Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you plan to watch this week’s episode in the future. The torrents have enough seeds for a relatively fast download for those of us in the US who don’t want to wait until SciFi Channel broadcasts the third season this summer.
After three outstanding episodes, I thought this would turn out to be just a run of the mill trip to the future story. The first clue that this would be something special was to not only have Captain Jack return, but to find out how he escaped from the Daleks and what he has become. There was even more reminiscing about Rose, as Martha finds that she has to compete with a memory of a blonde. On top of it, we got to see the end of time–even if The Doctor was wrong that no Time Lord had ever been there before. And yes, The Doctor even uses the word “blog.”
The analogies between The Professor and The Doctor were also clear, up to The Professor having his own companion. It wasn’t until later that it became clear that Professor Yana’s name was an acronym for Boe’s dying message to The Doctor: You Are Not Alone. Not only does this episode tie into the stories of Captain Jack, Rose, and Boe, but also utilizes the same protective measure The Doctor used in Human Nature, as well as the season long references to Mr. Saxon.
We find that The Professor has his knowledge of science as he is really The Master, having become human to escape the fate of the other Time Lords, with his identity stored in a watch just as The Doctor’s was in Human Nature. The episode concludes with The Master stealing the Tardis and regenerating. This provides one of the best cliff hangers of all time. The Doctor, Martha, and Captain Jack are fighting off the cannibal race of Futurekind without the Tardis, while The Master is traveling back to modern day England to exercise power as Mr. Saxon. Maybe we’ll even learn about the fate of the last surviving humans who believe they are heading towards Utopia.
I have four guesses as to how The Doctor escapes from the end of the universe in the distant future:
- The Doctor has rigged up a way to get The Tardis to return for him
- The Doctor fixes Captain Jack’s Vortex Manipulator and they jump back in time
- The Master’s Tardis, complete with working chameleon circuit, stuck near The Master, even if he didn’t realize it was there.
- The Doctor takes Martha out to The Restaurant At The End of The Universe and they hitch a ride home with Arthur Dent.
We have three immortal characters, a regeneration scene, the end of the universe, the usual chase scenes, and so many loose ends from previous episodes all tying together. While perhaps not as good as the previous three episodes which set an extremely high bar, this episode has turned out to be another great one.
