[Librarian]

Amazing episode! Can't wait to see how this "5 year plan" goes. So far it seems like a really deep and thoughtful approach went into everything.

As for side media nods: We had Zabee cast on armor helmet designs on one alien, which was more poignant in how he kept taking the mask off. Including his meteor like pod(the meteor of the worms in Kabuto), which gives us the cable creature which was essentially made of worms and how it was sent ahead of time. Also some interesting "Darkness Falls" nods with a tooth collecting alien, which is also nodded by the cable creature in it's darkness movements. Which also gives us some Predator nods about trophy hunting, and the mask removal too.

Loved the building her sonic screw driver montage, was very Build with Sento, but also very the Doctor being the Doctor and had some Tony Stark Ironman elements including his classic second season 90s intro with the hammer. Also some spoon elements nodding a host of things, and Matrix nods there too with how there became no spoon. Construction site final battle with a 'leap of faith' element and two cranes attempting to meet in the middle but still having a gap to jump across. Also the "every human is important" element in the self-help tapes, with also some inverted aspects in how he's not the best of humanity with his petty revenge moment. Mork and Mindy style clothing at the end. With a rainbow emblem on the shirt like X-23's rainbow shirt in Logan.

Also got a shade bit of Spider-man in there with Grace acting a lot like an Aunt May type character with an added uncle Ben twist type element. Which tbh, also seems like a callback to Clara and how she ignored what the doctor said, but did so to help save people, and put her life on the line for others. Little more tragic though because, unlike Clara, she did so without any thought of the Doctor saving her. Making her more heroic really and also setting a tone of this Doctor will have casualties, and also expressing the lengths a parent figure will go to protect others. The overall ending also shows directly how the Doctor literally pulls others into adventures too, sometimes by accident. Also seemed to be some nods to Lost, Insterstellar 5555, and some other random nods. Loved that train in blackness near opening shot too. Also the bike riding thing, that was a bit pointed for a metaphor about life, but noted. xD

And that's only a quick overview, I'm sure I missed some other deeper nods in there too. This episode was really jam packed with nods from all over and callbacks to previous episodes.

Overall, really enjoyed it and loved all the references throughout too. How they made every reference feel seamless and part of the story without being a hammy forced easter egg but was still there was top notch. And the new sonic is tops. Best one yet. Looking forward to more episodes. Looks like next week is going to tackle a little bit of Enemy Mine, some indie scifi, and some tattooine star wars stuff.

Also digging the "Twice Upon a Time" reference in the title to how Once Upon a Time first started on Sundays, and this is now the new Sunday family adventure drama.