Doctor Who Series 14 Episode 3 Recap

Boom – As this episode of Doctor Who begins, John Francis Vater (Joe Anderson) calls his daughter Splice (Caoilinn Springall) to make sure she brushed her teeth. John and his partner find themselves in the middle of a minefield. The fog is bad and some men think the Kastarions are in the fog. John reminds Carson that the fog has been analyzed and it’s just fog. He calls Splice to tell her to find Mundy and get her to put her to bed. At the base, Mundy tries to convince Canto to trade patrols with her. She promises to let him see her tattoo. Canto relents because he wants her to stop annoying him. Before Mundy leaves, she tells Canto that the tattoo is on Posh Graham since she finished it yesterday.

In private, Splice tells Mundy (Varada Sethu) to be nice to Canto (Bhav Joshi) because he really likes her. Carson worries that the ambulance (Susan Twist) in front of them might detect John’s injury. Carson ends up falling before activating a landmine. The ambulance detects combat and approaches John. It suspects he’s blind although John says his vision is only temporarily impaired. The recovery time of four weeks is deemed unacceptable. John tries to tell the ambulance about his daughter. He leaves a message for Splice. The Villengard Corporation extends its deepest condolences on his upcoming loss. John is killed. The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) steps out of the Tardis. He tells Ruby (Millie Gibson) to stay there because someone is in trouble. The Doctor runs out and ends up stepping on a landmine as well.

Ruby steps out and calls for him. Soon, she finds The Doctor standing on the mine. He tells her they’re in the middle of a war. Ruby carefully makes her way down so she can describe what he’s standing on. The Doctor explains the V on the landmine stands for Villengard which is the biggest weapons manufacturer in recorded history. He tells her to check up above to see if anyone needs help and to look for something heavy. Ruby finds a tube of sorts with John’s name and cause of death on it. Then, she sees vacuum drones overhead. The Doctor realizes this is Ruby’s first time on a new planet. He begins telling her more about Kastarion 3. Then, he tells Ruby that she’s carrying a body. Ruby is instructed to toss it in her hand and catch it. The Doctor confirms it’s the right weight to use as a counterbalance.

Ruby walks it over to him so he can use it. Eventually, The Doctor grabs the body and uses it to step down safely. A hologram of John Francis Vater appears and asks The Doctor to return his remains to his parents, Agnes and Millicent. John explains he was humanely terminated on the discovery of the fatal condition, blindness. He goes on to say he was spared further suffering by a Villengard Automated Ambulance Unit. The Doctor explains to Ruby that life is cheap but patients are expensive. He tells Ruby how the Villengard algorithm works. Splice arrives and asks about her daddy. Splice says her dad sent her a message and she used the geo-stamp to find him. She says her dad got special permission to bring her there after her mom got gathered up by God.

Splice says her name causing John’s AI reconstruction to appear. She gets excited and rushes towards the mine. Ruby grabs her leading to a struggle. Splice eventually calms down when she realizes what The Doctor is standing on. The Doctor says something’s happening to him and he’s the explosive. Mundy Flynn yells at them and points her rifle at them. She finds out what’s going on and introduces herself as an ordained Anglican Marine. Canto calls Mundy to tell her to get back to the compound because the Kastarions could be planning an attack. She ends the call and tells The Doctor they’re fighting the Kastarions. They’ve never seen them, but some believe they’re in the mud or fog. Mundy warns him that the bomb will explode in a specific time.

The Doctor asks how immolation works. She says it triggers a quantum-level chain reaction in the subject’s DNA. Mundy shoots him multiple times getting the ambulance’s attention. The Doctor warns her he’s a lot more explosive than he looks. He’ll shatter the battlefield into dust. Mundy scans him and confirms he could blow up half the planet. When the ambulance arrives, Munday confesses the algorithm won’t let her shoot it. Splice sees her dad as the ambulance shoots The Doctor. Ruby takes the gun to distract the ambulance. Mundy tells her to shoot her because it must detect an injury to triage. Canto arrives before she can and shoots Ruby who crashes to the ground. The ambulance shoots Ruby and identifies her. It glitches when it’s unable to determine her next of kin. It begins snowing.

The snow stops abruptly as the ambulance says Ruby’s vital signs are failing. Mundy asks The Doctor what they do. Canto reconfigures the ambulance to see if they can revive Ruby. Mundy believes they have five minutes. The Doctor tells them to surrender and lose. He explains the landmine is Mundy’s. He tells Ruby how the Anglicans arrived and advertised their presence which activated the Villengard algorithm. The Doctor tells Ruby there is no one else here and they delayed a war on an empty planet. They’re fighting their own hardware. It’s killing them at just the right amount to keep them buying more. The Doctor says they don’t know it because they have faith which prevents them from thinking for themselves. Mundy says a bishop has to surrender and they’ll need proof.

The Doctor asks John to download himself into the Villengard battle computer to find the proof and send it to Mundy’s scanner. He manages to convince John to do it. Canto tells Mundy that her tattoo was beautiful. Canto admits he likes her. He gets knocked back by the ambulance. They find that he’s been turned into an AI hologram as well. Canto has left a message for Mundy saying he loves her even if she doesn’t love him back. The Doctor thinks his death was caused by the Villengard algorithm protecting itself. More ambulances arrive. The Doctor says there’s a firewall fighting against John who says they saw antelope. Splice remembers seeing them together. Ambulance says John has been permanently deleted. The landmine gets ready for self-immolation, but Mundy and Splice refuse to run.

The bomb says “kiss kiss” meaning John has likely won. The ambulance treats Ruby. The Doctor finally steps away from the landmine and checks on Ruby who is okay. He tells her that a war just got switched off. The whole Villengard mainframe has been taken down by parent power. The Doctor says goodbye to Splice and Mundy before they leave in the Tardis. He insists he’ll pop around every now and then. The Doctor says dying defines us. They all melt away in the end but something stays. An old man told him that what survives is love.

 

Doctor Who Review

Boom was easily the strongest episode of Doctor Who in a very long time with a lot of credit given to the tremendous writing. Surprisingly, the episode was more constrained than the others considering the characters were primarily in the same spot throughout the episode and the cast was limited.

Nevertheless, the writing and the situation made the episode intense even though we all knew The Doctor and Ruby were never really in any danger. Plus, the writing was clever, simple, and relatable. This episode covered an agenda that most people will be able to sympathize with. There were still moments when the over-the-top performances nearly got in the way, but they were easy to overlook because the story was so strong.

Although it was pretty obvious, the concept was that the Villengard company had created a fake war and an algorithm to ensure a steady death rate. In return, the profits kept rolling in as the Anglican force had to replenish its weapons and force. This episode proves that the latest Doctor can still deliver a few gems when the writing is superb. The episode scores a 7 out of 10.

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