I'm totally gonna talk about Doctor Who (and, apparently, giant maggots), but first I have to cheer -- this morning for the very first time I weighed in at under 260 lbs.  This past month in particular has been frustrating in terms of making forward progress, and it has been nearly eight weeks since I crossed below 270, so I was overjoyed when I finally crossed that milestone this morning. I keep trying to remind myself that I don't have any particular weight goal, and that I am only doing this to feel physically better (which I totally do!), but seeing my progress stall out like that has been a real challenge. Today, though, feels like a victory. So, hooray for me.

Anyway, getting back to The Green Death: sure. lots more giant maggots today, but also some lovely comedy bits to offset the horror. Let's talk about that.

The Green Death - Episodes 3 & 4

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

Trapped between a cave-in and a mass of writhing giant maggots, the Doctor and Jo escape their predicament by climbing into a mine cart and punting their way across the foot-deep pool of glowing green sludge until they reach safety on the other side. Then they find a shaft leading upwards, which turns out to be the feed line down which Global Chemicals is dumping their toxic waste. They escape with the timely help of a GC employee, who helps them out of the shaft just in time to avoid being washed away. Meanwhile, the Brigadier tries to make a political power play against the GC Director, who responds by literally phoning up the Prime Minister and having him put UNIT in their place. Oops.

On the way up the shaft the Doctor had recovered a giant maggot egg, because of course. And then in the episode cliffhanger late at night the egg hatches, and the resulting new giant maggot is slowly creeping up to attack an oblivious Jo Grant, because also of course.

The fourth episode has a GC lackey sneaking in to steal the egg and ending up literal maggot food, unintentionally rescuing Jo in the process. Some other drama happens, including the mine shaft being blown up followed by scores of giant maggots just climbing their way up out of the ground, which results in the Doctor needing to sneak back into the GC facility undetected. So first he dresses up as a milkman, makes it inside the building, and then changes into the cleaning lady's dress. I am not making that up. Check out this awesome scene where the Doctor blends in perfectly, and clues in Captain Yates to his presence. It's a classic.

While the Doctor is playing at Master of Disguises, Jo is fully smitten with Professor Cliff and decides to run off to capture a giant maggot for him. All of which leads to Jo being right in the middle of the field of maggots as the Brigadier has called in an air strike. Meanwhile, the Doctor has made his way to the top floor of the GC facility and discovered that the Big Bad is actually a sentient computer named BOSS. It's like WOTAN from The War Machines all over again.

I continue to love this story tremendously. I mean, how could I not? There are just giant maggots wriggling around everywhere. The corporate evil-doing is fantastically sinister and deliberate, the politicking with the Brigadier and the government officials is delicious, and the love story between Jo and Professor Cliff is delightfully wonky and painful. They are truly meant for each other.

Tomorrow: with any luck, more giant maggots and another good workout.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Third
Companion(s): Jo Grant, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Episode(s): The Green Death - Episodes 3 & 4
Steps Walked: 6,615 today, 1,213,775 total
Distance Walked: 3.27 miles today, 599.38 miles total
Weight: 262.82 lbs (five day moving average), net change -44.48 lbs