Forum's been here for 16 years.

But yeah, 10 years of Goodnight, Goodnight.

It's been awhile, hasn't it?
Since last time, we've had some ups, some downs, and then some.. interesting stuff has happened.

some time ago, we learned that Russel T Davies(Born Stephen Russel Davies wtf) was coming back to Doctor Who.

I was thrilled! The man, the myth, the absolute fucking legend that somehow managed to take a cancelled show and propel it back into the minds and eyes of so many people. The man who brought Eccleston and Tennant to the proverbial big screen(depending on your TV, mind) was coming back after Chris Chibnall bowed out.
Oh, boy, what a joyous day that was. And to learn that Tennant was coming back again? Holy carp. What. a. world.

And then.

HERE BE SPOILERS ONWARDS.

In Jodie Whitaker's final episode, the Power of the Doctor, we are treated to so much fan service, it's hard to know where to begin. Do we begin with Ace? Tegan? Peter Davidson? Colin Baker? Sylvester McCoy? Paul McGann's first actual TV appearance as the 8th Doctor?
Hard to say. That was all great. I love that episode, and while Chibnall might've retconned way too much for most fans, I like Whitaker's final show.
Until.

Tennant.

Now, don't misunderstand, having Tennant come back is always a blast. He did it for the 50th, and I'm sure he will again. Hell, as I'm typing this, the current season isn't even over, so who knows.
My problem is Tennant comes back, not as the 10th doctor, but as the 14th doctor. And I don't really like that. Sure, it's greating seeing *my* doctor back for another spin, and having him helm the 60th is, of course, like a dream come true.
But it feels a lot like a cop out. Hell, it probably was. Having the "dream team" back, and even bringing back Catherine Tate seems like it would push all the buttons, and ensure the show's future.

And then it kind of didn't.
Tennants first episode; The Star Beast isn't a bad episode at all. But retconning Donna's mortality to being basically just a throwaway doesn't sit right with me.
The Wild Blue Yonder, however, was, for me, peak Doctor Who. It's "small", it's wibbly wobbly, and it's just downright a good time.

Then, for Davies' next trick: The Giggle.

A solid romp through the Doctor as a character, his past brought to life in a new and interesting way, reintroducing a villain not seen since the 60s. Solid work. A great episode indeed, all the way until the bigeneration.
A way to make sure that all doctors from now on can always join in an adventure, because they don't change anymore, they just split up into two? To quote at least three doctors: I don't like it.

Ending the 60th with a boom like that left a mark on me. Unsure if I would be able to continue watching after that.

But I did. And, eh, The Church on Ruby Road was a shitshow. A bad plot, boring characters, and for SOME FUCKING REASON; A song and dance number.
Didn't set the bar at the right height at all.
Then moving on to Space Babies and The Devil's Chord, the first of which was just a bad episode. The second wasn't bad at all, until, YOU GUESSED IT. Another song and dance number. Out of nowhere. At least the first time they did it had context to the story, and you could always argue that since TDC was all about music, it made sense, but breaking the fourth wall by saying "There's always a twist at the end", and then singing those words in a song and dance number made no fucking sense what so ever.

Next episode "Boom" put Steven Moffat back in the writers chair. It's better. It's not great, but it sure as hell is better. Much better. Then again, bar, low.
"73 Yards" felt like a filler episode, however. There's nothing wrong with it per se, it's a solid episode, but at the end of it, it felt like the episode didn't even happen, so what's the point of it, apart from having Ncuti Gatwa not appear in it because he was shooting something else?
"Dot and Bubble", the latest episode as of writing this. I don't know. It was ok. But I was bored.

So what's the deal?
The 60th set up the whole premise of 'gravity' now being pronounced 'mavity'. Then they touched upon the bigeneration, saying that literally tore the doctor in half.
Clearly they imply that something is setup, and there will be a payoff, but I'm not seeing it.

EDIT:
And don't even get me started on how this new series is just suddenly Season 1. What the hell.

In the words of Matthew mcconaughey: "Alright Alright Alright".

It's been a year and a half now. Since then, we've had a lot of stuff happen in this faraway galaxy of ours.

I wrote earlier about "the Rancor in the room" being Book of Boba Fett, but man, I can't decide if that's a valid statement after Obi-Wan Kenobi happened.

Don't get me wrong. OWK isn't a horrible series. It's just not good. It's not horrible, but it sure as hell isn't great. The performances, the music, the settings, the characters(for the most part) are all simply wonderful, and seeing Ewan back as Obi-Wan is enough to have the fanboy in me happy for the next 15 years. But it all falls flat when the plot isn't any good. Leia goes missing, and old Ben is shanghaied into getting her back.

Okay, first of all, WHAT? So many options to do, and they chose that? Obi-Wan dealing with PTSD after losing the war, his best friend, the entire Jedi order, and everything he ever believed in and fought for, whilst watching over his best friends son, and protecting him from a distance? Sure. But let's have that be a side-plot that we don't really care about while we introduce Luke's sister. Nothing wrong with that on a core layer, but to have that be the main plot was a bold choice. And a choice I don't agree with. No, I don't have to agree with anything. Star Wars isn't MY IP. And that's fine, but if you look online at the reception of this show, I guess I'm far from the only one on this side of the fence.
I also never cared much for Vader's Army TM. Also known as the Inquisitors. Yes, I understand that the saga needed more bad guys in between the trilogies than just Vader. But the inquisitors aren't a solution I can get behind. I didn't like them in Rebels, I didn't like them in Jedi: Fallen Order, and I don't like them here either. Reva, in particular, was a horribly written character, and I couldn't sympathize with her motives at all.
Of course, the duel between Vader and Kenobi was absolutely gorgeous to watch, and very, very well done. It just shouldn't have happened. I get that it was neccesary for the show to have a climax, but it shouldn't have been Vader. Fan-service aside, that is. There are ways I could see to fix the entire show, but it's too late now, and who cares. I enjoyed it just fine, but it wasn't what, or most people apparently wanted.

Then there was Andor. I have to rewatch that show, but damn, that was a good show. It was slow at times, like, very slow, but the world building they did was impressive, and just felt right. It's sort of a shame that it takes place before the mandoverse, so all the world building is contained to a single show, that probably won't have much, if any spinoffs. But it was still a great experience.

Then there's Bad Batch 2, Mando 3, Visions, and lastly; Ahsoka.

Bad Batch 2 continues being good, until the quality of the stories started dropping. I was almost backing out of watching it, because I was bored, and it felt a lot like a "freak of the week" sort of show, but then it got good again, and now I recommend it after all. The season finale was, as expected, pretty damn good, but it sucks that the middle wasn't anywhere near it. Season 3 is supposedly the last one, so if nothing else, this show shouldn't outstay its welcome.

Mandalorian season 3 is good. It may not be up there with season 1 and 2, but for the most part I loved it. It doesn't focus 100% on its old protagonist, but instead shifts towards the other Mandalorians, and Mandalore. Which I loved, as all of those characters are cool in their own right, and having more of them wasn't a bad thing. Also more towards myth and legend, some Purrgil cameos, and a plot that I was so sure I had nailed in S2 that twisted somewhere completely different. Not sure I like where they took the cloning plot, but it was still interesting. Instead of going towards "these clones are definitely Palpatine", they instead made Moff Gideon "the boss fight before the big bad that is usually harder than the big bad" sort of thing happen. Now, I'm sure they're doing their best to tie this whole clone thing to the sequels, but we'll see. All in all still a good show. Not as good as the first 2, but I believe Owen said something akin to "It may not be firing on all sylinders, but it's still better than a lot of other series that do".

Visions, is a fun romp, right? Season 1 is an anime anthology series that is just good fun altogether, and season 2 is even more than that, where it's not limited to anime. Instead, it's just animation studios from around the world playing in the SW sandbox. So good.

Lastly, and I write this before watching the final episode of it; AHSOKA.

I can really only say two words about this show before I finish it tomorrow:

HOLY CRAP.

Also, my former-girlfriend-now-fiancee is currently rewatching Clone Wars without me.

Milkshake. That'll bring those boys to your yard.