World of Who: The Zygon Invasion and the Zygon Inversion

I'm not going to lie, I was a bit underwhelmed with the The Girl Who Died and THE Woman Who Lived. As interesting as the stories were, the first episode was much stronger and the second was more Masie WIlliams showing her acting chops. Not to say the story was bad but it really felt like the low point of the season which is saying a lot, maybe that was the point, having the weaker story to help simmer the audience for ZYGONS! Invasion of the Zygons is possibly the highest point of the current season, brilliantly written and executed of both season 9 and 8. After the events of Day of the Doctor where the War, 10th, and 11th Doctors stop a Zygon invasion and get them into peace talks with UNIT, ceasefire is reached and Zygons live on Earth in disguise. But the Ceasfire has been broken and the Doctor and UNIT must work to stop a war before it begins. But who can be trusted when the enemy can be anyone?

As a whole, this story is just brilliant, though I find the first episode to be the stronger of the two, primarily because of the mysteries going on. Osgood and her Zygon counterpart play a big role and it is the death of one of them that really gets the plot going because they are the symbol of the peace between Humans and Zygons. There is not only a sense of urgency and danger but it is present and treated well. The Zygons as a whole are not attacking, just a splinter group which plans to force an end to the Ceasefire by forcing Zygons to transform back into their regular selves causing a panic and the violence will lend credence to their cause and rally other Zygons. At the same time Kate and the Zygon Bonnie are looking for the Osgood Box, an item that can stop the war or end the ceasefire. It's an interesting sub story as the Doctor and Osgood try to find a way to negotiate/stop the splinter group.

If there is a weak point to the story it is the second episode and again it is primarily because of how strong the first episode ended. This a problem two part episodes have, the end of the of the first episode is in it's own way the climax and everything afterwards plays off that. There are a lot of good things that really could have used more work to make better. The back and forth with Clara and Bonnie (who has taken Clara's form and is communicating with her mentally) wasn't given the work I felt it needed. If Bonnie has access to Clara's memories then she would know what Clara cares about. It could have helped the two of them see each others point of views and motivations. The Doctor and Osgood have some intersting moments that really made people want her to be the next companion after CJenna Colemans' departure which is scheduled for this season. The real great moment is when the Doctor talks to Kate and Bonnie who each stand before Osgood Boxes which looks similar to the Moment, a box that the Doctor had planned to use to end the Time War. His speech at this scene is what makes the episode, the story, and the Doctor stand out and cement itself within the shows history. The Doctor wants to make sure that no one has to make the same decision he had too and like his three predecessors, is still haunted by the Time War.

Ultimately the Zygon Invasion/Inversion is a brilliant episode; boasting both good writing and acting from everyone. If you have one story to watch this season this should be it.