fam has quite a flat team structure. It’s not just Graham – they are all of them Hufflepuffs, social, affable…excellent finders. So even though Yaz, Ryan, and Graham are more than willing to follow the Doctor’s lead when she offers it, she’s just as likely to send the off on their own mission. This means that there’s a lot less damseling than usual, which can only be a good thing. And sometimes it’s just more inspiring to watch a group of people collaborate to solve a problem than it is to watch one hero giving out orders. I’ve warmed to these companions so quickly because the Doctor trusted them immediately and they’ve never let her down. But it seems like it’s about time for some conflict, and that doesn’t need to involve infighting. There has to be some tension SOMEWHERE, even if it’s just between the companion and their circumstances. Chibnall, we love these people now. We can handle it.
Timey Wimey Observations:
- The Doctor’s reaction to apple bobbing cements her status as an overgrown toddler.
- Graham went on the witch tour. I find this violently endearing.
- So many pocket issues this series!
- “And those garments – are you actors?”
- “Paperwork mostly.” “Paper, how fascinating.“
- “But both on the same day? I can’t buy that.” “Why does the lassie speak of commerce?”
- The sonic detects magic??
- “Delightful. Down the hatch.”
- “Which is daft, ’cause talkin’s brilliant.”
- Would watch the episode where Thirteen goes back in time to stop wretched Izzy from bullying her best friend Yaz.
- “Hand me your king.” “WHAT.”
- The Morax were meh narratively, but chrriiiiist, those mud effects and reanimated corpses were gross. Cheers to the creature department.
What did you think of “The Witchfinders”? Tell us in the comments!
Featured Image Source: BBC America
Share Your Feels