part 3

As far as serialized episodes go, this one’s been pretty action-y. Maybe because the plot is relatively straightforward, so there’s not so much expositing going on as in the other episodes. In any case, Curly’s been dragged down the pipe by the tentacle (and well done by him, there’s an art to making a rubber tentacle look like it’s convincingly strangling you) and other three guys rush in and start panicking. There’s smoke or methane or something pouring out of the broken pipe. Frank and Radar are all for abandoning the refinery and to hell with the rest, but Newbie’s not having any of it. He’s in charge here and Kroll’s become his own personal Moby Dick.

In the swamp, the prisoners are being tied up against a big sort of wooden pallet. Four is fascinated by the architecture of the place they’re in, and the chief’s lieutenant tells them that, although he asked for mercy on their behalf, they’re going to be executed by the slowest means possible. Romana thanks him for trying and tells Four to shut up about the Gothic Perpendicular already. Four’s intrigued by the circular window above them, however. The Swampies explain that the sun comes in the window and dries out the vines that are tied around their wrists and ankles. The creepers shorten up as they dry out and the prisoners are stretched like men on a rack “until our spines snap! I see!” says the Doctor cheerfully. Romana wants to know if he’ll die happy now he’s found that out. The chief comes in and stands before the prisoners, and begins the ceremony. He asks if they have anything to say before they’re killed.
“Oh, why don’t you just let the whole thing drop,” gripes Four, “You’ve made your point.” He’s shocked that the guards are leaving them. “Aren’t you going to stay and watch?” It’s on the evil overlord rules list!

As the chief is leaving, Four yells after him, and asks what the secret to Kroll’s power was. The chief signals the remaining guard to leave and gives Four a weird look. He wants to know how the Doctor knows so much about Kroll, and Four says he read it somewhere. Four’s making crazy eyes at him. The chief says that Kroll ate the great symbol of power, a holy relic that allowed the holder to see the future. The relic warned them about the DM people, and they fled to this moon to get away. He wants to know why Doctor cares, since he’s about to die.
“Oh, I just like to get things straightened out.”
“Your mind is bent, dryfoot. It is well you should die.” The chief leaves, and Four’s annoyed because he was trying to hypnotize the chief into untying them (hence the crazy look) but it didn’t work. Dutt reveals, after some questioning, that he was hired by the DM to start a fight here and make it look like the Swampies’ fault. He says he even got them to sign a receipt he could use as proof against them. Romana and Four want to know about the Sons of Earth organization. Okay, so this is the exposition episode, evidently. Dutt says they’re a group who thinks colonizing other planets is wrong, and he was using them as the scapegoats.

Back at the refinery, the company guys are still trying to make a plan to kill Kroll. They suggest and reject several ideas I won’t bother going into, and Radar is perplexed because now, on top of everything, a huge storm is blowing up. Thunder and lightning start crashing outside.

The prisoners are yelping and gasping as they get stretched out on the platform. Well, all except Four, who is all excited to watch the thunderstorm. If Romana weren’t tied up I think she’d punch him in the face. Wait, if the sun’s gone behind the clouds, won’t they stop getting stretched?

The Swampie lieutenant, the one who tried to have Four and Romana spared, is trying to convince the chief that this war is a bad idea. The chief says Kroll is on their side, and the lieutenant wonders if that’s true. He points out that Kroll killed Mensch, but the chief says that was because Mensch was going against their ways. He’s not having any of it and stomps off. It’s pouring rain now.

Rain and lightning are pounding the refinery, which doesn’t seem sturdy enough to stand up to this. It’s rocking a little on its stilts from the wind, and the guys inside are getting a little panicky.

The prisoners are struggling and making – I hate to say it but it’s true – all kinds of weird sex faces. There’s water pouring in from the seam around the window, and the Doctor gets an idea. He makes his mouth into a weird O and makes a weird humming noise. Romana and Dutt forget to struggle for a bit and stare at him in horror. He changes pitch, and the glass in the window shatters. So add that to the list of reasons the Doctor should be gagged at all times while in custody. Rain is now coming in like a faucet, and the Doctor orders them to start stretching the creepers out while they’re wet. They yank on their bonds and manage to start untying themselves. Once they’re all free, Romana says in exasperation that, the entire time she was tied up her nose itched, but now it’s stopped. Four is sort of fed up with her. He staggers in the general direction of the door. Everybody scarpers.

The storm’s letting up a bit and the scanners in the refinery are working again. They realize that Kroll is on the move. Also, Frank calls it Jemima, so I have no idea what that’s about.

A couple of Swampies come into the torture chamber and realize the prisoners are gone. They don’t notice the broken window. One of the guards says Kroll must’ve come and ate them, but the chief is getting more and more paranoid by the second. He says someone must’ve helped them and gives his lieutenant the stinkeye. Outside, the storm’s cleared, and the prisoners are trying to get through the swamp without drowning in quicksand. They’re picking their way along carefully – the Doctor is testing all the ground ahead himself while Romana holds his scarf and hat – but the Swampies are gaining on them.

The DM guys have lost track of Kroll, but Frank says it was heading in the direction of the Swampie village. Newbie thinks this is awesome, since it’ll take care of at least one or the other of their problems. He laughs nastily.
“You know,” says Frank cautiously, “I can’t say I really like the Swampies … but I certainly don’t hate them.”
“Oh I don’t hate them,” his boss replies, “I just want them removed. Permanently.” Exterminated.
He says it’s not personal, but that this is his project, and those “primitive savages” are in the way.

In the swamp, the Doctor and company are making progress, but he stops them when he hears a slithering noise. He tells Romana not to move an inch. Dutt breaks and runs, and a tentacle swooshes up out of the mud and drags him off.
“Well,” mutters Four, “I told him not to move.” Once you look past the jelly babies and the scarf and the general silliness, Four is actually kind of an asshole. He shrugs and heads off again. They find the kayak he paddled there in and hop in. They don’t get very far, however, before they find themselves stuck between Kroll and the bunch of Swampies with spears. Four once again tells Romana to hold still while the giant squid-thing goes after the Swampies and eats a bunch of them.