Looks like my prediction of a good episode came true. This fourth episode delivered a great character driven story that had many wonderful moments, much levity and a lot of character insight. The story didn’t do a lot to further the overall arc of the season but put a lot of things in context for what we are to expect with Amy and Rory’s upcoming departure. It ended sort of abruptly but I’ll let that pass and say it didn’t detract from the overall episode. As I’ve been doing this season I’ll give a brief recap and pass on some of my highlights. Beware, spoilers ahead.
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The episode started with a voiceover by Amy telling us how she and Rory live two lives, one adrenaline filled with the Doctor and one boring one without. She segues into a transition that allowed her to tell the story of the time the Doctor stayed, the “year of the slow invasion.”
One night these little black cubes show up everywhere on Earth, simultaneously. As the world wakes up they’re in shock. News outlets everywhere are reporting on this phenomenon but thankfully the Doctor is there on Earth to help with the mystery. The Doctor starts to investigate at the Pond house when UNIT shows up to investigate and finds the Doctor. This is a “new” UNIT and they don’t abduct the Doctor – they have a new leader and they’re adapting to science. UNIT has already tested the cubes and they are seemingly invulnerable.
Four days have passed and absolutely nothing has happened with the cubes. We find that the Doctor can’t sit still. He needs something to do. There’s a really funny montage of him keeping himself occupied. (Maybe he has A.D.D.) He has to leave and goes away on the TARDIS.
We then learn that Amy and Rory have missed a lot of things over the years while traveling with the Doctor. Ten years in fact, from the perspective of Amy and Rory but not that much time has passed on earth. Then both of them make long term commitments. Rory agrees to be a full time nurse and Amy agrees to be a bridesmaid months out. They’re growing up, 10 years is a long time, and real life is finally starting. Big turning point for their characters.
Now it’s day 67 and the cubes still haven’t done anything. Brian, Rory’s dad (did I mention he was in the episode yet), has been a diligent observer of the cube on the Doctor’s orders. As the audience we get to see a cube activate in Rory’s hospital. There’s a little girl who’s holding a cube that glowing blue as do her eyes. Then we see some nurses with weird looking cube mouths attack a patient.
Fast forward to nine months and the cubes are ubiquitous. They are now in every facet of society, as bookends, paper weights, etc. People are taking them for granted. Life on Earth just goes on like normal. Now it’s Amy and Rory’s wedding anniversary and the Doctor shows up to take them on an anniversary trip. It turns out to be comical because nothing is drama free in the Doctor’s world. Problems arise and they make fun of it. They do make it back in time for the party but Brian knows something isn’t the same. He confronts the Doctor because he is worried about them. He knows the toll that traveling with the Doctor takes. The Doctor talks frankly with Brian and tells him that sometimes his companions and that he does not want Amy and Rory to die. (Is this an allusion to Amy’s fate?) So the Doctor decides to stay, at least until the cubes are one.
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Day 361. The three have been nesting together, you find them on the couch together watching a UK version of the Apprentice like I gather they do on many days. Now there’s finally movement in the cubes. One spins, one opens, one pricks Amy and another shoots lasers at the Doctor then gathers intelligence. All around the world they’re activated and doing different things. Rory goes to the hospital while the Doctor and Amy have been invited to a UNIT secret base under the tower of London. After 47 minutes the cubes go dormant and then reactivate with a countdown.
Brian had gone to the hospital with Rory to help and is looking for supplies. He encounters two of those cube mouth nurses and they abduct him. Rory follows them through a portal a ship outside of Earth and is captured himself. Back on Earth the cubes count down to zero and open up. Nothing is inside, but they start giving heart attacks to anybody near them. They were dangerous after all. Then the Doctor starts to find the answers. He finds seven power sources and tracks one back to the hospital. He and Amy make it to the ship.
Then we learn who was behind it all. A mythical race called the Shakri. A race that lives outside regular time and space and “cleans up” what they think needs it. They follow the word of the Tali and believe that humanity is a plague and should be destroyed. Then the Doctor figures out a way to use the cubes to revive the hearts of the dead. The ship is destroyed and the world is saved. The episode ends with a voiceover from Amy discussing what cubes really are – “the power of three” (nice pun). The End - way too fast.
Highlights
- Bringing Rory’s dad Brian back
- Learning that they’ve really been traveling for 10 years
- The exchange between Amy and the Doctor outside of unit – she says traveling with him is running away, he says that he’s been running toward her because she was the first to see this face – really well done scene
- A nice tie into old Doctor Who with the head of unit and her father
- The scenes of the various uses of the cubes
So a very good character driven episode. Yeah – there were some corny scenes but I liked them. Next episode is the mid-season finale where the weeping angels take Manhattan. We’re marching toward the departure of Amy and Rory. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. Catch the next episode Saturday night at 9:00PM ET on BBC America.