The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion

I'm Doctor Funkenstein

Before Heaven Sent aired, The Zygon Inversion was probably one the highest regarded episode in terms of Peter Capaldi's performance. Just about everything else that happened both in that episode and part one became completely secondary to that scene. I include myself in remembering what a great scene that was, though I don't recall it clouding my judgment regarding the rest of the story which had it's ups and downs.

Plot Summary

Following events from The Day of the Doctor, 20 million Zygons were allowed to settle on Earth, dispersed around the globe and blending in like any other human. However, a splinter group has emerged, desiring to take over and live in their natural form. This group kidnaps Osgood, the scientist assistant at UNIT who had developed a bond with a Zygon double of hers, causing them to lose track of which one was which. One was killed by Missy in Death in Heaven but the other manages to get a distress signal to the Doctor before being taken.

The Doctor receives the message and returns to Earth. He meets with Kate Stewart to learn about the situation. He also tries to contact Clara but keeps getting her answering machine. The Doctor seeks out the Zygon high command, disguised as two small girls. They dismiss the splinter group as something they can handle but the group attacks, kidnaping the high command and later executing them.

Clara arrives back at home having been out most of the day. She starts listening to her messages but is distracted by a neighbor boy crying about his parents being missing. Clara heads into their apartment to look for them. She is surprised as they suddenly appear and then drag the boy in, who is resisting. Clara emerges from the apartment and calls the Doctor back who summons her to UNIT HQ.

Reviewing all the information they have and gleaning a little more at the Zygon high command center, the group splits into threes. Kate Stewart heads to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico where they believe was Osgood's location when kidnaped, the Doctor heads to Turkmezistan where they believe the Zygon splinter group has set up headquarters and Clara stays in England with the rest of UNIT to monitor the situation there. As the first two depart, Clara tells Jac, Stewart's assistant, that she needs to pick up some things from her apartment.

As the two leave Clara's flat, they observe the two parents from earlier carrying a bundle into the elevator. After taking a little longer than normal, it opens and is empty. The two enter the elevator where they find a Zygon control mechanism behind the panel. Activating it, they descend to an underground lair where the Zygons have set up a control center with a number of pods. The two retreat back to UNIT HQ to get backup.

In New Mexico, Kate arrives to find the town nearly deserted but with the splinter group's symbols scattered about. She is confronted by Sherriff Norlander who tells her of this group of British people the tried to integrate but were so strange that things got out of hand. She shows Kate bins where the remains of the Zygon victims are being held. She also verifies that Osgood was here and was likely kidnaped from there. While going over records, Norlander confirms that Kate is alone, transforms into a Zygon and attacks her.

In Turkmezistan, UNIT is prepared to destroy the town where the Zygons are training. The Doctor tries to order the bombing to stop but Colonel Walsh ignores him. However, the drone commander refuses to fire as the Zygons take the form of her family, forcing Walsh to go in with ground troops. Learning that the church is their headquarters, Walsh and the Doctor head to the rear to sneak in while her squad lures the Zygons out the front. As they call for the Zygons to surrender, they emerge as members of their family. Manipulating the soldiers into thinking they are hostages, they lure them into the church. Furious, Walsh storms in the back to find her men all killed and the Zygons gone.

Furious, Walsh leaves and orders an airstrike on the town. The Doctor stays, desperately looking for Osgood. He finds a trap door in the floor and finds her tied up below. A Zygon guard attacks them but the airstrike begins and there is a partial cave in, knocking the Zygon out. The Doctor and Osgood pull him out and take him back to the Doctor's plane for interrogation.

Clara and Jac check elevator security footage and discover the Zygons have been smuggling things into the underground caves all over London. They gather a security force and head down into the caves to confront them. They discover a series of pods containing people, including Clara. Jac realizes that Clara was actually captured when she entered the boy's apartment and that the Clara she knows is an imposter. The fake Clara, calling herself Bonnie, springs the trap and a group of Zygons emerge, killing Jac and the other soldiers.

Bonnie heads back to UNIT HQ and calls New Mexico. Kate picks up the communicator and reports that UNIT has been neutralized there. Satisfied, Bonnie takes a rocket launcher and charts the progress of the Doctor's plane. She then drives out to Dover where she calls the Doctor. The Doctor and Osgood were interrogating the captured Zygon, who taunted them with the information that London had already been infiltrated and that they would be killed. Reaching the Doctor, Bonnie informs him that his compatriots are all dead and that he is next. She then fires the shoulder rocket at the plane.

Just prior to Bonnie firing the rocket, the real Clara stirs in her pod and her mind becomes active. Aware of Bonnie's activities through the mental link, Clara deflects Bonnie's arm just enough that the first rocket misses. She tries to stop her firing a second but Bonnie does manage to get it off and destroy the play. However, the delay bought the Doctor and Osgood enough time to parachute out before it exploded.

Bonnie heads to a nearby center where she corners a disguised Zygon and causes him to revert back into his normal Zygon shape. He stumbles away while she records a video and posts it on-line. Bonnie then heads back to UNIT HQ to find the Osgood box but only finds a recorded message from the Osgoods. But while Bonnie was walking, Clara tapped into her mind just enough to send a text message to the Doctor informing him that she was awake.

Noticing activity on her phone, Bonnie calls the Doctor, demanding to know where the Osgood box is. While she was talking, Bonnie begins winking involuntarily, another signal from Clara. The Doctor manages to finagle out of Bonnie/Clara the location of her recent attack and possible location of Clara's pod. He also implants the idea to Bonnie that the connection is a two-way street with Bonnie being able to tap into Clara's mind as well.

Bonnie heads to pod storage area and engages Clara. Clara pushes back against Bonnie's mind but Bonnie is able to figure a way to discern if Clara is lying. From her she learns that the Osgood box is located in the Black Archive and that in addition to the Osgoods, both the Doctor and Clara have access. Bonnie prepares to leave but Clara warns her that something will come up that will cause her to come back.

The Doctor and Osgood arrive at the location of Bonnie's attack and where the video she posted was shot. They enter the center and find the remains of several Zygon attacks. The Zygon who was forcibly changed is discovered trying to hide and unable to control his discharges of energy. He didn't want any of this but when he accidently attacks the Doctor, he turns his energy on himself and kills himself.

As the Doctor and Osgood examine things, Kate arrives with two troopers having been sent by Bonnie. She offers to take them to the cavern where Clara is. They agree but once there, the two soldiers morph into Zygons and advance on the Doctor and Clara. Bonnie meanwhile arrives at the Black Archive and finds two boxes. One will force every Zygon out of hiding, the other will kill all the Zygons. Bonnie threatens to kill Clara, whom she has brought with her, if the Doctor doesn't tell her which box. He tells her the blue one but when she opens it, there are two buttons.

Kate, who is actually the real Kate, pulls her gun and kills both Zygons. The three of them head to the Black Archive where they find Bonnie, her two Zygon guards and Clara. Kate prepares to activate the red box while the Doctor appeals to Bonnie, using his own war experience and logic to appeal to her. Slowly she comes around until finally agreeing to stand down. The Doctor then wipes the memories of Kate and the two Zygon guards, leaving Bonnie's memory but also letting on that this was the sixteenth iteration of their negotiation.

Bonnie leaves the Black Archive and orders all rebels to stand down. High command is transferred back to other Zygons and things resume as they were. Bonnie then takes the form of Osgood, reestablishing the join of two Osgoods to oversee the peace. This does force the first Osgood to turn down the Doctor's offer to travel in the TARDIS. He and Clara then depart for a new adventure.

Analysis

I think I have been well on record on how a memorable scene towards the end of a story can strongly influence my overall feelings towards that story, whether for good or for ill. This two-parter actually has it both ways as a rather stupid scene clouds my feelings towards The Zygon Invasion while the great Doctor speech consumes all other feelings about The Zygon Inversion. It makes it rather difficult to give these stories a fair score given that they should be looked at as a whole.

I think I'm more annoyed by the scene in The Zygon Invasion because the set up for this story is pretty well balanced the whole way through. You have Bonnie's take-over of Clara which is a nifty little secret until the end, you have three-way division of the team, each with a story that could have been expanded upon and made more compelling if time had allowed and you have the amusing performance of the Doctor who is still trying to use humor to put on bravado. But the flaws cannot be ignored.

The two little ones are fairly easy to let go of in that I didn't care much for the performances of Jac or Sherriff Norlander. Norlander was a bit stiff and I think, much like Peri, was focusing too hard on trying to maintain an American sounding accent. Jac was of a similar vein but unlike an accent problem, hers was more of an emoting problem. She was trying to be nervous and concerned while also a bit scared and the whole thing just made her feel a bit stiff. Her limited dialogue didn't help either as it felt she was being set up from the get go to be a red shirt (which she was).

But the real garbage moment was the soldiers preparing to storm the church. Someone comes out as the platoon leader's mom and fails to answer any personal questions. Not only is the acting melodramatic and rather poorly delivered but there is no reason why the whole squad would have dropped their weapons and walked into such an obvious trap. Even if the squad commander hesitated, his deputy should have dropped her in two seconds. What's more, the commander should have known that even a scared mother could have offered a string of information to convince her son of her identity. As soon as she claimed that she couldn't remember things, that should have been enough. It's a dumb scene to just wipe out the squad.

What's more, it was unnecessary. Storming the church and killing the Zygon rebels would have consolidated power with Bonnie as she would have been the primary leader left. The Doctor could have still found Osgood and one Zygon could have been taken alive to give the exposition on the plane. It just made no sense from any perspective and I find it annoying that while the Zygons kill multiple people, the only person who kills a Zygon is Kate Stewart. I think the Doctor's scene in pat two would have been even more impactful if both sides came in with blood on their hands and Kate's killing of three Zygons is not enough to counter Bonnie's.

In The Zygon Inversion we run into the reverse situation. The first half is a bit of a cop out. Rather than dealing with a splinter group with many viewpoints and jockeying for position, all power and decision making is concentrated with Bonnie. She starts this random plan of unveiling one Zygon but then does nothing else except post a video (which would probably be decried as a fake by most people). She then goes after the doomsday weapon but with all the rebels concentrated around London, what good will that do? Are they going to take command of millions of scared Zygons and thousands of heavily armed humans who will attack them? This gets into the Doctor's point in his speech but it allows for an easy set up to victory by concentrating power in one individual as opposed to multiple members of leadership. This is where actually killing all the Zygons in the church would have allowed this scenario to flow a bit more naturally.

Also, was all of UNIT killed in that one tunnel attack at the end of The Zygon Invasion? Bonnie seems to have complete run of all UNIT buildings and no trouble bring the Zygon pod containing Clara into the Black Archive, which you would think would be better protected. I also question how Kate Stewart so easily pulled the magic words to fool Bonnie into thinking she was the Zygon agent in New Mexico. It's not like that Zygon tapped into her mind and gave her information. It's an exceptional bluff on Kate's part and bit too informed to be fully believed.

But despite all those problems, the episode takes a huge leap forward with the scene of the boxes and the Doctor. I've never actually watched Let's Make a Deal but I assume that the Doctor's over-the-top American moments was him doing a Monty Hall impression and despite it's wackiness, it was a good draw as it got deeper. What you get overall out of that scene is the depth of feeling from the Doctor. There are times where the show has tried to push away the atrocities that the Doctor did during the Time War and even if he didn't use the Moment to destroy Gallifrey, he did commit other actions which resulted in the deaths of presumably millions. To have Capaldi channel that is just compelling to watch. Bonnie interjects now and again but her arguments are rational and the type you might expect from a terrorist.

I also deeply appreciate that as well as things wrapped up at the end, the Doctor acknowledged that his arguments didn't work the first fifteen times. Bonnie or Kate pushed the button to initiate the war and found out that the boxes were empty, forcing a restart each time. What I like most about this is that it makes sense that someone that committed to a cause would not be persuaded that easily, even as compelling as the arguments of the Doctor are. You can almost imagine that each time the Doctor had to reset the argument, a small piece of what he previously said stayed with Bonnie and Kate so as to allow him to get that much further in his convincing. But it still took that many iterations just to take the veil from her eyes and see the reality and pointlessness of dying for a stupid gripe.

I also like to imagine that Bonnie took up the position of the new second Osgood not just to ensure the peace but as a means of protecting herself from anyone in the splinter group that might come after her for a perceived betrayal of the cause.

I think it goes without saying that the Doctor's performance is impeccable in this story so I'll focus on Clara instead. Clara herself doesn't do much since Bonnie takes over fairly early in The Zygon Invasion aside from the interaction in her suspended state. But Jenna Coleman does do quite a lot and I enjoyed her performance. I actually liked her better when the mask was dropped and she was allowed to be Bonnie fully. Her threats could have had some more menace to them but it was still a fairly good act. My only real complaint is nothing against the actress but against the make-up team. Her make-up was on way too thick and it had that trowel look of a woman trying to hide something rather than a more natural look. It was a bit off-putting and I wish had been toned down a touch.

I always enjoy Kate Stewart and although I griped about the holes in the storytelling for her in The Zygon Inversion, I still enjoyed her performance. I'm sure the die-hard fans got a kick out of her "five rounds rapid" line as that was oft used by the Brigadier, though I think the director made too hard a push on that line. Something a bit more subtle would have worked better than the dramatic zoom on her face. I also enjoyed Osgood who did a good stand-in job for the companion in these two episodes. It was a good way to bring back a character, even if it made the loss of Missy killing Osgood feel like a little bit of a cheat.

I don't recall feeling that there was much special about the direction. It was more serviceable but nothing that overly caught the eye. It had the look of someone trying to give a sweeping scale (such as seen in The Day of the Doctor) but with a more limited scope. What I wish had been done more was the horror movie feel. The points of quiet and intimate shots that reminded you of a horror movie such as Kate arriving in New Mexico or the Doctor and Osgood walking through the red-lit halls looking for the forcibly converted Zygon were some of the best in terms of mood and direction. I think if things were kept more like that, it would have improved the feel of both the direction in general and the overall story as a whole.

Despite my griping, this really is a decent story. I just think that there are some holes in the overall story done for writing convenience mostly. I also think that both episodes are heavily defined by scenes towards the end that stand in contrast to the rest of the episode. In Invasion, that pulls it down but in Inversion it pulls it up. I think both stories still stand above middling but on Capaldi's performance alone, the second half is discernibly better, even if the set up for first half is better thought out.

Overall personal score: The Zygon Invasion - 3 out of 5; The Zygon Inversion - 4 out of 5