Kinda

You will agree to be me, sooner or later, this side of Magnus or the other.

Kinda is another one of those stories that seems to leave fandom fairly divided. The story is fairly deep and somewhat surrealistic, not something that is going to immediately appeal to kids, hence it's divided reputation. Limitations to the set design and props budget also drag this story down in the eyes of some fans. I however am always up for a good bit of surrealism so let's see what we can make of this one.

Plot Summary

The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric land on the planet Deva Loka following Nyssa's fainting spell. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to set up a delta wave generator and puts Nyssa to sleep for 48 hours. While she sleeps, the others walk through the jungle and come across a set of crystalline wind chimes. Adric wanders off the Doctor follows but Tegan stays by the chimes, the music having a hypnotic effect on her, lulling her to sleep.

Adric and the Doctor find a mobile exo-suit which Adric accidentally activates. The suit escorts them to an outpost where they are taken in by a military expedition. The expedition is led by Sanders, an old military man. The security chief is Hindle and the scientist is a woman named Todd. Three other people came on the expedition but have disappeared, one of whom left the suit that escorted them there.

Sanders and Todd take the Doctor and Adric in and inform them both of their mission (scouting for possible colonization) and the concerns for the missing crew members. Hindle, growing increasingly erratic as the mission progresses, is deeply distrustful of the newcomers. Todd shows the Doctor two of the locals (the Kinda) that they have taken hostage. The Kinda never speak and live a primitive lifestyle, but they are decorated with the image of the double helix, suggesting a less primitive mind than initial impressions give.

Tegan, still entranced in the jungle, goes into her own mind where she becomes lost in darkness with shadow images questioning reality. She is confronted by a young man with a snake tattoo who pushes his mind on hers, going so far as to create an identical Tegan and posing the question as to which Tegan is real and which is his creation.

Hindle calls Todd and the Doctor back to the main hall but becomes enraged after they leave, smashing most of her lab. He becomes mesmerized by the two Kinda hostages when he views them in a mirror and releases them from their cell. Sanders leaves to go on patrol and leaves Hindle in charge over the objections of Todd. After Sanders leaves, Hindle arrests the three of them, pulling a gun on them as well as arming the two Kinda. He places them in the holding cell overnight.

In the jungle, an old blind woman named Panna is waiting with a young girl. Unlike the other Kinda, she speaks and expresses the danger of the non-Kinda (referred to as the "not-we"). One young man named Aris, who had been spying the expedition as his brother was taken as a hostage, comes to the old woman who warns him to stay away and be patient. He leaves as the sound of Sanders' exo-suit approaches. As he enters the clearing, the young girl gives Sanders a wooden box. He hesitantly accepts it and opens it.

Back in the habitat, Hindle allows the prisoners to come out to see if they will join him. He declares that the trees are going against them and that they will have to sterilize at a radius of 50 miles using fire and acid. The Doctor tries to talk Hindle down but as he is clearly unhinged but Hindle refuses to listen. Adric says that he will help Hindle and he is allowed to stay and work while the Doctor and Todd are returned to the cell.

In Tegan's mind, she continues to struggle with her identity. The young man plays with her some more and then disappears, as she loses herself in the dark. Frightened, Tegan calls out and agrees to the young man's demands. He reappears and shakes her hand. As he does so, the image of the snake on his arm crosses over to hers. She wakes up in the jungle with the image of the snake on her arm. She wanders around the site until Aris appears. He too becomes mesmerized by the chimes and Tegan surprises him. She speaks to him, telling him that she can give him the power to rescue his brother. He accepts and she takes his hand, allowing the snake to pass from her arm to his.

In the control room, Adric palms a set of key cards from Hindle's desk. He attempts to pass them to the Doctor, but is spotted by Hindle. All are taken out of the cage to watch as Adric is punished for theft. Sanders then returns, catching Hindle off guard. As Sanders enters, he is not his normal self. He is much happier and looser. He gives Hindle the same wooden box and tells him to open it. Hindle refuses and further unnerved by this, he locks Sanders up along with the Doctor and Todd. Over the video, he orders the Doctor to open the box.

At first the box seems to contain nothing other than a spring joke. However, both Todd and the Doctor feel a surge of energy. It drains power from the base and opens the cage. They both have a vision of the Kinda and the old woman Panna beckoning them to her cave. Taking advantage of the loss of power and Hindle's location in the main control room, Todd and the Doctor flee into the jungle, Sanders being left behind in a trance.

As the power comes back, Hindle becomes even more concerned about the outside world. He orders that explosives be set up around the base to prevent anyone from attacking as they and all of them will be blown up. Sanders gleefully helps, having been taken out of his normal mind by the powers of the box. Adric tries to object and even leave but he is kept in place by the Kinda guards.

The Doctor and Todd wander through the jungle until they come upon the Kinda. They make friendly with a jester to show they are friendly, which pleases the Kinda. However, Aris comes upon them and orders their capture and death. The Kinda are taken back as no man has the power of speech. The Kinda become convinced that Aris is the fulfillment of a prophecy saying that a man would be given a voice when the "not we" arrive. The girl who helped Panna doesn't believe it and takes the Doctor and Todd to Panna's cave.

Arriving at the cave, Panna takes Todd in but is confused by the Doctor being able to receive the vision as well. She refers to him as an idiot and brings him inside as well. Before she can begin her ritual, Aris and the other Kinda arrive. The girl joins them after opening her mind and being overcome by the power of Aris' thought. Aris then leaves, planning to destroy the base and the "not we".

The Doctor notes the snake marking on Aris' arm and Panna states that it is the sign of the Mara, a legend the Doctor is familiar with. Panna begins a vision for the Doctor and Todd where they see clocks ticking down and violence beginning to consume the Kinda, leading to their destruction. They emerge from the vision to find that Panna is dead. However, the girl returns and takes Panna's staff and beckons them on, having become the new repository for Panna's consciousness.

The group makes their way towards the base but pass near the wind chimes to find Tegan, still asleep. They wake her and discern that the Mara seems to have fully passed out of her. She reluctantly tells them of her dreams, including a hazy vision of when she was fully possessed by the Mara. Using her story, they confirm that the Mara has entered and is in full control of Aris.

In the base, Hindle, Sanders, and Adric continue to build a model city. Adric becomes more and more agitated with their behavior and manages to slip away. Sanders follows but as he is also witless, he makes no effort to stop him and returns to Hindle. Adric slips in to the exo-suit and leaves the base.

Aris leads the Kinda outside the base and has them build a box similar to the exo-suit out of wood. As Adric emerges, the Kinda move to engage it, but unfamiliar with fighting, they run away when Adric panics and engages the weapons system. Aris' box is damaged and he runs into the jungle. Adric is unable to stop the exo-suit but the Doctor manages to pull him before he injures himself or others. The young girl, Karuna, gathers the scattered Kinda while the Doctor, Todd, Adric and Tegan enter the base.

The Doctor and Todd confront Hindle while Adric and Tegan wait in the bay, Adric agitated at his inability to disarm the explosives. The Doctor and Todd try to calm Hindle down by complimenting his new city but he is wise to their attempts to take the detonator. He admits that he is able to control the two captive Kinda through a mirror which they believe had trapped their souls. The Doctor makes a grab for the detonator, which knocks down part of the model city but also destroys the mirror.

Angry at the partial destruction of the city, Hindle threatens to activate the explosives when Todd discovers the box given by the Kinda. She tricks Hindle into opening it and the psychic power within knocks him out but also drives the madness from his mind. The Doctor disarms the explosives and the two captive Kinda flee outside to the rest of their people.

The mirror gives the Doctor an idea and Adric shows the Doctor to a storage bay filled with solar collector panels. He gives the panels to the Kinda and has them lure Aris into the middle of a circle of them. Once in the circle, the Kinda flip the panels and they become a circle of mirrors. The Mara, unable to look at itself thrashes and leaves Aris' body. Two Kinda pull his body from the circle while the Doctor closes the gap. The Mara snake inflates, trying to find a way out of the circle but cannot. Unable to look at itself, it loses power and disappears back into the realm of thought.

Karuna restores sanity to Hindle and Sanders and Todd prepares a final report noting that the planet is unsuitable for colonization, although Sanders makes noises about retiring here. The Doctor, Adric and Tegan head back to the TARDIS where Nyssa has just woken. The group then departs, filling Nyssa in on their adventure.

Analysis

There are two general categories of Doctor Who stories, whether you like that particular story or not: ones that you can pop in at any time and enjoy and ones that you have to be in a specific mood for. Kinda might be the extreme example of a story that you have to be in the right mood for. This is a deep story with a lot of the plot and development left to the audience to figure out. I like that, but I can see how someone would decide that they are not in the mood for that at any particular point.

There were two movies that popped into my head while I was watching this story. Tegan's surrealistic dreams reminded me a great deal of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead with the absurdism and yet sinister surrealism. The scene of the circle of mirrors driving the snake out of Aris struck me strongly of the knight of the mirrors scene in the movie version of Man of La Mancha where Don Quixote is forced to confront the reality of who he actually is by viewing himself in a circle of mirrors. As I enjoy both of those movies, I didn't see a detriment to either comparison.

Overall, this story is quite good. It is well acted for the most part while the story is complex but doesn't feel the need the lead you by the nose. If I were more versed in Eastern philosophy and mysticism, I would probably understand a bit more of the story, but I enjoyed it well enough even without it.

The women were the real stars of this story. Todd worked very well as the Doctor's pseudo-companion, to the point that I think many would have been happy if she had come along and Tegan and Adric got left behind. Todd is inquisitive as a companion should be, but she has a strong independent streak. She also has an instantly good rapport with the Doctor, to the point that they trust and interact well with each other in a very short span of time. In many ways, Todd was channeling the stronger companions of the Fourth Doctor era as she seemed a nice blend of the spunkiness of Sarah Jane and the intelligence and logic of Romana.

I also really enjoyed Panna. She was direct and had a "I'm too old to take your s***" vibe. I loved the fact that not only did she constantly call the Doctor and idiot, but she didn't even allow him to go into his jokes about being an idiot. The first time she did, I couldn't help but think of the Twelfth Doctor's speech near the end of Death in Heaven where he confesses that he is an idiot in a box.

This was also a decent story for Tegan, although only in the first two episodes. Attempting to find logic and devolving into a panicked state actually made sense in her nightmare. I also thought she played well off the trickster form of the Mara who had a bit of a King Joffery vibe going on, although in much more psychological way. I also enjoyed possessed Tegan as it gave her a few scenes of sinister fun. Her chucking apples at Aris was also a fun bit of Biblical parallel given her femininity and the snake symbolism.

Unfortunately, Tegan's good run comes to an end once the Mara enters Aris. She gets a good little nap in Episode Three and then is back to her normal self in Four. I think she is attempting to express shame, though not really knowing why but her interaction with the Doctor still seems rather odd. Her scenes with Adric in the dome are also pretty bad but Adric bears more of the blame for the quality of those scenes.

The expedition men are pretty good as well. Sanders is old school colonel at first like you would expect in some Agatha Christie movie. Then he turns on a dime to a playful child who enjoys building castles out of boxes. Hindle is also quite good. He edges close to the line of overdoing the performance of a madman at a few points but he dials it back now and again. There is an interesting inconsistence in his performance as well. When threatened, he goes into hysterical shrieking about how everyone (including the trees) is against him. But in a secure moment, he lapses into a child-like state about how they are going to fix everything. It feels more genuine because you can't predict what form the madness is going to take. One of the best moments, both in performance and because of how it expresses the situation, is when the castle is knocked over and one of the paper men is torn. Hindle is broken up and when Todd suggests they can fix it, Hindle shrieks about how you can't fix people. It sums up the whole moment in one quick scene.

Unfortunately, like many of the Fifth Doctor stories, a strong pseudo-companion and good guest cast means that the regular companions are once again shown to be terrible. Tegan does a bit better but her interaction with Adric brings her back to the annoying level of whininess that we have seen in prior stories. Nyssa is non-descript as Christopher Bailey wrote the script without knowing that she would be a companion. So she is conveniently left in the TARDIS for the whole story. That you don't miss her speaks volumes of the typical contributions of her character.

Adric is also not in a good state in this one. He doesn't listen to the Doctor and despite earning the confidence of the Doctor to be left behind, does nothing with it. He contributes nothing in his plan to gain Hindle's confidence and ends up spending all that time just trying to escape himself. When he does finally succeed, the Doctor is forced to rescue him before he kills someone and harms himself in the process. The worst moment though is waiting in the bay with Tegan. Adric whines like a spoiled child about being left behind and lashes out at Tegan. I'm actually surprised that Tegan doesn't slap him silly for his arrogance and blame-shifting.
I like the overall story. I like an enemy that is more abstract and less corporeal. I don't quite get why the Kinda would have the wind chime area given that the Mara could manifest in those unprepared by the powers of the chimes. Perhaps it was a prison set up for the Mara and only when outsiders came in was there a risk of escape for the Mara. But regardless, an enemy working from within to destroy innocence strictly as a means to manifest evil is an interesting concept for a story.

It is also interesting to juxtapose the imagery of the Mara attempting to drive Tegan man into accepting it and then the madness manifested in it's possession of Aris with Hindle's genuine madness through mental overtaxing. Despite the Mara being the enemy, Hindle always seems to be more of the threat as his madness is inherently both self-destructive and uncontrollable. It is a pure representation of chaos while the Mara is an agent of chaos but still bound by the limits of the vessel in which it operates. When Aris leads the Kinda, there is an implied threat but the actions of Aris are shown to be incompetent and the Kinda desert him when their own innocence is threatened by something they don't understand. Although threatening, the Mara seems weak and the battle against the Mara is more for the saving of Aris and potentially others like him rather than for the society of the Kinda as is implied in Episode Three.

Now, on the subject of the Mara, that ties in to one of the limitations of this story: the effects. The setting of the story isn't bad nor are the costumes, but there does seem to be some problem with the atmosphere. It is very hard to shake the feeling that all of this is taking place in a studio and I'm not sure if it's the set design or the lighting or what, but there are moments where you are taken out by something that doesn't seem right. There is also a very 1980's look to everyone that I'm sure is difficult to avoid, but it still looks a bit off.

But the worst offender from an effects standpoint is the final manifestation of the Mara. The Mara emerges from Aris and the team does a decent job with a rubber snake to give it a real and thrashing look. However, the snake continues to grow and it looks like the inflated balloon that it is. There are flashes and quick cuts that help, but it still is pretty obvious that the Mara is closely related to an inflatable streamer seen outside a used car lot. I'm sure they were attempting to make the Mara scary but even if the effects are good, there is a logical flaw. If the Mara is towering over the Kinda mirrors, how is it still managing to look at itself? At that size and height, it should have been able to break eye contact with the mirrors and break out of the circle. The story and effect would work much better if a smaller snake (perhaps like a python) were thrashing about but still contained within the height of the mirrors. I can handle less than stellar effects but this was just a point that didn't seem to make sense from a logic point of view.

Taking the story as a whole, this was quite good. Again, I can understand why some might not care for it and I also would have to say that I would need to be in more of a thinking mood rather than a more mindless mood to enjoy it. But I did enjoy it this time around and I see no reason why I wouldn't continue to enjoy it a second time around. It's not a perfect story, but it is nice to get a real thinker of a story now and again. I'm sure on a second pass I would get even more out of it knowing what little things to look for.

Overall personal score: 4.5 out of 5