Sequels often tread a perilous path, for they need not be tediously dull or actively dreadful to incite disappointment. Indeed, even when a sequel stands as a commendable effort in its own right, it may merely evoke nostalgia for its predecessor's brilliance, rendering it a mere echo of greatness. This week, "Doctor Who" ventured into the realm of sequels with "The Well," a follow-up to the profoundly unsettling 2008 episode, "Midnight," beloved by fans for good reason. While "The Well" did not ensnare me in the same haunting embrace as "Midnight," it retained enough of its predecessor's essence to captivate and entertain.
To recap, "Midnight" featured a nameless entity that boarded a bus, initially mimicking passengers' words, then speaking in unison, and ultimately compelling the Doctor to repeat its phrases. Yet, the true villains of the tale were arguably the passengers themselves. Though the entity manipulated their emotions, it was they who nearly propelled the Doctor to his doom. From a monstrosity to sign language, humanity's reaction to the unknown—fear, suspicion, and an urge to eliminate or dominate the perceived threat—was on full display. Conversely, "Doctor Who" often urges viewers to side with those who confront the unknown with a thirst for communication, understanding, and assistance.
Now, let us delve deeper into the narrative. Belinda, still stranded away from home, worries for her parents and planet's safety. (I chuckled at her suggestion of a giant moth being to blame, until I recalled last season's near-catastrophe orchestrated by a colossal canine. Anything is possible in this universe.) The Doctor repeatedly assures her that he will meet her folks.
The TARDIS then transports them 500,000 years into the future for another vindicator reading. This mission finds the Doctor and Belinda landing on a barren planet, only to be greeted by a platoon aiming their weapons at them. Using psychic paper, the Doctor convinces platoon leader Shaya Costallion and her soldiers that he is a superior officer, dispatched with Belinda on a covert evaluation mission. This guise allows them to pose numerous questions under the pretext of testing the crew, with whom they must coexist for at least five hours due to the planet's atmosphere charged with galvanic radiation, necessitating a gradual descent.
We learn that 15 days prior, contact with a mining colony on the planet was lost. Upon investigating, they discover half the colonists with broken necks and the other half felled by laser fire. Intriguingly, all the mirrors are shattered. Hmm... could reflective surfaces hold significance? Are we dealing with a modern-day Medusa or basilisk? Perhaps someone akin to my younger self, insecure about their appearance? No, best leave the investigating to the Doctor and Belinda.
The sole survivor stands as Aliss Fenly, a cook whose heart aches with the eager desire to reunite with her toddler daughter, a mere two years old. Aliss, embracing the challenges of her deafness, finds solace in the thoughtful inclusion of closed-captioning accessibility embedded within the team's suits. An intriguing revelation follows as Belinda learns that nurses' ignorance of sign language is, in fact, against the law. In a confession marred by sorrow, Aliss acknowledges the fatality of Sal, lying lifeless beside her, yet maintains her innocence, asserting self-defense as her plight. When the Doctor and Aliss commence a silent conversation through sign language, bypassing speech and captions, Shaya interrupts, cautioning against private exchanges. "Time is irrelevant," remarks the Doctor. "Signing still stirs suspicion in some."
Aliss recounts a tale of madness that overcame everyone, transforming camaraderie into a grim battlefield. Yet, she evades certain inquiries, hinting at unspoken truths hidden beneath her words. Meanwhile, tensions flicker like an uneasy flame between Shaya and Cassio, the latter having taken umbrage at Fifteen's endearing yet misplaced terms of endearment. Cassio's suspicion towards Aliss runs deep, his faith in hope dwindling to irrelevance.
Prior to accompanying Cassio and Shaya to the control hub, the Doctor disables his captions and discreetly warns Belinda, through lip-reading, to exercise caution around Aliss—a warning she receives without resentment. Conversely, Cassio ensures his captions remain active as he issues a dire command to the guards, assigning them the grim task of eliminating any perceived threat against Aliss.
In a conversation tinged with camaraderie, Belinda engages in lighthearted chatter with Aliss and Trooper Mo, when a fleeting anomaly catches her eye—a sinister flicker lurking behind Aliss. An eerie musical cue strikes like a chill, signaling an impending dread. Initially dismissing it as mere paranoia, Belinda's conviction wavers upon witnessing the flicker anew, soon followed by other room occupants sharing her unease. Aliss, echoing her earlier plight, attributes her action against Sal to such apparitions, insisting there's nothing there. But Trooper Hanno, driven by caution, begins a cautious perimeter check, slowly circling the area.
Elsewhere, in the control chamber—a sanctuary housing the well from which this mining colony's fortune was first dug—the Doctor, Shaya, and Cassio unravel pivotal details that soon weave into the narrative's core: Shaya, a seasoned marksman and a native combatant of Lombardo, possesses a legacy of youthful battles. The enigma deepens as none present recognize the mention of Earth or humanity. Restored security footage, meticulously pieced together by the Doctor, reveals that the chaos's catalyst emerged from the very depths of that well. This planet, once a dazzling expanse of diamonds, bore the moniker... Midnight.
I ponder how this pivotal moment might resonate with newer fans who haven't had the privilege of delving into the show's rich history. My heart sank as the Doctor uttered the word "Midnight," but I can only imagine the confusion that would envelop me had I not been privy to the harrowing tales of that ill-fated planet and the Doctor's previous encounter there. "The Well," unfortunately, does little to bridge that gap, offering only a silent, fleeting glimpse of the Tenth Doctor's terror-stricken visage and the Fifteenth Doctor's broad-stroke recount of his own brush with this recurring nemesis. It seems "Midnight" is too iconic to retread extensively.
As Hanno sneaks up behind Aliss, she is catapulted into the air, her fate sealed before the Doctor can even react, with Shaya and Cassio trailing close behind. Aliss, now at her wits' end, finally cracks and reveals the的存在 of an unseen, unstoppable force lurking behind her. "Please, now, help me," she pleads. Belinda is the first to discern the pattern: standing directly behind whatever haunts Aliss means certain death. "Imagine it as a clock face," muses the Doctor, "you perish at midnight." Aliss clarifies that killing merely transfers the entity, making her the final host after a spree of mutual executions aimed at ridding themselves of it. (This clarification sheds light on the laser-induced casualties.)
Cassio, convinced that Shaya's deference to the Doctor warrants her removal from leadership, threatens to shoot him if he continues to speak and orders another trooper to test Belinda's theory. When that trooper meets his end, Cassio's relentless pursuit triggers a chain reaction of deaths, bodies hurtling through the air. In desperation, Shaya instructs Aliss to turn in a direction that will claim Cassio's life. "I had no choice. He was beyond reason," Shaya justifies. The Doctor somberly replies, "This is what it drives us to become."
Shaya is eager to abandon the now "contaminated" Aliss, but Belinda and the Doctor are determined to save her. As the Doctor approaches his "old acquaintance" for a heart-to-heart, the entity's whispering, inaudible to Aliss, reduces him to tears. It knows his name, among who knows what else—perhaps his name alone is elongated enough to fill the silence. Eventually, the Doctor addresses the entity lurking behind Aliss's tormentor, setting the stage for his ingenuity: reflecting the entity directly onto itself. With Shaya's precision shots piercing the pipes, a torrent of liquid—shall I call it a "mercuryfall," given its unearthly nature?—cascades down.
The entity, seemingly powerless to compel Aliss to budge, allows her to remain rooted in place as the mirror materializes with languorous grace. Ultimately, it lets her go with a sudden, explosive force. The Doctor, unable to catch even a fleeting glimpse of the now-hostless entity, finds himself scrambling back towards the airlock alongside the others. The airlock, with its stringent capacity of six, faces an immediate dilemma as there are seven souls present. Aliss, her gratitude silently conveyed through a heartfelt gesture, secures her passage in the first group to safety. The Doctor, along with Belinda, Shaya, and Mo, is left to await their turn in the second group.
But before they can escape, a concussive blast sends everyone sprawling—the entity has relentlessly pursued them. It latches onto Belinda, tears streaming down her face. (What dark whispers are serenading her ears? My curiosity gets the better of me.) The Doctor, driven by a promise he made to Belinda at the outset of their ordeal, boldly proposes that the entity wander the cosmos atop his shoulders—a perilous offer that could expose countless more to harm.
Yet, it is Shaya who steps forward to make the ultimate sacrifice, driven by a sense of duty. After confirming her near-identical human anatomy, she takes careful aim at a critical spot in Belinda's heart, a decision that could mean death or the slimmest chance of survival. While Mo frantically attempts to revive Belinda, Shaya makes her way back to the control area, her mind drifting back to a childhood filled with fleeing from "monsters" and a adulthood spent traversing the galaxy in search of hope.
The Doctor arrives just in time to witness Shaya's fateful decision to plummet backward into the abyss. Belinda pulls through and returns to the TARDIS with the Doctor, both pondering the fate of Earth. And then, as if on cue, Mrs. Flood makes her weekly cameo, this time in the guise of Squadron Leader Chinchappa. Mo suggests posthumous honors for Shaya, lauded for her "bravery against impossible odds," and Cassio, "who gave his all," while relaying the Doctor's controversial suggestion to nuke Midnight. Mrs. Flood/Chinchappa expresses satisfaction at the Doctor finding a supporter in his cause.
In the closing frame, a fellow trooper appears to catch a glimpse of something lurking behind Mo, and the scene fades to black as sinister whispers echo in the darkness...
