The Keys of Marinus
Previous: Marco Polo
The Keys of Marinus
"Written by Terry Nation." Just to set the record straight (mainly for myself) that he DID in fact write more Who stories than just Daleks.
"It's a pity you don't have colour television." For reasons I don't think I need to explain, that might be my new favorite Barbara line.
Awwww, aren'tchu juss da CYUUTEST widdle submaweens mawduls? Ye-shu-are, ye-shu-are! #goodluckactuallyreadingthat
"It isn't frozen, is it?"
"No, that's impossible at this temperature. Besides, it's too warm."
Mysterious Webbed Thing CANNOT ACCESS THE TARDIS. Also, is it just me, or did Hartnell get a haircut since last time?
WAIT. HOLY CRAP I THINK THE MYSTERIOUS WEBBED THING IS A VOORD. I've heard of them a gagillion times, but I didn't know they were in THIS.
So they've been looking for Susan for...what, 5 minutes now?...and yet they haven't tried CALLING HER NAME? Might wanna get on that, guys.
Wait, Susan, you really can't see the Voord? Really? Even though it's right in front of you? Really?
AND HOW DID IT GET STABBED IN THE BACK WHEN IT WAS STANDING AGAINST A WALL?
Okay, they've already shown that this pyramid is full of trap doors, but STILL...
Is tiem for Silent Badass Ian. Needs musicks...
Never really listened to the track "Davros" before, but I was surprised at how Classic-Who-like it sounds. Works great for this scene.
I was right: those are the Voords.
So we have received our backstory. Let's see what they do to keep the next 5 episodes from being exclusively an item-gathering quest.
Although considering the number of keys, it certainly has the potential to turn out that way...
Obvious invisible joke is obvious. Actually, it's so obvious I'm almost ashamed of myself for mentioning it at all.
I think I can hazard a safe guess at how this serial is going to be structured...
Episode 1: Arrive/backstory/set off. Episodes 2-5: Obtain one key per episode. Episode 6: Return/climax/departure to The Aztecs.
Dammit, Moffat. Now all I can think about when I look at those statues is "GUYS, DON'T LOOK AWAY AND DON'T BLINK."
That was an impressive turn of the cliffhanger on its head. They find Barbara's teleporter with blood, turns out she's in the lap of luxury.
Ladies and gentlemen: In the future, we will have turkeys in space.
Ian, you can stop making restaurant jokes now.
"Our one wish is to fulfill your every need." Anyone else notice that places that use that philosophy tend to NEVER result in good things?
Eyes on the wall lighting up ALSO never seem to result in good things.
I honestly can't quite tell if that noise is the soundtrack or if the face on the wall is BREATHING. Because it sounds like BREATHING.
Barbara's breathing seems a tad too rapid for her to be just sleeping. Nightmares or something?
Well, Strange Flashing Lights have been explained, and the sudden switch to Barbara's POV. Looks like IT WAS ALL AN ILLUSION.
So the brains behind it all appear to literally be two brains with eyestalks in jars.
The actor's must've had fun with this scene. They think they're inside the most epic lab ever but it's really an empty room with rusty mugs.
Hmm...I wonder if the girl with the necklace (a Key of Marinus?) is the daughter of the guy from the pyramid.
EPIC BARBARA IS EPIC FOR SMASHING EVIL THINGS. On the other hand, hearing the DEATH SCREAMS of said evil things was, well, quite creepy.
The girl was the daughter and the necklace was the key. Called it. Also, this DOES seem to be following the plot patterns I predicted.
So now they're splitting up to search for the keys? Okay, I'll admit I didn't see that coming.
The titular "screaming jungle" of the next episode almost sounds like TARDIS engines if they were, well, evil or something.
You know, Susan's over-reactions to half of EVERYTHING might be more tolerable if people believed her more often. Alive vine was ALIVE.
"It couldn't move by itself, you know it couldn't!" Barbara, considering the stuff you've seen by now, how do you find this unbelievable?
MORE creepy stone faces on the wall!
So if the found key is so important, then why is it just offscre...oh that's why.
"Yes, that's wise, I think that is the wisest course." Why is my brain saying that sounded like a line from a Bit of Fry and Laurie sketch?
"There. I think that's safe enough." Two invaluable microcomputers on a string around your neck? Really?
So now everyone else has gone on ahead, leaving me to wonder if this is going to be mostly a Barbara and Ian episode.
IT'S THE BLACK KNIGHT. NONE SHALL PASS.
So Barbara notices the opened door but NOT THE VINES THAT ARE MOVING ON THEIR OWN?
Also, I have a feeling that a mysterious possibly-life-or-death situation is the WRONG time to be saying "I'll be right with you."
They've got about 3 minutes left and they STILL haven't found the key. Maybe I misjudged this serial's formula after all.
No, I was spot-on. There's the key.
And that was a completely Doctor-free episode, too! Not a Hartnell in sight...
Now I have to wonder if that singing was someone in the snow, or part of the soundtrack.
I wonder if there's a Trope for characters getting lost in the snow and rescued and taken to a shelter. Because that happens ALL THE TIME.
Safety Tip, Kids: How to Deal With Frostbite!
"A madman. Came in here early last night, raving and ranting. I couldn't talk to him." Sounds kinda like One to me...
Or not. Close, though, it was one of the other guys.
"So...we're alone..." OKAY. DUDE. HANDS OFF BARBARA. NOT COOL, MAN. NOT COOL.
You know, for an ice cave, it's surprisingly well-lit in there.
Reunion at the bridge! Which means that SOMEthing's going to break any minute now...
...or get broken, or otherwise taken out of commission.
The original non-Martian Ice Warriors?
Oh Ian, you always have to be the hero, don't you? And Susan is taking the whole crawling-across-a-chasm-on-stalactites thing REALLY well.
FIXED BRIDGE IS FIXED!
Wait a sec, why frame Ian for stealing the next key with a hammer when you DON'T EVEN SMASH THE GLASS ON THE CASING?
So of COURSE Ian just happens to land on a planet where the justice system operates on the concept of "guilty until proven innocent."
"I need a man to defend me!"
"*I* am that man!"
Wow, One's only been back less than a minute and he's already back in the Awesome Chair.
Susan Foreman: Once in a while, she actually does something quite crafty.
"Don't you talk to me like that!" *slap* Ladies and gentlemen, we have stereotypical off-screen domestic violence going down here.
Naturally. When a villain lackie knows too much and is just about to blab to our heroes, he gets taken out.
Oh, you bitch. THE WIFE WAS INVOLVED THE WHOLE TIME.
So they just keep all their important documents and evidence piled up in a cupboard? With no organization at all? Really?
Happy and energetic One is happy and energetic. We haven't seen him like this a lot yet, have we?
Murder mystery solved! Now you've got about 12 minutes left to go back, return the keys, and fight the Voords.
I have to admit, I'm impressed with how well they pulled off the structure of this serial. Every episode's a little different.
Slightly amused by the black Voord helmet on a man in white robes.
One's cane > you.
So a love story developed between the two that followed the TARDIS crew from the mind-control world. Should've seen THAT coming.
Wait, so Susan is rightfully suspicious of the Voord pretending to be the programmer, but Ian ISN'T? Really, guys? Or is this just a ruse?
Five minutes left, guys, hurry it up.
Yup, it was a ruse. I think it's safe to say that the fake key was a Chekhov's Boomerang.
Hey, I remember that disappearing TARDIS model shot...it looks like they're off to...
"Next Episode: The Temple of Evil." WHERE MY CLASSIC WHO JOURNEY BEGAN ALMOST EXACTLY 6 MONTHS AGO!
Next: The Aztecs