Doctor Who 9x4 Instant Reaction Post
Hello, Internet! Just finished watching Doctor Who, "Before The Flood", and ...
Kidlet, if you're reading this, stop now! Don't read this before you see the episode, it's full of spoilers. Have you stopped yet? Good.
... _now_ it's time for my Instant Reaction Post.
No, first of all, back to last week. Probably the worst flaw in that episode, I thought, was that the alien's "coordinate system" doesn't make much sense. A handful of vaguely spooky-sounding words couldn't possibly contain enough information to get you from outer space to a particular point, a particular _building_ on Earth. But I found a post on Gallifrey Base, of all places, with a nice piece of headcannon to patch over that. The idea is that most of the navigation information is actually telepathic, and the spoken words are only "header files", like labels on top of a more complex non-verbal message. That works for me. (It still doesn't explain why the aliens use the same system of constellations that we do, but, well, Doctor Who.)
Okay, this week's episode. I thought it was better than last week's, and last week's was pretty good. This one felt like it had more substance to it, somehow. And Capaldi's performance was excellent as always. I love his Doctor to bits. Actually, I liked all the performances, except for Mole Undertaker guy, he was too cartoony, I thought. The Mole Person back in Series 6's "The God Complex" felt much more like a real character.
This two-parter was nearly as timey-wimey as some of Moffat's own, but instead of expecting the audience to keep up, like Moffat does, Whithouse lays it all out for us explicitly, explains how all the tricks are worked, the rules of time travel, and what a bootstrap paradox is. I'm not sure what I think of that. I think I prefer Moffat's way, as a general rule. It shows more respect for the viewer's intelligence, and it also lets you keep the explanations loose and sketchy, so you don't get overly tangled up in details. And it's just more fun. But on the other hand, parts of DW fandom are always complaining about how over-complicated Moffat's plotting is, and why didn't he tell us this, that, and the other? Maybe a clear "this is what just happened" explanation is the way to go.
Did anybody _not_ call that the Doctor was going to be in the box? Too predictable, that's the other problem with this story, most of the twists could be spotted a mile away.
But on the whole, still a very enjoyable episode. Thumbs up.
This entry was originally posted at http://c-carol.dreamwidth.org/45175.html. Please comment wherever.
Kidlet, if you're reading this, stop now! Don't read this before you see the episode, it's full of spoilers. Have you stopped yet? Good.
... _now_ it's time for my Instant Reaction Post.
No, first of all, back to last week. Probably the worst flaw in that episode, I thought, was that the alien's "coordinate system" doesn't make much sense. A handful of vaguely spooky-sounding words couldn't possibly contain enough information to get you from outer space to a particular point, a particular _building_ on Earth. But I found a post on Gallifrey Base, of all places, with a nice piece of headcannon to patch over that. The idea is that most of the navigation information is actually telepathic, and the spoken words are only "header files", like labels on top of a more complex non-verbal message. That works for me. (It still doesn't explain why the aliens use the same system of constellations that we do, but, well, Doctor Who.)
Okay, this week's episode. I thought it was better than last week's, and last week's was pretty good. This one felt like it had more substance to it, somehow. And Capaldi's performance was excellent as always. I love his Doctor to bits. Actually, I liked all the performances, except for Mole Undertaker guy, he was too cartoony, I thought. The Mole Person back in Series 6's "The God Complex" felt much more like a real character.
This two-parter was nearly as timey-wimey as some of Moffat's own, but instead of expecting the audience to keep up, like Moffat does, Whithouse lays it all out for us explicitly, explains how all the tricks are worked, the rules of time travel, and what a bootstrap paradox is. I'm not sure what I think of that. I think I prefer Moffat's way, as a general rule. It shows more respect for the viewer's intelligence, and it also lets you keep the explanations loose and sketchy, so you don't get overly tangled up in details. And it's just more fun. But on the other hand, parts of DW fandom are always complaining about how over-complicated Moffat's plotting is, and why didn't he tell us this, that, and the other? Maybe a clear "this is what just happened" explanation is the way to go.
Did anybody _not_ call that the Doctor was going to be in the box? Too predictable, that's the other problem with this story, most of the twists could be spotted a mile away.
But on the whole, still a very enjoyable episode. Thumbs up.
This entry was originally posted at http://c-carol.dreamwidth.org/45175.html. Please comment wherever.