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skye_writerNote: this review is a little all over the place. I tried to cover the important stuff. Please let me know if this comes off as self-centered or whatever. Please.
Something is wrong in the city of Finetime. People are going missing, but the disappearances aren't really noticed. Lindy Pepper-Bean hasn't noticed, and it's only when she's contacted by the Doctor and Ruby Sunday that she begins to peek outside her bubble and find out what's really going on. Slug-like creatures are eating the people of Finetime, and it's up to the Doctor and Ruby to get as many people out as they can before the entire populace is devoured.
At first blush, “Dot and Bubble” seems to be slightly preachy in tone, exhorting the apparent evils of living in a social media bubble (in this case, a very literal one) and relying on technology to the point that one's self-reliance disappears. From what chatter I've seen online, these parts of the story are meant to be a sort of riff on the usual Black Mirror plot of "technology bad". (Having never watched Black Mirror, I'll have to take the internet's word on this.) It turns out that this is a feint, because the episode is actually about racism.
It's at this part of the review that I have to be frank and honest with you: I did not realize this episode was about racism until I saw people talking about it online afterwards.
I'm white, and I didn't notice that everyone in Finetime was white until someone else pointed it out. And it's funny, because I do usually notice and am pleased when a show or movie I watch is diverse. But as "Dot and Bubble" has revealed to me, I don't usually notice when a show or movie I watch is populated entirely by white people, which means I've got some internal biases I've got examine.
In fact, me not even realizing what this episode was really about until someone else pointed it out says a lot about me. It says that, just like the people of Finetime, I live in a bubble. And I do! I live in a largely white town, and my few friends are white, and I mostly live in this bubble of whiteness and don't question it or try to expand my horizons! I like to think of myself as progressive, and I try my best to not be actively racist--but racism isn't just an activity! It's also, for a lot of people like me, a passivity. I benefit from racism every day as a white person! And I've never really stopped to examine this and what it means for me, nor have I thought about what I've got to change about myself and my thinking in order to let go of these internal biases and prejudices. “Dot and Bubble” called me out very effectively, and it left me with the realization that I have to do better.
And that's what Russell T Davies is trying to say with this story. Lindy and the other people of Finetime live in bubbles that are both literal and figurative--the digital bubble that holds their social media, the actual bubble that protects their city from the "Wild Woods", and the bubble of whiteness that permeates their entire society. On a rewatch, the racism throughout this episode becomes obvious. Lindy reacts with disgust when she first sees the Doctor, and she thinks everything he says to her is condescending. She thinks the Doctor is a different person when he reappears later, saying that she "thought [he] just looked the same". While she's much more lenient with Ruby, Lindy is still aghast when she realizes Ruby and the Doctor are in the same room. This plays into her speech to the Doctor in the final scene, when what has thus far been subtext becomes, all at once, text.
Part of what makes this episode so effective, I think, is in the way that it doesn't overtly focus on the racism. It doesn't make it into A Thing at all. Instead, the script and the visuals lay it out for us without drawing overt attention to it. The racism is there, but the episode waits for the audience to discover it. Compared to how previous episodes of Doctor Who have dealt with (or outright ignored) racism, it's a refreshing strategy, not least because it asks the audience to be aware of how their biases make them perceive things.
Another thing I found interesting about this episode is the way it positions Lindy (portrayed by Callie Cooke in an excellent performance) as the de facto main character of the episode. It uses her position within the narrative to obfuscate the primary theme a little; I know I was more inclined to forgive her shortcomings because of that. At first, Lindy just seems overwhelmed about her situation and maybe in denial that anything is wrong, but as the episode continues, that mask starts to slip a little, and then a lot. We learn that Lindy and the people of Finetime are, in essence, the rich kids of their homeworld, which explains a lot of her general attitude of snobbishness (repeatedly calling Ruby "stupid" for example). But when her Dot loses power and she's on her own, we start to see a little of what she's actually like. She thinks meeting Ricky September makes this the greatest day of her life (even though, as Ricky points out, thousands of people are dying horribly all around them). As the Doctor and Ruby figure out the methodology of the slug creatures, Lindy's overall self-obsession becomes clear. She wails that the creatures are coming after her, rather than realizing that she's just the next person in a very long list of people.
But the final nail in the coffin comes at the episode's climax. Lindy's Dot has gone rogue and is trying to kill her. Ricky fights it off, but it knocks him in the head to slow him down and comes after Lindy. Without hesitation, Lindy tells the Dot that Ricky changed his last name, and that the Dots and their creatures should have killed him much earlier in their alphabetical rampage. While Ricky is summarily killed, Lindy escapes and walks away to freedom. She lies about what happened to Ricky, and that, apparently, is that.
Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the final scene. The people who escaped from Finetime have decided to strike out for the wilderness. The Doctor offers to take them to safety in the TARDIS, but Lindy and the others reject him for no other reason than that he's Black, and that's unacceptable to them, and against the "standards of Finetime". Ncuti Gatwa has been a powerhouse thus far this series (excepting "73 Yards", which he was barely in because of prior filming obligations), and his performance in this scene is electric. The Doctor desperately tries to get the Finetime group to come with him, but they walk away, taking their boat down the river. He laughs in disbelief that turns in an instant to anger. He leaves in the TARDIS with tears on his face. He could be mourning the people of Finetime, but it seems more likely to me that he can't believe they care more about maintaining their prejudice and racism than their own survival.
This ending is what cements the greatness of "Dot and Bubble" as an episode. It doesn't end happily. There is no fanfare of success. The Doctor couldn't save the people of Finetime from their intolerance. It's a bit of a bummer, but it needs to be to drive home the primary theme. Racism is insidious, but it's also a choice, and people like me have to choose to be better if we're all going to survive.
Something is wrong in the city of Finetime. People are going missing, but the disappearances aren't really noticed. Lindy Pepper-Bean hasn't noticed, and it's only when she's contacted by the Doctor and Ruby Sunday that she begins to peek outside her bubble and find out what's really going on. Slug-like creatures are eating the people of Finetime, and it's up to the Doctor and Ruby to get as many people out as they can before the entire populace is devoured.
At first blush, “Dot and Bubble” seems to be slightly preachy in tone, exhorting the apparent evils of living in a social media bubble (in this case, a very literal one) and relying on technology to the point that one's self-reliance disappears. From what chatter I've seen online, these parts of the story are meant to be a sort of riff on the usual Black Mirror plot of "technology bad". (Having never watched Black Mirror, I'll have to take the internet's word on this.) It turns out that this is a feint, because the episode is actually about racism.
It's at this part of the review that I have to be frank and honest with you: I did not realize this episode was about racism until I saw people talking about it online afterwards.
I'm white, and I didn't notice that everyone in Finetime was white until someone else pointed it out. And it's funny, because I do usually notice and am pleased when a show or movie I watch is diverse. But as "Dot and Bubble" has revealed to me, I don't usually notice when a show or movie I watch is populated entirely by white people, which means I've got some internal biases I've got examine.
In fact, me not even realizing what this episode was really about until someone else pointed it out says a lot about me. It says that, just like the people of Finetime, I live in a bubble. And I do! I live in a largely white town, and my few friends are white, and I mostly live in this bubble of whiteness and don't question it or try to expand my horizons! I like to think of myself as progressive, and I try my best to not be actively racist--but racism isn't just an activity! It's also, for a lot of people like me, a passivity. I benefit from racism every day as a white person! And I've never really stopped to examine this and what it means for me, nor have I thought about what I've got to change about myself and my thinking in order to let go of these internal biases and prejudices. “Dot and Bubble” called me out very effectively, and it left me with the realization that I have to do better.
And that's what Russell T Davies is trying to say with this story. Lindy and the other people of Finetime live in bubbles that are both literal and figurative--the digital bubble that holds their social media, the actual bubble that protects their city from the "Wild Woods", and the bubble of whiteness that permeates their entire society. On a rewatch, the racism throughout this episode becomes obvious. Lindy reacts with disgust when she first sees the Doctor, and she thinks everything he says to her is condescending. She thinks the Doctor is a different person when he reappears later, saying that she "thought [he] just looked the same". While she's much more lenient with Ruby, Lindy is still aghast when she realizes Ruby and the Doctor are in the same room. This plays into her speech to the Doctor in the final scene, when what has thus far been subtext becomes, all at once, text.
Part of what makes this episode so effective, I think, is in the way that it doesn't overtly focus on the racism. It doesn't make it into A Thing at all. Instead, the script and the visuals lay it out for us without drawing overt attention to it. The racism is there, but the episode waits for the audience to discover it. Compared to how previous episodes of Doctor Who have dealt with (or outright ignored) racism, it's a refreshing strategy, not least because it asks the audience to be aware of how their biases make them perceive things.
Another thing I found interesting about this episode is the way it positions Lindy (portrayed by Callie Cooke in an excellent performance) as the de facto main character of the episode. It uses her position within the narrative to obfuscate the primary theme a little; I know I was more inclined to forgive her shortcomings because of that. At first, Lindy just seems overwhelmed about her situation and maybe in denial that anything is wrong, but as the episode continues, that mask starts to slip a little, and then a lot. We learn that Lindy and the people of Finetime are, in essence, the rich kids of their homeworld, which explains a lot of her general attitude of snobbishness (repeatedly calling Ruby "stupid" for example). But when her Dot loses power and she's on her own, we start to see a little of what she's actually like. She thinks meeting Ricky September makes this the greatest day of her life (even though, as Ricky points out, thousands of people are dying horribly all around them). As the Doctor and Ruby figure out the methodology of the slug creatures, Lindy's overall self-obsession becomes clear. She wails that the creatures are coming after her, rather than realizing that she's just the next person in a very long list of people.
But the final nail in the coffin comes at the episode's climax. Lindy's Dot has gone rogue and is trying to kill her. Ricky fights it off, but it knocks him in the head to slow him down and comes after Lindy. Without hesitation, Lindy tells the Dot that Ricky changed his last name, and that the Dots and their creatures should have killed him much earlier in their alphabetical rampage. While Ricky is summarily killed, Lindy escapes and walks away to freedom. She lies about what happened to Ricky, and that, apparently, is that.
Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the final scene. The people who escaped from Finetime have decided to strike out for the wilderness. The Doctor offers to take them to safety in the TARDIS, but Lindy and the others reject him for no other reason than that he's Black, and that's unacceptable to them, and against the "standards of Finetime". Ncuti Gatwa has been a powerhouse thus far this series (excepting "73 Yards", which he was barely in because of prior filming obligations), and his performance in this scene is electric. The Doctor desperately tries to get the Finetime group to come with him, but they walk away, taking their boat down the river. He laughs in disbelief that turns in an instant to anger. He leaves in the TARDIS with tears on his face. He could be mourning the people of Finetime, but it seems more likely to me that he can't believe they care more about maintaining their prejudice and racism than their own survival.
This ending is what cements the greatness of "Dot and Bubble" as an episode. It doesn't end happily. There is no fanfare of success. The Doctor couldn't save the people of Finetime from their intolerance. It's a bit of a bummer, but it needs to be to drive home the primary theme. Racism is insidious, but it's also a choice, and people like me have to choose to be better if we're all going to survive.
