I'm just gonna say it. This is the weakest episode in Doctor Who's ninth series so far. That's not to say this episode was terrible. It absolutely wasn't! It had some grand writing, fun twists, great score, and a fantastic cliffhanger. But most of the episode seemed to drag thanks to some uninteresting or unnecessary scenes and the main cast was split up, which wasn't fun.
The Recap
The opening scene takes us back to the events of "The Day of the Doctor," where the War, Tenth, and Eleventh Doctors initiated a ceasefire between the humans and the Zygons. The two versions of Osgood explain the details of the peace treaty. 20 million Zygons now live in disguise all around the world. If the ceasefire ever breaks down because of rogue humans or Zygons, the contents of the "Osgood Box" will be used, but this must never happen. If it does, the "Nightmare Scenario" is in effect.
In present day, Osgood is caught in the middle of a Zygon riot. She sends the Doctor a message reading "Nightmare Scenario" before being captured by a Zygon. The Doctor speaks to the Zygon commanders, who are in disguise as two little girls. The Zygons who are rebelling are a small faction and the Doctor tries to convince the commanders to take action and accept his help. The commanders refuse, saying this is their problem and it will be dealt with. Zygons attack and capture the two commanders.
Kate summons The Doctor to UNIT, where he learns of Osgood's kidnapping. He tries to get a hold of Clara. Clara, meanwhile, is helping a little boy from her apartment building find his parents. When they return home, they act suspiciously, taking the distressed boy into the back room. Clara then meets with the Doctor.
The Doctor, Clara, Kate, and Jac got to Zygon command, which is hidden beneath a school. There, they get a video message from the rogue Zygons showing their two commanders being executed. They demand that they be able to live on Earth in their proper forms, as their true selves. Clara realizes the catchphrase of the rogue Zygons, "Truth or Consequences," is the name of a small town in New Mexico, which is where Osgood was last heard from. Kate will go there and the Doctor will go to Turmezistan, which is where the Zygons are keeping Osgood, on his President plane. Clara and Jac will stay behind and continue defending London.
Clara and Jac go back to Clara's apartment building and witness the mother and father from earlier taking their bagged son into the elevator. The two follow and stumble upon a secret Zygon tunnel. They go to get reinforcements. Kate arrives at Truth or Consequences and meets a female poilce officer, who fills her in on the riot that happened earlier.
The Doctor and the UNIT troops, led by Colonel Walsh, prepare to storm the Zygon hideout in Tuzmezistan. However, upon arrival, the troops are met by family members and loved ones, which Walsh demands the soldiers to kill. They have to be Zygons! The soldiers fall into the trap and are killed. The Doctor and Walsh break into the hideout, and the Doctor finds Osgood just before a UNIT airstrike hits. A Zygon is hit by some rubble and is taken prisoner.
Clara and Jac lead UNIT soldiers into the Zygon tunnels and find a cavern full of pods holding humans. One of the humans is Clara. Clara wants to destroy the pods, insisting the people inside are Zygon duplicates, but Jac disagrees. She says Zygons don't create duplicates, which is where the penny drops for her. The Clara we've been with for most of the episode is really a Zygon. She was captured by the mother and father earlier. Zygon Clara, who calls herself Bonnie, has Jac and the UNIT soldiers killed.
The police officer Kate met is also a Zygon, and she is seemingly killed by it (more on that in a bit). The Doctor and Osgood, meanwhile, are en route back to the UK and are questioning the captive Zygon. The Doctor gets a call from Clara/Bonnie, who is standing on a cliff with a bazooka, ready to shoot the plane out of the sky. She informs the Doctor that Clara and Kate are dead and fires the bazooka.
THE END!!!!
The Review
I think the best place to start is to explain why I think this is Series 9's weakest episode so far.
For starters, some of the scenes were unengaging and unnecessary, Kate's visit to Truth or Consequences being the main perpetrator here. Yes, we got some more details on the Zygons' life on Earth, but I found myself checking out during these scenes. Also, Kate's not a character who we've spent too much time with that she can carry her own subplot.
Speaking of characters, the main ones were all split up for most of the episode, which was a bad decision. These actors are more entertaining to watch when all or most of them are together, especially Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman.
The contemporary tone of this episode wasn't something I was a fan of either. Not minding the shapeshifting aliens, this episode didn't feel like a Doctor Who episode to me. It felt more like a dark alien hunter show, or an end-of-world flick, but not Doctor Who.
The "Clara is a Zygon" reveal is a double-edged sword for me. It means that Clara's been out of the action for two episodes in a row now (three as of next week, since it doesn't look like she'll be out and about by then either). Come on! Clara's gone in just a few episodes, shouldn't she be being used as much as possible?
Alright, I got all that negativity out of my system. Let's talk about what I liked about "The Zygon Invasion."
I think the best thing about this episode is the creative things done with the Zygons. Their shapeshifting tendencies are played up big time, and shows how truly terrifying that can be. As Walsh tells the Doctor at one point, anyone of her family or friends can reveal themselves as z Zyogn and kill her. Who can you trust? The scenes where the UNIT soldier speaks to his "mother" was actually quite intense, even though it was obvious she was a Zygon.
The whole Clara Zygon reveal I thought was done really well. From the moment she steps out of the apartment of that family, I was debating with myself over whether or not she was a Zygon. Her leaving that boy in a worrysome situation was one clue, but what really tipped me off was her constantly asking questions about UNIT's plans, their troops,their weapons. But she still acts like normal Clara, so it muddles those waters even more. When Clara is revealed to be a Zygon, Jenna Coleman' performance shifts drastically and fabulously. When we see more of her as Bonnie next week, I'm sure it'll be a highlight.
Osgood's return was handled better than I initially expected. Moffat and Harness found a way to incorporate the theory that it was one of the two Osgoods that died at the hands of Missy last season in a clever way. We get a bit more interaction between her and the Doctor, which was really nice. The mystery about which version of Osgood we're seeing here is a fascinating one. My money's on her being the Zygon version, because that would be more poetic, with her basically fighting against her own people.
The cliffhanger was also great. Yes, we all know things are going to work out in the end, but the real cliffhanger is how.
Other Thoughts:
- So Jac's dead. Darn. I liked her.
- I liked the reference back to "Terror of the Zygons," the first Zygon story with Tom Baker's Doctor. The reveal that Harry developed a toxin that could kill Zygons after the events of that story is a great little homage to the character.
- The Osgood Box looks a lot like The Moment. Similar function, maybe? Will Rose pop up as the telepathic interface? No, probably not.
- .w22222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222(My cat walked on my keyboard and typed this. I figured it was worth keeping in).
- Murray Gold's score was a highlight this week (when is it not?). The music used for the Zyogns was particularly awesome.
- Funny moments of the week: Clara's confession of cheating at Trivial Pursuit and the Doctor's joy at being reunited with his Presidential plane.
- "Yes. We know who you are." Poor Harriet Jones.
- I bet Jenna Coleman had a "blast" "shooting" her scene with the bazooka.
- Could duct tape really hold a Zygon down that effectively?
Rating: 7.7/10 question mark underpants
Next week, the Zygon invasion continues. One could say it becomes an inversion...
Noah
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