auntiemeesh (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
auntiemeesh) wrote2015-12-20 05:57 pm
auntiemeesh) wrote2015-12-20 05:57 pm
(no subject)
Screw the long list of things to do that I posted yesterday. I've decided that today is Get Caught Up on Doctor Who day. I missed the final four episodes and I'd like to see them before watching the Christmas Special.
So. Spoilers left, right and center, as I'm sure you could guess.
Well. This episode was just strange. I feel like there was hidden subtext of 'well, we don't really know if they're actually all awake or maybe having a scripted adventure inside the Morpheus pods', just based on the Doctor's repeated assertions that things don't make any sense (seriously, this episode made no sense so at least they acknowledged that) and then the strange ending that just sort of cut off without any actual proper climax or finish. Did the message get sent out to the universe, causing the Sandmen to be created all over the place or did Rassmussen disintegrate before he could push the send button?
Probably my least favorite episode of the 12th Doctor era.
Clara's been chasing death ever since Danny Pink died and it looks like she found it. Good for her.
In some ways, this was a good old-fashioned Doctor Who episode with monsters and running and mysterious things happening. I had no idea who Rigsy was - clearly he made a huge impression on me in Flatline. Even so, he seems an odd character to use as the bait for the trap. Still, looking back, there's not a ton of other people floating around out there that would know about Clara's association with the Doctor. They tend to keep to themselves and have their adventures without a lot of interaction with Clara's 'real life' friends. If she even has any. Mainly, this episode felt like it served the purpose of letting Clara fulfill her death wish, while also putting the Doctor into an untenable position where he's stranded somewhere without his TARDIS or a companion, at someone else's mercy.
I wasn't a huge fan of Clara and I wasn't terribly broken up by her death scene. It was very pat, and gave her exactly what she wanted. Which, of course, brings me back to my original theory that they're all still on the space station orbiting Neptune, trapped in Morpheus pods. That's probably a delusional theory of mine, but everything still feels a little off about the end of that episode.
Next up: Interesting. I thought when he first came out of the teleportor that he might be in Gallifrey, so when he finally did end up there it wasn't too surprising. Kind of heartbreaking that he spends billions of years trying to break through that wall, dying over and over, filling the water with countless copies of his own skull. Never giving up because the Clara in his head won't let him. Poor Doctor.
I don't even know what to say. Clara is the something that keeps on giving. I knew it was too much to hope for, that they would just let her die off and be done. And now she's got Ashildr and a TARDIS of her own and she's going back to Gallifrey the 'long way.' Not sure what I think about that.
In general, this whole arc felt a little over the top, to me. They've done this a couple of times now, taken the Doctor to the very limits of himself in some way and then tried to bring it back down to the level of ordinary adventures again. It's a bit old now, and speaks of tired storytelling. Again, to me. Maybe I'm wrong but that's how it feels.
I'm not giving up on the show or anything, but I do feel a bit disappointed in Moffat and Gatiss that they feel the need to do this sort of storytelling.
On the other hand, there were a few things I liked about the episode, like getting a little glimpse into the life of the Doctor when he was young, before he stole a TARDIS and ran away. Those are always special moments.
So. Spoilers left, right and center, as I'm sure you could guess.
Well. This episode was just strange. I feel like there was hidden subtext of 'well, we don't really know if they're actually all awake or maybe having a scripted adventure inside the Morpheus pods', just based on the Doctor's repeated assertions that things don't make any sense (seriously, this episode made no sense so at least they acknowledged that) and then the strange ending that just sort of cut off without any actual proper climax or finish. Did the message get sent out to the universe, causing the Sandmen to be created all over the place or did Rassmussen disintegrate before he could push the send button?
Probably my least favorite episode of the 12th Doctor era.
Clara's been chasing death ever since Danny Pink died and it looks like she found it. Good for her.
In some ways, this was a good old-fashioned Doctor Who episode with monsters and running and mysterious things happening. I had no idea who Rigsy was - clearly he made a huge impression on me in Flatline. Even so, he seems an odd character to use as the bait for the trap. Still, looking back, there's not a ton of other people floating around out there that would know about Clara's association with the Doctor. They tend to keep to themselves and have their adventures without a lot of interaction with Clara's 'real life' friends. If she even has any. Mainly, this episode felt like it served the purpose of letting Clara fulfill her death wish, while also putting the Doctor into an untenable position where he's stranded somewhere without his TARDIS or a companion, at someone else's mercy.
I wasn't a huge fan of Clara and I wasn't terribly broken up by her death scene. It was very pat, and gave her exactly what she wanted. Which, of course, brings me back to my original theory that they're all still on the space station orbiting Neptune, trapped in Morpheus pods. That's probably a delusional theory of mine, but everything still feels a little off about the end of that episode.
Next up: Interesting. I thought when he first came out of the teleportor that he might be in Gallifrey, so when he finally did end up there it wasn't too surprising. Kind of heartbreaking that he spends billions of years trying to break through that wall, dying over and over, filling the water with countless copies of his own skull. Never giving up because the Clara in his head won't let him. Poor Doctor.
I don't even know what to say. Clara is the something that keeps on giving. I knew it was too much to hope for, that they would just let her die off and be done. And now she's got Ashildr and a TARDIS of her own and she's going back to Gallifrey the 'long way.' Not sure what I think about that.
In general, this whole arc felt a little over the top, to me. They've done this a couple of times now, taken the Doctor to the very limits of himself in some way and then tried to bring it back down to the level of ordinary adventures again. It's a bit old now, and speaks of tired storytelling. Again, to me. Maybe I'm wrong but that's how it feels.
I'm not giving up on the show or anything, but I do feel a bit disappointed in Moffat and Gatiss that they feel the need to do this sort of storytelling.
On the other hand, there were a few things I liked about the episode, like getting a little glimpse into the life of the Doctor when he was young, before he stole a TARDIS and ran away. Those are always special moments.