When 52 people all die simultaneously around the world because of their specialized vehicles, UNIT medical officer Martha Jones recalls The Doctor to Earth to assist in the investigation. As The Doctor is reunited with his old friend and former allies (and gets to meet Donna's eccentric family once again), a familiar enemy stirs in the shadows. One of Earth's youngest geniuses has allied himself with a squadron of fierce Sontaran soldiers and their plot to bring Earth to its knees nears fruition. With millions of lives at stake, the stage is set for the ultimate showdown between UNIT and the Sontarans...and even The Doctor might not be able to stop the oncoming slaughter.
UNIT, The Sontarans, Martha Jones. Whew, it's like a Doctor Who nostalgia fest in this episode. Granted, I never really watched the original serials that much so it was a learning experience for me watching the Sontarans and UNIT at work. Needless to say, this is the big event that we've been wating for since Series 4 began, and it succeeded on so many levels story wise, with maybe one or two little cracks in the armor.
First, the cracks. Martha appears to have gone through the ultimate character change since her joining UNIT. It was a little strange though that she was never this commanding or hardcore serious when she was hanging out with Jack and Torchwood. That being said, it was a bit akward watching her and The Doctor reunite after all this time and behaving on a whole new level with each other. It was sad to see the familiar, kind hearted free spirit we were used to in Series 3 almost a "soldier" as Donna puts it, but that's just me.
That aside, everything else played a pretty interesting set up role. The cautious yet cocky guns blazzing attitude of UNIT will definitley play into their eventual showdown with the Sontarans and seeing how they handled small alien situations like Tosh's backstory on Torchwood with such cold hearted procission, it strikes me as odd that The Doctor would ever want to work with such a group back in the day. Then again, UNIT may have been just as different as he was back in the 70's during the Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker eras.
That brings us to the Sontarans. Now I know that I will get alot of nasty looks from hardcore series fans, but I have finally found the Doctor Who equivalent of the Klingons. From their love for battle to their battle chant at the end of the episode, it was very hard not to find similarities between the two different species. This wasn't a bad thing though, I just couldn't help but chuckle at some of their little speeches. I can't wait to see how they act during actual combat next week.
Finally, there is the reintroduction of Donna's family to the story. We've already seen how The Doctor's companions familes have a habit of getting involved with big conflicts in a bad way, a la Rose and Martha's folks. It will be sad to see Donna's granddad bite the bullet, but as serious as this series has been since Episode 2, nothing should be taken for granted with this shows direction.
All in all, my blood was pumping fast as the preview for next week popped up. As Captain Jack said such a long time ago in a similar situation with the Daleks, "This is it ladies and gentlemen, we are at war!!!"
Next Week: The Sontarans vs. UNIT...bring the noise.
Rating-9/10
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment