Another good Doctor Who! Yes, the intricacies of the ‘mystery’ of the episode weren’t actually explained… but do they have to be? The emotional beats hit and the first twenty minutes were a great blend of folk horror that we haven’t seen since Torchwood, so I’m ok about them not giving us a big explanation about time loops and what exactly caused the whole episode to take place and such. Brave to have a Doctor-lite episode so early in the series as well, (probably cause of Sex Education commitments) and Millie Gibson absolutely smashed it, proving she has the chops to compete with previous companions. The more I think about it, the fact I thought the first two episodes were a bit rubbish actually tracks with other Davies series, New Earth and Tooth And Claw aren’t brilliant (camp and fun though) and Smith and Jones and The Shakespeare Code aren’t the best episodes either. I’m just glad that the quality’s jumped up this soon!
Great Doctor Who this week. Really quite dark actually, despite the bubblegum aesthetic.
Lindy Pepper-Bean is truly despicable in a way that feels realistic. You feel for her because she’s literally in a bubble and doesn’t understand how to do basic things, but shows a very human attitude when she screws over Ricky September and leaves him to die. And then when you realise that the entire colony is white rich kids who literally have blue blood, it makes sense that they refuse the Doctor’s help since he’s black. It’s good that they’ve given Ncuti this moment, the racism within the fandom and the wider country has been dreadful and all he wants to do is deliver good Doctor Who. It’s like The Doctor just wanting to save those people but they’d rather die than accept help because he ‘doesn’t fit Finetime values’. Great episode, but maybe another slightly experimental episode where we could definitely do with just a traditional ‘fly the TARDIS, land in time period and fight monster’ week. Thankfully next week is the Regency episode!
@nessisonettFor me, this is a great episode in terms of how it illustrates how you can explore socially relevant themes without being obnoxious about it. So much progressive media wants to tackle subjects like racism, bigotry, etc. but does so in a didactic way that ends up being miserable to watch (certain Whittaker era episodes come to mind).
This ENTIRE episode is about bigotry, but is written in such a way that it shows the problem instead of telling you what it is and how to feel about it. A brilliant way of getting white viewers, especially, into a headspace that allows them to experience some inkling of the frustration and anger that must go along with being considered less of a person because of your skin color. Looking back, the episode is chock full of racist micro-aggressions, but, not having the life experience to interpret them for what they were, I wrote them off as products of an out-of-touch influencer-esque cultural bubble. I'd LOVE to know if non-white audiences pick up on what's going on there more quickly in general. The way this is written is really, really good.
And the acting is pretty solid. Ncuti's anguish at the end is communicated so effectively and believably. IMO he hasn't had much occasion so far to show off his acting chops this season, but he did an AMAZING job throughout. And yeah, Lindy's actress did a great job giving us a believable and nuanced portrayal, of, yes, a genuinely terrible person.
I also adore when shows are willing to put us in the headspace of terrible people without excusing them, but also without stereotyping them. It's fantastic writing. Most shows wouldn't have the nerve to go this route.
Tightly written. Great premise. Solid acting. Explicitly sci-fi with a horror element to it (when it first started, I remarked that it all felt a bit Black Mirror-ish to me). This is the sort of peak Doctor Who I've missed for years. The season has been very mixed for me (that one with the babies was almost unwatchable at times), but the last few episodes have been extremely solid and thought-provoking story-telling.
I almost never rewatch old TV show episodes, but I'm absolutely going to with this one.
@Ralizah Yep, I was the same in that I felt incredibly deflated after the first two episodes of the season. But these last three weeks have been terrific, properly back to its best. I definitely would like some classic Who scenarios though, let us see them in the TARDIS more often!
@nessisonett Ncuti is fabulous, but I couldn't survive an entire season of discount Baby Geniuses getting picked off by snot monsters and drag queen Bette Midler stealing music LOL. These last three episodes feel like they're from a different (and much better) show! The sort of adult writing and fascinating premises that made me fall in love with Nu Who in the first place.
@Ralizah I feel like I’m personally doing something wrong for not enjoying The Devil’s Chord, people seem to have loved it and I want to like it, but it was rubbish. Space Babies though… yeah nobody’s defending that.
Forums
Topic: The TV Show Thread
Posts 4,021 to 4,029 of 4,029
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic