Doctor Who – Extremis

By: Sharon Kurack

A little Latin lesson (and alliteration) today, my fellow Whovians: Extremis (often used with In Extremis) means “the End” or “at the point of death,” while Veritas, of course, means “truth.” Just from those words alone you can guess the tone of this episode. This jam-packed adventure comes fully equipped with a three-part parallel storyline that perhaps is the start of a two-parter episode. We begin with Storyline One where the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) flashes back to a memory of a breathtakingly beautiful planet where the inhabitants serve as executioners to every living thing. On a boat traveling to the site of an execution, we see Twelve converse with said inhabitants with one going into detail about how they specifically take the lives of Time Lords. (Why they would find glee in taking the life of a nearly extinct species if beyond me…) At first, you wonder if it’s Twelve being executed, but then realize that he must be the executioner, as the sentence to kill a Time Lord must be carried out by another Time Lord. Who is being executed? The only other Time Lord (Lady) we currently know, Missy (Michelle Gomez). Clearly the Doctor is troubled by this as Missy begs for her life. Switching back and forth between flashback and present, we wonder the following: did the Doctor carry out the sentence? Or is this flashback meant to explain everything about the vault and oath?

Shifting back to what seems like “real time” present day, we find Twelve still blind and talking with whomever is in the vault. Confirming many suspicions, the Doctor addresses Missy directly, even confessing of his blindness. They can’t know he’s blind (his enemies and his friends). We now officially know Missy is not only in that vault, but alive. While letting that huge discovery sink in, Twelve gets an email entitled “Extremis” through the psychic connection via the sonic sunglasses. This email triggers the new misadventure as we then see the Doctor silently in thought whilst in his lecture all. Solitude doesn’t last long as a large group of clergymen from the Vatican enter, eventually with the Pope himself, seeking the Doctor’s help. With Nardole (Matt Lucas) running interference of Twelve’s lack of sight, we find out the existence of an ancient text called the Veritas, written in a language as dead as those who have read it and more trouble than any book on the banned list. Anyone who reads this text commits suicide immediately and the Pope wants the Doctor to read it.

Do you know what’s worse than a sibling interrupting your date? The Pope interrupting your date! And that’s exactly what happens to poor Bill (Pearl Mackie) and her new lady friend. With the impeccable timing of a 2-year-old, the TARDIS appears in Bill’s bedroom (a clockblock, if you will), along with the Pope, Cardinal Angelo (Corrado Invernizzi) and a few clergymen. Bill’s ladyfriend, Penny (Ronke Adekoluejo), runs out the door like a bat out of hell, leaving a very frustrated Bill to enter the TARDIS. Nardole explains the situation as best he can, trying also to cover up the fact that Twelve is still blind. We also find out here that the Doctor has another sonic screwdriver, as well as an ominous defibrillator-looking device (to be used later).

Before we find out exactly where the group travels next, another flashback occurs to help us fill in the proverbial blanks. Here we witness the Doctor, Missy and the execution crew just moments before Missy’s execution. A hooded priest appears to give counsel to the Doctor and buys Missy time. Just kidding! The priest is actually Nardole! This is where he joins Twelve on his travels, keeping him “in line” (watching out for him) at the behest of none other than River Song. Quoting the now late Doctor’s wife from her journal, Nardole says that not only would River disapprove of killing Missy, but that he has full permission to kick Twelve’s arse. However, the sentence still must be carried out, and Missy once again begs for her life, quoting River’s words of “without hope, without witness, without reward,” and adds, “I’m your friend.” (Right in the two hearts, Missy.) Despite all of this, the Doctor makes the oath to guard her body for 1000 years and “executes” Missy using the charges from the pillars surrounding her.

Back in the present, we find Bill, Twelve, Nardole and company at the Library of Blasphemy in the Vatican. (I guess the Poison Room was taken, huh Fillorians?) The Pope and the rest of the clergymen minus Cardinal Angelo leave them there to find the Veritas. (They also find the Harry Potter series there… in the Library of Blasphemy…) With Nardole filling in the blanks for the Doctor once more of the details around the surrounding area, they come the center of the library and find a light that shines around the corner. It echoes Poltergeist slightly as there seems to be a door appearing in the wall that just as quickly disappears. Cardinal Angelo continues to examine the wall, baffled, while our three amigos find a cage in the middle of the library.

Before any more questions are raised, another priest appears, clearly distressed. He apologizes for “sending it” and runs off. Nardole, Bill and Twelve enter the cage and find a laptop (equipped with wifi), as well as an email sent four hours ago to CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research, considered the largest particle physics lab on the planet). A translation of the Veritas was sent to CERN by the priest who had just run out, and a reply returned with a simple “pray for us.” As you wonder to yourself (if this The Ring?) if the people at CERN are next to die, a gunshot is heard. This provides the perfect opportunity for Twelve to send Bill and Nardole off as he attempts to uncover the secrets of the Veritas without putting his friends in danger. This also gives Nardole the chance to “dole” out the apparent badassery he’s secretly been keeping from us. After he gets a little “firm” with Bill, they stumble upon the priest, dead by gunshot wound with the gun in hand. (The Veritas strikes again!) The light from earlier returns, opening up a portal, which although may seem foolish to enter – they do.

While Bill and Nardole are busying themselves, the Doctor takes out the strange defibrillator device from earlier, connecting two of the wires to his temples. With this device, the plan is to “borrow” from his future for temporary sight. As he is readying the machine blindly, we see and hear a figure (or figures) approaching, although they are not Cardinal Angelo. Thankfully, the Doctor survives whatever shock from the device, and also has some sight temporarily restored. (Sidenote: He “borrowed” from his future, which could mean his future regenerations OR his possibility of regenerations could be affected. An interesting detail to file away FYI.) Unfortunately, his sight is only a blur, which makes reading near impossible. Next bad news? Our “visitors” aren’t friendly; they’re zombie/mummy-like monks who take the Veritas. With a quip about this being a game and him winning, our semi-blind doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to turn out all the lights, grabs the laptop and escapes. Around the corner, Twelve attempts to read the email with the translation attached. However, we only find out something about a “Test of Shadows” before the Doctor’s vision fails again. The monks catch up, give chase and make us witness a rare scene of the Doctor being weak as he stumbles and falls. Before the monks can overcome Twelve, a portal opens for the him to go through.

Speaking of those rather convenient “warp zones” – er portals, the one that Bill and Nardole go through takes them to the Pentagon. Obviously, with no clearance to be there they “warp” back to a mainframe of portals. (Sorry, but your Doctor is in another castle.) Going through another, they end up at CERN, where a drunken scientist leads them to a sad version of a Y2K party in the cafeteria. Having read the translation of the Veritas, the staff prepares for death by explosives under the tables. Bill, ever blunt, questions the scientist in which he responds cryptically with how nothing is real. To prove this, he challenges Bill and Nardole to a number guessing game. Each time, they say the exact same number, so much so that even the other scientists chime in. This being “The Shadow Test,” Bill and Nardole run back to the portal before being blown up at CERN.

In the main portal room a fresh trail of blood awaits. Is it the Doctor’s? Nardole, ever astute, figures everything out and prays to be wrong. (They wanted the truth, they can’t handle the truth.) Like the portals, everything they’ve experiences has been holograms (not with Jem, though) and not real. Is it an inception? How can they tell what is real? Are they even real? Testing the theory, Nardole moves outside the projection and disappears. Does this mean Bill is a hologram, too? Very confused and clearly scared, Bill follows the blood trail through another portal where she ends up at the White House. Unfortunately, the President of the United States has read the Veritas and has also committed suicide. However, Twelve is there listening to the audio version of the Veritas. Once he realizes Bill is in the room (and not Nardole with her), he begins to explain the Veritas.

The short version? An alien life form created a simulation like The Matrix of all Earth’s history in which to learn about how to invade it. Who knows what is real? Enter “The Shadow Test,” which basically means the number test. If everyone says the “random” string of numbers, it means they are part of the simulation. Those in the simulation who’ve read the Veritas and have done the test weren’t committing suicide; they were escaping the simulation. Realizing both she and Twelve are part of the hologram, Bill disappears, leaving the Doctor to deal with the Shadow monk. Because he’s aware of being a hologram, it almost seems as though Twelve is about to give up. However, the last flashback reminds him to never give up. In said flashback, the Doctor remembers River’s journal and her written words of “I am nothing without hope.” In that instant, Twelve warns the Shadow monk that he is what stands between them and the Earth. With that warning, he emails himself the memory imprint that the sonic sunglasses picked up in the simulation to warn the real Doctor. (Handy shades, aren’t they?)

Faster than you can say “there is no spoon,” we see the real Doctor open and read said email, sitting in front of the vault. He then calls Bill and tells her to ask Penny out tonight as tomorrow they’re going to be very busy. On this eve of war, Twelve then address Missy directly in the vault. She is indeed alive with him still looking after her. Did the executioners really let him and Nardole leave with her so easily? Once they realized exactly how many fatalities resulted because of Twelve, they basically let him do whatever he wanted.

But, as Twelve asks Missy from the other side of the vault, how can he save anyone if he is blind? Will he let her out of the vault? If Twelve does, will Missy even want to help or will she make life worse? Half the season completed and we are just starting to answer some questions. I suppose those answers will remain just beyond that vault door until Missy makes her grand entrance.