Doctor Who: Flux review, “Chapter Four: Village of the Angels”

Doctor Who fans must feel very happy waking up on Monday morning after this Sunday’s incredible episode. I know many have been on the fence about the six-episode “Flux” storyline, but I knew it had promise the minute the Fugitive Doctor (Jo Martin) came back.

Since last season, the looming mystery of the Doctor’s prior regenerations has been at the center of the series. As far as we knew, William Hartnell played the first-ever Doctor, but as we learned in “The Timeless Child,” she a very long history dating back to the start of the universe.

It’s a mind-blowing revelation, and “Flux” is starting to uncover more of the mystery. Perhaps the best part about this six-episode storyline is that we are getting to see some of the Doctor’s most iconic foes including the Cybermen, the Daleks, the Sontarans, and of course, the Weeping Angels.

This week, the Weeping Angels literally took over the episode, wreaking havoc across space and time. “Village of the Angels” is most certainly the strongest episode of the season so far, and I can’t wait to dive into all the major moments below.

SPOILERS ahead!

Doctor Who’s time-traveling mess

I’ve said this so many times over the years, but the Weeping Angels are hands down the scariest villains of this franchise. What’s scarier than an innocent statue going rogue and attacking simply because you blinked?!

Anyway, during last week’s episode, a rogue Weeping Angel made its way into the TARDIS, which set the stage for this week’s mind-boggling adventures. We start with Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) who have been thrown around time and space over the last couple of episodes. They find themselves stuck in 1967 near a village called Medderton where a young girl by the name of Peggy (Poppy Polivnick) has gone missing.

A short while later, Yaz and Dan are once again thrown back through time to 1901, where they find Peggy. Apparently the Angels are responsible for all of this, but the why remains a strange mystery.

The Weeping Angels return to Doctor Who in full force

While Yaz and Dan try to make sense of their situation, the Doctor is trying to figure out what the heck is going on with Claire Brown (Annabel Scholey), who was attacked by a Weeping Angel in the season 13 premiere.

The Doctor is also stuck in 1967, working with Claire and Professor Jericho (Kevin McNally) to figure out what’s been going on with Claire. She’s been having visions of angel wings coming out of her back and sees dust coming out of her eye every time she looks at her reflection.

Did the Weeping Angel infiltrate her body and mind when it attacked her? Yes it did! I know what you’re thinking because I was thinking it too; that can actually happen!?

It’s not long before an army of Weeping Angels comes around and breaks into the house where the trio is holed up. Amidst, the chaos, the Doctor enters Claire’s mind to see why she has been physically transforming into a Weeping Angel, and discovers that one of them is literally living inside Claire’s head. It managed to sneak in through a vision Claire had of the Angels, which is frightening. Infiltrating someone’s mind through their visions?! That’s some next-level Doctor Who stuff.

Doctor Who dives deeper into the Doctor’s past

In her rage, the Doctor doesn’t quite hear the Angel when it tells her that it needs help. I don’t blame the Doctor given her past with these villains; how do you trust one when it is asking for help?

After demanding the Angel leave Claire’s mind, it reveals that it has been hiding out there from other Weeping Angels. It’s jarring because we’ve never seen this happen before; the Angels have always worked together as one functioning unit.

And that’s not the only big reveal. The Angels that had broken into the basement where the Doctor, Claire and Professor Jericho are hiding out work for the Division; they’re an extraction squad. Say what?

But the Rogue Angel says one thing that completely caught me (and I’m sure everyone else) off-guard: “I was Division. As were you. But like you, I ran.”

The Division was first mentioned last season when we met Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor. This organization is responsible for erasing the Doctor’s memories so she doesn’t remember anything before she looked like William Hartnell. Hearing that the Weeping Angels work for the Division is big news. The Rogue Angel says the Division is everywhere and uses everything and everyone to get its job done. And it doesn’t seem like even the Doctor can stand up to them, which is scary.

In exchange for getting the Doctor’s help to hide from the other Weeping Angels, the Rogue Angel promises to answer the Doctor’s questions. We’d love that too!

The Village of Angels

Meanwhile, Yaz, Dan and Peggy end up near an ancient burial site which could possibly hold the secret of how the Weeping Angels first came to Earth. (This is an element of Doctor Who that has never been explored outside a Big Finish audio story which explained that three Weeping Angels were trapped inside asteroids headed for Earth.) It ends up that an entire army of Angels trapped in the walls of this burial site.

The end of the episode leaves us with our mouths wide open and our hearts racing. A Weeping Angel is, after all, a Weeping Angel, and while the rogue one seemed to have good intentions, it screws over the Doctor in the end. In exchange for its own safety, it turns the Doctor over to the other Angels. And just like that, the Division’s Weeping Angels capture the Doctor and turn her into a Weeping Angel.

Yes, the Doctor is now a freaking Weeping Angel!

I have no words or theories to make sense of what just happened, and I have no idea how the Doctor will get out of this one. I assume it’ll be up to her companions to figure it out, or perhaps Bel (Thaddea Graham) and Vinder (Jacob Anderson) could help.

One thing is for certain, though: the Doctor being turned into a Weeping Angel may finally give us some insight into her missing memories. Maybe we’ll finally see the past that’s been hidden all this time? Until we find out more, don’t blink.

Grade: A

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