"You are sad for the friend that you have lost. But rejoice for the friend that is being returned to you."
This is the first episode to have a single word title. That means next to nothing, but it struck me as odd and so I'm telling you.
Still no Barbara in this one, but at least they set the plot in motion to get her back next week (or tomorrow as the case may be.)
After we finished watching tonight's ep Ang and I were discussing the series so far. We pretty much agreed that they were still getting things down at this point. One of those things was pacing. There are times in the longer stories where things are dragged out longer than they need to be to pad the story.
Tonight's episode fits into that category. As I said in my last post I think that this story could be cut down to five episodes and actually been better.
On to the episode.
At the end of the last episode the Doctor went down into the aqueduct to find out what has been poisoning the Sensorites. He found belladonna and got a face full of cliffhanger for his trouble.
Kidnap begins with Susan and a still recovering Ian finding the Doctor worked over like a pinata after a WWE Smackdown themed birthday party. OK, he's unconscious and has had his coat ripped to shreds in the back, but it's two years too early for Troughton so they didn't take it too far.
Apparently the thing that attacked him struck him under the "heart." Not "hearts." The idea that the Doctor had two hearts wasn't thought of until a few years later. Some fans have tried to retcon this into Time Lords not getting their second heart until after they've regenerated for the first time. Instead of baby teeth think baby cardio-vascular system.
The City Administrator had put his plot to kill the Doctor and his friends on hold. He figured that with the Doctor going to the aqueduct (the Sensorite equivalent of Hell) the alien wouldn't have long to live.
One of the Administrator's spies catches sight of the three travelers dragging themselves back from the aqueduct. He overhears them discuss the evidence that they have that a Sensorite is working against them.
The City Administrator forces the Second Elder to contact the First Warrior (apparently the Sensorites will NEVER refer to one another by anything other than their rank or title under threat of TORTURE) to get the firing key to the disintegrater and deliver it to the Second Elder (really the City Administrator in his clever disguise of wearing a sash instead of a collar.)
The Doctor and party witness the exchange on their way back and the Doctor tries to chase down the "Second Elder" to chew his ear off about something. The City Administrator gives the Doctor the slip and returns to the disintegrater with the firing key.
The real Second Elder breaks free, destroys the key and ends up getting killed in the action. The Administrator's lackey freaks out and starts making plans to run away to the mountains to avoid justice. The Administrator wants to use this to their advantage and cooks up a scheme to frame the Doctor for the murder of the Second Elder.
The Doctor, Ian and Susan return to the First Elders palatial mansion (OK, spartan room) and tell him of what happened in the aqueduct. They also discuss the unusual behavior of the Second Elder.
The Doctor is given a fetching cloak to make up for the lose of his coat. I think that this scene marks the first time that the Doctor "drops" a name. He says that Beau Brommel always said that he looked good in a cloak.
At that moment the Administrator, his lackey and the First Warrior enter. The First Warrior witnessed the Doctor chase the "Second Elder." The lackey testifies that the Doctor took something from his coat and whacked the Second Elder. Actually he didn't use the word "whacked," it just amuses me to think of a Sensorite doing a bad Tony Soprano. The key was destroyed in the scuffle.
Ian and the First Elder see through this tissue of lies and have the man arrested.
In perhaps one of the biggest D'OH moments of the series the Doctor recommends that the Administrator be elevated to the position of Second Elder.
I have a big problem with the accusation scene. The only reason that the Administrator was able to pass as the Elder was by wearing the sash around people who didn't know the Second Elder's face (or didn't know him.) The First Warrior handed the Administrator the key. An hour or two later he saw him in the First Elder's home.
Why doesn't the First Warrior realize that the person he gave the key to, the person who was supposedly killed is standing in front of him?
He was able to identify the Doctor and the writer took pains to say that the Sensorites have as much trouble differentiating us as we do telling them apart.
Meanwhile, John has received his final treatment and is his old self again. His memory of his mad-ass crazy period is, at best, hazy. Now that his mind is back to normal he's lost his good/evil radar and looking to get back home to Earth and settle down with Carol.
There's a scene with John, Susan and Carol talking about their future. There was a weird energy in the scene. There was something about Carole Ann Ford's performance that leaped out at me and I can't say why. When Carol left the two of them alone I half expected John and Susan to hit each other or embrace in a lustful frenzy. It's probably just me.
I will continue to praise the way that Newman spreads out and diversifies the morals of both races. Not only does he keep the aliens from being this homogenous lump, he doesn't fall into the trap of having the humans being this territorial rape-the-frontier cliche. The possibility of greedy humans looms in the background, but it's not a foregone conclusion.
Next up: A Desperate Venture
No comments:
Post a Comment