Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Isaac wrote:

  It's a great episode, it just happens to be a great episode with fairy tale science (and a complicated abortion subtext).

I've read this elsewhere, and it frankly seems silly to me. If it were meant to be subtext for abortion, that implies that Peter Harness is a patronizing asshole and strongly anti-choice. But the space-dragon moon egg is not even remotely analogous to pregnancy, so the fact that it's a bunch of women who (are being forced to) make the choice is irrelevant. This is a straight up trolley problem thought experiment, a "needs of the many vs. the needs of a few... or the one" question that had nothing to do with abortion.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Cotterpin Doozer wrote:

If it were meant to be subtext for abortion, that implies that Peter Harness is a patronizing asshole and strongly anti-choice.

I have no idea about his stance on abortion, but I'd say that a large volume of the writing that has gone into Dr. Who since the start of Smith's run has certainly made me think many of those penning it are patronizing assholes...at least in regards to how they treat the viewers.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

"Mummy On The Orient Express"

Written by Jamie Mathieson, previously known for work on "Becoming Human" and "Being Human". As well as writing an upcoming episode titled "Flatline".

Holy shit, can we have more of this guy?

Maybe the bar is so low from last week but I really liked this episode. A lot.

The cinematography was back on form, the practical effects and costuming was lovely. I feel like this is our "bottle episode" for this season. We essentially only saw three or four sets/rooms and yet and a minimal use of CGI, and minimal use of Clara ("Welp, we are trapped in this room in the dark for most of this episode!"). Very much a Doctor heavy story.

I found the episode to be very engaging and intriguing, I liked that they referenced that this premise was mentioned in an earlier series and tied it in nicely.

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Such a shame that Frank Skinner  (the engineer character. He's a comedian in the UK) was in for just the one episode. I liked that he was offered a companion role, that could of been an interesting dynamic. Two old men in a TARDIS.

Thing that bugged me the most was Clara again.  I've never been a fan of the "character" (Aka walking plot device for season 7) and was glad that she left the tardis... Only to go actually, one last hurrah! Then at the very end of the episode, go "NAH. HAD A WOBBLE LAST WEEK. I'M GONNA STAY. That'll get the  whoufallidi tumblrites going mad for a bit! I'll leave at christmas instead!"

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I think Clara looked pretty darn cute in tonight's episode. Just sayin'.

I don't hate Clara, in fact, I actually like her this series. Didn't, so much, in the last one. I don't blame her for reacting the way she has been lately, this Doctor is a bit of a bastard. I love him. Also, Capaldi sneaked a wee Tom Baker impression in during an early scene of The Doctor talking to himself. Despite my non-hating of Clara, I am glad this episode was more Doctor/Capaldi heavy.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

A'ight, peeps, convince me I should watch this episode.

Sébastien Fraud
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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I actually enjoyed this one. The opening scenes between The Doctor and Clara gave me whiplash after last week, but I appreciated their dynamic this time around. Interesting set-up, decent enough mystery, good production value. And while I would by no means call this episode scientifically watertight, it didn't spit in my face and take my lunch money like Kill the Moon. Not a classic but a solid story. Best of series 8 so far, I think.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

C-Spin wrote:

I actually enjoyed this one. The opening scenes between The Doctor and Clara gave me whiplash after last week, but I appreciated their dynamic this time around. Interesting set-up, decent enough mystery, good production value. And while I would by no means call this episode scientifically watertight, it didn't spit in my face and take my lunch money like Kill the Moon. Not a classic but a solid story. Best of series 8 so far, I think.

Agreed.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Saniss wrote:

A'ight, peeps, convince me I should watch this episode.

I don't know. If you've really hit a wall with Doctor Who, you might want to give it a bit of a break. Otherwise, you might end up hate-watching the show, which is never a good thing.

But overall, I agree with everyone else: this was a pretty good episode. Although I do wish they would stop teasing us with characters who I think would make much more interesting Companions than Clara.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Jimmy B wrote:

I think Clara looked pretty darn cute in tonight's episode. Just sayin'.

I don't hate Clara, in fact, I actually like her this series. Didn't, so much, in the last one. I don't blame her for reacting the way she has been lately, this Doctor is a bit of a bastard. I love him. Also, Capaldi sneaked a wee Tom Baker impression in during an early scene of The Doctor talking to himself. Despite my non-hating of Clara, I am glad this episode was more Doctor/Capaldi heavy.

impression? That was spot on, mate. They might as well have had Baker there on set, delivering the lines.

And also, Jelly Babies.


I liked the episode. As per usual, the resolution is a bit poor, but overall a really good episode. Also, was fun that they did indeed mention that the 11th Doctor did get that phone call about the Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express. In space. So it's nice that they at least remember smile

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Best episode of the season so far.

I'm super tired so I'm not going to go into detailed reasons why, but I will say that the episode was entertaining and densely packed. I felt like I saw a lot of great material and thought the time had flown by because it was so fun...then realized it was only half-way through the episode. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire 2nd half, too.

Just a super fun episode without the nonsense that's been so frustrating lately.

Oh, also...

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There's a moment when the Doctor is saying that he saved everyone on the train, and he makes a joke that goes something like this: "No, just teleported you and everyone else died."

Based on the Doctor we've seen so far this season, am I the only one that heard that joke and wondered if there wasn't a small chance that it was actually true? As if mentioning it as a joke was just to help make himself feel like he wasn't lying to Clara, but in a way that she wouldn't know he let everyone but her die (he wants her to think he's a good man).

I mean, we have zero evidence that he actually saved everyone other than his word...

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

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I personally definitely thought he was lying to her about saving everybody until we saw the engineer in the TARDIS. Then I figured he WAS just joking about everybody dying, because it seems more likely that he saved everybody than that he saved only Clara... and also the engineer for some reason.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

C-Spin wrote:

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I personally definitely thought he was lying to her about saving everybody until we saw the engineer in the TARDIS. Then I figured he WAS just joking about everybody dying, because it seems more likely that he saved everybody than that he saved only Clara... and also the engineer for some reason.


My thoughts... Show
I think they were being deliberately ambiguous. The Doctor didn't have a lot of time to pull of this rather miraculous rescue. Clearly, if anyone could have done it, it would be the Doctor. But if time was against him and he only had time to save a few people before the train blew up, it would definitely be Clara... and also Perkins, the engineer, with whom the Doctor spent most of his time and whom he also liked well enough to extend an invitation to travel aboard the TARDIS.

So, it's possible that the Doctor really did save everyone and was just joking. And it's possible that the Doctor has decided to put the stabilizers back on, avoid the unpleasant truth, and travel with Clara under the guise of this happy fiction. I like not knowing which one it is.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I quite enjoyed the Flatline epsiode, especially since we got a whoopin' at the end we havn't really seen since the earlier seasons of Smith.....

/Z

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I just realized I have absolutely zero desire to catch-up/watch this season anymore. Not in the like, angry, fuck it sort of way, I just have absolutely no desire, it has fallen off the plate of things I care about.

Wow... this season has actually managed to legitimately kill Doctor Who for me. That's...kinda impressive really.

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

One of my roommates is feeling the same way. I was starting to, but I thought the past two episodes were pretty great. If the rest of series 8 can maintain that level of quality it will be salvaged for me.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

So this episode was set in Bristol yet the Tardis crossed over to some bizarre other world where *everyone* has an over the top stereotype accent and the city doesn't have a reputation for supporting graffiti artists.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

BigDamnArtist wrote:

I just realized I have absolutely zero desire to catch-up/watch this season anymore. Not in the like, angry, fuck it sort of way, I just have absolutely no desire, it has fallen off the plate of things I care about.

Wow... this season has actually managed to legitimately kill Doctor Who for me. That's...kinda impressive really.

That's a curious thing. Disinterest outweighs crapfest, I guess?

That said...it's also a shame, because the last 2 episodes (Orient Express & Flatline) have actually felt very much like a more traditional Dr. Who experience, and have been very entertaining. I'm really liking Jamie Mathieson with the pen in his hand and I'm really hoping he gets to put some heavy influence on the show.

Actually, I just looked and I'm really wanting to see more team-ups of Douglas Mackinnon (Director) & Jamie Mathieson (Writer). Mackinnon has directed Listen, Time Heist, and Flatline. Despite the serious plot issues I have with Listen and some minor gripes with Time Heist, they both seemed well put together. Jamie Mathieson wrote Orient & Flatline, what I consider to be the strongest 2 episodes of the season so far. The show creators have a nice pairing with those two...I hope they utilize it.

So far, we're 9 episodes in (that went by FAST) and all in all I'm not super upset. It's been a little rocky, true. The carry over of Clara, thus some of the nonsense from Smith's run, made it a tougher transition than I feel it needed to be. More recently they seem to actually have developed a legitimate arc between the Doctor and his companion without shoving it in our faces as the entire crux of the show. I'm worried because Moffat is penning 2 of the final 3 episodes of this series, and he simply doesn't understand the word "restraint". I'm hoping he sees what's been working and builds on that...rather than his propensity to spend the entire hour trying to prove how fucking clever he can be.*

Right now I'm about evenly split between "enjoyable", "ok but with some frustrating bits", and "ugh, eye roll" for the season on the whole.

*sidenote: The more I think about it, the more I seem to notice that while the Doctor was always clever, since Moffat really took the reigns of the show, more and more it was about the Doctor proving how clever he was to everyone. I get the feeling that might be bleed through from Moffat's writing personality, since we've seen the same sort of thing in his work on other shows as well.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I quite enjoyed it. All the puns hit perfectly, the gags were genuinely funny, and the vfx were top notch. The story wasn't all bad either smile

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

BigDamnArtist wrote:

I just realized I have absolutely zero desire to catch-up/watch this season anymore. Not in the like, angry, fuck it sort of way, I just have absolutely no desire, it has fallen off the plate of things I care about.

Wow... this season has actually managed to legitimately kill Doctor Who for me. That's...kinda impressive really.

I felt the same way last series, it's just that Capaldi has earned enough goodwill with me that I'll watch him in anything.

I've also walked away from the final season of Boardwalk Empire and resisted the temptation to see whether or not Homeland is still as awful as it used to be. Between those two and the fact that The Good Wife is killing it, I've got enough patience for series 8 of Doctor Who.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Whilst I did enjoy the Flatline it did feel like a retread of things we've seen before right down to the Doctor telling Clara "oh yeah at this part of the story you need to stand out as the leader" and ending it by questioning if the right people lived.

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Ew. Series 8 is ridiculously schizophrenic. That episode was almost as bad as Kill the Moon. Almost.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I didn't find it craptastic, but it sure as hell wasn't a story worth telling. Which is sad, as I had high hopes after the trailer. Oh well, not the first time, certainly not the last.

Looking forward to the finale, though.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I liked the last few episodes but this week was shite. Boring and yet another 'threat that's not really a threat' that we've seen too many times. Also I found the suggestion that you should not give someone with mental health issues medication, quite insulting.

Last edited by Jimmy B (2014-10-26 21:40:02)

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Well...yeah that was bad.

More so it was just bland, filled with the (still) pathetic "romance" of Clara/Danny, and sort of pointless. It reminded me of Super 8, actually, in that the characters in the story really didn't have ANY impact at all on the actual plot. They were there and we followed them during the event, but they really they had nothing to do with it and no effect on it...which is not good storytelling and why it left me (and others, apparently) with the thought "what was the point of the last hour?"

The science stuff continues to just flat out suck. It's just LAZY. I feel like many of these writers let all this bullshit about "good storytelling over continuity" stretch to basically anything. Ironically, they take it so far that it ends up circling back around and drastically hurting the storytelling. *facepalm*

The finale seems interesting based on the teaser, but the fact that Moffat wrote it makes me think it will end up being terrible, because he's terrible a vast majority of the time at this point.

However! This seems like the goodbye of Clara, however they end up handling it. So at least series 9 will likely start with a fresh arc for Capaldi. I knew from the beginning that holding on to Clara meant that we would probably drag down this season for a number of reasons...but Capaldi seems quite adept and a new arc from scratch (which is what I wanted since Smith retired) could be what is needed to refocus...and FFS I hope they figure out that totally nonsensical absurd bullshit science is not an acceptable means to an end.

Jimmy B wrote:

Also I found the suggestion that you should give someone with mental health issues medication, quite insulting.

Uh, I mean...I don't think they handled the idea that the girl was traumatized all that well, but I'm not sure how the idea of the girl receiving medication for a trauma in of by itself is offensive. Medication for mental illness, both short and long term, is a totally legitimate option if the situation calls for it.

Last edited by BBQ (2014-10-26 21:35:29)

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

BBQ wrote:
Jimmy B wrote:

Also I found the suggestion that you should give someone with mental health issues medication, quite insulting.

Uh, I mean...I don't think they handled the idea that the girl was traumatized all that well, but I'm not sure how the idea of the girl receiving medication for a trauma in of by itself is offensive. Medication for mental illness, both short and long term, is a totally legitimate option if the situation calls for it.

I meant 'should not give', I wasn't paying attention and missed a word. hmm

As someone who is currently seeking treatment for mental health problems, I took offence to The Doctor saying the kid doesn't need her medication, they should just listen to her. I understand what they were going for but I don't think it's a great message to give kids about mental health issues because, as you said, medication is a totally legitimate option if the situation calls for it.

Last edited by Jimmy B (2014-10-26 21:58:12)

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