s01 e07 The Sensorites

In which some aliens telepathically menace some humans on a spaceship, only then it turns out the humans have been huge dicks all along.

Review:
Exactly like this, but without any special effects.


Important Firsts:

• First display of Time Lord telepathy (by Susan, no less)
• First discussion of Gallifrey (though not by name)
• First use of "brainy specs"

Musings:

• The episode begins with a series recap of sorts as as the Doctor and his crew reminisce about their adventures so far and how they have changed as individuals and as a crew. 
• The Doctor notes: "It all started out as a mild curiosity in the junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a great spirit of adventure!" which sums up the whole series nicely
•  You can see that the Doctor is actually starting to like adventuring for the sake of adventuring, rather than just for the sake of escaping the stuffiness of Time Lord society.
• A Sensorite cuts the lock off of the TARDIS, which then prevents the crew from getting back in.  A strange sort of lock indeed.
• 10 minutes in and no one is separated yet.  A new record?
• We're in the 28th century, evidently. 
• Maybe Ian and Barbara finally bone in this episode?
• Edit: nope.
• The Doctor does some vague pelvic thrusting.  Not sure why.
• The Doctor puts on some spectacles in order to do smart things such as pilot the space ship.  The Fifth and Tenth Doctor also had this habit, though in the First Doctor's case it probably had more to do with being blind than trying to look smart.
• 12 minutes and he crew is still all together.
• The Sensorites have heads that look kind of like testicles.
• A lot of weird mind control in this episode.  
• 16 minutes, NOBDY separated yet. 
• One of the spaceship's crew has seen better days.
• Fortunately, they help him out by using some sort of OH MY GOD!
• Ian has a sighting that reminds me a lot of that movie about the gremlin on the airplane wing.
• On a related note, Susan runs off screaming and somebody finally gets separated at 19:23.
• "Where does the power come from" asks Ian.  "Electromagnetics!" answers a crewman.
• Susan is able to detect the Sensorites telepathically.  This is the first display of Time Lord telepathy.
• Then again, it's unclear if this is a universal Gallifreyen trait or restricted to Time Lords.  I still have a lot of trouble imagining Susan passing her Time Lord SATs or whatever.
• Susan and Barbara work together to nuke the Sensorites with a telepathic mind-bomb.
• It turns out that the Sensorites are actually timid creatures who fear the human spacemen and are trying to use telepathy to defend themselves.  This is actually a pretty cool twist.
• BRAINY SPEC ATTACK
• The Tenth Doctor references the Sensorites in the episode "Planet of the Ood" 46 years later. Apparently they come from a planet very near the Ood, and they are closely related species.
• The Doctor's disdain for weapons first comes out here, when he has to opportunity to use a ray gun but refuses.
• The Sensorites have a remarkably complex culture.  It's cool what the show could do with a 2 or 3 hour runtime instead of 45 minutes. 
• There's kind of an "Avatar" theme running here, where the Sensorites are being menaced by greedy humans...
• ...except instead of "Unobtainium", the element of conflict is "Molybdenum," which is the stupidest sci-fi bullshit if I've ever heard.
• Oh wait.
• The Sensorites wear some really stupid jumpsuits. Check out those feet.
• Susan disobeys the Doctor for the first time, and the Doctor FREAKS OUT.
• This precipitates a pretty good argument between them. 
• "In all the years my granddaughter and I have been traveling, we've never had a an argument.  And now, you've caused one!" says the Doctor to the Sensorites.
• "It's not the Sensorites," says Barbara, "she's just growing up."
• And, indeed, loathe as I am to admit it, Susan is remarkably competent in this episode.  She understands subtleties of the Sensorite culture that even the Doctor misses. 
• The jumpsuits may be dumb, but their masks and makeup are remarkably convincing.
• "These 'humans' are so hideous" says one Sensorite.  
• "But consider," says another, "to them, WE may look hideous." no shit, testicle head.
• One of the humans asks Susan about where she comes from:
• "It's been ages since we've seen our planet.  It's quite like Earth...but at night the sky is a burnt orange, and the leaves on the trees are bright silver."
• Gallifrey is next described 45 years later in the episode "Gridlock", when the Tenth Doctor also mentions the "burnt orange sky" and "silver leaves"
• At the end of them episode, watching the Sesnorites fly off, Ian makes a snarky comment about how at least the Sensorites know where they're going.
• This causes the Doctor, who is still a little ticked off from his earlier argument with Susan, to FREAK OUT and announce that he is dropping Ian's ungrateful ass off at the next destination, no matter where it is. CLIFFHANGER!!!!!