I had been wondering what had become of Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson, a force in her return to this universe), so I was delighted to see her back on our screen. And even though she didn’t get a chance to reunite with The Doctor once more – this was one of the Doctor-lite episodes that occasionally pop up in the show – she did get a chance to realize that it’s time for her to take a step back from the world of The Doctor and figure out just who she wants to be. Of course, not before getting one final, heartbreaking, lesson in just what it means to play a part in the protection of Earth.
Now, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Doctor Who isn’t exactly subtle when it comes to laying out the particular social issue the series is addressing. And this episode was incredibly low on the subtlety meter. But you know what? As someone living in a country where a shockingly high percentage of its people wholeheartedly believe in conspiracy theories like the ones peddled by Conrad, I think we’ve moved beyond the stage of being subtle about this very real threat to our real-world safety. When people like Conrad feed lies to a terrified or incensed public – preying on their lack of security and a desire to “be in the know” – and get a big enough mob convinced that, say, vaccines cause autism or that just because a President claims something to be true is must be believed (and if you don’t fall in line, you’re working against the administration and should face consequences for those views), it slowly erodes not only the trust of people in authorities that keep them safe, it starts to pit people against one another. And that only helps the power hungry amass more power (and, consequently, more money) despite them not truly caring what their statements and threats do to others.
So, a very timely episode with an incredibly timely message – albeit one that will almost certainly roll of the backs of those who need to hear and understand it (assuming any of those folks are still tuning into Doctor Who at this stage of the game) and will be preaching to the choir of those who agree with it. And to have it tied up in the story of Ruby Sunday, a wholly delightful and hopeful character, and Kate Stewart (always a welcome return from Jemma Redgrave), the most stalwart of The Doctor’s current allies, well, that makes it all the more powerful in my book. Breaking Ruby’s heart in order for her to realize that she needs to find herself was hard to watch, but necessary (perhaps she can get an invite to the former companion support group). And pushing Kate to the brink of killing a man to make a point? Well, that was terrifying to see. One thing about past Doctors has always been seeing how close to the line they would get before being able to pull back. And it’s almost always been their human companions who have helped them to see that line in the sand and not step over. But Kate was a bit too willing to put a couple of toes over that line to make her point – an important point, yes, but one that could have been made without letting the threat get out of hand.
Because, as we saw at the close of the episode (just what is Mrs. Flood up to??), nothing Kate subjected Conrad to changed him. Once you’re so married to an idea, a perspective, a cause, that you are willing to stake everything you have on it, nothing will shake you from that path. It’s why this current swath of heinous theories and political doublethink is so hard to snuff out. Conrad wants his time back in the sun. He wants to feed his grudge. He’s addicted to the power he gets when an army of folks online pump him and his ideas up. You can’t just squash an insidious idea.
If this is Ruby’s official farewell from Who, I think it was a great episode. We got to be reminded just what made her such a strong companion for Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor and such a compelling character on the whole. Gibson was given a hard job: help re-launch the series with a new Doctor, a new showrunner, and a mob of fanboys waiting to tear the whole thing to the ground. She tackled the role with aplomb and she was a great companion. Ruby deserves a chance to figure out who she is away from the Doctor and I wish Gibson well wherever she ends up next.
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