Synopsis
On Halloween, all across the universe, terrifying forces are stirring. From the Arctic Circle to deep space, an ancient evil is breaking free. And in present-day Liverpool, the life of Dan Lewis is about to change forever. Why is the Doctor on the trail of the fearsome Karvanista? And what is the Flux?
Doctor Who is back! After an eighteen-month hiatus, interrupted by a New Year’s special nearly eleven months ago, the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and Yaz (Mandip Gill) return in a new six-episode season, joined by newcomer Dan (John Bishop). The hook this time around? Instead of each episode being a self-contained story, all six episodes act as chapters of a large tale – subtitled “Flux.” As such, it’s impossible to judge this first episode, “The Halloween Apocalypse,” on its own. Its success or failure ultimately rides on how well showrunner Chris Chibnall executes the remaining five stories. However, as the first part in a larger story, “The Halloween Apocalypse” hits all the notes a good first chapter should.
The Calm Before…
“The Halloween Apocalypse” opens mid-adventure, with Yaz and the Doctor hanging upside down over a sea of acid after a disastrous encounter with a dog-like Lupari named Karvanista (Craige Els). After making a narrow escape, the duo follows Karvanista to earth, and right into Dan’s life. Dan’s just your average guy – working at a soup kitchen, searching for love, looking for something important to be a part of. Until Karvanista kidnaps him and drags him onto a spaceship headed for destinations unknown. The benefit of telling a long-form story like this is that there’s a lot of room for Chibnall to better develop the characters – a problem that’s plagued much of his run. Instead of immediately thrusting the characters into a frantic adventure, the episode allows audiences the opportunity to get to know the characters better. To see what they’re like in the calm before the storm.
As a result, all of the characters come across as more three-dimensional than ever. Dan feels like your everyman. A kind-hearted soul who’s down on his luck but still tries to do the right thing. Which makes it easy to root for him when he’s put in danger. And the same is true for Yaz and the Doctor. It’s nice to see how their relationship has evolved since Ryan and Graham left last season. Their camaraderie feels lived in, but you can see the cracks beginning to show with Yaz’s annoyance at all of the Doctor’s secrets and the Doctor’s continued reluctance to let anyone get too close to her. It remains to be seen how well these early character arcs will be followed up on. But they’re a promising start.
…the Storm
Of course, things don’t stay quiet for long. The Doctor and Yaz eventually find Karvanista’s spaceship, after surviving several traps – including one which miniaturizes Dan’s house. While Yaz frees Dan and they start getting to know each other, the Doctor confronts Karvanista. It turns out she‘s been hunting him down. As one of the last remaining operatives of the Division, a sort of Gallifreyan secret police, the Doctor’s got some questions for Karvanista. But before she can get him to reveal anything about the Division, a warning light catches her attention. Karvanista explains that he and the rest of the Lupari are not invading Earth or kidnapping the humans. Each Lupari is “species-bonded” to a human, assigned to look after them, so the Lupari are actually trying to save the humans from an imminent cataclysm – the Flux.
The Doctor, Yaz, and Dan quickly return to the TARDIS, trying to track down where, exactly, the Flux is. And in doing so, they realize that the Flux is quite literally erasing everything in its path. To be more precise, it’s as though the Flux is making the universe fold in on itself. And not only that, there appears to be an intelligence behind the Flux. An intelligence made all the more apparent as the Flux starts deliberately chasing after the TARDIS. With the Flux closing in on the TARDIS, how will our trio escape? That’s the note the episode ends on – the potential destruction of the universe. It’s an explosive ending, to be sure. Though it’s worth saying that the intensity of this climax does rob us of the chance to truly see how the Doctor, Yaz, and Dan interact as a trio. But I’m sure we’ll get plenty of that soon. Because they’re obviously not dying here.
Enter Swarm
Meanwhile, in an ancient prison hidden away somewhere in the universe, Swarm (Sam Spruell) – a creepy alien with crystals in his face – escapes after a long captivity. During his escape, he kills two Division agents sent to check on him. He quickly makes his way to Earth, where he finds his sister, Azure (Rochenda Sandall), hidden away in the Arctic Circle. What exactly the two of them are up to remains to be seen. But we do learn that the Doctor and Swarm have a past – a past that only Swarm remembers, thanks to the Divison having wiped the Doctor’s mind to hide her past from her. The implication is that the two were enemies, much like the Doctor and the Master are. But it feels like there might be more to this story. And that’s hopefully something future episodes will explore.
Subplots Galore
The episode also introduces a number of other subplots. There’s a Sontaran fleet heading straight for the Earth, presumably in search of a battle. In 1820 Liverpool, real-life eccentric Joseph Williamson (Steve Oram) is building some tunnels – in preparation, he says, for a cataclysm. Somewhere on the other side of the universe, Vinder (Jacob Anderson) mans an outpost that’s quickly overtaken by the Flux. In present-day Liverpool, Azure kidnaps Diane (Nadia Albina), a museum worker and Dan’s potential love interest, for reasons unknown. And then there’s Claire (Annabel Scholey), who tells a bewildered Doctor and Yaz she’s met them in their future before getting whisked away by a Weeping Angel.
To say there’s a lot going on in this episode would be an understatement. Between Dan’s introduction, Karvanista and the Doctor, the Flux, Swarm and Azure, and all of these subplots, it’s a jam-packed episode with little time to fully take in everything that happens. In all honesty, it might’ve been wise to hold back a subplot or two for next week’s episode – perhaps all of the stuff with Azure? It’s not a major issue, but holding off on introducing a couple of the plotlines – or making the episode longer, so it can better juggle all of these introductions – might have been a good call. For now, it’s unclear how any of these subplots are connected with each other, or with the season as a whole. But I’m intrigued to see where all of these storylines go.
Final Thoughts
On the whole, “The Halloween Apocalypse” is a solid episode of Doctor Who. The pacing is excellent. There’s plenty of room for those quieter character moments that help better define the characters. But things happen at a fast enough pace where you’re never bored. To be honest, I do kind of wish the episode was just a little bit longer. That might’ve allowed a little bit more room for some of those subplots to breathe. But that’s a minor thing. Visually, it’s a gorgeous episode. It’s hard to believe director Jamie Magnus Stone and the rest of the crew pulled something like this off during a pandemic, but they did. The VFX are sometimes wonky, and while the design for both Swarm and Karvaista are gorgeous, the prosthetic work sometimes looks a little off. But still, Doctor Who has never looked this good.
Judging any individual episode of Doctor Who: Flux is gonna be hard. Based on “The Halloween Apocalypse,” it’s clear that these episodes are meant to be viewed as pieces of a whole, rather than stand-alone stories. So, the ultimate success of this week’s episode will largely depend on how well subsequent episodes build on what’s set up here. But as the first chapter of a six-part story? “The Halloween Apocalypse” ticks off all of the boxes.
Rating: 4.5/5
New episodes of Doctor Who: Flux premiere Sundays at 8pm on BBC America and AMC+.
Bonus Questions and Speculation
- What do Swarm and Azure want with Diane (Nadia Albina)? Are they aware of her relationship with Dan?
- The Doctor, Karvanista, and Swarm are all connected by the Division. Could the Division be involved with the Flux too?
- The station Vinder was stationed at was called Observation Outpost Rose. I’m not drawing any conclusions here, but that’s one heck of a coincidence.
Part-time writer, part-time theatre nerd, full-time dork.
