The idea of an alien invasion of black cubes is a good one, but a weak ending almost killed it for me.
Image Above: Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), The Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy Pond (Karen Gillian) contemplate the black cubes. Doctor Who (2012) series 7, episode 4 “The Power of Three”
Official Synopsis: “The Doctor (Matt Smith) and the Pond’s (Karen Gillian, Arthur Darvill)
puzzle an unlikely invasion of Earth, as millions of sinister black
cubes arrive overnight, almost like presents falling from the sky.
But what are they, what’s inside them and most importantly, who sent
them? With the international community at a loss, it’s left to the
Doctor to unearth who is behind the mystery.”
The episode begins with Rory and Amy contemplating normal life
and “Doctor life.” Which do they prefer? Suddenly millions of black cubes pop out of nowhere and the Doctor arrives. After the cubes show up, so does Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) the new head of
UNIT who are investigating them and searching for the Doctor.
The Doctor
is forced to sit and wait along with the Pond’s and the results are
great. After a few minutes he becomes overcome by boredom and starts
playing Soccer (Football) and Wii. Meanwhile, Rory’s father Brian Williams (Mark Williams) hilariously
concocts a system to sit and watch the cubes 24/7 for months.
Well written by Chris Chibnall, and directed by Douglas McKinnon, the
tension built by the cubes appearing was great and the year of unknowns
played nicely. Watching the Pond’s travel on a mini-episode within the
episode was fun and the moments between the Pond’s and the Doctor are touching. The reveal of the final enemy was cool,but
disappointingly brief. Here’s hoping we see them again.
It was a powerful, tense and character driven episode with a flat
ending. This could have been the episode of the year but there’s still
one more chance. If nothing else it reminds us why we love the team of
three and will miss the Pond’s.
(3 1/2 – Good, Should watch at least once)
What do you think of the episode? Will you miss the Pond’s?
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="39243 ">6 Comments
Haven't seen the new ones yet. But I always like when there are three in the Doctor.
Spacerguy that's why we love Doctor Who.
Did you know that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside? I always found this weird but then thats Dr. Who, still you have to admit it is interesting!
Black cubes, eh? Are they being invaded by the Borg? Maybe they should hire Q-bert to jump on all the cubes. Anyway, I can't watch this so I got nothing.
Wish Dr. Who was a series I could get into, but none of the shows have every really drawn me in.
Good review. I thought the last episode (the Cowboys and Aliens one) was the strongest of this series. This one wasn't nearly as well written although had some good ideas – the cubes themselves were an interesting puzzle, and having the Brigadier's daughter show up was good too. I agree with you about the ending – I think after having two great, complex villain characters in the last episode, ending this one with basically a pantomime villain was just lazy.