It's Whosday! Recaps: "The Almost People"

Series 6, Episode 6
Title: "The Almost People"
Writer: Matthew Graham
Director: Julian Simpson

My Mariners just won an incredible game and I'm working without notes, so bear with me as I recap "The Almost People," the second half of the Ganger arc started by last week's "The Rebel Flesh." It's been a frantic week for the Who-niverse, with a long series of promos for the mid-season finale, Steven Moffat's announcement that the Daleks will be retired for a while and finally an insane twist ending to "Almost People." The excitement for this weekend's "A Good Man Goes to War" could not be more palpable, but the expectations of fans are also reaching dangerous levels. We're facing a three-month break without new episodes, we know that we're going to be left with a vicious cliffhanger and, on top of all that, we've been handed so many unanswered questions already this season. In a brief 45 minutes this Saturday, some of those questions will probably be answered. But some won't and other, new ones will be introduced. It's enough to drive a person mad, I tell you.

In "The Almost People," we pick up exactly where "Rebel Flesh" left off, with the Doctor and his human comrades facing off with the newly cloned Ganger-Doctor (who becomes known as John Smith, in good Who tradition). Needless to say, with two Matt Smiths onscreen, the great moments come fast and often. There's some homages to earlier Doctors ("I've reversed the jelly baby of neutron flow!") and a lot of agonized screaming before everyone settles down and runs away from the attacking Gangers. They run to an evac tower to escape choking gas, before running around to find Rory, and finally they all run into a series of catacombs to hunt down the TARDIS. Both episodes in this arc featured lots of running to new locations so people could talk, followed by more running, followed by more talking. So yeah, maybe writer Matthew Graham was just spinning wheels a bit, but at least we had two Matt Smith's this time.

The Gangers go through more of the same "us or them" talk, fueled by the increasingly unstable (both mentally and Flesh-wise) Jennifer. Eventually, most of them realize that they need to reconcile their differences with the human originals, but various forces conspire to pick off both human and Ganger until the only three left are both Cleaves, Ganger-Jimmy and Ganger-Dicken, along with the Doctor, Smith, Amy and Rory. Along the way there are emotional moments (such as when Ganger-Jimmy accepts fatherly responsibilities after the original Jimmy dies), but everything ultimately boils down to holding a door closed to prevent a absurdly mutated Jennifer from killing everyone. Then the Doctor and Smith reveal that they've switched places.

And this, kids, is where it gets complicated. Turns out that the Doctor devised this little plan to test the differences between originals and Gangers, lying to Amy about which was which to see if she placed her trust in the new, but technically identical Smith. Of course she didn't, even revealing to him in an emotional moment that she saw the Doctor die all the way back on the beach. But then he has to go and say that they switched. Seemingly, Amy spilled the beans on the whole "we can't tell him his future" bit, but we don't actually know for sure. The Doctor certainly didn't react in any big way and despite an off-hand reference at the episode's end (he talks to Smith about being invited to his own funeral), no time is spent dealing with something that previous episodes treated like a major plot point. So... I guess we'll find out?

More importantly, we learn that Amy has actually been Ganger-Amy since the beginning of the season and that the real Amy Pond has been controlling this copy mentally while secretly being ensconced in room somewhere to have a baby. The random appearances of the Eyepatch Lady have actually been caused by the image of a woman checking on the real Amy bleeding through her subconscious. Just when we thought everyone had been saved and no one had to die today, the Doctor reveals that he knows far more than he let on and melts Amy into a pile of Flesh-goo. Rory is distraught. The Doctor is stern. The audience is suitably confused.

"A Good Man Goes to War" will wrap up the first half of Series 6 and will be out last taste of new Who until September. The Cybermen, Silurians and Sontarans are all scheduled to make appearances, as will Henry Avery and his son, River, centurion Rory and that random blue guy from the beginning of "The Pandorica Opens." We're left with far too many questions and seemingly very little time for answers. I've all but given up speculating at this point, because I know that Moffat is operating at full evil genius mode right now and is far too pleased with his own wit to be actually predicted. So, we'll see what we get. We've been promised a reveal about River Song's identity. We've been promised an all-star lineup of the Doctor's most famous enemies. And now we've got an insane rescuing-Amy-and-her-newborn-from-doom plot line to contend with. I'm not sure a single episode can deal with all those things in a satisfying way. But I'm sure Moff is going to try. Let's all hope for the best, yeah?

Stray Observations (sans notes)

-This whole arc was a clusterfuck of bad CGI. Blech.
-Any fans of Moffat's Jekyll out there recognize the building where the Doctor drops Cleaves and Dicken off? I think it's the same one as the headquarters for Jekyll's company.
-Again, solid acting from the cast as a whole. Raquel Cassidy particularly had some great moments in this second half.
-Seriously, when do the Doctor and Smith switch? So much depends on this.
-The Doctor's final lines to Smith about how dying might not erase his consciousness seem like a major plant for something later. Please don't tell me the Doctor who died on the beach is a Ganger...
-I'm very interested in the order of the Series 6 episodes. I know I'm not the only one feeling slightly (or perhaps a bit more) disappointed with the season so far, but I wonder if we'll say the same thing after seeing what comes in September. Imagine if Series 5 had gone "The Eleventh Hour" - "The Beast Below" - "Victory of the Daleks" - "The Hungry Earth"/"Cold Blood" - "The Vampires of Venice" - "Amy's Choice" before taking a mid-season break. We'd all be whining our heads off.

(Photos courtesy of Emma-Jane)