Previously on Doctor Who: A splinter cell of the 20 million Zygons living peacefully on Earth (disguised as humans) make moves toward a war with humanity.
When the Doctor gets on his soapbox—everyone listens.
Here We Go Again
The Zygon splinter cell continues to move toward all-out war with the humans. But Bonnie’s bazooka misses its true target—The Doctor and Osgood—thanks to Clara’s realization that she can affect Bonnie’s actions. But the connection goes both ways, and Clara reveals that the Osgood Box is in the Black Archives. All parties meet there, and discover that there are two Osgood boxes. Bonnie and Kate are thisclose to ending the cease-fire, but the Doctor gives an impassioned speech about war, and both sides stand down. (Apparently, for the 16th time.)
Fantastic!
- The Doctor’s first name is Basil and Osgood’s is Petronella? (Methinks one of them is lying.)
- Badass Kate Lethbridge-Stewart is badass.
Don’t Blink or We’ll Exterminate
For a moment, I thought that the Zygons could turn humans into Zygons. Thank goodness that wasn’t the case! Also, thank goodness that Zygons, even those as seemingly far gone as Bonnie, can see sense when The Doctor tells it to them straight. Evil villains, they really aren’t. They’re just misguided, and more similar to humans than I think anyone expected.
We’re All Stories
Winner: Osgood. Not only is she spectacularly good at putting words to what we’re all thinking, she’s not afraid to tell The Doctor exactly what she thinks, or completely ignore his continual questioning about whether she’s human or Zygon when she knows that he doesn’t really need to know.
Winner: Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. She learned a lot about how wrong her assumptions can be, and that’s a tough lesson to learn.
No losers this week.
Words from the Madman
Osgood: “Isn’t that a bit pointless, like a visual hearing aid?”
Doctor: “What’s wrong with pointless?”
Doctor: “You know I’m over 2,000 years old. I’m old enough to be your Messiah.”
Doctor: “Because it’s not a game, Kate. This is a scale model of war. Every war ever fought, right there in front of you. Because it’s always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who’s going to die! You don’t know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does until what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning—sit down and talk!”
Doctor: “I made it up from the initials. It stands for “Totally and Radically Driving in Space.””
Doctor: “You’re a credit to your species, Petronella Osgood.”
Osgood 1: “No, Basil.”
Osgood 2: “We’re a credit to both of them.”
Doctor: “Oh, and you should know … I’m a very big fan.”
Keep Moving
I totally got a little choked up while listening to the Doctor’s passionate speech about war. Even though his ego is huge, Twelve is so much more willing to admit to his faults and/or internal issues than any other Doctor in recent memory. Plus, those eyebrows totally sell the feels.
But, what did you think of “The Zygon Inversion”? Let’s discuss in the comments.
