Doctor Who Series 14, Episode 2
“The Devil’s Chord”
Posted by Kim
It is a truth universally acknowledged that when it comes Doctor Who, there is one steadfast rule: the first two trips a new companion takes in the TARDIS have to take place somewhere in space, preferably in the distant future, and somewhere back in time, preferably with a known historical figure or event. It doesn’t matter which one is first, but for every “The End of the World” there must be a “The Unquiet Dead” immediately following it, and for every “The Shakespeare Code” there must be a “Gridlock” after it. As a longtime viewer, it’s definitely a comforting pattern. And while it was a pain in the ass for fans like us who willingly dedicate our free time to creating content about this show, essentially doubling our work load for a week, it was an inspired choice for Disney+ to drop the first two episodes of Series 14 together, really giving new viewers a primer for everything Doctor Who is capable of. (We’re sticking with “Series” here at HOF, deal with it!)
Since “Space Babies” was a delightful romp in outer space, the rules of Doctor Who dictated that the next episode would send Ruby and the Doctor back in time. We all collectively lost our minds earlier when promos for “The Devil’s Chord” hit earlier in the year because it promised a trip to the swinging 60’s and a long awaited encounter with The Beatles.
Except much like communism the classic murder mystery “Clue,” The Beatles are just a red herring.
I mean, sure, the Fab Four are the impetus for the story and their utter lack of musical talent is the Doctor and Ruby’s first clue that something is very very very wrong in 1963. Sure, Paul McCartney and John Lennon are the lens through which we see just how miserable the human race would be in a world without music as an outlet for our feelings. And yes, John, Paul, and their combined latent musical genius that can never truly be taken away end up saving the day. (The Deus Ex Musica one might say if they were fond of puns. Which I am.) But ultimately, The Beatles are mostly passive participants in the story. The episode isn’t really ABOUT them at all.
No, the episode is entirely about two things: Jinkx Monsoon’s tour de force performance as Maestro and deepening the mystery of Ruby Sunday.
Listen, I was super excited for Jinkx’s performance on Doctor Who from the moment her casting was announced. (For clarity, Jinkx uses She/Her pronouns, while Maestro uses They/Them pronouns.) After all, Jinkx is the Queen of Queens, a two-time winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race winner whose Snatch Game performances as Little Edie Beale, Natasha Lyonne, and Judy Garland are the stuff of legend. She’s a burgeoning Broadway star, following up her run as Mama Morton in Chicago with a history making turn as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Basically, to know Jinkx Monsoon is to love her, and even with my expectations set sky high from the get go, she managed to exceed them with her turn as Maestro. The performance is delightfully over the top and campy and I am HERE for it. This one’s going in the Doctor Who hall of fame, y’all.
I think the biggest reason Maestro works is because Jinkx commits to them with her whole chest. Not a piece of scenery is left unchewed and yet you never feel like it’s being chewed for chewing’s sake. It’s all rooted in the character and all the choices make sense. The character wouldn’t have worked without a big and bombastic performance. Maestro is a petty and vengeful GOD who feeds on humanity’s unsung songs, for fuck’s sake. They strike the Doctor with not just fear but abject terror, which immediately raises the stakes of the episode and gives us the chance to see how Ncuti does with darker material. (Unsurprisingly, he nails it. Of course he nails it.) It’s such a great contrast to the goofiness of “Space Babies,” so again, it was an INSPIRED choice to air the two episodes together.
It’s totally insane to me the way Jinkx’s Maestro perfectly mirrors Neil Patrick Harris’ equally large performance as The Toymaker because I am sure they didn’t compare performance notes. THIS, dear readers, is what happens when you have a showrunner with true vision because the only thing “The Giggle” and “The Devil’s Chord” have in common as far as the creative team goes is Russell T. Davies. In tying these two episodes together, RTD is starting to bring the big picture for the series into focus. Our big bad seems to be not a single individual, but The Pantheon of Discord, a group of reality altering gods last referenced on-screen in The Sarah Jane Adventures. In my mind, they’re like Bowser’s seven children in Super Mario Bros. 3, with each villain getting harder and harder to beat as the game progresses.
So is The One Who Waits Doctor Who‘s version of Bowser? I mean, he has to be, right? Maestro is shook when they realize that the hidden song in Ruby’s heart has as much power as “the oldest one”. They genuinely cower at the thought that the oldest one could have been there on the night of Ruby’s birth, declaring something is “very wrong” with her because of it.
And no, I don’t think The One Who Waits is The Master, despite how they appear to be seeding it. Like communism and The Beatles, The Master is a red herring! I just think it’s too fucking obvious, you know? And as much as I would LOVE to see who they would cast opposite Ncuti, the Master is a well that Doctor Who has returned to far too often over the past decade. I get that the Master is Doctor Who‘s version of the Joker, but sometimes you want to see the Riddler instead, you know?
Let’s get back to Ruby Sunday. I still don’t love that the mystery of her identity is driving her story, but the show has fully committed to it. Flashes to that fateful Christmas Eve where baby Ruby was left at the church came up during pivotal moments in both episodes, so this is definitely what’s happening, come what may. Don’t fuck it up, Russell! At the very least Ruby feels like a more fleshed out character and Millie Gibson delivers a much more grounded performance, so I am much more on board with her than I was in the Christmas special.
It really seems that the Ruby’s mother is at the center of the mystery. After YEARS of us screaming “It’s never fucking Susan!!” like I literally did in my last recap, I am starting to be like…BUT WHAT IF IT IS? I’ve seen some fandom theorizing that Susan could be The One Who Waits, but I think the theory that holds the most water is that Susan is actually Ruby’s mother. That would mean that Ruby is the Doctor’s great granddaughter, that she’s his FAMILY, and that she’s at least part Time Lord, if not all Time Lord, depending on who Susan did it with. All I am saying is that the whole conversation on the roof about Susan felt very pointed and intentional. I mean, the way the Doctor just ASSUMES she died in the Master’s genocide? The way he quickly dismisses Ruby’s idea of going and seeing her right that instant, blaming it on the danger of crossing timelines? I’m afraid we can no longer write off the Susan theory as wishful thinking, you guys. You have my attention, Russell. I am SEATED.
Timey-Wimey Observations
- I thought it was wild that RTD cast so many American stars for this series, mainly because Doctor Who tends to stick to the vast array of talent on their side of the pond when it comes to showy guest spots. But then Neil Patrick Harris and Jinkx Monsoon ended up playing members of The Pantheon so I got to thinking…WHAT does that mean for Jonathan Groff in the regency episode?
- I love that Fifteen is like, “No, I WILL be utilizing that TARDIS wardrobe, thank you very much. The companions don’t get to have ALL the fun.”
- For a show that usually excels in casting, I am FASCINATED by the choice they made for Paul McCartney. That is all.
- And none for George and Ringo, bye.
- When Maestro says that Ruby is the only human with music left in her heart, the Community fan in me immediately said “Let Britta sing her awkward song!” I am who I am, I can’t help it.
- When Maestro tries to steal Ruby’s heart’s song, they are somehow giving both Ursula and the Phantom of Opera at the same time. “Sing for meeeeeeeeeeee!”
- I am OBSESSED with the cinematography of this scene. OBSESSED.
- Because my heart is a deep ocean of pop culture references instead of secrets, the scene where Ruby played the piano and everyone stopped to listen to the music REALLY paralleled the iconic scene from The Shawshank Redemption where Andy locked himself in the warden’s office and played The Marriage of Figaro over the loudspeakers. “I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don’t want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I’d like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can’t be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.” I mean…that’s it. That’s the episode.
- The way I screamed when Maestro started playing the Doctor Who theme to open the episode! And then when the END of the theme came out of the Jukebox in the TARDIS!
- One of the theories that’s starting to take shape is that all the fourth wall breaking is that the Doctor and other characters KNOW they’re on a TV show. Which is a great one season arc but where does the show go after that if this theory turns out to be true? Is this all the work of The One Who Waits and it will be undone when they are defeated?
- On seeing the subtitles right after our initial watch, my first reaction was WOW they really went rogue there NAMING the Saxon theme. On rewatch, the Saxon theme is OBVIOUS, so there’s no spoilage going on there. I fucking love that they dropped the Saxon theme after Maestro basically called the Doctor a non-genius. (“You might be bright. And hot. And Timey-wimey. But genius? Oh, honey, I don’t think so.”)
- Piggybacking off of that, I swear to GOD there’s a snippet of the Doomsday theme in the song Ruby plays on the piano. Sage brought that up when she rewatched it, and I 100% agree with her. Are we hearing things or is there a troll in Murray Gold’s office?
- The WAY Ncuti delivers the line “All yours, hunny!”
- Ruby doesn’t NEED to keep reminding us she was born in 2004, okay? I already feel old enough.
- Who else immediately started singing “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” when Maestro and the Doctor’s music battle started?
- Give it up for Heartbroken Lesbians!
- The way Fifteen kisses the TARDIS console! She’ll always be his number one girl.
- Love the cameo from June Hudson, who did costume design work on the classic series. Dying to know HER thoughts on Maestro’s amazing looks.
- Whenever there’s a scene where all the sound goes out, I am ALWAYS going to think of The Last Jedi and how people complained at movie theatres, thinking something was going wrong in their screenings.
- Did RTD specifically seek out to cast an actress named Susan Twist as a harbinger (see what I did there?) of the ACTUAL Susan Twist or is he the biggest troll of all time? Only time will tell.
- I’ve seen a fair amount of criticism of “There’s Always a Twist at the End,” but I loved it. The production value! The dancing! Is it a good song? Not really. But I don’t think it’s meant to be and that’s the point. Besides, ACTUAL Beatles songs, especially the well known ones, are notoriously hard to get the rights to, and even if you DO manage to get the rights, they are RIDICULOUSLY expensive. Even with Disney money, it would have likely been a huge strain on the show’s budget. So we get this silly yet ominous number! It’s great! It’s intentional! Little Henry Arbinger is there and he’s the exact same age that he was in the 20’s! What more could you ask for?
- One last pop culture reference before I go! The Abbey Road crosswalk becoming a keyboard was definitely an homage to the piano scene in Big, no?
What are your thoughts on “The Devil’s Chord”? Let us know in the comments!
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