Rogue - A Review

Earlier this week, I speculated as to what it was about the title character of this week's episode that might "change the Doctor's life forever".

We were told that he was a bounty hunter, and saw in clips that he possessed advanced weaponry, yet in interviews Jonathan Groff claimed that his character was not what he seemed - and the episode synopsis stressed this life-changing claim.

So what was that all about?

Well, he's just a bounty hunter. Not a Time Lord or member of the Doctor's own race, just a plain old humanoid.

How does he change the Doctor's life forever? Well, quite frankly, he doesn't. 

It really was just hype. The Doctor (quite unrealistically) falls in love with him, after a bit of Captain Jack-style flirting, but then loses him.

Boo-hoo. Big deal.

Rogue proves to be little more than a Jack clone, nothing more. The scene where he dances with the Doctor is quite shamelessly stolen from Captain Jack Harkness from Torchwood's first season, nearly 20 years ago now. Unbelievably the media are talking about the first same sex snog in the programme. Er, what about Barrowman and Eccleston?

Much will be made of the Doctor's romance with the character, but five minutes of flirting does not a profound emotional connection make.

How are we to invest emotionally in a character when the writers and showrunner can't even manage it?

This is the season's only other story written by someone other than the showrunner - in this case co-authors Kate Herron and Briony Redman. They are obviously big fans of the period drama Bridgerton, set in the Regency period, as that series has clearly inspired the whole look and setting for Rogue. The programme is actually referenced - repeatedly - in dialogue.

We're at the Bath home of the Duchess of Pemberton (Indira Varma, who played Torchwood's Suzie Costello) where a party is in full swing. Like Rogue, she and some of her guests are not what they seem, however. 

This week's aliens are the Chuldur, who are shape-shifting bird-like creatures who disguise themselves as humans - killing the originals. 

Whilst looking good, they don't really make much of an impact, because this episode is all about the relationship between the Doctor and Rogue. Even Ruby gets side-lined due to this focus.

She's too busy getting involved in a romantic relationship between a young lady and a Byronesque lord (who just happens to be a disguised Chuldur - and, as we later discover, so is she).

The Chuldur take on their human forms because they want to experience the emotions and lifestyle of their victims, discarding them and moving on to someone more interesting when bored. This is likened to cosplaying. Rogue doesn't know what this is - despite having early 21st Century music on his playlist.

And if you're hunting aliens shouldn't you know how to identify them and what their modus operandi are?

Another oddity is the inclusion of Richard E Grant in a line-up of past Doctors, seen as holograms when the Doctor wants to prove his identity. This is clearly supposed to represent the Shalka Doctor - that non-canonical cul-de-sac which RTD himself helped to trash when he won the right to bring the series back in 2003. RTD now claims this as canon - but I certainly won't be following suit.

This week's Susan Twist appearance is a portrait, depicting the mother of the late Duke of Pemberton.

I have to admit that the relationship between the Doctor and his companion - so strong in their first couple of stories - has deteriorated a lot. This is obviously due to the shorter run this year - which simply won't allow for the depth of relationship between Doctor and companion we've seen previously - and the way the episodes so far have tended to keep them apart. 

The finale kicks off next week, which is chock full of other companion-like characters including Mel, Kate and Donna's Rose, plus yet another UNIT scientific adviser, so I worry that Ruby's mystery will end up somewhat under-cooked.

(The trailer has a subliminal image of the Twist / Triad character looking like a demonic Minbari, so the finale may not necessarily involve a returning foe after all).

I did really want to like this episode, and even watched it twice before penning this, but it's a middling one for me. I can see what it's trying to do, but the format is working against it. We really ought to have seen the Doctor and Rogue over a longer period of time, so that their relationship could have had an opportunity to develop naturally. It's so rushed that it comes across as unrealistic.

Overall, Rogue certainly looks good, and tries to present a serious heartbreak for the Doctor, but it's ultimately emotionally hollow. Even the monsters are shown to be shallow.

Watch that Torchwood episode I mentioned above, and you've pretty much got all that this episode delivers. It's even got better music.