Time is winding down for the Ponds, but before they go they will join the Doctor to confront a slow invasion of tiny, black cubes. This quirky episode features an unusual change of perspective and a change in tone, but does it work? Read on and find out.

FIGURES AND MORE EXCLUSIVE EPISODE REVIEW

Show:                        Doctor Who

Series:                       7

Episode #:                4

Title:                           The Power of Three

Writer:                       Chris Chibnall

Cast

The Doctor                   Matt Smith

Amy Pond                     Karen Gillan

Rory Williams               Arthur Darvill

Brian Williams             Mark Williams

Kate Stewart                 Jemma Redgrave

Shakri                            Steven Berkoff

Ranjit                             Selva Rasalingam

Laura                             Alice O’Connell

Arnold Underwood     Peter Cartwright

Orderly 1                        David Beck

Orderly 2                       Daniel Beck

Unit Researcher          David Hartley

Plot

Amy and Rory have tried to adjust to normal everyday life without traveling with the Doctor. One day billions of small black cubes appear around the globe, but they appear to be inert and invulnerable. The Doctor, alerted by news stories, arrives to help. UNIT storm the Pond’s home soon after in response to the Doctor’s arrival; the UNIT force is led by scientific adviser Kate Stewart, the daughter of the Doctor’s friend and former UNIT commander, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Kate explains that they have no idea of the purpose of the cubes and hoped the Doctor could help. After several days of watching the cubes without anything out of the ordinary occurring, the Doctor decides there is no problem and puts Brian, Rory’s father, in charge of watching the cubes, as he returns and departs in the TARDIS.

Over the following year, Amy and Rory live out their lives. During a wedding party for a common friend, the Doctor visits and takes Amy and Rory away for a few weeks, though returns them a few minutes after leaving. Brian notices their absence and, in private, asks the Doctor the fate of his previous companions. The Doctor admits that while most had left on their own or were left behind, some have died, but promises that will not happen to Amy or Rory. Humanity forgets about the cubes’ arrival, and use them as paperweights and similar mundane functions. Unknown to anyone at the hospital where Rory works, a young girl with a cube controls a medic with a distorted face to capture a few selected patients.

A year after their arrival, the cubes start to activate, scanning the world’s information networks and acting in self-defense. The Doctor realizes that the cubes are part of a “slow invasion”. While Rory and Brian go to the hospital to help those injured by the cubes, the Doctor and Amy are summoned to the UNIT headquarters under the Tower of London where Kate shows them several cubes under investigation, each behaving in a different fashion. Suddenly the cubes simultaneously display the number “7” and slowly count down. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Brian is taken by two of the odd medics to a lift, where they disappear; Rory follows and finds that the back of the lift is a portal to a spaceship in Earth’s orbit.

When the cubes count down to zero, they all open, appearing empty, but soon reports of people dying from cardiac arrest appear from around the globe. The Doctor finds that one of his own hearts stopped, and realizes that the cubes sent out an electrical impulse that killed about one-third of the human population. Kate’s team traces a communication from the cubes to seven different outposts across the world, including one at Rory’s hospital, and the Doctor and Amy race there. They find the girl, who the Doctor realizes is an android, and disable her, before locating the lift and the portal.

Aboard the ship, Amy and Rory rescue Brian while the Doctor encounters a member of the Shakri, who, according to Gallifreyan legend, were self-appointed “pest controllers” in the universe. The Shakri states that he and six other ships tied to the other outposts are there to wipe out humanity before it spreads across the galaxy, and prepares to launch a second wave of cubes to kill even more before disappearing. The Doctor uses the ship’s computer to reverse the shock the cubes gave to the original victims, restoring them, and escapes the ship before the feedback from the cubes destroy it. As the world recovers, the Doctor prepares to leave when Brian insists that Amy and Rory go with him, stating the adventures they have with him are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

MY TAKE: Unusual is not a word you can normally associate with Doctor Who, but in this case, it is the most appropriate word. The Power of Three is an episode, that is, at times, funny, touching, harrowing, suspenseful and thought provoking. It contained tons of little “fan service” bits, pulling from the “Classic” era as well as the recent past. Chief among these is the introduction of Kate (Lethbridge) Stewart, the new head of UNIT, who are re-introduced in this story. Kate is the daughter of the Brigadier, who was played in the series by the late Nicholas Courtnay. The Brigadier’s passing was mentioned in the Series 6 Finale: The Wedding of River Song. Also returning in this episode are fish fingers and custard, the Doctor’s favorite meal. which is shared in this episode by Amy, Rory and the Doctor. But, quite possibly, the most welcome return in this episode is that of Brian Williams, Rory’s Dad. Brian has only been in one other episode, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, which he almost managed to steal. He almost does it again here. Brian provides a significant portion of the episode’s humor. He follows the Doctor’s instructions to watch the cubes by setting up a daily video log, which Rory makes fun of. But, he also provides a moment of serious gravitas, when he asks the Doctor what happened to his other companions. The crux of the episode though, is Rory and Amy’s “normal” life. Rory works at a hospital, Amy writes travel articles. The Doctor finds himself unable to cope with the slow pace, with hilarious results. The Doctor paints their fence, kicks a soccer ball and plays tennis on a Nintendo Wii. During, the episode, Rory and Amy celebrate their 10th wedding Anniversary. As a present, the Doctor takes them to the just opened Savoy hotel, which happens to have a hidden Zygon ship underneath, and the on the way back, Amy accidentally says yes to marrying Henry VIII. These scenes sort of typify the Doctor’s interactions with the Ponds. In the end, the Doctor thinks he has to let them go, but Brian tells them to go with him, while he stays behind to “water the plants.” In the end, we are told by Amy ,in voice over as the three of them enter the TARDIS together, that being “cubed” taught them “the Power of Three” It was a fitting farewell, and only serves to emphasize how much Amy and Rory will be missed.

SCORE: 4 out of 5

NEXT WEEK: Time runs out for Amy and Rory, as River returns for a date with the Weeping Angels in New York City. Get your tissues ready.