The fuse is lit, and this episode burns slow but bright.
"Fuel for the Fire" is one of the most tonally assured entries of the season. While it avoids loud spectacle, the episode crackles with tension and carefully stacked narrative stakes. The script is tight, deliberate, and filled with subtle shifts... characters circling one another with growing unease.
Director Jamie Childs keeps the visuals grounded yet lyrical, making clever use of shadow and stillness to draw out unease. There's a haunting clarity to the pacing: slow in a purposeful way, giving space for performances to breathe.
Freddie Fox is superb, coolly charismatic with menace simmering under every word. Jack Gleeson continues to surprise with layered restraint, never overplaying, always landing just enough doubt and discomfort. Jenna Coleman's return brings sharp energy and a much-needed outsider's eye. And Tom Sturridge? Still enigmatic, but increasingly brittle, as the consequences of past choices creep ever closer.
What's impressive is how the episode trusts its tone. No rush, no over-explaining, just steady momentum toward something darkly inevitable.
