My Thoughts on "Cold War" · 3:16am Apr 14th, 2013
Well, a new Doctor Who episode has aired and it's time to give my thoughts on it. As always, I will discuss spoilers so if you haven't seen Cold War then I recommend that you see it before reading any further.
Cold War was an episode that I've been interested in seeing for a while. I found its concept to be quite intriguing: the return of an enemy from the classic series within a Soviet submarine in 1983. A very interesting premise...that heralded a great episode. I was on the edge of my seat through most of Cold War with the anxious desire to find out what was going to happen next. I haven't seen much of the classic series and have yet to stumble across the original episodes with the Ice Warriors but I think this episode was a great reintroduction for them. Skaldak was very creepy and had a much more threatening presence than the villains in the previous two episodes. And he even proved to be quite a sympathetic character: a warrior and a father who awakens to find that he's been asleep for over 5000 years and that he's trapped in a submarine with a bunch of paranoid Russians. And, as we all know, it's harder to fight against something that's both desperate and has nothing left to lose. I don't think I was the only one who got chills when Skaldak left his armor and Clara was left alone in the room looking around to make sure that he didn't take her by surprise. I could also feel my skin crawl when he would wrap his hands around the heads of some of the crew members. I think it's cool how we never got to see Skaldak completely without his armor and it was also neat to see his entire face at the end.
Both the Doctor and Clara were great as usual but I enjoyed Clara a bit more. Her reactions to seeing the corpses of the dead crew members and her realization of how "real" the situation was made her very relatable in the situation. The Doctor's conversations with Skaldak and the other crew members were tense and well orchestrated. The Professor was a pretty funny character and I enjoyed his chemistry with Clara. The Captain was also played extremely well by Liam Cunningham but, to me, the character didn't have that much of an impact on the main story. He was just "The Captain" and he didn't play that big of a part in the story when compared to the Doctor, Clara, Skaldak, and the Professor. And the ending bit with the Ice Warrior ship appearing at the last moment kind of felt a bit like a deus ex machina, but not a bad one because this was actually set up towards the beginning of the episode with Skaldak sending a signal to them. So I'll let the deus ex machina pass as it fits in with the story quite well. The episode also did a really good job of making me feel claustrophobic. The small tunnels, increasing water amount, decreasing air amount, and the creepy lighting all added to the episode's "submarine-under-siege" vibe perfectly. And, lastly, am I the only one who got flasbacks to series 1 episode Dalek from the vibe and premise of this episode?
Overall, I found Cold War to be a great and enthralling episode. It kept me on the edge of my seat as well as acted as a good reintroduction of the Ice Warriors. Next week's episode is Hide: a full-out Doctor Who ghost story with the Doctor and Clara traveling to Caliburn House to investigate the mysterious and frightening Witch of the Well. I'm definitely looking forward to this one. You can find a link to a promo for Hide below:
I liked this episode too. Actually when Clara started talking to Skaldak at the end, I thought of Amy talking to that android guy. Never really thought of the Dalek episode from season 1. My only problem though was that the Russians didn't have Russian accents. They weren't even trying.
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I actually liked the bit about no Russian accents. It was in my opinion a way to show that the Tardis Translation-matrix is always working.
I think my dad loved this particular episode more than I did namely because the Ice Warriors were re-introduced. (He's been a Whovian since he was a kid.)
I really enjoyed this episode and I have a feeling that it's not just coincidence that the Ice Warriors suddenly come back into light.
Think about it: First with the Doctor visiting a planet in 'The Rings of Akhaten' where he had previously been with his granddaughter Susan and now with the Ice Warriors... let's face it, they're getting us pumped up for the big 50th Anniversary spectacular!
Moving on... I really enjoyed this episode. Clara is building to be an interesting character and I like how in each episode we see a little bit more of her blossom and, like you mentioned, I liked how Clara is faced with the reality of the situation she's in.
I enjoyed Skaldak's character too, and yes, the episode did remind me of 'Dalek.' Skaldak was appealed to by both the Doctor and Clara (a steadily progressing pattern, don't you think) and managed to leave in peace after knowing his people were still out there. This episode also reminded me of 'A Town Called Mercy,' (one of my favourite episodes) because the Doctor's first reaction to Skaldak was a lot like when he found out about Jex's past. One thing I hope that happens in later episodes is the build of Clara and the Doctor's relationship. I know the Doctor has history with Clara, but that's really only very one-sided. I guess I just want to see Clara's view of the Doctor, especially if she can remember him partly from her previous incarnations or... whatever they are.
Although it's not about this episode, I'm loving the relationship between the TARDIS and Clara. The way the TARDIS wouldn't let her inside in 'The Rings of Akhaten' reminds us of the time the TARDIS went all the way to the end of the universe just to get rid of Jack. Is Clara just as much of an impossible thing as Jack then? We'll have to see!
1008379 Ooh, I never thought about that with the TARDIS not opening up for Clara, and its possible connection to going to the end of the universe to escape Jack.