Beware the Minotaur’s Labyrinth

This interrupted season is throwing me off. We’re already up to episode 10? I feel all confused.

The God Complex or “I Think I’d Prefer the Hollywood Tower Hotel”

Trapped in a hotel, the Doctor has an existential crisis. Which appropriately features a sad clown.


My own screams over this stupid Amy opening.

Next we see the Doctor, Amy and Rory as Amy talks about huge people and hats. The Doctor is excited about the staircase and reveals that they are in a place made to look like earth. Rory studies the pictures on the wall, including a Sontoran and a cat nurse from “New Earth” and “Gridlock.” Amy sees Lucy’s picture. The Doctor rings the bell as three people run out to confront them. They realize that Amy, Rory and the Doctor are not invading. Which is a surprise to one, who apparently comes from the universe’s version of Poland.

(Sorry, Poland)

Scrubs describes the walls moving and that the rooms have things in them. “Bad dreams,” she says. Everyone just ends up there like they were teleported. The Doctor plays with his Rubik’s cube as they discover the TARDIS is gone. Muzak starts playing as the Doctor asks if there are more. Scrubs responds that there is Joe, but he’s tied up. And forced to dine with ventriliquist dummies. They stop laughing as Doctor enters. Joe says he has accepted “Him”. And once again, I highly doubt this is Jesus he’s talking about. Joe says that everyone has a room, even the Doctor. Joe says he’s seen the light and starts to blather on about something. “You should go. They’ll be here soon,” he warns. The Doctor decides to take Joe with him as we go to…

COMMERCIALS!

That muzak is going to be annoying. The Doctor tells the others not to go into a room, no matter how drawn they are. He tells them to remain within sight of others at all times. Joe recites creepy poetry and Blogger asks to shut him up. So they tape up his mouth as Blogger tells Rory about hidden American cities in the Norwegian mountains. Rory thinks he’s mad. Blogger opens a door to find a sorority of blondes mocking him before swearing the CIA is behind this. Sure they are—new brand of torture…err…interrogations.

The Doctor continues down a hallway, investigating everything. Amy spots papers while Rory spots a fire exit. They hear a roar and scatter. Scrubs finds her dad, yelling at her for her grades. Meanwhile, everyone else ends up in a room filled with Weeping Angels. Amy tells them not to blink as the lights flicker. The Doctor discovers they aren’t real and comforts Amy. As they hear the monster approach, the Doctor looks out a peep hole. What was that?

Joe, meanwhile, is freed and the monster goes after him as we see “Praise him” written out. The Doctor runs after the monster and we start a first-person video game throughout the hotel hallways. He finds Joe sitting on the floor, not talking, as we go to…

COMMERCIALS.

The Doctor scans Joe before covering him up. They barricade themselves in the ballroom. Amy tells the alien that honestly looks like a Who from the live-action version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” that she met the Weeping Angels before and understands his terror. He thinks they are all going to die there. She tells him that the Doctor has never let her down, even when he left her waiting as a child. He came back and saved her. She tells the Who that he is going to save him as well. Who says that if the Weeping Angels were meant for him, her rom is still out there.

Scrubs talks to the Doctor over Joe’s body. The Doctor is surprised to be drinking tea. Nurse says that she is British and that’s how they deal with trauma. She explains that even fake hotels have a well-stocked kitchens and admits to hearing the Doctor when he arrived. Considering she’s been listening to Blogger’s theories, the Doctor’s sounds reasonable. She tells the Doctor her theory, causing him to realize she is Muslim. He tells her it isn’t hell and she goes on about how she’s stayed sane in this place. The Doctor likes her.

Amy gives the Doctor the paper she found earlier. It’s Lucy’s life story from the cold opening. Blogger says “Praise him” uncontrollably. The monster is summoned as the Doctor sets off the “annoying sound” on the sonic screwdriver. Who wants to sacrifice Blogger, though he wants to go home to be conquered. The Doctor tells Who that no one dies today. The Doctor decides to question Blogger as the thing possesses him. He sounds stoned. He tells them that there is obstacles to possessing them. The Doctor tells the others not to give into the fear as they are going to catch a monster.

COMMERCIAL!

Blogger asks for death and glory. He implores his master to come to him. The Doctor sets up mirrors as Rory arms himself with a mop. Scrubs and Amy end up in the room with the sad clown. Meanwhile, the monster seems to have escaped from Maurice Saundak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” Blogger keeps going on as if he were stoned or testifying in church. Your choice! The Doctor cuts the PA system as Blogger returns to normal. Who watches him as the Doctor traps the monster. He seems to understand the monster and learns the hotel is a prison.

Makes sense, really.

Blogger and Who have a talk as the Doctor continues his with the monster. The hotel makes the prisoners ready to face something…The monster tells them to stop as the Blogger continues to talk again. The monster, more like the Minotaur from Greek Mythology, escapes. Rory is knocked out as the Doctor tries to find Blogger. He finds the glasses as Amy finds Rory. And a door. She opens it as “Praise him” is heard. Scrubs saves her as the Doctor finds Blogger. He returns his glasses as the others sans Who find him. Who lurks in the background and the Doctor focuses on him. He says Blogger overpowered him and got freed. Who thinks they might be safe now as Blogger’s picture joins the wall.

The Doctor asks Rory if he’s found his room. Rory says no and wonders if that’s bad. The Doctor says maybe he has nothing to fear. Rory figures that comes from being on the TARDIS. He says that Blogger had just overcome a stammer, a huge accomplishment. Meanwhile, we focus on a picture of…a Judoon? Meanwhile, the Doctor finds Scrubs who wonders why he is the one to save them. The Doctor says he brought Amy and Rory there and tells her that she shouldn’t accept time and space. But he’ll show her. We cut to the security footage as Scrubs says “Praise him.”

COMMERCIALS!

The Doctor hears “Praise him” repeated as he is drawn to a room (11, natch!). He opens the door and says, “Of course. Who else.” He fiddles with the “Do not disturb sign” before discovering the security system room. He calls 311 to get Scrubs to answer. He asks her where she is going and to step into the hallway. He realizes she started to praise and she says she needs to stay away from them. She asks the Doctor for one last favor. She asks him not to witness the monster taking her, to remember her as she was. The Doctor pleads with her but she surrenders to her fate. He hangs up the phone  as we see Scrubs on the television before the monster blocks the view. The Doctor sonics it to find Who in the ktichen.

Scrubs, Blogger and Joe all lay side by side as the Doctor rages. The Doctor rules out fear as Scrubs was brave. Amy tells Who to let the Doctor figure things out. The Doctor realizes that it is faith, not fear. Not necessarily in a religion, but in anything. Joe was a gambler—he believed in luck. Blogger believed the Truth is Out There—or conspiracy theories. Who believes he will be conquered and enslaved. Scrubs believed in Allah. The Doctor says he’s made them all vulnerable by telling them to find whatever makes them brave. He then realizes that the monster wants Amy. Because of her faith in the Doctor. Rory no longer has the faith after the last episode and asks why they lose their faith. They wonder as Amy says “Praise him.”

The monster awakens and they run. Amy stops to study the monster before Rory and Doctor drag her into a room. They find the young Amelia Pond. The monster bursts in as the Doctor says that this is what always happens. He tells her to forget her faith in him. He tells her he took her in because he was vain and wanted to be adored. But he’s just a madman in a blue box. He calls her Amy Williams, not Amy Pond, and tells her to stop waiting. The monster slowly backs out. The Doctor leaves to find the monster growing weaker in the hallway. The lights flicker before going blue.

He tells the monster that he sacrificed Amy’s faith in him to give the monster a place to die. The hotel fades away to a virtual reality room. It’s prison for people who believe in gods and feeds on it. Rory discovers they are in space. The Doctor listens to the monster as he speaks his last words. He calls death a gift and the Doctor tells him to accept it. The Doctor clarifies he wasn’t talking about himself. Who asks for a lift to the nearest galaxy as we go to…

COMMERCIALS.

We come back to a little block on Earth. Apparently, the Doctor gave the Williams both a house and a car. She asks for a moment with the Doctor and Rory says he’ll accept it, no matter what Amy says. Amy says that the Doctor is leaving and asks why now. He tells her it is because she is still breathing. He talks about other planets but says that there could be a bigger adventure in the house. She says that he can’t just drop her home and zip away. He says the alternative is over her grave—or Rory’s. The two share a hug. Amy tells the Doctor to tell River to visit some time. The Doctor tells her to look after Rory.

The Doctor gets in his TARDIS as Rory comes out with champagne and glasses. The TARDIS dematerializes to Rory’s confusion. She tells Rory that the Doctor is saving them.
On board the TARDIS, the Doctor is the Lonely God again.

Wait…What just happened? Did the Doctor just leave Amy and Rory? That’s…confusing. I mean, I’m sure they’ll be back. Heck, it’s already been reported Karen Gillan’s signed on for another season. It’s just a matter of how and when do the Williams return to the TARDIS.

This was an interesting journey into the Doctor’s psyche—Joe was a gambler who lived by luck. The Doctor is a gambler in some ways and lives by luck. Blogger believed in the ridiculous and the impossible—which the Doctor has seen and also believes. Scrubs was a doctor and had an intelligence to match the Doctor’s. Do I need to explain this one? Who appeared to be a coward, but perhaps he was the most devious of all and more importantly, he was a survivor. Shades of the Doctor from the Last Time War, perhaps? And Amy and Amelia represented all his past companions and the faith they placed in him. Rory…is Rory, I guess. This seems to be marching the Doctor to a finality—he has broken his connection with his companions and is readying himself for his own death.

Next week: Craig from “The Lodger” returns and so do the Cybermen.

Quote of the Episode:

“Amy, with regret, you’re fired.” –Doctor after meeting Scrubs. Security footage! And a staircase that’s making my motion sickness act up! Security patrols the halls as we get a sad clown. We are introduced to Lucy, who is the “last one left.” She says she doesn’t know what’s going to be in the room until she sees it and King Kong attacks her. She writes her life story and ends it with “Praise Him.” I highly doubt she’s suddenly become a Born-Again Christian there. We hear a scream as we go into…