{"id":99,"date":"2011-01-13T12:53:14","date_gmt":"2011-01-13T20:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=99"},"modified":"2011-01-13T12:53:14","modified_gmt":"2011-01-13T20:53:14","slug":"mark-watches-doctor-who-s02e06-the-age-of-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/01\/mark-watches-doctor-who-s02e06-the-age-of-steel\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: S02E06 – The Age of Steel"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixth episode of the second series of Doctor Who<\/em>, our heroes battle the seemingly invincible Cybermen with tragic results. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ok, I am certainly at a point now where I can just let go of trying to enjoy these episodes AND appreciating air-tight plots at the same time. In a way, it’s become part of Doctor Who’s<\/em> charm that there was so much in this episode that made little to no sense. It’s almost a game. How many things will the writers cram into one episode to hastily solve the plot?<\/p>\n

We’ll get to that in a bit. There’s a great deal of both well-placed humor and bone-crushingly depressing character turns in “The Age of Steel,” so I think it’s important to point out that Tom MacRae does a lot of great things with the characters and the story in this episode. He actually makes a small handful of incredibly difficult decisions as a writer, as this particular episode has possibly one of the highest body counts we’ve seen yet.<\/p>\n

Right at the beginning, those who have survived the initial conversion attack are forced to leave alternate-Jackie inside the house, either dead or alone with the Cybermen. As selfishly as Rose has been acting in this episode, I can’t criticize her for wanting to save Jackie. Even if it’s not her<\/em> mom, how could you blame her for still wanting to protect her? However, I applaud MacRae for having Jackie be left behind, not only because it provides another motivation for Rose and alternate-Pete to enter the Battersea Power Station, but it’s an emotional connection that may have otherwise been kind of silly. Regardless of how Pete felt about his wife in the last episode, it’s still his wife, and the determination that marks his face as he and Rose step in line to enter the conversion station is palpable.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Mickey’s character receives perhaps the best story arc out of anyone on Doctor Who<\/em> yet. The writers had been building to this episode since the beginning of the first series and here they achieve their stunning climax. At one point, Ricky and Mickey are separated from the group when a battalion of Cybermen attack them. My hand raised into the air for an obligatory high five to Tom MacRae as we watch Mickey witness himself getting murdered by the Cybermen<\/em>. If there was one thing I figured the writers wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole, it’s that. Granted, it wasn’t himself, but that almost makes it all the more horrifying.<\/p>\n

Does it get worse? Oh lord, <\/em>yes it does<\/em><\/strong>. When they reconvene just after this to determine how they’ll give inside Battersea to disable the signal control all of London AND stop Lumic from turning everyone into Cybermen, Mickey’s face is painted with the most unbelievable guilt. Jake certainly gives him a great deal of guff and blame for being with Ricky when he died, but there was something at work inside Mickey at that point that had little to do with what was actually<\/em> happening around him. Since the Doctor came into his life, he’s left feeling inferior, unwanted, unused, and listless. He knows firsthand that a life traveling with the Doctor changes a person in so many ways that it’s impossible for them to return to who they once were. But as the group devises their plan to infiltrate Lumic’s station, you can see the exact moment when Mickey makes a decision to do something drastic. Again, the Doctor sort of forgets to include him in the plan and Mickey decides it’s time for him to stop being the forgotten one. It’s time for him to actively seek out his part in things. When this happened, I feared the worst: Mickey would make<\/em> himself important by sacrificing his life at some point to save them all.<\/p>\n

Boy, was I wrong.<\/p>\n

MacRae also gets more high fives (I am handing them out liberally today) for the scene between Mrs. Moore and the Doctor in the cooling tunnel. I did not find the Cybermen creepy or disturbing at all\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.that is, until a whole army of them stood quietly in a silent, freezing tunnel underneath the Thames River. One of the more fantastically disturbing visuals of the entire series.<\/p>\n

I also didn’t expect that the Cybermen would convert Lumic at all, and his conversion added to the episode in the sense that having a literal “boss” to fight at the end sort of made “The Age of Steel” feel like a real-life video game. I mean, he even entered the room like he was a video game boss!<\/p>\n

The Doctor, however, comes to realize that even he has been mistreating Mickey, underestimating what he can do; the scene where he gradually codes a message to Mickey, who is on the zeppelin and trying to disable the inhibitor code, is one of my favorites, especially as the Doctor begins to get more and more blatant. The thing is, I thought this was a way for MacRae to set up Mickey to feel better about his arrangement with the Doctor, but this wasn’t the case.<\/p>\n

The “goodbye” scene at the end of “The Age of Steel” is still heartbreaking to think about. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I teared up as Mickey revealed his plan to remain in the parallel universe to help Pete and Jake and to be with his grandmother. It’s sad that it took Mickey traveling to an alternate world to feel complete, wanted, and useful, but it’s probably the most sensical thing that happens in the entirety of “The Age of Steel.” I think the Doctor realizes this and that’s also why he doesn’t try to further convince Mickey to stay with him on the TARDIS, despite the fact that they can never return to this world to bring him back.<\/p>\n

High five, Tom MacRae. This is my favorite part-two episode yet.<\/p>\n

THOUGHTS<\/p>\n