The Zygon Inversion

Dear Gary—

The Zygon Inversion accomplishes what many Doctor Who Part 2 stories do not, and that is it lives up to a great Part 1 and delivers an entertaining, action packed, coherent plot without falling victim to overblown spectacle. To quote the Doctor, “I’m a very big fan.”

It also achieves the rare feat of revealing Clara to be a complex, interesting, and likeable character—twice over. It is telling that Clara (the real Clara) is at her best when going head to head with her doppelganger. I have to say, though, that I prefer the character of Zygella (AKA Zygon Clara, AKA Bonnie) to the original.

An aside here, Gary. It is not the lack of depth I object to so much as it is the way the show runners have tried so very hard and so very desperately to make Clara into some superhero who is given UNIT clearance (with access to the Black Archive no less!) and who is the bestest ever companion and who is indispensable to the Doctor and without whom the Doctor cannot live simply by repeating ad nauseam that she is all of that and more rather than by giving her actual, consistent attributes that would make her such. It is a credit to Jenna Coleman that Clara has remained watchable despite this mishandling.

Perhaps it is because of this heretofore dearth of character development that I find the Clara face off scenes in this story so compelling. At last Jenna Coleman is given something to sink her teeth into, and she makes the most of the opportunity. And while this heretofore dearth of character development calls into question the Doctor's delighted comment—“The mind of Clara Oswald; she may never find her way out” (the ‘she’ referring to Zygella)—this single episode manages to give the line some weight.

Osgood, on the other hand, is a character who has always impressed despite limited screen time, and with an expanded role here she continues to shine. As in the previous episode, Osgood holds her own with the Doctor, challenging him in a way that Clara never does. Clara has always been obvious, providing the Doctor with a literal or proverbial slap in the face or outright adoration, depending on the circumstance. Osgood is subtle, providing intellectual stimulation and true companionship on an equal footing, based on mutual respect and admiration, but with a healthy dose of objectivity.

Just take their exchange on the beach. The world is on the brink of a takeover by rogue Zygons; the world needs the Doctor; the Doctor is despondent at the thought that Clara is most likely dead. Osgood doesn’t read the Doctor the riot act or rant speeches at him. Rather she guides him through a series of questions to get him thinking; to get him hoping; to get him planning.

Osgood: “How’s that hope phase now?”

Doctor: “Worse than ever.”

Osgood:  “Then we’ve got a game.”

The game is indeed afoot, and it is Osgood who has successfully read the Doctor and has effectively propelled him onto the path of action. Indeed, it is Osgood who is the key to this whole puzzle. “Two Osgoods; two boxes. Operation double. What did you expect?” What I don’t expect is the Doctor to continually hound Osgood as to which Osgood she is. It simply is not important and the Doctor above everyone should know this. Leave it to Osgood, though, to calmly and steadfastly refuse to answer. If I didn’t know better I would say that Osgood is the Doctor in a future incarnation. (Too bad Ingrid Oliver wasn’t just announced as the next Doctor.)

But I digress. The game is afoot and Osgood is the key. All action converges on the Black Archive where the Osgood box—turns out boxes—reside. Zygella arrives with Pod Clara in tow. Outraged at her discovery, she summons the Doctor from his diversionary trip to the surprisingly empty shopping center  of instant internet notoriety with the also instantly notorious peaceful Zygon revealed against his will (a side show that is entertaining and moving but doesn’t really make a lot of sense in the scheme of things upon close inspection, but who has time to closely inspect?) along with Kate Stewart who it turns out is not Zygon Kate Stewart but human Kate Stewart who divulges her escape from Truth or Consequences in flashback (“five rounds rapid”—gotta love it). And of course the ever present Osgood makes the trip as well. All parties assembled for the final showdown.

And what a showdown it is. This is the Doctor’s shining hour—and quite likely Peter Capaldi’s crowning moment as the Doctor. This is the Twelfth Doctor achieving what the Eleventh failed in Cold Blood. This is the Doctor standing tall and proud in the face of two factions on the brink of war and talking them down. His speech is riveting and impeccably delivered as Kate and Zygella stare at each other across those devastating Osgood boxes of death and destruction.

“This is a scale model of war,” he sums up. “Every war ever fought, right there in front of you. Because it’s always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who’s going to die! You don’t know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shatter! How much blood will spill until everybody does what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning—sit down and talk!”

And then his relentless persuasion of Zygella. (Kate is easy—she relents early on. She is privy to his history and understands his anguish as he describes his similar hour of reckoning.) And again Jenna Coleman excels as she portrays the defiant yet wavering Zygella, her hand poised above the deadly buttons. When the Doctor declares Zygella’s conversion and she asks him, “How can you be so sure,” I believe the Doctor’s response, “Because you have a disadvantage, Zygella. I know that face.” Jenna Coleman’s face says it all.

It is all so masterfully done that I forgive the obvious flaws. However, I still feel like everything is undone when the Doctor, in response to Kate’s question as to how they can forget the secret (that the boxes are in fact empty) replies, “You’ve said that the last fifteen times.” Are you kidding me? Fifteen times? The Doctor has allowed this same deadly scenario to play out fifteen times, each time erasing their memories so that it can play out again? This is not peace he has brokered. This is simply a temporary ceasefire. A ceasefire to last—what—given the timeline between the first Zygon outbreak and this, a couple months or weeks? Why can’t he stop simply hitting the reset button and come up with a permanent solution? For this to have happened fifteen times already there must still be quite a few Zygons who are living in discontent and plotting rebellion. This has got to keep the Doctor so busy he can’t have time for any of the other adventures he supposedly has. This was a case of the scriptwriter not being able to resist the urge to insert a clever zinger.

I’ll take that hint, Gary, and assume that this was merely the Doctor throwing out a one-liner and not being literal.

And again we have an ending in which a potentially valuable and noteworthy companion turns down the Doctor’s offer to travel with him in the TARDIS. But Osgood is almost too good for the Doctor at this time, and she (along with her newly acquired Zygella-turned-Osgood twin) is better left to keep the peace that the Doctor apparently can only temporarily proffer.

Before taking my leave, Gary, I have to say a word about this hiatus I have been on recently (in the middle of a two-parter no less). I can offer excuses like: Writers block. Busy life. A general malaise brought about by the recent political climate. The knowledge that you have never seen these stories I am currently on. Or any combination thereof. But I suppose the major reason is my increasing disenchantment with the show, despite the quality of the episodes I am covering at present. Outside of my slow path I have forged ahead in my viewing, and I have to say that this show has found new ways in which to disappoint me. It has rarely if ever reached perfection, and you well know my reservations about the New Who, but this most recent season, this tenth season of the New Who, has completely lost its identity. It is no longer Doctor Who. It is as if it is trying to be a pale imitation of The Twilight Zone. But no, I don’t even want to compare it to a show of that quality. Rather it is striving to become a distant cousin of those modern Zone like shows, such as Black Mirror. I truly hope Doctor Who can find its direction once again and I will continue plodding along. I see that the new Doctor has been announced and I can only hope that she is not treated as a gimmick, but I don’t have much faith at this point.

Sorry to end on a sour note, especially when The Zygon Inversion is anything but . . . but, oh Gary . . .