TV review by Kevin Carr, co-host of The Idiot Boxers
Show: Doctor Who
Airs: BBC America, Saturdays, 9pm
Episode: “Cold Blood”
Episode synopsis: In the conclusion to the Doctor’s latest confrontation with the Silurians, Amy has been kidnapped and stored underground with another human. However, the people on the surface have captured their own Silurian warrior, and the Doctor plans a hostage exchange. With hopes of diplomacy, the Doctor heads below the surface to work things out, but those pesky humans just aren’t as even-keeled as the Time Lord is.
Major developments: Last episode saw the re-introduction of the Silurians as a force in the Doctor Who universe, and we haven’t seen them since the Peter Davison years. But the biggest development in the overall storyline of this season is with the rift in time and space that has been following the Doctor and Amy around. After Roy is injured, he is touched by the rift and ceases to exist. Protected in the TARDIS, the Doctor tries to help Amy remember, but to no avail. And let’s not forget the fact that the Doctor pulled a shattered piece of the TARDIS from the rift, indicating that he might just be the cause of the anomaly.
What rocked: The best part of this episode was easily the last five minutes. With the erasure of Roy and the connection between the Doctor and the rift revealed, things are set up for one heck of an overall season climax. Reminiscent of the Bad Wolf storyline, which followed the Doctor and Rose around in season one of the reboot, this is a looming presence in all the episodes that is somehow tied to Amy. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this goes.
What sucked: Pretty much the rest of the episode. The set-up from last week was really cool, and the reintroduction of the Silurians was wickedly awesome. However, this was one of the most anticlimactic two-parters I’ve seen.
First, half of the episode focused on the diplomacy angle, then later saw the Doctor scolding the humans for not taking revenge. I know he’s an enlightened Time Lord and all, but what does he expect from a woman whose family has been possibly irreversibly harmed by these creatures. The Doctor showed a level of naivete that is very uncharacteristic of himself. I’m all for diplomacy, but it’s a dicey thing, and you can’t just have two humans tossed into the ring to make it work.
The episode picked up a bit a the end, but even then the plot points of a toxic cleanse of the underground station and a thousand-year nap for the Silurians just seemed too easy.
Final thoughts: This is easily the weakest episode of the new season, even though Matt Smith and Karen Gillan did fine jobs. The saving grace was the punch-in-the-gut ending that opens some really cool doors later on.
What’s next: A one-shot episode which introduces the Doctor to Vincent Van Gogh. Hold onto your ears!
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