This episode finally gives us some explanations and revelations, as well as introducing a whole new threat - which is a bit of a mistake in my view. Spoilers ahead!
As it opens, Survivors of the Flux picks up the story of Yaz, Dan and Professor Jericho from last week, with them now apparently stranded in the early years of the 20th Century. The Doctor had left Yaz with a hologram message, sending her on a mission to track down some information. She, Dan and the Professor head into Indiana Jones territory as they hunt for artefacts and information that will reveal a date for the end of the world. They make for an entertaining trio, and could easily hold the attention for a whole episode on their own. Throughout their globetrotting, they are threatened by people with a snake tattoo, and this connects with that new threat. Despite being only a peripheral figure in the third chapter, the Grand Serpent returns with his own storyline, which involves him manipulating and influencing UNIT since its inception. Mention is made of the events of The War Machines, and we get a cameo voice of a certain well-known UNIT member. We find out why he's called the Grand Serpent, as he bumps off those who might stop him gaining overall charge of UNIT, and he gets what he wants up until he meets his match with Kate Stewart. The big reveal that the Grand Serpent is working in league with the Sontarans is the thing I'm not happy about. It's a bit underwhelming, to be honest. The problem is that they've already been quite prominent in this series - been there, done that. Had they been revealed for the first time, out of the blue, then that would have really meant something. Had it been someone else - like the Master - revealed at the end, that would have worked better. The other issue with this storyline is that it takes attention away from the Ravagers. They feature very little in this episode - appearing briefly with Vinder, then again at the conclusion.
The Doctor doesn't stay Angel-fied for long. She's been transported to the place where Barbara Flynn - Awsok - is based. There's an awful lot of exposition here, linking back to the previous series.
It turns out that she leads the Division, and we get a lot of information of what it is and how it came into being. It started off on Gallifrey, but soon outgrew it and took in many species across the universe, such as the Weeping Angels. Awsok cares so much about the Division that she has moved it to the gap between universes. The Flux has been created to destroy the old universe and help push the Division onto and into the neighbouring universe, which might be the one that the Doctor originally came from. The reason Awsok knows all this is because she is really Tecteun - the Gallifreyan woman who originally found the Timeless Child, experimented on her, and gave the Time Lords regeneration. Tecteun possesses a fob watch, which contains many of the memories which were removed from the Doctor by the Division. We see it being opened in the trailer for next week's episode...
Meanwhile, Yaz, Dan and the Professor end up in Liverpool, and we finally get an explanation for Joseph Williamson's odd appearances. He has seen the end of the world in his tunnels. He's found various doors lead to different times and places - which is how he came to turn up in the 21st Century, or on the planet Time. Presumably this will also be how the TARDIS crew manage to get reunited.
There's one last storyline to mention - Bel and Vinder. He arrived at the Ravagers' base and was just about to be reunited with her when she got pulled away by Karvanista (due to her having pinched a Lupari ship). He encounters Swarm and Azure and gets captured by a Passenger. Here he meets Dan's friend Diane.
So only one more chapter to go, and all of this has to be satisfactorily tied up. The Doctor just happens to be in the place where the Flux is controlled from, so presumably that's where it can also be undone from. If characters aren't quite where they need to be, don't worry - there's the Williamson tunnels to help them get into position for the finale. From the trailer, it looks like the Sontaran invasion will take up quite a bit of the running time, when it's really Swarm and Azure we want to see. Now we know they weren't the ones behind the Flux, it looks like they're being pushed further down in the mix. We are also promised cameos from Daleks and Cybermen next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment