And so the war comes to an end, though to be honest it has never really felt as if it started. Just threats from both sides. Some actual fighting between Homo Aqua and UNIT or the regular army might have been nice, if you know what I mean.
There have been mentions of "Severance" since episode 3, which we rightly guessed referred to some kind of virus.
To have had Homo Aqua cohabit the Earth after this was never going to happen, as it would have clashed with everything we've seen of near future Earth since the days of Patrick Troughton's Doctor. At the same time we know that there will be Sea Devils around in 2084, as seen in Warriors of the Deep, and the mentions of Severance can't help but remind us of how crudely Hexachromite gas was set up in that story.
We were also told that this series would be as much a romance as an epic, sci-fi adventure spinning off from Doctor Who. As I said last time, I don't think the relationship between Barclay and Salt was all that convincing (and that between Kate and Ibrahim underdeveloped).
So, going into the finale we can already predict a lot of what's coming. What's left to us is how it happens.
The episode begins with Homo Aqua capturing Britain's dogs and apparently eating them. Kate, speaking to a psychologist, at least admits that we are on the brink of a potential war - and not actually in the middle of one. The world has turned against Barclay, so we can work out that life isn't simply going to back to normal for him.
Then we discover that the talks have been a diversion and Homo Aqua are busy melting the icecaps in Antarctica. If a genocide is being set up, then it will be okay for us to wipe them out first - so the episode is setting up a moral justification for what humanity is sure to do.
Everything is being signposted.
Barclay is managing to sneak out of his confinement every night in search of Salt. His guard is allied with Gunberg, Dussolier and the PM, so they are able to drug and infect him - the plan being that he will find her and so pass on the virus. Sure enough they are reunited, but she sends him back to his friends to arrange an accord - or Capital A "Accord" - with Homo Aqua - and he goes to Kate and UNIT, and they decide to act unilaterally.
There's no response, however, and we quickly find out why. Homo Aqua begin turning up dead.
Severance.
It's suggested that about 90% have perished - which leaves the door open for Warriors of the Deep of course.
Salt returns, declaring the war ended and revenge is vowed against the three human villains of the piece. We see them perish, but it's unclear if this is just what they fear or if it's a glimpse into the future and actually happens. A more definitive comeuppance would have been more satisfying.
Barclay and Salt get their happy ending. The virus - or Salt, it's very unclear - has made him amphibious and they swim off, not into the sunset but into the deep.
There's an odd little coda, where Kate sees a man drop a bottle on a beach. She asks him to pick it up and when he refuses and gets argumentative she goes ballistic and pulls a gun on him... A bit extreme and totally against what the Doctor advocates. Whatever happened to "science leads"? Trying to reinforce in blunt fashion that everyone has a responsibility to keep the oceans clean, in no matter how small a way - or is Kate being set up as a much darker, more unpredictable, figure for future Doctor Who appearances? When this series was made they had no idea that the parent programme would be shelved for a while.
Overall, this series has been okay - but far from great. Not epic enough, not enough action, and a little derivative and predictable. It was trying so hard to be another Children of Earth but couldn't come close to the event television that became.
I'm really not sure it's something I would ever feel the need to rewatch - though I'm glad I did see it. A big concern going into it was that it would be overly preachy and, whilst there was an element of that in the second episode, it wasn't too hectoring.
Interestingly, despite the odd mention of the Doctor and the fact that Homo Aqua are supposed to be Sea Devils, it never really felt like it had anything to do with Doctor Who to me - which might stand it in good stead in the long run.
No comments:
Post a Comment