Doctor The B on call
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Labels: cats, geeky, sci-fi, the b, tv
Doctor Who: Can't see the plot for all the trees
We just finished watching
the latest Who episode.
SPOILERS
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What an utter mess of a "plot"! Nothing was coherent. NOTHING!
We saw how difficult it was for them all to get out of the museum, so how did Maebh get out? And why didn't any of them notice that she was missing? Especially after the point was made, repeatedly, about how Danny is super-concerned for and focused on the kids?
And okay, so the glowy bits weren't responsible for telling Maebh to see the Doctor. What was then?
Wolves do not chase down people. Nor do they do so while growling ominously. Wild wolves run
away from people, and captive ones used to people -- like these were -- would at most, hesitatingly come towards people in the hopes of being given food. Can we please stop with the frickin' stupid and harmful misrepresentations of wolves in media already?
"I've just scared away a tiger
with a flashlight! And he's only had time to walk a few feet away, but let's all stand around and
talk really loudly like he's completely vanished!"
Everyone will "just forget" the global forest? Really? Even with all the news media reports and video footage that have been recorded from around the world? Really?
Okay, so the
trees popped up out of nowhere to save the planet. How do you explain the ferns and flowers and all the
other plants, then?
What the heck was up with Maebh's sister magically re-appearing at the end? You don't just drop that in at the last minute with no explanation. And in that scene, it looked like a palm tree behind her. (This was after the forest went bye-bye.) Do they even have those in London?
The relationship between Clara and Danny: We just don't feel that there's really much of a relationship there, as depicted. No real chemistry. And we also don't like how their relationship and character development is taking
away from the Doctor.
With the other more recent companions, this wasn't the case -- the companions and their lives were developed with the Doctor as a real presence. Here, it's Clara, Clara, Clara, Clara and Danny, oh, hey, the Doctor, more Clara, and some Clara and the Doctor.
Building to the finale: They aren't. Sure, they're dropping Missy in at the end of most every episode, but she's not
impacting them in any way. Unless they tie things together in the Super Big Ending that they're hinting at, this is more annoying than anything. And it's not even an interesting dropping-in, because the Doctor doesn't even know of her. (That we've been shown.)
It'd also be more interesting if they at least had Missy turn out to be the Rani. I'd love for them to bring back the Rani -- and you'd think given her history in the Whoverse and her fan base, they'd have figured out a way to do so by now. But I can't really imagine them giving her the name "Missy" only to later have her turn out to be the Rani.
The one redeeming thing about this episode was Capaldi's performance. It would be nice if they actually gave him scripts worthy of his abilities.
Labels: doctor who, geeky, sci-fi, tv
Doctor Who's "Flatline": Meatless as well as Boneless
Watched the latest Who episode, "Flatline", earlier today, and while we think it's one of the more solid post-2005 episodes and harks back to earlier, better storytelling, Husband Mike pointed out that it was still unfortunately rather superficial in ...
SPOILERS!
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... its treatment of the Boneless.
As he pointed out, the episode was patterned on A) brief discussion/pondering of the Boneless, B) RUNNING!, A) superficial discussion with bickering between the Doctor and Clara, B) MOAR RUNNING!, A) bickering, B)
::LE RUN RUN:: ... and so on. Pre-2005 Who would've taken the time to more densely explore the whole concept of those aliens and their existence. It would've been more on the
science fiction end of things; it would've had more
meat to it.
I did love how Clara shifted into behaving and interacting with the Doctor more like
Romana (the First) did -- that was fun. And I'm still very much liking the way that Capaldi's handling his characterization of Thirteen. Okay, fine, Twelve. I keep wanting to bump it because of the War Doctor. :-P
What we didn't love was the missed opportunity to have this episode explore how Clara could better understand the Doctor's point of view. You've got her running around "being" the Doctor, in a sense, and so you'd think that'd lead to some insight and further discussion with the Doctor at the end. Especially when she makes a point of saying how she doesn't wanna lose anyone, and yet, 3 of the guys who are with her do, in fact, bite it.
So, you'd think that at the end of the episode, she'd show some upset over not keeping them alive like she explicitly said she wanted to do. But nope! No reaction from her
at all over their death. Really? No remorse? No sadness? No, "I couldn't save them -- how do you deal with it, Doctor?" ?
That would've been the perfect opportunity for her to talk with the Doctor about what it's like to be in that position -- of trying to save people, and knowing you can't save them all. He could've even referenced the previous Mummy-on-the-train episode, saying something about how of course he cared about everyone, but that he couldn't let those feelings overwhelm him while in the thick of things, otherwise, he'd shut down and be unable to save the ones he could.
The post-2005 series just continues to fritter away so many missed opportunities for greatness. :-(
Labels: doctor who, geeky, sci-fi, tv
Still like the Twelfth Doctor, but ...
Watched the second Who episode with Capaldi as Twelve earlier tonight. I definitely like his take, but Husband Mike finds him boring. :-(
Gotta say, we were both underwhelmed by this and the previous episodes' overall plots. Neither really brought anything new to the franchise, especially not "Into the Dalek". (Pretty much a retread of Nine's "Dalek". Yawn.)
I'm still hopeful that they'll manage to start cranking out some good scripts, but ... well, they honestly haven't in years, so I don't see why we'd suddenly start seeing good stuff. No, having some funny zingers and EMOTIONALISM!™ do
not make good plots or a series.
Ever since Ten's run began -- Nine's was overall a good one -- they've been coasting on decades of fandom for continued viewership, instead of working on
good, solid scripts.
Fat, lazy writing abounds and has for far too long.
Labels: doctor who, geeky, sci-fi, tv
Thumbs-up for the Twelfth Doctor's debut
Thanks to a pal's reminder about using TunnelBear with which to watch the new Doctor Who episodes online, I was happily able to watch Twelve's debut episode today.
... As you can see, I had some company, since K-9 wanted to introduce Mushie* to The Wonderful World Of Who. :-D
My non-spoilery thoughts:
1) THANK. GOD. the whole pretty boy/boyfriend era has been put to rest, for -- I hope -- a long, looooong time. Ten and Eleven were okay, but I was seriously getting nauseated from the continual fawning and swooning from newcomer fans because of their youth and looks.
2) Capaldi is off to a great start with his interpretation. My fave lineup is still Four, Nine, Three, but he could very well follow right after Three if this keeps up.
3) Finally, we get a regeneration that's back to being more in continuity with the pre-2005 episodes. And speaking of ...
4) Loved the pre-2005 nods sprinkled in the episode. LOL'd at the scarf mention and the throwaway line about there "being more round things on the walls" of the TARDIS at the end.
5) The annoying inclusion of Vastra and Jenny -- no, I do not like those characters and I never have -- was the only downside to things. At least their crapulence was mitigated somewhat by the hilarity that is Strax.
= = = = =
* My lil' teeny husky dog toy. Younger Nephew gave him to me years ago, and since then, Mushie has served as our unofficial vacation/trip/out-and-about guide.
Labels: doctor who, geeky, k-9, mushie, sci-fi, tv
Cmdr. Quinteros and Fr. Corapi: Twins separated at birth?
Earlier tonight, Husband Mike and I watched a rerun of the
Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "
11001001". When one of the guest characters, Commander Orfil Quinteros, strode onscreen, my first thought was, "OMG, it's Commander Father Corapi!"
Judge for yourself:
Labels: priests, random, silly, tv
Oh, my stars!
Aaaaiiieee! The waitin' is driving me
nuts!Babylon 5: The Lost Tales
Release Date: 31 July 2007
"Times change. Dangers remain. 10 years after he became President of the Interstellar Alliance, Sheridan prepares for a fateful Babylon 5 reunion that could prevent Earth's impending doom ... if he will also compromise his core principles."
Ah, I remember eagerly awaitin' each new episode when the series was still in production ... and unsuccessfully trying not to bawl at the moving finale. What impressed me the most about the whole deal was that, unlike the
Trek franchise (which I also enjoy), Straczynski -- a self-professed atheist -- actually included religion (!) in his vision of the future.
The episode that grabbed my attention and made me realize that this wasn't your typical Trek-wannabe was "
Believers", in which an alien couple refuses to allow lifesaving surgery for their dying son, due to their religious beliefs. The ending, which packed quite a wallop, was
not a Trek-style, Everything's-All-Nice-And-Tidy one, and took me completely by surprise.
My favorite episode, however, was "
Passing Through Gethsemane", because it featured a (human) religious order whose charism was to seek out and learn all the different names that all races have for God. Mercy, forgiveness, redemption ... that story had it all.
Anyhoo, 60 days and counting ...
Labels: sci-fi, tv
