in praise of the first half of utopia

[tlr3]

i'm about tired of seeing people complain about the beginning of utopia. (spoilers for the ep. here.)

the basic complaints seem to be that it's a boring quarry, a familiar sci-fi set-up, too planet zog, etc. the first problem with this is that anyone who's watched the latter half of series 1, or torchwood, is only paying attention to all of that a

Comments

[shishmish]

it's a boring quarry

Quarry! Has to be a first for the new series right? More quarrys = more alien planets...plz?

[tlr3]

not the first! impossible planet/satan pit.

they'd been avoiding quarries, a little. but they seem to have realized why they were used so often before. . .

[shishmish]

*facepalm* I forgot about that one!

They've been avoiding quarries like the plague, which is sad because quarry stories were so good and provided, like they did in Utopia, an alien landscape.

[tlr3]

yeah. . . they seem to have realized now that the lighting and the acting and the angles (and the effects) are what make it work or not.

the problem with quarries in the old series was when they were used in a lazy way.

[ionlylurkhere]

I really liked it for the sci-fi elements, because I love the Deep Future, particularly when people are desperately clinging on. I like The Ark, Frontios and the New Earth eps more than is otherwise warranted by their quality for exactly the same reason.

[tlr3]

. . . i may have the same thing going on. i certainly can't understand why anyone seriously dislikes the ones you mention.

[lifefailsme]

I have to agree with you, I am sick of the complaining too.

[nummymuffin]

So am I. Hell, I didn't even know people were dissatisfied with this one until I read some posts linked on whodaily. People really blow my mind sometimes.

[lifefailsme]

They get on my wick, just dont bloody watch it if it bugs you so much, you know what I mean? Shesh!

[nummymuffin]

Haha, I know exactly what you mean. I thought I'd read it all until tonight when I actually read someone saying they don't care for all the science fiction stuff, not impressed with the Master and the episode was eh. Um, why bother? Seriously. Why bother at all? I'd never watch a show I have so little interest in, let alone post about it in the ol' ElJay.

I swear, I had to clean my brains off the wall after that one.

People confuse me... MASSIVELY sometimes. It sort of confirms for me why I so rarely post in Doctor Who community posts outside of icons.

[horsefacehannah]

I thought the entirety of the first half of the episode was made incredibly poignant by the tiny throwaway moment when the Master popped the disk out of the computer that had been "receiving the signal from Utopia." Heartbreaking.

I liked it a lot.

[cinderberry]

Oooh, I like your take on it. I don't think it's deliberate, or at least conscious, but it works.

*Of course* it's all about the characters, and of course, complex plot would distract from them. The fact is that the plot, such as it is, makes the characters do exactly what they need to do, and all of that makes us feel exactly what we need to feel. Hey, if it's all in a quarry, with a lot of tatooed guys running 'round - that's the price I'm willing to pay to delve into the emotional well that had to be addressed right here, right now.

The emotional pay-off was there, and if you can find cool subtext - even better.

[tlr3]

Oooh, I like your take on it. I don't think it's deliberate, or at least conscious, but it works.

thanks. :) on one hand, i doesn't matter to me whether or not it's conscious. one the other hand, thought, i wouldn't be too surprised if it were conscious. RTD's scripts seem to beg for jungian analysis the same way that the moff's scripts are full of freudian stuff. whether that's because of conscious choices or writers just being the writers they are, i don't know. . .

in any case, i know the *effect* is purposeful--RTD is very clear in interviews, etc., that it's primarily about the characters for him. and, as you say, the plot of this ep. completely sets up the character arcs. like, all of them. at once. when you're talking about the last of the timelords, his feeling-unacknowledged companion, and the man who cannot die, keeping all of those arcs going at once without any apparent effort is pretty cool.