Fairly or not, there were huge expectations heaped on this year’s Stephen Moffatt two-part story. As the season began, we wondered if Moffatt could somehow top last year’s superlative “Blink.” Then came the news that Moffatt was taking over as show-runner in 2010 and suddenly the pressure on “Silence in the Library” and “Forest of the Dead” was ratcheted up even more.
With all that pressure, could a two-part story live up to the hype, the pressure and the behind-the-scenes drama?
Absolutely. Not only live up to the expectations but exceed them.
Warning: SPOILERS after the jump!!!!!
Steven Moffatt better clear off a bit of space on his mantel or get a bigger mantel. I see another Hugo in his future for this two-part story.
“Forest of the Dead” picks up right where last week’s story left off, with the Doctor in peril and Donna having become part of the library. Moffatt gets the Doctor and the exploratory team out of harm’s way easily enough, but it’s in a way that was set-up in part one. A lot of times when it comes to cliffhangers, it’s simple to take an easy way out by introducing a plot element or device we’ve not seen before. Moffatt set up the solution this week’s cliffhanger in one scene last week. It’s one of those moments where you slap your forehead and go, “Of course, that’s how you get out of it” and then wonder how you didn’t see it sooner.
And then, from there “Forest of the Dead” charts out its own course, picking up all the pieces from last week and weaving them into a beautiful tapestry. In a way, I almost feel sorry for next week’s story because nothing can compare to the simple, quiet genius of what we saw here.
Donna is trapped inside a virutal world, living out a perfect life. At first, she’s in a mental hospital, under the care of Dr. Moon. Inside, she meet a nice man, the two are eventually released, marry and have a life together. But Donna is only experiencing the highlights, much like she would if she were a character in a book or a television show. She can remember details such as walking down a hall to get somewhere even if it’s implied she didn’t actually do it. At first, I thought Donna had been turned into a character in a novel or book since the story took place in the library. Instead, we learn that Donna and the rest of those in the library on the day it sealed itself have all the teleport patterns of those inside saved to a hard drive, living out their lives inside the computer.
Or at least virutally living them out. In a ways, it’s an echo of The Matrix trilogy, though this story is far more satisfying that the last two sequels.
Outside, the Doctor discovers the real reason behind the library–it was built to house the counsiousness of a little girl who was dying. She loves books and her wealthy family build the library for her so she could live on and spend enternity reading. She is the little girl we met last week and continue to see this week.
And, of course, the Doctor has to deal with the threat of the Vashta Nerada. We find out they came to the library as part of the books. The books were put together from paper made of trees containing the carniverous mites. The Nerada consider the library their forest and feel they are free to hunt and consume whatever prey they find. They do manage to consume two more of the team before the Doctor attempts to reason with them. He does this by the ghost echo in the suits introduced last week. Again, it’s another instance of something that many took as a throwaway moment or time filler last week becoming important and necessary to the story this week.
And that’s even before you throw in the storyline of the Doctor and River Song. Song relates hints of what the Doctor could become, including that he will embrace his role as a champion and the stuff of legend in his future. Song tells us of a confident Doctor, defeating enemies and striding into the TARDIS with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor balks at this initially, saying the TARDIS doors don’t open when he snaps his fingers.
The Doctor’s worries that Song could be toying with him are put to rest when she whispers something to him. It confirms that she’s on the up and up and knows the Time Lord and opens up a fascinating series of future stories. I wouldn’t mind one bit if Alex Kingston became a companion or recurring character during Moffatt’s tenure and I’m glad that they didn’t take the most obvious plot twist of having Song somehow turn out to be Jenny from earlier this season.
All of this leads to a heart-breaking moment when Song must sacrifice herself to save the residents trapped in the hard drive. The Doctor is forced to watch her sacrifice herself and be saddled with the knowledge that he’s met her at her death and must spend their entire relationship knowing how it all ends.
But rather than end on a down note, Moffatt gives us hope and a call back to his first story “Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.” We got to see pure joy from Christopher Eccleston when he gets to save the day and save everyone involved and we see that same joy here in David Tennant. And the ending just feels right within the overall context of the series, not just this season but the entire series in its original and current run.
And with that, Steven Moffatt gives us another classic Doctor Who story. It’s hard to call anything perfect, but this is a close to perfect as you can get. The story is satisfying on every level, boasts some nice direction and includes some superb performances. It has me intrigued for the future–not only for the rest of series four but beyond.
A superlative job by Moffatt. Easily the best Doctor Who story of the year.
Scooter says
This was very, very well done. I look forward to many good things to come in series five. It seemed a bit odd that River had to sacrifice herself to get the people back out of the computer, though. After all, the computer had enough of a buffer to simultaneously transport everyone in to memory, why would you need a larger buffer to transport back out? If that was too much of an issue, why not transport out half and then transport out the other half? Compared with some of the plot holes in other episodes, I can certainly overlook this one, but it seemed a tiny flaw in an otherwise brilliant jewel.
judy says
I just watched the episode and I was flabergasted at its brillance. One is left to wonder about the doctor’s past and perhaps this was the saving of his galifreian wife and children…
Will says
I also agree with Mr. Hickerson on this episode (watch out for the lightning strikes): it was the best one of the year. I have nothing to add to his review. Brilliant episode and excellent review of it.
Robin says
Every time I think the Doctor Who writers will go for the easy, predictable plot twist, they do something like this. Somehow they keep managing to break my heart and make it sing in the span of about two minutes. I can’t wait to see if and how this plays out in future seasons.
To quote Himself, “Brilliant.” ^_^
Tim White says
Finally, a sci-fi TV show that actually feels like sci-fi, and not just another action show with monsters…superb.
ForRus says
I just watched the episode and I think it was the best one of the year.
todd says
i just watched this episode on bbc america and could not get enough of this episode. possibly the best episode yet. river is just such a strong character and too bad she had to die in the end,