The Rough Middle Act Of "The Pyramid At The End Of The World"

The Good: Good performances, Moments of character
The Bad: Pacing, Very little happens on the plot front
The Basics: "The Pyramid At The End Of The World" brings the promised alien invasion from the monks who experimented upon The Doctor, with a stated benevolence from the alien invasion.


Sometimes, the best surprise a show can do is to truly upend the expectations from what comes before the latest episode. In the case of Doctor Who, the show has an often-formulaic development. As "The Pyramid At The End Of The World" begins, viewers had reason to expect that the next big alien invasion was imminent. In preparing for "The Pyramid At The End Of The World," it occurred to me that arguably the most creative way to approach the threat made by the aliens in "Extremis" would be to have their attempted conquest of Earth already foiled at the outset of the new episode. "The Pyramid At The End Of The World" does not actually do that.

"Extremis" (reviewed here!) led into "The Pyramid At The End Of The World" and it amped up the momentum for both the next alien invasion and the return of Missy. Missy, however, does not make an appearance in "The Pyramid At The End Of The World" (which could be a very unfortunate element that highlights exactly how The Doctor will resolve the problem that is presented at the episode's climax). "The Pyramid At The End Of The World" is the plot macguffin that allows the aliens from "Extremis" to make their move. "Extremis" essentially introduced the monk creatures who want to take over the Earth; "The Pyramid At The End Of The World" is how they execute their plan.

Bill and Penny are out on their date when the Secretary General Of The United Nations arrives, searching for The President. Bill, thus, learns that in times of crisis, The Doctor is the President Of Earth. The Secretary General is alarmed because a 5,000 year-old pyramid has materialized on Earth in Termezistan, in between the Russian, Chinese, and U.S. militaries. While Bill, Nardole, The Doctor and the Secretary General are flown to Termezistan, a scientist for an agrofuel company is headed to work when her glasses get broken. Erica arrives at work and one of her coworkers has to mix the next experimental compound. While that compound is tested, The Doctor and his team investigate the mysterious new pyramid.

The Pyramid is housing the monk aliens who learned all about humanity from their simulation. The monk aliens reset every clock in the world to 11:57, based on the Doomsday Clock. The leader of the aliens tells The Doctor that they will take over and rule the world, with the consent of humanity. After The Doctor and Secretary General get the leaders of the three major armies together, he attempts to make a show of force, which the aliens foil. The military leaders declare peace. Sadly, the clock keeps ramping up toward doomsday, with the Secretary General attempting to consent to the aliens, and being killed in the process. While The Doctor searches for a way out of the predicament, he recognizes that the aliens are involved in misdirection and he, Nardole, and Bill begin to hunt for an alternative to consenting to alien domination.

"The Pyramid At The End Of The World" is a bridge episode between the episode that explains why an alien invasion would be coming and the episode that resolves the invasion. So, essentially, this is yet another Doctor Who "aliens invade the world" episode. This time, the aliens come with our consent and it seems entirely off that none of the characters point out that: 1. the monks are not giving them the ability to make informed consent and 2. No leader of the world has the authority to consent for all of the citizens of the world. As a result, the set-up wherein the aliens demand consent in order to be able to take over the world (in order to save humanity from itself) is inherently problematic. It is an idea that sounds far more clever than it actually is.

The far more clever aspect of "The Pyramid At The End Of The World" is the misdirection aspect of the episode. Initially presented as a random subplot, of course what is going on in the agrofuel lab turns out to be the most important aspect of the episode. The moment Erica's coworker, Douglas, removes his contamination suit hood, it is hard not to see that the episode is pointing toward a blatant issue that will make that b-plot relevant. For sure, director Daniel Nettheim does an excellent job of making the decimal point problem visible long before it is made explicit, but its importance takes exposition to make relevant.

The Doctor has a good character moment late in "The Pyramid At The End Of The World." The Doctor has been blinded and Peter Capaldi plays him as blind fairly well for most of the entire episode. In fact, Capaldi's performance of The Doctor blind helps to characterize Bill as youthfully oblivious. The Doctor is not quite looking at Bill when he removes his glasses and when a bright light comes through the nearby window, Bill squints, but The Doctor barely does. Faced with certain death, The Doctor feels compelled to finally be honest with Bill.

Nardole has a good outing in "The Pyramid At The End Of The World." Nardole correctly deduces what is actually going on and where the end of the world is likely coming from. Strangely, "The Pyramid At The End Of The World" has an utterly nonsensical ending. Bill's final moment makes some sense from a character perspective; how and why the alien monks believe she has the authority to make any form of planetary decision is ridiculous.

Ultimately, "The Pyramid At The End Of The World" is a "necessary evil" episode, one that pays off a promise and seeds the resolution to that major plot event. To execute the plot event, though, the aliens have to make a banal demand and the threat hardly seems as menacing as, for example, the Earth's atmosphere being poisoned by aliens. That makes for one of the more average alien invasion episodes of Doctor Who.

For other works with Andrew Byron, please check out my reviews of:
The Monuments Men
28 Weeks Later

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Tenth Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the final season of Peter Capaldi as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

5/10

For other television episode and movie reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Vault's Contents Are Revealed In "Extremis!"

The Good: Decent performances, Interesting plot reveals, The moments of character, Good special effects
The Bad: Somewhat limited character development
The Basics: "Extremis" marks the return of Missy and the revelation of what is in the vault in a surprisingly well-executed twist-based episode of Doctor Who!


When it comes to Doctor Who recurring characters, there are few whose returns are as eagerly anticipated as The Master. Last seen, The Master was Missy and she was on the Dalek homeworld in "The Witch's Familiar" (reviewed here!). So, when the first previews for "Extremis" featured Missy in them, fans were naturally excited. Fortunately for Doctor Who, the return of Missy in "Extremis" is not simply a vague tease; "Extremis" is a clever episode that manages to be one of the very best of Peter Capaldi's run as The Doctor!

"Extremis" follows on the heels of "Oxygen" (reviewed here!) and it is impossible to discuss the new episode without some references as to where the prior episode ended. After all, "Oxygen" ended with The Doctor returning to the present, blinded. While Nardole is aware of his condition, Bill is not and Nardole was deeply concerned that whatever is in the vault in the basement could exploit The Doctor's blindness. "Extremis" is easily one of Steven Moffat's best-written Doctor Who scripts in years as it does not simply hinge upon the final reveal; it cleverly builds its own story and arc that maintains a tone of intrigue through the reveal and the episode's resolution.

The Doctor and Nardole are recovering from their adventure in space when The Doctor returns to his classroom. There, he is met by emissaries of The Pope and The Pope himself. The Pope has a mission for The Doctor; he wants The Doctor to come and read a heretical text called Veritas, which has led to the suicide of all who have read it. Still blind and, obviously, unable to read it, The Doctor and Nardole commit to a trip to the Vatican to examine the text. En route, the TARDIS arrives at Bill's home, interrupting her first date with Penny.

The trio arrive at the Vatican where they are brought into the secret catacomb of forbidden works. There, The Doctor and his Companions find the book that leads to suicides and a missing translator. Their guide disappears abruptly and the translator almost immediately kills himself. While Nardole and Bill track down the corpse of the translator, The Doctor uses a device that might temporarily restore his sight to read the Veritas. But Nardole and Bill find a portal in the Vatican basement instead of the translator and they take it to somewhere truly fantastic and The Doctor's attempt to read the forbidden book puts him at the mercy of strange, new aliens.

Blended throughout the main narrative of "Extremis" are scenes that feature The Doctor and Missy. Set in the distant past, Missy is given a death sentence that The Doctor is expected to carry out. Not wanting to die, Missy appeals to The Doctor's better nature and The Doctor is visited by Nardole - who has River's journal and a message from The Doctor's late wife. The scenes with Missy play into the end of the episode with a fairly well-executed reveal of what is in the vault The Doctor and Nardole have been guarding.

"Extremis" is a set-up episode that does not feel like much of a set-up; it holds up well on its own. Unlike the surreal "Heaven Sent" (reviewed here!), "Extremis" tells a pretty solid story on its own that makes a lot of sense and has a clear structure, as opposed to being a mood piece that largely depends upon the final revelation at its end. Moreover, the flashback scenes in "Extremis" play a chord within The Doctor's presence, like nagging little triggers that help him piece together the truth of what is going on with the forbidden work. One suspects "Extremis" is an episode that can be returned to many times for viewers to find more and more clues within it.

Most of the thematic and character elements of "Extremis" are actually presented in the flashback scenes. The "present tense" story is plot-heavy and allows Nardole, more than any other main character, to show off his talents and intelligence. Indeed, for a change Nardole reaches the correct conclusions well in advance of The Doctor and Bill, even at great peril to himself. The Doctor's relationship with Missy serves to reinforce his long-standing ethics, but the reveal in the flashback plot is actually more satisfying than frustrating. Indeed, had it been written less well, "Extremis" would have been a big let-down to viewers.

Instead, "Extremis" allows Peter Capaldi to actually play The Doctor blind and he rises to the occasion in the few scenes where his eyes are visible. Matt Lucas lends force to his performance of Nardole acting with more authority during The Doctor's wounded period. Pearl Mackie is even granted an opportunity to show off more range as she portrays Bill with a lack of self-confidence and an elevating sense of fear throughout the episode.

The performances, plot development and the episode's few moments of character and theme are accented with cool special effects to make a pretty incredible Doctor Who episode.

For other works with Joseph Long, please check out my reviews of:
Dracula Untold
"Turn Left" - Doctor Who
Chasing Liberty

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Tenth Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the final season of Peter Capaldi as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

9/10

For other Doctor Who episode and movie reviews, please visit my Doctor Who Review Index Page!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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High Minded Antiwar Bore On Doctor Who: "The Zygon Inversion!"

The Good: Morality, Direction, Performances, Moments of character development
The Bad: Light on character development, Pacing
The Basics: "The Zygon Inversion" resolves the events of "The Zygon Invasion" surprisingly well!


Every now and then, I have a truly fascinating experience with something I review. That happened today with my review of the latest episode of Doctor Who. The new episode is "The Zygon Inversion" and it is a direct sequel to "The Zygon Invasion" (reviewed here!). It is also, in many ways, that episode's opposite. While "The Zygon Invasion" left me excited and challenged and cursing Doctor Who, I was easily able to admit that the episode was not particularly good (in the course of reviewing it, I kept lowering my ultimate rating of the episode). In other words, I enjoyed the episode on an aesthetic level, but not an intellectual one.

"The Zygon Inversion," on the other hand, I found well-constructed, clear and philosophically important. But, it bored me. Part of the problem is the impact of the set-up episode on "The Zygon Inversion" and it is impossible to discuss "The Zygon Inversion" without some references to how "The Zygon Invasion" ended. "The Zygon Invasion" climaxed with Clara being exposed as a Zygon infiltrator who claimed Clara was dead, shooting at The Doctor and Osgood's airplane. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart was "killed" off in a virtually identical way to Dr. Garner in the Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.L episode "Devils You Know" (reviewed here!) two weeks before, leaving genre audiences feeling pretty insulted by two of their favorite shows (and, hey, odds are running pretty high that The Walking Dead is playing the exact same card tonight!). So, going into "The Zygon Inversion," viewers had a pretty good idea that The Doctor would figure out how to save Clara and Kate would be proven to be still alive; all that we had as far as dramatic tension was the reveal of how the obvious plot events would play out.

And the writers and director Daniel Nettheim do a pretty decent job of playing the various elements out. "The Zygon Invasion" might have been an insipid set-up, but "The Zygon Inversion" is an inspired use of the elements left in play.

Opening with Clara waking up in her own nightmare, she begins to realize the connection between her and the Zygon infiltrator goes both ways. Clara is able to exert influence over her doppelganger long enough for The Doctor and Osgood to escape the plane before it is shot down with the replicant's second shot. As The Doctor and Osgood regroup, Clara manages to use the Zygon's body she is tethered to to send a text to The Doctor. Bonnie, the Zygon with Clara's form and memories, continues her relentless hunt for the Osgood Box.

As Bonnie searches for the Osgood Box, The Doctor calls the Zygon high commander and gets Clara to reveal through blinking where she is being held. After a side trip to a hospital where an exposed Zygon is killing people, The Doctor and Osgood make it to the underground facility where Clara was being kept in a Zygon pod, where they are reunited with Kate. But the Doctor and Osgood are too late; Bonnie interrogated Clara to learn the location of the Osgood Box and took Clara with her. The two sides converge in the Black Archive under the Tower Of London where The Doctor has to talk Kate and Bonnie out of activating their Osgood Boxes!

"The Zygon Inversion" is philosophy-heavy and it reminds viewers of some of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Peter Capaldi invites comparisons to Patrick Stewart for the way Capaldi's Doctor suddenly becomes a very talk-heavy philosopher. The world stands on the brink of destruction and a rousing speech is used to change the world. And it works. Peter Capaldi pulls off the emotion of a serious motivational speech without the wit or rancor that has defined much of his tenure as The Doctor so far, while still making it seem like he is the exact same character as he has played for the past season and a half.

The real performance victory in "The Zygon Inversion" comes from Jenna Coleman. Coleman plays both Clara Oswald and Bonnie and she makes both roles pop. As Bonnie, Coleman is able to play menacing, strategic and cold; as Clara, she plays very energetic and alive. There are quick intercuts between Bonnie and Clara at various points in the episode and Coleman's performance is so masterful that just watching the eyes of the person on screen, the character is obvious.

The rest of the performers are good, with Ingrid Oliver and Jemma Redgrave making their recurring guest star roles of Osgood and Kate, respectively, seem effortless to play.

The pace of "The Zygon Inversion" is a little slow and the episode has the feeling of being stretched to meet a minimum time requirement. The whole diversion at the hospital feels very much like filler and for an already short episode, that makes it somewhat less enjoyable.

The result is an episode where the parts work much better than those in "The Zygon Invasion," but the episode feels more tedious and mundane. Still, "The Zygon Inversion" uses the elements left to it well enough that it is far easier to recommend than its predecessor.

For other works with characters who have been replaced, please check out my reviews of:
"In Purgatory's Shadow" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"The Man In The Yellow Suit" - The Flash
"Face My Enemy" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Ninth Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the sophomore season of Peter Capaldi as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

8/10

For more Doctor Who reviews, please check out my Doctor Who Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Defy The Paradigm, Fall To It In "The Zygon Invasion!"

The Good: Good performances, Good set-up
The Bad: Character interpretations, Plot turns typical
The Basics: "The Zygon Invasion" starts with so much potential before becoming just another Doctor Who invasion story.


Often, before I sit down to review something that is part of a long-running series, I find myself writing about where the work is before specific component I am reviewing. So, when I sit to write a review of something like an episode of Star Trek or something from the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Doctor Who, I try to purge myself first of an preconceptions I might have in advance. In the case of Doctor Who the show has hit something of a conceptual wall for me. Before watching the episode entitled "The Zygon Invasion," I started to think about how many episodes the series has done devoted to attacks on Earth and invasions.

Seriously, writers and producers of Doctor Who, I get that you want to make the show something people care about and it's hard to write shows that make people care about other worlds more than their homeworld - especially when viewers have the sense that they'll never see a specific alien planet again - but Doctor Who invasion storylines are becoming incredibly tired. Every couple weeks an alien race or evil mastermind invades Earth and tries to take it over only to be thwarted by The Doctor and whatever Companion he has at the time. But here are the things about that: 1. There are billions of habitable planets in the known universe; at some point all of these idiotic Doctor Who villains have got to hear about The Doctor saving Earth and figure "there are easier places to conquer than that place where we and everybody else fails every single time!," and 2. In the quest to make an "alien invasion of the week" storyline work, the writers have gotten particularly lazy of late in Doctor Who, failing to make a compelling reason for why the aliens have to have Earth specifically. Say what you will about "Partners In Crime," but he episode made sense - the Adipose needed a nursery planet filled with fat, so they made a subtle invasion to spawn the next generation.

"The Zygon Invasion," then, is burdened from the start with making the viewer care outside the novelty of the return of beloved characters Osgood - who was killed off in "Death In Heaven" (reviewed here!) - and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. The episode heavily references the 50th Anniversary Special "The Day Of The Doctor" and it is virtually impossible to discuss "The Zygon Invasion" without some references to that. The name is something of a misnomer; the episode focuses on the consequences of attempting a peaceful resettlement on Earth for the alien Zygons and a splinter faction that breaks the peace. It makes for a more compelling story than the average alien invasion. . . at least at the outset.

After a recall of the peace treaty worked out with the Zygons with the help of the three Doctors, Osgood and the duplicate of Osgood makes a video recording to detail elements of the treaty should the peace break. As part of the treaty, twenty million Zygons were allowed to settle on Earth and take human form on the condition that they live out their lives in peace. The Osgoods mention a device left by The Doctor as a failsafe should the peace ever be broken and it is clear that both the Zygons and humans are worried about the actions of lone rogues who might make things worse for the rest of the world. Flashing to the present, Osgood flees a Zygon attack long enough to contact The Doctor and let him know the nightmare scenario has begun. The Doctor stakes out the Zygon leaders on Earth before finding out that they intend to deal with the rogue elements on their own. Moments later, the Zygon rogues kidnap the Zygons who are in human form and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart of U.N.I.T. learns that Osgood has been captured and that the identities and locations of the twenty million Zygons on Earth have been exposed.

Clara and The Doctor visit the Zygon polyp on Earth when the Zygons contact U.N.I.T. With the Zygon High Command murdered, the leaders of the splinter group demand that the Zygons on Earth be allowed to live in the open. While The Doctor travels to the U.N.I.T. base in Turmezistan, Clara discovers a Zygon base underneath her apartment complex. In Turmezistan, U.N.I.T. troops encounter people they recognize who claim to be hostages who have been replaced by Zygons back in the U.K. The Doctor finds Osgood there and learns the new rules for how the Zygons are able to operate on Earth (they no longer need to keep the humans they replicate alive after they get all their backstory from them). Working on the three fronts, The Doctor and his associates attempt to stop a full Zygon conquest of Earth.

"The Zygon Invasion" manages to turn the standard invasion story on its head pretty effectively until near the end. The invasion has already happened and the story is much more involved with characters wrestling with the insidious nature of shapeshifters living on Earth. The Zygons are presented as a diverse race in "The Zygon Invasion," which is not something Doctor Who frequently does. Most of the alien races The Doctor encounters are either individuals or treated as representative of their entire race. There is a political schism in the Zygons that reads as very realistic in "The Zygon Invasion."

Unfortunately, "The Zygon Invasion" degenerates into exactly what its potential seeks to undermine. The Zygons become yet another alien invasion force without distinction or a unique characterization. Their "need" for Earth is not explored in any compelling way and the show degenerates into a particularly straightforward shapeshifter story.

That said, "The Zygon Invasion" makes humans into utter morons all of a sudden. If the aliens in Doctor Who are frequently treated as idiotic for continuing to attack Earth for no specific reason ("The Zygon Invasion" does not make any sort of compelling argument for why the Zygon splinter faction can't or won't just leave Earth for another planet where they can live happily out in the own), the main characters of Doctor Who rather abruptly turn into similar idiots. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart journeys to Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico by herself and The Doctor flies off without any known quantities to Turmezistan. Clara comes closest to being smart by palling around with a U.N.I.T. commander.

Smart shows tend to make a basic protocol for uncovering shapeshifters. In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Adversary" (reviewed here!) Dr. Bashir comes up with a blood test for shapeshifters, which allows them a decent initial safeguard. Even that episode falls down a little in that the hunt for a lone shapeshifter has people pairing off. The buddy system is good, but ideal shapeshift protocol would be making a test, confirming humans and sending units of four out (people sleep in pairs with an overlap where all four are awake for eight hours). That's solid tactical thinking, at least for the start of an invasion involving shapeshifters. Doctor Who's U.N.I.T., which is supposed to be a military organization designed to combat alien threats has no clear protocol in "The Zygon Invasion" and thus comes across as ineffective, pointless, and - at its worst - stupid.

All that said, the climax of "The Zygon Invasion" gives viewers some hope for fans of Doctor Who who have been trying to reconcile issues from Peter Capaldi's first season. The episode "Listen" (reviewed here!) created a storytelling knot that Doctor Who fans have been trying to reconcile since "Death In Heaven." Clara and Danny Pink have descendants and his death in "Death In Heaven" has left viewers waiting for the other shoe to drop. Viewers have been waiting for the explanation of how Clara and Danny could have spawned a line that would lead to Orson - waiting for the retcon or the announcement that Clara is pregnant. "The Zygon Invasion" allows viewers the first glimpse of real hope in the idea that a Zygon replicant of Danny Pink was killed and that Danny might be alive in a Zygon containment facility somewhere.

Viewers who are so engaged, though, are likely to be disappointed by "The Zygon Invasion" in that it characterizes Peter Capaldi's version of The Doctor as less-than the David Tennant version of The Doctor. Doctor Who has done replicants, back in "The Sontaran Stratagem" and The Doctor's reaction throughout "The Poison Sky" is troublingly different.

That said, the performances in "The Zygon Invasion" are all good. Ingrid Oliver once again makes Osgood interesting and watchable. Jemma Redgrave returns as Kate, but does not seem nearly as efficient or professional. The character defects are unexplainable given how Redgrave once again slips into the role. Peter Capaldi is fine as The Doctor, but it is Jenna Coleman who has the performance of the episode, though it comes late enough in the episode that it can't be discussed in the review.

Ultimately, the episode is initially engaging before becoming utterly typical, which is a bit of a disappointment for those still sticking with Doctor Who.

For other works with shapeshifters, please check out my reviews of:
"The Search, Part II" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"Who Is Harrison Wells?" - The Flash
"Colony" - The X-Files

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Ninth Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the sophomore season of Peter Capaldi as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

5.5/10

For more Doctor Who reviews, please check out my Doctor Who Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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