(Note: You may have noticed in my Flash/Arrow reviews for this week that I've done away with the recaps. This is because, frankly, they're a pain to write and eat up a lot of time. Also, those who read my reviews have probably seen what I'm recapping, so a recap isn't entirely necessary. So I'll only be doing the reviews from now on. Enjoy this one!)
I wasn't entirely sold on "The Zygon Invasion" last week. The characters were separated for the most part, and it had iffy pacing. Luckily, "The Zygon Inversion" makes up for "Invasion," but isn't without flaws of its own...
"Invasion" ended with Zygon Clara/Bonnie about to blow the Doctor's plane out of the sky. When "Inversion" begins, we see what Normal Clara was up to during that scene. She's till trapped in the pod, but her mind is awake and gradually realizes what's going on and that she has partial control over Bonnie, her duplicate. These scenes were pretty cool, and gave Clara a bit of action rather than just having her stuck in a pod for the whole episode. But it wasn't enough action, especially since her time as a companion is almost up.
Sticking with the double Clara plot thread for a bit longer, Jenna Coleman gave an awesome performance here. Just from the tone of her voice and her facial expressions, you can tell the two Claras are completely different characters, even when they're in the same room. The scene where Bonnie interrogates Clara was a testament to Jenna's acting chops and just a really well-written scene.
But I think we can all agree Peter Capaldi owned this episode. He was magnificent in his scene in the Black Archive, when the Doctor is trying to get Bonnie and Kate to see how foolish it would be to start a war with each other and lamenting the part he played in the war he fought in. In his face and voice, I could sense desperation and frustration, and when Bonnie withdrew, sheer joy and relief. Jenna, again, was on fine-form in this scene too. She did a great job of staying stoic through most of it, initially making it hard for me to know whether or not Bonnie would risk instantly starting or losing a war. But, at some point, slight changes in her expression show she's thinking about what the Doctor is telling her.
Osgood also got some action this week. The Doctor and her make an entertaining pair to watch, and I loved the dialogue between the two. Osgood certainly proved herself to be a worthy companion, as she kept the Doctor's spirits up about Clara and even mocked the idea of the sonic sunglasses. It seems unlikely that Ingrid Oliver will announced as the next companion since she declines the Doctor's invitation at the end, preferring to stay behind and protect renewed the Zygon/human peace with the now Osgood-ified Bonnie, but a return from the character at some point would be most welcome to me.
Kate's fate (hey-o!) at the end of "Invasion" was revealed, and it was what I predicted: She just shot the sucker. It was a fun moment when she got to say her father's iconic "five rounds rapid" line when explaining her survival to the Doctor and Osgood (about 30 seconds into the video below).
The big problem I have with "Inversion" is that it still leaves some threads dangling about the Zygons' refuge on Earth. At the beginning of "Invasion" we see a riot that began when a Zygon appeared in its true form. That, obviously, should have drawn a lot of attention.The city of Truth or Consequences looks completely abandoned, as does London. Most of the citizens are probably in Zygon pods. That Zygon graffiti and the dusty human remains are everywhere and that mall the Doctor and Osgood investigate looks completely destroyed.When Bonnie forces that one Zygon to reveal itself at the start of "Inversion," the world reacts as if this is something completely new and shocking. Wouldn't word and footage have spread about the Zygon riot earlier and the destruction the Zygon rebels caused? When the episode ends, it seems as though everything will return to the way it was, all fine and dandy. But how could it? The world still doesn't have answers on the Zygons running around. Also, what about all the people in the pods? Won't they always remember that time they were kidnapped by big red-orangey things covered in suckers? Won't everyone look around at all the destruction and wonder what the heck happened? The Doctor erases Kate's and two Zygons' minds about the events of the episodes, but what about the rest of UNIT and all the other Zygons?This isn't nitpicking, it's asking legitimate questions about the ending of an episode. OK, maybe it's kind of nitpicking, but all my questions still stand!
Other Thoughts:
- There weren't as many easter eggs in the Black Archive as there were in "The Day of the Doctor," which was a tad disappointing for me since I love looking for tiny references. The only one I could spot was the Mire battle helmet and the return of the companion board.
- When Bonnie revealed that one Zygon at the beginning, I initially thought she was turning a human into a Zygon. They should've made what was actually happening a bit more clear. Either that or I'm juts stupid.
- "This is Toothpaste."
- Man, people sure can travel from one place to another pretty quick in the Whoniverse, even without a TARDIS.
Rating: 8.2/10 Union Jack parachutes
Next week, we're getting a found-footage episode courtesy of Mark Gatiss. Let's hope this works...
Noah
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