2x10 Love & Monsters

I really wanted to like Love & Monster. The contrarian in me wanted step in on a high horse and say "the most despised RTD episode is good, actually" But I cannot in good conscience hold that opinion.

What hurts about Love & Monsters is that I did genuinely like a lot of it. Elton is a great protagonist. Marc Warren plays his naive earnestness perfectly. And his comedic timing sells his awkward nature as charming rather than cringe A character like him could easily become saccharine and cloying but I genuinely loved him from beginning to end.

Further so much about the story was really compelling. I loved the vlogging framing device. Not only did it showcase Elton's humour well but I do genuinely love stories with reflective narrative frame and its utilized really well throughout the episode. The found family aspects of LINDA were also so charming. Again stuff like the crew literally starting a band together could be cheesy for some but I found it sweet. Plus I did legit care about Mr. Skinner, Bridget, Bliss and Ursula. They felt like real people that Elton had a genuine connection with so even as absurd as their fate was I did feel something when they passed

Not to mention Elton and Jackie's relationship. It was cool to see Jackie given more to do than be shrill and chatty. Her friendship with Elton was so sweet genuine, making his betray of her trust have real emotional weight to it. Plus seeing the repercussion of Rose (and Mickey) leaving her carried real emotional weight to it. The idea that she’s had to harden herself because she has no one left was tragic but honest and that moment was well performed by Camille Coduri.

And then the twist happened. How do I even describe how off-putting the Abzorbaloff thing is. Honestly off-putting may be too gentle a word to encapsulated how disgusted, unsettled and upsetting, everything about that storyline was. I don't even know what Russell T Davis was going for with it. Obviously its supposed to be repulsive; the disgusting closeups to Ursula's absorbed face proves it. But I also get the sense its supposed to be… funny? In some way? And I guess I did laugh but not out of a sense of genuine amusement at the turn the plot took. It was just a reflex born out of confusion. Because everything I like about his episode instantly crumbled in the face of the green blob monster with sentient faces sticking out of it.

The funny thing is as I was watching the episode I was sure that nothing could completely destroy my enjoyment of the, at that point, very delightful episode. I guess I have to give RTD and everyone else responsible for this atrocity props proving me so violently wrong.