Isn't "War of the Sontarans" A Bit Redundant? Do Sontarans Do Anything That's Not War?
OK, I've just watched tonight's Doctor Who.
And I definitely found that a more entertaining experience than last week's. I think possibly just in large part because, while I still don't particularly understand what the heck is going on, it's clear that the characters mostly don't understand what's going on either. That does make it easier to just go along for the ride, although part of me does wonder exactly how much patience I have to have in waiting for explanations, and whether I'll like any of them when they finally come.
But, eh, while I am waiting, at least this one had some good stuff. Lots of the Doctor being very Doctor-ish, which is always welcome. Another forgotten-awesome-woman-from-history guest character, which is also welcome. And the visuals are great, especially the really striking Sontaran ship and set designs (although the Sontarans themselves may be uglier than ever).
Speaking of the Sontarans... In all honesty, they were always my least favorite recurring Classic Who villain. There's not much interesting about the sheer brutal thuggery they often display, and they have the stupidest vulnerability ever. The new series has helped me warm up to them quite a bit, though, largely by virtue of imbuing them with a lot of humor. So, was I delighted by having them as the main antagonists here? Not especially. Did that one ridiculous line about wanting to ride a horse actually really help? Yes, it did.
If Sontarans are inherently not very interesting, though, I did find the new bad guys increasingly intriguing. Those scenes with them in the temple were genuinely tense and creepy and interesting. And they looked really great, too.
I'm less sure how I feel about this whole Time Temple, or whatever the heck it is, as a concept, but, eh. Doctor Who has introduced weirder bits of mythology and I've rolled with them. We'll see how it goes, anyway.
Dan, by the way, is growing on me. It's kind of funny. I was watching the scene where he and the Doctor are talking over the Sontaran communications, and thinking, "Hmm, yeah, this guy is fun, I'm liking him, but I still don't know that I'm really feeling him..." And then the Doctor asked what resources he had available and he said he had a wok, and I don't know what it was, but something about his delivery of that line really clicked for me and I thought, yeah, OK, I could probably love this guy.
Also, I still the the whole concept of the dog people is pretty stupid, but I will admit that I laughed for an embarrassingly long time at "I still have a human in this fight."
The one thing I am maybe rolling my eyes over just a little: the defeat of the Sontarans in the frustratingly typical Chibnall fashion of "Oh, the episode is almost over and it's time for the bad guys to be defeated, so I will now push the Defeat Bad Guys Button I just invented two seconds ago and, oh, look, they're gone, yay." You can get away with that sort of thing occasionally on Who but he does it so consistently that I find it genuinely sort of maddening. At least this wasn't one of the worst examples of that, but still.
Also, Yaz having WWTDD written on her hand strikes me as slightly weird, or maybe slightly contrived, somehow. It's a perfectly reasonable, understandable, and often even good question for a companion to ask herself, but I really don't think you need it written on your palm to remember it. And your hand is really not nearly as secret a location as everyone inexplicably seems to think it is. On the positive side re: Yaz, though, I did love how absolutely calm and steely she is when the bad guy's literally at her throat. Which might, indeed, be what the Doctor would do.
And I think that's all I've got this time out. At least it's a lot more than last time! This entry was originally posted at https://astrogirl.dreamwidth.org/1016037.html. Comment here or there, whichever you like.
And I definitely found that a more entertaining experience than last week's. I think possibly just in large part because, while I still don't particularly understand what the heck is going on, it's clear that the characters mostly don't understand what's going on either. That does make it easier to just go along for the ride, although part of me does wonder exactly how much patience I have to have in waiting for explanations, and whether I'll like any of them when they finally come.
But, eh, while I am waiting, at least this one had some good stuff. Lots of the Doctor being very Doctor-ish, which is always welcome. Another forgotten-awesome-woman-from-history guest character, which is also welcome. And the visuals are great, especially the really striking Sontaran ship and set designs (although the Sontarans themselves may be uglier than ever).
Speaking of the Sontarans... In all honesty, they were always my least favorite recurring Classic Who villain. There's not much interesting about the sheer brutal thuggery they often display, and they have the stupidest vulnerability ever. The new series has helped me warm up to them quite a bit, though, largely by virtue of imbuing them with a lot of humor. So, was I delighted by having them as the main antagonists here? Not especially. Did that one ridiculous line about wanting to ride a horse actually really help? Yes, it did.
If Sontarans are inherently not very interesting, though, I did find the new bad guys increasingly intriguing. Those scenes with them in the temple were genuinely tense and creepy and interesting. And they looked really great, too.
I'm less sure how I feel about this whole Time Temple, or whatever the heck it is, as a concept, but, eh. Doctor Who has introduced weirder bits of mythology and I've rolled with them. We'll see how it goes, anyway.
Dan, by the way, is growing on me. It's kind of funny. I was watching the scene where he and the Doctor are talking over the Sontaran communications, and thinking, "Hmm, yeah, this guy is fun, I'm liking him, but I still don't know that I'm really feeling him..." And then the Doctor asked what resources he had available and he said he had a wok, and I don't know what it was, but something about his delivery of that line really clicked for me and I thought, yeah, OK, I could probably love this guy.
Also, I still the the whole concept of the dog people is pretty stupid, but I will admit that I laughed for an embarrassingly long time at "I still have a human in this fight."
The one thing I am maybe rolling my eyes over just a little: the defeat of the Sontarans in the frustratingly typical Chibnall fashion of "Oh, the episode is almost over and it's time for the bad guys to be defeated, so I will now push the Defeat Bad Guys Button I just invented two seconds ago and, oh, look, they're gone, yay." You can get away with that sort of thing occasionally on Who but he does it so consistently that I find it genuinely sort of maddening. At least this wasn't one of the worst examples of that, but still.
Also, Yaz having WWTDD written on her hand strikes me as slightly weird, or maybe slightly contrived, somehow. It's a perfectly reasonable, understandable, and often even good question for a companion to ask herself, but I really don't think you need it written on your palm to remember it. And your hand is really not nearly as secret a location as everyone inexplicably seems to think it is. On the positive side re: Yaz, though, I did love how absolutely calm and steely she is when the bad guy's literally at her throat. Which might, indeed, be what the Doctor would do.
And I think that's all I've got this time out. At least it's a lot more than last time! This entry was originally posted at https://astrogirl.dreamwidth.org/1016037.html. Comment here or there, whichever you like.