Doctor Who: The Zygon Invasion (9x07)

For the most part this episode felt like setup for whatever happens next week, but I still quite enjoyed it. I'm going to be a bit brief, since like I said, this feels like mostly setup.

Cons:

What I just said. There were some pacing issues in this episode such that I didn't feel like we were really keyed into the story until almost the very end. Choppy transitions and no real screen time between Clara and the Doctor made this feel like a long, drawn-out prologue to a good story, but without the good story to follow.

There were also parts of this episode that had me rolling my eyes - namely, how stupid is UNIT? I can't believe this organization actually let a population of volatile aliens disperse among the humans of the Earth with no real safety protocol in place for when something inevitably went wrong. I'm sorry, but there's only so far you should go in your trust and benevolence. I'm all for incorporating the Zygons into Earth, but when you know almost nothing about another species, shouldn't there be more safety protocols in place? Yeesh.

Pros:

Despite the somewhat choppy nature of this episode, the plot itself was pretty basic and powerful. Essentially, a faction of the Zygons are rebelling, wanting to take over the Earth and get rid of the humans. The Doctor is called in by UNIT to help deal with this. We learn that Osgood is a sort of dual-hybrid now. There are two of her, and both are part Human and part Zygon. This was an interesting concept and I like what they did with it. Most of the episode is just focusing on setting up what an intense threat these Zygons really are. We're told again and again that there's no way of knowing who is Zygon and who is Human, and that point is emphasized by a soldier who finds himself incapable of killing his mother, or what appears to be his mother. He can't know for sure that she's a Zygon.

The Doctor and Clara didn't spend any screen time together in this episode. I loved the multiple phone calls, as the Doctor tries frantically to reach Clara. It's interesting, because there seems to be two reasons that he wants her with him. One is that this threat is encompassing the whole Earth, and he wants to keep her safe. The other is that he works better with his companion at his side. The Doctor is frequently a lone agent, but that's only when he stumbles in to an adventure just for the hell of it. This is quite different - this threat is immediate, and he's been called in to help, and it's threatening a planet that's as close to a home as he has anymore, as long as Gallifrey is still lost to him.

The strongest part of this episode was its ending, when we reveal the twist - Clara hasn't been Clara for the majority of the episode. She's a Zygon! At the very start, she gets zapped and a Zygon takes on her form. As the episode ends, the Doctor is talking to "Clara" on the phone as he flies on the "President of the World" plane. The Zygon reveals the truth, telling the Doctor that Clara is dead. She then fires a missile at the plane, leaving the Doctor devastated by Clara's apparent death, and also in imminent danger of death himself. This was really strong, and felt like an awesome way to jump in to next week's episode.

So that's what I've got - this was a perfectly solid episode in some ways, but it annoys me how much it felt like a prologue to something more interesting. I guess we'll have to wait and see how the resolution falls. I can't wait to see Jenna Coleman sink her teeth into a villainous role! She's always been better at playing other characters - Clara is the least interesting character she's had on this show, to be honest.

7/10