Review: Doctor Who 6.5-6: The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People

The Doctor, Amy and Rory accept a friend's sacrifice.

Unlike many overseas viewers, my reason for a late review of this two parter is for more personal reasons, mainly to do with my work schedule for School. Regardless to say it's been a while since I've have to chance to look upon the episodes with fresh eyes.
     Many would say that so far Series Six has either been one of the best ever made or suffering from issues to do with Moffat's general style of series-writing. I am hesitant to say so, but I've been in the middle; I've enjoyed the episodes but there's some underlying problems that might spoil my enjoyment if I think about them for too long. The Flesh Two-parter is an example of a story that divides opinion, and for very good reason. The rest of the series (keep getting tempted to call it a season because of the whole Summer-Autumn fiasco) so far has been quite extraordinary, boundary-stretching Who, and at times this story feels a little too close to formula for the standard we've been given.
     Set in a 22nd Century Acid Factory (built out of an old castle on an island, for whatever reason. The reason that they're mining acid isn't explained either), the Doctor arrives with an agenda, interested in the site's use of "Flesh" technology - living biomatter that can be programmed into any state and controlled, like vehicles, by the workers in the factory. If a worker gets injured or killed, a new body (or 'ganger in these terms, short for doppelganger) can be made right away. The workers in the factory are shy Jennifer (Sarah Smart, Five Days), doting father Jimmy (Mark Bonnar, Psychoville), cheeky Buzzer (Marshall Lancaster, Life On Mars/Ashes to Ashes), quiet Dicken (Leon Vickers) and leader Gleaves (Raquel Cassidy, Lead Balloon). They're all pretty one-note.
     As they arrive, a solar storm hits the factory. While The Doctor manages to prevent most of the system damage, the storm severs the links between the 'gangers and their hosts, leaving a set of clones with identical memories. The Doctor insists that these clones are equal to humans in every way in terms of rights, even when the two sides want to kill each other. Meanwhile, Rory takes a shine to who he thinks is Jennifer, who is in fact a 'ganger and the one most insistent on killing everyone.

Ganger!Doctor in his half-state.

     Real Cleaves is freaked out and kills 'Ganger Buzzer, leading to the two sides being "at war." The cliffhanger of the first episode has a clone of The Doctor appear, he having touched the raw material earlier on.
    The Rebel Flesh sets up its concepts interestingly enough, but the pace feels rather slow when set against the past few weeks and it takes a while to get used to. The idea itself, of biological clones, is certainly not new, but ex-Life On Mars writer Matthew Graham examines the moral dilemmas in a way unlike, say, Chris Chibnall's story last year. The comparison is justified - both stories feature The Doctor holing up with a group of humans angry at a species who they share their world with, both written by an ex-Life On Mars writer. Graham has some stigma here, having produced the fan-reviled Fear Her in 2006, but I like that particularly story and I think Graham has a better grasp of character, something which makes his characters a little more real (no pun intended) than Chibnall.
     We return from the cliffhanger with Ganger!Doctor reacting badly to having to clone an eleventh body, having him quote Doctors 1,2,3,4 and 10. He stabilises, and The Doctor "introduces" him as his exact equal, despite any biological difference; the only difference in Amy's mind is their shoes, of which the Real!Doctor had to change. Regardless, the humans remain suspicious and when the group ventures out, Ganger!Doctor is left with the 'Gangers. In the interim, however, a somewhat prejudiced Amy slips to the 'ganger about The Doctor's death back in The Impossible Astronaut. The ganger is angry because he can feel the suffering of the Flesh - it remains partially alive through the deaths of its hosts and "rejected" Gangers are left to rot.

Amy keeps herself firmly with the Humans.

     Wandering about, Jennifer (now most definitely a Ganger, as the real Jennifer died a while back) uses Rory to help her destabilises the factory's coolant systems, which will eventually cause it to explode. Both the Gangers and Humans catch on, the Gangers using the Humans' security codes to call for help. Jennifer arrives with Rory, but the Ganger!Doctor has already been humanising his colleagues by exploiting their main character traits and Jennifer is left to fight alone.
     Ganger!Jimmy tries to save his real self but he dies; the same with Dicken, and both are allowed to resume their original's lives. The Tardis falls through into the factory from the outside world just as The Doctor and Ganger!Cleaves discover that Jenniffer has turned into a massive monster. Everyone meets up, and The Doctor reveals that he and his ganger switched shoes, and that Ganger!Doctor was him all along, proving to Amy that she can't tell them apart. Gangers Doctor and Cleaves decide to stay behind and stop the Jenn-Monster while the rest go off their their specific destinations.
     Now; the devisive cliffhanger. In a lead into next week, it's revealed that The Doctor's reason for visiting the Flesh was to exmine the technology based on his core suspicion that Amy is in fact a Ganger being controlled from elsewhere - a theory confirmed when The Doctor dissolves Amy and she wakes up in a birthing chamber, 9 months pregnant and the woman in the eye patch telling her that she's ready to pop.
     Fan reaction to the cliffhanger was, in my opinion, exaggerated - the cliffhanger's shock appeal works on the first viewing but feels somewhat of an inevitable burdon on the second time-around. It builds up the Semi-finale well, but other than that the end feels tacked on and not fluidic.

     So; my final verdict? Well, the story didn't feel as powerful as the rest of the series but it kept the same tone and feeling as well as containing potent writing and a series of ideas not only capitvating but well-presented for what they were. Fundamentally, the main aversion of type was the avoidance of cringe-comedy clone moments - the clones managed to create serious drama instead of "hilarious" exploits. Not what I expected, at all, but in most ways better, and worth my time if only as good entertainment before the semi-finale.

Thanks.

P.S. A Good Man Goes To War coming some time soon.