Mummy on the Orient Express

[daibhidc]

I enjoyed this much more than last week's.

This may need a bit of unpacking. Last week I complained that "Kill the Moon" was trying to make a serious story out of a ludicrous premise. It could be argued that this episode was trying to make a scary story out of a ludicrous premise, so what's the difference?

Focus. "Kill the Moon" put "the Moon's a giant egg" front and centre, made it the basis of a moral dilemma, and asked us to take that seriously. "Mummy" established early on that it was well aware "Orient Express In Space" was ridiculous, and then let that aspect disappear into the background when the focus was on the monster.

And while "Kill the Moon" had the shape of a puzzle story (why is the Moon increasing in mass?), but didn't come up with a satisfactory answer (it's increasing because it's an egg with a growing baby inside! And eggs break conservation of mass all the time, probably!), MOTOE had the Doctor consider the evidence and come up with a consistent explanation for everything.

All that and it took the time to explain why this was a story that was happening now when the Doctor got a phone call about it at the end of "The Big Bang". And a fun turn from Frank Skinner as the stolid engineer.

The only thing that didn't make sense was why Maisie and her grandmother were on the train, given the reveal that all the other passengers who weren't Mummy experts weren't really there.

Comments

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

As to Maisy and her grandmother -- Paul's supposition may be right. Didn't Perkins say that the train was basically a moving life support system, that had been keeping the old woman from dying sooner? I'm thinking that was a lure by Gus to get them there. After all, the message he sent the Doctor was hardly the truth: The Foretold was no Egyptian Goddess. And the Doctor confirmed to Maisy that her suspicions were right -- her grandmother had poisoned both her pony and her father. So the old woman was probably there as the expert toxicologist.

As for me, when I want to imagine the comforting, cuddly, side of 12, I'm going to think of a scene we didn't see, but know must have happened: When the Doctor bundled a sleeping Clara into those blankets, and carried her in his arms down to the beach, so they could have a private conversation when she woke up.