And Old Face and a New Season
December 30, 2015
A second season of Doctor Who with a new actor in the title role.
Before The Flood
- Fast paced, engaging, still some padding
- Another fan surrogate character mistreated?
- Clara storyline was padding
- Doctor getting called out toothless
- No idea what the Fisher King was talking about
Note: Experimenting with noise reduction. Had some radio interference!
Under The Lake
- Tense, spooky, atmospheric
- Fun secondary characters
- Just enough mystery to keep the action going
- Awesome cliffhanger
- Just enough comedy to lighten things up
Note: Slowly catching up!
The Witch's Familiar
- Missy underutilized and not menacing enough
- Clara being secondary too
- The Davros turn both not surprising and invalidates both episodes
- Wanna see more about the Dalek graveyard!
- Still padded, perhaps better as a 1 hour episode?
Note: Forgot to put up a link to this one...
The Magician's Apprentice
- Really strong premise with an old favorite villain
- Not sure what Missy is doing in the story
- Felt padded. Could have been half as long
- A lot of grandstanding with little action
- UNIT being useless again
Note: Sorry for being so late with the podcasts. Trying to catch up!
Last Christmas
- Needed to be full-on wacky or scary, not middle of the road
- Nick Frost underutilized
- Felt padded. Could have been 30 minutes?
- Some interesting stuff between Clara and the Doctor
- Was Clara not-staying a PR trick?
Note: Trying out a new microphone.
Death in Heaven
- A pointless, ignoble death
- Dramatic moments hammered flat
- Too much talking to replace action
- Muddied arguments and theme statements
- A lot of squandered potential
Note: Extra long recording (over 1 hour). There was too much to talk about!
Dark Water
- Creepy, spooky, and fraught with tension
- You have to buy Clara and Doctor's contentious relationship for this ep to work
- You also have to buy Clara and Danny's relationship for this ep to work
- Some scenes were blatantly manipulative and frustrating
- Some leaps of logic that I couldn't overcome
Note: I said this episode was called "Deep Water" but the actual title is "Dark Water." I am such a fake geek guy.
In the Forest of the Night
- Uh... not even "meh"
- This is what an episode with no plot looks like
- A couple of interesting lines from Danny and Clara, but that's about it
- Wow. So kids. Many spunky. Much annoying
- It's so boring I can't even think of a fifth bullet point
Note: We are about a week behind the show and with the podcast. Sorry! Also, I don't know why I keep using the word "positivism" when I really mean "optimism."
Flatline
- Another compelling and sharp Doctor Who episode
- Interesting role reversal gives both principal actors a chance to stretch
- Secondary characters are compelling because of the actors more than because of the writing
- Some inventive and weird scenes based on the premise
- What's the lesson Clara is supposed to learn?
Note: Both me and my Companion were a little under the weather and thus a little punchy.
Mummy on the Orient Express
- If standalone, a compelling and sharp Doctor Who-ish episode
- But in context, Clara backsliding adds a bit of bitterness, sourness
- Does every Companion have to leave in tragedy?
- Does every Companion have to be in a "relationship" with the Doctor?
- Clara's lies suggest that she will have a tragic end at the finale
Note: My hopes that they will take Clara's character a different direction have been dashed.
Kill the Moon
- A strong emotional climax to the Doctor vs Clara tension
- Engaging moral dilemma
- Strong characterization all around. Courtney is back and important to the emotional tenor of the story.
- Probably a make it or break it moment of the series/season/show. Have the showrunners gone too far?
- The science is beyond laughable. It is so stupid it is almost anti-science.
Note: I repeat: the science used in the show is moronic.
The Caretaker
- No plot whatsoever beyond "Got monster," "stopped monster"
- Emotions ramped up to 11, but the situation seemed more like a 5
- Too much "not saying" to propel misunderstanding
- Why make Courtney Woods interesting only to make her a barf joke?
- The story felt inevitable rather than surprising
Note: We refuse to discuss the gymnastics flip. Our brains rejected it completely.
Time Heist
- Mediocre, forgettable episode
- Tension and reveals lacking in punch
- Strangely flat
- Secondary characters get a short arc while our primaries don't
- Not much to say, so podcast has a bonus at end: how we would have fixed the episode
Note: Podcast is split in half. First half is our usual discussion. Second half (at 17:25) is us BS-ing about how we would have fixed the episode.
Listen
- Weird, experimental, ambitious, dark
- A small and personal story
- Tonally odd for this early in the season/series
- Hinges too much on the romance between Danny Pink and Clara Oswald
- Might have been better as episode 9 (like Midnight of series 4)
Note: Sorry for the low volume. Still learning how to record and edit.
Robot of Sherwood
- Relatively light, but fun and fast-paced
- Great banter between the Doctor and Robin Hood
- Clara fangirling and spunky contrasts well with the Doctor's grumpiness
- Interesting undertone/theme of what it means to be a hero
- A couple of groan-worthy moments (really, Mark Gatiss, the arrow?)
Note: I apologize for being a cranky writing snob in this one.
Into the Dalek
- Not bad, but not meaty enough
- Clara's character finally getting some direction
- More examples of a colder, crueler incarnation
- Revisting an old idea about the Doctor's psyche or played out?
- A straightforward plot that could have been 30 minutes
Note: I was exhausted while recording. Can you count the number of times I forgot how words worked?
Deep Breath
- Some interesting stuff with wild tone changes
- Great monologues from Peter Capaldi
- Weird scenes ranging from slapstick (complete with sound effects) to light horror
- Rewriting the Clara character
- Paternoster Gang & Victorian London necessary?
- A final goodbye that I thought was necessary
Note: I apologize for a few editing mistakes. I'm still learning how to record and edit!
