Series 2 Episode 4/5: Rise of the Cybermen/ Age of steel

In the follow-up to last week's return of the Cybermen, the Doctor and friends combat the bio-mechanical agents created by John Lumic's diabolical mind in an action-packed adventure. Lumic's goal is to convert the entire population of London into Cybermen, in an effort to provide immortality to all humans. By activating a set of instructions sent through the EarPods, Lumic is able to take control of everyone in the city and have them walk like drones to the conversion centers for "upgrading".
One of the highlights in this episode is how Mickey gets the spotlight and the chance to save the day. As in previous episodes, The Doctor didn't include Mickey in his plans to stop the Cybermen. Unlike other times though, Mickey stands up for himself and offers to help. He tags along with Jake to take out the transmitter in Lumic's Zeppelin. The series writers have invested a considerable amount of time in developing all of the supporting characters, and Mickey's heroic moment and surprising decision to stay behind in the parallel universe was a culmination of careful exposition over many episodes.
Mickey's parallel universe counterpart, Ricky, perishes at the metallic hands of the Cybermen, so Mickey felt obliged to take his place. After so many episodes of undying loyalty to Rose, Mickey finally steps up and finds a purpose.
The Cybermen storyline, while exciting to watch, turned out to be a bit of a letdown. This was very much a "by the book" approach on how to do an action-heavy episode. Rose had the chance to share several close moments with her alternate universe father, when the duo attempted to rescue Jackie before she gets converted. Unfortunately, they are unable to save her, who at the end distances himself from her, proving the Doctor's point that this Jack is not her father.
When the Doctor and the upgraded Lumic finally meet they spend a little too long debating the merits of humanity and emotions. The problem with this longish scene is that we've seen this debate on human emotions a countless number of times in other sci-fi shows. There's nothing new here, but what is interesting is how the Doctor tells Mickey through the camera to find out the emotion override code that can be used to destroy the Cybermen. The Cybermen self destruct, somehow causing the control center to start blowing up to.

Overall this was certainly a great popcorn episode, with some very impressive action. Somehow, it doesn't quite deliver as well as it could have. There are far too many scenes that are too reminiscent of ideas we've seen in other sci-fi films and television shows. Definitely entertaining, and it's worth watching this episode just to see Mickey finally take center stage, but it felt a little too familiar.
 
Rating: 7/10