‘Doctor Who’ Recap: ‘Can You Hear Me?’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Fear is perhaps the most powerful emotion out there. Because fear, makes us do some incredible things, both good and bad. On the negative side, it helps us to quickly hide from everyday life as we ponder upon horrible stuff that can happen to us. It also keeps us from pursuing our dreams since it leaves us shivering at the possibility of having to face outright failure, and it sometimes motivates us to shy away from our friends out of a strange worry that they may no longer wish to be near us when they are able to see us at our worst. Which are some pretty baseline scenarios, but people experience those fears often, and when they hit, it feels as though nothing else matters but the ugly thoughts swirling through their heads.
 
However, as mentioned a moment ago, there are good things that come from fear as well. Because sometimes, when we have nothing to lose and have reached a low point in our lives, the fear of staying stuck in our current situation is a fine motivator to snap out of it. And sometimes, taking a moment to realize that we might miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime if we listen to fear, helps us to ignore its usual lies so that we can finally take that bold risk, and see where it leads us. But perhaps the best thing that can happen when it comes to fear, is that once we face the ones that terrify us the most, we can grow like never before. If anything, fear and its overall power is relevant to today’s recap, simply because it served as the focal point of a fascinating episode of Doctor Who.
 
For ‘Can You Hear Me?’ focused heavily on this emotion since something was finding unique ways to haunt Team TARDIS and the people close to them. Which took them all by surprise, since everyone was on an impromptu break from traveling through time and space. But the constant appearance of an ominous man in black in the middle of the night, one who left Ryan’s best friend in a terrified place, started to make everyone who saw him, wonder what was going on. Plus, an ominous message from the stars left Graham curious as to whether or not something ugly was on the horizon and well, the fact that all of these things were happening at the same time the Doctor was meeting a frightened girl in Aleppo in 1380, meant this whole mess had to be tied together somehow.
 
Which led the team to a fascinating corner of the galaxy, where they discovered a vacant ship observing a halted celestial act. For a pair of planets that should have finished colliding with one another were stopped from doing so thanks to a strange device that was shoved between the two of them. And while the Doc dug deep into this strange occurrence, the team checked out the rest of the place and quickly learned that all of this was a grandiose trap, one that was assembled by a powerful being. In fact, Zellin claimed himself to be an ancient god, one that worked with his partner to sow discord on the very planets just beyond to keep the boredom that comes with immortality to a minimum. And now that the Doctor and her mates had freed his longtime partner, the time had come to swing by Earth and start trouble anew and stopping them was going to be a seemingly impossible task.

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​Because part of the trap, involved incapacitating the team by locking them within their worst fears, and that led to some fascinating insight into the characters. Because we hadn’t a clue that Graham worried often about his cancer coming back, but that fear was on display here. And it was equally as incredible to learn that Ryan feared letting the people he cares about down and that he believes his absence will someday cause great harm, or that Yaz deeply feared returning to a darker part of her past. As for the Doctor, well the truth about the Timeless Child and her people is what leaves her trembling. But it didn’t take long for the Doc to snap out of the trance Zellin’s powers put her in and rescue her mates, so that they could band together and put a stop to these powerful beings before they sowed incredible chaos back home.
 
But the task at hand still seemed pretty impossible. After all, how does one bring down a creature as powerful as Zellin? Well as it turns out, the best way to stop a god, is to use its own power against it and that brought everyone back to ancient Aleppo. In part because this is where this madness started, but also because it was an unfamiliar to Zellin and his partner and taking a god out of their comfort zone allowed for the Doc to surprise them and use their device to send them back to that strange containment sphere. Oddly enough, it would seem that the only thing a god fears is becoming irrelevant, and it looks like these arrogant jerks are going to spend the rest of eternity facing their fears and their mistakes as they enjoy eternity encased in a custom space bubble.
 
Yet while this little conundrum wrapped up in happy and neat fashion. The story still had a little more to explore in regard to fear. Specifically, the fact that at some point down the line, we have to confront them, in some form or capacity and our companions did just that in unique and uplifting ways. Ryan for instance, finally figured out that sometimes showing people the way goes a lot farther than being their savior, and he convinced his mate to get the help he needs to cope with the darker thoughts swirling around in his head. As for Graham, well he came to understand that bottling up his fears and letting them fester is a horrible thing, since it helps them to grow, and that’s why he opened up to the Doc, to make his fear real and tangible and conquerable. But it was Yaz’s story that offered up the episode’s most powerful commentary when it comes to fear.
 
Because we came to learn in this tale that three years ago, she was at her lowest point, and a gesture of kindness brought her back from the brink and motivated her to serve and protect to potentially pay that favor forward. And being reminded of that memory allowed for her to reflect upon the incredible journey she’s undertaken after that dark day, and that she has nothing to be afraid of since she faced her fears head on and beat them, reinforcing the notion that standing up to what we are terrified of and working to conquer it will pay off in spades. If anything, this was quite the fascinating and delightful episode. Because it offered up some interesting food for thought and some colorful villains and really, the only real unresolved plot thread in this wild tale, is the Doctor’s fear of the Timeless Child. Something that will come to resolution, once we get done with next week’s story. Until next time.  

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