TW Watches Doctor Who: The Well S02E03

photos copyright BBC

I do love a good, creepy horror movie and this week’s episode certainly uses that as a template for a terror ride that will leave you terrified.

A planet on which nothing can survive, an empty base filled with shattered bodies where every mirror is smashed with the only survivor, a deaf woman desperate top go home to see her daughter. The smashed mirrors evoke the idea that evil cannot face itself and in Doctor Who lore, could this be the Mara from the 5h Doctor episode? Can we have another god on the loose?

Colony 15 is a base that was mining planet 6767 for carbon 46 through a giant well that went straight down into the planet. Again, this evokes the doorway to Hell. Given the Doctor’s words in the trailer for this one, fan speculation was that this was a sequel to a previous episode. It was either The Satan Pit or Midnight. Or are we way off the mark?

I loved the fact that the sole survivor, Alice Fenley the cook, is deaf which immediately plays into the overall story. So could this be the Beast reborn? Is Alice his new vessel eager for the troopers to take her off world?

Everything sings horror and superstition. With the arrival of The Doctor and Belinda, the normal troop compliment is eleven but now it makes them thirteen. Unlucky for some. Jump scares abound as something seems to be flitting behind Alice just as Donna had something on her back. Could this be The Trickster, the bane of The Doctor and Sarah Jane’s existence?

For someone that has decided disability will make everyone associated it with evil (see my previous article; https://timewarriors.co.uk/2024/05/19/disabled-davros-is-a-dodo-amputee-vs-rtd/) he uses Alice’s deafness to make the viewer believe this evil has hidden itself in her or it is using her body somehow. The fact that it is against the law for a nurse not to know sign language and everyone has portable screens that shows what they are saying is wonderful. Having learned just a smattering of sign language myself, it is something that I actually want to get back into and learn. It’s a great reminder that society is more diverse and we should be aware of everyone.

For the second week in a row, we get a sequel.

Planet 6767 is in fact the planet Midnight 400,000 years in the future, strip mined of all its diamonds and confirms that this is the entity that almost destroyed the 10th Doctor by mimicking his words to turn a trainload of passengers against him. The entity came out of the remains of Midnight laughing and it wants out into the universe. There are shades of Event Horizon here with the massacre of bodies.

This time it hides behind you being seen in glimpses but evoking enough fear that it turns people, even friends, to murder their friends. If you kill the person it hides behind, it simply jumps to another. This thing seems eternal and Alice can’t hear it whispering in her ear which makes her the perfect victim. Who is going to kill a deaf girl? But since killing her isn’t the answer, the answer lies in reflection. Open the mercury tubes and Alice can escape.

The biggest issue with the episode was Belinda seeing the entity then denying it twice. Now after seeing cartoons rise from a cinema screen and rampaging robots, she has a savvy enough brain to realise that in the midst of a mysterious massacre where bodies have been pulverised that anything out of the ordinary, she would tell the Doctor. To have her deny seeing anything, dilutes the character that called the Doctor out at the end of her first episode as being dangerous.

But while it frees her, it simply jumps to Belinda. The fear and terror it instills in the soldiers is a replay of what happened to the original crew. Order imposed by leader Shaya Costillion, played by Caoilfhionn Dunne, falls apart when trooper Cassio overrides her and tries to take the thing down. Indeed we have paranoia and fear at the levels that echo Event Horizon and The Thing. People fall apart when faced with an unseen enemy. I loved the analogy Belinda uses that Alice is like a clock face and if you walk behind her, you literally die at midnight. When the troops are picked up and smashed to the ground dead when they walk behind her is Forbidden Planet for sure. Shaya tells Alice to turn to her causing Cassio to be smashed into a wall ending his tactic and undermining of her authority.

This is such a good episode because the monster is always just out of sight but its effects are very real. Bringing back the Midnight monster is brilliant because we get to see it in full control, not a repeating entity living on a planet of galvanic radiation. Nothing bar it can live as the radiation is lethal as we saw in Midnight.

So to save Belinda, Shaya, the best shot in the army takes the one shot close to Belinda’s heart, killing her momentarily so the creature jumps to Shaya. She runs and ,Ripley-like, throws herself down the well allowing the others to escape. It’s great to see the Irish save the day. I have a thing about even the slightest characters having a backstory and we see Shaya’s childhood running through fields of fire in the Wildlands and running from the monsters out into the galaxy to help, protect and bring hope. Everything we need to know about her is right there in that soliloquy and her death once again, like those highlighted by Davros to the Doctor-like Harriet Jones and the nameless hostess in the original Midnight, Shaya is now one of those that gave their lives to save he universe so the greatest hope of all could live on and fight; The Doctor. Did I mention Shaya is Irish?

The planet is nuked from orbit and The Doctor and Belinda go on their way having discovered that no-one here has heard of Earth or knows what a human is.

We see Mrs Flood asking a trooper what happened and if The Doctor was carrying a vindicator; he was and she claims this is very good news. Is she a villain or something else guiding The Doctor against the real enemy?

And like all great horror movies, there is a twist. Is the Midnight monster, officially named It Has No Name, really gone or did it sneak aboard on a trooper’s back? Who knows?

What I do know is that is three for three so far; all excellent stories and a huge leap from last year. It all shows that there is life in the old dog yet and as long as we keep getting quality stories then Doctor Who is far from dead.

Superb.

Stephen Carey & Owen Quinn: Is The Buzz About The Fly Justified?

This time, we checlk out the movie remake that is The Fly starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. Seth Brundle wants to save the world from motion sickness but in doing so sets himself and new love, Veronica, on a path that will bring destruction upon him and those he loves.

Will we tell it to buzz off or will it be a positive? Find out below. If you like what you hear please leave a like, comment or subscribe. Whatever you feel happy with. Enjoy. Join the craaic, you won’t look back!

Magic Moment: Skinner Opens Up To Mulder

Photos copyright Fox

In any series good writing is essential to keep the characters alive and the viewers guessing. In The X-Files, Mulder and Scully had a boss called Walter Skinner. He was tough on them and played as a hard nosed boss under orders to get rid of Mulder once and for all. He never smiles but Mister X once told Mulder that he had a friend in the FBI.

So in the season two episode One Breath, Mulder is at breaking point.

Scully had been kidnapped by Duane Barry who apparently was an alien abductee. He had severe mental issues. Scully was given to aliens leaving Mulder with no answers and lost. His mental state was seen in the vampiric episode Blood. He is at rock bottom and paired with a new partner, Alex Krychek, Mulder is in a turmoil.

But in One Breath, Scully is found, alive but in a coma with little hope for recovery. He finds someone stealing Scully’s blood and her prognosis is not good. There is evidence she has undergone some sort of medical examination. Out of his head with anger and grief, Mulder storms to Skinner’s office and hands in his resignation. Whomever his enemies are they have broken him by breaking the one person he trusts most in the world; Scully.

Alone in his office, he is packing his things when Skinner comes to the door. What follows is a turning point for them both. Skinner is revealed to be the friend Mulder was told about. He rips up the resignation saying he may feel responsible for Scully but resigning will only be self punishment which he will not accept. He sees Mulder is broken, that all the evidence they have uncovered has been for nothing and that Scully paid the price for it.

Skinner reveals he signed up for the Vietnam War and a boy walked into their camp covered in grenades. Skinner lost his faith in everything that day when he blew the child’s head off at ten yards. Life had no point to it any more. Later his patrol was caught in an ambush and every one of them fell. He tells Mulder that he looked down and saw his body.

He didn’t recognise it at first as the Vietnamese tore his uniform off and remained in the jungle peaceful and not afraid. He was put into a body bag and woke up in a hospital two weeks later.

He reveals that he is afraid to look beyond that experience but Mulder, Mulder is not. He reiterates that his resignation is unacceptable.

What makes this scene so electric is how underplayed it is. Pileggi’s delivery is as Skinner has been, controlled but giving us enough of a glimpse beyond his hard exterior that Mulder is left stunned. Skinner has been hard on him so he can get the answers he seeks. By doing that maybe Skinner will too. This opens up Skinner’s character so much to the audience and lays the foundations for their secret alliance that will last for the entire series.

Skinner here is almost an angel silhouetted in the doorway; neatly dressed and impeccable while Milder is disheveled and a physical and emotional mess. This is Skinner’s scene but the expression on Mulder’s face when he realises that Skinner has been helping him is a revelation. Symbolically, Skinner closes the door after him meaning that the matter they have just discussed is also closed to them to be held between only them.

It is a scene that lasts less than four minutes but vital to the very heart of the show and its future. Scully does recover. Between this and Skinner’s revelation, it ignites Mulder’s drive again. It reminds him that the truth could literally be right in front of him and may lie in those he never expected.

This scene defines the best of The X-Files and an example of how to not only do it right but do it brilliantly.

Forgotten Heroes: Bigfoot Six Million Dollar Man

By Owen Quinn author

Photo copyright Universal

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

In the seventies, the world was captivated by bionic men and women. Steve Austin battled secret agents, deadly space probes robots and lots of Russians and foreign powers but who could possibly give him a run for his money?

Well, the legend of Sasquatch, aka Bigfoot, was big news especially with the Patterson film, which by the way has been proved to be 100% real, so the producers decided there was only one thing that would give Steve a run for his money and to take his mind off his girlfriend Jaime Sommers’ memory loss about their love for each other – Bigfoot.
The episode called The Secret of Bigfoot, aired on 1st February 1976 and it proved to be a ratings smash which delighted everyone and Bigfoot came back for two more appearances, one of which saw him battle the Bionic Woman, who on meeting him did the one thing I would have done, jump into the highest tree, something Steve didn’t think of. And I for one jumped for joy. So if you meet Bigfoot, survival rule number 1; climb the nearest tree. In the Secret of Bigfoot he was played by Andre the Giant and in the following two it was Ted Cassidy, the man that supplied the Hulk’s roar in the seventies.

In the Return of Bigfoot, renegade aliens from the previous story were controlling Bigfoot to steal equipment they needed for a deadly plan to take over the world. Steve’s memories are restored, having been wiped at the conclusion of the first story and when none of his friends believe him about the Bigfoot, he is forced to go it alone resulting in nearly being killed by the Sasquatch. Jaime discovers the aliens have a serum that cures anything and goes off to the forests to find them but is attacked by Sasquatch. And by the end of the story all three team up to prevent an exploding volcano by accelerating it through time itself. His final appearance was in Bigfoot V which revealed in had been left behind in stasis by the aliens and had been photographed by a female explorer leading Steve to come to his rescue. In the end, the television version dovetailed into legend as a lone creature that walked the mountains guarding the forests. In many ways it was a tragic end for such a popular character. He had forged a strong friendship with both bionic parties especially Jaime that such an ending seems an easy way out but to keep the legend alive, the only way to end it.

Such was the success of Bigfoot in the show, Sasquatch was forever cemented into the public consciousness and the world exploded with Bigfoot sightings. They even produced an action figure so kids could have their Steve figure battle Sasquatch in their own living rooms. Unfortunately, my Steve figure, dressed in his best red tracksuit, was left on one of those old style shelf radiators and a few hours later, I found him melted. I don’t think I ever got over that.

But anyway there is no one of my generation that have ever forgotten the fight between Steve and Bigfoot, it really was that momentous.

The build-up was similar to the appearance of the T-rex in Jurassic Park, that steady thump thump of huge feet, branches breaking as Steve tries to see what is making them. And when Bigfoot, played by Andre the Giant, is revealed; it’s no fist fight. Boulders and tree trunks galore are smashed as they battle. And the reason Bigfoot has bionic sound effects is a shocker when Steve rips his arm off to reveal Bigfoot is actually a cyborg, later shown to be the guard dog of a group of aliens that have been living in the Oregon forests for centuries. They exist in a different flow of time which explains how Bigfoot was seen for centuries explaining Bigfoot’s appearances in Native American folklore.

Bigfoot can jump across a lake even with one arm but Steve barely makes it before he is trapped by the aliens and examined. Needless to say they become friends but no one will forget the moment Bigfoot was catapulted into our psych because he could beat up the Six Million Dollar Man. And for once you can actually believe Steve is going to be defeated.

The build-up cannot fail to impress even to this day as hidden point of views and Bigfoot kept to the shadows in silhouette ramped up the tension along with the deep roar that echoes around the forests. And as silly as it seems, I still cannot fail to be entertained by the showdown which is also helped by the cracking music, a mix of primal sounds mixed with the theme tune. And it actually looks like the fight is rough when Steve is grabbed by the monster and thrown about like a rag doll. And in all sci-fi, unless there’s a realism to such sequences then they will ultimately fail but in this case, the battle has lingered in so many fans’ memories because it really is a classic. It’s right up there with the Hulk facing down the Thing, Batman fighting Bane and that’s where the magic lies.

You can honestly believe that Bigfoot fought the Six Million Dollar Man as sightings continue to this day in that ocean of dark forests that house the legends of time and you will never look at the Oregon forests in the same way ever again.

TW Reviews Doctor Who Lux S02E02 Spoilers

By Owen Quinn author

phoptos copyright BBC

So to be fair, I had to watch this twice just to get my head round it.

It starts off with a very creepy idea. Images from a cinema screen come to life and climb out of the big screen to attack the audience. This is steeped in shades of Sapphire and Steel, the Torchwood episode ‘From Out of the Rain’ (also writer by the creator of Sapphire and Steel; PJ Hammond) and ‘The Grudge’. What if the Big Bad Wolf climbed out of the pages of Red Riding Hood? The taking of the fifteen strong cinema audience is scary especially when you see them trapped in celluloid. It is no coincidence that a feature on the atomic bomb is on before Mr Ring A Ding’s cartoon.

How Ring A Ding is given life is also a nod to the horror genres; it is Final Destination in nature. A spoon placed in a certain place to reflect moonlight as fate lines everything up just in the right order is effective and plausible.

In an attempt to get back to May 24th 2025 to get Belinda home, the Tardis bounces to Miami, Florida 1952 where said cinema is now padlocked. However, the projectionist, Mister Reginald Pye lives behind padlocked doors playing movies to an empty theatre. While the Doctor uses the landing to triangulate a way back to May 24th, he is intrigued by the mystery and sways Belinda to come solve it.

Gatwa really shows his OTT happy Doctor here but it is balanced by darker, introspective moments. When he and Belinda have a coffee in a diner they as people of colour are not allowed to visit, he caps Belinda’s outrage at this racism quickly. The dialogue is delicious letting the darker Doctor peek out. But it is perhaps his conversation with grieving mother of Tommy Lee, Mrs Lowenstein, one of the missing that shows this best. Such is her grief that she sits watching the cinema at night for any sign of hope. She breaks the rules of the time to speak with two coloured people because her need to get her son back transcends everything else including segregation. She has renewed hope now that a police box has arrived. She feels finally she will get her son back. In a beautifully underplayed moment, the Doctor takes her and asks does the sight of the police box give her hope?

The look on his face at her answer speaks volumes. Remember when ‘The Moment’ in the shape of Rose told the War Doctor that the wheezing, groaning sound of the Tardis brings hope whenever it goes? In a series where no one seems to know who the Doctor is any more, he needs reminded of that. He has no idea how much he is needed given Earth is gone. The sheer joy on the Doctor’s face listening to a mother talk about her son is lovely. He just revels in the ordinary lives all around him because it is the one thing he will never have. Plus Belinda give us a new slant on time travel when they discuss Rock Hudson, star of the movie in the cinema. There is a sadness in seeing people in their prime and knowing how their lives will end.

As a side note it’s a pity they couldn’t have timed this season to have the finale air on the 24th May. The penultimate episode will instead air on this date.

When the Doctor and Belinda break into the cinema, they meet Lux who turns out to have a very familiar giggle and one of the Pantheon gods is revealed. This time, it is Lux, God of light, in the guise of Mr Ring A Ding.

This is actually a clever tale of grief and desire. Lux is trapped in the cinema as is Pye. Lux is trapped by his body and Pye by the loss of his wife. To co-exist, Lux uses the light from the movies to maintain his form while Pye is given a movie of his wife, whom manifests, allowing him to dance with her again. But this symbiosis is an unhealthy mobius loop which will never have a happy ending. And within the Doctor lies the light of a regeneration to give him a body much like Pinocchio wished for. He almost succeeds by draining The Doctor. The only way out is to set fire to the film reels. The explosion shatters the wall allowing daylight in from the sun. Lux overdoes on it turning him into infinity and becomes part of the fabric of the universe. Pye dies in the explosion finally reunited with his wife.

But there is no thanking the Doctor and Belinda who just slip off in the Tardis.

I think we’re watching clues here for the finale. When the Doctor and Belinda are turned into cartoons, they meet Doctor Who fans complete with T-shirts, 4th Doctor scarf and a sonic screwdriver, classic style. The Doctor discovers he is fiction and they discuss his past adventures, the favourite of which is ‘Blink’. Belinda’s retort that the episode sounds epic is funny, given the classic status of that episode. This could be a nod to the day Tom Baker knocked on someone’s door asking could he watch Doctor Who with them. To be honest, it threw me as to why this was included. It is a nice commentary on fans who point out the answer to stopping Lux has already been mentioned, just like when the 5th Doctor mentioned the gas lethal to reptiles in episode two of ‘Warriors of the Deep’ in Season 21.

D’OH!!!!!

With Mrs Flood appearing yet again to tell the Lowensteins to watch the disappearing Tardis, it struck me that Pye’s wife magically appearing to encourage him to give Belinda the matches to set the inferno to defeat Lux, was in fact Mrs Flood. In the same way she manipulated Ruby and Belinda, so Pye is the key to winning. Also why was the 11th Doctor soundtrack played when the Doctor realises that fans Lizzie, Robyn and Nassan will die when he and Belinda go back to 1952. They claim they are not important but in fact they are the heart of any show. Without them, there is no Doctor Who. Lizzie put me in mind of Bonnie Langford for some reason but what if their T-shirts hold the clues to what is really going on?

On each of their T shirts is the Meep, the UNIT logo and the Cyber doors from ‘Tomb of the Cybermen’ with Telos along the bottom. Now we are assuming Mrs Flood is the villain this season but who is she? The Meep said that a being with two hearts is rare and he couldn’t wait to tell the boss.

What if Mrs Flood is the boss and very familiar with two-hearted beings? What if she is The Rani from the 6th and 7th Doctors’ eras. However, the power to change reality itself belongs to much higher beings like the Black and White Guardians. The White Guardian fooled the Time Lords into sending Romana with The Doctor to find the Key to Time and the Black Guardian disguised himself as the White Guardian to trick The Doctor into almost handing over said key. They cannot exist without each other so do Lux and Pye reflect that? They die together both happy.

There was also the Mind Robber who wrote stories which came to life there and then. The 2nd Doctor saved him but has someone found a way to revive that power? Or are Lizzie, Nassan and Robyn the Gods of Ragnarok from ‘The Greatest Show in the Galaxy’ who presided over a psychic circus killing acts that failed to entertain? What if they’re enabling of the other gods to have sole power? If so, then the Mara needs dealt with too. Yes, the giant snake that tormented 5th Doctor companion, Tegan (Janet Fielding).

Whomever it is, this episode builds more intrigue while subtly exploring grief and how it affects us in different ways. Compared to last year, two good episodes in a row is a welcome Easter treat, because when we reach the finale, we will look back and see all the hidden eggs.

Eastercon Signing At Forbidden Planet

To celebrate Eastercon, The Time Warriors were honoured to be part of the signing of the souvenir edition of Phantasmagoria Magazine to celebrate the con’s arrival to Belfast. Along with an array of writers and artists, it waxsa great turnout showing that fandom is alive and well on a very rainy and sodden Belfast afternoon.

Thank you to everyone that came today and bought the magazine.

Check out the photos below.

Stephen Carey & Owen Quinn Talk Silver Bullet

Join Stephen and Owen for another delve into the world of horror movies. This time up is a favourite of mine, Silver Bullet. This is Stephen’s first time watching it so what did he think? It’s all just a bot of craic so join the fun! If you like it, give us a likre and comment if you want.

Walking Dead & Marvel Actor For Dublin Comic Con Summer 2025

We are delighted to announce our next guest for DCC Summer Edition this August, none other than Ross Marquand!

After portraying Paul Newman on “Mad Men,” Ross Marquand went on to land perhaps his best known role, Aaron, on “The Walking Dead.” Following this came numerous appearances in the Marvel universe (“Avengers: Infinity War & Endgame,” “What If?”, and X-Men ’97) as four of the MCU’s most prominent characters – Red Skull, Ultron, Professor X and Apocalypse.

Also an accomplished voice actor, Ross has lent his unique vocal talents to such animated projects as “Invincible,” “LEGO Star Wars,” “Family Guy,” “Robot Chicken,” and “American Dad.” He is known for impersonating a plethora of celebrities including Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Matthew McConaughey and over 60 others.

📲

Don’t forget to get your tickets before they sell out! https://tixr.com/groups/comicconireland/summer2025

#dublincomiccon#comicconireland#comiccondublin

Forgotten Villains: Dog Soldiers’ Captain Richard Ryan

By Owen Quinn author

Photo copyright Owen Quinn

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

When we first met the cold, sadistic Captain Richard Ryan (Liam Cunningham) he is the head of a special forces unit testing for new recruits. Lawrence Cooper is trying for a position on his team and impresses having evaded the hunting squad for twenty two hours and 47 minutes. Ryan then instructs Cooper to shoot the dog. Cooper quickly refuses saying the dog has done nothing wrong. Ryan insists but Cooper will not do it. Ryan shoots the dog instead and informs Cooper he has failed for not being able to kill the dog.

The conversation between them is interesting as it says a lot about Ryan. Cooper’s refusal to kill the animal shows he has a conscience and Ryan does not need men of conscience. He needs men that will carry out orders no matter how they appear. He tells him his squad is on a different level and that he needs men of action not deeds, before shooting the dog. Ryan’s voice is very monotone only rising when he shouts at Cooper that he failed himself. He comes across as a tough man that has no time for discussion. His word is law no matter what the situation. His reasoning is that an enemy can use dogs to track you, so in order to take away that ability you must kill the animals first to make the hunt harder. Cooper would agree but this situation is not an enemy one. To kill a perfectly healthy dog used in their own armed forces is a waste and unconscionable. But Ryan’s face is impassive and when he pulls the trigger he gives a slight tilt of his head as if he is mocking Cooper that he is a better soldier than he.

Cooper attacks him but Ryan puts a gun in his face telling him that until he can kill a dog, to live and learn. Cooper lands a punch but is overpowered by Ryan who tells him he doesn’t do second chances and he never forgets. This will come back to haunt them later in the movie.

Four weeks later Cooper is with a squad led by Sarge (Sean Pertwee) on a training mission. It isn’t long before strange things start to happen and they are attacked by werewolves. They find a camp and a wounded Ryan, who screams there should have been only one. He has been badly clawed but by luck they are rescued by a local zoologist Megan who happens to be driving by.

Holing up in a farmhouse they fortify the doors and windows while tending to their wounded. However the truth comes out as Ryan is still obviously holding a deep hatred for Cooper and taunts them. He is growing stronger, his wounds impossibly healing fast. Neither is it a coincidence that Megan just happened by in the middle of all this wilderness. She works with Ryan.

He reveals he was tasked with bringing a werewolf back to weaponise but they were misinformed. Sarge’s squad was the bait to lure it out into the open but they didn’t know there was a pack of them. They slaughtered his squad, the squad Cooper was to be part of. Megan is also one of them and now Ryan transforms into a wolf right before their eyes. He escapes and joins the attack on the house.

All the way through you can see in Cunningham’s performance that he holds a boiling fury for Cooper and being disrespected by Sarge’s team does not sit well with him. He is used to men following his orders without question and he is tough enough to take down even someone like Cooper. He is not a pushover by any means but a warrior to be feared. With no conscience is Ryan is a scary enough thing in a person but when that is brought over to a werewolf that makes it a powerful animal and foe indeed. You can see in his very eyes the wolf part grow in him and you can be sure that since he never forgets, all of the remaining members of Sarge’s team especially Cooper are on his hit list. Director Neil Marshall does a fantastic job using the lighting to emphasis the internal change while emoting dark emotion.

Cooper emerges the only survivor but survival instinct is one of Ryan’s strengths. He has managed to survive the explosion and hid in the cellar while the rest of the wolves died. The cellar contains the bodies of his squad. Cooper knows straight away that it is Cooper from the wood sticking from his chest and they fight. But rather than just tear him apart with his teeth, Ryan fights like a human punching Cooper. He also shows his sadistic side when he tries to impale Cooper through the mouth with the end of the wood in his chest. When Sam the dog attacks Ryan, Cooper manages to kill him with a silver letter opener and a gun this time but even in wolf form it is clear Ryan’s grudge with him is still brewing.

What does that say about the strength of Ryan’s personality that he can retain his human skills while in wolf form? Imagine that kind of persona on the side of the good guys.

How Trek Tackled Mental Illness in Star Trek Enterprise’s Twilight S03E08

By Owen Quinn author

Star Trek Enterprise goes 40 First Dates as Captain Archer suffers a debilitating mental condition in which he wakes every day with no memory since her was hit by an anomaly while saving T’Pol. T’pol tells him what has happened in the twelve years since the accident every day without fail. But the Xindi are still a threat, having virtually wiped out humanity. Will Doctor Phlox’s cure work in time to save what is left of humanity or is this the day humans are exterminated completely from the universe?

All photos copyright Paramount Pictures

I am rather partial to alternate timelines and ‘what if’ scenarios in sci-fi. It has been done many times in Star Trek history but Star Trek Enterprise did it best in the third season episode Twilight. It skillfully explores the impact of a rehabilitating mental illness on a person and those surrounding him.

The third season of Enterprise dealt with the mission to the Expanse from which a species called the Xindi have launched a devastating attack on Earth killing millions including Trip Tucker’s sister (Connor Trinneer). Scott Bakula’s Captain Archer must lead a desperate mission to an unexplored area of space filled with strange anomalies and distortions that can destroy ships. Their mission is to contact the Xindi, whom they discover are actually a conglomerate of different species, and negotiate a peace before the Xindi launch their superweapon to destroy the Earth completely. The initial attack was a suicide run. The Xindi are being by extradimensional beings intent on changing the Expanse into their new homeground resulting in the eradication of the unsuspecting Xindi. They have been fed a story about how humans will wipe out the Xindi which keeps them focused and unaware of the disaster the dimensional beings are planning behind the scenes.

We have already seen Earth attacked but the constant threat of the superweapon is always there in every episode so we finally get to see what would happen if the Xindi succeeded in destroying the Earth.

As the episode hook opens, Archer wakes up to the ship shaking. He stumbles on to the bridge where there is a battle taking place. T’Pol is dressed in a captain’s uniform while barking orders. But the scenario they have all feared plays out before them as the Xindi weapon fires at the Earth. It boils and breaks apart before exploding. Their mission has failed and why is T’Pol telling guards to remove Archer from the bridge? In the next scene, Archer wakes up in unfamiliar surroundings and with grey hair. He leaves his room and meets T’Pol making breakfast in a kitchen. She is not wearing her uniform and has long hair. She says that today is an important day and she has much to tell him. Over the first half of the story, she takes him through what happened to them.

Archer and T’Pol are caught in an anomaly which traps the Vulcan science officer under a door in the anomaly’s path. Refusing to leave her, Archer saves her but is hit by the force wave. When he awakes he discovers that it has been three days since he was hurt and the last thing he remembers is saving T’Pol. The anomaly has left an unknown parasite in his brain that causes him to forget everything after the anomaly in hours. Soon the mission suffers. Archer believes he is adding great ideas to the mission but he has forgotten they have all been given before.

Without Archer, the mission fails and Earth is destroyed. The Xindi flood the galaxy and exterminate nearly all of humanity. The Enterprise becomes a Battlestar Galactica of sorts as it leads a rag tag fleet of human survivors to the Ceti Alpha system where ships were deconstructed to form houses for those remaining. Less than 6,000 humans remain. Trip is now captain of the Enterprise and Malcom Reed (Dominic Keating) is about to become a captain too. He will command the Intrepid. All they can do is patrol and ensure the Xindi do not discover their location. Now they live in isolation, hunted by the Xindi whose presence is ever present.

Our greatest fear is to lose our minds to some mental illness and when we see someone as strong as Archer fall to such an illness, it is saddening to say the least. We all know someone who has dementia, Alzheimer’s or another mental illness and the effects are heartbreaking. We get top see Archer’s frustration then slow acceptance that he is no longer fit to command. The sad thing is this is a daily thing for him as every day for him is a new one where he is learning all of this for the first time. This also means that when he learns of the Earth’s destruction and how many people are left, the pain is as intense as the first day he learned of it. All he can really do on a day to day basis is walk his dog Porthos and tell the school children about his past adventures. In Archer’s words, all he can do is stay out of the way of the Xindi mission. Illness robs you of dignity at the best of times and routine keeps us going so when this is taken away then it has a severe detrimental effect. Archer was tasked to stop the Xindi threat and this has brought him down from a beacon of hope to a nuisance. How many times do we see that in life? Were someone that was once active and full of life is reduced to an armchair now reliant on others, both medical and loved ones for daily help.

And on the flipside, we look at the impact of caring for someone with a mental illness actually has on someone’s life. T’Pol gives up everything to be Archer’s carer. She even refuses an offer from Ambassador Soval to return to Vulcan and bring Archer with her so the experts on Vulcan can help him. She owes him her life as it could so easily have been her in Archer’s position. She has a care of duty for him that goes way beyond her sphere of command. Soval and Phlox both acknowledge her feelings for Archer which clouds her logic. But since she became part of the crew, she has learned how wrong her superiors were about the capability of humanity.

Imagine the great patience she must possess to endure this pain. While it is bad for Archer, it is equally hard on her. Being the bearer of bad news is a difficult position to be in so imagine being that for twelve years. She must be the one that tells Archer every day of the disaster and watch helplessly as he is plagued with pain and guilt over the failure of their mission. Remember there was no hope or inkling of a cure or treatment for Archer’s parasites so this would be a lifetime commitment. Or perhaps the word vocation would fit better. There are millions of people in the position of unpaid carers all across the world who must struggle with this every day. It is stressful and frustrating at times with only the death of the afflicted person their way out. So it is nice to see this acknowledged in a sci-fi show of all things.

The two handed scenes focus the attention on Archer and T’Pol almost like a stage play. In many ways, the relationship between carers and those with the illness is a two handed scenario which unfortunately does not have the trappings of sci-fi to make it alive and interesting. You hope each and every day that some cure will be found. People spent so much time searching the internet for a possible cure, some test trial or the discovery that some animal holds the key to cure Alzheimer’s. And all the while, all we can really do is stand and watch those we love fade away to a mere shadow of those former selves and shed silent tears at your own helplessness and the failings of the medical world. When a parent no longer recognises their own child, it can destroy you. But when they, for a god given instant, do recognise you, it is equally heartbreaking and joyous at the same time.

In all the doom and gloom, there is always the hope for a cure and Twilight certainly brings it. In an alternate timeline, you can do anything you want including kill everybody. Dr Phlox has finally found a cure to destroy the parasites but it requires the energy produced by the warp engines. The crew are reunited and T’Pol discovers that the first set of parasites Phlox has nuetralised have disappeared from all the scans ever taken, including the very first one twelve years ago. It seems the parasites exist in both spatial and temporal bodies of existence. So what happens to them now, will happen in the past. It means that this history will never happen and they still have a chance to save Earth.

For one last time, Archer is the man he was. The Xindi locate the colony and board Enterprise. The bridge explodes killing everyone there. As Archer overloads the ship to self destruct, the resulting explosion will vaporise him and the parasites just as Phlox’s colleagues suggested. Phlox is killed leaving just T’Pol and Archer to destroy the Enterprise. It goes out in a blaze of glory resulting in history being restored.

In their final moments, it comes down to the afflicted and his carer to save the day. Twilight does a great job on exploring, actually exploring the impact of mental illness for both the patient and their carers. It delivers a great story packed with emotion and action that is relatable to the viewer as well as rewatchable. It also touched on themes of surviving disaster and how the individual copes with it as well as mass genocide form a foe that will not listen to reason.

This is a great episode you should really catch.