In Episode Seven of Class, ‘The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did,’ it is time for the adults to have an adventure all their own.
Andrea Quill in ‘The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did’ (credit: BBC)
*** This review contains spoilers. ***
When I wrote my review for last week’s episode of Class, ‘Detained,’ I remarked that it was my favorite episode of the series to date. While true at the time, and I still love it, matters have changed. The most recent episode, ‘The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did,’ now takes the top spot in my esteem.
Episode Seven focusses on Quill and the extreme measures she goes through to not only get the Arn removed from her head, but also to return to Earth. It was refreshing for me, as a 35-year-old person, to get a break from the show’s usual teen angst. Don’t get me wrong. I love the writing and the whole cast on Class, but sometimes Mama just needs some grown-up time.
Anyway, the “Previously…” segment at the beginning is not your usual montage, but simply part of the beginning of the last episode, flowing seamlessly into “Now…” The reason for this clever twist is that the latter runs parallel to the former; it is literally what Quill did after she departed, unknowingly leaving the young heroes in peril.
Quill meets Dorothea in the auditorium to depart on their journey. Here, we are introduced to a new character, Ballon, a Lore soldier and refugee. Like Quill, his home planet was destroyed. He had travelled to Earth, planning to pose as a Zygon living as a human to avoid detection by UNIT, but, while shifting, was discovered by the Governors, and imprisoned for killing humans out of starvation. This meta-layered obfuscation concept is a particularly ingenious bit of storytelling. As part of his punishment, he is locked in mid shift. He is part of their party because he is being given a chance to earn his freedom by using his abilities to cut out the Arn.
Dorothea Ames holding the metaphysical engine in ‘The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did’ (credit: BBC)
Dorothea activates a device that we later learn to be a metaphysical engine. There are parallels between this and the confession dial in the Doctor Who story ‘Heaven Sent.’ It shrinks the three travelers down to fit inside, which looks vaguely like a TARDIS. Quill describes it as being “like a geek vomited.” From there, they are transported to a beautiful magenta forest — Arn Heaven. The fascinating thing about this place is that it only exists because the metaphysical engine has created it from what the Arn believe to be true. It is, however, only a projection within the device. Dorothea explains:
"Everything in the Universe is conserved. Everything. Even Belief. Get millions of creatures believing something strongly enough for long enough and even space responds."
Minus the device aspect, this is similar to a concept that both writers Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett have used in their respective works. The difference is that, in their writing, belief actually makes things come to be.
Speaking of belief, another factor that makes this mission dangerous is that the Arn can read Quill’s thoughts. The stronger her belief that the team will succeed, the more the creature will resist her efforts, potentially leading to her death.
Back to the story, Ballon kills an Arn so that they may use its pheromones to calm the one in Quill’s head during surgery. From there, the metaphysical engine takes them to Lore Hell to collect just enough blood of the god to unlock the shapeshifting abilities of Ballon’s hands. The next stop is Quill Heaven for the brain of the goddess. Being an atheist, Quill scoffs and alludes to turning away the equivalent of Jehovah’s Witnesses on her home world. She quickly begins to take the matter seriously, though, when the goddess is about to speak. To Quill’s dismay, the deity does not get a chance, as Ballon — who thought in the moment that he was helping — murders her.
We learn at the end of this scene that Quill’s partner on her home world was killed in the resistance against the Rhodians. Her grief turned to hardness.
With all of the needed supplies, they return to Coal Hill to perform the operation. It is intense, but ultimately goes well. But wait! They were not actually back at the school, but in the Cabinet of Souls, the landscape there being reminiscent of Gallifrey in ‘Hell Bent.’ The Governors put them there to increase the chances of Quill’s survival. In a wink to the TARDIS, Quill jokes that the cabinet is “way bigger on the inside.” And just as in the Doctor’s confession dial, “time passes differently” there.
Quill and Ballon in ‘The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did’ (credit: BBC)
Let’s back up a bit. Quill and Ballon first greet one another with contempt and distrust. Over the course of their shared adventure, however, they fight together as soldiers, and save one another’s lives. This leads to mutual understanding, friendship, and love (both emotional and physical). Dorothea, on the other hand, approaches the experience as a detached, yet excited archeologist. In the end, she — appearing as a hologram — informs them that there is only enough energy in the reliquary for one of the two to return to Earth. Her solution is for them to fight to the death. She is regretful, but only moderately so. They strongly resist at first, but Dorothea claims that the last of Ballon’s family, his niece, survived and is waiting for him on Earth. This forces him to choose to fight Quill. There is an achingly tragic sequence that cuts back and forth between their fight, and Quill attempting to talk him out of it beforehand. For some reason, the gun that they are given (Quill’s) is set to backfire.
I greatly enjoyed Chiké Okonkwo’s portrayal of Ballon, and found his chemistry with Katherine Kelly (Quill) to be fantastic. Despite his only appearing in this single episode, what happens to his character was quite a blow for me.
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After Quill buries Ballon’s body, the Rhodian souls finally appear. Ribbons of light hovering in mid air, Quill seizes one. This speeds up her physical clock, which causes her hair to grow longer. With this and the new scar on her eye, we now have a complete explanation of her appearance at the end of ‘Detained.’ She vows revenge on the last living Rhodian, exits the cabinet, and returns to the school to reconverge with the plot of the previous episode. Declaring her saving of Charlie from the alien prison to be her “last favor” to him, she faints.
Another interesting thing to note is that Dorothea mentions that some of the Governors believe the tears in space and time were deliberately placed in Coal Hill Academy “to provide for those who will listen.” What she means is likely to be revealed later.
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