I sat down for this episode expecting a Gallifrey. What did I get? Something about Earth... Guh! I thought to myself "Hey! Maybe I will get to sleep for an hour". Then after two scenes, I was rolling my eyes and saying out loud "Oh no! Not another global warming episode this is gonna suck as bad as Orphan 55". But to my (very pleasant) surprise, the show moved on to a mystery that was way more than "just" a pollution episode. I kept watching, trying to guess where this was going and being surprised more than once. The episode starting with the companions and the Doctor starting separated from each other and looking into a mystery across the globe.
This episode has a few highlights
Splitting the companions was a good idea and it allowed each to interact with other characters. Of course that everyone of these subgroup end with more travelers into the Tardis makes travelling in the blue box less interesting.
For the first fifteen minutes of this episode, I felt I was watching an episode of Torchwood with humans investigating a mystery - like Miracle Day (before it went to crap). It was interesting to see and made me look into what is going on.
Now this episode suffers from a few things:
First, the massive cast crowds the episode. More added NPCs coming from each location. This gives us Doctor and 3 companions plus Brazilian girl, Aramu and Suki, the Astronaut and his husband = 9 characters each with something to do. Just crowded the plot.
When this group all gets together, they are all suddenly great friends. Making jokes with each other as if they knew each other. For example, Ryan meets the Brazilian gal and have an interesting interaction. Then later, they meet Yaz. The two girls head off together without any more than a passing introduction and enter a dangerous area. Makes sense for Yaz but not for the girl.
Second, one man's sacrifice rendered effectively meaningless due to just-in-time rescue. I get it, it is a time-travel show, but allowing one character to sacrifice himself saving the world in an action that provides him with a big bout of character development. The fallout of his death could've sparked changes in the gang and the Doctor, but NO. She saves him last minute making his character arc meaningless so he can live happily forever.
So an astronaut takes his cellphone into space...
I was relieved to hear the moral of the story at the end! At least this one was delivered - like everything in this episode - at breakneck speed in Jodie's girly babbletalk.
When the episode was done, I was left unfulfilled, as if there was something missing. To my surprise, the core issue of the episode: pollution, an issue that needs our attention, is rushed and almost dismissive. I felt they had much more material to investigate and deal with. This could easily have become a two-parter.
- A submarine disappearing: that should get the world governments accuse each other, create tension and a reason for all this to come together. Bring in UNIT (even if only as a phone call with Kate Stewart keeping the Doctor and us informed of what the outside world does/thinks)
- An astronaut disappears: sparking a search, conspiracy theories about aliens among us.
- Crazy bird attacking people and people just vanishing.
The elements are all there, if only you let these subplot grow and explore them. Even have a first part without any aliens! You can show people throwing out trash throughout the episode, bringing attention to what is going on and what you want to say.
When I thought back to the episode, I found that in spite of these issues, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would and that this one had surprised me in a positive way. Having to give it a review, I agreed on a 2.5 (okay) which I have to round up to 3.
Would I re-watch? Maybe (not a definite no).
Rating: 3/5
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