TV Review: Doctor Who--The Crimson Horror

Oh my GOD.

Title: The Crimson Horror
Writer: Mark Gatiss

Synopsis:

Madam Vastra and Jenny get caught up in a case of people disappearing--and never coming back. The only clue are the dead who come out--and they die with their entire body turned red. They all enter the home of the mysterious Mrs Gillyflower, a leading expert in chemistry. Jenny enters undercover...and discovers the Doctor, with his skin dyed red and unable to move, in a cell. They must save Clara and stop Mrs Gillyflower before it's too late.

Review:

Well, I generally don't like Mark Gatiss' episodes (no offense to him), but this was okay. The idea of centering it around Vastra, Jenny and Strax is hilarious, and the setting and style of this episode is different from the other episodes of the season. And it makes me happy.

The villain, Mrs Gillyflower and her disabled daughter Ada make a fine duo, with the pure evil and the misguided soul making for an interesting conflict at the end. The acting was well done, too. I loved all that. 

I love Vastra Jenny and Strax. The dynamics of that little group bring an interesting and entertaining lightheartedness to this episode and is a nice breath of air after the complete depressing-ness of the last few episodes. And Jenny is a complete badass in that scene where she's beating up all the brainwashed people. 

We finally get to return to the "Who is Clara Oswald?" plotline. *squeeee* Because Jenny, Vastra and Strax were the ones who first met the Victorian Clara that sent Doctor on his hunt. And the end... Not only was it a perfect layout for the next episode, but it was also the thing I've always wanted. *spoiler* I mean, I always thought it was a bit odd that no one ever found pictures of these people from the past and pointed it out and confronted them. Now i just..... *scream* *end spoiler*

Okay the rest of this is spoilers so just skip to the grade at the end if you haven't watched.

What I didn't like about this episode was the motive of Mrs Gillyflower. She seemed to think that the end of the world was coming and that spurred her plans to find all those people and try to kill everyone else, but I don't see what could have pushed her over the edge like that. It was never explained. I just didn't get it. And I also didn't understand her blatant disregard for her daughter's wellbeing. And Mr Sweet. Don't get me started. There was all this buildup to who he was, but it was kind of obvious from the start and got more and more obvious as the plot progressed, and "he" was never really a part of the plot or anything so I though it was redundant.




Grade: A- Perfectly fine episode, Jenny, Vastra and Strax should have their own show, great setup for the next episode.