First off, can I get a what what for two consecutive days under 260? I strongly suspect that tomorrow I will bounce back up a bit, but that's ok.It just feels awesome to feel awesome. And it's pretty dang cool to look in the mirror and not see fat-me anymore. I'm only ten years in (or six months, however you choose to count), and honestly anything after this is gravy. Mmmm. Gravy...

Anyway, lots more giant maggots in today's viewing. Have I mentioned how much I love typing the phrase "giant maggots"? So yeah, giant maggots, a super-intelligent but slightly ADD evil computer, and a marriage proposal, all in the same day. Let's talk about that.

The Green Death - Episodes 5 & 6

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

I kind of figured that, given last episode's cliffhanger of Jo wandering cluelessly into the impending firebomb zone in search of a smaller giant maggot to bring home to her boyfriend Professor Mushroom, episode five would begin with the air strike being called off at the last possible moment. Oh, how wrong I was. Not only has Jo blundered into the danger zone, but Professor Mushroom wanders right in after her. Once the bombs start falling, the two lovebirds duck into a convenient abandoned mine shaft to avoid the fire raining down upon them. They both survive, but the poor boy is not only concussed but he also gets infected by the deadly green slime.

Meanwhile, the Doctor escapes WOTAN BOSS by employing a logic puzzle to confuse the super computer. He is quickly recaptured, and just as quickly escapes yet again but leaving poor Captain Yates behind to be brainwashed. When Yates is sent on a mission to kill the Doctor, that is when we find out that the whole Metabilis III escapade in the first episode wasn't just a throw-away gag in that the blue crystal the Doctor found there turns out to be very effective in breaking WOTAN'S BOSS' hypnotic control.  

Ultimately the Doctor of course figures out that Professor Mushroom's magic mushrooms are deadly to the giant maggots, and the powder version can cure the deadly green slime infection. The giant maggots (plus one giant dragonfly) are all quickly dispatched, and Professor Mushroom is cured just in time for the Doctor to have his final showdown with WOTAN BOSS. He uses the Metabilis III crystal do de-hypnotize the Global Chemicals director, who then turns around and heroically sacrifices himself in order to blow up the super computer just before it can execute its plan for world domination.

At the victory celebration Professor Mushroom proposes to Jo Grant, who gleefully accepts. The Doctor wishes them the best, gives her the Metabilis III crystal as a lovely parting gift, and then sneaks out the back door while everyone else celebrates. Jo Grant gets one last hero shot with her new fiance, as a very sad Doctor drives off into the sunset.

As farewell episodes go, this was a great one. Although there is still one more season of the Third Doctor left to go, this story really does mark the end of an era. With the next season we get an entirely new opening credits sequence, the one that truly defines the entire Fourth Doctor run, and we also get possibly the best Companion of all time, Sarah Jane Smith. So with all that, it was really nice to see Jo Grant get a genuine goodbye story. So many companions in the past have just gotten a cursory farewell, and I'm glad that Jo was better served than that.

This was just a great, great story. It doesn't topple either Carnival of Monsters or Curse of Peladon from my list, but it certainly comes in as a close third.

Did I mention that there are giant maggots?

STATS:

Doctor(s): Third
Companion(s): Jo Grant, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Episode(s): The Green Death - Episodes 5 & 6
Steps Walked: 6,785 today, 1,220,560 total
Distance Walked: 3.27 miles today, 602.65 miles total
Weight: 261.74 lbs (five day moving average), net change -45.56 lbs