Doctor Who – Recap & Review – The Lodger

doctor who

Doctor Who
The Lodger

Original Air Date: Jul 10, 2010

Brittany Frederick – Staff Writer
brittanyfrederick@thetwocentscorp.com

I wonder how many episodes start with the TARDIS crashing onto or into something. Including this one, which sees Eleven stranded in Essex when the TARDIS crash-lands, then takes off again with Amy still inside. Plus there’s something spooky on the top floor of a flat nearby. Of course there is, or we wouldn’t have a show, would we?

Eleven turns up at the Haunted Mansion to see what’s going on, and is greeted by one very confused guy named Craig, who owns the downstairs and has no idea why weird noises and dry rot are coming from upstairs. He finally gets a hold of Amy via space radio, at least, and tells her his plan is to fit in like a normal guy and find out what’s upstairs. Seems simple enough.

(And that’s how we get Matt Smith in a towel. Then there’s a soccer match I care nothing about, because I can’t stand the sport. But he likes it – he wanted at one point to play professionally.)

Then a really annoying effect happens: time keeps repeating itself. Or something. I’m not really sure, except there are some frustrating jump cuts. Meanwhile, the dry rot is getting bigger and coming in more colors now, and Craig still can’t ask out this girl that he likes named Sophie. In other words, there’s filler.

Eleven rigs up a device out of random household objects and saves Craig from being passed out. All of this apparently has to do with whatever is upstairs. He decides to go to Craig’s work and do his job. This makes Craig go mental, because he can’t put up with the weird – and he panics when Eleven shows him what he really is. While that’s going on, Sophie gets sucked upstairs. Oops. Double oops when Amy consults the blueprints and finds out that upstairs doesn’t actually exist.

Everybody goes upstairs to discover there’s a room where somebody was trying to build a TARDIS (allegedly). There’s an alien guy who says his ship has crashed and needs a pilot. Apparently they keep sucking humans upstairs to keep trying them to see who works, like a square peg in a round hole. While the Doctor tries to figure this out, Craig and Sophie finally get it together. The upstairs decides to implode, so everyone flees to see the alien ship disappear in thin air – and take the mold with it. And they all lived happily ever after. Except for another one of those cracks in the universe.

It’s not exactly the best episode in the world – in fact, a lot of it seems to be filler designed to entertain us with the idea of the Doctor trying to be human, rather than actually answer the central mystery in the episode – but it has its cute moments. I don’t think I’d watch it again, but I can see what the writer was trying for. What did you think? Did you enjoy this episode? Let me know.

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