How maddeningly variable is a person's weight throughout the day? Well due to the drive home from Fort Lauderdale yesterday I had to put in my treadmill time in the late afternoon instead of my usual morning routine, and so my weigh-in yesterday happened after that. This morning I returned to my regular routine of a morning workout and then weighing myself before starting work for the day. The upshot is that, on paper at least, I lost nearly five pounds between yesterday and today. The truth is that it is an apples-to-oranges comparison due to time of day. But hey, I'll take the win anyway. This is why I (try to) pay more attention to a moving average than the daily numbers. As for today's viewing, I watched the next two episodes of The Dæmons.

Let's talk about that.

The Dæmons - Episodes 3 & 4

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The last episode ended with the Doctor and Jo about to be attacked by Bok, the stone gargoyle brought to life in the previous episode. As Bok approaches, the Doctor holds up a trowel and very carefully intones, "Klokeda partha mennin klatch!", at which point Bok runs away in terror. Then the Doctor explains to Jo that the incantation only worked because Bok believed it did, and that in fact he had merely held up a piece of iron and then spoken the first verse of a Venusian Lullaby, which roughly translated to "Close your eyes, my darling. Well three of them, at least!" I ain't gonna lie, I almost tripped on my treadmill at that line because I was laughing so much.

Anyway, from there the story cruises right along. The "supernatural" beings are really aliens from the planet Dæmon, who have been periodically influencing human history for thousands of years. The Master is trying to use their power to take over the world or some such. The big peril is that, if the Dæmons decide that the Earth is a lost cause, they will just blow the whole thing up. So that's not good.

Episode three also has a big chase scene with the Doctor's car Bessie, a motorcycle, a helicopter, and the dome-shaped heat barrier that is currently blocking off the entire village of Devil's End. Apparently the shot where the helicopter blows up after colliding with the heat barrier was actually an unused outtake from a James Bond movie. 

The episode ends in a rare cliffhanger where the Master is in peril instead of one of the heroes (he is summoning the main Dæmon and it goes poorly), which was pretty wild. It's a testament to Roger Delgado's performance that we genuinely do care if he lives or dies, no matter how evil he is.

By the end of the fourth episode the Master is summoning the Dæmon for the third and final time, while off at the heat barrier the Brigadier and UNIT are on the outside trying to get in. This is only a five-parter, so tomorrow is the big finish. Also tomorrow: one of the best and most beloved bits of dialog from the Brigadier in the history of the show. I am so looking forward to it.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Third
Companion(s): Jo Grant, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Episode(s): The Dæmons - Episodes 3 & 4
Steps Walked: 6,984 today, 1,035,521 total
Distance Walked: 3.66 miles today, 507.28 miles total
Weight: 267.95 lbs (five day moving average), net change -39.35 lbs