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Doctor Who Recap: “Cold War”

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by Sarabeth Pollock:

Doctor Who Recap: “Cold War”
Original Air Date (BBC/BBC America): Sunday April 13, 2013
Season 7 Episode 8

Matt Smith said in interviews that tonight’s episode, “Cold War,” is one of his favorites.  I know I keep saying it, but this is my favorite season featuring the Eleventh Doctor.  It really is.  Tonight’s episode has the perfect combination of history, aliens, adventure, and Doctor/Companion interplay.  And there’s a message in it, too.  One again television has an eerie way of mimicking real life.  Last fall, the American Horror Story episode “Nor’Easter” aired when Hurricane Sandy was bearing down on the Eastern seaboard.  Now, “Cold War” hits us just as tensions between North Korea and…well, the rest of the world are at an all-time high.  I was still a kid when the Cold War ended, but it was something that had an effect on every facet of life, including television.  This episode reminds us that life truly does mimic art, and vice versa.

Going into tonight’s episode, I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Easter Eggs, and I wasn’t disappointed.  I’m sure I missed some (so if you caught any that I didn’t mention, please leave them in the comments below).

The North Pole, 1983.  Onboard a Russian submarine that is about to blow up the world.  Just as the captain is about to push the big red button, claiming victory for the motherland, an old man known as Professor Grisenko wanders in singing Ultravox songs.  “Am I interrupting something?” he asks.  “We were about to blow up the world, Professor,” the exasperated captain replies.  “Again?” asks the Professor.  Yes, must be the Cold War.  Everyone had a finger on the button back then, especially in the early 80s.  But this is just a drill.  There seems to be some disagreement between the Commander Zhukov and the Comrade Captain, who believes that they need to run the drill again immediately in light of the NATO drills taking place nearby.  They need to maintain a show of power.  The Commander disagrees, calling off the drills until tomorrow.

The Commander calls the Professor over and makes sure that his “specimen” samples are intact.  Apparently, they are in the middle of the North Pole for reasons other than war games.  They were there to retrieve something from the ice.  “Mammoth?” the Commander wonders.  Professor Grisenko doesn’t look so certain, but he nods in agreement.

Below deck, an impertinent submariner holds his lighter to the cylinder of ice.  He tells the creature that he knows the Professor wants to wait to thaw the ice back in Moscow, but time is precious.  He pulls out a blowtorch and goes to work.  Then the ice starts to crack from the inside.  Nice job, moron.  A hand shoots out and grabs the submariner by the neck.  Happy now?

All hell breaks loose as the heavily armored—and armed—creature wreaks havoc on the submarine, knocking out the engines and sending it plummeting toward the bottom of the ocean.  Red alert is called.  And that’s when the TARDIS materializes on the bridge in the middle of the chaos.

The Doctor steps out, shouting “Viva Las Vegas!”  Clara is right behind him, but she soon realizes that they’re not in Las Vegas.  They’re on a submarine.  And not just any submarine.  A sinking Soviet submarine, the Doctor declares gleefully.  (Easter Egg: remember the Series 2 episode “The Idiot’s Lantern,” when the Tenth Doctor and Rose end up in England prior to the Queen’s coronation—they had been on the way to see 1950s when-he-still-had-a-waist-Elvis)  The Doctor quickly assesses the situation and tells the captain that the lateral engines are still working and if he wants to avoid the massive ridge ahead, he should fire them immediately.  Chaos ensues.  Two people have suddenly materialized on the bridge and they’re sinking and water is pouring in, and the man keeps looking at his glowing wand and barking out orders.  Commander Zhukov ignores the dissent coming from his crew and takes the Doctor’s advice.  Good thing, too, because they narrowly avoid crashing (and thereby avoid a nuclear implosion).

The Doctor and Clara are searched.  Thoroughly.  She’s wearing a dress so she doesn’t have pockets, but the submariners pull all kinds of things out of the Doctor’s pockets.  He demands a receipt for his items.  Clara asks if they’ll be ok, and he says they will be.  “Is that a lie?” she wonders.  He hopes not.  Commander Zhukov holds the sonic screwdriver up and asks what it is.  Just then, the submarine lists and everyone—and everything—goes flying.  The TARDIS takes it upon herself to find safer ground, and she dematerializes, much to the Doctor’s dismay.  The submarine rolls and Clara falls to the ground.

Clara must have been knocked unconscious.  As her head spins, we can hear the Doctor arguing with the captain.  She tells the Doctor she thinks she’s ok.  Good.  He’s busy telling the Commander that they’re not intruders.  What difference does it make how they got there?  They’re there.  In a rare moment of honesty, the Doctor tells Commander Zhukov that he and Clara are time travelers and that’s how they arrived on the sub.  There is a hissing noise in the background and the Russians slowly back away.  Eventually the Commander stops arguing and steps back, too.  When the Doctor finally turns around and sees the alien creature behind him, his expression changes.  “It never rains, but it pours,” he groans.

Professor Grisenko tells the Doctor they were drilling for oil and he found a mammoth in the ice.  It’s not a mammoth, the Doctor says, but a Martian Ice Warrior.  The two groups stare at each other, but when one of the Russians raises his gun, the Martian aims his weapon at the group.  The Doctor begs for everyone to relax.  The Ice Warrior has been trapped under the ice for over five thousand years according to the Professor’s calculations, so the Doctor understands how he might have awakened on the wrong side of the bed.  But again, he pleads for calm.  The Russian Commander doesn’t believe that this creature has a name, but the creature speaks up.  Skaldak.  The Doctor’s eyes widen.  The Martian stands straighter.  His name is Grand Marshall Skaldak.

But before anything can happen, one of the not-so-bright submariners zaps Marshall Skaldak with a cattle prod, and he falls to the ground.  “You idiot!” the Doctor yells.  It turns out that Grand Marshall Skaldak is one of the biggest baddies of the Martian army, and they just zapped him.  “What now?” Commander Zhukov asks.  “Lock.  Him.  Up,” the Doctor orders.

Marshall Skaldak struggles against the chains and demands to know if he really has been asleep for five thousand years.  The submariner has no idea what to say.  The realization seems to register with the Marshall.

Back on the bridge, the Doctor explains that the Ice Warriors always held Marshall Skaldak in the highest regard.  The Martian warriors needed to adapt to the freezing temps on Mars, and so they created body armor.  Clearly the Doctor knows much more than he’s letting on, but he claims there’s no time to explain.

The Marshall sends out a call for his brothers to find him.  His chest starts glowing.

The first officer believes that the Doctor and Clara are spies.  Clara scoffs.  How can they be spies?  They don’t even speak Russian.  Oh, wait.  The Doctor hasn’t explained how the TARDIS translates for them.  Commander Zhukov doesn’t believe they pose a threat, and he dismisses his first officer to work on repairs.  The Doctor maintains a calm demeanor, but clearly he’s raging.  All they had to do was let Skaldak go and he would have forgotten about them.  Instead, they fired on him and essentially declared war on him.  Nice going.  They need to talk to him, but Skaldak won’t talk to another soldier, especially not one who fired upon him.  That leaves only one real option: Clara.

Plucky Clara goes into the holding cell with the Doctor’s voice in her ear.  She does the ceremonial salute and addresses him with his proper title.  She apologizes to him and relays the message they rehearsed.  “You are not our enemy,” she says.  “And yet I’m in chains,” Skaldak growls.  He knows that Clara is only relaying the Doctor’s words.  Professor Grisenko mutters that he wants to speak to the organ grinder and not the monkey.  The Doctor pleads with Skaldak to calm down, but Skaldak rages on about being a powerful general.  He’d been with his daughter during her first battle experience, and now she is long dead.  There is no point to anything anymore.  As he finishes talking, Clara slowly approaches the Marshall.  His helmet tips back to reveal that he’s no longer in the suit…he’s given them the slip!

Skaldak wants to test the measure of his enemies.  “Harm one of us and you harm us all, by the moons,” he cries.  The Doctor has never seen an Ice Warrior outside of his armor.  They rush down to get Clara out of the holding cell, and they get her out just in time.  Instead of being frightened, she’s exhilarated.  “How did I do?” she asks.  The Doctor tells her that this wasn’t a test, but he tenderly caresses her cheek and says she did great.  Professor Grisenko interrupts their moment to say the distress signal has stopped.  The Doctor interprets this to mean that Skaldak hasn’t gotten a response from his brothers, and so he’s giving up.  “How bad can it be? It can’t be any worse,” the Doctor mutters.  “Okay, spoke too soon.”

The sub is on high alert.  Soldiers wander the corridors looking for the Marshall.  But Skaldak finds the first office and tells him that he wants “much” from him.

Commander Zhukov tells his crew that the reactor is underwater and they’re stuck where they are.  The air is running out and rescue is unlikely.  All they can do now is work to save the world from the Ice Warrior who could destroy the planet.  That is their new mission.

The first officer tells Skaldak that they could form an alliance to win the Cold War. He tells him of the MAD concept of Mutually Assured Destruction.  This gets the Marshall’s attention.

doctor-who-cold-war-captain

Clara asks if one nuclear missile would really trigger “the end.”  The Doctor reminds her how the whole world has a finger on the button, and one act of aggression would lead to the end.  Clara points out that this never happened, because it’s 1983 and she never would have been born if the world had been destroyed.  The Doctor quickly explains that time is always in flux and it can be altered.  Skaldak has shed his “shell-suit” as Clara calls it, and that makes him even more deadly because for a warrior to leave the suit is a grave dishonor.  There is no going back now.  The Doctor asks the Commander how many men are left.  Commander Zhukov says 12 remain, and that the first officer is missing.  The plan now is to send some people out on a search for Skaldak while some men remain to protect the bridge.  Professor Grisenko returns the sonic screwdriver to the Doctor, along with a blond doll.  The Doctor is so happy he could kiss the professor.  “If you must,” Grisenko replies.  “Later,” the Doctor deadpans.

While searching, Clara asks Professor Grisenko why they have a cattle prod on a submarine.  “Polar bears,” he replies.  When he learns that Clara is British, he asks if she knows “Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran.  “What” she replies.  He wants her to sing it, but she laughs it off.  “Karaoke? Hen Night? You speak excellent Russian, my dear, but sometimes I don’t understand a word you’re talking about,” Grisenko sighs.  The Doctor pries open a hatch and steam rushes out.  “Pressure, just pressure,” he assures the startled Clara.  “Hungry Like the Wolf,” huh?  Could that be BAD WOLF, by any chance??  Ok, I admit it; I jumped out of my seat at that one.  (Easter Egg!!)

Two submariners discuss how they would be heroes if they got out of this alive.  If anyone believed them.  Skaldak gets ahold of them and tears them apart.  When the Doctor finds them, he points out to the Professor that Skaldak dismantled the bodies to understand their human weaknesses.  He leaves Clara and Grisenko; he’s surprised when he tells Clara to stay there and she listens.  It throws him off.

Grisenko watches Clara pacing and he wants to know what’s bothering her.  She’s proud that she went in and dealt with Skaldak and she has handled everything so well…until she saw the bodies.  Then everything became very “real.”  She asks if they’re going to make it, and Grisenko assures her that they will.  They hear Skaldak in the walls.

The Doctor comes across the first officer’s body.  So much for joining forces.

Clara hears noises coming from the corridors.  Grisenko tells her that it’s the ship settling, just as the Doctor said.  But she’s not as certain.  Grisenko distracts her by asking her questions.  What does she like to do?  “Stuff,” she replies.  He laughs. Very enlightening.  If it’s true that they’re from the future, he needs to know something.  Clara reminds him that she can’t tell him what happens, but he insists that he has to know.  “Ultravox.  Do they split up?”  She stops and stares at him, a smile playing on her lips.  At that moment, Skaldak reaches down and grabs her head.  Grisenko fires at him and he retreats, but then he grabs Grisenko’s head.  Skaldak has learned all he needs to know.  It will only take one missile to start the war that will end everything.  Their lives are forfeit now.

Commander Zhukov runs down the hall, gun aimed at the alien, but the Doctor stops him from firing.  They’re making progress on negotiating, he says.  Skaldak has summoned his body armor to provide some extra leverage.  The body armor arms the warhead remotely.  Frantically the Doctor tries to reason with him, telling him that there is honor in mercy.  The people of Earth are just like children and they need to be taught.  In a last push, the Doctor whips his sonic screwdriver out and threatens to blow the sub up in order to prevent him from launching a missile.  He’d sooner kill them all before allowing him to blow up the world.  “Mutually assured destruction,” Skaldak laughs.  “Which one of us will blink first?”  (Seriously, I’m having flashbacks to my Intro to Political Science class.  And my Cold War Politics class.  Did I mention I majored in Political Science?)

While the standoff continues, Clara steps up and asks Skaldak why he showed compassion before when she asked him not to kill Grisenko, but he won’t do it now?  It doesn’t make sense.  She reminds him of the battle he fought with his daughter, when he sang songs with her.  “Of the Red Snows,” he says.  The Doctor looks on at his newest Companion with pride.  Suddenly the ship lurches again, but this time it’s caught in a tractor beam.  “My people live.  They have come for me,” Skaldak cries.

The sub is rising to the surface.  It breaks through the ice.  His people have saved them all, and the Doctor asks him again to go in peace.  Skaldak dematerializes suddenly.  “We did it!” Clara exclaims, but the Doctor shakes his head.  The warheads are still armed.  All Skaldak has to do is push the button and it’s game over.  “I will destroy us if I have to,” the Doctor mutters, aiming the sonic.  Behind him, Clara starts singing: “I’m lost and I’m found, and I’m hungry like the wolf.”  Suddenly the warheads shut off and everything goes back to normal.  Skaldak has shown mercy.  “Now we’re safe.”  The Doctor and Clara share an embrace.  “Saved the world, then?” she asks.  “Yeah,” he agrees.  “That’s what we do,” she says.

The Doctor, Clara, Commander Zhukov and Professor Grisenko climb outside the sub in time to watch the Martian ship leave.  Clara asks where the TARDIS went, and the Doctor sheepishly explains that he was tinkering with the HADS (Hazardous Action Displacement System) and she left to escape the dangerous system.  But don’t worry, she’s at the Pole.  But not the North Pole.  The South Pole.  He asks Zhukov if they can have a lift.  Everyone laughs.

Now, I don’t know about you, but this episode had a little bit of everything in it.  There is an undeniable pull between the Doctor and Clara, and her eagerness is refreshing.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that there is a distinct connection between the Eleventh Doctor and Clara and the Tenth Doctor and Rose.  It’s there.  And these Easter Eggs seem to be pointing to something larger.  Is it tied to the 50th anniversary special?  We’ll see.

I’m eager to hear what you all thought of tonight’s episode.  Please leave your thoughts and comments below.  Until next week, Whovians!

Sarabeth Pollock is a contributor for DarkMedia. She covers True BloodDoctor Who, Fringe and American Horror Story, as well as the True Blood comics and whatever movies and books happen to catch her fancy.  She’s an avid writer, reader, and pop culture fan, with interest in everything from True Blood to Doctor Who to Anne Rice to Deborah Harkness.  Follow her on Twitter at @SarabethPollock and check out her blog at http://sarabethpollock.wordpress.com

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About The Author

Sarabeth Pollock is the Senior Contributing Editor for Dark Media. She covers a little bit of everything, from TV shows and movies to comic books and pop culture. She’s an avid writer, reader, and pop culture fan and regular attendee at San Diego Comic Con. Follow her on Twitter at @SarabethPollock

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