It must be because of the continuous streak of really good, really plot-wise heavy episodes but I find this one falling a bit too short. It’s an “okay” story with “okay” characters but that’s pretty much it. I expected more because I’ve seen what the show could bring but I guess we can’t always have obviously philosophy-laden plots every week, can we? If this certain episode lacked on the story side of things, it’s okay because the hilarity that was the ending, of the Doctor running (rather majestically, I should tell you) and lighting the Olympic torch, made up for all of it! It’s back to silly Doctor Who, I see!

That aside, rather than the kids being locked up in drawings or the whole stadium being somewhat abducted and put in two-dimensional form, it’s the drawing of Chloe’s father that really got me most affected. I personally cannot relate to Chloe and her relationship with her father but living with an abusive father must be really traumatic to a kid. And this is the reason sometimes I feel frustration towards the mothers of the children in this kind of situation. It’s like Mr. Magpie all over again, saying they don’t have a choice, that they still love their husband despite everything. That’s just wrong. Mindless passivity is really such an ugly trait. Another thing about Chloe’s dad, him being drawn in her closet wall was a really nice allusion to “a skeleton in the closet”, implying that her father’s abusive tendencies is a family secret they’re trying very hard to hide.

On to the alien of the day: Isolus. This one’s kind of different from the others in the sense that she (or is it a he?) isn’t really bad. It just wants to be with his brothers and sisters again but it doesn’t know exactly how so she just tries to forge a replica. I guess what really makes it not that evil is that technically, she’s not killing people. Though, really thinking of it, trapping people in a two-dimensional world forever might be worse. I wonder whether the Isolus was based on some kind of social issue, just like Cassandra and von Statten. Are there really people out there who can’t function without their family? Or perhaps, without their friends? Probably. I personally know one or two.

It was nice pairing up the Isolus with Chloe: both two lonely people but with different reasons. The former longs for the famiily she lost while the other longs for one she never had. I guess they’re also the same in the sense that they still need more time for them to be mature enough to not get lonely when left alone, to be comfortable enough in their own skin. Well, everyone’s like that, really. No one’s born with self-confidence. We get them by being submerged in a good environment and provided with a good support system which is first and foremost, our families.

That’s another thing that Doctor Who likes to talk about besides the effect of media in society: the importance of family. It’s quite weird since the two are kind of worlds apart.