"I'm a historical figure. That's crazy!"
IN THIS ONE... Tense negotiations begin with Homo Aqua.
REVIEW: It's interesting that, despite what may come next, this "War" hasn't yet been focused on action. Homo Aqua are, even on episode 2 of 5, largely concerned with talking and making the occasional show of power that a Doctor Who episode might well relegate to its teaser. Episode 1 had the ground turning into water and "eating" two UNIT soldiers, and this one has the striking image of all of humanity's garbage being thrown up from the water and into dry land, including some big pieces like the wreck of the Titanic. (I noticed the floating plastic bag in an early scene and though it was a nice reminder that ecological concerns were at the heart of this story, but didn't realize it was a precursor for the ep's big effects moment).
We're still learning about this new enemy. They're communicating through some kind of telepathic network, likely enabled by the mystery pearl implant showcased in episode 1. Their ambassador, calling herself Salt, appreciates passion and honesty and hates empty rhetoric (we reach), but can also change her sex on cue. Presumably, the male form is the warrior. They're also rather unreasonable given that they're bringing their demands for the first time. Asking Barclay to drink a glass of filthy water is a pretty obvious rhetorical demonstration, and it's a trap to force humanity to admit it WANTS the big plastic demo. Next up, they want HIM (and his team?) to have a meeting on THEIR turf, at the bottom of the Romanche Trench. Well... What's interesting is that she keeps forcing Barclay to go off-script, and he's, like, "twist my rubber arm". Kate's comment that it's like working with the Doctor made me laugh. Certainly, Barclay is just saying what we're thinking, or what we ought to be thinking, and this sudden agency energizes him. So much so that when the chamber explodes into chaos, he's not afraid to tell the assembly to shut up. But no matter what we think of Salt's demands - demands that would cripple humanity - they're not the true villains here.
No, that title goes to a conspiracy of oil executives and paid-for generals from the U.S. and France. They get access to a bio-sample of the Eocenes from a UNIT lab tech in exchange for British citizenship (though it seems he gets screwed anyway), and are sabotaging talks in various ways (by leaking information about them, for example). When the War actually breaks out, look for it to be because of one of their actions. It's obvious, and if the series has a flaw early on, it's that it IS pretty obvious. I appreciate the climate change message, but it's obvious. A corpo-government conspiracy is obvious. That on episode 2, we're still dealing with diplomacy is the refreshing bit.
Oh, and for the 'shippers, Kate and Ibrahim ARE still together, but acting like no one at the office knows or can know. I don't know why we need the subplot, honestly, I'd much rather just stay with Barclay and his family for the "human" scenes.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - Still has my attention despite being perhaps stuck in set-up mode.
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