Review of The Power of Three
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.
“Uh-oh. It’s Chibnall again.” Despite my more-optimistic-than-any-previous-episode reaction to the next-time trailer for The Power of Three, I couldn’t help wincing a bit and bracing for the worst when I realized it was another entry by one of my all-time least favorite writers. I’m happy to report, though, that I didn’t hate it.
Granted, after some thought and a subsequent viewing, my initial very positive reaction was somewhat dulled as I realized how many plot holes there were, but somehow I was still mostly able to look beyond the letdown-y bits and have fun with it. Because – let’s face it – I’m a sucker for any reference, however oblique, to the Brigadier.
OK, OK… There were other parts to like, too (Rory in his pants (or “underwear,” for us Americans) was clearly among them). In fact, there was a lot I enjoyed. Especially that first time through, I got swept up in the “romp,” willing until the very end to play along with what I was clearly intended to be getting out of it. There was a silly-fun puzzle with the cubes, another fish-out-of-water interlude with the Doctor trying to take the Slow Path with Amy & Rory, more of Rory’s charming dad Brian, a random reference to an attempted Zygon invasion, and the delightful Kate (Lethbridge-) Stewart.
In other words, all the window-dressing was beautiful.
After that first giddy rush, though – when the glowing infatuation with the well-staged home starts to wear off as you realize the foundation’s cracked, the floors are uneven and the windows are all in need of repair – I realized it didn’t really hang together. (Sorry, yes – a Real Life metaphor crept in there.) So let me point out a few of the reasons my enthusiasm waned the more I thought about things.
First, there’s the cubes. I know for a fact that I’m not the only one whose first thought was, “oh – Army of Ghosts.” Remember that? When there was another “slow invasion” with things that humanity all accepted happily into their homes, not having a clue what they really were, but assuming they were harmless? Yeah.
How about the completely extraneous cube-mouthed, face-sucky orderlies (or were they meant to be nurses, too? whatever…) abducting patients from the hospital? What what the ****ing point of them? Why did the Shakri want/need those patients? Not a single word is ever said about them. Worse – at the denouement, when the Doctor makes things go “bang,” all the poor sods get left there – never a thought of reviving them like Rory and Brian and evacuating them! – to get blown to smithereens, too! WTF?
Then there’s the Shakri – another Time Lord fairy story. (Notice how that theme is getting woven back in? First there’s the Doctor inviting Amy “through the looking glass,” then there’s “That’s one seriously weird bedtime story.” “You can talk. Wolf in your grandmother’s nightdress?”) And they’re trying to eradicate the “human contagion” from the universe. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think it’s the first time that idea has been addressed, either.
The whole thing just seemed utterly pointless by the end. Why send the cubes to be dormant for 361 days, then active for 47 minutes before shutting down all the human hearts within range? They couldn’t figure out what they needed to know, or implement a course of action, before then? (And for the love of God, science, or anything else one holds sacred, why would only the Doctor’s left heart be affected by a disruptive electrical signal? It’s not like the other heart isn’t connected to the same system. That just makes no sense at all!) And wouldn’t a countdown make the average person more wary of a cube, rather than move closer in anticipation? So much doesn’t make sense about the slow invasion. It just really doesn’t hold water when you think about it.
Even the first time through, though, in the midst of the warm glow of affection, the spell was utterly broken by the lame-ass closing line. I’d been wondering where the title came from, and this was just… pathetic. Seriously, you can just envision Chibnall at his writing desk (or whatever) with a full Murray Gold score playing loudly in the background, pounding out the last line with a flourish as he imagined how Gold would score his episode and it’s “inspirational” final words. (It reminded me of a fifth grade science report I’d concocted similarly, with just as cheesy a conclusion.) Ugh.
I have to admit, it took some down time to notice most of these things. Much of it still made me smile. I thought it was interesting that Amy thought they’d been traveling with the Doctor for 10 years, off and on (“Not for you, or Earth, but for us”), because it gives the unseen adventures more heft. I can’t knock Rory’s dad, either. Despite having no more to do on his second outing than he did on his first, Brian fully establishes himself as another graybeard Companion-who-never-was (much like Donna’s granddad Wilf). Aside from his dedication (“my middle name is diligence”), the fact that he was sitting in the TARDIS without sustenance for 4 days is either evidence that she really likes him (and thus extends certain… advantages to him) or that there’s something timey-wimey going on there. (Honestly, I’d prefer to think it’s the former.)
Just about more than anything else, I enjoyed Kate Stewart. The first time I saw her, I was reminded of Liz Shaw (Three’s first Companion) – not least because of the way she described all the tests they’d tried (to no avail) on the cubes, just as Liz and Three had no luck analyzing the Nestene meteorites. Then there’s her dry wit. And the way she’s shaped UNIT into a more scientifically-minded organization. The fact that she provides an in-universe link to one of my favorite pre-Hiatus characters is just a bonus.
So if I shut my brain down and just let it all sweep past me, I can think of The Power of Three as rompalicious fun. Stopping to think at all, it’s utterly nonsensical, if amusing. Either way, I think it’s still my favorite episode of the series to date. I’m just hoping I end up with something I can love unconditionally next week.
Power to all our friends
It was easy to get swept up and I felt the cockles of my heart going all gooey at talk of “Dad” but can anyone tell me how long it was between people collapsing from what I guess was an EMP for their heart and them reviving? It seemed far too long to be healthy. Also I cannot think of anything to add to your comments about why the people were taken to the ship and the fact that they got blown up as part of the denouement.
I know you have said it is easy to find fault with most episodes but these were for me really frustrating plot flaws. Despite all this I now think I am finding that this is one of the most enjoyable seasons in several years, certainly my favourite season with Doctor 11. How contradictory of me.
i also love the way you slipped Downtime into the review btw 🙂
Not on purpose…
Before I saw someone tweet about it yesterday, I’d no clue Kate was an established character from alt media rather than a new creation for this episode. And if I hadn’t also already gone to look her up, I wouldn’t have had a clue what you were even talking about when you mentioned “Downtime.” So, ummm… you’ll have to fill me in on where I brought it in, because it certainly wasn’t intentional! 🙂
Down Down Deeper and Down
I think Wholahoop is probably referring to you using the word “letdown-y” followed almost immediately by references to oblique references to Lethbridge-Stewart. Looks like a very oblique Downtime reference to me.
Huh.
OK. Well, actually, “letdown-y” was a word I pulled out of my own head (“and had enough wood left to make a table,” as my grandmother would’ve said). Maybe I’m just on some secret, subconscious Whovian wavelength. 🙂
Letdown-y
Oh, yeah, I know it’s a word you made up. But it’s a weird composite word with “down” in it.
OK
I guess I can see where it might have given the impression of an oblique reference, then. 🙂
Your least favourite writer
It sounds strange, but Chris Chibnall’s writing is surprisingly goodat small-scale, intimate character studies.
There’s a rare example of his early, pre-TW, pre-DW work onYouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=undQ-3yZwPM
(Keep your ears peeled for a brief DW reference in Part 2.)
Unfortunately most of his DW/TW scripts have been big, action-packed epics that just aren’t suited to his writing style. It’s good to see him finally writing to his strengths in this episode, with the emphasis on Amy and Rory’s characters and background.
The only trouble is, it all goes downhill once the cubes are activated and he’s got to do an epic adventure plot after all, with less than half an episode to fit it in!
Characters
Well, yes – I actually quite enjoyed the Amy/Rory bits of this episode. It is, as you say, when it gets to actual plotting that things get messy.
And I've never quite forgiven him for TW's Countrycide. ~shrug~
Downtime (paragraph 11)
“I have to admit it took some down time to notice most of these things” 🙂
~forehead slap~
So it is!
Utterly accidental, I’m afraid…
My thoughts
Another episode solved by the doctor simply waving his sonic screwdriver around.
Also I can’t wait until the Brian and Rory sequel show.
Magic wand
You can see why they destroyed the thing in The Visitation, can't you?
And a Brian & Rory spin-off would be almost as glorious as a Vastra & Jenny one. 😀
Characters
One thing I find, throughout the entire franchise, is the inability for the Doctor to mention past companions, and this is one of the episodes in which it woud have been fitting. Brian actually asks the Doctor about them, and the Doctor replies, in his enigmatic way, that some of them are left behind, some of them leave, and some of them die. Because Chinball is so good with characterization, would it be criminal for the Doctor to actually mention Rose, Martha, or Donna in an episode like this? For goodness sakes’, Martha saved the world! I find it hard that we, as the audience, are supposed to wipe all of this from our mind. I’m not saying the past actors are obligated to return, but a mere mention of them would suffice.
Continuity is more important than the writers and executives seem to think. I’m also not saying an episode be devoted to discussing Martha saving the world or Donna doing the same; but a few lines here and there would go a long way rather than telling Amy she’s the most special because she was the first one that this Doctor’s “face” saw.
I just wish once a recent companion is gone that it didn’t seem like they are dead to the show and the Doctor. Once and a while we get a look from the Doctor or a tiny mention, but hardly ever. Rose, in the new franchise, was the most remembered. Matt Smith’s Doctor seems to have forgotten almost every companion before Amy. She did ask once, in an extra seen on the DVD release, but all the audience saw was a quick pictorial flash of companions – which hardly did them justice.
I think writers are just so concerned with the action sequences that we hardly ever have a chance for a few dialogue intense scences where the Doctor might reveal feelings of past companions, which would give us some insight into his character.
Not completely out of place
I’ve always read that as the Doctor not wanting to think about painful things. I don’t disagree with what you say – I love the idea of hearing about past companions more – but I guess it hasn’t bugged me too much before (it will now, thanks! *wink*).
Even in Rose’s era, though, they acknowledged that when Sarah Jane returned and was all, “he must have mentioned me,” only to discover he’d “never!” done so. And for me, the reason for that was the same as the reason he never went back for Sarah Jane (implied by the look he gave her when she asked) – I think it hurt too much. (Another reason this going back for the Ponds thing is a bit nonsensical to me.)
So yeah. I’d love to see more nods to past Companions, but I can also make peace without it – at least, I have so far. 🙂
Martha is the difference
I totally agree with you and in my mind, I used to think the same thing: it was just too painful for him to remember. But then the powers that be decided to get rid of the excellent Freema Agyeman and bring her back for a few episodes in Series 4. Having decide that, Tennant’s Doctor decided to call her for help, as she was in UNIT. She gave him her cell phone so he could keep in touch. I’m not sure if this type of thing is completely unprecedented, but I think it is. Having set that precedent, the people in charge now need to keep in mind that the Doctor did revisit a companion for help. So why wouldn’t he do it again, or at least speak of companions again?
What I found particularly troubling was that Doctor 10 – Tennant – before his regeneration – said “goodbye” to all his companions. Why? I mean, I understand why, but he is still the Doctor. It wouldn’t be so unusual for Matt Smith to run into Martha again – as you point out, Sara Jane was on in anticipation of her spin off. Why such finality with those companions? I didn’t mind it, because I think it was more an homage to Tennant than the character of the Doctor, to be honest. Tennant deserved it.
I do have some thoughts about the end of Rory/Amy, but I’ll share those in the proper thread when you review. I found their departure very troubling – way more than Rose’s, which I think it paralled a great deal.
Isn’t RTD the difference?
To be honest, I was never particularly enamored of Martha, so that probably colored my interpretation of Ten's relationship with her (lukewarm). I didn't think he was as broken up about her departure as most of the others. The other "modern" Companions have all been rather effectively written out – Rose, Donna, Amy & Rory… – but I don't disagree with the desire to see them either come back in the future or at least be mentioned.
As for "the Doctor's Reward," that was blatantly a case of RTD patting both himself and Tennant on the back. A bit silly, but then again, so was the whole chase in Planet of the Spiders when Pertwee left. The "finality" seems more related to that incarnation of the Doctor than to the Companions, as far as I'm concerned. Again, though, I'm interpreting it how it makes me least crabby. 😉
RTD it is!
Yes, I suppose I should have put it that way, that RTD was the difference.
I suppose I liked Martha because she seemed to be rather clever, studying to be a doctor, travelling with The Doctor. I always felt they wrote her out too soon and unfairly. Plus, I think she represented the type of companion that would be common – falling in love with the Doctor and having him barely notice you. Much more likely than being Rose.
I agree about the goodbyes to the companions – more about RTD and his time on the show, and “making his mark” in Who History.
I brought up Martha to point out that revisiting companions (as well as Sarah Jane) need not be so rare or isolated if you have willing actors – Rose is the other example – but more importantly, the mention of them, or the discussion of them to better explain the Doctor’s character, would be good. As you mention in your review of “The Angels Take Manhattan,’ there is probably a lot more coming up concerning the Doctor’s personality in what River had to say: “Never let him see you get old, and He doesn’t like endings.”
I think we are all waiting for the episode when he knocks on her door with the bottle of wine and a picnic blanket, the date, and then gives her his sonic screwdriver (it must be his old one though, because in “Silence in the LIbrary” that’s what we see, not the new one). Hopefully not for a while, though, because I would like to see more of River.
River
She’s really the ultimate revisited Companion, isn’t she? I’m still waiting for the “picnic at Asgard.” 😉
Me too
Yes, I am waiting for the picnic, too – Always at the back of my mind. She is the ultimate revisted Companion, to use your words. I would almost say that because of that, she’s The Companion. There isn’t anyone else like her in Doctor Who history.
I can’t quite figure out how she and the Doctor are travelling in opposite directions in life. How does that happen? She grows up and regenerates in front of him, so:
1. That’s the first time she met him.
2 First time he met her was in the Library, as David Tennant.
Is it just because they meet in different times that their schedule is off that they say they are running in different times? Can’t wrap my head around it. Seems like she has experienced almost everything in her life and she meets up with different times in his.
Thoughts?
Timey wimey
They're definitely on different tracks. Primarily, they experience things in opposite directions, but we saw in TATM that this adventure is late in her experience as well as in his. So who knows. Time isn't linear; that's all I get out of it.
Nicholas Courtney in Outbreak of Fear – Radio 4 Extra
BTW talking of Lethbridge-Stewart related spin-offs, all this week 1pm and 8pm British time, BBC Radio 4 Extra are re-broadcasting the thriller serial Outbreak of Fear.
You should be able to listen on-line:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00bz65t
From episode 2 onwards it features the late Nicholas Courtney in a very Brigadier-ish role. And in a surprise twist in the final episode, his character…
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
.
.
.
S
P
A
C
E
..actually .turns out to be a Brigadier in charge of a top secret military intelligence task force for dealing with things like scientific experiments gone wrong!
Thanks!
I’ll have to take a listen. 🙂
And talking of Radio 4 Extra…
This evening Radio 4Extra is starting a broadcast of 5th Doctor stories where the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough are reunited with a post-Terminus Nyssa.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01132sq
Cobwebs
Cool. Big Finish does some good stuff, and that’s not one I’ve yet heard.