After watching “Family of the Blood” I watched two more — this time really really good — Doctor Who episodes last night: “Blink” and “Utopia.” “Blink” is a stand-alone episode in the mold of a season 2 story told from the point of view of an outside character who meets the Doctor, episode 10 “Love & Monsters,” but here we’ve got wacky time travel as well and very, very spooky antagonists. It’s brilliant, really, touching upon sci-fi while at the same time having humor and a human component.
I suppose the “purpose” of such an episode is to serve as a buffer of sorts before “Utopia” and what must be an end-of-season push. “Utopia” brings back The Master, a rogue Time Lord, presumed lost or dead, and one of the Doctor’s primary foes over the years … er, franchise. The episode promises a lot, for it brings back Captain Jack Harkness, who will hit on anything that movies, regardless of gender or species. And it takes us further in to the future than even the “end of the Earth” from season 1, episode 2. And it gives us antagonists (for tonight, I guess — I’ll miss that until I get it downloaded) who seem awfully apocalyptic. And what are we doing with “humans” this far in the future? But then it gets even better: Sir Derek Jacobi … yes, Sir Derek. He won’t be around in future episodes, but that’s okay, for his 1-episode performance here was magnificent and subtle.
And we get a cliffhanger.
This afternoon, after returning “The Egyptologist” and another book I went to Fair Trade and spent time reading “Prague” (which takes place in Budapest). At home I finished The Police. Tonight … who knows.
