Doctor Who - "Closing Time"

Season 6, Episode 12

AKA “The Lodger 2: Electric Boogaloo”

 “I’m a stupid, selfish man, I’ve always have been.”

-The Doctor

“He always needs someone, but he can never admit it.”

-Craig

I am an unrepentant fan of “The Lodger”. Admittedly, I tend to be a sucker for episodes that flip a show’s traditional formula – Buffy’s “The Zeppo”, House’s “Wilson”, every other episode of Community – but my love for that episode goes beyond that. It was the idea of watching the Doctor interacting with a complete stranger, of seeing the Doctor’s actions in a different context. It was the kind of perspective that not only made the Doctor seems even weirder than before, but also funnier.

Admittedly, there is something calculated about bringing back a dynamic merely because it was popular the first time around. Heck, even when the dynamic makes for good television – as it did do in “The Lodger” – there is an obvious sense of the show trying to recapture the magic by bringing back Craig Owens (James Corden).  And yet, despite all of these rational objections, “Closing Time” managed to hurdle all of them, and deliver one of the funniest and most entertaining standalone hours that the show has ever produced.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about “Closing Time” is how similar it is to “The Lodger” without feeling like a retread, one of the biggest flaws in many show that attempt to copy a popular/successful episode format. The episode – which was penned by “Lodger” writer Gareth Roberts – keeps Craig in his veritable sad sack mode, albeit one with a much happier life than the last time we saw him. He has a kid, and is in a long-term relationship with Sophie, but he’s still feeling flustered about his inability to connect with someone, only this time it’s Alfie/Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All.

Which is good, because DW standalone episodes work best when there is a powerful emotion at play, and parenthood, which has a fairly prominent and powerful theme this year, played out just as well here. Now, there’s also a downside to themes of “parenthood”, in that so many shows and movies have used it as a narrative shortcut to emotion so much that it has lost a lot of its power. But because the show took the time to set up Craig’s frustration with his inability to connect with his son, even though he wants to be  good father, that I was able to buy the moment where Craig was able to resist and overpower the Cyberman technology merely by the power of love. (Also helpful: the show recognized how ridiculous the idea of “overpowering the Cybermen with love” really is.)

Before all of that, the episode was able to bob along quite nicely thanks two things. First, the interplays between Craig, The Doctor, and Stormageddon, in what was perhaps the strangest comedic trio to grace television in many years, helped to keep the scenes chugging along quite nicely, mostly on the charisma of the two actors. Second, in what should be a counterintuitive move, the episode’s villains were something we are intimately familiar with, the Cybermen. Considerign how little screen time they got, their presence here should feel like a cheat, but I found them to be an effective shorthand for evil, one that gave the show maximum time to spend with the loveable duo of Craig and The Doctor. (We also saw the return of the Cybermats, who haven’t appeared yet in the revived series, but date back to the Second Doctor episode “Tomb of the Cybermen”.)

Of course, as good as all of this was, it paled in comparison to the episode’s connection to the overall plot, both narratively and emotionally. Brilliantly, this episode helps to line The Doctor up with his death date, as he tells Craig that he’ll be facing his destiny the next day. And that means that after spending 200 years traveling around in time and space, the last thing he wants to do before he dies he see a friendly face. (Also, we now know just where he got that awesome Stetson.) But none of that compares to the powerful emotions the episode was able deliver tonight.

The show has spent a good amount of time this season reminding us what a life-ruining bastard The Doctor is, that it was rather interesting to the see the show attempt to highlight an opposing characteristic. Now, the idea of a “farewell tour” was obviously taken from “The End of Time”, and while I hated the overwrought sentimentality from that serial, it works here for two reasons: A) it was played with much subtler emotions and B) we know that Matt Smith is coming back next season. But that doesn’t stop the episode from affecting us, and we see Eleven trying to spare his friends pain by ignoring the obvious signs of alien interference. Even when people believe in him – as Craig clearly does – The Doctor is self-aware enough to recognize that he inadvertently causes damage wherever he goes. Which raises the question: If The Doctor knows he’s trouble, can we really claim him to be an anti-hero? And if he’s not anti-hero, does that make his death less said sad? Or his willing sacrifice now more noble?

Next Week: We find out just what The Doctor’s death really means.

Quotes and Other Thoughts:  

So, about that ending: By this point most fans have already figured out that it was River who was in the spacesuit and killed The Doctor, so that actual reveal wasn’t that big of a surprise. Yet it does reveal that Eyepatch Lady and The Silence were in some kind of cahoots, and that couples with the fantastic directing really helped to generate a lot of excitement for next week’s finale.

There was also a brief appearance of Rory and Amy, the latter of whom is a now a model. Not only was that a nice reference to Karen Gillan’s former career, but it also lets us know that The Doctor has popped back on earth a few years after he left the two of them at the end of last week’s episode. Plus, it supports my suspicion that the two of them will be back in a significant way next week. Even not, it was a nice topper to tonight’s theme of The Doctor’s attempts at sacrifice.

I’m generally give Doctor Who a lot of slack, but the line “Don’t worry, I have an app for that” was just cringe worthy.

 “I’m texting the world. ‘Craig Owens can do it on his own.’”

“Can you teach me to do that?” “Probably not.”

“Yeah, he likes Alfie, but he prefers to be called ‘Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All.’”

“Is it the fridge? Are there aliens in my fridge?”

“Then again, it’s only your parents’ cash. They’d only spend it on boring stuff like lamps and vegetables.”

“Yappy, the robot dog. Not as fun as I remember.”

“Are you going to kiss me?” “Yes, Craig, I am. Would you like that? I’m a bit rusty, but I’ve had some wonderful feedback.”

“People like you when you have a baby.”

“‘Partner’, yes I like it. Does it sound better than ‘companion’?”

“I bet you excrete some kind of gas to make people love you.” “Would that I could, Craig.”

“You know, your dad’s doing the best he can. Yes, I know. It isn’t his fault his doesn’t have mammary glands. I know, I don’t either.”