Russell talks a little bit about this in Unleashed, essentially saying he knows that some people will have picked up on it in the first 10 minutes, while other people won't have noticed at all, and that's basically the point.

And some people will be willing to look past their own bubble and discover new things about themselves from this and otherwise will retreat to the safety of what they know

That is correct. But I also think that not getting it right away was kind of the point. The episode was intentionally throwing misdirects at you. Like the Doctor kept asking what’s different about the people who were getting eaten vs the people who hadn’t gotten eaten yet. And so with that question in mind you’re less likely to notice what’s the same about them all.

Oh 100% and that's what makes it such an effective peice if media. It lures you into thinking, lures you into caring and hating a character and then forces you to re-adjust your entire viewpoint in an instant. Much more effective than something full of exposition

I know I certainly have. I didn't even pick up on it at all until I saw people on the subreddit talking about it, prompting me to rewatch the ending with that context. But I feel bad for not picking up on it at all on my first watch. So I may need to rexamine the way I see things sometimes

What happened to me. I didn’t notice either. And I didn’t pick up the subtle racism until it became blatant at the end and realised I don’t pick up micro aggressions like that since I’ve never been on the receiving end. So bravo to RTD for getting me to notice something like that about myself.

I truuuuly think this encapsulates Lindy’s journey to a T

And Rickys! He managed to learn about history, learn about the world around him

I'm white as the driven snow, and while I don't know the actual timecode when I noticed that all of Lindy's friends were white (which is when I started looking for POCs elsewhere in the episode and scrutinizing her dialog more) I do know it took me an *embarrassingly* long time. That's what privilege is sometimes, you don't even notice you have it until something draws attention to it. I've seen so many shows and movies with a statistically improbable percentage of white folk throughout the cast that I didn't question it at first. It took until I was getting fed up with Lindy and her society for other reasons before I thought "...and another thing, why is everyone wh-*oh*."

I mainly noticed the makeup. Even Dr. Pee was wearing lipstick to show up better on camera. I noticed the race about as much as I'd notice it in the Hunger Games, which used a similar trope. Bunch of rich kids? Paleness isn't out of the ordinary.  Even at the end, I assumed it was because the Dr and Co weren't Finetimers. A class thing, rather than a race one, but they do often go hand in hand. 

It was pretty clear that Ruby and the doctor got treated differently from each other which should tip you off.  And if nothing else, the voodoo comment should tell you immediately that it's racism. 

Did you notice that when the doctor popped up, Lindy was given the option to “accept” or “block”, with a massive “unauthorized” above his head? But when Ruby popped up that wasn’t there? Lindy even comments that Ruby wasn’t in her friend list, so she should have been given the option to approve or block, but it only popped up when 15 tried to talk to her.

I actually did notice that! My guess is they did some sonic stuff in the background so she could not block ruby like she blocked the doctor

That’s what I thought at the time, but with the ending, I think they probably had more controls based on skin color

>It was pretty clear that Ruby and the doctor got treated differently from each other which should tip you off. That's true, but also the Doctor was very direct while Ruby came in more softly, and pretended to be a company representative.  IMO the episode did a good job of keeping it ambiguous for most of its length. There was always something else you could attribute it to. Which is how it often works RL. 😕

Yeah, plus we’ve seen it many times before that people sometimes respond better to the companion taking a gentler approach than the Doctor who can come on a bit strong, so it was easy to assume that’s what was going on again this time. And I assume the writers knew that and used it to their advantage in this story.

It was actually the fact that the kids treated ruby and the doctor with similar distain that I didn’t pick up on the racism right away.. coz ruby is white obvi..

Ahhh but she’s “contaminated”

Explains why Lindy was so uncomfortable with the idea of the Doctor and Ruby being in the same room too.

I noticed pretty early on but the moment I knew was when them being in the same room seemed to upset her

I’m dumb. I thought that was simply because they preferred to view eachother through the social media and interact the ‘fun’ electronic way and not in person, supported that she didn’t interact with coworkers and the surprise at seeing her surviving friend in person at the end, lol it went all over my head xD

That is the "correct" red herring explanation IMHO. The majority of the little weird casual racism bits were written in a way where there was an easy (but wrong) way to view them beneignly.

Yeah, this was why it was so clever, nothing was overt until the ending, each bit in isolation could have a different interpretation, but once you've seen the ending and re analyse you wonder 'how did I miss that?'. Really loved this ep. I'm white and I definitely have this tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt when something can be interpreted two ways, because I'd like to believe people aren't inherently bad, but this was a great showcase for why sometimes it is important to push a bit and clarify exactly why someone has said what they've said.

That's what I thought too!

Same here. Which was why the Doctors reaction at the end to me seemed a bit much to simply having his help refused. Then when I rewatched with the context, it all made far more sense

I'm in a similar boat. Honestly, I don't think that it even occurred to me until the very end when they choose likely death over escaping in the TARDIS. I've seen sci-fi that tries to make the viewer actually see and understand their own privilege, but I don't know if I've ever seen it done in a way that did it in a way that felt so effective.

We were watching it and called that town and group of people Wisconsin white.

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You’re associating privilege with wealth or upper-classness or maliciousness which is a misidentification of what people mean when they say “white privilege”. The “privilege” in “white privilege” is the “privilege” of not having to deal with racism or discrimination based on race. It has nothing to do with economic status, the episode just uses economic discrimination to assist people in understanding the situation.

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I picked up on it too. I just assumed they were an alien race that all just happened to look like Caucasian humans. I assumed they were different because their home world wasn't Earth. Turns out they were just racist. I assumed that, in any future, humanity's hatred for its own races would be replaced by hatred for alien races, with the wisest among them welcoming aliens as fellow sentient lifeforms. Guess I was wrong.

In this specific case, yes. There are all sorts of possible futures and what you describe could conceivably happen as well. Also note that the people in this episode were particularly prejudiced and not representative of all humanity.

I noticed it about halfway through the episode, but I figured it was probably just a bit of subtext about how isolated and privileged they were, and I didn't think they'd turn out to be basically space fascists

A really good example of how to do nuance, and how to communicate a message in a way that will make a lot of people who really need to hear the message, hear it and think about it. Had this been a 13-era story, it would have just written the message in 10-metre high letters of fire in the first five minutes.

I’ve been seeing so many people complaining that things are too subtle or that the endings are too open ended, but I think that’s a hangover from over explaining everything in increasing amounts since 11. 13’s writing was the worst for that, it always felt like they were shoving the meanings down our throats like we were too stupid to understand. Some of the best classic episodes are the ones where we never got closure, or got closure at the end of the season. Midnight, The Satan Pit, Amy’s Choice, The God Complex, Hide, Listen, Time Heist, I mean, think about the arcs! Most are woven throughout the season and we got the explanation in the finale. Bad wolf, Clara as the Impossible Girl, The Stolen Planets, The Impossible Astronaut, *River*. The best seasons had that. Capaldi and Whittaker lacked it, which (I think) is part of the reason for so much backlash against the timeless child. It felt like it came out of nowhere. If this season is about storytelling - which I think it’s become pretty clear it is - the lack of closure is intentional because *we aren’t at the end of the story*.

So clever. I felt it pretty quickly when she saw the doctor a second time, and the lack of any non-WASPS was apparent to me as well. But the latter can also just be seen as a thing that happens a lot on TV, and I’m sure it’s easily missed. I imagine experiencing identity based aggression makes it easier to spot these things in the episode, and the reveal at the end makes folks who didn’t spot it think hard about their perception.

With a basic understanding of the unethical bias found in societies, it is easy to join the dots, driving that conclusion about the story. But the medium is science fiction, where our presumption and worldly knowledge are used to play us false each week. This should grant caution about how much we inject and instead drive towards a reductionist interpretation. There should be tension between these two in our deliberations. Yet, I see none in this forum - the traffic is all one way.

As an Indian... somehow I didn't realise the race aspect until AFTER the episode was over. Watching it back now, it seems really obvious... but in the moment, I saw Lindy as simply xenophobic and stubborn, not racist. Feeling a bit like an idiot, but it just proves RTD's point - this racism is so blatant, but because of how common it is, it goes unnoticed for a lot of people.

But I think this was very ‘hidden’ racism, every single thing they did could’ve been interpreted as them being spoiled/in a bubble rather than racism…if you didn’t have the scene at the end I don’t think people would’ve been posting threads saying ‘I think Lindy is racist’ That’s the problem with racism- the same behaviour can be classist, racist or just ‘rude person’— you can’t know what a person is thinking or the source of their behaviour

I also saw some others say this kind of thing. I think even from my own experience as a woc, my instinct is to give people the benefit of the doubt that they aren't a bigot and that they are maybe just a shitty person or just don't like me for some reason. We usually like to come up with some alternative reason why something happens before jumping to a conclusion of racism or other form of discrimination. Like some people initially thinking that Lindy blocked the doctor immediately, but not Ruby because she was young and less threatening about the situation. I like to think people are nice and we like to give people the benefit of the doubt until there is no other possibility other than bigotry. It when you get to the end and rewatch do you realise the full picture.

I think the dialogue is intentionally written to provide charitable "outs" for Linda. It shows how willing we are to write off racism as a possibility when we're trying to empathize with someone. We want to believe that people are good, so much so that sometimes we overlook their faults even when they're staring us in the face. It's a reminder to the audience to be more vigilant and less complicit.

I literally turned to my SO after the episode ended and asked whether Lindy *et al* were racist or classist. The answer we concluded: Both.

I'm Asian living in Asia, I didn't catch/think about that theme until the last scene. I do suspect I'd catch it earlier if I was living in a western country when I watched it. I have lived in north America for over ten years, and my mindset does change due the environment I live in. It's a very well done episode.

Same here. I am also an Asian in Asia country. Throughout the episode I really thought Lindy would be your typical "dumb protagonist that will improve themselves by the end of the story" I was really shocked for the ending. Even after Lindy betrayed Ricky I was like "What???? Is she really supposed to be the person we are cheering for????" Then the ending dropped and I was like "OH shit!!!! Those people are spoiled and racist!!!"

I’m also Asian, but live in the US. I was 100% in the same boat as you, and in fact i STILL didn’t pick up on the fact that the Doctor was “other” because he’s BLACK. I thought just the fact that he wasn’t from the same town was enough for Lindy to consider him too different. It wasn’t until my brother sent me the link to this thread that I realized, and now I’m like damn how did I not catch that

I'm also an Asian living in Asia too. This episode used subtle social cues only someone living in a western country might pick up on. I have lived in the UK for three years and I did not pick up a single clue till the end when it was balantly obvious.

Didn't notice it either. We never saw the other characters up close except for Ricky September. I thought they were going for the Barbie/Ken look. When the Doctor first popped out I thought she was rejecting him because he's not "famous" in that world. And Ruby had to rub Lindy's ego so she'll listen about the monsters.

I keep bringing it up because it was SO subtle, but I love that Lindy was given the option to block 15, but she *wasn’t* with Ruby. She even commented that Ruby wasn’t on her friends list, so why was the option to block 15 - and a big red alert saying “unauthorized” - and not Ruby? I didn’t clock it until I was reading stuff here.

I think it's more of a given that when encountering alien cultures, xenophobia is a common reaction. In this episode it just narrowed in to what the Doctor looked like. The Doctor hacked into their system, got blocked then tried again with Ruby. I just assumed he patched the security feature. The dot AI itself being racist does make sense in hindsight.

> The dot AI itself being racist does make sense in hindsight. The Dot isn't racist or not beyond what it was programmed to be. I mean, it's utterly genocidal towards the humans under its control, but there's no sign it's racist. It's unclear if the Doctor has a big "unauthorized" because he was, or because it detected that he was dark-skinned or whatever.

Same.. I thought the dumb girl just didn't like male authority figures.. To me it seemed a more likely to be that kind of prejudice. But after reading the comments. Yep.

The voodoo comment tells you exactly what you need to know if nothing else did 

I see where you're coming from but it was men who were the authority figures. Not that there were many, but you had the weather guy, Ricky September and the guy who declared himself leader at the end so I would guess it was a sexist society too

> the guy who declared himself leader at the end I feel like this guy isn't getting enough discussion - he was such a spot-on archetype of a certain kind of guy. Like I have 100% met that guy multiple times, especially at university, humble-bragging his way into "Oh I guess I'm the leader whether I want to be or not haha". If he's like those people of course they are absolutely doomed because those people always, without fail, screw it up.

I thought she had a problem with talking to strangers. She wasn’t listening either The Doctor or Ruby at first.

As a black dude, nope wasn't suprised at all, I picked it up like 10 minutes in with all the microaggressions. There were ton of signs throughout the episode: * The cast except for ncuti were all white. * Lindy immediately blocks the doctor but not ruby. * The doctor is seen as 'unsolicated request' but not ruby. * Didn't know the doctor was the same person she blocked earlier, essentially to her all black people look the same. * Lindy saying that the doctor needs to be 'discliplined' * she comments on how he's not as stupid as she thought. * She's horrified that ruby and the doctor are in the same room together. * she hostile towards the doctor but extremely friendly towards ricky. * She thinks it was the doctors *duty* to save her. * Finetimes mission is 'to settle untamed lands like their ancestors did', very similar to *colonial settler mindset*, *white man's burden* and *the empty land myth.* To be honest I'm not surprised that some people didn't notice it straight away, they haven't experienced microaggressions so why would they pick it up?. I really enjoyed the episode and how it tackles racism. Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_White\_Man%27s\_Burden) https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/empty-land-myth#:\~:text=The%20Empty%20or%20Vacant%20Land,evidence%20to%20support%20this%20theory.

I can’t remember Hoochy Pie’s exact phrasing, but what she said at the end about how they had a duty to uphold the Finetime way of life felt intentionally similar to the [14 words](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Words).

OMG YESSS!!! There's so much to unpack

The parallel you draw between the doctor and Ricky is really interesting. Ricky had a lot of doctoresque attributes… I think it shows how she would have acted towards the doctor if he were white. Ok, spoiler alert, at the end she’s still an egocentric and selfish B, even towards people she admires… but still, it’s a good point.

You see my friend said the same. I didn’t notice and that’s quite sad, but he picked it up (and experienced it) multiple times with micro aggressions such as being watched when entering a shop, having a cashier behave awkwardly when serving him, over explaining stuff to him etc. I just thought she was superficial, spoilt and in her own little world. Oops!

No shame in not noticing it, you live and learn ya know. I've had similar experiences at work, customers would assume that I'm not a native and was born somewhere else.

I almost kind of think that it is partly that she's in her own world? The bubble is a metaphor for the kind of bubble she's in in the real world as well, one where everyone is white, rich, young, and by all appearances able bodied. The episode is I think kind of pointing to how staying in that bubble is dangerous and is one of the main reasons for intolerance. She's definitely racist, as is obviously the whole society (there's even apparently a very sinister remark in the episode that I missed where they talk about the city having been "decontaminated", and I wonder if they mean they killed all the people of colour), but I think the overarching idea was that people have to exit their bubble and their own little worlds and experience things outside of what they might consider their usual in order to become better, and that the episode was intended to get people, particularly those with white privilege, to confront their own biases.

I just thought she was a bitch the whole time. I didn’t even understand she was racist until my wife told me. Totally went over my white head!

I also noticed it early on. Pretty much when she blocked him. (She made a face when she did it), and then she didn't remember she blocked him before. It was fairly obvious to me. And I'm white, but I suppose we all have different experiences.

I’m guilty of watching this thinking it was a social media episode and not noticing the clues throughout. It’s genuinely thought provoking when you realise. I legitimately said to my wife ‘not sure why they had to bring race into the episode right at the end’ then came over to reddit and felt truly shamed by my ignorance.

Dude I didn't even pick up on race, I thought it was about social class. Episode did a number on me. Comments elsewhere on reddit were like a slap to the brain.

I noticed a bit into the episode that it seemed like there were a lot of white people, but when it was explained that everyone was there because they were rich, I figured that explained it. It's a good "misdirection" by RTD by showing just how deeply intertwined classism and racism really are. The Doctor has never not been white and I think this was the perfect episode to show the subtle challenges new to him, especially paired with Ruby who has undoubtedly seen the same kind of racism toward her mother and grandmother her whole life.

Only after the voodoo comment did I get it. I feel dumb but that is the point.

Traveling with my Hispanic friend was one heck of an eye opening experience after seeing how much she was subtly othered by many people around us. One guy was straight up racist to me about her and seemed shocked when I told him off.

I thought it was about his age, because it was mentioned that everyone there was between 17 and 27, so I was wondering if the doctor looked older than 27. Then they started talking about contamination, and I got that it was about skin colour.

Hey, at least you’re capable of self-reflection and growth. Probably a lot of people out there who just stoped at “why did they have to bring race…”

Oh definitely. I’m far from racist but admit I realised I was just ignorant in this situation. It was eye opening for things to look out for.

White folks have our own bubble that our privlege keeps us from having to deal with that daily bullshit. It was important I think for all us to reflect on why we were surprised and what that means about ourselves. One thing I noticed on rewatch beyond the plethora of micro aggressions was the insane idea that they're finetime motto was "kindness all day long". Fuck it really messes me up at how absolutely real this kind of place is. It wasn't a dystopian future. Ricky literally demanded Libby not even look at the bad stuff around her, just focus on him and her bubble. Ugh.

I think that was to keep her moving and not freezing or freaking out. Ricky personally did not spend much time in his bubble, preferring to read history.

I mean yes, and the entire episode has this subtext. It can all be taken on multiple levels.

Something I really wish could change about how we discuss this episode is dropping the term micro aggression. I understand why it exists and its academic function, but I do not think it applies to what was displayed in this episode. She was just straight up racially aggressive from the rip. Nothing micro about it! I understand why we need to categorize "can I touch your hair" and lynchings as different stratas of aggression, but the term microaggression outside of an academic context has always just felt like a slap in the face. That by deeming it micro it's not worth our responding to - or the people perpetrating them facing consequences.

I completely get what you mean. There is plenty of overt racism throughout that needs it be acknowledged and called out too and some things I thought of as micro may not be micro for others. I think for white people who don't super understand how present/intense the racism was, the term microaggressions are a simpler starting point, maybe? Idk. Mainly bc I've seen folks contributing Lindy's behavior and reactions to all these other reasons, and the subtext is sorta lost on them. My goal in using that term was to like maybe help give a solid search term to look more up about what that means and the variety of how that shows up (in the show and real life). But the white fragility is coming out strong in some reactions - and I know how fast the walls will go up (or I've experienced that in my life as a white person talking to other white people about race) when I start at a place of why/how those comments were completely racist. It's a balancing act I'm not sure how to manage perfectly. I also wonder especially how our bubbles (aka privilege) have caused us perceive something as "small or micro" when someone who experiences racism sees the same thing as not so small. Like folks have been saying - it was super obvious to people who deal with this daily. It's possible that I saw comments from Lindy like "I thought you looked the same but wasn't sure" as a micro and it really wasn't - that may be my own bubble showing up. Thanks for sharing and I'll keep that in mind as I continue conversations. I also am in like 12 DW convos and my brain is having a hard time keeping track of them all after this massive troll I just dealt with so I apologize if I missed the mark on what you meant. I'll go back and review stuff to make sure once I get some solid sleep. Edit: wah wah, I already missed like the last few parts of you post. My bad. I see how the micro language can seem minimizing. In my learning I have never seen it that way I guess - I saw it as more implicit bias, or racial aggression hidden underneath seemingly pleasant or random remarks. The impact of such statements can be enormous, and I think that's why folks who experience racism picked up on it and why so many white folks missed it. My intention wasn't to imply that they're small things and don't matter - and I understand how using the term micro could give that impression to others. My bad again, bedtime now.

Oh I don't think you implied anything using the term, don't worry! For me it's like, I still remember when these terms - micro aggression, privilege, bias, etc - started coming into vogue outside of academic circles. There was a real hope they could push forward our social conversations about race and racism. They haven't. And I think a big part of the problem is that people prioritized learning the lingo and massaging feelings over actually addressing social inequality and racist attitudes.

I can definitely see that and, in the US at least, these sort of terms get co-opted in gross ways by the right wing as well. I will be honest and say that I definitely learned these terms in my graduate training as a therapist so thats super accurate re: academic settings. Unfortunately in my experience in trying to help other white folks learn some things, some hand holding does happen and is sometimes necessary to get to that ultimate goal of at least peeking out of their/our bubbles. I don't want to soley rely on you to do the educational labor here, but if youre able - do you have any other ways I could address the differences in the intensity (like you mention hair touching vs lynching) that would be less minimizing? If you don't want to, I'll take on my own research. And if another option isn't super clear that's fine too - I think I've stuck with the language because it made sense to me as I learned it but I also appreciate what you're saying. Thanks man!

When I realised I felt awful! But it was so clear afterwards. As a white LGBT person, I’m familiar with and encounter microagressions, but many in this episode flew right past me. I had a very bad feeling about Lindy, but I think my higher functioning had been blunted by the glasses of wine I had had before watching. (In the U.K. so at 12AM). On reflection, I think a lot did because she was just such a childish arse at times, and I didn’t connect it with racism, I just thought she was a prick. I think this episode did an excellent job of really highlighting the perniciousness of them, without being on the nose about it at all (until the end). The way in which it was handled has, I’ve seen, prompted a lot of discussion and self reflection amongst non-POC people because it is subtle, but simultaneously so obvious once you know what you’re looking for. I personally thought it was an excellent way to handle it; it was not confrontational about it, but done in such a way as to encourage reflection on the episode by the viewer. When you’re dealing with entrenched racism, I personally think this is the best way to go because to build lasting change, we all should be looking at our own societies and lives and seeing what we should change every day to make everyone’s lives better. That kind of self reflection on your own and other’s behaviour is in short supply, so that this episode encouraged that is to be very welcomed in my view.

I was the same. I watched DW Unleashed and realised I'd missed so so much.

I'm honestly glad that's the experience you had, that's the episode at work. One of the main underlying messages of this show is that the racism was there the whole time, but it's much easier to not notice it if you're white, that's an element of white privilege. Of course there's people of color who didn't notice it either, and white people who did notice it early, but in general one of the "benefits" of being white is that you move through very racist environments without even noticing because you're not the subject of it. In the real world, "not sure why they had to bring race into it" is something a lot of white people say about situations that actually did have racism as an active element the entire time, they just never saw it.

If it helps at all, this is a great response! A lot of racism is due to unconscious biases that drive people's choices and result in group-level racism in society, but if you asked people directly, they'll say they aren't racist and won't see how their individual choice or feelings contribute. Realizing your blind spots will make you a better person. As a POC, I'm very happy that people are realizing their blind spots. The ambiguity of various scenes (where you can explain it away as a class issue) is fantastic because that ambiguity exists in real life.

Haha yeah well that’s fair. Let me say that I’m not consciously racist then. That’s perhaps a fairer assessment.

You don't need to drag yourself down with shame my guy, you have your own life experience, you look through your own lens. An experience like this will open you up to thinking about these perspectives in the future.

South Asian in the U.K. I didn’t pick up on it until the end, I thought it was more classism and elitism at first. We have seen it in real life that people choose to be friends with people who look like them, I just assumed this was her friendship group. What I did empathise with was The Doctor’s reaction at the end. I’m a medical doctor myself and I have received micro aggressions of people not wanting to be treated by me or choosing the white doctor to see, and I felt his frustration that we are here to help, but all people see first is our skin colour.

I thought she was just stupid.

I mean she is stupid. also mean.

You just know they're all going to die horrible deaths trying to colonise the planet, and I love it. Couldn't happen to more deserving people.

Still, I wouldn’t mind an episode that takes place 100 years after that

Would have to be a team of archeologists going through the bones

Most probably, but that's not the most interesting option

A fair assessment of racists tbh.

That's also [Oregon's history](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Oregon). I imagine a lot can happen in 100 years.

I’m mixed race and I knew something was off but the racism didn’t click for me until the end. I noticed it was a very white society. I also noticed that Lindy seemed to dislike The Doctor more than Ruby. While that’s not unheard of, there was no call for it here. There are many episodes where the guest characters are met with a rude alien who talks to much, and his more empathetic human friend, who they bond with more than him. This was not the dynamic here. The Doctor and Ruby presented as equals who were saying the same things. On a second viewing, it was painfully obvious. Lots of little things you’d have to think about for a minute to grasp, like how Lindy was upset that The Doctor and Ruby were in the same room, or her line “I know it’s wrong, but-“ Easy enough to miss on a first viewing when you’re concentrating on a cripplingly social media dependent society invaded by giant slugs.

I really thought she was shocked at them being in the same room because they were interacting outside of the bubble. How she never interacted with her coworkers even though they were feet away.

Minority POC here and I didnt really notice it, maybe cos I was too busy focusing on how stupid Lindy seemed to be with not being able to walk without the arrows and was concentrating trying to work out why the things were ignoring her.

I was trying to work out the "twist" and Lindy going from her inability to walk sans arrows to legging it with Ricky down in the tunnels made me certain she was going to be a villainous reveal - she'd somehow created the slugs as a virus and Ricky was going to be a Doctor controlled avatar catching her out - and as I was so busy anticipating that, everything else sailed right over my head. Either way, I have been truly humbled by this episode.

I wasn't shocked that the town was racist but I didn't catch that they were until the end. Once I did things clicked into place even calling their parents planet the "Homeworld" which is such a "Fatherland" connotation. I did have a moment where I know in hindsight I was soooo close to getting it. Like the Doctor I was trying to get why she hadn't been eaten and I went, "Is it because she's blonde?" my brain was so close

Yes! I noticed it immediately too. I'm a minority POC in my country as well and I think it makes sense that I would catch on to it. I suspect our upbringing, culture and experience of being a minority would make us more sensitive to the lack of diversity in the episode. The ending still hits for me as I personally didn't realize that the racism would be a major plot point. Ncuti's raw emotions on display was phenomenal! I've been thinking about the scene since yesterday. I think regardless of when people realize the lack of diversity and the racism, I'm glad it was put into awareness, and that it allows people take something away from it. That's such a magical thing about Doctor Who and I love it.

Straight, White, British, mid 30's and I'm ashamed that I didn't notice until the end. I thought I was more aware of these issues, but now I see that I too am in a bubble. I'm glad I saw this post because I did wonder if it was glaringly obvious to POC.

I'm really curious why some people are ashamed because they didn't notice it instantly. Do people think some people can only see it if they have experience of micro aggression/racism?

I grew up around casual racism. Didn't have a single POC in my primary school. So half of my life has been trying to unlearn that. I thought I, personally, was beyond that now. However, throughout the episode I found myself dismissing the racism as just stupidity. I didn't even consider racism to be a factor. So my shame is entirely personal and i don't necessarily believe it's what everyone should feel. The true shame is that the kind of thinking shown this week, still exists in our time. I think the twist stands as a reminder to those of us who didn't see it, to be more aware.

Fascinating. I think that episode gives me some new insights.

I'm not sure why people here are acting like failing to predict the ending is something to be ashamed of. I definitely had some "hold up" moments early in the episode, but it just as easily could have not been racism, or at least not an intentional theme on the writers' part. Some people predicted it correctly, but it's not as though removing the final confirmation would have invalidated their interpretation as a very real possibility. Likewise, it was just as likely until the ending that overt racism wasn't a factor; the interpretations attributing the early hints to extreme stupidity and/or elitism/classism and/or odd writing decisions were equally plausible. An incorrect guess on how a script will end isn't a character flaw, just luck of the draw. The episode would have had a cogent message either way. --- Edit: Just to expand on this, what I mean is that there's a bit of a leap to go from "whoa, that seems kinda racist" to accurately predicting that it was intentional and plot-relevant — particularly coming off the heels of the famously unsubtle Chibnall era, and with the confounding factors of a million potential more scifi-related alternative explanations. I actually sarcastically said out loud, "I'll be damned if I'm going to get on a ship with a black man!", thinking I was making fun of the writing. Then of course 30 seconds later the "voodoo" comment dropped and I was like "...oh".

I don't get that either. I could see feeling ashamed because you didn't see it and have trouble seeing it after it is pointed out. I can see eye opening.

We all feel things differently. I don't see anything wrong in feeling shame and acknowledging that we need to be better. If I had no understanding of racism whatsoever and this episode educated me on it, I'd say my eyes were opened. That's not what happened for me though. I didn't see something that I know exists and is wrong for 40 minutes of an episode of television, and at points laughed it off as "she's so dumb". When I should have thought "she's so vile".

Which is fine and why we are asking. This is a bit of an exaggeration, but basically, for you at first, it was just a silly episode of doctor who, and you got a little blind sided by a deeper topic.

But I think this was ‘hidden’ racism, every single thing they did could’ve been interpreted as them being spoiled/in a bubble rather than racism…if you didn’t have the scene at the end I don’t think people would’ve been posting threads saying ‘I think Lindy is racist’ That’s the problem with racism- the same behaviour can be classist, racist or just ‘rude person’— you can’t know what a person is thinking or the source of their behaviour I think this episode could’ve played out with a white doctor the exact same way and no one would’ve went ‘it’s weird they’re acting like that to them’ without that last scene

This is why when a POC has a white colleague who's inexplicably hostile to them, and we say "I think this person is racist to me", everyone else will poo-poo us off. "Oh, they're not racist, they're rude to everyone." Except that rudeness to everyone isn't done on the same level. "Oh you're being too sensitive." "Who? Him? No. I've never heard him say anything or call anyone names." And then we can't point to anything concrete because their actions can always be explained away. So we have to suffer through it.

I think even from my own experience as a woc, my instinct is to give people the benefit of the doubt that they aren't a bigot and that they are maybe just a shitty person or just don't like me for some reason. We usually like to come up with some alternative reason why something happens before jumping to a conclusion of racism or other form of discrimination. Like some people initially thinking that Lindy blocked the doctor immediately but not Ruby because she was young and less threatening about the situation. I like to think people are nice and we like to give people the benefit of the doubt until there is no other possibility other than bigotry. It when you get to the end and rewatch do you realise the full picture.

>We usually like to come up with some alternative reason why something happens before jumping to a conclusion of racism or other form of discrimination. Trust me, I'm not unlike you. I do not jump to "this person is a racist!" before finding the alternatives. Many of us don't, because it's hurtful. We'd rather examine ourselves to see if we did anything wrong before accusing someone for being a POS racist. E.g., when I first bought my condo, my upstairs neighbor would complain I made noise. Most of the day I was at work, so I wasn't eve home yet he'd call the HOA to say I was making all kinds of noise. Called the cops on me twice who told me they didn't hear any kind of excessive noise and once was when I had people over. It took a while for me to realize what the real issue was. I was a young black woman who bought (not rented, like him) a unit in the lily-white building he lived in. Guess that must've chapped his ass. After that, I was like "fuck it. He can buy me out or bite my ass." And I turned up the volume on my TV. BTW, he's been long gone and I've been here since 1998. Fuck him. Sorry, I digress. Edit to add: there was a whole family with kids living in my unit before I bought it but he never had an issue with them.

For sure, without that final scene, the actions of Lindy can be explained in many ways. I think there would have been deeper debates on IF it was racism or class etc without that reveal as viewers from all walks of life would feel it differently.

I clocked it at her saying she thought he just "looked the same". But a part of me did think that she was so stupid up to that point that she legitimately could've just thought he looked the same as someone else. That thought was swiftly forgotten after the rest of the shit she said kept happening

Yeah me too. I wondered if she was racist a few minutes before the scene you mention, and yet I was like "uh what is she saying? HAs she forgotten she talked to this guy?“. I didn’t even think for a second this line could be racist because her comment was absurdly dumb!

I laughed and said "Wow. That's an 'clunk' of a line given he's black." I felt like such an idiot at the end.

I think this is what makes it so interesting. Lots of white people will watch the episode and not see it until the end (which was my experience). Because we live in a bubble. It's an intentional parallel - the kids didn't see the slug monsters from inside their bubbles, and many viewers didn't see the racism. I picked up on one or two of Lindy's comments during the episode but brushed them off as unintentional. Rewatching will be really interesting for those like me who didn't catch everything first time round.

White guy here, I did not catch any of the racist subtexts until rewatch. I guess I was focused on the social media side and didnt pay attention to that. But still holy moly, how did I miss that?

I think my initial suspicion for why the Doctor was blocked was because he seemed like an older demographic, and was a stranger, so very plausible to be seen as a creeper. I also assumed that Ruby was given more initial trust because she wasn't a dude.

I thought she didnt block Ruby because she was presenting herself as someone from the company while the doctor sounded like a scam caller or something. But after that ending I can see what the actual implication is.

The same thing often happens in real life. Think about the economic disparity between white and black populations in America, it's very easy to focus on non-racial issues that might seem to explain the disparity and miss the racism that contributes to it at every turn. I really hope this episode is an eye opener for a lot of people, if you watched this episode without noticing the racism until it was overtly acknowledged, I think it's highly likely there's racism in real life you're not noticing either. That includes myself, by the way, I consider myself to be very conscious of racism and I was still caught off guard -- which means I need to pay more attention.

This was exactly my experience. It makes me kinda sad because Ncuti gave this incredible performance in response to the racism and I was just like “why is he getting so angry I’m confused.” Definitely have to rewatch the episode. I could not believe how stupid I felt after watching a review of it.

I am a POC and picked it up pretty quickly. I pointed it out to my daughters 8 and 10. They finally got it they are young though. But my husband who’s white did not see it automatically at all. Though, he did pickup on the theme quite quickly of the characters not wanting to see past their bubble.

Claro que si. I first noticed the lack of POC in the bubble's grid display. Unfortunately, so many social media grids look the same irl. One does become desensitized to the lack of diversity in other's social circles, even as a POC. Loved the episode and Ncuti is so darn charming in anything he does!!!

To me it was the Love Island comment that sealed it. The show has been accused of racism with it’s choice of contestants before which is often hand waved. So it felt like that was the direction of travel. The shock to me was how blatant the ending was, I thought they were going to be more subtle as they had been through the rest of the episode. Very glad they did confront the subtext head on.

White guy here, thought it was quite obvious until I looked online.

Same. I don't watch much (if any) TV shows that are modern so when you go from 90% white shows anything else just sticks out like a sore thumb so to speak. I knew it couldn't have been a mistake.

The people being white I definitely missed. Likely because that's just daily life for me to be honest

Which is quite unusual for a modern BBC production. They intentionally cast to reflect population diversity.

Same, white person here; I noticed immediately that all her friends looked the same and thought there must be a reason for it, so wasn’t surprised by her reaction to the Doctor or by the ending at all. Given the diversity in the cast of the rest of the episodes, it stuck out like a sore thumb.

Modern BBC shows usually have very diverse casting, it stands out like a sore thumb when there isn't. It isn't set in period England it immediately flags that it's a class/race episode.

I knew it was an -ism right away, but I needed more clues as to which.

Yeah, my first guess was actually xenophobia until I realized almost everything was targeted at the doctor.

I had thought they were going for a classism thing for most of the episode. When the last scene hit it was very "oh how did I miss that?", and then looking back I realised there were plenty of bits that others probably did notice. I suppose I fell into the theme of the episode myself. I'm white, and I didn't notice. As racism isn't a part of my everyday "bubble", I don't always see it the same as a POC who unfortunately has to deal with it on a daily basis. Great episode, really made me think. Looking forward to a rewatch soon to see what else I missed.

I honestly caught onto the echo chamber element of the story. It was pretty obvious with the whole bubble thing. But I thought it was gonna be about just the rich 1%. That it was gonna be about a bunch of nepo babies. I think part of the reason I didn't catch on that there were no POC characters in the episode was because the bubble's design and effects made it hard to focus on all the faces. Faces constantly moving in and out of frame or focus. It's not wholly unusual for BBC shows to have predominantly more white actors than POC actors due to the racial breakdown of actors in the UK. But yea, once I got to that end where Lindy reached the docks, I started to notice how pale it was looking down there. And then how she avoided the Doctor and Ruby. Add in the comments Lindy made directly to the Doctor, and it all clicked. Some of that other dialogue from throughout the episode took more meaning and context that I'd misconstrued as just "rich vs poor" mentality. I blame me missing the more subtle racism partially because I live in the US, and the racism isn't anywhere near as subtle. Also, I would've more than likely picked up on the racism more if I wasn't a white person. But damn when that penny dropped for me, it just all came together and just hit me right in the solar plexus.

>I blame me missing the more subtle racism partially because I live in the US, and the racism isn't anywhere near as subtle. Also from the US. I'd say that's more location dependent. I.e., in the Northeast it's a lot like how it is in the show. Subtle behavior, hostility for no reason, feeling like your presence is being tolerated but not respected. Whereas in the South it may be a lot more blatant. I will say that due to being an American, I did not notice the all-white casting. Probably because we have so many shows where there are few, if any POCs. Friends, being an example. Sex and the City (which is why they're going overboard on AJLT by having all of them have a black friend).

Subtle racism can be harder to notice if you aren't looking directly at it. I am a producer assistant manager, I hadn't worked produce before taking the job (same store but meat market). I had been there about a month when a lady asked me how to pick out a watermelon. I said I don't, but I know someone who can help. I called him over, she got a little nervous and said, 'you didn't ask him because he's black?" I responded with, 'no, he's the manager." And he finished with and he's only been in the department a few weeks. Some may see her Comment not as racist, but the fact she only thought I called him over because the color of his skin...

I did not pick up on it throughout the episode, but the context clues were absolutely all there, and I was SO close to getting it. Like in the moment I thought, "funny how she was more receptive to Ruby than to the Doctor. Maybe it's because Ruby looks like one of them." 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ Or when I thought, around the 15 min mark, "is it me or are there no POC in this episode other than the Doctor?" 😭 So in the end, I guess I picked up on it, but didn't connect the dots (yes, I am white, which is probably very obvious by now!). Once the reveal dropped, all the pieces fell right into place and I went, "OF COURSE, THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING!". So yes, I def understand not clocking it while it was happening, it does come down to one's privilege, but I don't understand believing the reveal was sudden. It was... Very much not sudden. Kinda like a murder mystery, in a way, but for privileged people: you see the clues, but don't know what they mean, and when the reveal comes, you realize all the clues were pointing to it.

I fucking said "Damm. That's the whitest groupchat I've ever seen." And I *still* missed it.

The sequence when Ricky was helping Lindy escape the Mantraps did anyone get Doctor/Companion vibes?

Definitely, and I think that was intentional. It's shrouded by Lindy's predisposition towards a celebrity, but Ricky was absolutely doctor coded and I think there's it's an intentional parallel to demonstrate how Lindy reacted to a white hero vs a black hero.

I’m PoC living in America and my first suspicion was when Lindy blocked the Doctor on sight, but didn’t block Ruby — I noticed that all of her bubble contacts were white and wondered if that was a coincidence or not. My spouse is white and from England, and said he interpreted Lindy not blocking Ruby as Ruby succeeding in appealing to Lindy’s vanity, not from a race perspective. So I was really surprised at the episode working as almost a racism litmus test.

To be fair, and this probably being I’m not POC - I didn’t grasp the ending on that first watch. I thought it could be a metaphor for racism, rather than actual racism. I thought the town was being judgmental of outsides from their world - not POC. Obviously the minute I paid attention even slightly, it was obvious it wasn’t a metaphor.

Yep, I clocked some but not all. Coming from a Black person, I did notice how every person in her bubble (even the background characters) were white which threw me off since that's very unlikely for a BBC show. Also, the fact she let Ruby speak but not the Doctor - but the explicit beginnings of a new colonial journey at the end threw me too.

They can't pee without being told when to. That new colonial journey is a short boat ride to death for all of them. 99%+ likelihood.

LOL... they'll all die from burst bladders and sepsis before the week is out since Dr. Pee isn't there to tell them to take a leak.

I don't even trust Dr Pee. He seemed to imply that she should very pee extremely rarely, which doesn't seem right if someone drinks water regularly. She didn't even brush her teeth with water, so she's probably severely dehydrated all the time. I wonder if this was part of >!the dots going rogue. To be fair, they do have weird colored blood so maybe they're all synths and don't need the same amount of water and nutrients!<.

I’m a POC and I knew something was off. Her dismissal of the doctor. “You look like the other one”. Except when she said “he’s not as dumb as he looks” I thought it’s like most of the doctors were kinda treated that way like he’s a pretty boy but a smart pretty boy. It still felt off. But it truly hit when she said the whole “inperson” thing. Gut-wrenching, even though somewhere deep down I definitely knew and saw it coming.

Yes! My bf and I when they were showing the bubble ppl kept joking that lol there’s no PoC in the future? We’re both Hispanic. And we kept joking well they can only have one person of color. They used the budget lol. Bc we’re so jaded and used to it. That when the twist happen we were happy and shocked not bc it was surprising. But bc the uncomfortable feeling that we were joking about was actually part of the point of the episode not just “welp we met our quota”

As a white person, I didn’t notice that they were all white until the very end, and I attributed all Lindy’s micro aggressions to the social media commentary or a class thing. And then at the end, I felt very convicted because the whole episode is about the privilege of being able to put up a bubble and not see the problems around you, and I did the very same thing.

Was not in the least not surprised. Picked up on it immediately. On any other show, even maybe a different era of Doctor Who, I'd have looked at this and thought just racist casting. Case in point; I watched with my brother, who is new to Who, and when I pointed it out he said that's just casting. In this era of Doctor Who where diversity is the norm, it stood out too much to be unimportant.

I caught on early. I’m mixed and live in the US. To be fair though, in the last three months I’ve also experienced a ramp up in being screamed at for not being white and subtly being told I’m gross and illegal for not being white. Where I live, there’s a lot of that recently due to this specific year and a specific shriveled up talking old yam with a bad hair piece. I think I may have been a little sensitive at the start given recent experiences, but I found the episode to be very good. The idea of the Doctor still being kind as all that is being spoken is heartbreaking and definitely relatable.

I am sorry that's been happening to you.

POC here. I noticed they were all white when Lindy first turned her bubble on. The racism still surprised me a little, just because I’ve seen so many shows with white casts that it hadn’t occurred to me that it was deliberate.

What's interesting to me, is the thought that if you cut that final scene... if you didnt spell it out for people... Would BAME fans be saying "Oh, clearly they were being racist." Only to be dismissed by a huge chuck of the fanbase asking "Why'd you have to bring race into it?" It's so bloody obvious in hindsight: you don't **need** that final sequence for the racism to be appallingly obvious. Fuck, she even said 'They all look the same.' Hell, I've even seen some comments saying it was about class and wealth, nothing to do with race at all. I'm stunned I missed it until right that the end. Fuck, I even said "Well, that's the whitest group chat I've seen in a while..." and the oblique racism *still* blindsided me. That's given me something to think about, I tell you.

I have to say, for us white folk, that was likely part of the point of the story - smacking us in the face with how much casual racism we miss or overlook every day. And it definitely worked, there are definitely some earlier bits that I didn't see in that light, though there were others I did. It was a brilliant episode.

I (36f white British) live in an East London borough which is majority (65%) BAME. I find i kind I notice a lot when I go to other places and white is the majority skin colour, I've lived here my whole life and it's just odd when it's not what I've grown accustomed to. I noticed the micro aggressions in the episode and thought it was played out in a really subtle way. I watched the commentary behind the scene EP after and noticed they were speaking about people noticing race etc...and pretty much every crew member was white 😅

I'm asian and don't notice it until I come on reddit. Doctor Who is a British TV show so I dont really care about having a representation. There wasn't any much poc in Matt smith era or Capaldi anyway. I get that uk is getting more diverse but majority of population is still white like you wouldn't see any white people in K-drama.

African American here. I immediately clocked that there were only white people in Finetime. And how she responded to the Doctor's first message. But I knew this episode was going to be about racism when there was a literally monster just out of eyeline eating her fellow racists. Because that's what white supremacy has always been, a social rot that devours everyone, even it's own children.

Uff - I went back and rewatched again to see all the things my white bubble missed. I was most surprised when the AI actually didn't mark Ruby as "unsolicited message" with the option to block. Lindy could only slide her away, and there was no giant red warning. The system literally was built to flag someone looking like the doc.

Gotta love how some people will see it as a class thing or xenophobia when it was blatantly racism. The most genius part of this episode is how you judge them for not seeing past their bubble just for the same thing to happen when they watch the episode. As a black man, it hit very close from home.

White guy here. I didn't realise the racism aspect til halfway through. I thought from the beginning that the whole episode was a climate change allegory.

Was less complete shock for me and more "Well that makes sense" or it just tracked with how they were acting previously so it felt like a slow layered reveal and not a 180. I definitely caught on to the fact that everyone was suspiciously white early on at least. Retroactively it's obvious.

I didn't pick up on it until the end but that's because I assumed they were all brain dead from the social media!

I had the thought but somehow thought one of the background characters was POC so it was ok? Watched it back and he just had a slight tan ahah, I thought the BBC had gone a bit white!

I'm not a POC but I noticed from one of the teasers that every face on the bubble was seemingly the same race.

I caught the othering but thought it was fear of strangers. Very well done.

honestly when i watch something i never really pay attention to what race someone is because it doesnt really matter to me so i didn't notice it at all apart from some of the comments lindy was making

I didn't until my second watch through, and it hit like a truck. All of the little things flew over my head until the obvious indication in the end scene. I'm pretty sure that was an intentional decision because it highlights that issues like that *can* fly over people's heads, and it's powerful. Really powerful. But also damn I feel like a piece of shit lol

I started wondering when Lindy immediately blocked The Doctor but was at least willing to speak with Ruby. Then I noticed everyone was White. It truly landed with the dismissive attitude she took with The Doctor and how bothered she seemed by Ruby and The Doctor being in the same room.

My fist thought as an afab was she did it because he was an unknown man, but as she kept commenting, it became more evident.

White man, mid 30s, married to a black woman, mid 30s. She caught it a good 10 min before I did. When Lindy was in the corner finally listening to him and did her comment about not realizing she blocked him earlier I realized none of her contacts were POC. My wife then chimed in that he had the Unsolicited Request banner versus Ruby lacking one. My wife felt the script should have gone farther at the end and made it more explicit

I noticed her joke-y tone when saying hostile, increasingly obviously racist things. It’s tempting to not believe her when she expresses her own racism and entitlement, but every hateful little thing was how she actually felt. People who talk this way get away with it too often. She was literal in what she was saying even when her tone was childish or unserious… and that’s a good point too. Joke-flavored racism is still racism. She was hostile to both Ruby and the Doctor but she was sharper and meaner to the Doctor (instant block vs grumbling but talking to Ruby), “I hate you” in the tone of a child who just lost dessert, but she meant it… she’s a hater. And the corporate concept isn’t wrong either—these people live in a tech company bubble that makes them oblivious to the real world and racist attitudes are allowed to fester in there. And they don’t even care much about their own friends, who were dying around them. They did nothing to save anyone but themselves and some wouldn’t even do that, with the notable exception of Ricky.

It's all microaggressions. The reason people didn't notice was exactly the same reason they don't notice when it happens in real life - they might have seen it a few times when hanging out with friends who are visible minorities, but that is very different from seeing these kinds of things personally every day.

I think the 1960/1980 (50s revival) vibes were very purposeful. All their fashion is very 1960s, Lindy’s hair and make up, the song choice. But it’s also got 80s over tones, the 80s version of the song, color choices etc. I think that’s intentional. A lot of people (especially in right wing bubbles) idolize the 1950s - like they did in the 80s revival - and the early 60s, but in a lot of places, those decades were when racism really ramped up during conservative governments. By the late 60s, the civil rights movement had started up, but by the 80s we saw a swing in the opposite direction. Kind of like what we are seeing now, tbh. In the 90s we saw a wave of race tolerance and growth again. But like I said, we’re seeing that rotation again swing downwards. Anyhoo, choosing those two overlapping time periods was intentional because I think it helped hide the truth from the viewer a bit. We are used to seeing those fashion choices in subtly racist contexts from those eras so the exclusion of any POC doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb as much. Plus, both of those time periods - early 1960s, 1980s, have such fake jolly vibes. Terrible periods in history for a lot of people, but the happy colors and music hide that and convinced many of us, who didn’t live in it, that it was better than it really was. It wasn’t a “fine time”, despite what it looks like.

old white guy here, I didn't notice all the clues until the "big reveal" Which made it all the more shocking for me, and sobering when I realised what clues I'd missed Nice done Mr Davies, it's made me think

It was done very well. My 2nd favourite episode so far after the devils chord

There were definitely clues. Nice multilayered episode. I thought it was a good example of how The Dr being black has not been ignored I’m waiting for the “Dr who’s gone woke “ comments. My reply? “I guess you’ve never seen Dr Who before”

I only picked up on it after reading the fan reviews 😅

I wasn’t shocked but I was surprised. I did notice some things, especially when she mentioned said the thing about ‘you *are* the same guy’ but I see things like this in tv so often, especially in ‘paradise’ societies I wasn’t sure they were actually racist. So I guess I assumed the racism was mostly accidental from the writers, not intentional from the characters. It was lovely to be wrong!

The idea it was a rich utopia for useless fail sins was the reason i thought it was so white. I also thought a couple of people were pail Asians which through me.

Was watching with my brother, and we both noticed almost immediately whilst my father didn't realise until the end

I'm pretty new to the Doctor Who series so I didn't comprehend the episode's message until I started browsing these threads. I thought the whole weird setting was some sort of alien, upper class British dystopia where young people could live in this "perfect" virtual landscape. The episode did have some loose threads like the origin of the slug creatures and how some denizens were easily capable of manoeuvring without their dot and bubble when Lindy could not. Also, what was that stare down at the end about?

I was riveted by the bright blue eyes, and then the glimpse of green blood let me push that to the side with “OK, not human…” I felt like a lot of Finetime residents were also brushing against the edge of the uncanny valley, thought that might just have been good countouring. I would love to see a Making Of / Behind the Scenes chat with the costume and make up designers. I was also distracted by wondering “set? Real place? Green screen? Why such lovely interior design if she never freaking sees anything….”

I noticed pretty earlier that they were all white, but just thought it was weird. Lindy immediately blocking the doctor made sense to me as that very much looked like a scam or something, while Ruby seemed much friendlier. The line that really got me was Lindy saying that she thought the doctor was just a different guy who looked the same, but I still wasn’t sure if the character was racist or it was just an unfortunate bit of dialogue

Not a POC but I picked it up after the "look the same" line.

my reaction to the ep was tainted because I got the ending spoiled to me by a TikTok edit, so I can't say for sure if I would've noticed or not had I been unspoiled, but what I will say is that I was thoroughly impressed by the layers of thematic subterfuge at play in Dot and Bubble; the episode uses everything at its disposal, from costuming to writing to just plain structure, to build and build to what you assume is a forgone, tech bad elitist kids learn to be better a la Clueless conclusion (Lindy and the denizens's clothes are as if straight out of Cher Horowitz's closet if you think about it) so the many red flags slip back to the background if you don't know to look for them or otherwise have never experienced any thing similar irl, and thus you go from hating Lindy for being rude, airy, snobby to maybe wanting her to at least escape and live until the show drops the other shoe and you realize Oh...that's what this is actually about. it's incredibly effective storytelling.

Most of the real life villains have either downplayed the Finetime residents as merely “classist” or outright disregarded their racism altogether, arguing it’s not there when it obviously is and was explicitly stated as being there by RTD. Or worse, some unhinged genuinely awful people, particularly on YouTube, agree with them not going with the Doctor, because they too are flagrant racist ba*****s that deserve to be swallowed whole by giant killer slugs. This episode has been great at exposing terrible people. I hope the programme doesn’t stop here, I hope it does even more in the future to directly attack their fragility and stupidity. They deserve every second of vilified infamy, so everyone can point and laugh until they run away and cry to their “mummy”.

I was making jokes about how it was saving the blond people for last.

I'm also POC and yes, I picked up on it pretty quickly, but didn't immediately think it was intentional bias by the bubble people. It seemed very Black Mirror dystopia and we didn't see any old people, so I wondered if their parents were racist and sending their kids away to be isolated from others (non-whites, old people, lower classes). The fact that they couldn't even walk without the bubble made them seem so weak. The first half of the episode, we made lots of comments like wow, rude, racist, geez really? My spouse and I paused halfway to discuss: - She's racist but I still have some empathy because she seems so helpless and like she was raised into this. It's all she knows. - But at what point does the racism become her own choice, and something we judge her on? - At the point when she has autonomy and power to make her own choices. The point when she betrays September was the point of no going back for us. She didn't need to do that, but she specifically chose to betray him in order to improve her own odds. She was actively participating in the preservation of her privilege, at the expense of others.

It was done amazingly. I am willing (and a bit guilty) to admit that I didn’t catch any of it until the end when I thought their refusal was just them being a bit elitist. It’s only coming here that I realised everything that I had thought were little jokes/quirks of their society (such as Ruby and the Doctor being in the same room being a shock, or not realising she’d already seen the doctor on her screen) were all pointing towards their racism. I am a white guy living in a predominantly white culture so while I am somewhat embarrassed I didn’t catch it, I’m also not surprised I didn’t. It has highlighted to me how easy it is to miss when you’re not the one on the receiving end, but how important it is to really try to look out for it for that very reason

I definitely noticed, but didn’t want to believe it. RTD went hard this season.

Not a POC at all but I did notice it throughout, from when the doctor first appeared onwards, no other poc on the whole episode, the micro aggressions etc But to my shame it took until the final scene to hammer home that it wasn’t going to be some sci-fi explanation and that they were just baseline racist fuckers. I’d like to think that’s because I was watching doctor who and wasn’t expecting them to tackle it so head on. But I’m going to make sure I don’t ever just file things as “no I’m not racist so other people can’t possibly mean to be racist” IRL cos I think that’s kinda what I did watching this.

I'm a black dude. "White as default" is so ingrained in my psyche of media and entertainment that it completely went over my head. For some reason, I also assumed that Goth Paul and the last lady to die were some kind of Latin or Asian. There was also all of the fake tans that threw me off as well. 

East Asian man in the U.S., I didn’t catch that until I got on to this sub lol. I was like she’s just offensive and annoying. But I might’ve also just adored Ncuti so much that I can’t really see how anyone can hate him

I'm white and I didn't pick up on it until the twist at the end. I knew something was off, and at one point I even thought "Wow, they're almost all blonde!" but I didn't quite get there until they spelled it out. Kind of ashamed of that TBH. It says a lot about privilege and how much work still has to be done. I'm going to ask my POC husband and mixed-race son to watch it and see how soon they catch on. Edited for clarity

The "hes not as stupid as he looks" was so harsh i couldnt help but notice. And the stupid song.. does their music suck since they only have white influences?

Your observation shows why white people such as myself need to put the work in toward being effectively anti-racist! I wish I had caught it sooner. But this is good, I feel, in that this reminds me of the importance of learning more and keeping a keener eye out for this stuff.

Most of us should’ve picked it up when she was Really bleak about it during the hideout corner scene. At first, I genuinely thought that she blocked the doctor because she’s a spoiled brat that gets annoyed at the most minor inconveniences, even when it’s a legitimate warning. And I think that’s how I also didn’t pick up the racism because I briefly did, but it’s also a trait that comes along with rich spoiled white kids so I kept bringing back to that stereotype (which she truly is that) and then at the end, it was clear RTD was slamming me with a pole like how Lindy kept hitting one a bunch of times.