Alright, time for some new Who! I love Saturdays. If I’m not out having fun, I get to stay in and have just as good of a time, thanks to a dynamite cast and the on-going adventures of my favorite Time Lord. Of course, one thing noted is that this season can be a tad bit spotty with it’s episodes. Some are great, and some are meh. So what about this week?
Well, this week we have an episode written by Chris Chibnall, who previously wrote in season 3 the episode “42.” I’ve made no secret of my absolute adoration of season 3 of the relaunch of Doctor Who, so this already bodes well. Our happy crew of travelers mistakenly land in the wrong place, only to find themselves right next to a great big drilling operations as a crew of scientists attempt to explore the inner Earth. Unfortunately for them, there’s something already down there. Something asleep, and something quite upset. And whatever’s down there has it’s own plans for this drilling operation.
Follow behind the cut for some thoughts on the latest episode of Doctor Who. As a note, some mild spoilers are discussed. Then again, the image at the top of the review is pretty much a spoiler in it’s own right, so I’ve already been a jerk, now haven’t I?
Based on last week’s previews, I was kind of afraid that I wouldn’t like the episode. It didn’t actually seem very interesting, and I wasn’t sure how much I’d care about some kind of monster living underground woken up by a drill. I saw a movie like that once, and it was called Cloverfield and it was great. I didn’t really think I needed to see that story again, and I just didn’t think I’d care.
Boy, was I wrong! Note to self: trust Chris Chibnall more often.
As it turns out, this episode was really entertaining in a classical (read: 2005 series) sense. As it turns out, set up a war and you’ve got my attention. As the episode began I still was a bit weary, but it very quickly draws you in as the threat becomes more real and Amy is lost. This episode does a great job of actually making Rory somewhat relevant and not just Amy’s annoying baggage, and I’m beginning to take more of a shine to him as it turns out, which is unexpected. Per usual, Matt Smith is brilliant as the Doctor, and is easily the most fun character to watch. This episode especially, he has some great lines. When asked if he is afraid of monsters, he replies calmly and with a sly smirk, “No. They’re afraid of me.” Awesome.
Can we mention how cool the villain ended up being too? The Silurians first appeared in 1970 had not been seen since 1984. These are characters that are older than me! I had not expected to see any kind of Who villain reappearance this week aside from the standard Cybermen and Dalek, so for Chibnall to dip into the old “classic villain” basket and pull out someone like the Silurians is really cool. On top of that, one thing I have to point out is that the make up in this episode is absolutely fantastic. As you can see at the above image, a lot of time and detail was put into this week’s alien. One great thing about Doctor Who is that it often focuses on what it can actually produce versus just CGI imaging. It’s one of the last science fiction shows on television to do that, and when it does it produces fantastic jobs with make up as was done with the Silurian. That kind of attention to detail is not something you can see everyday, so when you do it has to be appreciated.
“The Hungry Earth” was a pleasant surprise and a good addition to this seasons line up. If nothing else, it did manage to (combined with last week’s episode), give me faith in the non-Moffat writers. As it turns out, this episode was a two parter, so we don’t get the whole story just yet. But based on next week’s preview and where this ended up, I am expecting great things from next week’s installment of Doctor Who.
