tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79740723674091545712024-03-05T19:19:26.730-08:00reTARDIS - Everything Doctor Who BlogThe space in the web that I've devoted entirely to my passion for everything Doctor Who!Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-2329247413431183432012-09-04T14:21:00.001-07:002012-09-04T14:22:54.234-07:00Doctor Who Review - Episode 7x01: Asylum of the Daleks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldMuRENuyxfPAL6JpV4LZytIvE0vuU3jKPuH3k4jFhyVVYIcvMs_NwMW0lVmQVWANmJI6HCbqeXzgSbyPel4abdKRUkBZoGxgtasD2yqP6cf1va5BORkEornQm8H1LfWiN46B_d6r8vfq/s1600/Asylum+of+the+Daleks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldMuRENuyxfPAL6JpV4LZytIvE0vuU3jKPuH3k4jFhyVVYIcvMs_NwMW0lVmQVWANmJI6HCbqeXzgSbyPel4abdKRUkBZoGxgtasD2yqP6cf1va5BORkEornQm8H1LfWiN46B_d6r8vfq/s400/Asylum+of+the+Daleks.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Dialogue Triumphs</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/rory-williams/">Rory</a>: "Where are we?<i> {he sees a Dalek fleet outside—in space} </i>So how much trouble are we in?"</div>
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "How much trouble, Mr. Pond? Out of ten? Eleven."<br />
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***</div>
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "Well come on then. You've got me. What are you waiting for? At long last! It's Christmas! Here I am!" <i>{he prepares to die}</i></div>
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<b>Dalek</b>: "Save us. You will save us."<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "I'll what?"<br />
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<b>Dalek</b>: "You will save the Daleks."<br />
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<b>Dalek Parliament</b>: "Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks!"<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "Well. This is new. "<br />
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***<br />
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<b>Dalek Prime Minister</b>: "It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred."<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "Offensive?"<br />
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<b>Dalek Prime Minister</b>: "Does it surprise you to know that Daleks have a concept of beauty?"<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "I thought you'd run out of ways to make me sick. But hello again. You think hatred is beautiful?"<br />
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<b>Prime Minister</b>: "Perhaps that is why we have never been able to kill you."<br />
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***<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "You're going to fire me at a planet? That's your plan? I get fired at a planet and expected to fix it?"<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/rory-williams/">Rory</a>: "In fairness that is slightly your M.O."<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "Don't be fair to the Daleks when they're firing me at a planet! "<br />
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***<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "Speaking of Rory, is there anything that you want to tell me?"<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/amy-pond/">Amy</a>: "Are we going to do this now?"<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "Well what happened?"<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/amy-pond/">Amy</a>: "Oh, stuff! We split up, what can you do."<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: "What can I do?"<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/amy-pond/">Amy</a>:
"Nothing. It's not one of those things you can fix like you fix your bow
tie. Don't give me those big wet eyes, Raggedy Man. It's life. Just
life, that's thing that goes on when you're not there."<br />
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***<br />
<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>:
The air all around is full of micromachines. Robots the size of
molecules. Nanogenes. Now that you're unprotected you're being
rewritten.<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/amy-pond/">Amy</a>: So what happens, I get one of those things sticking out of my head?<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: Physical changes come later. <br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/amy-pond/">Amy</a>: Well what comes first? How does it start?<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: With your mind. Your feelings, your memories, and I'm sorry but it's started already.<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/amy-pond/">Amy</a>: How do you know?<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: Because we've had this conversation four times.<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/amy-pond/">Amy</a>: Okay, scared now.<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: Hang on to scared. Scared isn't Dalek.<br />
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***<br />
<b>Oswin</b>: Do you know how you make someone into a Dalek? Subtract love, add anger. Doesn't she seem a bit too angry to you?<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/amy-pond/">Amy</a>: Well. Somebody's never been to Scotland.<br />
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***<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/rory-williams/">Rory</a>:
Amy, basic fact of our relationship is that I love you more than you
love me. Which today is good news because it might just save both of
our lives.<br />
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***<br />
<b>Oswin</b>: Why do they hate you so much? They hate you so much. Why?<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: I fought them many, many times.<br />
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<b>Oswin</b>: We have grown stronger in fear of you. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Dialogue Disasters</span><br />
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<b>Dalek</b>: Ex- ex- ex- .<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/rory-williams/">Rory</a>: Eggs? You mean those things?<br />
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<b>Dalek</b>: Ex— !<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/rory-williams/">Rory</a>: I don't... I don't know what you want. Those things? Are those things eggs?<i> {he picks one up} </i>This? You want this?<br />
<b>Dalek</b>: Ex...ter... min... ate!<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><br />
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*** <br />
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<b>Oswin</b>: Eggs... ter... min... ate. Exterminate... <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Double Entendres/Sexy Talk</span><br />
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<b>Oswin</b>: "Lovely name, Rory. First boy I ever fancied was called Rory."<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/rory-williams/">Rory</a>: "Okay."<br />
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<b>Oswin</b>: "Actually she was called Nina. I was going through a phase. Just flirting to keep you cheerful."<br />
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***<br />
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<b>Oswin</b>: Okay, you're safe for now. Pop your shirt off, quick as you like.<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/rory-williams/">Rory</a>: Why?<br />
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<b>Oswin</b>: Does there have to be a reason? <br />
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***<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: Identify me. Access your files. Who am I? Come on, who's your daddy.<br />
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***<br />
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<b>Oswin</b>: So. Doctor. I've been looking you up. You're all over the database. Why do the Daleks call you "the Predator".<br />
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***<br />
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<a href="http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/doctorwho/eleventh-doctor/">The Doctor</a>: What's wrong with four seconds? You can do loads in four seconds.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Review</span><br />
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Has it been a hot minute since I last reviewed a Doctor Who episode on here or what??? I neglected to review 2011's Christmas Special, "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe", for which I apologize. Instead of writing a full review of it, I think I'll just sum it up with a brief: "Meh."<br />
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"Asylum of the Daleks", written by showrunner Steven Moffat, sees the Doctor get forcibly enlisted by his oldest foe, the Daleks, to infiltrate the Dalek Asylum, a prison where injured or insane Daleks are sent to rust in obscurity forever. The Daleks need to destroy the planet to prevent their brethren from escaping. As extra incentive, the Daleks also kidnap Amy and Rory, who are in the middle of getting a divorce, to accompany the Doctor in this mission. As the three navigate their way through a planet-sized mausoleum full of dusty Daleks that are just as deadly and dangerous as ever, they are aided by a mysterious woman named Oswin, who has used her genius-level hacking skills to survive for an entire year on the planet after her ship crashed there. <br />
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It was good to see a Dalek-centric episode of Doctor Who after getting an entire seasonal break from them, especially after the disappointing season five episode, "Victory of the Daleks". The Daleks are great in small doses, but I appreciate Moffat's attempt to downplay them in favor of introducing new enemies into the Doctor Who mythos (such as The Silence, the Weeping Angels, etc). "Asylum of the Daleks" is an entertaining start to the seventh season, although it does regurgitate a couple of plot elements from past Doctor Who episodes, chiefly, the plot twist from "Silence in the Library", where the little girl introduced at the beginning of the episode turns out to be the main computer for the Library. Also, the idea of the Daleks forcing the Doctor to help them is nothing new, despite his astonishment at the request - the 2nd Doctor was compelled to assist the Daleks in "The Evil of the Daleks" and the 3rd Doctor had a brief alliance with the Daleks after being stranded on an alien planet with them in "Death to the Daleks". My point is, "Asylum of the Daleks" doesn't really explore anything new with the Daleks, except perhaps what happens when a human has too much willpower to be fully converted into a Dalek, and even that is all-too-briefly touched upon. I would've loved to have seen The Doctor run around with a sassy, free-spirited, flirty Dalek companion, if only for an episode. It feels like an opportunity wasted.<br />
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The subplot involving Rory and Amy's marital issues is interesting, and makes one wonder how that factors into their permanent departure from the show mid-season. The best aspect of the episode is most certainly presentation. Moffat has seemed to find a way to make Doctor Who even more cinematic than it already was, lending this episode an air that it is more a short movie than a television show. I suppose that is part of Moffat's plan imbue season seven with more self-contained stories, instead of the overly intricate arcs that tend to fizzle out by the end of the season. This is a good move, as I believe Moffat's ideas tend to work better as two-part episodes, rather than entire seasons. Since he took over the reins, it seemed like he would occasionally bite off more than he could chew story-wise, promising incredible plot twists that don't quite satisfy. Even though "Asylum of the Daleks" doesn't begin the season with quite as much gusto as "The Impossible Astronaut", it is still very fun and a sight for sore eyes for fans who have waited extra long for new Doctor Who.<br />
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Next week... Dinosaurs on a Spaceship...<br />
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Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-87592299656218899392011-11-03T13:22:00.000-07:002011-11-03T14:50:25.717-07:00Doctor Who Review - Episode 6x13: The Wedding of River Song<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_pt2_e13-07__large.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 424px; height: 238px;" src="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_pt2_e13-07__large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> 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</w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dialogue Triumphs </span></h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Winston Churchill:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Tick-tock, goes the clock, as the old song says… but they don’t, do they?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The clocks never tick!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Something has happened to time – that’s what you say, what you never stop saying.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>All of history is happening at once, but what does that mean?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What happened?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Explain to me in terms that I can understand, what happened to time?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“A woman.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">***</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Churchill:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“But what was the question?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Why did it mean your death?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Suppose there was a man who knew a secret – a terrible, dangerous secret that must never be told.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How would you erase that secret from the world, destroy it forever, before it could be spoken?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Churchill:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“If I had to, I’d destroy the man.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Then silence would fall.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>All the times I’ve heard those words, I never realized it was my silence, my death.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Doctor will fall.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">***</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Why Lake Silencio?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Why <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Utah</i>?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dorium:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“It’s a still-point in time; makes it easier to create a fixed point, and your death is a fixed point, Doctor, you can’t run away from this.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“I’ve been running all my life, why should I stop?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dorium:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Because now you know what’s at stake, why your life must end.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Not today.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dorium:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“What’s the point in delaying?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How long have you delayed already?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Been knocking about, bit of a farewell tour. Things to do, people to see, there's always more. I can invent a new color, save the dodo, join the Beatles! <i>[on the phone]</i> Hello, it's me! Get him, tell him we're going out and it's all on me, except for the money and the driving! <i>[to Dorium]</i> I've got a time machine, Dorium. It's all still going on, for me it never stops. Liz the First is still waiting in a glade to elope with me. I can help Rose Tyler with her homework. I can go on all Jack's stag parties in one night!”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dorium:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Time catches up with us all, Doctor!”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Well it has never laid a glove on me! <i>[on the phone again]</i> Hello?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nurse</span></b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">: Doctor, I'm so sorry. We didn't know how to contact you. I'm afraid <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alastair_Lethbridge-Stewart" title="w:Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart">Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart</a> passed away a few months ago. Doctor?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Doctor</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"">: <i>[shocked, stuttering]</i> Yes, yes.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nurse</span></b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">: It was very peaceful. Talked a lot about you if that's any comfort. Always made us pour an extra brandy, case you came round one of these days.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Dorium</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"">: Doctor? What's wrong?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Doctor</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"">: Nothing, I...just...<i>[hanging up the phone, sighing, and pulling out the blue envelopes from his pocket]</i>...it's time. It's time.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">***</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Why do you look older?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If time really isn’t passing, then how can you be aging?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Time is still passing for me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Every explosion has an epicenter – I’m it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I’m what’s wrong.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“What’s wrong with you?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“I’m still alive.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">***</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Madame Kovarian:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Amy, help me…”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“You took my baby from me, and hurt her, and now she’s all grown up, and she’s fighting.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I’ll never see my baby again.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Madame Kovarian:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“But you’ll still save me, because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">he </i>would, and you’d never do anything to disappoint your precious Doctor.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">to Amy</i>] “Ma’am, we have to go, now.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“The Doctor is very precious to me, you’re right, but you know what else he is, Madame Kovarian?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not here.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">***</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dorium:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“But you’re a fool, nonetheless.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s all still waiting for you – the fields of </span>Trenzalor<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">, the fall of the Eleventh, and the Question.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Good-bye, Dorium.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dorium:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“The first question, the question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The question you’ve been running from all your life!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Doctor Who?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Doctor <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Who</i>?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Doctor Who</i>?”</span></p> <h1><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dialogue Disasters </span></h1> <p class="MsoNormal">N/A</p> <h1><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Double Entendres/Sexy Talk </span></h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“River Song came twice.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">***</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">River:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Cuff him.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Ugh, why do you always have handcuffs?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">***</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Dorium</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"">: “And Doctor Song: in prison, all her days?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Doctor</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"">: Her days, yes, her nights... well... that's between her and me, eh?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Dorium</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"">: “So many secrets, Doctor. <i>[chuckling]</i> I'll help you keep them, of course.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></p> <h1><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Review</span></h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The episode begins with the Doctor stuck in a strange, alternate reality in which all of time seems to have been condensed into one day – April 22<sup>nd</sup>, 2002.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He relates to his close friend, Winston Churchill, how all of this came to pass, while they both fend off the pursuing Silence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The day that the Doctor was supposed to die at the hands of the “Impossible Astronaut” didn’t go as planned, which has screwed up time, and threatens to destroy reality if the Doctor doesn’t set things back in order by sacrificing his life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s up to the Doctor to navigate through this bizarre world and find the only person who can help him make things right – River Song.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I’m always so very apprehensive when it comes time for the season finale of Doctor Who.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The show has been known to use the finales to throw a few curveballs our way, and so far, season six has had no shortages of plot twists.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>However, this time around I wasn’t so much wondering what twists awaited me in this finale as I was concerned on what plot threads would finally be resolved.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Traditionally, a Doctor Who finale (in the new series) is usually two or three episodes long.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“The Wedding of River Song” is the first time since the series was resurrected (or regenerated) that the finale was only one episode.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was unnerving if only because I didn’t think one episode would be enough to satisfactorily wrap up a season which mostly revolved around the death of the Doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The episode manages not only to wrap that up in a way that surprised me, but it also teases us with a very interesting tidbit of what is to come next season (spoilers!).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Speaking of spoilers, if you haven’t watched the episode yet, this is the part where you skip everything I’m about to write.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Since this episode has been available for several weeks, what the hell are you waiting for?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Go watch it, then come back.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Did you watch it?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Okay then.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The reveal at the end that the Doctor faked his death by using the Tesselecta (the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Meet Dave</i> inspired shape shifting spaceship piloted by tiny people) was surprising, but not entirely unexpected.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I had my money on the Doctor using his Ganger double from “The Almost People”, as that made more sense.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Ganger was a complete match of the Doctor’s genetic make-up, and could, presumably, even regenerate.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Tesselecta though… how did it mimic regeneration?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Also, how did it survive two point blank blasts of energy AND being set on fire?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Just how indestructible are those things?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My reaction to the Tesselecta revelation was literally to go:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Oh, well, that makes sense… huh???”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I’m thankful it wasn’t as weak as, say, having everyone on Earth <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">think</i> the Doctor back to life (“Last of the Time Lords”) or having Amy remember him back to existence (“The Big Bang”), but still… it was mildly disappointing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Still, the main plot of the episode itself, about time colliding together into one day, was clever, and immediately engaging.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The only bad aspect of it was that I never felt a sense of worry for any of the characters, because I knew this was a reality that would be aborted as soon as the Doctor figured out how to make things normal.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Performances were great, especially Matt Smith, as the Doctor goes through a gamut of emotions throughout the episode.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The scene where he tries to call his friend, and regular returning character from the old series, Brigadier Leftbridge-Stewart, only to find out that he passed away, was touching, made all the more so by the reality that Nicholas Courtney, the actor who played the Brigadier, actually did pass away this year.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was a wonderful send off and a neat way to make the Doctor face the reality of his own impending demise.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My only regret is that the Brigadier didn’t appear in the new series at all, although at least he was in a couple of episodes of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Sarah Jane Adventures</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The other regular cast members did a fine job.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I especially enjoyed Amy and River’s moment together in the garden.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>All things considered, it was a fun season finale… but not a great one.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I still have faith that Moffat knows what he’s doing, and I absolutely love the idea of the Doctor lying low instead of being an intergalactic demigod.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Here’s waiting for the Christmas special!</span></p>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-65762950782820289472011-10-20T17:20:00.000-07:002011-10-20T20:10:38.325-07:00Doctor Who Review - Episode 6x12: Closing Time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_pt2_e12-06__large.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 414px; height: 233px;" src="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_pt2_e12-06__large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> 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unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1>Dialogue Triumphs </h1> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Oh, you’ve redecorated!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I don’t like it.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Craig:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“It’s a different house.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We’ve moved.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Yes, that’s it!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Craig, mind Yappie!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Craig:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“What?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Yappie!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The robot dog… not as much fun as I remember.”</p> <h1>Dialogue Disasters </h1> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Whoever you are, get off this planet!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Yes, he likes Alphie, but personally he prefers to be called Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Craig:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Sorry, what?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“That’s what he calls himself.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Craig:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“How do you know that?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“I speak Baby.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Craig:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“The Cybermen… I blew them up.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I blew them up with love.”</p> <h1>Double Entendres/Sexy Talk </h1> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Just keep looking at me, Craig, right at me, just keep looking.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Craig:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Why?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Because… because… because I love you.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Craig:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“You love me?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Yes, Craig, it’s you, it’s always been you.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Craig:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Me?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Is that so surprising?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Craig:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Doctor, are you going to kiss me?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Yes, Craig, yes I am.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Would you like that?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I’m a bit out of practice, but I’ve had some wonderful feedback.”</p> <h1>The Review</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor stops by to visit his old roommate, Craig (from last season’s hilarious episode, “The Lodger”), who is now married and a father.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Craig immediately suspects that there is more to the Doctor’s visit than meets the eye, and his suspicions are confirmed when he discovers the Doctor investigating a series of disappearances surrounding a nearby department store.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Together, Craig and the Doctor find out that a group of Cybermen have been slowly converting the staff of department store in order to help repair their ship, which had crashed and been lying dormant underground for years.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Now the pair must figure out a way to stop the Cybermen from taking over the world… or at the very least this department store.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As mentioned before, this episode is a follow-up to last year’s surprisingly delightful, “The Lodger”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>However, I found this episode to be severely lacking in the natural charm that made the “The Lodger” so enjoyable.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Doctor’s goofy interactions with Craig worked so well because the Doctor was totally out of his element.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This time around, everything feels so forced, as if the writer is trying to recreate the magic of “The Lodger” without really understanding what made that episode so good.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Strange, considering Gareth Roberts <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">did</i> write “The Lodger”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I don’t know, this episode just feels so much more madcap and silly than the last one, and not necessarily in a good way. A lot of the humor fell flat, or was just painfully awkward to watch (such as the Doctor's faux "seduction" of Craig in order to distract him from an approaching Cyberman, which made no sense, and was just... weird). Although, I will admit, I was a little nervous for Craig when he nearly gets “assimilated” into the Cybermen collective.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There’s just not very much to like about this episode.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The plot is pretty average, and I have never cared for the Cybermen, old or new.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Besides, it’s pretty clear that the Cybermen story is just a backdrop to set the stage for Craig and the Doctor having another zany adventure together.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was nice to see the return of the “Cyber-Mats” from the old series (little cybernetic worm things that Cybermen use as reconnaissance/saboteurs).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I can see what the point of the episode was supposed to be – one last stop for the Doctor to make before confronting his demise, and one last stop for wacky fun before the series goes back into heavy drama. Nevertheless, it was executed somewhat clumsily for my liking.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Next time... The Wedding of River Song:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3LN6LBteGmA" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe><br /></p>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-52014564386859240522011-09-29T14:02:00.000-07:002011-09-29T14:06:25.971-07:00Doctor Who Review - Episode 6x11: The God Complex<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_pt2_e11-01__large.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 470px; height: 264px;" src="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_pt2_e11-01__large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> 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<w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:lsdexception> </w:lsdexception><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Dialogue Triumphs</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“They’re not doors, they’re walls – walls that look like doors.<span style=""> </span>Door walls, if you like, or ‘dwalls’ – walls even, though you probably got it right when you said they’re not doors.<span style=""> </span>I mean the windows are… <b style="">(Pulls curtains to reveal brick wall)</b> …right!<span style=""> </span>Big day for a fan of walls!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rita:<span style=""> </span>“It’s not just that.<span style=""> </span>The rooms have… <i style="">things</i> in them.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Things?<span style=""> </span>Hello!<span style=""> </span>What kind of things?<span style=""> </span>Interesting things?<span style=""> </span>I love things, ask anyone!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rita:<span style=""> </span>“Bad dreams.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor: <span style=""> </span>“Well, that killed the mood.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rita:<span style=""> </span>“It’s no more ridiculous than Howie’s CIA theory, or mine.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Which is?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rita:<span style=""> </span>“This is <span class="st"><i style="">Jahannum</i>.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“You’re a Muslim!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rita:<span style=""> </span>“Don’t be frightened.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor: “Ha!<span style=""> </span>You think this is Hell?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Don’t talk to the clown!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“Not all victories are about saving the universe.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rita:<span style=""> </span>“Why is it up to you to save us?<span style=""> </span>It’s quite a God complex you have there.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“I brought them here.<span style=""> </span>They’d say it was their choice, but offer a child a suitcase full of sweets, and they’d take it.<span style=""> </span>Offer someone all of time and space, and they’d take that too.<span style=""> </span>Which is why you shouldn’t… which is why grown ups were invented.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“I can’t save you from this.<span style=""> </span>There’s nothing I can do to stop this.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“What?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“I stole your childhood, now I’ve lead you by the hand to your death.<span style=""> </span>The worst thing is, I knew – I knew this would happen.<span style=""> </span>This is what always happens.<span style=""> </span>Forget your faith in me.<span style=""> </span>I took you with me because I was vain, because I wanted to be adored.<span style=""> </span>Look at you… glorious Pond, the girl who waited for me.<span style=""> </span>I’m not a hero.<span style=""> </span>I really am just a mad man in a box, and it’s time we saw each other as we really are.<span style=""> </span>Amy Williams, it’s time to stop waiting.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">***</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Even so, it can’t happen like this, after everything we’ve been through Doctor... everything.<span style=""> </span>You can’t just drop me off at my house, and say good-bye, like we shared a cab.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“And what’s the alternative?<span style=""> </span>Me standing over your grave, over your broken body, over Rory’s body?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Dialogue Disasters</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">N/A</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Double Entendres/Sexy Talk</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">N/A</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">The Review</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The TARDIS lands in what appears to be a replica of a hotel from the 80s.<span style=""> </span>The Doctor, Amy, and Rory meet with a disparate group of people who have been transported to the hotel from different timezones and planets.<span style=""> </span>The hotel is quickly revealed to be more than meets the eye after it swallows up the TARDIS within its constantly changing, mazelike hallways, leaving the Doctor and his companions trapped along with everyone else, and at the mercy of a mysterious creature who seems to pray on people’s fears, before possessing them, and then killing them one-by-one.<span style=""> </span>It’s up to the Doctor to find a way out of the maze before he, Amy, and Rory are next on the menu.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">It’s episodes like this where Doctor Who is truly at its best – when the Doctor is thrown into a mystery that even baffles him for a time, before he finally figures it out… but not after a considerable death toll.<span style=""> </span>I’ve never liked how previous showrunner Russell T. Davis, and now Steven Moffat, would get into the habit of portraying the Doctor as some kind of omnipotent being who never loses a confrontation, nomatter how poor the odds.<span style=""> </span>That was the most interesting feature of the episode “Water of Mars” – for once, the Doctor was in a situation where he was powerless to help, and his attempt to help only made it worse.<span style=""> </span>I like episodes like this because we get a chance to see beneath the happy-go-lucky veneer the Doctor so often uses to hide his true nature, nomatter the incarnation.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So it goes with the cleverly titled “The God Complex”, which aptly describes the setting, the plot, and an unfortunate personality trait that has always been the Doctor’s worst failing.<span style=""> </span>The episode deals with the latter aspect really well, as the Doctor ends up having ot humble himself before Amy in order to save her life, which is a sobering moment for them both.<span style=""> </span>Matt Smith and Karen Gillan have always had a great chemistry in scenes like this, and the scene in last year’s season finale with the Doctor’s monologue to a sleeping Amy Pond to never forget him as he fades from existence.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I liked the setting of the episode, as the hotel was very reminiscent of the creepy hotel from <i style="">The Shining</i>.<span style=""> </span>The characters that are trapped with the Doctor are all interesting in their own ways, especially Rita, with whom the Doctor flirts with the idea of picking up as a new companion.<span style=""> </span>The Doctor and Rita’s interactions are great, especially the scene in which he laments on how guilty he feels about constantly exposing Amy and Rory to danger, then offers to take Rita traveling with him in the nearly the same breath.<span style=""> </span>It really shows the reckless, impulsive nature of this particular incarnation of the Doctor, which I imagine will ultimately be his undoing whenever his number is up.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Overall, it was a very enjoyable episode, though it must be said, that the monster was kind of lame.<span style=""> </span>There is a cool, throwaway classic Who reference regarding the monster at the end of the episode (that his species is related to the Nimons, a race of aliens that the 4<sup>th</sup> Doctor confronted in the episode “The Horns of the Nimon”), but other than that, it’s your average Doctor Who “Monster-of-the-week”.<span style=""> </span>However, I do appreciate the effort to come up with new monsters besides the traditional stand-alongs, such as the Daleks or the Cybermen…</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">…speaking of which, the next episode I’ll be reviewing… Closing Time.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BlyRHbl-fvQ" allowfullscreen="" width="560" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe></p> </w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:lsdexception></w:latentstyles></xml>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-29290788773558791952011-09-23T20:52:00.000-07:002011-09-23T21:00:31.527-07:00Doctor Who Review - Episode 6x10: The Girl Who Waited<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/downloads/doctorwho_wallpaper_s6ep10v1landscape_800x6001.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 474px; height: 355px;" src="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/downloads/doctorwho_wallpaper_s6ep10v1landscape_800x6001.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults ext="edit" spidmax="1026"> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout ext="edit"> <o:idmap ext="edit" data="1"> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> <br /><p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Dialogue Triumphs</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Appalapachia, voted number two planet in the top ten greatest destinations for the discerning intergalactic traveler!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Why couldn’t we go to number one?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Tedious!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Everyone goes to number one – planet of the coffee shops!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Have you seen my phone?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Your phone?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Yeah.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Your mobile telephone?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I bring you to a paradise planet two billion light years from Earth, and you want to update… <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Twitter</i>?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Robot:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Will you be visiting long?” </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Good question, a bit sinister – what’s the answer that won’t get us killed?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Old Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“In fact, now I think I can definitely say – I hate him.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I hate the Doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I hate him more than I hated anyone in my life, and you can hear every word of this through those ridiculous glasses, can’t you Raggedy Man?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor: “Ah… yes…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“This is your fault.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“I’m so sorry, but Rory…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“No, this is your fault!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You should look in a history book once in awhile, see if there’s an outbreak of plague or not!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“That is not how I travel!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Then I do not want to travel with you!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Old Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Right, okay, so this is big news, temporal earthquake time, I’m officially changing my own future.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Hold on to your spectacles.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In my past, I saw my future self refuse to help you.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am now changing that future, and every law of time says that shouldn’t be possible.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Yes, except sometimes knowing your own future is what enables you to change it, especially if you’re bloody minded, contradictory, and completely unpredictable.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“So basically if you’re Amy then.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Yes, if anyone can beat pre-destiny, it’s your wife.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Dialogue Disasters</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Old Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Macarena.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Young Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Macarena.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“She’s doing the Macarena.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Double Entendres/Sexy Talk</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory: “Can you stop flirting with me?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You’re old enough to be my mo--!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Old Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“I’ve known you my whole life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How many games of ‘Doctors and Nurses’?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Shush!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Old Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Don’t get coy now.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Review</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor takes Amy and Rory on a much needed vacation to a paradise planet called Appalappachia (I have NO idea if the spelling is correct).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As is tradition whenever the Doctor tries to take a vacation, things go horribly awry.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It turns out that, in the particular era that they happened to travel to, Appalappachia is in a state of massive quarantine due to a disease that only affects beings with two hearts (aka, The Doctor).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The TARDIS lands in the quarantine center, which uses time pockets that allow loved ones to visit the infected and watch them live out their lives without risk of catching disease.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Amy gets caught up in one such time pocket, forcing Rory and the Doctor to use the TARDIS to hone in on her time stream.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>However, by the time they arrive, roughly 36 years have gone by for Amy, who has grown into a bitter old woman, battle weary from all her years battling the medical robots who benignly try to inject her with medication, despite the fact that it would kill her.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Doctor and Rory want to save <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">their</i> Amy, still stuck in the past, but Old Amy won’t help them unless the Doctor agrees to take her along as well.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>With a risk of causing a paradox even the TARDIS can’t handle, it ultimately comes down to Rory to choose between his beautiful young wife or the older, battle scarred one.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Seems like an easy choice to me, but what do I know, I’m shallow.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">This episode serves as a nice counterpoint to last season’s “Amy’s Choice”, which was about Amy having to decide between not only what man she truly loved, but between realities as well.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After so many episodes of Amy and Rory pulling “run and scream” duty, it’s nice to see them featured in an episode, while the Doctor, who is forced to stay in the TARDIS to avoid disease that would kill him instantly, takes the backseat for a change.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Don’t worry, though, the Doctor still has plenty of screen time to keep things interesting.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I had some issues with Karen Gillan’s performance in season five, but she has improved by leaps and bounds this season, especially in this episode.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She was convincing as a bitter, older version of the Amy Pond we know and love.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She also kicked ass with a samurai sword.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I also enjoyed some of Rory and the Doctor’s back-and-forth, especially the more tense moments, such as the end, when the Doctor forces Rory to choose between both versions of his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There has always been a certain tension between the two characters, due to Rory’s mild jealousy of Amy’s open admiration for the Doctor (something that is dealt with nicely in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">next</i> episode…).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s great to get to see Rory finally vent his frustrations a bit, and do it without wearing a Centurion uniform.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The setting of the episode was interesting, though somewhat reminiscent of the video game Portal.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I liked that the “bad guys”, the med robots, were just simple automatons doing what they were programmed to do – apply medication to the sick.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They were just too stupid to realize their meds would be fatal.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s an original way to keep the episode moving along, and provide a baddy without really having one.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Overall, the episode was good, with plenty of tender Rory/Amy moments to satisfy the fans.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Next week…oops, oh wait, I guess I mean, last week… The God Complex</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jPaqUSqA91M" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-68026123391831568292011-09-06T11:02:00.000-07:002011-09-06T11:20:42.594-07:00Doctor Who Review 6x09 - "Night Terrors"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_pt2_e09-12__large.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 480px; height: 270px;" src="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_pt2_e09-12__large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style=""><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style=""><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Dialogue Triumphs</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Alex:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Now it’s got completely out of hand!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I mean, he’s scared to death of everything.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Pantaphobia.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Alex:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“What?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“That’s what it’s called, pantaphobia.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not the fear of pants, though, if that’s what you’re thinking, it’s the fear of everything… including pants, I suppose, in that case.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Sorry, go on.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Alex:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“He hates clowns.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Understandable.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Argh.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“What?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“We’re dead aren’t we?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Eh?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory: “The lift fell, and we’re dead.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Shut up.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“We’re dead – again!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor: “I’m not just a professional, I’m the Doctor.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Alex:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“What’s that supposed to mean?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“It means I’ve come a long way to get here, Alex, a very long way.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>George sent a message, a distress call if you like.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Whatever’s inside that cupboard is so terrible, so powerful, that it amplified the fears of an ordinary little boy across the barriers of time and space.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Alex:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Eh?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Through crimson stars, and silent stars, and tumbling nebulas, like oceans set on fire; through empires of glass and civilizations of pure thought, and a whole terrible, wonderful universe of impossibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You see these eyes?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They’re old eyes, and one thing I can tell you, Alex: monsters are real.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Dialogue Disasters</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">N/A</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Double Entendres/Sexy Talk</span><br /></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">N/A</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">The Review</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor responds to a message for help, sent by a seemingly normal little boy named George, who is convinced that monsters live in his cupboard.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After splitting up to look for the boy, Amy and Rory get transported to a dark, foreboding house, where they are terrorized by life-size wooden dolls who have the ability to transform anyone they touch into giant dolls just like them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Meanwhile, the Doctor and George’s father, Alex, attempt to figure out the connection between a frightened little boy and the very real monsters in this closet.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">This episode, written by actor/novelist Mark Gatiss (who also penned and starred in season three’s “The Lazarus Experiment”), is pretty standard Doctor Who, which, in a season full of episodes that have been set pieces to serve the seasonal arc, is actually quite refreshing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I often complain that Doctor Who doesn’t always have to be about saving the world, or even the universe, as the show is strong enough that it constantly grandstanding isn’t necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Neil Gaiman’s episode, “The Doctor’s Wife”, is a great example of what I’m talking about.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I will say that, apart from being mildly engaging, the episode wasn’t particularly memorable.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Once again, Amy and Rory are on “run and scream” duty, meaning the writer didn’t know what else to do with them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For their credit, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill do their duties well, like good sports.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Matt Smith is excellent, carrying the story forward and keeping it compelling, as one expects of the lead in Doctor Who.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Other than that, there isn’t much to be said.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s an episode that explores childhood fears and pumps the brake a little from the breakneck pace of the current season.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nuff said.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Next week... "The Girl Who Waited"</p><p class="MsoNormal"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/r-nlWLjHGww" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="345" width="560"></iframe><br /></p>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-84380865052608380942011-08-28T16:32:00.000-07:002011-08-28T18:22:30.614-07:00Doctor Who Review - 6x08: Let's Kill Hitler<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_pt2_e08-12__large.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 443px; height: 248px;" src="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_pt2_e08-12__large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
<br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:180%;"><b style="">
<br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:180%;"><b style="">
<br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:180%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Dialogue Triumphs:</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"> </b>Hitler:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Thank you, whoever you are, I think you just saved my life.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Believe me, it was an accident.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> ***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hitler:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“He was going to kill me!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Shut up, Hitler!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> ***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Mels… short for…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Mel:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Melody.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Amy:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“I named my daughter after her.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“You named your daughter… after your daughter.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Melody:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Tip for you boys – never shoot a girl while she’s regenerating.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> ***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">TARDIS Voice Interface:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Your system has been contaminated by the poison of the Judas tree.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You will be dead 32 minutes.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Okay, so, basically I better regenerate, that’s what you’re saying?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> TARDIS Voice Interface:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Regeneration has been disabled.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You will dead in 32 minutes.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Unless I’m cured, yeah?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> TARDIS Voice Interface:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“There is no cure.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You will be dead in 32 minutes.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Why do you keep saying that?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> TARDIS Voice Interface:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Because you will be dead in 32 minutes.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> ***</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Melody:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“You’re dying… and you stopped to change?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Oh, you should always waste time when you don’t have any!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Time is not the boss of you!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Carter:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Throughout history, many criminals have gone unpunished throughout their lifetimes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Time travel has many… responsibilities.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The Doctor (laughs): “What?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You got yourselves time travel, so you decided to punish dead people?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Carter:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“We don’t kill them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We extract them at the end of their established time lines.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“And then what?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Carter:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Give them Hell.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:180%;"><b style="">Dialogue Disasters</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Mel:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“I need out of here now.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Anywhere in particular?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Mel:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Let’s see, you got a time machine, I’ve got a gun.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What the hell – let’s kill Hitler!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Sorry, did you say she killed the Doctor?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Doctor?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Doctor Who?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:180%;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Double Entendres & Sexy Talk:</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Rory:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Okay… okay… I’m trapped inside a giant, robot replica of my wife.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I’ll try not to see this as a metaphor.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:180%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">The Review</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">You feel that cool breeze blowing, that’s smells slightly of potpourri, and sends an electric thrill down your spine?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s not just the crisp winds of autumn – it’s the long awaited, much anticipated second half of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Doctor Who</i> finally being broadcast!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Sorry if that opening was a bit corny for your tastes, but I’m excited, and that’s what happens when I’m excited (aside from dry heaves, loose bowels, and a tendency to giggle…).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy and Rory contact the Doctor, who has yet to find baby Melody.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Before he can explain any further, their conversation is cut off by Amy’s best friend, the sassy, felonious Mel, who drives up in a stolen car, with the police not far behind in pursuit.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She forces the Doctor to give her a ride in the TARDIS at gunpoint, during which, she misfires, hits the console, and the TARDIS crash lands in 1938 Berlin… right into Hitler’s office, no less.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Meanwhile, a squad of time travelers, piloting a robotic human replica, happens to be on a mission to eliminate Hitler, but change their target after the Doctor’s sudden arrival.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I dare not go into the rest of the story, as it involves quite the mind-bending twist that is best left for the viewer to experience in all its glory.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Suffice it to say, the title is a bit misleading, as Hitler is featured for no more than maybe 5 whole minutes, before he takes a backseat, or in this case gets stuffed in a closet, and is never seen again for the duration of the episode.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>However, after viewing the episode twice, I’m hard pressed to think of a better title.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Perhaps the writer found himself in a similar dilemma.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The episode is equal parts silly and dramatic, as only Doctor Who is capable of being.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I mean, what other show on TV can feature miniature people hunting war criminals through time and space in a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Meet Dave</i> like robotic human spaceship, but also competently balance that out with emotionally poignant character development?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That’s not to say that it was executed perfectly – personally, I believe that if the twist involving River Song were postponed until a later episode, it would have made a much more effective impact.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nonetheless, it’s still quite the shock, and at least serves to definitively answer a particular question regarding the rules of regeneration.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Interesting seasonal plot advances notwithstanding, I do wish more had been made of the World War II setting, which became nothing more than a backdrop (just as Hitler became an unimportant side note after he’s locked away in a closet).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I can’t help but feel like an opportunity for a really fun episode was wasted for the sake wedging in part of River’s origin story.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Performances were great, as they almost always are.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Matt Smith is excellent, playing upo the goofy scenes with aplomb, while also playing the more serious scenes with the kind of subtlety we’ve come to expect from him (most notably when it becomes clear that he definitely knows about his impending doom).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are relegated to “run and scream duty” through much of the episode, which is nothing unusual, but they are still amusing to watch, and the flashback scene of them pre-relationship is wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Alex Kingston chews up the scenery with utter glee, but, considering the circumstances, it’s a delight to watch.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br />At the very least, the episode is fast paced, entertaining as hell, and will certainly accomplish the task of regaining one’s interest after it may have dulled from a long, summer hiatus.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have a feeling we’re in for a very satisfying sixth season of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Doctor Who</i>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Next time... "Night Terrors"</p><p class="MsoNormal"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cbhGsj9ftVM" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="345" width="560"></iframe>
<br /></p> Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-881200356510310752011-06-07T15:53:00.000-07:002011-06-07T15:56:19.620-07:00Doctor Who Review - 6x07: A Good Man Goes to War<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_e07_09__large.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 537px; height: 302px;" src="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_e07_09__large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> 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</w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1>Dialogue Triumphs</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“I wish I could tell you that you’d be loved; that you would be safe, and cared for, and protected.<span style=""> </span>But this isn’t the time for lies.<span style=""> </span>What you are going to be, Melody, is very, very brave, but not as brave as they will have to be, because there’s someone coming.<span style=""> </span>I don’t know where he is, or what he’s doing, but trust me, he’s on his way.<span style=""> </span>There is a man who is never going to let us down, and not even an army can get in the way.<span style=""> </span>He’s the last of his kind.<span style=""> </span>He looks young, but he’s lived for hundreds and hundreds of years.<span style=""> </span>And where ever they take you, Melody, I promise you that you’ll never be alone, because this man is your father.<span style=""> </span>He has a name, but the people of our world know him better as the Last Centurian.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“The Doctor is getting some people together.<span style=""> </span>We’re going after her, but he needs you too.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“I can’t.<span style=""> </span>Not yet anyway.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“Sorry?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“This is the Battle of Demon’s Run, the Doctor’s darkest hour.<span style=""> </span>He’ll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further, and I can’t be with him until the very end.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“Why not?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“Because this is it – this is the day he finds out who I am.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Kovarian:<span style=""> </span>“We’ve been waiting a month now.<span style=""> </span>He’s done nothing.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dominicus:<span style=""> </span>“Do you really think so?<span style=""> </span>There are people all over this galaxy that owe that man a debt.<span style=""> </span>By now, a few of them have already found a blue box waiting for them on their doorstep, poor devils.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Colonel Manton:<span style=""> </span>“You think he’s raising an army?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dominicus:<span style=""> </span>“You think he isn’t?<span style=""> </span>If that man is finally collecting on his debts, God help you, and God help his debtors.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Colonel Manton:<span style=""> </span>“Why?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dominicus:<span style=""> </span>“Colonel Manton, all those stories you’ve heard about him; they’re not stories, they’re true.<span style=""> </span>Really, you’re not telling me you don’t know what’s coming.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Colonel Manton:<span style=""> </span>“We’re wasting our time here.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Kovarian:<span style=""> </span>“Agreed.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dominicus:<span style=""> </span>“The asteroid, where you’ve made your base – do you know why they call it ‘Demon’s Run’?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Colonel Manton:<span style=""> </span>“How do you know the location of our base?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dominicus:<span style=""> </span>“You’re with the Headless Monks, they’re very old customers of mine.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Kovarian:<span style=""> </span>“It’s just some old saying.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dominicus:<span style=""> </span>“A very old saying, the oldest:<span style=""> </span>demon’s run, when a good man goes to war.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Colonel Manton:<span style=""> </span>“He is not the devil.<span style=""> </span>He is not a god.<span style=""> </span>He is not a goblin, a phantom, or a trickster.<span style=""> </span>The Doctor is a living, breathing man, and as I look around this room, I know one thing:<span style=""> </span>we’re sure as hell going to fix that.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Commander Strax:<span style=""> </span>“Colonel Manton, you will give the order for your men to withdraw.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“No, Colonel Manton, I want you to tell your men to run away.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Colonel Manton:<span style=""> </span>“What?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Those words, run away, I want you to be famous for those exact words.<span style=""> </span>I want people to call you Colonel Run Away.<span style=""> </span>I want children laughing outside your door because they found the house of Colonel Run Away, and when people come to you and ask if trying to get to me through the people I love is in anyway a good idea… I want you to tell them your name.<span style=""> </span>Look, I’m angry, that’s new… I’m not really sure what’s going to happen right now.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Kovarian:<span style=""> </span>“The anger of a good man is not a problem.<span style=""> </span>Good men have too many rules.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Good men don’t need rules.<span style=""> </span>Today is not the day to find out why I have so many.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“Now, I have a question, a simple one:<span style=""> </span>is Melody human?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Of course she is – completely human, what are you talking about?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dominicus:<span style=""> </span>“They’ve been scanning her since she was born.<span style=""> </span>I think they found what they were looking for.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Human DNA.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“Look closer – human plus.<span style=""> </span>Specifically, human plus Time Lord.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***<br />The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Why even do it?<span style=""> </span>Even if you could get your hands on a brand new Time Lord, what for?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“A weapon?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Why would a Time Lord be a weapon?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“Well… they’ve seen you.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Me?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Commander Strax:<span style=""> </span>“Give her to me, human fools, she needs changing.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“I just changed her.<span style=""> </span>I think she might to feed.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Commander Strax:<span style=""> </span>“A feed?<span style=""> </span>Of course.<span style=""> </span>I’ll take care of everything.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“Uh, I really don’t think you will actually.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Commander Strax:<span style=""> </span>“I have gene spliced myself for all nursing duties.<span style=""> </span>I can produce magnificent quantities of lactic fluid.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Kovarian:<span style=""> </span>“I see you’ve accessed our files.<span style=""> </span>Do you understand yet?<span style=""> </span>Oh, don’t worry, I’m a long way away, but I like to keep tabs on you.<span style=""> </span>The child then – what do you think?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“What is she?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Kovarian:<span style=""> </span>“Hope – hope in this endless, bitter war.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“What war?<span style=""> </span>Against who?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Kovarian:<span style=""> </span>“Against you, Doctor.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“A child is not a weapon!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Kovarian:<span style=""> </span>“Give us time.<span style=""> </span>She can be.<span style=""> </span>She will be.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Except you’ve already lost her, and I swear, I will never let you near her ever again.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Kovarian:<span style=""> </span>“Oh Doctor, fooling you once was a joy, but fooling you twice, the same way -<span style=""> </span>it’s a privilege.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Commander Strax:<span style=""> </span>“It’s strange… I’ve often dreamed of dying in combat… I’m not enjoying it as much as I’d hoped.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“Well then, soldier, how goes the day?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Where the hell have you been?<span style=""> </span>Every time you’ve asked, I’ve been there.<span style=""> </span>Where the hell were you today?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“I couldn’t have prevented this.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor: <span style=""> </span>“You could have tried!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“And so, my love, could you.” (To Amy)<span style=""> </span>“I know you’re not alright, but hold tight, Amy, you’re going to be.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“You think I wanted this?<span style=""> </span>I didn’t do this!<span style=""> </span>This wasn’t me!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“This was exactly you – all of this!<span style=""> </span>All of it!<span style=""> </span>You make them so afraid.<span style=""> </span>When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you’d became this?<span style=""> </span>The man who could turn an army around at the mention of his name.<span style=""> </span>Doctor, the word for healer, and wise man, throughout the universe.<span style=""> </span>We got that word from you, you know, but if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean?<span style=""> </span>To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word doctor means ‘mighty warrior’ - how far you’ve come!<span style=""> </span>And now they’ve taken a child, the child of your best friends, and they are going to turn her into a weapon just to bring you down, and all this, my love, in fear of you.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Who are you?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“Oh, look, you’re caught, haven’t seen that in a very long while!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“No, no, you tell me, tell me who you are.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“I am telling you.<span style=""> </span>Can’t you read?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“It’s your daughter’s name, in the language of the Forests.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“I know my daughter’s name.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“Except they don’t have a word for ‘pond’, because the only water they have in the Forest is a river.<span style=""> </span>The Doctor will find your daughter, and he will care for her, whatever it takes, and I know that.<span style=""> </span>It’s me.<span style=""> </span>I’m Melody – I’m your daughter.”</p> <h1>Dialogue Disasters</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">N/A</p> <h1>Double Entendre<span style=""> </span></h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“But she’s human!<span style=""> </span>She’s Amy and Rory’s daughter!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“You’ve told me about your people.<span style=""> </span>They became what they did through prolonged exposure to the Time Vortex – the untempered schism.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Over billions of years, it didn’t just happen.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“So how close is she?<span style=""> </span>Can she even regenerate?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“No, no, I don’t think so…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“You don’t sound so sure.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Because I don’t understand how this happened!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“Which leads me to ask: <span style=""> </span>when did it happen?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“When?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“I am trying to be delicate; I know how you can blush.<span style=""> </span>When did this baby… begin?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Well, how would I know, it’s all humany, private stuff, they don’t put up a balloon or anything!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“Could the child have begun in flight on the TARDIS in the vortex?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“No, no, impossible!<span style=""> </span>It’s all… running about!<span style=""> </span>Sexy, fish vampires, and blowing up stuff, and Rory wasn’t even there at the beginning, then he was dead, then he didn’t exist, then he was plastic, and I had to reboot the whole universe, long story, so technically, the first time they were in the TARDIS together in this version of reality was on their wuuuuh…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Madame Vastra:<span style=""> </span>“Their what?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“…on their wedding night.”</p> <h1>The Review</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the mid-season finale, Amy Pond, and her newborn baby Melody, are imprisoned in a top secret military base called Demons Run where, as it turns out, Amy has actually been this entire season, while her Flesh doppelganger was travelling with the Doctor and Rory.<span style=""> </span>The base is run by the mysterious “hatch lady”, actually named Madame Kovarian, and Colonel Manton, who is preparing his troops for the Doctor’s eventual reprisal for kidnapping Amy.<span style=""> </span>Sure enough, the Doctor arrives to take down Demons Run, with a personal army of his own consisting of an eclectic group of people that owe him debts, including a Victorian Age, katana wielding, Sherlock Holmes-like Silurian named Madame Vastra; a disgraced Sontaran named Commander Strax, who is serving penance for past deeds as a nurse, by order of the Doctor; and a cunning, fat, blue merchant name Dominicus.<span style=""> </span>A few more folks show up for the party, but I’ll keep them a surprise.<span style=""> </span>After a quick melee, the Doctor manages to very quickly win the battle, but will he be able to win the war?<span style=""> </span>I guess we won’t find out until Fall, in the next episode, rather hilariously titled “Let’s Kill Hitler”.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I don’t know what will hurt the most:<span style=""> </span>waiting to see how this season ends, or waiting to see what an episode called “Let’s Kill Hitler” will possibly consist of.<span style=""> </span>In the season premiere, I seem to remember briefly seeing the Doctor encountering Nazis, during his solo travels without Amy and Rory, before his fateful, lakeside demise at the hands of the mysterious astronaut, so I’m assuming that was a clip from the upcoming episode.<span style=""> </span>Anyway, that’s neither here nor there.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">“A Good Man Goes to War”, which was written by showrunner Stephen Moffat, definitely delivers very compelling entertainment, from beginning to end.<span style=""> </span>I didn’t find the episode to be a show stopping, jaw dropping, mind bending, “game changer”, like Moffat hyped it up to be, but then again, he’s privy to how the rest of the season is going to go, so it’s possible we won’t fully realize the important of this episode until the actual season finale.<span style=""> </span>I sure didn’t pick up on the significance of the Gangers until the last five minutes of “The Almost People”, and even the space pirates in “The Curse of the Black Spot” turned out to have a small, but satisfying, purpose in the overall season.<span style=""> </span>So, maybe I need to just shut up and trust in Moffat.<span style=""> </span>In fact, to those of you that have been reading this blog, how about one of you get some t-shirts printed up that say:<span style=""> </span>“In Moffat, we trust”.<span style=""> </span>Even though I was somewhat disappointed by the previous season, and felt the finale to be a bit of a mess, I have a feeling Moffat will eventually tie up all the loose ends so effectively, it’ll make all my reservations about his run thus far seem nitpicky and silly (which, I admit, they probably are).<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I absolutely loved the gang of characters the Doctor rounds up for this battle, especially Madame Vastra, who was a particularly inspired creation. Her interactions with The Doctor are excellent, and I, for one, would love to see her more in future episodes as a recurring companion.<span style=""> </span>I also really liked Commander Strax, as the idea of a Sontaran having to undergo the humiliation of being a nurse, which in their culture is a disgrace, was brilliant.<span style=""> </span>I love when Doctor Who takes the time to point out that, although some alien races like the Daleks and the Cybermen are evil incarnate, the other alien races he sometimes clashes with aren’t <i style="">all</i> evil.<span style=""> </span>This concept wasn’t explored until way back, during the Third Doctor’s era, when many of the stories involved misunderstanding the alien-monster-of-the-week’s intentions to be malicious when, in fact, it is actually very benign.<span style=""> </span>I was even somewhat interested in the character of Lorna Bucket, a private in the army rallying against the Doctor, who joined up with the secret hopes of meeting the Doctor again after an encounter she had with him as a child.<span style=""> </span>It almost seemed as if her character was being set up to be a possible future companion – she even had a memorable name:<span style=""> </span>Lorna Bucket.<span style=""> </span>I could already hear the Doctor saying her full name as a mild reprimand for doubting his ability to pilot the TARDIS.<span style=""> </span>However, she ends up getting killed by the end of the episode, which I felt was kind of waste.<span style=""> </span>Wouldn’t it be great if the Doctor picked up her up before she joins the army, and takes her traveling, knowing the grim future ahead of her?<span style=""> </span>I think so.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The performances were great as always, particularly Matt Smith, as we get to see an angrier, darker side of his usually happy-go-lucky Doctor.<span style=""> </span>Oh, the 11<sup>th</sup> Doctor has lost his temper here and there, but never seemed more menacing then in the scene where he tells Colonel Manton to order his army to run away.<span style=""> </span>Alex Kingston is, as always, a very charismatic presence whenever she’s onscreen, and shines in this episode as, finally, an important revelation is revealed about her character.<span style=""> </span>Arthur Darvill was fun to watch, but I have a minor complaint about his character:<span style=""> </span>enough with the goofy Centurian outfit.<span style=""> </span>We get it.<span style=""> </span>Rory used to be a Roman.<span style=""> </span>However, as I recall, wasn’t that in a different version of reality?<span style=""> </span>After The Doctor rebooted the universe, and Amy “wished” everyone back into existence (blegh), shouldn’t Rory have come back sans the Centurian uniform?<span style=""> </span>When he showed up in the outfit at the beginning of “The Christmas Carol”, it was already kind of a lame gag.<span style=""> </span>Now it’s just getting ridiculous.<span style=""> </span>I feel like Rory’s confrontation with the Cybermen at the beginning of this episode would have been much more intense if he were just in his normal clothing or, at the very least, in more practical battle gear that doesn’t make him look like he works at Caesar’s Palace.<span style=""> </span>He explains the outfit to River as part of The Doctor’s strategy, which is look ridiculous to throw the enemy off.<span style=""> </span>This is often why the Doctor dresses so flamboyantly – so this his enemies underestimate him, but also, he just has no fashion sense.<span style=""> </span>The whole “Last Centurian” thing was great during “The Pandorica Opens” and the “The Big Bang”, but it’s over.<span style=""> </span>Let’s have Rory Williams, nurse extraordinaire, back please.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Overall, I enjoyed “A Good Man Goes to War” very much, but I didn’t feel it was as awesome as it was touted to be.<span style=""> </span>Let’s just face facts:<span style=""> </span>this episode was only important because we find out who River actually is.<span style=""> </span>Everything else is rather superficial.<span style=""> </span>I mean, who is this group that kidnapped Amy in the first place?<span style=""> </span>How could they have the resources, and technology, to kidnap her from under the nose of The Doctor?<span style=""> </span>I assume Moffat will address all of this, and more, by the season’s end, but who knows?<span style=""> </span>I’m only on Moffat’s case, though, because I think highly of his ability to write extremely compelling drama.<span style=""> </span>I pretty much had Russell T. Davies’ strengths and weaknesses mapped out so well, that by the end of his run as Doctor Who showrunner, I was never much surprised by his episodes, which usually followed the formula:<span style=""> </span>High Stakes + Inescapably Futile Scenario = Big Red Button Solution.<span style=""> </span>What I’ve always liked about Moffat, is that he seems to write, like a good mystery writer, a perfectly logical, and clever, solution first, and then works outwards from there.<span style=""> </span>He also seems to have a Master Plan for what he wants to do with the show, and the story he wants to tell.<span style=""> </span>I think the only reason I have doubts is because I’m used to a Moffat story being encapsulated within just one or two episodes per season, not his story taking place over the span of not only one, but perhaps several seasons, before it reaches its conclusion.<span style=""> </span>My point is, if they had aired “Blink” in ten minute increments, once per week, then I would probably watch it with the same mix of enjoyment and apprehension that the story will somehow lead to a deeply disappointing climax.<span style=""> </span>Clearly, this season has been infinitely more thrilling, and interesting, than last season, but it’s going to take patience, and a certain amount of faith, that all of the subplots will be addressed, and that it will be an amazing experience to watch them unfold.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’ll end this review by briefly listing the unresolved plot points from last season and this season that I hope will be resolved in the fall:</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Who, or what, was responsible for the TARDIS exploding last season, causing the cracks in time and space?</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Who are the Silence, what were they doing on Earth, and how are they involved with, presumably, turning young River Song into a weapon?</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Who was the astronaut that murdered the Doctor by the lake?<span style=""> </span>Why did it kill the Doctor?<span style=""> </span>And is the Doctor, or at least this incarnation, really dead, or was it all a trick?<span style=""> </span>My theory:<span style=""> </span>I think The Doctor used his ganger, from “The Almost People”, as a decoy to fool his enemies into thinking he was dead, so that he can get out from underneath his own legendary reputation.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Who is Madame Kovarian, and what is her personal stake in taking down The Doctor?<span style=""> </span>In fact, when, and how, was this coalition to destroy the Doctor put together?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Until next season, folks!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">BTW – I will be reviewing Torchwood:<span style=""> </span>Miracle Day on this blog when it airs, so stay tuned for that!</p>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-89828048230158441262011-05-29T10:08:00.000-07:002011-05-29T13:43:24.375-07:00Doctor Who Review - 6x06: The Almost People<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://doctorwho.bbcamerica.com/files/images/30/doctorwho_s06_e06_10__large.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 390px; height: 219px;" 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mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1>Dialogue Triumphs</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“I’m sorry, what I said about you being almost the Doctor.<span style=""> </span>It’s just really hard because we’ve been through so much with him.<span style=""> </span>I’ve even seen… I’ve even seen the moment of his… can you die?<span style=""> </span>If you really are the same, then you can die… can be killed… and I might have seen that happen.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ganger Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Why?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Why?<span style=""> </span>Because you invited us to see it… your death.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Hang on…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Cleaves:<span style=""> </span>“You cannot let him go, are you crazy?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Am I crazy, Doctor?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ganger Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Well, you did want to plug your brain into an entire planet just to hold its orbit and win a bet.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“If you have a better plan, I’m all ears.<span style=""> </span>In fact, if you have a better plan, I’ll take you to a planet where everyone is all ears.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ganger Jennifer:<span style=""> </span>“You’ve tricked him into an act weakness, Doctor.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“No, I’ve tricked him into an act of humanity.<span style=""> </span>Anyone else like the sound of that?<span style=""> </span>Act of humanity.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Push, Amy… but only when she tells you to.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“Doctor!<span style=""> </span>What is happening to her?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Contractions.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“Contractions?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“She’s going into labor.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Did he say…?<span style=""> </span>No, no, of course he didn’t…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“You’re going to have to start explaining some of this to me Doctor.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“What?<span style=""> </span>The birds and the bees?<span style=""> </span>She’s having a baby.<span style=""> </span>I needed to see the Flesh in its early days, that’s why I scanned it, that’s why we were there in the first place.<span style=""> </span>I was going to drop you off for fish and chips first, but things happened, and there was stuff and shenanigans… beautiful word, ‘shenanigans’.<span style=""> </span>I needed enough information to block the signal to the Flesh.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“What signal?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“The signal to you.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Doctor, I am frightened.<span style=""> </span>I’m properly, properly scared.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Don’t be.<span style=""> </span>Hold on.<span style=""> </span>We’re coming for you, I swear, whatever happens, however far, however hard, we will find you.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“I’m right here.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“No, you’re not, you haven’t been here for a long, long time.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hatch Lady:<span style=""> </span>“Well dear, you’re ready to pop, aren’t you?<span style=""> </span>Little one’s on its way.<span style=""> </span>Here it comes… puuuuuuuush!”</p> <h1>Dialogue Disasters</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">Ganger Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Reverse the jelly baby of the neutron flow.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jennifer:<span style=""> </span>“Rory!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“What’s wrong?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jennifer:<span style=""> </span>“This wheel, it’s just too tough for a girl to turn.<span style=""> </span>Are you feeling strong?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“I’ll break out the big guns.”</p> <h1>Double Entendres</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“But, hang on, you said the TARDIS was stuck in acid, so won’t she be damaged?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Nah, she’s a tough, old thing.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ganger Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Tough, old, sexy.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Tough, <i style="">dependable</i>, sexy.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ganger Cleaves:<span style=""> </span>“Shuttle, the codeword is ‘bad boy’.”</p> <h1>The Review</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the conclusion to last week’s episode, two Doctors, one the real deal, and the other a replicate, work together to save humans and Gangers alike from destruction, as the acid mine falls apart all around them.<span style=""> </span>However, none of that is half as interesting as the reveal to why The Doctor was so interested in the Flesh technology to begin with… but, as River Song would say, spoilers!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Although the developments in this episode don’t quite vindicate the overall drabness of “The Rebel Flesh”, it did, surprisingly, answer a lot of the questions that season six had been raising for awhile.<span style=""> </span>Namely, we finally figure out why Amy kept having visions of the Hatch Lady, and why the Doctor’s medical scans kept giving a scrambled report as to her pregnancy status.<span style=""> </span>It’s interesting how this Doctor plays his cards so close to his chest, very reminiscent of how the Seventh Doctor did things.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Seasonal arc plot points aside, the main plot of these two episodes were still kind of a mess.<span style=""> </span>I still found the characters to be shallow, and capable of pulling off the most bizarre 180s.<span style=""> </span>Ganger Jennifer goes off the deep end, going from a sweet, likeable character, to complete monster in little-to-no-time. <span style=""> </span>It’s briefly explained that her memories of being “decommissioned” had awakened, leading to this mental breakdown, but I found that to be a little weak.<span style=""> </span>Meanwhile, the real Foreman Cleaves also has an about face that seems just as illogical, given it was her irrational, remorseless actions that started the mess in the first place.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Really, it’s the interaction between the two Doctors, and their interaction with Amy, that keeps this episode going at a nice pace.<span style=""> </span>The twist at the end, when it is revealed that at some point the two Doctors switched shoes, so that the real Doctor could test Amy’s reaction to who she thought was the fake Doctor, was interesting, though confusing.<span style=""> </span>So, when exactly was the switch made?<span style=""> </span>Was the Doctor’s purpose behind this have something to do with his investigation into the Flesh?<span style=""> </span>I don’t know, it’s rather hazy, but it was all fun to watch, which is more than I can say for “The Rebel Flesh”, I suppose.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Anyway, now that this two-parter is over with, all that is left is the mid-season finale “A Good Man Goes to War”, at the end of which Moffat has promised a cliffhanger that will be a “game changer”.<span style=""> </span>Considering the impressively mindblowing cliffhanger at the end of “The Almost People”, my fellow Doctor Who nerds, it looks like it’s going to be a LONG summer after next week’s episode is over, and the season picks up again in the Fall.<span style=""> </span>A long summer indeed…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Next time…. “A Good Man Goes to War”…</p> <iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Vna3NcIZS3w" allowfullscreen="" width="640" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-75213855849541664362011-05-22T18:53:00.000-07:002011-05-22T20:29:24.935-07:00Doctor Who Review - 6x05: "The Rebel Flesh"<a onblur="try 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mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1>Dialogue Triumphs</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“There are people coming.<span style=""> </span>Well, almost…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Almost coming?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Almost people.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Intercom:<span style=""> </span>“Halt and remain calm!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Well, we’ve halted, how are we all doing on the ‘remain calm’ part?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jennifer:<span style=""> </span>“I couldn’t get out of my harness.<span style=""> </span>I thought I was going to die.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“Welcome to my world.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“You stopped his heart!<span style=""> </span>He had a heart!<span style=""> </span>Aorta, valves, a real human heart, and you stopped it!”</p> <h1>Dialogue Disasters</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Right, brilliant… lost?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Forman Cleaves:<span style=""> </span>“Okay…?<span style=""> </span>Once a reading’s been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything – replicate the organism down to the hairs of its chinny-chin-chin.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“For want of a better word:<span style=""> </span>oww!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“It is too dangerous out here with acid leaks!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Yes, it’s insane, and it’s about to get even more insanerer… is that a word?”</p> <h1>Double Entendres</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Assume the positions!”</p> <h1>The Review</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The TARDIS crash-lands onto a small island on Earth after being struck by a solar tsunami.<span style=""> </span>The island is home to an acid mining complex, run by a modest sized group of workers lead by a pragmatic foreman named Cleaves.<span style=""> </span>The miners utilize synthetic flesh to create replicas of themselves, called “Gangers” (short for Doppelganger), that they control from the safety of harnesses, to avoid the natural hazards involved in mining acid.<span style=""> </span>The complex, normally powered by solar flares, is being bombarded by the very solar tsunamis that forced the TARDIS into landing.<span style=""> </span>The Doctor attempts to evacuate the workers, before the entire factory is destroyed, but fails to do so before another tsunami strikes, causing the Gangers to gain sentience from their human controllers.<span style=""> </span>The Doctor not only must keep the Gangers and humans from murdering each other out of hysteria, but somehow get them all off the island before the next solar flare kills them all.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">When it comes to a typical season of <i style="">Doctor Who</i>, there is no such thing as bowling a perfect three hundred.<span style=""> </span>As solid as this season has been so far, it looks like <i style="">The Rebel Flesh</i> will end up being season six’s gutter ball (though, arguably, some may give that dubious title to <i style="">The Curse of the Black Spot</i>, although I really liked that episode… pirates-in-space notwithstanding).<span style=""> </span>To be fair, it may be too soon to really label this episode a dud, since it’s a two-parter, and so the story isn’t even complete yet.<span style=""> </span>However, I know I didn’t much care for this episode because after the cliffhanger, I was indifferent about how the story will conclude in next week’s episode.<span style=""> </span>In fact, I almost stopped the episode before the “Next Week” trailer came on at the end credits.<span style=""> </span>By the way, show of hands if you didn’t predict the cliffhanger?<span style=""> </span>Yes, you there, the tubeworm in the back!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The main concept of the episode is clever, but I felt the plot dragged a bit, and the tension between humans and Gangers seems forced.<span style=""> </span>Hostilities between the two factions is raised to the boiling point after Cleaves, in an act that ought to be labeled “Spaz Moment of the Year” for this season, outright kills one of the Gangers with an electrical prod for no other reason than to prove the point that the Gangers are merely equipment and deserve no other treatment.<span style=""> </span>Although Cleaves is a fairly unlikeable character, her act of violence wasn’t really well predicated by any character traits she displayed before, and was wholly unnecessary.<span style=""> </span>None of the characters have very realistic motivations and are mostly forgettable (or in Jennifer’s case, annoying).<span style=""> </span>Why does Ganger-Jennifer become so evil after one of her comrades is murdered?<span style=""> </span>Sure, I expect her to be upset, but “let’s wipe them all out” upset?<span style=""> </span>How does her character go from weepy “I’m just as human as the real Jennifer” to a more sinister “kill them all”?<span style=""> </span>Amy has nothing to do this entire episode but have yet another encounter with the mysterious Hatch Lady, who this time says nothing.<span style=""> </span>Maybe she sensed that this episode wasn’t important enough for dialogue.<span style=""> </span>Meanwhile, Rory spends his time helping Ganger-Jennifer make sense of her new life.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I think the main problem I have with this episode is that it reminded me of last year’s Silurian two-parter, <i style="">The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood</i>:<span style=""> </span>a small group of miners encounter a race of creatures they don’t understand, so they panic, murder one of them, and nearly cause a war of global scale.<span style=""> </span>This time, the stakes don’t really seem all that high, besides The Doctor simply wanting to help new life forms have a fighting chance before they are destroyed by their creators. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The one plus I’ll grant the episode is that the special effects are great.<span style=""> </span>I like the look of the Gangers, when they are in “flesh form” (resembling Otto from Deep Space Nine).<span style=""> </span>There’s a neat scene where Ganger-Jennifer seamlessly switches between human and Granger.<span style=""> </span>Besides taking place in a drab, uninteresting location, the overall look of the episode is good.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps next week’s “The Almost People” will wrap everything up in satisfactorily enough that it’ll salvage this episode!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Next week… </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1lgEBbVqzo0" allowfullscreen="" width="640" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe></p>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-91430204522741209482011-05-15T20:43:00.000-07:002011-05-15T21:08:09.167-07:00Doctor Who Review - 6x04: "The Doctor's Wife"<a onblur="try 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mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1>Dialogue Triumphs</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“There’s a living Time Lord left, and it’s one of the good ones!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“You said there weren’t any of the Time Lords left.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“There aren’t any Time Lords left anywhere in the Universe, but the Universe isn’t where we’re going!<span style=""> </span>See that snake?<span style=""> </span>The mark of The Corsair – fantastic bloke!<span style=""> </span>He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration; he didn’t feel like himself unless he had that tattoo, or herself a couple of times, ooh-hoo-hoo, she was a bad girl!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Why am I thief?<span style=""> </span>What have I stolen?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“Me!<span style=""> </span>You’re going to steal me!<span style=""> </span>You have stolen me.<span style=""> </span>You are stealing me.<span style=""> </span>Oh, tenses, they are difficult, aren’t they?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“We’re not actually going to stay here, are we?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Well, it seems like a friendly planet… literally.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“So, as soon as the TARDIS is refueled, we go, yeah?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“No! <span style=""> </span>There are Time Lords here, I heard them, and they need me.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“But you told me about your people, and you told me what you did.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Yes, yes, but if they’re like The Corsair, they’re good ones, and I can save them!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“And tell them that you destroyed all the others?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“I can explain… tell them why I had to…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“You want to be forgiven.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Don’t we all?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“You gave me hope then you took it away, that’s enough to make anyone dangerous.<span style=""> </span>God knows, what it will do to me.<span style=""> </span>Basically… run!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“You know, since we’re talking with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes very often, I just wanted to say, ya know, <i style="">you</i> have never been very reliable.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“And you have?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“You didn’t always take me where I wanted to go.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“No, I always took you where you <i style="">needed</i> to go.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“You ever wonder why I chose you, all those years ago?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“I chose you.<span style=""> </span>You were unlocked!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“Of course, I was.<span style=""> </span>I wanted to see the Universe.<span style=""> </span>I stole a Time Lord and ran away… and you were the only one mad enough.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Hang in there, Old Girl.<span style=""> </span>We’ll be there soon.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“…always liked it when you called me ‘Old Girl’…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">House:<span style=""> </span>“Fear me; I’ve killed hundreds of Time Lords.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Fear me… I’ve killed all of them.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“There’s something I didn’t get to say to you…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Good-bye?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“No… I just wanted to say: hello… hello, Doctor.<span style=""> </span>It’s so very, very nice to meet you.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor: <span style=""> </span>“The House deleted all the bedrooms, I should probably make you two a new bedroom, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Okay, um, Doctor, this time could we lose the bunk beds?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“No!<span style=""> </span>Bunk beds are cool!<span style=""> </span>Beds… with a ladder!<span style=""> </span>You can’t beat that!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <h1>Dialogue Disasters</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">N/A</p> <h1>Double Entendres</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“The first time you touched my console, you said I was…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“…the most beautiful thing I’d ever know.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Oh, sorry, uh, do you have a name?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“700 years and finally he asks.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“What do I call you?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“Don’t you call me… Sexy?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor (flustered):<span style=""> </span>“Only when we’re alone!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris:<span style=""> </span>“We are alone.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Huh.<span style=""> </span>Come on then, Sexy.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">House:<span style=""> </span>“So are we having fun yet?<span style=""> </span>I rather enjoy the sensation of having you running around inside me.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“She’s a woman, and she’s the TARDIS.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Did you wish really hard?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Shut up, it’s not like that.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Idris (To Amy and Rory):<span style=""> </span>“Hello, I’m… Sexy.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Ooh, still, shut up!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <h1>Review</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor receives a distress signal from an old Time Lord acquaintance, and races to the rescue, all the way through a rift into another universe.<span style=""> </span>The TARDIS lands onto a living planet named House, which has accrued piles of junk that has traveled through the rift over the years.<span style=""> </span>The distress signal turns out to be a trick for luring Time Lords, so that House can consume their TARDISes.<span style=""> </span>House extracts the living soul of the TARDIS, implants it into the body of a woman named Idris, possesses the TARDIS itself, and takes off with Amy and Rory trapped inside.<span style=""> </span>The Doctor must team up with Idris to pursue the TARDIS before it escapes to the real universe, leaving The Doctor trapped forever.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I must admit, I was a little apprehensive about this episode, despite it being written by the brilliant Neil Gaiman, because the title put me in mind of the utterly disappointing, not to mention misleading, season four episode, <i style="">The Doctor’s Daughter</i>.<span style=""> </span>Whereas that episode was a rigmarole of hopeless nonsense, this episode is a delightful exploration of the relationship between The Doctor and his TARDIS, something that has never been done in the 20-plus years of <i style="">Doctor Who</i>’s tenure on television.<span style=""> </span>We’ve always heard that the TARDIS was a living ship, but never had we the opportunity to meet her, besides, perhaps, the time that Rose was possessed by the Time Vortex in the season one finale, <i style="">The Parting of the Ways</i>; even then, it was rather ambiguous.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The other parts of the episode, the characters of Aunt, Uncle, and even the main baddy, House, are absolutely superfluous – even , at times, slightly annoying.<span style=""> </span>Amy and Rory don’t have much to do but run around, being terrorized by House.<span style=""> </span>Speaking of which, it must be said, Rory has died onscreen more times than any companion in Doctor Who history.<span style=""> </span>Poor Arthur Darvill must be a nervous wreck, wondering which death will be the last.<span style=""> </span>If this keeps going on, eventually Amy will find Rory’s lifeless body, and, instead of collapsing into tears, she’ll just roll her eyes in annoyance.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Finally, after so many years, the TARDIS temporarily gets a voice of her own, and it’s a wonderful experience.<span style=""> </span>I loved how The Doctor and Idris, the woman within whom the TARDIS is forcibly installed into, bicker and reminiscence like an old, married couple.<span style=""> </span>Guest-star, Suranne Jones, and Matt Smith have fantastic chemistry, which greatly helps believe the long-term nature of their characters’ relationship.<span style=""> </span>Credit should also be given to Neil Gaiman, who managed to deliver an episode worthy of the series, and one that will probably be a fan favorite for years to come.<span style=""> </span>Not since Douglas Adams (who wrote the famous Fourth Doctor story, “City of Death”, among other gems), has a famous writer been able to leave such an indelible mark on the show.<span style=""> </span>I am definitely crossing my fingers for Gaiman to write another for next season.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">After watching this episode, I do believe that the TARDIS is, indeed, The Doctor’s wife, and one with no equal.</p><p class="MsoNormal">BTW> Did anyone else notice how the Doctor mentioned how The Corsair regenerated into a woman a couple times? So, apparently, that answers the question on whether or not a Time Lord can switch genders during regeneration... interesting...<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Next time... "The Rebel Flesh"...</p><p class="MsoNormal"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wO5PcAuHhbk" allowfullscreen="" width="640" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe><br /></p>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-58180652764514080282011-05-09T17:43:00.000-07:002011-05-09T17:50:41.929-07:00Doctor Who Review - 6x03: "Curse of the Black Spot"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt32/doctorwhonews/bbcpublicity/2011/curse_s32_03.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 423px; height: 237px;" src="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt32/doctorwhonews/bbcpublicity/2011/curse_s32_03.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> 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<w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1><br /></h1><h1>Dialogue Triumphs</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Yo ho ho!<span style=""> </span>…or does nobody actually say that?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Avery:<span style=""> </span>“I’m confused…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Yeah, well, it’s a big club, we should get t-shirts.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hatch Lady: “It’s fine… you’re doing fine… just stay calm.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Good night, Doctor.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Good night, Amelia.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“You only call me ‘Amelia’ when you’re worried about me.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“I always worry about you.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Mutual.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Go to bed, Pond!”</p> <h1>Dialogue Disasters</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">N/A</p> <h1>Double Entendres</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">Avery:<span style=""> </span>“Take the doxy below to the galley.<span style=""> </span>Set her to work, she won’t need much feeding.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“You know, you shouldn’t feel threatened, your ship is much bigger than mine…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory (to Amy):<span style=""> </span>“I love the get-up, that’s great!<span style=""> </span>You should dress as a pirate more often!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“And the guns are back, you’re big on the guns.<span style=""> </span>You know, Freud would say you’re compensating…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“I’m his wife, for godsake, why can’t I touch him?”</p> <h1>Review</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The TARDIS lands in the hold of a becalmed pirate ship, the crew of which is slowly being picked off by a beautiful Siren who only targets the freshly injured.<span style=""> </span>If one is even so much as nicked by a loose nail, a black spot appears in their palm, marking them as the next victim for the Siren to disintegrate.<span style=""> </span>After Rory gets marked, The Doctor quickly takes command of the vessel in order to stop the Siren, before Rory dies for the third time in the new series (poor Arthur Darvill – always wondering if his next death scene will be his last!).</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I didn’t expect much out of this episode, if only because the 2-parter season opener was so good, and kick started so many interesting seasonal arc subplots, the prospect of watching a filler episode about pirates seemed a slap in the mouth.<span style=""> </span>Fortunately, <i style="">Curse of the Black Spot</i> turned out to be a delightful romp, which includes a plot turn that, though it’s arguable that it regurgitates concepts from previous Doctor Who episodes (<i style="">The Girl in the Fireplace</i> meets <i style="">The Doctor Dances</i>, with a dash of pirate – aaaargh!), was still a satisfying twist.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Once again, performances were good by all.<span style=""> </span>Hugh Bonneville plays Captain Avery with appropriate gravitas.<span style=""> </span>One definitely can sense that Captain Avery comes from a distinguished Navel background, rather than having risen through the ranks of a pirate ship.<span style=""> </span>Also, it must be mentioned that Lily Cole, as the Siren, did a fantastic job as well, even though she didn’t have any spoken lines beyond singing pretty (which, in all likelihood, was dubbed anyway).<span style=""> </span>Nevertheless, she did a fine job with the material she had, lighting up the screen (so to speak) whenever she appeared.<span style=""> </span>Besides being absurdly hot, Lily Cole has a lot of natural charisma, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she landed a bigger role in future episodes (just like Karen Gillan landed the role of Amy Pond, after playing a nameless soothsayer in <i style="">The Fires of Pompeii –</i> going even further back, just like Freema Agyeman landed the role of Martha Jones after her bit part in <i style="">Army of Ghosts</i>). </p> <p class="MsoNormal">While the episode is mostly very goofy, what with Amy somehow managing to deftly sword fight with pirates, and then the silly “pirates-in-space” ending, a fun episode like this turns out to be just what the Doctor ordered (hehe) after the emotionally heavy season premiere, and what showrunner Stephen Moffat promises to be an even more emotionally intense mid-season finale.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Plus, if there’s anything that can be taken from this episode, it’s that The Eleventh Doctor can add “Pirate hat” to his growing list of quirky hats he’s worn over the course of his run.</p> <h1>Verdict: S’alright!</h1>Next time... The Doctor's Wife (written by Neil Gaiman - squee!)<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Zn_KhjnAui8" allowfullscreen="" width="640" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-36217303749157728522011-05-01T08:50:00.000-07:002011-05-01T08:54:42.460-07:00Doctor Who Review - 6x02: Day of the Moon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt32/doctorwhonews/bbcpublicity/2011/d11s02e02.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 425px; height: 239px;" src="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt32/doctorwhonews/bbcpublicity/2011/d11s02e02.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> 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mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1><br /></h1><h1>Dialogue Triumphs</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“As long as there’s been something in the corner of your eye, or a creaking in your house, or breathing under your bed, or voices through your wall.<span style=""> </span>They’ve been running your lives for a very long time now, so keep this straight in your head:<span style=""> </span>we are not fighting an alien invasion – we’re leading a revolution.<span style=""> </span>And today the battle begins.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“I love you.<span style=""> </span>I know you think it’s him.<span style=""> </span>I know you think it ought to be him, but it’s not – it’s you.<span style=""> </span>And when I see you again, I’m going to tell you properly just to see your stupid face.<span style=""> </span>My life was so boring before you dropped out of the sky.<span style=""> </span>So just get your stupid face where I can see it, okay?<span style=""> </span>Okay.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Silence:<span style=""> </span>“You should kill us all onsight!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“You have given the order for your own execution, and the whole planet just heard you.<span style=""> </span>And one whacking great kick up the backside for the Silence.<span style=""> </span>You just raised an army against yourself!<span style=""> </span>And now, for a thousand generations, you’re going to be ordering them to destroy you every day.<span style=""> </span>How fast can you run?<span style=""> </span>Because today is the day the human race through you off their planet, and they won’t even know they’re doing it.<span style=""> </span>I think the word you’re looking for is ‘Oops’.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***<br />River:<span style=""> </span>“What are you doing?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Helping!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“You got a screwdriver!<span style=""> </span>Go build a cabinet!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“That’s really rude!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“What’s the matter with you?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“You called me stupid.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“I always call you stupid.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“No, but… my face.<span style=""> </span>I wasn’t sure who you were talking about… me… or…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“…him?” (referring to the Doctor)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“You did say ‘dropped out of the sky’.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“It’s a figure of speech, moron!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“You know what they say: ‘there’s a first time for everything’!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“And a last time.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Mysterious Little Girl:<span style=""> </span>“It’s alright… it’s quite alright… I’m dying.<span style=""> </span>But I can fix that.<span style=""> </span>It’s easy really… see?”</p> <h1>Dialogue Disasters</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">N/A</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <h1>Double Entendres</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">Nixon:<span style=""> </span>“This person you want to marry… black?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Canton:<span style=""> </span>“Yes…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Nixon:<span style=""> </span>“I know what people think of me, but perhaps I’m a little more liberal than…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Canton:<span style=""> </span>“…he is.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Nixon:<span style=""> </span>“I think the moon is far enough for now, don’t you, Mr. Delaware?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Canton:<span style=""> </span>“I figured it might be.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“You should have told me that you thought you were pregnant!<span style=""> </span>I’m a nurse, I’m good with pregnancy!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Not, as it turns out, <i style="">that</i> good.”</p> <h1>Review</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Three months after the events of <i style="">The Impossible Astronaut</i>, The Doctor and his companions discover that the mysterious, black suited aliens, who reveal their names to be “The Silence”, secretly inhabit the entire planet Earth, and have manipulated human history for thousands of years.<span style=""> </span>The Doctor immediately concocts a daring plan to defeat them, using the Apollo 11’s mission to the moon.<span style=""> </span>Meanwhile, Amy has another strange encounter with the little girl in the astronaut suit from the previous episode, but it’s cut short when The Silence kidnap Amy and hold her hostage.<span style=""> </span>Now The Doctor must save the Earth, and Amy, from the enigmatic designs of the Silence before it’s too late. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">As far as two-parters go, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon has been a hell of a fun ride.<span style=""> </span>I’m beginning to think that the reason season five was so uneven, and ultimately unsatisfying, was because it was Moffat’s warm-up – a year for him to get used to the new responsibilities as showrunner, and to give Doctor Who fans time to get used to Matt Smith as the new Doctor.<span style=""> </span>Season six is shaping up to be where the real shit hits the fan, and Moffat gets to remind everyone why he inherited the reigns in the first place.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The story of <i style="">Day of the Moon</i> was fast-paced, suspenseful, and did a great job of wrapping up most of the events set up by <i style="">The Impossible Astronaut</i>.<span style=""> </span>I must admit, I am a little confused as to the point of the first act though – why the charade involving FBI agent, Canton Delaware, pretending to kill the Doctor’s companions, while The Doctor is imprisoned for three months in Area 51?<span style=""> </span>In the previous episode, it seemed that the US government was fully in support of the Doctor’s assistance, and suddenly they’re being hunted down?<span style=""> </span>Was the entire ruse for the sake of fooling The Silence?<span style=""> </span>Also, there were a lot of cliffhanger elements that just weren’t entirely wrapped up from the last episode.<span style=""> </span>The last we saw Rory and River, they were about to get blasted by the The Silence.<span style=""> </span>Amy had just show the Astronaut, much to the dismay of The Doctor.<span style=""> </span>Now, without explanation, they’re all getting hunted by the government, one-by-one, as a clever trick set up by The Doctor?<span style=""> </span>It just seemed like a strange way to link both episodes together.<span style=""> </span>However, I did love the Doctor’s solution to defeating The Silence, which is <i style="">Doctor Who</i> at its best.<span style=""> </span>I also loved the plot device of the marks on the skin, or the blinking light of a voice recorder, for whenever The Doctor and his companions encounter The Silence.<span style=""> </span>You see, The Silence have ruled Earth for so long because whenever one takes their eyes off them, one immediately forgets one saw them.<span style=""> </span>So, that makes for a very difficult enemy to face.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Once again, the acting was top-notch.<span style=""> </span>All the principle actors turned in great performances, especially Matt Smith, who seems completely familiar with his Doctor by now.<span style=""> </span>The guy who played Nixon stretches believability though, and the goofy “Hail to the Chief” music that played whenever he entered a scene began to get silly.<span style=""> </span>I was also kind of annoyed by the strange housekeeper for the children’s home the mystery girl apparently lives at.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">While that summary covers the main plot of the episode, there are so many other pieces of the larger puzzle going on.<span style=""> </span>For example, while searching for the astronaut girl, Amy comes across a strange woman, with an eye patch, who glares coldly at Amy through a hatch before dismissively saying, “No, I think she’s just dreaming” and closing the hatch.<span style=""> </span>When Amy opens the door to confront the woman, nobody is in the room.<span style=""> </span>Hmm…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Then there is Amy’s confession to The Doctor of being pregnant, which, in this episode, she denies.<span style=""> </span>When The Doctor scans her, he gets mixed readings, which suggest some kind of trippy time/space situation is going on in Amy’s sexy womb (did… did I just call Amy’s womb sexy?<span style=""> </span>Yes.<span style=""> </span>Yes I did.)<span style=""> </span>Hmm…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Just what was The Silences’ ultimate objective, and why did it involve installing a little girl into an astronaut suit brimming with alien tech?<span style=""> </span>Why does, presumably, this same girl show up in the aforementioned suit, in 2011, to murder the Doctor in cold blood?<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As if these mysteries weren’t enough, the last 2-minutes of the episode will leave your jaw hanging open.<span style=""> </span>However, I most certainly do not want to spoil this ending.<span style=""> </span>Needless to say, Moffat seems to have gone to the school of <i style="">Lost</i> when it comes to setting up fascinating puzzles to entice audiences to keep watching.<span style=""> </span>Let’s hope this season ends with more satisfying plot resolutions than the entire series of <i style="">Lost </i>did.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Next time... "Curse of the Black Spot"</p><p class="MsoNormal"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XeNqZ97xrN8" allowfullscreen="" width="640" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe><br /></p>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-38835020017203145272011-04-24T14:53:00.001-07:002011-04-24T14:57:38.946-07:00Doctor Who Review - 6x01: The Impossible Astronaut<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt32/doctorwhonews/ratings/s32/series32-01.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 372px; height: 208px;" src="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt32/doctorwhonews/ratings/s32/series32-01.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> 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mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <br /><h1>Dialogue Triumphs</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“I wear a Stetson now.<span style=""> </span>Stetsons are cool.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“Whatever that was, it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle.<span style=""> </span>His body was already dead.<span style=""> </span>He didn’t make it to the next one.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“A Time Lord’s body is a miracle – even a dead one.<span style=""> </span>There are entire empires out there that would rip this world apart for just one cell.<span style=""> </span>We can’t leave him here, or anywhere.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“You’re okay!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Of course, I’m okay, I’m always okay, I’m the king of okay… no, that’s a rubbish title, forget that title.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“We’ve told him all we can.<span style=""> </span>We can’t even tell him we’ve seen his future self.<span style=""> </span>He’s interacted with his own past.<span style=""> </span>It could rip a hole in the universe.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Yeah, but he’s done it before.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“And in all fairness, the universe did blow up.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Time isn’t a straight line – it’s all bumpy-wumpy. There’s loads of boring stuff, like Sundays, and Tuesdays, and Thursday afternoons; and every now and then, there are Saturdays – big, temporal tipping points where anything’s possible.<span style=""> </span>The TARDIS can’t resist them, like a moth to a flame.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Swear to me – swear to me on something that matters.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Fish fingers and custard.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“My life in your hands, Amelia Pond.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“What did you mean, what you said to Amy, ‘there’s a worse day coming’ for you?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“When I first met the Doctor, a long time ago, he knew all about me.<span style=""> </span>Think about that – an impressionable, young girl and suddenly this man just drops out of the sky.<span style=""> </span>He’s clever, and mad, and wonderful, and knows every last thing about her.<span style=""> </span>Imagine what that does to a young girl.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“I don’t really have to.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“The trouble is, it’s all back-to-front.<span style=""> </span>My past is his future.<span style=""> </span>We’re traveling in opposite directions.<span style=""> </span>Every time we meet, I know him more, and he knows me less.<span style=""> </span>I live for the days when I see him, but I know that every time I do, he’ll be one step further away.<span style=""> </span>The day is coming when I’ll look into that man’s eyes, my Doctor, and he won’t have the faintest idea who I am… and I think it’s going to kill me.”</p> <h1>Dialogue Disasters</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctors:<span style=""> </span>“Fellas, the guns?<span style=""> </span>Really?<span style=""> </span>I just walked into the highest security office in the United State, parked a big blue box on the rug, and you think you can just shoot me?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“They’re Americans!”</p> <h1>Double Entendres</h1> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“I’m your new undercover agent, along from Scotland Yard, codename The Doctor.<span style=""> </span>These are my top operatives: The Legs, The Nose, and Mrs. Robinson.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“I hate you.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“No, you don’t.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Dr. Song, you’ve got that face on again.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“What face?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“The ‘he’s-hot-when-he’s-clever’ face.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“This is my normal face.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Yes, it is.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“Oh, shut up!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Not a chance.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Shout if you get in trouble.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">River:<span style=""> </span>“Don’t worry – I’m quite the screamer.”</p> <h1> </h1> <h1>The Review</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">Doctor Who</i> returns for its much anticipated sixth season, and boy does it return with a vengeance.<span style=""> </span>Showrunner, Stephen Moffat, wasn’t kidding around when he teased that he had some big plans to shake up the Whoniverse, if just the first 10 minutes of this episode is any indication.<span style=""> </span>I can’t even begin to imagine what the BIG cliffhanger is going to be midseason.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Before I go into the plot summary, I will warn you that spoilers are unavoidable.<span style=""> </span>I major event happens at the beginning of the episode that sets off the entire story.<span style=""> </span>So, if you haven’t watched the episode yet, I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend you don’t read this review.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The episode begins with Rory and Amy, getting used to domestic life, as they wonder what has become of The Doctor, who has left them travel solo for awhile.<span style=""> </span>With the kind of timing only a Time Lord is capable of, they receive a mysterious TARDIS blue invitation to meet somewhere in the middle of the Utah desert.<span style=""> </span>Unbeknownst to them, River Song receives a similar invitation, and the three of them converge to meet with, whom else but The Doctor.<span style=""> </span>Their reunion gets cut short when, during a picnic by the lake, a mysterious figure, dressed in an astronaut outfit, emerges from the water, kills The Doctor stone-cold-dead, and then silently walks back into the lake.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The group doesn’t even have time to mourn him before they run into… The Doctor, who himself, received a mysterious invitation.<span style=""> </span>River surmises that The Doctor they witnessed get killed was from the future, and for reasons unknown, orchestrated their meeting.<span style=""> </span>They all decide not to tell The Doctor about this, as it would create a paradox.<span style=""> </span>Meanwhile, they chase their only lead to the entire affair to the 1969 White House, where President Nixon has been receiving strange phone calls from a little girl on a nightly basis.<span style=""> </span>Naturally, The Doctor immediately gets involved, pinpointing the girl’s location to an abandoned warehouse in Florida.<span style=""> </span>Throughout all of this, Amy keeps catching glimpses of odd looking aliens in black suits, who have the ability to make people forget their presence the moment the person stops looking at them, making them essentially invisible.<span style=""> </span>They are omnipresent the entire episode, but none of the characters can maintain the memory of their respective encounters with them.<span style=""> </span>Who are these enigmatic aliens?<span style=""> </span>Who is the little girl?<span style=""> </span>What does all of this have to do with the murderous astronaut in the future?<span style=""> </span>It looks like we won’t know until next week’s episode, <i style="">Day of the Moon</i>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The episode is satisfying in every sense of the word.<span style=""> </span>I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I certainly wasn’t expecting The Doctor to die within the first Act.<span style=""> </span>It certainly served as a riveting mystery to be solved, and one that could quite possibly not be solved until the end of the whole season.<span style=""> </span>In the previous season, Moffat has shown that he is willing, and very able, to throw us some curveball subplots, some of which, from as far back as season four, have yet to be resolved (the big one being – just who the hell is River Song anyway?).<span style=""> </span>Moffat is known for his propensity at utilizing the show’s time traveling aspects to tell some innovative and clever stories.<span style=""> </span>It isn’t crazy to think that perhaps, although it may be several episodes, even two more seasons away, we may have just witnessed the Eleventh Doctor’s final moments within this very episode.<span style=""> </span>Although, I very much doubt that – there’s probably a much bigger game afoot.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">While the writing was top notch, the acting backs it up considerably.<span style=""> </span>Matt Smith owns the role of The Doctor by this point, and if anyone still doubts it, they’re either blind or stupid.<span style=""> </span>He plays the role with incredible subtly – so much so, that I didn’t suspect anything was amiss with The Doctor until his death.<span style=""> </span>When I rewatched the episode, though, it was more evident to me that The Doctor’s behavior was odd, even for him.<span style=""> </span>He seemed distant, reflective, and somewhat somber, very similar to the 10<sup>th</sup> Doctor’s attitude when he sensed his end was near.<span style=""> </span>My point is, Matt does a remarkable job hiding that just under the surface of the Doctor’s usual, manic, “happy-go-lucky” personality.<span style=""> </span>Karen Gillan is ten times better in this episode than she was all of last season.<span style=""> </span>She seems to be finally bringing the headstrong, surliness of Amy’s character down a notch, while managing to not compromise the aspects of her character that are likable.<span style=""> </span>The supporting casts of Arthur Darvill and Alex Kingston have some great lines, which they make the most with.<span style=""> </span>Even the guy playing Nixon does a decent enough job.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It’s worth noting, as well, that the creature effects are great.<span style=""> </span>The Silence, as the mysterious, black suited aliens have been named by the BBC website, seem to be heavily influenced by the alien abduction stories of the early 60s, wherein the supposed victims describe their captors as “tall, gray men”.<span style=""> </span>The most creepy of all, though, is the titular astronaut, who only appears at the beginning and end of the episode, but is a pervasive, and ominous, threat all throughout.<span style=""> </span>Moffat has always had a knack for taking everyday imagery, or objects, and making them terrifying.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">The Impossible Astronaut</i> is a very strong season opener, with nary a flaw.<span style=""> </span>Honestly, I can’t remember the last time the season opener of <i style="">Doctor Who</i> has been so gripping.<span style=""> </span>Hopefully, this bodes well for the rest of the season!</p> <h1>Verdict:<span style=""> </span>Fucking Awesome!</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Next time… 6x02:<span style=""> </span>“Day of the Moon”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TrHQmEoqTmw" allowfullscreen="" width="640" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe></p>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-73712296600830856472011-01-18T17:21:00.000-08:002011-01-18T18:01:44.968-08:00Doctor Who Retrospective - Villains: Omega<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__ZNxti6RJVY/TRoUbLd-OaI/AAAAAAAABG4/UXt7_N1k5MA/s400/omega_doctor_villains.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__ZNxti6RJVY/TRoUbLd-OaI/AAAAAAAABG4/UXt7_N1k5MA/s400/omega_doctor_villains.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Omega debuted in the 1973 episode "The Three Doctors", which was the first episode that featured past incarnations of The Doctor working with the current one. Omega is a legendary Time Lord who worked alongside Rassilon, another Time Lord hero and the very first President of Gallifrey, to develop time travel. However, during an experiment to use a star as a power source for time travel, Omega was caught up in a supernova and was presumed to have died a hero's death. It turns out, though, that he had actually fallen through into an anti-matter universe, where he has the ability to create anything he desires with his mind. The isolation slowly drives him insane, and he decides to concentrate on returning to the positive matter universe to get revenge on the Time Lords who, in his deranged mind, abandoned him. The Time Lords bring together the first three incarnations of The Doctor to stop him before he breaks free into the positive universe, which would destroy the very fabric of existence.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NdVPdIWE5Ac?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NdVPdIWE5Ac?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />The second, and final, appearance of Omega is during the 5th Doctor's era in the 1983 episode "Arc of Infinity". Omega is freed of his exile in the anti-matter universe by using The Doctor's DNA to construct a positive matter body as a vessel for his consciousness. The body is not permanent, though, and The Doctor must find a way to send Omega back before any of his anti-matter energy makes contact with our universe.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Snb37jq3nI0?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Snb37jq3nI0?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Omega hasn't returned, or even been mentioned, in the new series, but I think it'd be interesting to see him return - especially if he is still using the Fifth Doctor's form (which would be a great way to have Peter Davison return to the series as a villain!). I mean, for godsakes, they brought back the Macra in "Gridlock", and they were uber minor villains that haven't been seen since the 60s! Anyway, even though Omega has only been in two Doctor Who stories, he's an interesting villain, and one I'm sure we'll probably eventually see again!<br /><br />Coming up next: The RaniCraiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-15423720889668738722010-12-28T10:33:00.000-08:002010-12-28T22:20:29.547-08:00Doctor Who Review: Christmas Special - "A Christmas Carol"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt32/doctorwhonews/bbcpublicity/2010/xmas/christmasCarol2_small.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 342px;" src="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt32/doctorwhonews/bbcpublicity/2010/xmas/christmasCarol2_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> 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<w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:180%;">Dialogue Triumphs</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">(After splashing down through a chimney.)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Cough, cough, blimey, sorry, Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, and my whole brain went ‘What the hell!’”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">*** </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Who’s she?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kazran:<span style=""> </span>“Nobody important.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Nobody important?<span style=""> </span>Blimey, that’s amazing.<span style=""> </span>You know, in 900 years of traveling in time and space, I’ve never met anybody that wasn’t important before.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor: “Fish? Fish… fish that can swim in fog.<span style=""> </span>I love new planets.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“And I bet I get some very interesting readings from my sonic screwdriver when I get it back from the shark that’s in your bedroom.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Young Kazran:<span style=""> </span>“There’s a shark in my bedroom?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Oh fine! Focus on that part!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Why is she still in there?<span style=""> </span>You can let her out anytime.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kazran:<span style=""> </span>“Oh yes, anytime at all… anytime I choose.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amy:<span style=""> </span>“Then why don’t you?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kazran:<span style=""> </span>“This is what the Doctor did to me.<span style=""> </span>Abigail was ill when she went into the ice, to the point of death.<span style=""> </span>I suppose lying in the ice helped her… but she’s used up her time - all those Christmas Eves with me.<span style=""> </span>I could release her anytime I want… and she would live a single day.<span style=""> </span>So tell me, Ghost of Christmas Present, how do I choose which day?”<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:180%;">Double Entendres</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rory:<span style=""> </span>“Amy!<span style=""> </span>The light stopped flashing; does that mean he’s coming?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kazran:<span style=""> </span>“I cried all night, and I learned life’s most valuable lesson.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Doctor:<span style=""> </span>“Which is?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kazran:<span style=""> </span>“Nobody comes!”</p><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">The Review</span><br /><br />Amy and Rory, while on their honeymoon, get trapped on an intergalactic cruise liner plunging on a crash course to a planet shrouded in thick, icy clouds that are populated by fish. It's up to the Doctor to save them, but the only way he can is by convincing a cruel, wealthy industrialist, named Kazran Sardick, who has a machine that controls the ice clouds, to help steer the ship to safety. However, Kazran, truly living up to the last four letters in his last name, is content to let the ship just crash. So, the Doctor takes Kazran on a Scrooge-like journey through his past, present, and future, with the hopes of thawing Kazran's icy heart, before the planet's icy clouds doom a ship of 4,000+ people.<br /><br />You know, silly me, I actually <span style="font-style: italic;">doubted</span> that this episode would be very good. The Doctor Who Christmas Specials can be kind of dodgy sometimes. Sure, they're almost always entertaining, but, with the exception of David Tennant's debut episode, "The Christmas Invasion", they're usually pretty forgettable. "The Runaway Bride", while bombastic and funny, wasn't even Christmas related, and the less said about "Voyage of the Damned" and "The Next Doctor", the better. Mind you, none of these are bad episodes, just not as good as the show is usually capable.<br /><br />When I heard that showrunner, and all around genius, Steven Moffat, was writing a Doctor Who version of "A Christmas Carol", I kind of sighed irritably. The story of "A Christmas Carol" has been fucked out considerably, and I really didn't know how a Doctor Who version of it would be all that great.<br /><br />I really ought to learn to trust the Moffat.<br /><br />Sure, with the exception of a few minor quibbles about last season, many of which will probably be dealt with next season, Moffat has seldom ever let me down. He most certainly blew my mind this time.<br /><br />While "A Christmas Carol" borrows the basic theme and formula of the Charles Dickens classic, it's done very cleverly, utilizing the Doctor's ability to travel in time to great effect. I clapped in utter joy when the Doctor went back to Kazran's childhood, while adult Kazran watched on in an old video log he recorded as a child (just like in "The Beast Below", the Doctor can't resist helping a weeping child). That's one thing I love about Moffat - he really takes advantage of the time travel aspect of the show to tell some really cool stories. Most writers, even throughout the classic era, spent more time focusing on the Doctor fighting monsters from outer space, or traveling to strange planets.<br /><br />Speaking of strange planets, I also loved the concept of whatever planet this takes place on. The idea of fish that swim through fog is delightfully absurd, and serves to set the perfect, fairytale tone for the episode. I also like how, even though this is clearly the future, the people on this planet still dress like Charles Dickens characters. I suppose it stands to reason that such fashion could make a come back in the distant future, right?<br /><br />The story is a very sweet departure from the normal Christmas Special fare, wherein the Doctor is usually pitted against some alien threat. Instead, the only the threat is the callous nature of Kazran, a trait which he inherited from his abusive father, and all the Doctor can do is try his best so show Kazran that there is another way of living his life. I absolutely loved the multiple Christmas Eves montage, where the Doctor comes back to spend every Christmas with young Kazran, and a beautiful cryogenically frozen woman named Abigail (who becomes Kazran's love interest as he grows older).<br /><br />Naturally, as always, the performances are excellent. Unfortunately, Karen Gillan (Amy) and Arthur Darvill (Rory) didn't have much to do but scream for help most of the episode, but I do like how much Gillan seems to have toned down her character. Something about Amy bugged me all last season (and it certainly wasn't the looks, grrrrowl!) - it just seemed like none of the writers, except for Moffat, knew how to write for the character, and Gillan didn't really know how to play the character. It was good to see her again, especially in that sexy policewoman's uniform! Meanwhile, Matt Smith as the Doctor is, as always, a joy to watch. He crackles with energy all throughout the episode with the confidence of someone who has positively taken ownership of the role now. Lastly, veteran actor Michael Gambon turns in a superb performance as Kazran Sardick, which is hardly surprising considering that this is Michael Gambon we're talking about here. <br /><br />Complaints? There aren't any. I found this to be an incredibly entertaining hour of television, and I came away not only feeling the Christmas spirit, but also looking forward to season six with an almost feverish enthusiasm.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Verdict: Fucking Awesome</span><br /><br />Speaking of season six...<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8NETzenwtno?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8NETzenwtno?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />"I wear a Stetson now. Stetsons are cool."Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-38849399105928208002010-12-22T19:56:00.000-08:002010-12-22T22:06:57.947-08:00DVD BlitzCraig: Punchline (1988), Superman: The Animated Series Volume 3, Scrubs - Season 8I'm so far behind in this, but you got to understand, I watch a shitload of DVDs... like, tons and tons and tons. I'm a single guy, with virtually no prospects over the horizon, so I'm sort of locked in with my bachelor lifestyle of "wake up, eat, shit, masturbate, watch a DVD, go to sleep" (not in that particular order, either). The routine sustains me. So, when trapped in a routine like this, the DVDs begin to accumulate, and when the movies are shit like <span style="font-style: italic;">Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time</span>, well, I'm sorry, I just don't feel like writing about it. I mean, what more can be said about <span style="font-style: italic;">Prince of Persia</span> that hasn't been said about dogshit?<br /><br />Anyway, I'm going to try my best to catch up, because another part of the routine that sustains me is writing - whether it be in this blog, writing comedy for my stand-up, or just writing my grocery list.<br /><br /><a href="https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/internship/files/Jacket.aspx.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 280px;" src="https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/internship/files/Jacket.aspx.jpeg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Punchline </span>(1988)<br /><br />Tom Hanks stars as Steven Gold, a talented stand-up comedian who is the rising star at his home comedy club in New York City. He reluctantly takes amateur comic, and house mom, Lilah Krystick (Sally Field), under his wing and teaches her the ropes of comedy.<br /><br />I found this movie to be really enjoyable, and an insightful look into the richly rewarding, but often profoundly lonely, world of stand-up comedy. I like how much the lifestyles of the two main characters completely clashed, but they both want the same thing: to succeed in comedy. Steven Gold is an intelligent, rapier witted individual, with a gift for comedy that is so natural, everyone knows he'll eventually break out big, but he is also a deeply lonely person, mostly due to his lack of social skills, and comedy is all that he's got. Meanwhile, you have Lilah, who is also a naturally gifted comic, but she is so devoted to her family, she doesn't have the time, or the inclination, to write her own material, and barely gets laughs rigidly delivering jokes that she bought from someone else using her family's vacation fund. She is anything but lonely, but nevertheless, has the same drive to make it in comedy as Steven.<br /><br />These characters work so well because Tom Hanks and Sally Field give really strong performances. The solid performances create several great moments in the movie, one of my favorites being a scene where Steven completely bombs, and has an emotional meltdown, after discovering that his overbearing father, from whom he has kept his stand-up career a secret, is in the crowd:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wgkVb8XUu28?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wgkVb8XUu28?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Yikes. Every comic has had that experience, though few have been so grotesque. The worst I've ever bombed was the one and only time I got drunk before going onstage and promptly forgot my entire set. I just stood there, swaying on my feet, staring at the lights, desperately reaching into the murky cow pond that my mind had become, and retrieving nothing for my troubles. It was pretty god awful, but I didn't end up crying at least. Nope, I just burped, stumbled off the stage and into polite silence.<br /><br />The only bad part of the movie is the clumsy and unnecessary subplot of Gold falling in love with Lilah. This development didn't feel natural at all, and while it certainly added a layer of neurosis to Gold's already neurotic character, it also just seemed way too forced. For one thing, Lilah never comes across as sexually alluring at all. Secondly, at no point during their time spent together, did it seem like Lilah and Steven were hitting it off romantically. It felt like the tone of the movie just kind of shifted dramatically - kind of like in <span style="font-style: italic;">Funny People</span>, when the movie takes a complete left turn, and the plot is suddenly about Adam Sandler trying to reunite with his ex. I just sat there watching, thinking, "Where the hell did <span style="font-style: italic;">this</span> come from???" I guess it did serve to emphasize the depth of Gold's loneliness, juxtaposed with the depth of Lilah's love for her family. Still, I wish it was developed better. Plus, considering that the same actors eventually play mother and son in Forest Gump, it was a little disturbing seeing the two kiss. Blegh.<br /><br />Ultimately, the movie was enjoyable, and I'd hardily recommend it to anyone who is interested in comedy, along with the following films: <span style="font-style: italic;">Comedian</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Heckler</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">I Am Comic,When Stand-up Stood Out</span>, and that should be enough to get you going.<br /><br />Verdict: Fucking Awesome<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tvshowsondvd.net/graphics/news3/SupermanTAS_V3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 255px;" src="http://www.tvshowsondvd.net/graphics/news3/SupermanTAS_V3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Superman: The Animated Series - Volume 3</span><br /><br />Superman finishes up his adventures in the final season of this amazing series by <span style="font-style: italic;">Batman: The Animated Series</span> masterminds, Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. Most of this season involves Superman fending of invasion by the forces of Apokolips, led by the evil, godlike ruler, Darkseid. However, interspersed throughout the season are appearances by characters such as Mr. Mxyzsptlk, Bizarro, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Metallo, Supergirl, Batman, and Braniac.<br /><br />I can't say enough about how amazing this series is. If you follow my blog, you already know there is a very large place in my heart for any animated series by Dini and Timm, so it shouldn't surprise you that my review of this series would be absolutely glowing. The season long epic involving Darkseid is handled extremely well, top-to-bottom, especially in this shocking scene when a heroic cop, named Dan Turpin, is murdered in cold blood by Darkseid to prove a point:<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v0pcChyV6o4?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v0pcChyV6o4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Good lord... remember, this was a cartoon that came on in the afternoons for kids just getting out of school. You just don't get scenes like that anymore. My only regret is that it didn't continue on longer, especially considering how the series ends with the world hating and fearing Superman after he is brainwashed to attack Earth by Darkseid... and, my god, is the fight he has with Darkseid later awesome:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iTECNKpZAM4?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iTECNKpZAM4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Sure, it's not as good as the one he has with Darkseid later in Justice League Unlimited, but we'll discuss that one at a later time. So, yeah, as a whole, the Superman animated series is a work of art, and if you've never seen it, or have only watched bits and pieces, you really owe it to yourself to watch the entire thing. After you watch it, you'll be pissed that they still haven't managed to make a decent Superman movie yet.<br /><br />Verdict: Fucking Awesome<br /><br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/JONAND%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /><a href="http://chud.com/articles/content_images/212/ScrubsSeason8/250px-Season8dvd.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 353px;" src="http://chud.com/articles/content_images/212/ScrubsSeason8/250px-Season8dvd.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Scrubs - Season 8</span><br /><br />The hilarious hospital series closes it doors, as J.D. (Zach Braff) decides to leave Sacred Heart for new horizons and... wait, what? What do you mean there's a season 9? How can there be a season 9??? The main character friggin' left! <br /><br />You know what sucks? When people don't get the simple concept of leaving on a high note. It's one of the oldest rules of showbusiness. Although this series isn't perfect, it was still really well written and enjoyable enough where, had it bowed out at the appropriate time, it would have been revered as one of the best television comedies ever. Instead, its legacy is one of being canceled, only to be renewed, have what was supposed to be the final season, only to have one more season, before being canceled again in disgrace.<br /><br />But this isn't a review of season 9... sigh... I'll cross that minefield when I get to it. Let's pretend, for the sake of this review, that this actually were the final season of Scrubs. If such were the case, I'd say that it was a fantastic send off for a truly great show. The jokes are still sharp, the characters still likable, and the actors still giving it their best. All the characters end up right where I'd imagined them to be, so no surprises there, but it still works well for the series. The final sequence, where J.D. walks down the hallway one last time, and sees the familiar faces of all the characters he encountered during the series is actually quite touching.<br /><br />It would have been the perfect end to a wonderful series... but noooooooo! Ugh... well, anyway, good season, and if you made it this far into the series, you'll enjoy it.<br /><br />Verdict: Fucking AwesomeCraiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-1170359744744410972010-12-17T15:49:00.000-08:002010-12-17T18:34:59.063-08:00Doctor Who Retrospective - Villains: The Autons<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://fandomania.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/monstersauton2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 410px; height: 300px;" src="http://fandomania.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/monstersauton2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />By this point, I've covered all of the The Doctor's most dangerous adversaries: the Daleks, the Cybermen, The Master, the Ice Warriors, and the Sontarans. As far as The Doctor's gallery of villains is concerned, the Autons are certainly not very high up there, but since they have been involved in some of the series' milestone episodes, I felt it prudent to at least give them a passing mention.<br /><br />The Autons are actually drones of living plastic, brought to life by a central intelligence called the Nestene Consciousness. The Nestene, itself, is mostly created out of living plastic, and animate anything else that is made of plastic by transmitting a psychic signal. However, commonly, the Nestene utilizes shop window dummies to do its bidding, although it can also create passable human replicates out of plastic and control those as well. All Autons are equipped with powerful projectile weapons, capable of completely vaporizing their victims, hidden in their hands. However, like I said before, the Autons are only drones, and when cut off from the Nestene Consciousness, which can be done with The Doctor's ever useful sonic screwdriver, they are rendered completely useless.<br /><br />The Autons were introduced, along with John Pertwee as the Third Doctor, in the 1970 episode "Spearhead from Space":<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0XqPE0yKQ2I?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0XqPE0yKQ2I?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Eww... for a second there, I thought Doctor Who was going to go into hentai territory... Anyway, they return the very next season in "Terror of the Autons", in which The Master collaborates with the Nestene in his debut episode:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vXrAK6sUZ_0?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vXrAK6sUZ_0?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />The Autons were benched for the rest of the classic Who era, only to resurface in the very first episode of the new series, starring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, entitled "Rose":<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaNbFgJsv1g">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaNbFgJsv1g</a><br /><br />Lousy disabled embeds... anyway, the Autons haven't been featured since "Rose", also they do play a fairly significant role in season five's 2-part finale "The Pandorica Opens", but no significant enough for me to go into full detail (especially without revealing spoilers). Nevertheless, even though they are very minor villains in the Whoverse, since they were the main villains in three major Doctor Who episodes, I felt it prudent to give them a nod, and anyway, who knows - maybe they'll grow to be a larger threat in future episodes!<br /><br />Besides, the whole point of this retrospective is to not only cover the major villains, but to also dover interesting, if obscure, villains casual fans might not be aware of. Speaking of which...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Next time: Omega!</span>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-14856309364821860242010-12-12T21:01:00.000-08:002010-12-12T21:19:26.614-08:00Craig Bitches About Everything: Bars<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.nj.com/newarkguide_impact/2007/10/large_bar.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 453px; height: 300px;" src="http://blog.nj.com/newarkguide_impact/2007/10/large_bar.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if !mso]> <style> v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> 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mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /><a href="http://blog.nj.com/newarkguide_impact/2007/10/large_bar.jpg"><span style="text-decoration: none;color:blue;" ><span style=""></span></span></a><br /><br />I hate bars.<br /><br />I mean I really fucking <i>hate</i> bars.<br /><br />Any one of my best friends knows how sincere I am with every word of that statement. If I could gauge my experiences in bars in a spectrum of 1 through 10, with 1 being "absolute loathing" and 10 being "mild annoyance", then I'd rate my experiences somewhere around... <span style="color:red;">negative </span>2. Notice I colored the word "negative" red to emphasize my hate.<br /><br />By this point, some of you naysayers are probably thinking, "Aw, if you'd loosen up and have fun, then you wouldn't hate bars so much." Well, nothing personal, but I think I may hate you for saying that almost as much as I hate bars. First of all, when someone is in an uncomfortable situation, they can't just "have fun". The act of having fun is not relegated to an on/off switch in the brain. You either enjoy something, or you don't. "Fun" is too subjective a concept. Some people think dancing is fun, while others would rather have their doctor lose his watch while giving them a prostate exam than dance.<br /><br />The best way to get across why I hate bars is to describe a typical bar experience for me. A night at the bar usually starts late, which is already annoying, as I generally hate staying out late, because I love sleeping too much. If I stay up really late, I always feel groggy the next day, and that's just not going to be good for anyone. So, I'll drive to the bar, and usually end up circling the block for 15-minutes before I find a place to park. Then I walk up, and find that I have to pay a cover.<br /><br />By the way - fuck cover charges. These places don't make enough money on their overpriced drinks? You have to be charged a fee just to get entry into the loud, overcrowded shithole? Fabulous. So, reluctantly, I pay the cover, mentally tallying that the night has started with me $8 in the hole, and I haven't even bought a drink yet.<br /><br />For the sake of giving you a full blown, sucky bar experience, let's say the bar is packed with people. This mean, just to get a drink, I must squeeze by people, who stand there like cows, completely immobile and unwilling to move in any way that will allow you to get by easier. So, after stepping on five feet, nearly spilling the drink of a person who looks just like Ogre, from Revenge of the Nerds...<br /><a href="http://nerdarama.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/ogre.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 346px; height: 259px;" src="http://nerdarama.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/ogre.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />...and doing that thing where you have to squeeze really close to another dude, to get by, but you're desperately trying not to be make "crotch-to-ass", or even worse "crotch-to-crotch", contact with him, because he and his douchie, frat buddies look just like type to feel the need to reinforce their heterosexuality by beating anyone they perceive as the least bit "faggoty", despite the fact that they're all wearing pink in their wardrobe, and regularly engage in homoerotic activities like sticking their balls in their passed out buddy's mouth as a charming "prank".<br /><br />So, after navigating through the pool of humanity, or cesspool, depending on the bar you're at, I finally get to the actually <i>bar</i> part of the bar. Now I'm standing there, like a chode, waiting for the bartender to notice me, and every time he walks by, I hesitantly stick my finger up, like I'm hailing a cab, only to be ignored for the pretty blond in front of me, or the hot brunette to the left of me. Keep in mind that now <b>I'm</b> the immovable object that everyone is brushing by, and I'm trying my best to stretch my body in an almost Yoga like fashion to accommodate everyone who needs to get by me, because I'm a pretty big guy, and I'm used to being in people's way. I'm the kind of guy that always feels slightly guilty to sit in front of someone in a theater, so I unconsciously watch the movie with my head hunched low for the sake of the entire audience behind me.<br /><br />I finally get the bartender's attention, and the conversation usually goes something like this: "WHAT'S YOUR DRINK SPECIALS???" (all caps to because I have to scream to be heard over the unrelenting shitty music they usually throb in most bars).<br /><br />Bartender: "We don't got no specials."<br /><br />Me: "OH! UH... WHAT'S YOUR CHEAPEST BEER?" At this point, the bartender rolls his eyes, dusts off the laminated menu that nobody ever uses, and hands it to me. I don't take long, because what I need is usually right on top - cheapest beer: Paps Blue Ribbon. After I order it, I imagine a hipster tipping his ironic trucker hat and saying, "PBR - always a good choice!" Of course, I also imagine Dennis Hopper in <i>Blue Velvet</i>:<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/snhiofL2Rh4?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/snhiofL2Rh4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Of course, by “cheap”, I mean that it costs $4.00 per bottle, whereas if I were to go by a gas station, I could probably pickup a six-pack of PBR at that price… hell, maybe even a 12-pack!<span style=""> </span>I hand the bartender my debit card, and he asks if I want to start a tab.<span style=""> </span>I say no.<span style=""> </span>He says, “Sorry, but we have a ten dollar minimum if you’re going to use a debit card.”<span style=""> </span>I say maybe I don’t want to spend ten dollars tonight.<span style=""> </span>He suggests, in that case, I should visit an ATM.<span style=""> </span>I point out that doesn’t make much sense, because an ATM only lets you withdraw a minimum of $20.<span style=""> </span>He gets agitated, and points out that he has other customers to attend to, so I finally give him my card, resigned that, no matter what, now I’m going to be most definitely dumping 18 bucks (including cover charge) into this misadventure.<span style=""> </span>Fuck.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I navigate through the crowd again to reach my friends, who are waiting for me on the other side of the room, right next to the speakers for the sound system.<span style=""> </span>Lovely.<span style=""> </span>Oh, wait, I’m sorry, did I say friends?<span style=""> </span>Cause I meant two people I actually consider friends, and then half a table of people I’ve never met in my life. <span style=""> </span>I try to muster enough goodwill with which to greet my friends, but it takes so much of my will to do it, I have next to nothing left for the strangers at the table, so I just give them a slight nod.<span style=""> </span>I sit down, nursing my nasty tasting beer, surveying the bar, and feeling boredom almost immediately setting in.<span style=""> </span>Fuck.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">My friends try to engage me in conversation, but due to the loud music, it goes something like this:</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Friend: <span style=""> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:78%;" >“So, how’s the stand-up comedy going?”</span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Me:<span style=""> </span><span style="font-size:130%;">“WHAT???”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Friend:<span style=";font-size:78%;" > </span><span style="font-size:78%;">“</span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:8pt;" ><span style="font-size:78%;">I said, how’s the stand-up comedy going?"</span><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Me:<span style=""> </span>“I’M SORRY, I CAN’T HEAR YOU BECAUSE WE’RE IN AN INCREDIBLY LOUD BAR!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Friend: <span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:78%;" >“I know, this bar is incredible!”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">At this point, I shrug, and return attention to my beer.<span style=""> </span>My friends, having decided that communication with me would be futile, turn their attention to the others at the table.<span style=""> </span>I’m left staring wistfully at my cell phone, wishing that I hadn’t gotten rid of the internet service on it, as posting my misery on Facebook would do much to alleviate my suffering.<span style=""> </span>I do the next best thing, however, and text every person on my contact list to get their sympathy.<span style=""> </span>Half of them don’t respond, because it’s so late, or they could care less, while the other half give me the sage like advice to “have fun”.<span style=""> </span>This irritates me enough that I put the phone away for the night, and now I’m left with literally twiddling my thumbs and thinking about how far I am from finishing Assassin’s Creed II for X-Box 360.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Suddenly, a shot is sat in front of me, and my friends are goading me to drink it.<span style=""> </span>I ask where it came from.<span style=""> </span>Some dude whose name I don’t even know has bought the table a round of shots.<span style=""> </span>While I certainly feel grateful about the gesture, at the same time I’m kind of pissed, because now the obligation to buy the table shots will eventually move around the table to me, and I can’t be a dick and <i style="">not </i>reciprocate the gesture.<span style=""> </span>Goddamn it, at this rate, I’ll be in the hole for 50 bucks if I’m lucky!<span style=""> </span>Not only that, but I didn’t want to get very drunk in the first place, because I want to be able to get back home.<span style=""> </span>I’d rather not crash on my friend’s couch, which is half my size, and is usually slept on by a cat, who makes it her business to let me know it’s her couch by sticking her puckered asshole in my face at every opportunity.<span style=""> </span>I also didn’t want to have to call a cab, because I was already spending enough money as it is.<span style=""> </span>Still, I couldn’t turn down the drink, as it would be rude, so I drink it. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ugh… fuck… I hate shots… there is nothing fun about drinking a shot whatsoever.<span style=""> </span>It’s about as fun as swallowing a pissed off bumblebee.<span style=""> </span>My nasty ass beer is hardly much of a chaser, so I just sit there, choking, and desiring more fervently to go home more than ever before.<span style=""> </span>My friends begin taking my silent sulking as an affront to their good time, so they begin to wish I’d go home as well.<span style=""> </span>I finally strike upon the brilliant idea of getting my round over with and going home on a high note.<span style=""> </span>So, I swim through the crowd once more to order a round of shots, close my tab, writing “Eat the 10 dollar minimum, asshole” in the Tip bracket, plow through people with a newfound total disregard for human courtesy, serve up the shots, and I get the fuck out of there. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">That pretty well sums up my bar experiences.<span style=""> </span>If I could surmise what bugs me so much about going to a bar, it’s that it feels like a lot of work for little to no reward.<span style=""> </span>It’s kind of like paying to get into Disney World, but not being able to ride the rides, because of long lines, or because of malfunctions.<span style=""> </span>Some people go out to bars to pick up girls, but I don’t function that way.<span style=""> </span>I’m not very smooth even in the most casual environments, nevertheless when competing with a booming sound system.<span style=""> </span>Some people go to socialize, but once again, I refer to the sound issue.<span style=""> </span>Unless there was a high school lip reading class I wasn’t aware of, than socializing seems out of the question for me as well.<span style=""> </span>Others go to bars just to get shitfaced, but I don’t drink very much – in fact, I don’t like to drink.<span style=""> </span>I hate how it makes me feel the next day, no matter how much I’ve had.<span style=""> </span>Also, I don’t like having no control over my faculties, especially in a public place.<span style=""> </span>So, with all of that being said, you can well imagine that I much prefer a place that is about as opposite of a bar as one can imagine – that’s right: coffee shop.<span style=""> </span>However, even those can be annoying in some ways, but I’ll save that for another bitching session….</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Fuck bars.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974072367409154571.post-15201341475901859482010-11-30T06:38:00.001-08:002010-12-01T10:41:14.566-08:00DVD BlitzCraig: Entourage - Season 5, The Simpsons - Season 8, The Expendables<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.undertheradarmag.com/uploads/review_images/entourage_season_5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 279px;" src="http://www.undertheradarmag.com/uploads/review_images/entourage_season_5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Entourage - Season 5</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Fallen movie star, Vincent Chase (Adrien Grenier), desperately attempts restart his career after the utter failure of his independent film, <span style="font-style: italic;">Medellin</span>. Meanwhile, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), is given the opportunity of a lifetime, but it would mean quitting as Vince's agent.<br /><br />This show is beginning to feel like that guy we all knew back in college who partied all night and slept all day, which was endearing back then, but now he continues that same lifestyle even though he graduated college ten years ago. So now when you hang out with him, you feel kind of embarrassed, and slightly sad. That's what I felt watching this show.<br /><br />Now, don't get me wrong, it isn't necessarily <span style="font-style: italic;">bad</span>, per say. The one thing Entourage has always been good at is pacing. Despite my reservations about the series, or the characters, I've always found myself riveted by the seasonal story arcs, not to mention the satirical look into the inner mechanics of Hollywood. One got the impression that Mark Wahlburg, as executive producer of the series, put a lot of his own personal experiences into the show. What makes this season better than the last one is that we finally get to see another side of fame besides the bling - we see what happens when one becomes a Hollywood pariah. Despite his good looks and acting ability, Vince cannot get out from under the shadow of his massive failure. Vince is normally a very calm, easygoing character, but this inability to get work begins to steadily chip away at his mellow demeanor as the season goes on. Hmm, what an interesting concept for this show - the characters learn from their mistakes and change? No fucking way!<br /><br />Which brings me to my main gripe with this series as a whole: the characters. Since the beginning, these characters got on my fucking nerves, with the exception of Ari, but even then, he's very much a one dimensional character. Vince is way too nonchalant regarding his career. He makes impulsive, risky choices for no other reason but because his friends say so. Instead of making Aquaman 2, and keeping in the good graces of a major studio (not to mention making a nice paycheck), he burns his bridges there to make an indy film called Queens Boulevard. Lucky for him, the movie turned out to be a hit. Now, because of this same idiotic attitude, he's up shit creek because, instead of listening to people who know what they're talking about, he listened to his buddies, who don't know shit. They want what's best for Vince, not what's best for Vince's career. Then, just when it seems Vince is on the verge of making a major change in the way he runs his life, we have a deus ex machina ending, and all is right with the world.<br /><br />So, has anyone learned anything? Fuck no.<br /><br />Which brings me to his buddies. I can't tell you how much I hate Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon). Johnny was amusing at first, but now he's the personification of a joke that has been played out. Yes, we get it, he's an incompetent, former TV star from the 90s! I swear, in any given episode, Drama will always have a line like this: "It reminds me of when I filmed (<span style="font-weight: bold;">POPULAR 90S TELEVISION SHOW</span>) and I fucked (<span style="font-weight: bold;">POPULAR 90S ACTRESS</span>) in the (<span style="font-weight: bold;">UNCONVENTIONAL LOCATION FOR HAVING SEX or BODILY ORIFICE</span>). I tell you fellas, I never looked the same way at a Derby Pie again." Then, after this, the camera cuts to Vince and one of his friends exchanging amused looks and laughing, like: "Here he goes again!" Meanwhile, Turtle continues to be as useless as ever, just there long enough to bust Johnny's balls (or vice versa). Honestly, the only thing Turtle got to do this season was fuck Jamie Lynn-Sigler, which is a feat so unbelievable that I threw up at the thought of it. Finally, Vince's best friend, and manager, Eric, or "E" for short, continues to try to get his management business off the ground. So far, despite having only two or three clients, E seems to be well on his way to success. If anyone seems to have grown at all since the beginning of this series, it seems to be E.<br /><br />Anyway, I've spent enough time writing about this show. Look, it's basically a good a show, with plenty of genuinely funny moments. It's also a very shallow show, with nothing much going on beneath the surface. If there is any point to the show besides "money is good, and chicks are for fucking", I'd be shocked. So, if you're a douchebag, then you'll worship the show like it's <span style="font-style: italic;">Lost </span>or something. If you're somebody with a fully evolved brainstem, then you'll find the show an amusing diversion, but ultimately forgettable.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Verdict: Meh, S'alright...<br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.boomerangshop.com/dvdcover/imageweb9/TheSimpsonsTheCompleteEi16357_f.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 203px; height: 226px;" src="http://www.boomerangshop.com/dvdcover/imageweb9/TheSimpsonsTheCompleteEi16357_f.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >The Simpsons - Season 8</span><br /><br />Well, this will be a short review, because I've already seen every episode of this season a million times, and only watched these DVDs to relive the brilliance of them all. Once again, this is another Golden Season of The Simpsons, back when the show was like an unstoppable Juggernaut of comedy. Every single episode is hilarious and, what's more, incredibly imaginative.<br /><br />This season even has one of my favorite episodes ever, "Homer's Enemy", where a new employee named Frank Grimes starts working at the power plant, and all of Homer's clumsy attempts at being friends with him only drives Frank to hate him more and more. I wish I could post video of it, but Fox is pretty on top of keeping Simpsons clips from the Youtubes, unless it's in Spanish or German. Lousy copyrights...<br /><br />Another favorite of mine is "You Only Move Twice", in which Homer quits his job and the family moves from Springfield so that he can work for Hank Scorpio who, unbeknown to Homer, is actually a James Bond-like super villain.<br /><br />Once again, no videos to show you. Damn you Fox - first you canceled Firefly, and now you ruin my blog!<br /><br />Anyway, the list of classic episodes just goes on, and on, and on. This is a solid season of The Simpsons, and I couldn't advise you more to relive this classic series.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Verdict: Fucking Awesome!</span><br /><br /></span><a href="http://backseatcuddler.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/The-Expendables-DVD-Blu-Ray-.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 265px;" src="http://backseatcuddler.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/The-Expendables-DVD-Blu-Ray-.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Expendables</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"> A mercenary team, lead by Barney Ross (Sylvestor Stallone), takes a job from the CIA to infiltrate South America and assassinate a ruthless dictator (are there any other?), who is being manipulated by a dirty CIA agent, played by Eric "The Master" Roberts. That's... pretty much it.<br /><br />Which brings me to why I disliked this film: what the fuck was the story??? Initially, it's about these mercs doing this job, but they end up backing out of it because they realize it's a trap. Then Barney inexplicably decides to go back himself to save some Latina woman he met doing reconnaissance. I mean, I know what's it's like when one has gone a long while without sex, believe me I do - you do crazy things just for the small <span style="font-style: italic;">chance</span> that some form of sex will result from it. I haven't infiltrated a hostile country to kill a dictator, but I wouldn't put myself above it. As of now, I am going about 8 months and counting since my last sexual encounter, so an assassination/rescue mission is looking mighty reasonable by this point.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Anyway, the plot doesn't really make much sense. The movie also suffers from the fact that we don't ever get to really know these guys. I thought the title was meant to refer to the name of the mercenaries, not to the supporting cast, but expendable they are. The only ones who manage to muscle Sly or Statham out of the spotlight at all are Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren. Even then, neither of those guys got a chance to really shine. Jet Li just kicks things and makes jokes about how short he is, while Dolph just mumbles insanely and tries to hang pirates. At no point in the movie do these guys get a chance to make their characters relevant, or in Dolph's case, redeem himself.<br /><br />The rest of the cast got to shoot things and fight bad guys, but I couldn't remember the names of their characters if a million dollars was riding on it. Hell, I had to look up Sly's character's name on IMDB, and he got the most screen time! My point is, in an ensemble action movie like this, it might be a good idea to flesh out the characters a bit so that we actually, I don't know, give a fuck about them.<br /><br />Also, enough with the action movie banter. Good god, the next time I start watching a movie like this, I'm going to just turn it right off if the characters have this exchange:<br /><br />Guy 1: "You take the 3 on the right, and I'll take the 2 on the left."<br /><br />Guy 2: "No, I'll take the 3 on the right, and you take the 2 on the left."<br /><br />Guy 1: "You got a problem?"<br /><br />Guy 2: "Yeah, you always kill an odd number of guys, and I always kill an even number. I want to switch up this time."<br /><br />Keep in mind that during this conversation, every character on the screen has their weapons drawn and aimed at each others' faces. I know it's an action movie staple for the heroes to act nonchalant in a situation that most of us would shit our pants in, but now it's just getting goofy and predictable.<br /><br />I will say this about this film though: <span style="font-style: italic;">this</span> is what <span style="font-style: italic;">G.I. Joe</span> should have been. That movie should have been a group of hardcore mercs, all with unique specialties and personalities, put together in a special forces team to take down a dictator, either Destro or Cobra Commander. That would have rocked much harder than the retarded piece of shit movie we got instead. A stop motion movie using G.I. Joe action figures would have been better than that piece of shit.<br /><br />What was I talking about? Oh yeah, The Expendables. So, the movie doesn't necessarily suck, so much as it's just a huge disappointment. I was expecting every action star from the past two decades brought together on film at last, each one getting a chance to do something cool, and the movie being a celebration of action movies. Instead, the only legitimate action stars we get are barely on the screen for more than 5 minutes, and pretty much do nothing, while a 70-year-old man runs a lot. So, check the movie out if you just want to see shit get blown up for an hour and a half, but if you were expecting anything more than that, you're SOL, my friends.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Verdict: Meh, s'alright...</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.undertheradarmag.com/uploads/review_images/entourage_season_5.jpg"><br /></a>Craiginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09578501355513151262noreply@blogger.com0