Doctor Who 10x05 "Oxygen" Review

SPOILERS

“Oxygen” had some things to say about capitalism, and it honestly wasn’t my favorite story. It was a bit scarier than “Knock Knock”, but a lot of it didn’t sit right with me. I’m not sure why.

I liked how they brought the lecture hall back, and yet again the Doctor has a monologue which previews the episode to come. What happens when you are exposed to the vacuum of space? The important thing is to keep breathing. I enjoyed the little Star Trek reference at the very beginning, and was I the only person who thought his sketches on the chalkboard made a skull?

Narole was tricked into coming on the trip this time, and he was not happy about it at all. He provided sarcasm and not a whole lot else. However, with the Doctor being blind for the foreseeable future, he will be more necessary to keep up the deception or to help the Doctor around (though knowing him, he probably has good senses anyway and might not need that much help). We go an episode without seeing the vault, but despite Internet chatter, I don’t think Missy is inside.

Nardole, the Doctor, and Bill don the potentially dangerous space suits.

I figured Bill was not going to die. Her suit was malfunctioning, so there was something in it that would prevent her from being shocked all the way. It was a little bit scary, though, as the Doctor insisted they leave her behind and you have to watch her terrified as she thinks she is going to die (and for a few minutes, she is, walking around like a zombie). Just watching her suit malfunction in other scenes was a bit nerve-wracking since you didn’t know how that would affect her. The scene when she had to be exposed to space was a bit trippy as well. Bill had a rough episode, but we know she stays for a little while.

With the death of the screwdriver and the Doctor being blind, it looks like the sonic sunglasses are back. Not my favorite thing, but I have hope the writers know where they are going with this. There’s a lot of speculation going on right now about how the Doctor will get his sight back. He will probably end up triggering a small regeneration to temporarily fix it, or end up like 10, regenerating into the same form for the remainder of the season.

The episode showed the extremes of capitalism, making a vital thing like oxygen limited and expensive. The company is just exploiting the workers, and once they have served their purpose, they will be replaced with new ones. The suits which protect them also kill them, but not as a malfunction. The Doctor figures this out eventually, and uses it to his advantage as he makes the workers more valuable alive than dead. Apparently this incident leads to the ends of capitalism in space.

Next week’s episode looks awesome. I’m getting serious “Library” vibes from it. Hopefully it is pretty good.

8/10