Look, I know that in the 60's it was perfectly acceptable for a Caucasian to be cast in the role of an Asian. They could put on a bad wig and maybe a Fu-Manchu beard, turn their L's into R's and their R's into W's, and perform in a broadly caricatured manner, and it would be totally cool (ref: Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's). But just because it was completely acceptable for the time doesn't make it any less uncomfortable to watch now.

Let's talk about that.

Rider from Shang-Tu

The good news is, the first four episodes of Marco Polo really didn't have any awkward Yellowface performances. The bad news is, it more than makes up for it with two particular characters in this episode. One is a large, oafish town official who is performed in exactly the kind of cringe-worthy manner you would expect from the worst of the Charlie Chan films of the 30's and 40's. The second is a sinister thief. You know he is evil because he has an eye patch and a monkey on his shoulder. I have no doubt that at the time this story originally aired neither of these performances would even have leapt out as being anything more than a bit of standard Pantomime. For me, though, these are the first things in the story that have really not aged well at all.

"What do you mean, 'racially insensitive?!?'"

Setting that aside, though, this was still a great episode. Ian recognizes that the dead guard is a sign of an imminent attack, and rather than the Doctor and company running off to the TARDIS to escape, they go to warn Marco about the threat. The duplicitous Tegana, who had actually set up the attack, of course manages to weasel around to standing and fighting with Marco's forces against the bandits. Tegana kills the bandit leader during the fight, in order to keep him from giving away Tegana's treachery. Ian, Man of Action, also uses a very smart ruse by piling bamboo on the fire before the bandits attack. During the height of battle the bamboo explodes, scaring off the remaining bandits.

Shorty thereafter the titular Rider from Shang-Tu arrives, and we are treated to a bit of exposition about the skill and planning involved in riding three hundred miles in just 24 hours. This is no doubt the real-world precursor and inspiration for the famed Pony Express here in the frontier period of the United States. In any case, the rider brings word that Marco must hasten to Kublai Khan's palace. The caravan must leave at once, leaving most of their supplies behind to be shipped along in the next public caravan in a few days, with the TARDIS amongst those items. Of course, Tegana arranges for the aforementioned sinister thief to steal the TARDIS long before it will ever arrive at the palace.

Mighty Kublai Khan

There is more intrigue between Marco Polo and Tegana. Ping-Cho runs away, embarrassed to have been revealed to have stolen the TARDIS keys from Marco Polo in an effort to help Susan and the others in a failed escape attempt. Ultimately the group is split, with Ian doubling back to find Ping-Cho (and later on a search for the stolen TARDIS), while the rest of the group meets Kublai Khan.

As it turns out, the Great and Powerful Khan is now an old man, barely even able to walk. In fact, his physical ailments are not all that different from the Doctor's, and the two wind up bonding after a bit of dangerous back-and-forth where the Doctor refuses to kowtow to Kublai Khan, both because he is philosophically opposed to doing so and because his back physically won't allow him to do so in any case. 

The episode ends with Ian and Ping-Cho successfully tracking the thief who stole the TARDIS, but being immediately confronted by the treacherous Tegana. With only one episode left, it is time for the final showdown and for Tegana to be revealed. Presuming, that is, that Ian, Man of Action, is able to survive the sword fight at hand.

STATS:

Doctor(s): First
Companion(s): Ian Chesterton, Susan Foreman, Barbara Wright
Episode(s): Rider from Shang-Tu, Mighty Kublai Khan
Obvious Pratfalls: 0, it's hard to pratfall in a still image
Steps Walked: 6,462 today, 66,958 total
Distance Walked: 2.86 miles today, 29.20 miles total
Weight: 303.28 lbs (five day moving average), net change -4.02 lbs