Arc of Infinity
Previous: Season 19: Time-Flight
Arc of Infinity
So, let's see if we can't find out what happened to Tegan...
TIME LORDS IN FUNNY HATS. YES THIS STORY TAKES PLACE ON GALLIFREY.
Negative-man with a strange helmet? They haven't mentioned his name yet but I know from Other Places that that's...
(pausing for dramatic effect, will identify character later) FIVEY! I MISSED YOU!
Ah yes, it's just you and Nyssa right now, isn't it?
And nobody's mentioned that they're missing a companion? No? Just fixing the TARDIS so it goes ding when there's stuff?
So I still don't quite see what the story of these two backpacking boys has to do with anything. I guess we'll know all in good time.
Weird Thing I Learned Today: Time Lords wear rather large wristwatches.
Tiemhead-zapping tiems nao.
MAGICAL SPARKLY ATTACK-CLOUD (OF RASSILON)
And SLOW MOTION SPARKLY RUNNING.
Doctor-possession, followed by TARDIS landing where those boys are. NOW it makes sense.
Wait. That wasn't the TARDIS. That was a Rubber Suit Monster ship? That might explain why the engine sound was different.
Okay, no possessed-Doctor yet.
And that's the first time I've heard a companion suggest reversing the polarity.
So the Rubber Suit Monster got the first guy but missed the second and hit that...Weeping Angel?
Oh god, this is going to be a temporal-technobabble-driven story, isn't it?
WHY HELLO COLIN LAST TIME I SAW YOU YOU WERE THE DOCTOR
Why does Maxil's outfit remind me of Char from Gundam? I never even watched that show!
Okay, I DID watch Gundam 00, but the less said about that, the better.
"Only twice before in our history has the recall circuit been used!" Time Lords: Serious Business.
Oh, so the other guy isn't dead, he's just A ZOMBIE.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor!"
*BLAM*
There we go, the infamous Baker-II-shoots-Davison scene.
Also, the Time Lord President is Borusa? Wasn't he in Invasion of Time?
So I checked wikipedia and it would appear that I am indeed watching the CGI-enhanced version of the serial right now.
Orange juice: it cures everything! Even gunshot wounds!
Transition between film at a Dutch airport on Earth and then back to Gallifrey. That was kind of a jarring cut.
TEGAN! So she's the other guy's cousin!
And it looks like she got a haircut since we last saw her. I wonder how long it's been for her?
Everyone here seems to take regeneration with a grain of salt. This really shouldn't surprise me.
"Have you nothing further to say, Doctor?"
"I have a great deal to say."
Woah. Peter. What did you do to your voice.
Nice work, Nyssa. You tell 'em!
Also, the Doctor seems to recognize Damon. Was he in a previous story?
So I wonder what that Mysterious Green Thing in Five's pocket is.
The High Council is having trouble believing that a Time Lord could be a traitor, yet they've had plenty of renegades.
The Meddling Monk, Morbius, the Rani, THE MASTER...
...hell, it even says on wikipedia that the same guy who played the Celestial Toymaker plays one of the Time Lord Councilors here.
Mysterious Green Thing identified: it's the print-out of the Doctor's bio-scan. Which begs the question, what's he going to do with it?
"Well Damon! What news of my old companion Leela?" OH YEAH Leela stayed on Gallifrey a few seasons ago! Awesome to hear her get a mention!
AND he says he wants to go visit her? BUT WILL IT HAPPEN? WILL WE GET TO SEE IT? *glare of scrutiny*
I don't understand how Five could keep a rack of, what appears to be, very fragile vases in his companion's room. Wouldn't it break a lot?
WHAT. THE RUBBER SUIT MONSTER IS WORKING FOR...AND HE'S GOT COLIN.
Oh, WOW Nyssa. Going after Time Lords with a GUN? I honestly have no idea how this is going to end up.
Actually, I think the more important question is: HOW can Colin Baker wear that hat with a straight face? HIS HEAD IS A PEACOCK.
Actually, that helmet would go well with his Sixth Doctor jacket. It would complete the peacock look.
So a brainy teenage Traken aristocrat girl just took out TWO TIME LORD GUARDS with a PISTOL in as many seconds. WOW.
"For your sake, we will overlook it." ...she just threatened to ASSASSINATE BORUSA and Five's word gets her off. Again, WOW.
Now where were we...ah yes, SHINY FIVE.
Followed by SUPPOSEDLY DEAD FIVE. And FLOATING FIVE. Accompanied by EVIL LAUGHTER (tm).
It's ever so slightly confusing (for you readers) that Colin Baker just happens to be in a story with a pivotal character also named Colin.
Tegan's zombie-cousin, BTW.
EVERYBODY'S GETTING SHOT.
You disappoint me. Your new helmet makes you look like a wasp and you're not nearly as wonderfully campy as you once were. For shame.
"Tegan's on Earth, I know she is!" So it isn't until nearly HALFWAY THROUGH THE THIRD EPISODE that ANY mention is made of her by Five? Wow.
FIVE ALIVE. FIVE ALIVE.
Well, at least he was nice enough to un-zombie cousin-Colin after torturing Tegan.
Five must awaken PREVIOUS PRESIDENTIAL POWERS to gain access.
"How did you open the door?"
"Pure luck. :D"
So BORUSA is the Secret Informant? Wow. I actually didn't see that coming.
"Use your influence with the Lord President." ...oh! Maybe he isn't? Which of course begs the question...WHO IS?
Holy crap. I think I know who it might be. It's a WILD guess, but maybe...
I was wrong. It was actually Councilor Hedin (aka, the Celestial Toymaker guy), the one guy who voted for Five not to be terminated.
I'd thought that maybe it was Rassilon, but it didn't make sense for the second party to be calling him NOT by his name.
How many times this serial is Borusa going to be threatened with a gun?
(ending dramatic pause) ...............OMEGAAAAAAA.
"But Omega died!"
"No, Doctor, HE EXISTS! He only wants to live amongst us and he will!"
Is trufax. One of the things (besides the EPIC CAMP) that I liked about Omega in Three Doctors was how they made him a sympathetic villain.
I should probably mention that they haven't really been doing a very good job of that this time.
Also, not sure why I bothered to have that DRAMATIC PAUSE when I'm still going to be using the "Omega" tag for this post on the Blog.
You know, I don't think you guys have really explained what the matrix IS yet. Unless that was addressed earlier in the series.
So Hedin was the bad guy, yet he still threw himself in front of the gunshot meant for Borusa? Ever so slightly confuzzled.
Woah where did that crown thing come from why is Five in pain what
Oh, matrix-linking. Sense making now.
We've got a Time Lord famous for repeatedly saving people, civilizations, and worlds with his awesome and how does he find his companion?
He looks up her desperate ramblings in a Dutch phone book. This show.
Also he doesn't have change for the payphone to call up where he thinks she is. He's got a cricket ball and some string, though.
"Can't the Time Lords help?"
"No, they've done all they can. Now it's up to us!" *hat tiems nao*
It only just occurred to me that we very rarely see the Doctor dealing with present day Earth receptionists.
"Where could they be?"
"Well that depends on the form Omega's given his TARDIS."
......Omega suddenly has a TARDIS?
That was an impressive blaster-dodge, Five. And WOW Nyssa can scream o_O
"Drop the weapon, Doctor!" Um, dude, he's kinda holding you at gunpoint and your helmet is all kinds of melting.
Or you could use his companion as a bargaining chip, yeah that works too.
And then there were LOTS of s'plosions!
Okay, so the helmet-removal scene in Three Doctors was a bigger shock, but Omega being second!Five speaking with evil-voice works too.
Um, yeah, sure, of COURSE you can just walk out around Amsterdam in broad daylight and not look like an idiot.
Oh. Okay, killing the gardener and stealing his clothes, that works too.
Omega seems intrigued/horribly confused by Giant Music Box Thing.
Maybe...maybe he can even learn to...smile? And...love? *cue convenient angelic chorus*
Actually, looks like he's working on that first one.
Oh wait, his body's breaking down first.
That's the cool thing about shooting on location: you get passersby speaking actual un-TARDIS-translated Dutch.
I can't help feeling like this chase scene is lasting longer than it needs to.
FINALLY they have him cornered on a dock. You've got less than 4 minutes left, guys. GO!
"We didn't HATE you, Omega! Why couldn't you be content to survive as you were?"
"Time to come home, Doctor. Time for rest. Time for peace."
"Omega has been destroyed."
"Unfortunate, wretched creature. My hope is that he's found peace at last."
You guys could've done a better job of setting up Omega as a pitiful figure this time, but at least you didn't leave it out completely.
So Five finally had to save the universe by killing one of his own kind with a gun...
"It's been marvelous to see you again!"
"Indeed! I've missed you. I wish you didn't have to go back to your job."
"What job?"
"Didn't I tell you? I got the sack! So now you're stuck with me, aren't you?" So the whole left-her-behind-before thing is all in the past?
Well, I guess there are some things about this show's old narrative I'll never understand.
Next: Snakedance