‘Doctor Who’ Recap: ‘It Takes You Away’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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It is quite natural for fans of any particular television series, to try and figure out the storytelling patterns of said show. Because there’s a sense of comfort and routine that comes with understanding what a series stands for and what it wants to accomplish, and most of them are quite good at tipping their hand when it comes to this. But some shows out there, would prefer to do anything and everything they can to surprise their audience and defy every single storytelling convention in the process and one such series that is becoming a master of this is Doctor Who and for proof, look no further than last night’s fascinating episode, ‘It Takes You Away’.
 
Because truth be told, I was expecting this particular episode to pay serious homage to the horror genre, something that oddly enough was a staple of the Peter Capaldi era of the series, and at first it seemed we were getting just that. After all, Team TARDIS was in The Middle of Nowhere, Norway, and they met a blind girl named Hanne who was alone in her home, desperate to know if her missing father was okay and she was seemingly surrounded by something evil since horrible noises were coming from the woods, and the strange mirror portal in the upstairs bedroom helped lend credence to the notion that this was going to be quite the scary ride, that is until…the Doctor and Yaz and Graham went through said portal because that’s when everything changed.
 
For shortly after they departed into a dreary and rocky place reminiscent of Superman’s Phantom Zone, Ryan, who stayed behind to keep an eye on Hanne, came to discover that the monstrous noises coming from the woods were nothing more than a recording and the rest of Team TARDIS came to discover that the eerie and evil looking world they had crossed over into, was something far more scientific and intriguing than scary since this place turned out to be an Anti-Zone, a buffer between dimensions/universes, designed to keep two worlds from ever interacting in order to keep both of said worlds safe and this in turn led to grander mysteries; as to why exactly this Anti-Zone existed in the first place and exactly what danger it was trying to keep our world safe from.
 
Thankfully, the story wasted no time in solving said mysteries, since on the other side of the Anti-Zone was in fact, a world that looked just like ours, one where they found Hanne’s dad, Erick, and it turns out he had been coming here often to hang out with Hanne’s deceased mom, who was resurrected by means unknown and in a shocking turn of events, this place also harbored Graham’s Wife and Ryan’s Nan, Grace, leaving us all to wonder…did Team TARDIS cross over into the Afterlife? Because Grace appeared to be the woman that Graham knew and loved, but the Doctor had her suspicions and eventually came to figure out that this place was in fact a sentient dimension known as the Solitract, a being/place that was banished to its own area of existence to allow for our universe to exist and it was lonely and desperate to experience the life so many beings in our vast neck of the woods have lived. 

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​Which means that in the end, this episode turned out to be an exploration on loneliness and how we process loss and grief since Erick and Graham struggled to leave this place for fear of leaving their loved ones behind once again, and because the Solitract was willing to risk the destruction of two worlds to feel as though it mattered and well, that made for quite the wild and powerhouse ending. One that saw Erick and Graham exit this mirror dimension at the last possible minute when they realized their resurrected loved ones were not the people they left behind and one where the Doctor nearly sacrificed herself in order to give the Solitract what it so desperately needed, companionship, albeit brief. But, when all is said and done, while one could call this episode weird and twisted, and such a review would be justified when one considers the fact that it features a talking and omnipotent frog, I would rather quote the Doctor and call this tale, downright ‘brilliant.’
 
Because this episode, more or less highlights the best parts of Doctor Who. After all, it gave us a grand and sweeping adventure between two worlds, one that paid respect to the horror genre where applicable but more importantly, this story had great meaning to it. For exploring what it means to be validated and cared for in someone’s mind was a beautiful place to go as was the exploration of loss and grief and let’s be honest, we didn’t have a clue just how badly Grace’s loss has been hanging heavy over Ryan and Graham, more so Graham though to be honest. Because he’s been using these adventures as a way to ignore some of his pain and seeing her once again, well that damn near broke him and understandably so and really, it’s the moment that Ryan calls Graham his grandad at last that brings the beauty of this episode together.
 
If anything, I truly loved the fact that this particular tale managed to pack in so many incredible moments, the kind that took our breath away, all while staying true to the depth and intelligence that Series 11 has made a staple and at this point, it’s high time I stop trying to figure out any particular pattern or design to this saga and just outright enjoy the ride. Because it always delivers and tonight reminded me of that and well, I suppose if I had any complaint to offer about this episode, it’s that, it reminded me of the fact that we are perilously close to the end of the Thirteenth Doctor’s first run of adventures since all that remains is the season/series finale next week and dang it, I want more, plain and simple. But that’s okay, I have one more episode and the Who Year’s Day special to look forward to and I get the feeling that next week’s finale will provide us with one heck of a wonderful and powerful story. Until then. 

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