After last week's episode of Doctor Who where technology was dangerous and the product of an unknowable great evil, this week's installment turned its attentions to religion and creation myths, which also turned out to be similarly untrustworthy. By the time this season is finished, will there be anything left to believe in?
The answer is, of course, yes: Who is a science fiction show for humanists, and "The Rings of Akhaten" -- the first script from Neil Cross, the creator of BBC America's much-loved Luther -- made it obvious. Ostensibly an episode where the Doctor and his new companion, Clara, try to save a young girl from aliens worshipping a vengeful god who may or may not have been a sentient alien star, "The Rings"' true value came from staking out the show's stance on religion, faith and its take on what we should really believe in.
The most eloquent explanation came courtesy of the speech the Doctor gave to the young girl, who was willing to sacrifice herself for a faith you didn't believe in about why her life was precious. and why that she, that all of us, are unique and valuable and worth the universe itself. "All of the elements of your body were forged many, many millions of years ago in the heart of a faraway star," indeed.
There were less poetic ways of putting it throughout the episode, as well. "We don't leave," the Doctor tells Clara at one point, echoing her memory of her mother saying that she would never be lost. Taken together with last week's far weaker episode, the message of the current incarnation of the show is clear: The only thing we can truly trust, the only thing we can truly believe in, is each other -- and that means that we have to believe in each other.
This thematic weight made "The Rings" a better episode than its individual components would suggest. Again, Matt Smith as the Doctor and Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara made a compelling double act, but again, they were by far the best part of an episode that seemed oddly familiar: taking the new companion to an alien environment mirrored the second episode for the Doctor's last companion (see: Amy Pond, in season five's "The Beast Below"), while the faceless agents of Grandfather evoked the steampunk Cybermen.
Similarly, the tale of the Doctor and a companion risking the universe to save a child unjustly at risk from an alien belief system is hardly new (see again: "The Beast Below"), even though the roles of the companion and the Doctor played out a little differently. In fact, the whole alien market simultaneously felt like the Cantina from the first Star Wars movie and something out of the original run of the series: both visually spectacular and somehow a little… unconvincing.
As a showcase for Clara, this episode did a lot to flesh out her character; I loved the contrast of her uncertainty when faced with infinite possibilities of travel with her unwavering confidence when it came to protecting the Queen of Years. It also showcased how different her relationship with the Doctor is, compared with other companions -- and how she may be the Doctor's equal in a way that both he and the viewers aren't quite used to.
As the opening and close of the episode made clear, the Doctor may like Clara, but he's unsure about her. She's a mystery that he can't solve, and that makes him unable to trust her. As this episode demonstrated, that's something that will have to change if they have any hope of avoiding disaster in the weeks ahead.
