"It may be that we shall kill neither the Rills nor these Earth creatures. Not with our own hands, that is. It may be better for us to escape in the Rills' spaceship and leave them here. And then...when we are out in space, we can look back. We will see a vast, white, exploding planet...and know that they have died with it!"
Vicki is separated from the Doctor and taken to speak to the Rills by a Chumbly. The Doctor goes into sabotage mode and begins to mess with the equipment needed to create the Rills exotic ammonia atmosphere.
Vicki is kept apart from the Rills. They claim that their appearance is so far removed from human that it would be too upsetting for her. Based on some of the still photos of the creatures, I can see their point.
The Rills claim that it was the Drahvins who fired first, they only acted in self defense. They claim to be a peaceful people who acted to save the life of one of the injured Drahvin soldiers after the crash only to be driven off by a gun toting Maaga. They further claim that Maaga herself killed the soldier.
All-in-all they present themselves as just a little TOO perfect for my tastes. Sure they have vastly more effective technology and could have destroyed the Drahvins at any time that they wanted to, but if they are so peaceful then why did the Chumblies try to blow up the TARDIS? The question isn't asked, probably because there is no good answer.
The Rills are an interesting race that get one story and are never seen again in Doctor Who. I recall the Drahvins getting a mention in The Brains of Morbius, but nothing more about the Rills. Most of Hartnell's monsters are one show beasties. Only the first and last Hartnell monsters returned.
The unexplained attempts to blow up the TARDIS aside, the Rills turn out to be quiet friendly. They are willing to help get Steven away from the Drahvins even before the Doctor offers to help them with their power problems.
Things aren't going well back on the Drahvin ship. The drone soldiers are getting mouthy and Maaga is getting frustrated at their inability to think. Maaga is the living embodiment of the Peter Principal (yes I am aware of the irony in that statement); she has risen to her current rank, but I really don't see how she could have done so given the skill set that she is clearly lacking. She motivates her crew with fear and anger, she seems to have few, if any technical skills, she will betray anyone for any reason that crosses her mind and she may have killed her own crew member for propaganda purposes.
Steven makes an attempt to escape after covertly listening in on Maaga's conversation with the drones. He makes it all the way outside with a stolen weapon when he encounters a Chumbly. He races back inside and finds himself stuck in the airlock. Maaga begins to drain the air out, giving him the option of suffocating, getting caught by a Chumbly or being recaptured.
Steven is near death when the episode ends.
This is another example of a character inheriting lines from a previous companion. Originally this story was written with Ian and Barbara in mind. Ian's part was rewritten for Steven. Which leaves us in the odd situation of having a space pilot not knowing what an airlock does.
This one was decent. The interactions with the Rills was fun to hear and Maaga, while not the greatest leader ever has some decent lines and is well acted for what she is.
Next up: The Exploding Planet
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