Doctor Who Episodic Coverage: “The Well”
“The Well” Delivers Some Amazing Horror Scenes
“The Well” is kind of everything I want from a spooky Doctor Who episode. It’s a classic science fiction horror scenario—abandoned, hostile location—with a pinch of cosmic unknowableness, and a slower pace to build that dread. It’s a shame that a few moments brought down the otherwise excellent experience slightly.
None of them were that bad in isolation, either. They just kind of compounded over time. You can tell that “The Well” didn’t quite have enough material for this premise. Stuff gets explained multiple times to the point of redundancy.
I probably should’ve clocked that there would be issues sooner than I did, honestly. The Doctor somehow pulls out his Psychic Paper out of an airtight suit right at the beginning. It was clear the episode really just wanted to make its plot happen, no matter what.
The Episode Has A Few Odd Plot Contrivances In It
That said, and like I said, there are several sections of “The Well” that are firing on all cylinders. The mystery of why only half the bodies were killed one way, and half the other, plus broken mirrors everywhere, doesn’t feel like there could be a plausible answer, but the episode actually pulls it off. I can easily imagine the absolute violent chaos that must’ve unfolded as the crew of that station started to understand what was happening.
And then “The Well” gives us the monster reveal—as much as a mostly invisible monster can have a reveal. I love the subtle body language from Aliss. She’s trying so hard to somehow get back to her child without getting killed—and without anyone noticing the monster. The camera work does occasionally mess up, showing us her back, but generally speaking, the control of the viewer’s perspective is both so subtle and so creepy.
The Camera Work Elevates An Already Strong Plot
I also love, love, love the very cosmic horror premise of a creature that will kill you the second you actually get a good look. It’s operating on some weird side-dimensional plane, and could probably kill everyone in the room easily, but decides not to for whatever reason. You could honestly make an entire horror franchise out of this thing.
I don’t fully understand how hearing it matters, though. I get that it whispers to its host, and maybe that leads to the host making rash decisions, being manipulated, or even convincing the host to commit suicide, but I assumed that Aliss was alive because it had no other host to jump to—and it wants off planet—not because of her disability.
Then again, there are a few rules that seem somewhat assumed to be hard rules by the characters or otherwise unexplored by the scenario. This isn’t a member of the Pantheon—even if there’s the mildest hint it might be related to The Toymaker—so it’s possible it doesn’t have to stick to anything if it doesn’t want to. One of the ending scenes of “The Well” hints that it can just jump bodies at will. That does make that big emotional ending even more of a bummer, but I did call this a horror episode, so that’s not out of the ballpark.
And I know I was a little negative at the beginning, but the end result is still very watchable. Very creepy. Very creative. Somehow, despite the last episode also being a sort of cosmic horror scenario, and having the bonus of an evil old-timey cartoon, “The Well” is actually my current favorite episode of the season. The acting, the pacing, the storytelling, and the set design all blend super well. If “The Well” had been about two minutes shorter, and allowed just a little more extreme horror elements, it would’ve been basically perfect.
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