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shadowkatSaw both last week's and this week's Doctor Who episodes tonight, Witchfinders and Where it Takes You Away.
The season to date has admittedly been a bit uneven in the writing, but I think that's true of all the seasons I've seen, and pretty much all television series I've seen. I remember in the commentary to Farscape that the writers stated regardless of how many episodes you do, the nature of television is such that you will inevitably write a couple of stinkers, a couple of brilliant episodes, and a couple of in-between ones...it's the law of averages and really not a lot you can do about it.
Possibly true, but you'd think if a season only had six episodes...it would be tighter? Of course it's probably written very quickly on a low budget, so.
Anyhow...after reading all that preamble you're probably scratching your noggin and thinking, wait, what? You didn't like them?? Really?
Uhm. No. I actually did. I liked them a lot. I think the last two episodes are the best of the season so far. Well, with the exception of The Demons of Punjab and the second episode of season, which I think were a notch or two better than Witchfinder.
Both continue to push the thematic arc of kindness and mercy over violence, or resolving conflict through merciful means and negotiation with a bit of stumbling about here and there.
1. Witchfinder
I thought it was bit heavy handed in the metaphor -- but this is a kid's show. I liked the previous episodes a little better in regards to their metaphors, more subtle. I really don't need the writers to say "see, metaphor" and "it's about hate, and fear, and violence" - "got it?"
Yeah, sort of got it from the set-up. I mean hello, Witch Trials. A bit obvious. But wait, Alan Cummings is the guest star????? ALAN CUMMINGS??? All is forgiven. (I'd watch Alan Cummings read the bloody phone book.)
It was actually funny in places because of Alan Cummings.
Alan Cummings plays King James. The Witch Trials are in England, which is a nice change of pace. Bloody tired of Salem Trials. The Borax -- an alien species imprisoned on earth via a tree --has been let loose by a stupid woman who attempted to cut down the tree because it was blocking her view. They infect her, and afraid, she attempts to hide it and get rid of them, by doing witch trials and killing half the women in the village. The Doctor arrives and...breaks her solemn vow of not interfering...(again)...and tries to save one of the women being drowned.
I loved the companions response: "Wait, what about not interferring??"
Apparently the Doctor decided this was different?
Turns out she was right, although too late.
Unlike the Demons of Punjab, the bad guys are the aliens. Interesting in each episode the species being scapegoated isn't the problem, it's the one doing the scapegoating. In the last episode -- we thought the robots were the bad guys, but it was actually the cute young Janitor that Graham had befriended. And in the episode I skipped (because you know, giant realistic looking spiders), people thought the spiders were the bad guys, but it was actually the evil American developer who was polluting the environment in such a way that the spiders had mutated. And in the Demons of Punjab, we think the demons are the aliens, but it is actually the brother and his friends who hate Muslims.
Also in each -- the people are plagued by fear of the unknown which fuels their hatred. And a desire to resolve the problem with violence.
Witchfinder was a bit more complicated -- because they sort of had to resolve it with violence -- but they didn't kill the Borax, so much as just re-imprison them. There's a huge message against "killing things" or "violence" this season. All through this episode the Doctor cautions and chastens King James and Beca (the head of town) about killing everyone who scares them and scapegoating. Ironically both the King and Beca have either been scapegoated themselves or fear it.
As an aside, is Ryan gay? I'm beginning to think he might be. He didn't seem to be that upset with King James' flirtation. Or put off by it. That would be interesting. That way, none of the lead characters would be thrust into a romantic relationship.
The Borax were a bit campy, as was the resolution -- which I found hilarious -- mainly due to Alan Cummings facial expressions.
2. Where it Takes You
First of all -- I want to go wherever they filmed this. It's beautiful. Or get a life-size picture of the Tardis on that forest hill top.
I enjoyed this episode, it was scary, it had well developed guest-stars, and it surprised me. Also while keeping with the general theme of resolving conflicts by not giving into violence, it was less preachy about it. And examined the other underlying theme of how to move on after losing someone or handling "grief" -- which has been featured in every episode that I've seen to date in some way or other.
Will have to agree with the majority of reviews that I've read -- it is by far the best episode of this season. I'd rank it first, with Demons of Punjab second, Woman who Fell to Earth Third, the second episode fourth, and Witchfinder Fifth. (I can't comment on the spider episode, because I didn't see it.)
The story about traps. The father traps his daughter in the house because he's afraid of her wandering off and getting hurt. He's equally afraid of having to raise her alone and be responsible for her. He traps her in the house by recording Mousse noises and putting them around the house, timed to blare at certain times. As a result, she's terrified. And the house is boarded up.
She believes her father was taken away. Ryan wonders aloud if he just left. Turns out a bit of both.
He went through a portal and stumbled into a pocket universe where his wife was alive and he had the same beautiful house, without anything being boarded up. His grief for his wife and desire to be with her keeps him there. But she's not really his wife.
The Doctor, Graham and Yaz travel through the passageway and run into a scavanger who tries to steal the Doctor's sonic screwdriver only to be devoured by flesh eating mouths (clever monster). Turns out he's not the real threat, the moths are. The monsters are seemingly harmless things this season -- the flesh eating moths, the bubble wrap from two episodes ago, the cute tiny little monster with big teeth on the ship (in the third episode), I'd say the spiders but I don't see them as seemingly harmless...but I'm guessing the writer's mileage varies on that point.
When they get to the other dimension...the pocket universe is in reality a consciousness. (By no means a new idea in science fiction. Star Trek has done this a few times. So has Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. It's rather popular.) The consciousness is lonely -- aren't they always. And a solitrack - which is a consciousness that is incompatible with our own universe -- it's chaotic energy and disrupts the order of things.
What I liked about it was it's favorite form is a "Talking Frog". Interestingly enough the two people it chose to bring back from the dead where Grace and Eric's wife. I understood why it brought back Eric's wife, but why pick Grace? Why not someone from Yaz or the Doctor's pasts? OR did it think Yaz and the Doctor would see through it?
The writer's did it to bring closure to Grace/Graham and Ryan, Grace and Graham. To sort of finally let go of Grace. But I still don't understand why the consciousness picked one and no one elses?
Was it because Grace was the most recent and most present in everyone's heads?
The Doctor then finds a way to convince it to let everyone go. And for everyone, specifically Eric and Graham to let go of it. It's lonely and wants company, but it's pocket universe which has been separated from the rest of the universe is not capable of holding anyone else in it for very long and it can't go to the other universe.
The Doctor does it with mercy and kindness, no force or violence. And makes friends with the consciousness.
Doctor: Can I see your true form, if we're to be friends.
Conscious shimmers and becomes a frog.
Doctor: Uhm okay, wasn't expecting that. You're true form is a talking frog?
Consciousness: It's the form I'm most comfortable in.
I found it to be a bit more philosophical than the others, and clever. Also the acting from the guest stars was top-notch.
The season to date has admittedly been a bit uneven in the writing, but I think that's true of all the seasons I've seen, and pretty much all television series I've seen. I remember in the commentary to Farscape that the writers stated regardless of how many episodes you do, the nature of television is such that you will inevitably write a couple of stinkers, a couple of brilliant episodes, and a couple of in-between ones...it's the law of averages and really not a lot you can do about it.
Possibly true, but you'd think if a season only had six episodes...it would be tighter? Of course it's probably written very quickly on a low budget, so.
Anyhow...after reading all that preamble you're probably scratching your noggin and thinking, wait, what? You didn't like them?? Really?
Uhm. No. I actually did. I liked them a lot. I think the last two episodes are the best of the season so far. Well, with the exception of The Demons of Punjab and the second episode of season, which I think were a notch or two better than Witchfinder.
Both continue to push the thematic arc of kindness and mercy over violence, or resolving conflict through merciful means and negotiation with a bit of stumbling about here and there.
1. Witchfinder
I thought it was bit heavy handed in the metaphor -- but this is a kid's show. I liked the previous episodes a little better in regards to their metaphors, more subtle. I really don't need the writers to say "see, metaphor" and "it's about hate, and fear, and violence" - "got it?"
Yeah, sort of got it from the set-up. I mean hello, Witch Trials. A bit obvious. But wait, Alan Cummings is the guest star????? ALAN CUMMINGS??? All is forgiven. (I'd watch Alan Cummings read the bloody phone book.)
It was actually funny in places because of Alan Cummings.
Alan Cummings plays King James. The Witch Trials are in England, which is a nice change of pace. Bloody tired of Salem Trials. The Borax -- an alien species imprisoned on earth via a tree --has been let loose by a stupid woman who attempted to cut down the tree because it was blocking her view. They infect her, and afraid, she attempts to hide it and get rid of them, by doing witch trials and killing half the women in the village. The Doctor arrives and...breaks her solemn vow of not interfering...(again)...and tries to save one of the women being drowned.
I loved the companions response: "Wait, what about not interferring??"
Apparently the Doctor decided this was different?
Turns out she was right, although too late.
Unlike the Demons of Punjab, the bad guys are the aliens. Interesting in each episode the species being scapegoated isn't the problem, it's the one doing the scapegoating. In the last episode -- we thought the robots were the bad guys, but it was actually the cute young Janitor that Graham had befriended. And in the episode I skipped (because you know, giant realistic looking spiders), people thought the spiders were the bad guys, but it was actually the evil American developer who was polluting the environment in such a way that the spiders had mutated. And in the Demons of Punjab, we think the demons are the aliens, but it is actually the brother and his friends who hate Muslims.
Also in each -- the people are plagued by fear of the unknown which fuels their hatred. And a desire to resolve the problem with violence.
Witchfinder was a bit more complicated -- because they sort of had to resolve it with violence -- but they didn't kill the Borax, so much as just re-imprison them. There's a huge message against "killing things" or "violence" this season. All through this episode the Doctor cautions and chastens King James and Beca (the head of town) about killing everyone who scares them and scapegoating. Ironically both the King and Beca have either been scapegoated themselves or fear it.
As an aside, is Ryan gay? I'm beginning to think he might be. He didn't seem to be that upset with King James' flirtation. Or put off by it. That would be interesting. That way, none of the lead characters would be thrust into a romantic relationship.
The Borax were a bit campy, as was the resolution -- which I found hilarious -- mainly due to Alan Cummings facial expressions.
2. Where it Takes You
First of all -- I want to go wherever they filmed this. It's beautiful. Or get a life-size picture of the Tardis on that forest hill top.
I enjoyed this episode, it was scary, it had well developed guest-stars, and it surprised me. Also while keeping with the general theme of resolving conflicts by not giving into violence, it was less preachy about it. And examined the other underlying theme of how to move on after losing someone or handling "grief" -- which has been featured in every episode that I've seen to date in some way or other.
Will have to agree with the majority of reviews that I've read -- it is by far the best episode of this season. I'd rank it first, with Demons of Punjab second, Woman who Fell to Earth Third, the second episode fourth, and Witchfinder Fifth. (I can't comment on the spider episode, because I didn't see it.)
The story about traps. The father traps his daughter in the house because he's afraid of her wandering off and getting hurt. He's equally afraid of having to raise her alone and be responsible for her. He traps her in the house by recording Mousse noises and putting them around the house, timed to blare at certain times. As a result, she's terrified. And the house is boarded up.
She believes her father was taken away. Ryan wonders aloud if he just left. Turns out a bit of both.
He went through a portal and stumbled into a pocket universe where his wife was alive and he had the same beautiful house, without anything being boarded up. His grief for his wife and desire to be with her keeps him there. But she's not really his wife.
The Doctor, Graham and Yaz travel through the passageway and run into a scavanger who tries to steal the Doctor's sonic screwdriver only to be devoured by flesh eating mouths (clever monster). Turns out he's not the real threat, the moths are. The monsters are seemingly harmless things this season -- the flesh eating moths, the bubble wrap from two episodes ago, the cute tiny little monster with big teeth on the ship (in the third episode), I'd say the spiders but I don't see them as seemingly harmless...but I'm guessing the writer's mileage varies on that point.
When they get to the other dimension...the pocket universe is in reality a consciousness. (By no means a new idea in science fiction. Star Trek has done this a few times. So has Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. It's rather popular.) The consciousness is lonely -- aren't they always. And a solitrack - which is a consciousness that is incompatible with our own universe -- it's chaotic energy and disrupts the order of things.
What I liked about it was it's favorite form is a "Talking Frog". Interestingly enough the two people it chose to bring back from the dead where Grace and Eric's wife. I understood why it brought back Eric's wife, but why pick Grace? Why not someone from Yaz or the Doctor's pasts? OR did it think Yaz and the Doctor would see through it?
The writer's did it to bring closure to Grace/Graham and Ryan, Grace and Graham. To sort of finally let go of Grace. But I still don't understand why the consciousness picked one and no one elses?
Was it because Grace was the most recent and most present in everyone's heads?
The Doctor then finds a way to convince it to let everyone go. And for everyone, specifically Eric and Graham to let go of it. It's lonely and wants company, but it's pocket universe which has been separated from the rest of the universe is not capable of holding anyone else in it for very long and it can't go to the other universe.
The Doctor does it with mercy and kindness, no force or violence. And makes friends with the consciousness.
Doctor: Can I see your true form, if we're to be friends.
Conscious shimmers and becomes a frog.
Doctor: Uhm okay, wasn't expecting that. You're true form is a talking frog?
Consciousness: It's the form I'm most comfortable in.
I found it to be a bit more philosophical than the others, and clever. Also the acting from the guest stars was top-notch.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-04 10:01 pm (UTC)Possibly true, but you'd think if a season only had six episodes...it would be tighter
I definitely think so, I apply that argument more to the old network format of 22 episodes or more, but when a season has ten episodes or less then I think viewers have the right to expect every episode to be strong. I’m assuming they get much more time for filming the episodes than the ten days turnaround for shows that run year-round?
You'd think so...but not so much
Date: 2018-12-05 01:45 am (UTC)Yeah, you'd think so, right?
But, apparently not. I recently watched a documentary on HBO or Hulu, can't remember which, about show-running television series. And they interviewed show-runners of Netflix series which ran between 10-13 episodes, HBO, and network series. Also watched something on Youtube.
And what I discovered? They work just as hard for the shorter seasons, have less time, are more rushed, and paid less. LOL!
Television writing is impossible. I'm amazed they can produce a half-way decent episode. The difference between cable/netflix and broadcast is the network tends to be more hands off and often doesn't interfere. The BBC interferes -- I know that for a fact, because I've watched a couple of documentaries and read interviews on the process -- and they fiddle. The writers, for example, wanted to make the Doctor a woman a long long long time ago, the BBC nixed it.
Here's a LINK to the making of a television show that is just 10-13 episodes long.
They are given 8 days to shoot it. And even less time to write it. After you watch this...you may never think of the television the same way again. LOL!