The Witch of the Waterfall

"Your heat is irresistible."

Writer: Pete McTighe

Format: TV

Broadcast: 14 December 2025

Series: The War Between the Land and the Sea 1.04

Featuring: Kate, Barclay

Synopsis

Barclay and Salt go on the run in a war-torn London as UNIT reels from disaster. But when Tide threatens the land and Gunsberg advances his plans, the Severance schemes demand blood.

Verdict

The Witch of the Waterfall was another pretty average episode to continue The War Between the Land and the Sea. Unfortunately I found this episode pretty bland again and whilst there was some good stuff to still get a semi-solid rating from myself, I'm finding myself not in agreement with a lot of where the story is going. I think the overall series has moved both too fast and too slow with very important elements. The conflict between humanity and Homo Aqua seems to have ventured into a war without much actually happening other than the raining of rubbish. Sure, there was a lot of potential for injury and death there and I would expect the latter to have happened when we had the likes of the Titanic coming down from the sky, but no figures were mentioned despite all of these numerous news reports and social media posts. I like that element in the episodes because it feels like the series is brought into the modern world, but I'm not sure the right messages are being conveyed to the viewer. It hasn't felt like there's anything more than tension with the numerous diplomatic meetings that have occurred. Of course, the last one didn't go down very well thanks to Ted causing the explosion that wiped out a lot of Homo Aqua and felt like the first real act of war. The aftermath of that with Salt saving Barclay was intense but the other element that I think has then gone way too fast is the development of their relationship. I'm still waiting for the why on her being so invested in this human. I knew it was going to happen from the promotional pictures before the series aired but it doesn't feel natural. I think she's an intriguing character but the fact she's trying to win over Barclay almost makes her feel less than to me when it comes to her representing the Sea Devils. The direction of the episode also doesn't feel much at all like the classic monsters and I can see a lot of backlash coming from longtime fans and the direction of the species. I thought Tide screamed much more authority but that may have something to do with him coming after the attack on his kind. I liked how he challenged humanity on their actions and labelled them stupid because now there wasn't much room for cooperation. The threat of cleaning up the oceans and their act within five years was very much a demand with no room for negotiation, and his final command of changing the name of the planet Earth because it was too dry was incredible! Talk about audacious. I liked that a lot though and it does give me some hope for an improved finale. I found Barclay's phone call to Barbara whilst he was on the run a literal repeat of The Sound of Drums with Francine letting Mr Saxon's people know where Martha was in the same way Barbara was doing here in ensuring that Salt was with him. The best element of the episode for me was the emotional draining for Kate. She's really going through it having just lost Ibrahim and now she was filling in as Ambassador whilst the businessmen and governments of the world are out to remove UNIT from any kind of position of authority. I am interested to see how this series ends as there's only one option really and that's with Homo Aqua being completely removed, but I don't see that being on peace terms putting humanity first! I suspected it will be another hibernation and this time forced, but Salt will sacrifice herself I think. Maybe even her and Barclay together as a showcase of the two species being united. But until next week, some good elements but a lot to improve as well. Less talk of taste please. 

Rating: 6/10