The Lodger

Have you met you?

The Lodger is one of those fun little stories that took advantage of the Eleventh Doctor's quirkiness. In many ways, it follows some of the same tent poles shown in Fear Her but it is done better, relying on more seasoned actors and a better use of practical effects.

Plot Summary

Landing in Colchester, the Doctor steps out to investigate when the TARDIS takes off again with Amy still inside. A day later, the Doctor becomes the housemate of Craig Owens who is looking for a lodger and whose house is the source of the time distortion that is preventing the TARDIS from landing. He has also managed to contact Amy to get information on her end as well.

Not wanting to alert anything hostile to his presence, the Doctor refrains from using his sonic or any advanced technology. He also resolves to try and blend in (which Amy is skeptical of). Over the course of the time the Doctor is there, several people are called up to the second floor of the building by a person in shadow asking for help. When up there, they are killed and a spot of dry rot on Craig's ceiling grows.

As the Doctor investigates, he intrudes more into Craig's life, arousing Craig's jealousy through his friendship with the woman Craig has a crush on, Sophie and outperforming him in a local soccer match. The Doctor, meanwhile is actually trying to help push Sophie and Craig together as they very obviously have feelings for each other.

Things reach a head when the Doctor cures Craig of poisoning by the dry rot and then going to work for him. The combined stress causes Craig to ask the Doctor to leave. The Doctor then shares memories with Craig, explaining who he is and why he is there. As they are sharing, Sophie arrives but is called upstairs by the mysterious figure. Sensing the time distortion, the Doctor races upstairs to save her. Amy also pipes in saying that she has found the plans for the house and there actually is no second floor.

Upstairs, they find an alien ship with a TARDIS like control room. The pilot is dead and the computer has been searching for a replacement but all previous human trials have proved inadequate. Craig and the Doctor pull off Sophie before she can burn but the computer selects the Doctor and tries to plug him in. Knowing that he would be trapped if connected and that could cause an explosion that would destroy the solar system, the Doctor tells Craig to plug in since Craig has been putting up excuses to stay with Sophie. The desire to stay will counter the ship's programming as it had been previously been pulling in people trying to leave. Craig does so and confesses his love for Sophie who loves him back. The ship releases Craig but the feedback triggers a self destruct and the three escape as the ship implodes leaving the one-story building it always was.

With the ship gone, the TARDIS lands with Amy unharmed. Craig and Sophie make plans together while the Doctor has Amy prepare the clues they had left for him before things started. While she starts, she discovers the engagement ring Rory had given her before his erasure from existence.

Summary

This was a fun episode with a lot of humor, although it did peter out at the end. Following Craig's incredulity as he deals with the Doctor's weirdness is very funny, especially as the Doctor attempts to do things that might be seen as normal behavior.

As mentioned above, there is a lot in this story that is similar to Fear Her. There is a lost alien entity that is trying to help itself but is actually making things worse; the Doctor has to pass himself off as a normal person while getting to the bottom of it; at the center of things is an ordinary person with a problem that ends up giving a solution to the problem and the Doctor and companion are split up forcing the solution on to only one of the pair.

However, The Lodger took everything Fear Her got wrong and made it better. Rather than putting the onus on the companion to solve the issue, the Doctor is the catalyst. The ordinary person is not a child actor forced to carry things, but an established comedian who can play both funny and straight man as needed, keeping the comic timing fresh. The Eleventh Doctor is much more alien and strange and that contrasts much better than the Tenth Doctor who could easily pass himself off as a slightly quirky human, generating a greater comedic effect in the environment. Also the alien entity is more sinister as children are not involved and it actually kills people trying to fix itself rather than trapping them for a potential happy ending.

The ending of The Lodger was also slightly better than Fear Her as it did not go with the overly sappy Olympic torch lighting that just looked so cheap and strange. However, it still contained the greatest flaws of the episode. The alien computer was looking for a new pilot and humans weren't capable of handling the strain. But why would the Doctor overload the system and cause the explosion? Also, things are happening so fast with so much yelling and loud music, that it is very difficult to hear and understand that Craig's desire to stay will override the system. Also, why? It just seemed like a cheap way to defeat the computer and also have Craig finally tell Sophie that he loved her, which is what he had been trying to do all episode. But it was done in such a clunky and ham fisted way that it didn't give the emotional payoff that it felt like it deserved. The ending was definitely the one thing that just clanged while the rest of the episode performed nicely.

Aside from the flaws of the ending, this was a enjoyable episode. It was funny, the enemy was simple yet sinister and the whole thing kept you entertained throughout. If the ending had been done better, I'd have considered giving it a 5, but it's just a strong sour note at the end that just doesn't quite jive with everything else. Still, I wouldn't hesitate to watch it again if offered.

Overall personal score: 4 out of 5