The Almost People

Dear Gary—

“Being almost the Doctor’s like being no Doctor at all.”

But having two Doctors, even if one is only almost a Doctor, is pretty great. It had been a fantastic cliffhanger from the previous story, and it makes the present one, The Almost People, worthwhile. It makes all of the dark corridors and shoddy CGI villains worthwhile. And speaking of worthwhile, the cliffhanger ending of this episode almost makes the stringing along of the season’s arc worthwhile. Almost.

Let’s get the almost people out of the way first, though. Similar to its first half, The Almost People flirts with some interesting moral questions but sacrifices them for the more expedient thriller devices. Thus we have Rory taking a compassionate interest in Ganger Jennifer only to have Ganger Jennifer turn into a laughable monster to rival that of The Lazarus Experiment. And we have the pitiable pile of discarded Flesh only to be followed up by a baffling wall full of eyes. (“Why are they there?” “To accuse us.” OK—but how did they get there? Through the mighty pen of the author.)

To pull it all together, we have Rory agreeing to help Ganger Jennifer on a mission of mercy to save all of the unfortunate Flesh of the world only to have Ganger Jennifer trick him into betraying his friends and placing them all in typical horror film danger, complete with monsters and chases and barricaded rooms and impending deluges of nasty stuff into sealed off chambers and imminent explosions. Standard fare. As standard fare, however, it is exciting enough to keep one’s attention.

To round it all out, we have a remarkably level headed and somewhat resigned and pacifist Cleaves (stark contrast to her demeanor from Part 1), both Flesh and Human; we have an adorable little boy to inject heart into the proceedings (even if too sappy for words); and we have Gangers and Humans questioning their identities and their actions.

And through it all we have Matt Smith giving a terrific performance as the two Doctors. His (their) gambit of switching identities is entertaining and clever, although I do wonder why the Gangers assume that the Doctor they come across is Flesh; they really would have no way of divining that, and as it happens they are wrong.

In sum, a decent adventure. However, lest we forget, this adventure is in service to the season-long arc. It is therefore wrapped up most hurriedly in neat and tidy fashion. By the end we have exactly one version of each personality (except the unfortunate Jennifer who at one time had three simultaneous copies). It really doesn’t matter which is Flesh and which is Human; they are all one and the same. Or so the story would have us believe. I can’t quite buy it and I feel sorry for that little boy who is gaining an imposter for a dad; or maybe it is the fraudulent Jimmy I really pity. And I can’t help wondering how the Doctor can guarantee that the Flesh substitutes will not deteriorate or degenerate or derail.

This rush to conclude throws out the Cleaves and Doctor Gangers for no good reason other than to tie up the duplicate loose ends. Everyone else is safe aboard the TARDIS; why can’t Ganger Cleaves and Ganger Doctor also hop in and leave CGI Jennifer to be blasted to atoms? They could at least make a try for it and if they don’t make it, well, they’re dead anyway. But the more practical solution is for the real Doctor (and real Cleaves if she really wants to be the last standing) to operate the magic sonic screwdriver defense since they are immune to its effects. The magic sonic would take care of the CGI Jen and the two could then make a dash for the TARDIS before the place is blown sky high. But that leaves stray Gangers that the plot doesn’t want to account for.

The one Ganger that the plot does want to deal with, and the one that this entire story was created to accommodate, is Ganger Amy. This is a shocking revelation that finally puts some teeth and meaning into the eye patch lady and vacillating pregnancy test that we have been subjected to all season long. Finally we are getting to the heart of the arc. Of course, being only mid-season we know that there is still the long and torturous tail trailing along behind, leading, one can only hope, to the pot of gold at the end. But for now at least we are getting some answers.

Real Amy is pregnant, but real Amy has not been on the TARDIS for quite some time. Ganger Amy has been on board since the beginning of the season. She doesn’t know she is Ganger Amy because she hasn’t met with the freak accident of a solar storm combined with the stupidity of Cleaves to give her independence from her original. (Which sort of renders meaningless the moral dilemma concerning the remaining Flesh that is being utilized throughout the world; neither is it sentient.)  Except, wait a minute, she was on that island the same as the rest of the Flesh when the storm hit. Either she is a different version of Flesh that would not be affected or she is not affected because her original is not also on the island or some other explanation that I'm sure the author could come up with if pressed.

The Doctor’s disintegration of Ganger Amy is ruthless but necessary. I’m not entirely sure, though, why he needed to study the Flesh. I suppose to get the right setting for the magic sonic, but I’m still puzzled by his assertion to Amy about his two selves: “We had to know if we were truly the same. It was important, vital we learn about the Flesh, and we could only do that through your eyes.” I really don’t have any clue what he means by that.

At long last, Gary, we are coming to at least a partial resolution to this onerous arc.