Review: What we thought of ‘The Pyramid at the End of the World’
The Pyramid at the End of the World was hyped up to be the second of the first three-part saga with a brand new villain called The Monks. How did the second episode rank to the first one?
The Pyramid and the End of the World at the end of the world was made to look like it was about a structure that popped up overnight. Despite the fact that it almost felt like Despicable Me where they stole a pyramid, I was willing to put aside my immediate connection to a children’s movie and move on. Extremis did incredibly well in living up to the hype and I wasn’t about to let a tiny bit of doubt get in my way.
However, there has to be a curse about middle episodes and Moffat. In season one and two of Sherlock, neither middle episode has cause to get excited about. Unfortunately, that happened in this episode as well. The entire first episode led us to believe we were gonna have a bit more chaos. The Doctor just found out the world is a simulation and is possibly from a simulation himself. Is he a simulation? Is it the world he’s living in? While the first episode turned the Doctor Who world on its head we didn’t much about the circumstances at all.
What we did learn was who we’re up against. Maybe this was a “get to know your villain!” episode while next weekend comes the final battle. So, what do we know about the monks? The monks were inside the pyramid, set in a strategic location between China, Russia, and America. (And being from America, and in this climate, I see why the Monks would choose that location.) The monks can’t conquer the world without being given consent of a “pure” nature.
Meanwhile, we’re dealing with multiple subplots. There’s the plot where the Doctor is still blind. The plot where he’s keeping it from Bill. Finally, a plot that takes place in some kind of greenhouse laboratory.
What do all of these subplots have to do with each other? Nothing! Which is why the episode seems so sluggish. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good episode. But it’s not memorable. If the last five minutes of the episode never happened, I would say this episode would never stick out among the good moments brought throughout the season — especially on the heels of last week’s episode.
However, how dare I defy Moffat. He’s many things, but he’s not going to leave us with nothing to remember. In the last five minutes, everything we know changed. It almost makes up for the fact that I might have fallen asleep watching it…twice.
Always double check your work, kids.
Throughout the entire episode, everyone was so focused on the Monks and World War III and the pyramid that did you notice the scientist, Douglas, who was hungover accidentally type in the wrong number? Yeah, he accidentally made a super strain of bacteria, possibly ending the world.
Because Erica’s reading glasses were broken, she had to rely on him because she couldn’t read the page of numbers, not realizing what was going on until it was too late.
Bill’s mistake(?)
Oh Bill. Oh, naivete Bill. I get wanting to save the Doctor and save the day. I get being caught up in the moment that you want to save someone who goes around saving others. But never negotiate with bad people!
This could all be blamed on how little Bill knows about regeneration and the likely fact that the Doctor would have been able to gain his sight back. However, I would have thought that Bill was smarter than to give over the reigns of the human race so that the Doctor could get his eyesight back.
Bill’s actions in this episode made it too obvious that she’s still too oblivious in dealing with aliens. Most likely she thought that there would be a way to give the Doctor his sight back and have the Doctor save the day. Which, while not out of the realm of possibility, is still a huge strain to put on someone.
This is where we all go Thank god this is a television show. But by the looks of next week, what Bill’s done might have bigger repercussions than we thought. It might not be a hail mary save in the last five minutes of the episode next week, we might see something completely different.
Next: Will the Doctor regenerate in Lie of the Land?