Earthshock
Previous: Black Orchid
Earthshock
Mysterious Cave-Dwelling Shadow Alert, guys. Those rarely result in anything good.
Cool! Adric has his own room! I think Five's companions are the first ones I've seen to have their own rooms in the TARDIS.
And Five's still got the book from Black Orchid! Titled..."Black Orchid."
"What's the matter?"
"I'm fed up."
"Why?"
"I'm tired of being considered a joke!"
"Oh, no one thinks that!"
"Then why am I constantly teased?"
"Well, everyone's teased from time to time!"
"Yeah, but not as often as me."
Guys, this conversation is actually heartbreaking. Especially since I know what's coming later...
"I'm tired of being an outsider, Doctor. I want to go back to my own people." Can...can I PLEASE give Adric a hug now?
Wikipedia wasn't kidding when it said that every story between The Leisure Hive and The Five Doctors was essentially tied together.
Like they've started referencing the E-Space trilogy a lot, which I haven't seen yet (but I REALLY need to).
I just remembered that State of Decay is going to be really interesting for me primarily because of the Four/Romana II/Adric crew.
*Five-palm*
"Where are we?"
"...Earth."
"Oh, not again."
"You know, I think since his regeneration, he's become decidedly immature." OUCH.
Okay, first thing I should do once I finish what Netflix Instant gives me is filling in the gaps between Leisure Hive and Five Doctors.
*checks wikipedia* ...holy crap, that's 17 serials...
"Well, it should be totally dark, but we can SEE!" Is it just me, or did Tegan just lampshade the tunnels-are-always-well-lit trope HARD?
Even moreso, I think it's about to be WORKED INTO THE PLOT.
Completely random observation: Adric is left-handed.
"What sort of creatures had such bones?"
"Dinosaurs."
"Were they your ancestors?"
"I hope not!"
So the Doctor hasn't gone back to find out what killed the dinosaurs, but he wants to someday? I'll bet he's going to find out soon...
HOLY SHIT THOSE ARE THE REMAINS OF DEAD MELTED PEOPLE WHAT THE HELL WHY ARE YOU SHOWING US THIS
So apparently Five's hat is VERY collapsible and can make chalk-drawings on cave floors. ...kay?
"I wonder what evolutionary stage my ancestors were at?"
"Very primitive, Tegan. VERY primitive..."
Okay, yeah, sure, ZOOM IN on the name tag of the dead person while one of her old co-workers ACCIDENTALLY STEPS IN HER ENTRAILS. WHAT.
I'm beginning to understand why the later seasons of Classic Who came under fire for being "too violent."
Hey hey HEY! NO DOCTOR-THROWING! YOU JUST DON'T DO THAT!
And underneath all the rubble? A mysterious metal door in the rock wall. Hmm...
CYBERMEN! AND THEY HAVE COMPLETELY UN-CYBER VOICES! WHAT THE HELL!
Oh wait, they DO have slightly-cyber voices.
This actually isn't my first Classic Cybermen serial. Netflix Instant also has Tomb of the Cybermen and The Wheel in Space.
I didn't do commentaries for those because Tomb was missing the 2nd ep (it had the 3rd twice) and Wheel only has 2 surviving eps out of 6.
So apparently these Cybermen scouts can shoot from the palms of their hands. Kinda like Spiderman, except...you know...DEADLY.
Also, the laser gun blasts look like candy canes. Of DEATH.
A small legion of laser guns fail to destroy the androids, so Adric sneaks up behind one and bashes its head in with a rock. WIN.
These Cybermen are certainly more human than in New Who. I mean, Cybermen with actual VOCAL INFLECTIONS? Can such a mythical creature exist?
Oh. No wonder they've making such a big deal out of that bomb. It could BLOW UP EARTH. ALLEGEDLY.
Huh. I think that's the first time I've heard the theme tune incorporated into the incidental music.
HOLY CRAP HELLO WILLIAM HARTNELL NICE OF YOU TO DROP IN SO UNEXPECTEDLY (okay it's just a flashback BUT STILL)
AND THEY'RE REFERENCING TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN COMPLETE WITH STOCK FOOTAGE. HI TWO. *WAVES*
AND IS THAT REVENGE OF THE CYBERMEN WHY YES I DO BELIEVE IT IS EVEN THOUGH I HAVEN'T SEEN IT. Hello again, Four!
Sorry for all the capslock but that's the first time I've seen them use stock footage of previous Doctors in Classic Who. *easily excitable*
"Adric, do you have a moment?"
"I'm hungry!"
Wait, you were complaining about Five not paying attention to you before and now this? COME ON!
Awww, they finally made up! Okay, so Adric's still being a bit egotistical, but still...
This is one of the only stories I've seen so far that takes place in two drastically different locations.
"Sorry, mom."
"Don't call me 'mom' on the bridge!"
"Sorry, Captain."
And the camera feed showing Five and Adric walking down the hallway gets missed by security completely. Nice.
"You could hide an army down here and no one would find it." Hmm. Foreshadowing much?
"But what's the point of going on?"
"I want to announce my PRESENCE!" *flings arms open*
Five, that was barely on-screen but I loved it.
"On this ship, we EXECUTE murderers!" JEEZ. HOW many separate deaths can the Doctor be accidentally blamed for in ONE SERIAL?
Have I mentioned yet that hearing the Cybermen talking with some semblance of personality is REALLY REALLY weird?
And now we have Cybermen in PLASTIC WRAP! Sealed for your protection.
So while Five is growling "THE STORY ABOUT THE BOMB IS TRUE!" I'm FINALLY noticing the Peter-Davison-has-invisible-eyebrows thing.
Thank you SOMEONE for FINALLY pointing out how wrongly-dressed Tegan is for adventuring.
Why does everyone's outfits and equipment suddenly remind me of the Ghostbusters?
"I want them where I can see 'em!" Huh. Somehow I don't think that behind-the-console counts as "where you can see them."
Cybermen on the march! And how is it that I've only JUST noticed how freaking tall these things are?
"I'm just a mouth on legs." Isn't that the recurring phrase that gets used ON Tegan and not BY Tegan?
More candy-cane lasers of DEATH!
"Could that be the Doctor?"
"I hope not. Guns are not his style at all!"
THANK YOU for reminding us about that!
Wait...is it just me, or is the son committing a mutiny against his MOM?
Cybermen are allergic to gold? Oh yeah, they were an evolved species back in Classic Who, weren't they?
Adric's badge is made of gold? I like where this thread is going...
...except for the whole traitorous-son-trying-to-take-it-from-him thing.
"How many of these silos are you carrying?"
"About 15,000...oh..."
I do believe the phrase you're looking for is "Earth is FUCKED."
HOLY SHIT, TEGAN THAT WAS AWESOME.
Wait, is that one Cyberman walking with a limp...and BLEEDING?
Is it weird that I actually might like the Classic Who Cybermen better than New Who's because they actually have something like personality?
An army of Cybermen bursts through SOLID METAL! By which I mean FLIMSY CARDBOARD! Oh you Classics and your microscopic budgets... :D
"Your TARDIS has been found, Doctor."
"I didn't know it was lost."
Wait, so suddenly an interplanetary conference is getting involved in this? And how do Cybermen have a concept of "psychological victory"?
Tegan Jovanka: Young Australian Flight Attendant with a BIG FUCKING GUN. This show.
Never mind, awesome averted. Crap.
Question of the Day: why didn't that Cyberman just KILL HER? What's it dragging her away for?
Oh, I see. It got her to lead it to the TARDIS...somehow? How were they RIGHT ON EVERYONE'S HEELS? WHAT?
"I see that Time Lords have emotional feelings." The sheer redundancy of that sentence BLOWS MY MIND just a little bit.
"For some people, small beautiful events is what LIFE IS ALL ABOUT!" Part of me wants a Cyberman to say "Life? Don't talk to me about life."
That was my obligatory Hitchhiker's Guide reference for the night.
"You have...affection for this woman?"
"She's a FRIEND."
Sorry guys, but we're still in the Age of Asexuality for our good Doctor here.
Wait...WHY did Five hesitate so long to throw himself between his companions and the Cyberman who was ABOUT TO KILL THEM?
"I know that it requires only one person to fly the TARDIS." Well Mr. Cyberman, clearly you've never met Russell T. Davies.
Uh oh...why do I have a funny feeling that Adric just said his last goodbyes to Five and Tegan?
Rescue team! AKA, awesome people with Cybermen guns.
Also, does it seem strange to anyone else that the Cybermen would build guns that...you know...worked on THEM as well as their enemies?
"We're traveling backwards through time!"
"But that's not possible!"
"It is when you have an alien machine overriding your computer."
So the freighter's still locked onto the same coordinates, but it's not stable in time? I think I just figured out how the dinosaurs died.
GUYS. LET ADRIC FIGURE OUT THE LAST CODE. HE MIGHT ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO SAVE THE WORLD WITH HIS SMART-NESS.
CALLED IT. The freighter is going to kill off the dinosaurs.
WOAH. WOAH. WAIT A SEC. THAT'S JUST WRONG. IF THEY'RE BACK 65 MILLION YEARS, WHY ARE ALL THE CONTINENTS IN THE SAME PLACE THEY ARE TODAY?!?!
MY INNER CHILDHOOD PALEONTOLOGIST-WANNBE IS HAVING A LITTLE BIT OF A RAGE-S'PLOSION RIGHT NOW. I MEAN...SERIOUSLY...WHAT...
HOLY SHIT THEY SMASHED ADRIC'S BADGE INTO ITS CHEST AND NOW IT'S DYING AND SHOOTING THE CONSOLE AND FIVE'S GOT A LASER RIFLE AND OH MY GOD
And that last Cyberman shot up the freighter's console before Adric could finish..."Now I'll never know if I was right..."
I needed to let those silent credits run their course. Holy...
Something tells me that if I'd watched more serials with Adric before this, I might actually be crying now. Instead I'm just regular-sad.
Well, I'd also known about Adric's death months before I started watching Classic Who, so it wasn't a huge shock or anything.
But DAMMIT THAT WAS STILL SAD. Now I need to do an obituary Tweet.
(as someone who knows what it's like to be looked down upon for being considered an insufferable know-it-all, I really do sympathize)
RIP Adric. I Actually Really Liked Him. ;___;
Next: Time-Flight