Doctor Who: Arachnids in the UK

Hey guys, I know I've been behind these past few weeks. There have been some real-life issues to work through, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel in that regard, so hopefully I'll be back to regular blogging soon. Until then, I can only offer a brisk commentary on this episode, so here we go...

1. As the first episode to deal with Graham, Ryan and Yaz's return to the real world, giant spiders was certainly a unique story option. As to be expected, they made for a fun Monster of the Week (nothing else on Earth moves quite like a spider) with a not-too-surprising twist on how humans are the real monsters after all.

2. Subtlety was not so much out to lunch as on an all-expenses paid round-the-world holiday when it came to Robertson.

I mean, I feel almost stupid for pointing out that he was a Trump analogy since the actual dialogue did this for me. Hotels? Check. Political ambitions? Check. Insatiable greed and lack of responsibility? Check. Utter scumbag with no compassion, imagination or integrity? Check. Literal spoken on-screen comparison to Trump? Check.

Heck, they even threw in an anti-gun message. May as well be thorough.

3. Graham calls the Doctor: "Doc." It's funny and a bit cute, and I'm not sure anyone has actually done this before.

4. "I'm your niece's wife." Inevitable death in 3...2...1... yup, there she goes.

5. I like that they arrived back in Sheffield only half an hour after leaving, but with a ton of emotional baggage to work through – Graham's grief over Grace, Ryan's letter from his father, and Yaz enthusiastically hugging her mother even though it's only been half a day of separation.

6. While the Doctor was looking around Yaz's apartment, she unexpectedly captured the transitory nature of her own life. She doesn't own a sofa or an apartment, and the Tardis (on some level) is still more of a vehicle of transportation than a stationary home. Like she said in the premiere: she's a traveller.

7. This story needed a little something extra, like if the Doctor had a "snakes, why did it have to be snakes?" moment when she realized they would be dealing with spiders. It would have made her ultimate decision to protect them from harm all the more poignant and heroic.

8. As much as I'm enjoying this season (as a casual fan) there are some seriously awkward moments when it comes to directing, blocking and acting. Often the characters are just wandering or gazing around lifelessly in the background/foreground, waiting for their turn to speak. There are odd pauses and unwieldly actions which look too much like actors lumbering around a set (which they are).

It was perhaps best demonstrated when Robertson fires Yaz's mother... then invites both her and her daughter to come look at the destroyed rooms that he's fired her over. Why would he care? And why would they want to stay?

9. That ending was pretty anti-climactic. Robertson storms in, shoots the Queen and ... that's the end. Isn't the toxic waste still under the hotel? What about all the other spiders? How did they deal with all those loose ends?

10. That aside, I liked that all three of the new Companions independently decided to start travelling with the Doctor, each with their own reasons. Graham wants to escape his grief, Ryan his father, and Yaz... well, I'm not sure about her motivation yet. Her family seemed pretty nice, and despite meeting them she's still the least developed of the new characters.