Endings Are Such Sweet Repetition When "The Doctor Falls"

The Good: Decent performances, Ties the season together well, Good effects, Good character moments
The Bad: Repetitive plot and character elements from other Steven Moffat works
The Basics: "The Doctor Falls" puts Bill in mortal peril and The Doctor, Missy, Nardole and The Master in a situation that might spell all their doom.


Steven Moffat's run as showrunner of Doctor Who has been an erratic one. While a lot of fangirls came to love him, I was not a fan of Matt Smith's tenure as The Doctor. I was actually super-excited by Peter Capaldi being cast as The Doctor, but his three season run as The Doctor, which was separated by (essentially) a year off while the production team tried to figure out its next direction, was marred by pretty terrible writing. So, there was something of a "fuck you" quality to Steven Moffat's final season as showrunner as the writing suddenly got good and the production team finally figured out how to write and develop Peter Capaldi's version of The Doctor. Moffat's penultimate episode writing and executive producing Doctor Who with Peter Capaldi as The Doctor is "The Doctor Falls."

"The Doctor Falls" follows immediately upon "World Enough And Time" (reviewed here!) and it is impossible to discuss without some references to where the prior episode went. After all, "World Enough And Time" put The Doctor, Nardole, and Bill on a massive alien ship near a black hole and when Bill became separated from the others in a section of the ship moving at a radically-different rate of time, she falls prey to one of The Doctor's worst enemies.

"The Doctor Falls" opens with a tremendous burden upon it. "World Enough And Time" returned The Master, the John Simm version of The Master, to the Doctor Who narrative and because he came in so late in the prior episode, there was no burden in that episode to explain how The Master appeared. Missy has perfectly good reason not to recall being on the space ship in the form of The Master, as she has had more than a thousand years of being isolated wherein she has been able to dwell on many other things. But The Master in "World Enough And Time" defined himself as being the "former prime minister." How The Master ended up in deep space after being killed in "Last Of The Time Lords" (reviewed here!), but before being resurrected for "The End Of Time" (reviewed here!) bears an explanation and as "The Doctor Falls" opens, Doctor Who is stuck trying to make a satisfactory explanation for how that could occur. "The Doctor Falls" manages to remind viewers that The Master was not previously killed; he just went off with the Time Masters and his end was left vague before he popped back up as Missy. "The Doctor Falls" creates a new, weird, problem when it puts into play yet another TARDIS. The Master, after returning to Gallifrey, got his own TARDIS. So, despite there being a TARDIS graveyard in a prior episode, the implication that The Doctor's TARDIS was the last one, by the end of "The Doctor Falls" there are three in play in our universe - The Doctor's, Ashildr's, and The Master's. More satisfying than the explanation of how The Master got away from Gallifrey, "The Doctor Falls" closes the loop on The Master/Missy and the Cybermen. When Missy was first introduced, she was using Cyberman technology in her bid to take over Earth using the dead; how she got that technology makes perfect sense given where "The Doctor Falls" leaves The Master.

Picking up on level 507 of the ship, the humans on the colony ship are living in a holographic simulation of farmland on the solar farm level. They are using proto-Cybermen who have made it up to that level as scarecrows to keep the children from wandering. Back on the bottom level, The Doctor is confronted by The Master and Missy, having just learned that Bill has been transformed into a Cyberman. When The Master and Missy attack The Doctor, he has just enough time to reprogram the Cyberman computer to recognize Time Lords as eligible for Conversion. As the Cybermen converge upon the heroes, Nardole manages to get all of them away with Bill's help.

Reaching Level 507, Bill wakes up in a barn where she is alarmed by how the colonist children are terrified of her. She looks in the mirror and is confused by why she appears to be a Cyberman. Together, Bill, The Doctor, Nardole, Missy and The Master prepare Level 507 for a Cyberman siege as they skyrocket up to the level. But, as the Cybermen invade, The Master and Missy betray The Doctor and they have an escape plan on The Master's damaged TARDIS on the lower levels of the ship. In stopping the Cybermen, Nardole reprograms the holographic fields as weapons and evacuates the humans to a higher level. That leaves The Doctor and Bill to thwart the invading Cybermen, but The Doctor is wounded and his life hangs in the balance with no way out.

"The Doctor Falls" is quite good, especially as it winnows The Doctor's allies down. Ironically, as the episode began, I found myself rooting for Nardole and being surprisingly impressed over how vital the character managed to become. Matt Lucas rose to the occasion of being a full-fledged Companion and it was nice to see him become something more than a punchline.

The irksome aspect of "The Doctor Falls" is that Peter Capaldi's version of The Doctor suddenly becomes indispensable and incredible . . . right around his apparent end. The other disappointing aspect of "The Doctor Falls" is Steven Moffat's repetition for his own ideas. The moment Bill appears on Level 507 looking like Bill, it is hard for the seasoned Doctor Who viewer not to see exactly what is going on. Steven Moffat used the exact same reversal with (proto) Clara when she was introduced in the "Asylum Of The Daleks." It is tremendously disappointing and obvious to see Bill given the exact same arc with her new Cyberman body and The Master and Missy doing their usual betrayals of The Doctor.

In a similar way, Moffat wusses out on resolving Bill's character arc. Moffat seems terrified about giving a character a bad end . . . so he again recycles his own material. Fans who saw how Clara was ultimately written out in "Hell Bent" (reviewed here!) will instantly feel a sinking feeling the moment Bill sees her love interest from "The Pilot" (reviewed here!). Moffat's penchant for reusing material is disappointing in "The Doctor Falls."

That said, Pearl Mackie does incredibly well as Bill. Mackie might be working off a script that is familiar to Doctor Who fans, but she performs the material in a way that suddenly makes those who refused to invest in her character (Mackie was spoiled early on in the season as being a one-season Companion) completely care about her. Bill believed in The Doctor and she got screwed; her character was barely around long enough to learn about Regeneration - The Doctor never satisfactorily explained to her The Master. Bill's sense of hope is heartbreaking and Mackie lands the moment of epiphany.

Peter Capaldi's version of The Doctor is everything fans have wanted from him in "The Doctor Falls." Viewers are likely to wonder where the hell Moffat's talent was for giving Capaldi's character a unique voice up until this point.

All that said, "The Doctor Falls" is a powerful set-up for Peter Capaldi's final bow as The Doctor . . . and it is enough for fans to hope that Capaldi's leaving with the arrival of a new Executive Producer is a fake-out, much like the BBC did when announcing Jenna Coleman's departure an entire season in advance of her actual leaving.

For other Doctor Who season finales, please check out my reviews of:
"The Parting Of The Ways"
"The End Of Time, Part 2"
"The Big Bang"

[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!]

8.5/10

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

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Courage And Control Dominate Sense8 Season 2!

The Good: Good performances, Interesting characters
The Bad: Weaker plot and pacing
The Basics: Sense8 returns and unravels more of the world where eight individuals are able to share experiences and bodies and are on the run from a sinister corporation.


There are few shows I have been anticipating the return of like Sense8. When it first aired, I feel in love with the first season of Sense8 (reviewed here!) for its complexity and its strong beginning of a character-driven story. Given where the first season ended, Sense8 had a lot of potential difficulty with sustaining that narrative, which was a theory very clearly revealed when Sense8 released its second season premiere (reviewed here!) at Christmastime. Where the first season of Sense8 was preoccupied with stating the premise of the show - that there exists alongside homo sapiens a virtually identical species who has the ability to share minds, memories, experiences and swap bodies psychically - the second season of Sense8 is remarkably simple.

Sense8 Season 2 is largely a hunt for the characters who are intimately aware of B.P.O. and the characters who are farther away struggling to find their courage to rise up in their own personal conflicts. The result is a season where characters work toward resolution with the aspects of their lives from before they learned they were sensates split with characters desperately trying to hunt their hunters and understand the nature of the organization that is hunting the sensates.

And the second season of Sense8 eases into being complex and smart the way the first season was, but it takes a while to get there. For those who loved the first season of Sense8, the change in tone in the second season is noticeable. The second season of Sense8 trades the sex and nudity for more graphic violence, which is disappointing (for such an international show, it seems like a very American sell-out). On the plus side, the episodes feature a great deal of social commentary, though many of the most politically-astute lines are also the most clumsy - sounding like random social statements on gun violence, political activism, international economics, etc. But when it hits its stride, Sense8 continues to engage viewers by being smart and getting viewers to invest in all of the characters.

Opening with the sensate cluster struggling with their new realities, the hunt for Whispers and B.P.O. (the Biological Protection Organization) begins in earnest. While Lito struggles with coming out, Sun deals with being in prison, Nomi lays low, Wolfgang finds himself dealing with the gangster leaders in Berlin, Kala adapts to married life, Caphaeus rises up as a local hero and Riley keeps Will on heroin in order to keep him off Whispers's radar. Whispers and Will get into a race to discover where the other is and Riley keeps Will safe as best she can. In the process, Will is able to divine clues and tap into the B.P.O. hunters mind to win the race. With Nomi and Riley's help, Will is able to get access to the person who is pulling Whispers's strings. But when Whispers is sidelined, the danger actually escalates for the Sensates.

Wolfgang finds himself approached by a sensate from another cluster, one who works as an assassin and wants Berlin for her own purposes. Kala is promoted at work by her new husband, who expects her to fall in line with his corrupt business dealings. Capheus becomes a local hero after giving a great interview, fighting against the water rationing in his village, and is encouraged to run for public office to fight the corruption. Lito loses everything by coming out and after acting as the grand marshall in a Gay Pride Parade, he is dropped by his agents and struggles to find purpose and work again. Sun's brother puts out another hit on her life, which leads her to break out of jail and go on the run to stop him once and for all. Finding newfound life, Will begins to hunt Whispers, while Nomi is erased from public records and Riley is able to learn more about B.P.O. and its history through a mysterious new sensate. Riley discovers that B.P.O. began with far less sinister motives and she and Will begin to investigate the factions of B.P.O. But even the internal power struggle for B.P.O. is not enough to keep Will, Wolfgang, Nomi and Riley safe from the villainous company and their allied clusters!

The second season of Sense8 gets off to a much faster start than the first season, but it drags a bit more in the middle. The season more effectively uses flashbacks as Angelica's role at B.P.O. is explored more thoroughly. The mother of the cluster is seen working with Whispers in the past and the flashbacks give a sense of just how B.P.O. turned after its guiding influence was gone. The episodes also explain better how Whispers is able to use Sensates to achieve his goals.

Like the first season, the second season of Sense8 is packed with details, intended for a detail-oriented viewer. That occasionally works against the show in the second season, as moments that are build-ups to "shocks" are robbed of their intensity because of the details put into them. Most notable of these is one where Will is dreaming or in the head of an adversary and sees through his eyes the enemy's wife and child. Because the viewers have seen those characters before, the revelation of whose eyes Will is seeing through comes as far less of a shock than the music would have viewers believe.

That said, most of the important actions in the second season are driven by the characters. The key characters in the second season of Sense8 are:

Will Gorski - Disgraced as a cop for disappearing to rescue Riley from Iceland, he is kept on heroin to keep Whispers from seeing through his eyes. He uses his brief glimpses into Whispers to try to find his location and his mundane identity outside a hunter for the B.P.O. He is in love with Riley and finally gets his chance to express that in their day to day life. He gets nervous when Riley is enticed to go to Chicago . . . alone,

Riley Blue - Managing to keep Will safe by effectively disguising the location of their safe space, she soon finds herself fearless about her nature as a Sensate. But when she lures members of other clusters out into the open, she finds a mysterious new ally who knows most of B.P.O.'s checkered history. In the search for the true name of Whispers, she is able to locate leaders of the good faction in B.P.O., but in the process puts her and Will's partner at incredible risk,

Lito - Having lost everything, he becomes despondent. He and Hernando start to look for an apartment and they discover the only way they can afford their ideal one is by keeping Daniela in their lives. He takes the Grand Marshall position at the Sao Paolo Pride Parade and that brings his fans out after his latest movie flops. After getting depressed, he is rescued by an unlikely person,

Hernando - Having been loving and supportive of Lito, he falls in love with a new apartment for the pair. He consents to the move when Daniela is able to help the pair with rent. His compassion is balanced with Daniela's pragmatism,

Daniela - Having to be rescued by Lito and Hernando once again - this time from both her ex-husband and her parents - she feels indebted to the couple. When Lito hits rock bottom, she tries to inspire him back into action,

Sun Bak - Acclimating surprisingly well to prison life, she survives multiple attempts on her life funded by her brother. On the run on the outside, she is pursued by a detective with whom she has a past. She continues to come to the aid of others in her cluster when they need help kicking ass, but finds herself largely on the outside as she attempts to take back her family's business empire,

Nomi Marks - Pursued with Amanita by the F.B.I., she seeks refuge with Bug on Bug's boat. As the conflict with the F.B.I. and B.P.O. escalates, Bug presents her with an incredible option, the chance to disappear completely from the internet. With their identities erased, Nomi feels free enough to attend her sister's wedding and she has to rely upon Amanita to once again save her,

Wolfgang - Now one of the most powerful people in the Berlin underground, he finds himself balancing his love for Kala and the seduction offered by a new sensate from a different cluster. But as his love for Kala finds some expression, he is able to see through his new contact's lies. The result puts him in the crosshairs of traitors to the sensates and in almost constant danger from the thugs who work for rival gangs,

Kala - Married and miserable about it, she still pines for Wolfgang. She essentially forgives Wolfgang for his violent past (distant and recent) and is willing to "cheat" with him over the great distances that separate them. She debates coming clean to her husband about her true nature, but then discovers the corrupt nature of the pharmaceutical business he runs. She uses her medical knowledge to attempt to replicate the psi blockers that Will was given by B.P.O. to protect Riley and the rest of the cluster,

Capheus - Having stood up to the gangs, he starts driving his new bus when he is approached by a reporter. When the interview he gives leads to a follow-up, that allows him to rise in action against water pirates, he gains the attention of local political organizers . . . who want him to run for President. When his mother and the gangster he once worked for fall in love and he learns the corrupt nature of the company Kala works for, he is inspire to rise against the worst elements in Nairobi,

and Whispers - Hunting Will from inside the sensate's head, he is B.P.O.'s most reliable hunter. But when Will makes a power play, he finds himself on the outs with the company. To make up for his failure, he stages a brutal series of maneuvers against his enemies, including Jonas. When Will's father's health takes a turn for the worse, he finds a new way to torment Will.

The acting and direction in the second season of Sense8 is homogeneously good. But while the characters are interesting and the performances are wonderful, hell even Andy Dick gives an uncharacteristically good performance late in the season, the second season of Sense8 fills in some gaps, but lacks the spark of the first season. The result is an eleven-episode season that continues the story of the sensates but is not the essential and original show that the first season was.

For other works from the 2016 – 2017 television season, please check out my reviews of:
Dear White People - Season 1
"Thin Ice" - Doctor Who
The Walking Dead - Season 7
Thirteen Reasons Why - Season 1
Grace And Frankie - Season 3
Iron Fist - Season 1
Love - Season 2
Santa Clarita Diet - Season 1
A Series Of Unfortunate Events - Season 1
One Day At A Time - Season 1
Travelers - Season 1
The OA - Season 1
Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life
"Invasion!" - Arrow
"Farewell, Cruel World!" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"I Know Who You Are" - The Flash
"Aruba" - Legends Of Tomorrow
"Alex" - Supergirl
Luke Cage - Season 1
Stranger Things - Season 1

6.5/10

For other television and movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Tease The Threat For Sense8: It's Not Really "A Christmas Special!"

The Good: Good performances, Good direction, Moments of character
The Bad: Does not advance the plot significantly, Terrible name
The Basics: "A Christmas Special" seeds the important plotlines for the new season of Sense8 . . . fairly well.


[NOTE: This review was written when the second season premiere of Sense8 first aired. At that time, the episode was entitled "A Christmas Special." A week later, its name was changed to "Happy Fuckin' New Year." Rather than rewrite the review with its new title, we've opted to maintain the original wording.]

Of the Netflix Original shows, there is only one I have rewatched more times than the first season of Sense8 (reviewed here!). I have been eagerly awaiting the return of Sense8, as have many fans of the show. So, when Netflix and the Wachowskis suddenly revealed that there was a Christmas episode prepared to drop and a release date for the second season, my first reaction was excitement. That reaction was quickly tempered with a sense of cautious optimism.

There have been very few shows that have had a cliffhanger that have effectively placed an episode in between the cliffhanger finale and its resolution episode. In fact, while Doctor Who often does a Christmas episode that bears little or no resemblance to the season premiere/finale, the only show that comes to mind for inserting an episode as a "bonus" was The West Wing. The second season of The West Wing (reviewed here!) ended on a huge cliffhanger, but writer Aaron Sorkin felt compelled to write his own The West Wing reaction to the September 11, 2001 attacks and present that before the third season of The West Wing (reviewed here!). But "Isaac And Ishmael" opened with a very clear disclaimer by the cast that the episode is a tangent episode existing on its own as a de facto "alternate universe" episode. And the third season premiere of The West Wing began without any acknowledgment of that episode and given how intense the first season finale of Sense8 was, the idea of an interstitial episode in the Sense8 narrative was inherently troubling.

After all, how does one do "A Christmas Special" with so many characters in an intense state of angst?! The first season climaxed with most of the cluster aiding Will Gorski in rescuing Riley from the scientific complex run by the Sensate-obsessed doctor, Whispers. In the process, Will was compromised and is now a liability to his cluster and was last seen being drugged to keep him from regaining consciousness and connecting Whispers to the new cluster. The other big budding relationship in the first season was virtually destroyed when Wolfgang revealed his dark past and murderous abilities to Kala. So, with Nomi and Amanita laying low from the government, Lito outed, Max having just killed a prominent gangsters (and many of his men) and Will a threat to his entire cluster the moment he regains consciousness . . . naturally the next thing would be a Christmas episode.

Fortunately, "A Christmas Special" is a Christmas episode of Sense8 in name only. Covering at least five months, "A Christmas Special" advances the timeline of Sense8 by minorly advancing some of the characters, while merely restoring other characters to where they had been in the first season.

Opening with Kala on her honeymoon, which affords her fellow Sensates a chance to go for a swim, the outing is one of the few chances Will has an opportunity to escape his isolation. Riley has Will hooked on heroin in order to break the psychic bond between him and the rest of the cluster in order to protect them from Whispers. While Will is tormented by visions of Angelica killing herself, Sun remains in prison while her lawyers keep dropping her appeal and Lito is publicly outed and suffers the consequences of his honesty. Capheus loses the Van Damn after attempting to repair it. Wolfgang is approached with the consequences of his killing his uncle, while Amanita deals with being harassed by a U.S. government agent.

While Lito relocates from his condo, Sun fends off attacks by assassins hired by her brother and Kala tries desperately to make her marriage work. Capheus is given a new bus by the gangster whose life he saved, who appears to have turned over a new leaf by preparing to open clinics to provide health care to the people of the city. Wolfgang is unsettled when his aunt asks him to step into his uncle's shoes to prevent a turf war in Berlin, while Nomi and Amanita leave the women's shelter for the company of the unlikely person they are still able to trust. But when Riley takes Will out to ice skate, Whispers is able to access him and menace him with images of how the scientist is at Will's father's house. The threat to the cluster is not only from Whispers, though, as Wolfgang's refusal to join the mobster lifestyle leads to an explosive confrontation.

For those who hate trailers, the trailer for "A Christmas Special" certainly is not going to convert viewers; the final moment of the episode is in the trailer!

That said, it takes a while for "A Christmas Special" to actually establish its timeframe. "A Christmas Special" begins an ambiguous time after the first season finale; Capheus is still fishing bullets out of the Van Damn, Sun is still in solitary confinement, but Riley and Will have made it to an undisclosed location and Nomi and Amanita have been harassed enough by the same Federal agent for Amanita to have banter with him. But, as Thanksgiving nears, Michael Gorski reveals that Will has been gone for four months and the episode moves ahead to New Year's.

"A Christmas Special" is heavily reliant upon having seen the first season of Sense8 in order to get much of anything out of it. The flashbacks to Angelica make no real sense out of context and Sun's brother's crimes are more obliquely referenced so those who are not fans are not likely to catch that he killed their father. Fortunately, "A Christmas Special" manages to get out of the way some of the potential deadweight moments; Lito's storyline advances as he loses everything while remaining strong in coming out of the closet. Will's condition generally deteriorates over the months encompassed in "A Christmas Special," which sets up the whole idea that the way he is hiding from Whispers is not sustainable.

"A Christmas Special" presents a potential weak spot for Whispers as well; he has a family, but the episode also sets up his replacement when Jonas mentions that Whispers is not the only Sensate hunter active in the world.

Sense8 is flush with characters, so the two-hour special has a lot to do to satisfactorily service all of them. Some of the characters, most notably Riley, are under-used in "A Christmas Special." At the outset of "A Christmas Special," the primary characters are:

Will Gorski - Having seen Whispers, Whispers is now able to use him to access his cluster, so he is kept drugged and in an undisclosed, nondescript apartment. He is miserable, but is happy to be with Riley,

Riley Blue - Relegated to a supporting role, she keeps Will drugged to keep herself and the others safe. Still, she wants to enjoy some of her time with Will and takes him ice skating,

Lito - Outed by the press, he tells off his publicist, agent and lawyer in order to remain true to himself. Hernando and Daniela remain his steadfast lover and friend, respectively. But all indications are that his career as an actor is over,

Sun Bak - Kept in solitary confinement, she keeps the cluster focused on protecting Will and they, in turn, give her opportunities to escape her cell through them. She is hunted by minions of her brother, who want her to die in prison. Her former cellmates bribe the guards on her birthday so she doesn't have to be alone,

Nomi Marks - On the run from the government, she relies heavily on Amanita. They flee to Bug's boat, while she affords Will a single chance to contact his father,

Wolfgang - While he waits for Felix to recover, his aunt approaches him to take over his uncle's territory in the Berlin mob. While he has moments of being tempted by that, witnessing how one of the mobsters treats his uncle's lawyer - and with encouragement from Kala to be a better man - he turns back to a more just approach to dealing with people,

Kala - Deeply unhappy in her new married life, she accidentally hurts her new husband when they get around to trying to make love. She offers herself to Sun to get out of her cell and tries to see the good in Wolfgang after she witnessed how horrible he could be,

Capheus - He recovers from nearly getting killed and losing the Van Damn. He is put back on his feet by the mobster whose life he saved on his birthday and continues to idolize Sun for the way she helped him,

and Whispers - Now inside Will's head, he is eagerly hunting Will and Riley to try to break into the new cluster and learn the identities of the other five members he does not yet know.

The characters in "A Christmas Special" are very recognizable and familiar for who they have been. The performers, save the new Toby Onwumere, are all comfortable in their roles. Onwumere takes over the role of Capheus and writers Lana Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski use the recasting as a chance to make a few in-jokes pertaining to the recasting. Onwumere is erratic in recreating the cadences of Capheus's voice, slowly transitioning it from how the character sounded to a more natural speaking pattern for the actor.

The performance of the episode arguably comes from Miguel Angel Silvestre. Silvestre soars in providing reaction shots when Lito interacts with his mother and finds unexpected acceptance. Silvestre illustrates the most range in "A Christmas Special" when he transitions from ecstatic and fun to serious to the verge of heartbreak.

Tina Desai is once again impressive as Kala and she plays the character as beautifully conflicted. Desai continues to deepen her on-screen chemistry with Max Riemelt, but her performances are best when she plays Kala as attempting to commit to her marriage and when she plays humor. Tina Desai has an excellent sense of comic timing in one of "A Christmas Special's" funniest scenes, which is a would-be sex scene! Desai might well have the best agent of the cast as "A Christmas Special" includes a boatload of nudity from the main cast, with Desai showing the least amount of skin!

The direction from Lana Wachowski is generally good. Wachowski provides the obligatory orgy scene - it's not really "A Christmas Special" after all! - and there are some beautiful shots, most notably near the climax of the episode during Will and Riley's ice skating scene.

But "A Christmas Special" is very clearly more of a season premiere than it is anything resembling a holiday special. The episode is a strong opener for the second season, but it holds up very poorly on its own or as an event episode.

For other works from the 2016 – 2017 television season, please check out my reviews of:
The OA - Season 1
Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life
"Invasion!" - Arrow
"The Ghost" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"The Present" - The Flash
"Out Of Time" - Legends Of Tomorrow
"Medusa" - Supergirl
Luke Cage - Season 1
Stranger Things - Season 1

6/10

For other television season and episode reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Too Soon: David Tennant's Doctor Who Falls Prey To "The End Of Time, Part Two!"

The Good: Decent backstory for The Master, Good sense of morality, Decent performances
The Bad: Some wonky science, Moments where the Gallifreyans exhibit vast superhuman powers.
The Basics: "The End Of Time Part Two" concluded David Tennant's time as The Doctor with a story that oscillates between epic and ridiculous!


The more television I watch and review, the more I find that it is a true rarity for two-part episodes to be truly balanced. More often than not, the first part - which sets up a great conflict - is noticeably superior to the second part. There are a few exceptions to that rule, but the payoff to the well-established conflict is seldom as good as the set-up. As the tenure of David Tennant as The Doctor came to a close, Russell T. Davis prepared for the Doctor's departure with the two-part episode "The End Of Time." "The End Of Time, Part 1" (reviewed here!) was an erratic set-up episode, which made it very easy for "The End Of Time, Part 2" to become one of the rare exceptions where the second part was superior to the first.

"The End Of Time, Part 1" put a ridiculous number of elements into play: The Master was resurrected with super powers, aliens were working on Earth to salvage a mass medical treatment device, Wilfred Mott was seeing a mysterious woman, and the Ood had foreseen both The Doctor's death and the end of all time. By the end of the first part, all of the biggest conceits had been played as the Time Lords were revealed and the populace of Earth was transformed into The Master.

Opening on Gallifrey, its crystal sphere shattered, on the last day of the Time Lords, the council of Time Lords convenes and fears that The Doctor will end the Time War with the mutual destruction of the Daleks and Time Lords. They determine that The Doctor is on Earth and on Earth, The Doctor is a captive of The Master. But when Wilfred gets a call from Donna, The Master is instantly suspicious; because everyone in the world has been transformed into an incarnation of The Master, he knows there should be no one who would be calling Mott. The Master sends some of his duplicates to confront Donna and when she starts to recall her time with The Doctor, Donna releases a burst of energy that incapacitates her would-be assailants. Aided by the aliens working on Earth and Wilfred, The Doctor and the non-Masters manage to escape to the aliens' ship in orbit.

To find The Master, the Time Lords engineer The Master's madness and send a white point star (a Gallifreyen diamond) to Earth to act as a homing beacon in time and space to him to try to break through the time lock in which they are trapped. When The Master activates the white point star, the charismatic leader of the Time Lords rallies Gallifrey to save the Time Lords. The Doctor, having repaired the alien ship, makes an attack run on The Master's headquarters. The Master attempts to shoot down The Doctor's ship while the Time Lords create a portal into his headquarters. The ensuing conflict puts The Doctor literally in the middle of The Master and the President of the Time Lords with the fate of Earth, Gallifrey and time itself in the balance!

"The End Of Time, Part 2" is notable for fleshing out the backstory of The Master remarkably well. The Master's insanity (at least in Russell T. Davies's tenure) came from his lifelong headache generated by hearing a beating of drums within his head. The source and meaning of that beating is made explicit in "The End Of Time, Part 2" and the whole bootstrap paradox of it is surprisingly well-executed. John Simm plays the craziness and the temporal technobabble well.

Wilfred Mott's character is further deepened in "The End Of Time, Part 2," which makes it all the more tragic how he was not used sufficiently before this point. Mott's history as a soldier is detailed and, on the advice of the mysterious woman, he takes up arms. Mott frames the predicament Earth is in as an "us vs. them" scenario where the life of the Master might have to be sacrificed in order to save the more than six billion people he has transformed. It is a rare thing in Doctor Who for The Doctor to be faced with an opposing philosophical perspective that he is forced to consider and holds weight with his own. Mott makes for an instantly compelling character for having that level of gravitas.

The Doctor is presented in "The End Of Time Part 2" as predictably and wonderfully moral. Forced to take a gun by Mott, the standoff that dominates the critical scene of "The End Of Time, Part 2" is very tense, but holds true to The Doctor's moral core. In that way, there is a refreshing quality to "The End Of Time Part 2;" the purpose of the episode is to create a big ending for The Doctor, but the character's appeal is not mortgaged to make that moment.

David Tennant is great as The Doctor in "The End Of Time, Part 2." While there are moments with Timothy Dalton (The President) and John Simm (The Master) that threaten to overshadow on the performance front, Tennant and Bernard Cribbins (Mott) show the most range in the episode. The quiet scenes where The Doctor and Mott simply talk with one another give Tennant and Cribbins the chance to create genuine emotional depth on screen and they are impressive. The two play off one another well and both performers play sadness amazingly well. Tennant's last big scene with Cribbins allows Tennant to channel Christopher Eccleston's final moments as The Doctor and the tie-in is subtle but played out perfectly by Tennant's performance.

"The End Of Time, Part 2" is quite a bit better than the first part, but it is far from flawless. The science of the episode is wonky at best. While I can live with the paradox that created The Master's insanity, the appearance of Gallifrey in orbit around Earth would have absolutely decimated Earth. Similarly, The Master's electrical hands should have made it impossible for The Doctor, Wilfred and the aliens to escape (after all, why wouldn't all of his duplicates be superpowered the way he is?!) and The President's magical gauntlet is not satisfactorily explained in-episode.

Despite that, the montage sequence caps off "The End Of Time, Part 2" is a lot of fun and acts as a wonderful reprise to the way "Journey's End" (reviewed here!) gave each of The Doctor's allies a chance to say good-bye. The climax of the episode is, as one might expect, emotional and David Tennant makes saying goodbye to his incarnation of The Doctor a truly sweet sorrow.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Fourth 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 David Tennant as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

For other big finales, be sure to visit my reviews of:
"What You Leave Behind" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"Gethsemane" - The X-Files
"Episode 29" - Twin Peaks

7/10

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

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Come The End Of The Universe, Doctor Who Remains Ethical Through His "Journey's End!"

The Good: Performances, Donna Noble's character arc, Plot progression/resolution
The Bad: Martha Jones is woefully underused
The Basics: "Journey's End" manages to be fun, adventurous Doctor Who as it ties up the franchise Russell T. Davies had created.


I am not an expert on Doctor Who. In fact, of the pre-2005 Doctor Who, I have seen almost none. As a result, I am not exactly sure how long the conceit for the series had been in place about the number of times The Doctor can regenerate, but by the end of "Journey's End" and "The Day Of The Doctor," that conceit had pretty well been violated beyond any sensible continuity. After all, as "Journey's End" begins, The Doctor is regenerating and, with the retcon of The War Doctor (however that is justified by fans to be canon), by an objective count, marks the first appearance of the Twelfth Doctor! But, rather than quibble about such things, let's look at the fourth season finale of Doctor Who: "Journey's End."

"Journey's End" picks up in the seconds following "The Stolen Earth" (reviewed here!) and there is little point to discussing the episode without referencing the events of the prior episode. Indeed, it is pretty much impossible, given that this is the second part of a two-part episode and the first part worked very hard to bring back almost everyone significant from Russell T. Davies's tenure on Doctor Who. "Journey's End" brings back the two stragglers missing from the first part and completes the writer's love letter to Doctor Who in a way that is not only enjoyable for fans, but is a pretty solidly enjoyable hour of television!

Opening with The Doctor, Rose, Donna, and Harkness in The TARDIS after The Doctor was shot by a Dalek, The Doctor regenerates. Much to the chagrin of those present, he retains his present (David Tennant) form and channels some of his regeneration energy into his preserved hand, which is on the TARDIS bridge. On Earth, Sarah Jane is rescued by Micky and Rose's mother, while the Torchwood team is trapped in their building in order to keep the Dalek's out with a temporal lock. The Daleks abduct the TARDIS and Martha Jones travels to Germany with a key that will activate the world's nuclear arsenal and destroy the Earth.

When The Doctor, Rose, and Harkness disembark on the Crucible, Donna Noble remains on the TARDIS when the Dalek's send it to the heart of the Crucible to be destroyed. Before the TARDIS can be destroyed, though, Donna Noble regenerates The Doctor from his amputated hand and saves the ship. The new Doctor is human and has a connection to Donna. The Dalek's attempt to kill Harkness and Martha prepares to activate Earth's self-destruct mechanism, while The Doctor and Rose are brought before Davros and Dalek Caan. Davros and Caan have brought the stolen worlds together to create a reality bomb and The Doctor and his allies must thwart them before Martha destroys the world!

"Journey's End" is a packed little episode that allows fans of Doctor Who to (metaphorically) have their cake and eat it, too. The duplicate Doctor provides a satisfying resolution for Rose Tyler's arc and, in the process, makes Donna Noble into one of the most important Doctor Who characters ever! At long last, Donna Noble's character becomes remarkable and the way she is made special is a wonderful character twist that plays out brilliantly.

The flirting between The Doctor and Rose Tyler is a welcome reward for those who sat through the heartbreak of "The Parting Of The Ways" (reviewed here!) and "Doomsday" (reviewed here!). David Tennant and Billie Piper fall into perfect rhythm and chemistry as if they had never stopped working with one another and were truly into one another. Their reunion and their time together on screen for the bulk of "Journey's End" is a true treat to watch.

But flirting is nowhere near the peak of David Tennant's performance abilities in "Journey's End." Playing the role of the familiar Doctor and the new, human, Doctor, allows Tennant to express more range. The new Doctor has a great comedic introduction, which allows Tennant and Catherine Tate to play to their well-honed (from other projects) comedic banter. Tennant differentiates his human Doctor with a slightly agape mouth and exposition and epiphanies that come slower than normal, which helps to make for a new-feeling character.

At the other end, Catherine Tate has to play Donna as a Timelord and her comedic patter is an asset. Tate stretches her range by delivering technobabble exposition brilliantly.

As "Journey's End" progresses, it starts to eek toward the ridiculous as the allied of The Doctor move into check with the Daleks by producing not just one, but two, apocalyptic devices that can thwart their plans. Fortunately, "Journey's End" quickly redirects from the plot conceit to the intense character dilemma of the episode. The Doctor abhors violence, but to save existence itself, he is in position to authorize the destruction of Earth or the Crucible. The retrospective of (not even all!) the people who have died in the service of The Doctor is horrifying and recalling it has an effect on The Doctor. The Doctor's sense of compassion has often defined his character and in "Journey's End," that compassion is challenged. The moment is not belabored, but it helps to keep the show feeling very Doctor Who. And, its being revisited at the climax of the action helps to keep the character pure and the episode focused.

Outside a single special effect - Donna getting blasted - "Journey's End" has wonderful special effects. The restoration sequence might have incredibly wonky science, but it is well-rendered. Similarly, the thwarting of the Daleks is presented somewhat ridiculously, even though it is fun to watch.

"Journey's End" has a strong sense of resolution to it and the disgust The Doctor feels for his counterpart is a clever twist to the episode. "Journey's End" might underuse Martha Jones, but it packs a lot into the episode and is self-referential to Doctor Who while still managing to be entertaining and engaging for more casual viewers!

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Fourth 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 David Tennant as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

For other sweeping season finales, please check out my reviews of:
"Call To Arms" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" - Daredevil
"Ascension" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

8.5/10

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

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Proper Return Of Rose Tyler Signals The End Of The Franchise With "The Stolen Earth!"

The Good: Fun, Good plot set-up
The Bad: No genuine character development, Light on notable performances, Plot-heavy
The Basics: "The Stolen Earth" works great in conjunction with its second part, but on its own it is exceptionally cumbersome, self-referential television.


When it comes to season finales, there are few shows that truly know how to lead into the end of a season like Doctor Who. The best serialized shows do a decent job of building to a season's end, but in episodic television or semi-serialized shows like Doctor Who, it can be a bit tougher. Throughout the fourth season of Doctor Who, Rose Tyler had been popping up in the background, for viewers who knew where to look at just the right time. But at the climax of "Turn Left" (reviewed here!), an episode that outright featured Rose Tyler, there was an urgency that came with the return of Bad Wolf, which led into the first moments of "The Stolen Earth."

"The Stolen Earth" is the payoff to hints and clues dropped throughout the fourth season and the first of two parts of a story that, essentially, is closing the book on the franchise Russell T. Davies had created with the modern Doctor Who and its various spin-off projects (Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and all of the projects that were pitched but failed to be produced). As Davies said his first of two good-bye's to Doctor Who, fans were rewarded for paying close attention early in the season.

The Doctor and Donna Noble arrive on Earth, on a Saturday, where The Doctor is relieved to find everything appears all right. Nervous about Donna's encounter with Rose and the appearance of Bad Wolf everywhere on their last adventure, The Doctor returns with Donna to the Tardis and, moments later, the Earth disappears entirely. Far across the universe, Earth is intact and at U.N.I.T. Headquarters in New York, Martha Jones awakens to discover the sky has changed. Torchwood, Sarah Jane, and Wilfred all discover that they are somewhere else entirely - based upon the sheer number of planets in the sky and the nebula around them. Rose appears on Earth with a massive weapon and declares that the trouble has just begun.

Earth's troubles quickly materialize in the form of an armada of Daleks. While U.N.I.T. and the ultra-secret Project Indigo attempt to fight the Daleks attacking Earth, The Doctor and Donna arrive at the Shadow Proclamation. There, they discover that 27 planets (including the Lost Moon Of Poosh) have been teleported out of time and space to create a world engine of some sort. On Earth, Martha Jones activates Project Indigo and disappears, leaving Jack Harkness to declare her dead. The abductors of the many planets are soon revealed to be Dalek Caan and Davros, The Doctor's ancient enemy and the creator of the Daleks! The Doctor and Donna follow a trail to discover Earth and the other missing planets in the Medusa Cascade, while Harriet Jones contacts The Doctor's various allies and attempts to assemble them into a force that can contact The Doctor and thwart the Daleks!

"The Stolen Earth" is the payoff to a lot of dangling threads in the Doctor Who expanded universe, writing out the spin-offs and finally presenting The Shadow Proclamation on-screen (before this, it just sounded like an interstellar agreement that kept various planets in order). The joy of seeing the various elements of Doctor Who and its spin-offs together on-screen is fun. The idea that Harriet Jones might be Earth's savior with her subwave network is a nice way to reward the first season's character who was sadly dismissed in the beginning of the second season. That, essentially, her heroic end comes in the attempt to make an interstellar cell phone call is wickedly ironic.

The episode, however, is predicated on a lot of truly wonky science. While the episode does a decent job of paying lip service to science by having Torchwood recognize that there is a force field keeping in Earth's heat and air, the very idea of The Darkness is clever only if one turns off their brain. In addition to the Judoon's language not being translated, despite them and The Doctor being proximate to the TARDIS, in order for Rose Tyler to know about the threat in the alternate universe - in the form of The Darkness - the stars going out would have had to have been extinguished for millennia. How the boosted cell phone signal reaches the TARDIS when Martha's phone does not is not made truly clear - after all, mystical cell phone, how does it fail?! And while Donna's notion of the disappearing bees is an interesting one, following a pollen trail across the universe seems pretty wonky.

"The Stolen Earth" spends almost forty minutes establishing its premise, as opposed to actually doing anything. It is fun and it is a lot of plot set-up; it is not until Rose Tyler longingly looks at a screen with The Doctor on it and realizes that he cannot see or hear her that viewers get even a moment of depth from any of the franchise's significant, enduring, characters. That is not to say that Harriet Jones squaring off with the Daleks is not good - actress Penelope Wilton sheds the cheap punchline of her character for a moment with genuine gravitas - but she is no Captain Jack Harkness! Objectively viewed, "The Stolen Earth" is like a fanfic writer's wet dream long before it becomes its own significant entity.

So, when Rose realizes The Doctor cannot see her and The Doctor laments that his team includes everyone but Rose, "The Stolen Earth" finally transitions into something significant. The Doctor's longing for Rose is one of the few, genuine, on-screen hints that The Doctor might reciprocate Rose's love for him.

Unfortunately, that deep character-driven moment with the episode's acting peak, is interrupted by the revelation of Davros. The resulting scene is more exposition and, based on Sarah Jane's reaction, it is a call-back to events from the classic-Doctor Who. Davros was, apparently, killed in the last great Time War, but rescued by Dalek Caan and the emotional resonance of his return cannot be realized by those who are only fans of the new (2005 on) Doctor Who. In other words, in creating his good-bye to his incarnation of Doctor Who and its expanded universe, Russell T. Davies is forced to rely on a big emotional moment for The Doctor that those new fans will not, inherently, appreciate.

That said, "The Stolen Earth" features one of the most wonderful and heart-breaking moments for fans of Doctor Who as Rose and The Doctor are (almost) reunited. The two running toward one another is sweet and gets fans' hearts racing, but the moment succumbs to yet another big plot events.

"The Stolen Earth" is, very much, a set-up episode. It is a fun episode. But objectively viewed, on its own, it is cumbersome, often dull, and exposition-heavy. It is the hype for the season finale; there are two decent moments of performance, two moments where characters shine and emote . . . and the rest is special effects, plot exposition, and a bunch of people getting excited about meeting one another. I don't recall disliking the episode any time I watched it, but the truth is, I've always immediately viewed "Journey's End" after watching "The Stolen Earth." Viewer together, the two-parter is something special; but "The Stolen Earth," on its own, viewed for just what is in the episode, is particularly unremarkable, insular, and self-referential in a way that fails to be even entertaining for the bulk of the episode.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Fourth 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 David Tennant as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

For other multi-part season finales, please visit my reviews of:
"Becoming" - Buffy The Vampire Slayer
"The Dogs Of War" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"Absolution" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

4/10

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

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Jumping Back To "The Doctor's Daughter" Reveals An Unremarkable Loose End!

The Good: Moments of character, Pacing, Moments of performance from Catherine Tate
The Bad: Acting from David Tennant and Georgia Moffett, Dull use of Martha Jones
The Basics: "The Doctor's Daughter" is a surprisingly blase episode . . . that feels much more interesting than it objectively is.


There's something unsettling about reviewing two different seasons of Doctor Who at a time. As I write this, the 9th Season of Doctor Who is in mid-stride and between new episodes each week, I'm trying to catch up on reviews of prior season's episodes. Jumping from Capaldi back to Tennant is nowhere near as seamless as one might expect! I'm back to "The Doctor's Daughter," an episode that has thus far never been revisited, despite the potential it represents and the occasional allusion to it.

"The Doctor's Daughter" picks up instantly after "The Poison Sky" (reviewed here!). As that episode wrapped up, Martha Jones visited the TARDIS with The Doctor and Donna Noble when the TARDIS decided to abruptly take off. "The Doctor's Daughter" erupts with no fanfare and the novelty of the episode makes it a harder one to return to later on.

The TARDIS lands abruptly on the planet Messaline where The Doctor is eager to get out and explore. The trio finds themselves in an underground compound and human soldiers instantly appear. Seeing no marks on the visitor's hands, the Doctor's hand is stuck in a machine which instantly generates a new human soldier based on his DNA. The young woman who comes out of the progenation machine is armed, but unable to defend Martha Jones from getting captured by the alien Hath. The Doctor and Donna are escorted to the human colony where they learn from Cobb the history of the planet. Cobb tells them that the humans and Hath are competing over the Source. Martha, for her part, sets a Hath's arm and ingratiates herself to the Hath army.

Cobb refuses to trust Jenny, as Donna names the Doctor's cloned daughter, so he locks her up with Donna and The Doctor. Jenny is excited by The Doctor's tactical knowledge, but he is resistant to accepting his new "daughter." As the Hath move off toward the Source, Donna discovers that Jenny is a Time Lady (biologically, anyway) and the trio escapes. Martha makes her way to the surface of the planet with one of the Hath, but discovers it to be a wasteland. While Donna goads The Doctor into accepting Jenny, The Doctor tries to figure out how to end the war between the humans and the Hath.

"The Doctor's Daughter" is a fun episode in many ways, but the concept is somewhat undermined by the performance. Fans might love seeing David Tennant on screen with the woman who would become his wife, but acting alongside Georgia Moffett is actually one of the problems with the episode. Tennant and Moffett have a palpable chemistry between them and in the scene where The Doctor, Jenny, and Donna are imprisoned is undermined by that chemistry. Tennent smirks his way through most of the scene, which does not work given how resistant the Doctor is supposed to be to the idea of Jenny. Indeed, Tennent's lines ring of the character being offended by the violation of his cells being used to generate Jenny and of being around as the humans prepare to wipe out the Hath, but it's hard to take The Doctor seriously when Tennent's eyes are smiling the whole time.

Donna Noble continues to develop well in "The Doctor's Daughter." Throughout the compound are number plaques and Noble works very hard to figure out what the numbers mean. Noble is used better than Martha Jones who is given a story that feels very much like a tangent. The irony is that the entire fourth season is peppered with Rose appearing in the background until the big, final arc: her reappearance comes as part of a very vital, big story. Martha's appearance in "The Doctor's Daughter" is hardly a compelling character journey. In fact, given how she is now a full-fledged medical professional, it seems odd that she lacks any sense of professional detachment to deal with the death of a Hath who sacrifices itself for her.

The Hath are an interestingly-designed alien species and the prosthetic special effect is offset by the low-tech effect of the laser beam grid. When Jenny flips her way through the laser grid, it is filmed in such a way as to cheat the actual incredible feat.

Ultimately, "The Doctor's Daughter" is very much a bottle episode, which is not particularly impressive in any real way, but does not feel bad.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Fourth 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 David Tennant as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

For other stories about wars without end, please check out my reviews of:
"Battle Lines" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Angel
"Episode 29" - Twin Peaks

4.5/10

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

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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U.N.I.T. Becomes Interchangeable With S.H.I.E.L.D. In "The Poison Sky!"

The Good: Plot moves along well, Adequate performances
The Bad: Light on character development, Fairly predictable
The Basics: "The Poison Sky" resolves the action of "The Sontaran Stratagem" adequately, but not exceptionally.


In television and movies, sequels and second parts often have a difficult time living up to the potential alluded to in the first part. Even so, some make a decent showing of it and "The Poison Sky" fares better than most second parts. "The Poison Sky" picks up immediately after "The Sontaran Stratagem" (reviewed here!). As a result, it is impossible to discuss "The Poison Sky" without revealing some of where "The Sontaran Stratagem" left the major characters and plotlines.

For "The Poison Sky," U.N.I.T. reveals a potential previously only alluded to in Doctor Who (at least the new episodes of Doctor Who; I've no idea how the organization is represented in "classic" Doctor Who). They have a helicarrier, much like S.H.I.E.L.D. from Marvel Comics or The Avengers (reviewed here!). "The Poison Sky" opens at an appropriately bleak moment for the protagonists: the ATMOS devices are poisoning the Earth, Martha has been replaced by a replicant, Luke Rattigan had betrayed the planet to Sontarans, and Wilfred was trapped in his car, choking to death. "The Poison Sky," predictably, resolves everything set up in "The Sontaran Stratagem" and moves the relationships The Doctor has with Donna Noble and Martha Jones forward.

Sylvia Noble manages to rescue Wilfred and she objects to Donna going off with The Doctor, but Donna leaves anyway. The Doctor uses the opportunity to give Donna a key to the TARDIS and as the world chokes on fumes created by the ATMOS devices in 400,000,000 of the world's cars, Donna is secreted away to the TARDIS. Unfortunately, The Doctor tips his hand to the Martha Jones Replicant, who has the Sontarans teleport the TARDIS up to the Sontaran mothership. U.N.I.T.'s commander, Colonel Mace, orders Earth's nuclear arsenal to train on on the Sontaran ship as The Doctor tries to signal Donna Noble. The Martha Jones Replicant prevents the nuclear arsenal from launching.

As the Sontarans attack the ATMOS factory, the Doctor realizes they are interested in something inside the factory and are working to protect it. As Rattigan wigs out on his would-be disciples, he flees back to the Sontaran ship where he discovers the aliens have used him. Mace marshals U.N.I.T.'s forces to attack the Sontaran positions in the factory while Donna Noble escapes the TARDIS to get the teleporter back online. When The Doctor rescues Martha, they discover what the Sontarans are actually after on Earth and the Doctor and his two Companions work together to stop them.

"The Poison Sky" firmly establishes The Doctor's loathing of guns in a way that prior episodes have not and the episode is one of the prime reasons "In The Forest Of The Night" (reviewed here!) does not work several seasons later (honestly, if Earth-saving entities would make the world a forest to save humanity from solar flares, why wouldn't they save them from the Sontarans?!"

The science of "The Poison Sky" is a bit wonky. Carbon monoxide, one of the gasses being released by the ATMOS devices around the world, is highly flammable in an oxygen atmosphere . . . but the oxygen would be consumed to combust the CO. The Doctor's solution to the ATMOS poisoning of Earth's atmosphere would have wiped out all life on Earth!

Beyond that, "The Poison Sky"is well-presented, but not very high on character development. Wilfred Mott continues to worry about Donna Noble and The Doctor is as clever as usual, but only Donna really develops in the episode. Donna's trip into the Sontaran ship has her moving from being, essentially, an investigator to an action hero. In "The Poison Sky," she dispatches a Sontaran warrior that that's a big step for her!

The performances in "The Poison Sky" are good, but none of them particularly challenge any of the actors.

Ultimately, "The Poison Sky" resolves the story started in "The Sontaran Stratagem" in a very straightforward way. It's an average episode with little to excite viewers and little to complain about.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Fourth 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 David Tennant as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

For other works with Biddy Hodson, please check out my reviews of:
Hellboy
The Mists Of Avalon
Bedazzled

5/10

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

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Alien Invasion With Environmental Systems: "The Sontaran Stratagem!"

The Good: Good character definitions, Decent plotting, Good acting
The Bad: Light on character development
The Basics: An average set-up episode for an alien invasion storyline, "The Sontaran Stratagem" does what it sets out to do without much flair.


Fans of Doctor Who who liked Martha Jones as a Companion for David Tennant's version of The Doctor had every reason to feel cheated by the direction the show went. After two solid seasons with Rose Tyler as The Doctor's Companion, Martha Jones had her chance and after her season (reviewed here!), she abandoned The Doctor and he reluctantly came back to Earth and took Donna Noble as a Companion for his travels in the TARDIS. The non-romantic travels between The Doctor and Donna Noble were interesting and good, but it did not take long for Martha Jones to resurface. "The Sontaran Stratagem" was her first episode back!

"The Sontaran Stratagem" introduces the newer Doctor Who audience to the militaristic aliens The Sontarans and the episode has a classic Doctor Who feel to it. That mood comes from the inclusion of UNIT and Martha Jones as an active soldier/doctor in the organization. In many ways, "The Sontaran Stratagem" is a basic invasion storyline for Doctor Who.

Opening at the Rattigan Academy on Earth, the cultlike young people there kick a reporter out. The smarmy leader of the students, Luke Rattigan, threatens reporter Jo Nakashima, who claims that the ATMOS is dangerous. When Nakashima attempts to contact UNIT, her car drives her into the river, killing her. In the TARDIS, Donna Noble is practicing flying the time machine when Martha Jones calls and requests the Doctor return to Earth. Martha takes command of a UNIT team for Operation Blue Sky, which is rounding up illegal aliens at the ATMOS factory. Jones figured out fifty-two deaths worldwide the day before happened simultaneously in cars with ATMOS systems installed.

The Doctor is understandably concerned, especially if an alien influence was to marshal the force of 800 million cars. When two UNIT soldiers investigate the basement level of the ATMOS factory, they uncover an entity that is in an embryonic state before they encounter a Sontaran soldier. While investigating the ATMOS system leaves The Doctor and UNIT puzzled, Donna smartly observes that none of the workers at ATMOS have taken a sick day! When Martha begins investigating the workers, she is captured by the Sontarans. While The Doctor squares off against Luke Rattigan, Martha is replaced by a Sontaran replicant!

"The Sontaran Stratagem" has somewhat minimal character development, which makes some sense given that it is the set-up episode of a two parter. The episode takes just enough time to re-establish Martha Jones before pushing ahead with the ATMOS/Sontaran storyline. Jones is immediately recharacterized as no longer in love with The Doctor. While there is a charming exchange between Donna and Martha, Martha and The Doctor redefine their relationship in a compelling way when Jones stands up to The Doctor. Martha joined UNIT, we learn, because while The Doctor gets to go on his next adventure, some people stay behind and have to deal with the consequences of his actions.

The redefined character of Martha Jones works surprisingly well and she interacts with Donna in an interesting way. Donna proves herself smart and clever enough to intrigue Martha and Martha feels compelled to warn Donna that she needs to look out for her family if she is going to continue traveling with The Doctor. That gives Donna the perfect excuse to go off an reunite with her family, most importantly her grandfather Wilfred.

Luke Rattigan is instantly reminiscent of Adam Mitchell from "Dalek" (reviewed here!) and, more relevantly, "The Long Game" (reviewed here!) and The Doctor treats Rattigan much the way he (in his earlier incarnation) treated Mitchell. It helps lend the comparison that The Doctor uses the same joke in this episode that he did in "Dalek." Rattigan is smart, but arrogant and his weakness in that regard seems to entirely overwhelm the intelligence he possesses. The result is that Rattigan seems just as generic as the Sontaran soldiers.

The performances in "The Sontaran Stratagem" are good, but only Freema Agyeman is given anything significant to do that requires her to show more range than she did in prior episodes. After effortlessly stepping back into the role of Martha Jones, Agyeman has to play the Jones Replicant and adding menace to her range is delightfully chilling.

In the end, "The Sontaran Stratagem" does what it sets out to do: it creates a small mystery needed to bring The Doctor back to Earth and put Martha Jones and her replicant in play, while leaving enough story for the second part to feel full in its own right. The mystery of the ATMOS system is presented compellingly enough in "The Sontaran Stratagem" and it leaves viewers eager to find out the "why" that this episode leaves lingering!

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Fourth 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 David Tennant as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

For other television episodes involving invasions, please check out my reviews of:
"A Call To Arms" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"And The Sky Full Of Stars" - Babylon 5
"Aliens Of London" - Doctor Who

6/10

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

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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