There have been very few times in the past three months and 188 episodes where I have not been acutely aware that I am definitely walking on a treadmill while watching Doctor Who. I intentionally keep myself pushed as close as possible to my limit, so especially by the end of my second episode for the day I am generally fighting a battle of willpower to keep moving while desperately trying to distract myself with the current story. Today, however, I became so wrapped up in The Enemy of the World that I was completely transported and then stunned by a truly unexpected plot twist. Seriously, if you have never watched this story but intend to do so in the future, please do not read below the fold here. Because, wow...

Let's talk about that.

The Enemy of the World - Episodes 3 & 4

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

Episode 3 ticks along pretty much as expected. Jamie and Victoria have infiltrated Salamander's household staff and go about their business doing skulky spying kind of stuff. The house cook is a fantastic character, and older gentleman who spends all of his time bemoaning how terrible the meal is, how terribly things are going in general, and how he will probably be fired after dinner and possibly shot (except that the firing squad will probably miss). Seriously, lots of fun there. Meanwhile, the puppet that Salamander set up to become the leader of the Central European Zone wimps out when tasked with one simple assassination, so Salamander kills him. On top of that, the target of the assassination gets shot in the back anyway, so Mister Puppet died in vain. Unfortunately, in the same general hubub both Jamie and Victoria are outed as spies and captured. Which of course means that both Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling get to take the next week off for a well-deserved vacation.

It is in Episode 4 where things really take a swerve.

Dudes! Salamander totally lives at 10 Cloverfield Lane!!!

Thus far, aside from the time setting there has been nothing science-fictional about the story. There has been one open question about how Salamander has been able to accurately predict (and presumably cause) several natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. I just assumed that it would turn out that he had some kind of Whatever Device that he was using, but the big reveal is even more bizarre: In the last act of the episode, Salamander goes to "the records room" where he is not to be disturbed, and then takes a secret hidden rocket elevator thing deep down into the bowels of the Earth. Then he changes into dusty, tattered clothes, and proceeds to meet with a whole group of survivors in an extensive bomb shelter. It turns out that everyone there has been trapped in the shelter for five years, believing that a terrible global war continues unabated on the surface. As far as they know, Salamander takes solo trips to the surface to forage for food and other supplies, and then returns to tell them how terrible and unlivable the surface is as the war rages on. And then -- and here's the kicker -- he also has them convinced that the best way to finally end the war is to trigger a series of natural disasters in order to disrupt the armies up above. We already knew he was a charismatic politician who had convinced most of the world's population he was a savior whilst at the same time carrying out an evil plan to rule the world. It turns out he is also a charismatic scavenger who has convinced his own private group of Mole Men that he is a savior to them whilst at the same time carrying out an evil plan to rule the world. The dude is truly an evil genius!

Thus far The Enemy of the World wins my vote for Best Second Doctor story, and I am eager to get to the last two episodes tomorrow morning.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Second
Companion(s): Jamie McCrimmon, Victoria Waterfield
Episode(s): The Enemy of the World - Episodes 3 & 4
Steps Walked: 7,030 today, 647,538 total
Distance Walked: 3.57 miles today, 309.41 miles total
Weight: 277.78 lbs (five day moving average), net change -29.52 lbs