The War Between The Land And The Sea feels almost like a well-curated fever dream. The show began on a strong note and even excited us with its well-designed fish people and good plot idea—very typical of Doctor Who. But the Sea Devils’ design isn’t enough to keep us locked in to this show that completely loses the plot by the end. No, quite literally, we lose Barclay, but not in the way that you think. I’ll explain later. The show’s ending is striking in that it doesn’t employ some massive war, as the title would suggest, but is lackluster because it shows a montage of things without really explaining anything that’s happened. Sure, we know who won and who lost, but what about “Accord”? What does it mean? Why is the ending so rushed, and what’s happened to Kate after all of this? Well, I guess I’ll try to explain as best as I can.
Spoiler Alert
What Is “Severance”?
There isn’t one big villain in the show, and while that’s okay in some instances, this particular show doesn’t seem to have enough of an impact through its antagonists. Sure, all of humanity is evil, except for a select few like Barclay and Kate, but instead of giving us one or at least two real villains whose motivations are well-defined like they have a real mission, we get a few random characters who barely have any dialogue (especially in the last episode), are hardly in the show, and don’t seem to grab any attention amidst all of the Barclay and Salt drama. This is why we almost forgot about “Severance” despite it coming up multiple times in the UNIT database. Even Kate didn’t make much of it until it was too late.
Turns out, “Severance” was a virus designed by humans (obviously) that attacked the homo aquatic creatures in such a way that the scales they are meant to shed didn’t shed and overgrew to the point that they blocked their gills, drowning them in their own home. Hmm, I wonder what that sounds like? Overnight, the oceans of the world are filled with the bodies of the fish people floating motionless. It’s certainly quite a shocking view, and unbelievably sad, and all Kate can think is “Oh, Severance.” Honestly, we have to do better at “UNIT,” man.
In The War Between The Land And The Sea’s ending, Kate mentions the Doctor, who once told her that he only saves the human race; he doesn’t shape it. Hence, a doctor, eh? I suppose this is the only dialogue in the whole show that’s worth thinking about. It genuinely feels impactful after everything that’s gone down with “Severance.” Humankind has always behaved like a conqueror, with other species or our own. Ultimately, despite Kate’s fighting spirit, she’s left defeated because she never believed humanity would go to the extent it did to get rid of the species that belonged to Earth long before we did. Wow, how profound.
What Is “Accord”?
The one confusing thing about episode 5 is that Salt tells Barclay that the signal he needs to send into the ocean is the word “Accord.” She doesn’t give him any context, nor the meaning of this word, and yet UNIT is immediately ready to follow the instruction. I know Barclay is blinded by love, but somehow the rest of the gang is also ready to risk their lives and put their jobs on the line just because one lady named Salt told them to. Guess that’s the duality of our kind. Anyway, we don’t get an explanation for this word. Not even when Barclay returns to his role as ambassador soon after the virus outbreak. I mean, who else would be ready to stand up against the creatures we’ve destroyed? But also, he’s got a personal agenda—Salt! And yes, she’s alive. But now what?
Salt’s message to humankind is that despite their massive effort in trying to get to the bottom of the ocean, i.e., steal Aqua technology, they’ve now lost it forever because it’s buried somewhere deep in the ocean, a place we can’t even reach. While Salt says they’ve lost the war and humanity has won, there’s a profound sadness all around, because the people who really feel like they won are such a select few, you could count them on your hands. Barclay then reads out from the prompter that humanity is going to “allow” the sea devils to live in the deepest part of the oceans, a small area in the Pacific that will be protected and bordered, because that’s all we know how to do: draw borders. Salt says they will do everything that humans tell them to do, because they’ve lost. But water will find those who ruined it all, and it sure does. Because one guy gets murdered in the shower, by the shower (water) and the French lady drowns inside of her car, even though it’s on land. Also, she doesn’t hesitate to point out that the ocean will just be a hunting ground for people and that we will always do wrong by other species. She then leaves Barclay with no word, just a look.
But in The War Between The Land And The Sea’s ending, Kate gets a mysterious call from Barclay’s doctor that leaves her stunned. We see the word “Accord” flash on the screen and a bunch of x-rays of his brain, but we still can’t figure out what’s going on. As Barclay nearly gets mobbed by a bunch of humans, Kate comes to the rescue in her car, and it doesn’t take much for them to get out of there. She drives him off to the ocean, and finally, for the second time, Barclay calls for Salt, and she actually responds. But the shocking twist here is that Barclay has turned into a homoamphibian himself, and his gills pop out when he kisses Salt. That’s why the ocean was calling him this whole time. This is what “Accord” meant. Is it because gills are accordion-like? Bad joke? Okay.
What’s Happened To Kate?
On the other hand, Kate watches as the two swim around in the ocean, and she can’t see anything. When she’s heading out, she sees a man toss his bottle onto the sand like they didn’t just have a war with the ocean. She tells him to pick it up, and as men do, he refuses to do it. But instead of doing it herself or asking him nicely, Kate pulls his gun on him and starts yelling multiple times until the credits start rolling, and we’re left hanging. Kate’s an important character in the Whoniverse, and after her handsome hunk of a boyfriend died, she’s been struggling to deal with his loss, and so she’s decided to up her meds. But this is likely what’s caused her to overreact the way she did. She clearly needs help. Earlier in the episode too, not only did she blackmail her psychiatrist to increase her dosage, but she’ll also be the one coming for everyone’s neck because, even if prime ministers and presidents change, she’ll always be around and UNIT will always save the day. But will it? What if this is a new arc for Kate? Making her an anti-hero in the next installment of Doctor Who? We’ll find out when the show is back.
