[Contains Spoilers]
You know things aren’t going to go well when an episode starts off with opening narration that includes “the Doctor” , and “terrible losses he suffered”. As “Cold Blood”, the second of a two-part story and the 9th episode of the new Doctor Who series started, I got a sinking feeling. Picking up where the last episode left off, the Doctor and Nasreen have been pulled down to the Silurian city in the TARDIS, and are seeking a peaceful end to the attacks on the surface and to trade Alaya for Mo, Amy and Elliot. Instead, they are taken prisoner by Restac, a military commander. Malokeh, a scientist tries to stop Restac’s plans to wage war on the surface and awakens Eldane, the Silurian leader. The Doctor get Eldane and Amy and Nasreen into talks, still believing in humanity.
Overall, this was a good episode, though Restac and Alaya were a little too stereo-typical with their “destroy the apes” stance. The humanity vs Silurians (homo-reptilia as the Doctor calls them) has been a staple in the Silurian stories, with the military always wanting to destroy while the scientific just wants to study and learn. Malokeh, once we got to know him wasn’t such a bad guy. It was nice to see he had some respect for the children, not that you would ever see children being dissected on a children’s program. But this is the second time we’ve seen something like this, this season. In “The Beast Below”, the Star Whale refused to harm the children as well. I think this is some of Moffat’s influence seeping through. He has children that watch Doctor Who, and he really wants the show to be fun for them, and not just a fanboy romp as Davies’ vision could sometimes be.
Eldane is the leader we really want in power when the Silurians finally come to the surface. He listens and is fair. He hears the Doctor out and is willing to take a chance on his enthusiasm for humanity’s potential. Nasreen turned out to be a good nd realistic negotiator with Eldane. Though why it took so long to get to the obvious trade-off, land for technological advances, I’m not sure. But, just as things are going well humanity fails again (as was inevitable). Ambrose betrays the Doctor’s trust and nearly ruins everything. I’m ambivalent about Ambrose. She does some completely stupid things, and while she has her reasons, I don’t think I can completely sympathize with her, even as a mother myself. She comes off more of the ignorant, violent ape Restac goes on about hunting in the past. But while she nearly does start war with the Silurians, Eldane’s reason does prevail, though it’s not without its price.
Remember what I said about the sinking feeling from the opening animation? It’s justified at the end, as the Doctor, Amy, and Rory are about to enter the TARDIS before the toxic gas is released. The crack in Amy’s wall is there, and much bigger. The Doctor pauses to get a closer look and pulls something out. It’s delay enough for Restac, weakened from gas already released in other section of the city, to fire at the Doctor before collapsing. Guess who jumps in the way to save the Doctor? That’s right, Rory. The man who lectured the Doctor on dragging Amy away and how he put people in danger. He become a total convert and gave his life for the Doctor. And is then consumed by the crack and erased from history. Well, there goes the multi-companion TARDIS I was so hoping for.
But what really riled me, was when Moffat said Rory had to die. That it was time for a sacrifice on the TARDIS. What? Excuse me?? Since when has it become necessary to have sacrifices among the TARDIS crew? What it too much for Amy to be happy and the Doctor safe from any more “jumping incidents”? Offing companions is not the norm on Doctor Who. They usually leave of their own free will. Sometimes they don’t get a choice, like Sarah Jane Smith with the 4th Doctor, or Jamie and Victoria with the 2nd, but killing them is a rare occurrence. Only twice in the classic series did that happen. Sara Kingdom during the 1st Doctor (and she was only a companion for an episode or two) and Adric. There is no “time” for killing a companion, and Moffat should know. He’s the one who wrote the episode “The Doctor Dances” where he declares “Everybody Lives!”
The epilogue to this episode has some ominous tones as the Doctor looks at what he pulled from the Crack, and it doesn’t bode well for him. The next episode, “Vincent and the Doctor”, has The Doctor and Amy going to meet Vincent Van Gogh. Two past, famous person episodes in one series. Hopefully it’s a better, and happier, episode than the last few.
