My Thoughts on Legend of the Sea Devils
It's time to share my thoughts about the Easter special of Doctor Who, which is called “Legend of the Sea Devils.” I admit I was quite hyped up for this one. The promotional photos promised a fun looking pirate adventure, and it was cool they were bringing the Sea Devils into the new era. And I'm pleased to say it lived up to the hype for me. Taking place in 19th century China, we meet the Madam Ching, a notorious pirate queen from history. I think I might have vaguely heard about her before. She's looking for a treasure and unleashes a Sea Devil, while doing so. Meanwhile, The Doctor and her pals arrive in the TARDIS. But naturally The Doctor is off target again. Yaz just wants to go to the beach and Dan comes barreling out with a cheeky pirate outfit, which he never takes off for the rest of the episode. I love and live for pirate Dan.
After confronting the Sea Devil, Yaz and the Doctor go one way and Dan and another character named Ying Ki go another. Yaz and the Doctor travel back in time to find out what happened to the lost treasure of Ji-Hun. This gives them alone time where their relationship is discussed, but I'll go more into that later. Dan and Ying Ki find Madam Ching and they encounter a sea monster because of course they do. Meanwhile, Yaz and the Doctor witness Ji-Hun making his crew jump overboard. On the surface it appears like he's helping the Sea Devils. But then Yaz and the Doctor go forward in time to try to find the sunken wreckage of Ji-Hun's ship. It is not there (“No Ship Sherlock” the Doctor remarks lol), but the Doctor noticing how beautiful it is Under Da Sea, says it's a not a bad date, which startles Yaz. She doesn't know that the Doctor knows that she likes the Doctor. Then the sea monster shows up and takes the TARDIS in its mouth. I thought we were going to have a Pinocchio situation here, but alas the next thing we see is Yaz and the Doctor end up in the Sea Devil's lair.
We find out that the Sea Devils have been keeping Ji-Hun captive for centuries. The Doctor tries to touch things lol. The Sea Devils were looking for the Keystone, which they plan to use to flood the earth to create a water world so they can reclaim it. The Doctor bluffs about having it, but that doesn't work. So, the Doctor sends Ji-Hun's ship to the surface with the help of her sonic screwdriver, and they board Madam Ching's ship where they meet up with Dan and Ying Ki again. Then there is an all out sword battle. It was fun to watch the Doctor swordfighting again, brief though it was. Time to end this once and for all, but first there was a moment with Yaz and the Doctor again. The Doctor calls Yaz the “Greatest person she's ever met,” which feels really disingenous to me. There were plenty of people that the Doctor met that are way greater than Yaz. Of course the first person I thought of was Rose. Did you just forget about Rose, Doctor? Or River for that matter. Hell, I personally think Jack Harkness is probably the greatest. It's the one part of the episode I didn't really like. That writing was blah. And I'm sorry, I just don't buy the chemistry between Yaz and the Doctor. It felt a little forced. But I will circle back to it for the ending scene, which I thought was pretty good.
Anyway, it's kind of actually Ji-Hun who saves the day and stops the Sea Devils. Then I have to assume the travelers made it back to the present even though the beach looks the same because Dan makes a call to Diane. I don't think cell phones would work in the 19th century. Yaz and the Doctor are sitting together, and the Doctor admits that she doesn't want to be in a relationship with Yaz because it would be too painful to lose her. It's a smiliar conversation the Doctor had with Rose in “School Reunion.” The pain of basically being immortal. I mean if the Doctor really wanted to she could choose to settle down with someone and choose to die without regenerating, but I don't think that's in the Doctor's nature. She lives to protect the universe. I thought it was a pretty good scene.
Overall, I really enjoyed this episode. It was a fun time. And I really liked the side characters too. And there were quite a few funny one liners from the Doctor like Yaz telling her she's like a kid sometimes, and she says “Only sometimes?” And the line about history never being like the books like Stephen King movies, and “No ship Sherlock.” I'm sure there were more. I thought I even heard her say “Geronimo” once, a callback to the 11th Doctor, but I could have been imagining it. Hmm.
Then the preview came for the final special. Some of the usual suspects returning, like Vinder, Kate Stewart, The Master, and of course the Daleks, but I audibly gasped when I saw Ace. I didn't know who the woman standing next to her was, but found out it's Tegan! Another one of my favorites from the Classic series. To be fair, I didn't know what she looked like now days, just how she looked back then, so I didn't recognize her. I'm beyond excited for this final special now. I wasn't expecting this at all. I could hardly contain myself, and I want to watch that special now, even though it inevitably will bring sadness. The fall can't come soon enough. If I had to take a wild guess, it will probably be another Halloween special. This is it. The Thirteenth Doctor's chapter is coming to a close. And I'm guessing we will find out who will take on the role next. In the meantime, here's a screenshot from "Legend of the Sea Devils." The Sea Devils did look good.
After confronting the Sea Devil, Yaz and the Doctor go one way and Dan and another character named Ying Ki go another. Yaz and the Doctor travel back in time to find out what happened to the lost treasure of Ji-Hun. This gives them alone time where their relationship is discussed, but I'll go more into that later. Dan and Ying Ki find Madam Ching and they encounter a sea monster because of course they do. Meanwhile, Yaz and the Doctor witness Ji-Hun making his crew jump overboard. On the surface it appears like he's helping the Sea Devils. But then Yaz and the Doctor go forward in time to try to find the sunken wreckage of Ji-Hun's ship. It is not there (“No Ship Sherlock” the Doctor remarks lol), but the Doctor noticing how beautiful it is Under Da Sea, says it's a not a bad date, which startles Yaz. She doesn't know that the Doctor knows that she likes the Doctor. Then the sea monster shows up and takes the TARDIS in its mouth. I thought we were going to have a Pinocchio situation here, but alas the next thing we see is Yaz and the Doctor end up in the Sea Devil's lair.
We find out that the Sea Devils have been keeping Ji-Hun captive for centuries. The Doctor tries to touch things lol. The Sea Devils were looking for the Keystone, which they plan to use to flood the earth to create a water world so they can reclaim it. The Doctor bluffs about having it, but that doesn't work. So, the Doctor sends Ji-Hun's ship to the surface with the help of her sonic screwdriver, and they board Madam Ching's ship where they meet up with Dan and Ying Ki again. Then there is an all out sword battle. It was fun to watch the Doctor swordfighting again, brief though it was. Time to end this once and for all, but first there was a moment with Yaz and the Doctor again. The Doctor calls Yaz the “Greatest person she's ever met,” which feels really disingenous to me. There were plenty of people that the Doctor met that are way greater than Yaz. Of course the first person I thought of was Rose. Did you just forget about Rose, Doctor? Or River for that matter. Hell, I personally think Jack Harkness is probably the greatest. It's the one part of the episode I didn't really like. That writing was blah. And I'm sorry, I just don't buy the chemistry between Yaz and the Doctor. It felt a little forced. But I will circle back to it for the ending scene, which I thought was pretty good.
Anyway, it's kind of actually Ji-Hun who saves the day and stops the Sea Devils. Then I have to assume the travelers made it back to the present even though the beach looks the same because Dan makes a call to Diane. I don't think cell phones would work in the 19th century. Yaz and the Doctor are sitting together, and the Doctor admits that she doesn't want to be in a relationship with Yaz because it would be too painful to lose her. It's a smiliar conversation the Doctor had with Rose in “School Reunion.” The pain of basically being immortal. I mean if the Doctor really wanted to she could choose to settle down with someone and choose to die without regenerating, but I don't think that's in the Doctor's nature. She lives to protect the universe. I thought it was a pretty good scene.
Overall, I really enjoyed this episode. It was a fun time. And I really liked the side characters too. And there were quite a few funny one liners from the Doctor like Yaz telling her she's like a kid sometimes, and she says “Only sometimes?” And the line about history never being like the books like Stephen King movies, and “No ship Sherlock.” I'm sure there were more. I thought I even heard her say “Geronimo” once, a callback to the 11th Doctor, but I could have been imagining it. Hmm.
Then the preview came for the final special. Some of the usual suspects returning, like Vinder, Kate Stewart, The Master, and of course the Daleks, but I audibly gasped when I saw Ace. I didn't know who the woman standing next to her was, but found out it's Tegan! Another one of my favorites from the Classic series. To be fair, I didn't know what she looked like now days, just how she looked back then, so I didn't recognize her. I'm beyond excited for this final special now. I wasn't expecting this at all. I could hardly contain myself, and I want to watch that special now, even though it inevitably will bring sadness. The fall can't come soon enough. If I had to take a wild guess, it will probably be another Halloween special. This is it. The Thirteenth Doctor's chapter is coming to a close. And I'm guessing we will find out who will take on the role next. In the meantime, here's a screenshot from "Legend of the Sea Devils." The Sea Devils did look good.