EDIT: The following post is structured like a heaping pile of shit. You have been warned.
Okay I haven't read any of you guys' posts because I've just started watching the episode. I'll do a live reaction sort of thing.
What's with all the post-it notes, and why is she acting like a 14 year old? Everybody knows that at that age you're going to have at least a few more relationships.
Ohhh shit. Danny got ran over. Oh well, it's not like he won't come back later on in the episode or next episode like every other slightly significant character from Moffat's era.
Also, how did she not hear him being PLOWED BY A CAR?
The nan's changed her tune. When she goes on holidays to Benidorm she's a right nasty bastard, now for some reason she's being all sympathetic.
I'm bored of this now.
E: Okay, those few seconds before the intro were actually pretty fucking cool.
E2: He can open the TARDIS doors with a click of his fingers, why do keys even matter anymore?
E3: The Doctor just told Clara to go to hell? I'm really liking this episode already. I hope there's no Moffat soppyness and they don't rekindle their relationship, it would be much more effective that way.
Who am I kidding, of course they'll be fine by the end of the episode. GDI, Moffat.
E4: Oh. Well that was disappointing. Thanks, Oba- Moffat.
E5: Exoskeletons that are invisible in the water? CYBERMEN, PER CHANCE? Could they make it any more obvious? Probably not, but it's cool nonetheless.
E6: Oh god, I knew there was going to be a callback to The Invasion but i didn't expect it to be as awesome as that.
Okay, that episode was awesome. What I'm wondering is what Clara initially wanted to say to Danny at the start of the episode.
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First and foremost, how was Missy actually getting the dead bodies? It's one thing to "upload" their consciousness (which I'll bet money isn't going to get any better explained), but then the bodies are just magically there even though they aren't??????????? Honestly, I don't see why there wasn't some thing about dead bodies disappearing. Then we could have had an actual premise to the episode, and piqued The Doctor's interest from the start without that fucking volcano scene.
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Honestly I can forgive the fact that they probably won't explain how they uploaded the consciousnesses, because Doctor Who has always been about stretching science as far as it will go and making it as ridiculous as possible. It feels like anythings possible as long as they give some semi-scientific explanation.
And in terms of them getting the bodies, I assume/hope that will be explained in the next part.
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Seriously did anyone else feel like that volcano scene was just a huge middle finger? That was the most interesting thing to happen on the show in ages, and it was all a dream.
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I sort of agree, but at the same time it didn't bother me that much because I know that to Clara,
she legitimately did those things. Of course, there were no consequences but it was definitely interesting seen the conflict between the two characters and knowing that she'd just betray him like that. Bitch.
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Why did the Doctor decide to find the afterlife, and then later scoff at the idea? Did he already have an idea 3W was up to something, and he used Clara as an excuse and means to investigate? That would make sense. Wish they could have set up his suspicions across the series. I guess they kind of did, thematically, with his repeated allusions to the audience being monsters, then showing Missy to be a kind of audience. But do you think that will be explained or even alluded to, or just left alone to make way for more tedious explanation?
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I think they'll give some explanation as opposed to just leaving it as they did. As soon as the Doctor said he was going to find the afterlife I knew something was up. He's the Doctor, of course he knows there's no afterlife. I'm betting he had a plan from the start so hopefully it gets explained in an interesting way. That's the thing though, Moffat always sets up loads of really interesting questions and then half-arses the answers, leaving us insanely underwhelmed.
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How was Missy capturing people in Victorian London and whatever time in the distant future Into the Dalek takes place, but her plan is coming to fruition in 2016? Why have all the robots been looking for the Promised Land?
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Again, I'm assuming these will be answered so using them as criticism against the episodes doesn't really make sense. [I]Yet/I].
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Why does every script include the brain-cackingly awful line "That's a thing"?
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Honestly I know a few people who say that so it doesn't bother me that much. Clara's "I'm such a feisty badass" approach to everything does, however.
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RTD wrote shit finales, but at least you actually knew what was up by the end of the first episode.
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They were shit, but the were fun as fuck to watch, which is what I thought of this one. The same cannot be said for series 6 or 7. Honestly I'm pretty sure I know what's up. A ridiculously over complicated Cyber plot to invade Earth. Again. I'm okay with that though, I was genuinely interested.
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Remember when RTD told a story about people thinking death wasn't the end but it turned out to be a Cyberman invasion?
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I completely agree, but in all honesty, I don't really give a fuck if it means getting a genuinely fun and exciting finale. We haven't had one for 6 fucking years.
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It was a huge risk tackling the idea of the Afterlife and Heaven. I'm sure people will be in a uproar about it eventually. "Hey kids! When you die! You get downloaded into a Time Lord hard Drive"
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Why shouldn't the tackle it? Is that a genuine criticism you have of the episode? Because that's pretty weak.
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Whatever. I do want to watch part 2, but I feel it's going to be one of those underwhelming finales where Danny gets saved, the Cybermen are destroyed, Missy is defeated/or Flees, and everything is back to normal. I just want one big twist or something...
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This
is Doctor Who. At the end of the day everything does have to be returned to normal. That's how it's been since the beginning.
We haven't had a genuinely good series since 2008 (or arguably 2010) and it's only
now when the shows managing to get somewhat of a leg-up you have a problem with it?
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As for Dark Water the only thing keeping me going throughout the episode was the promise of cybermen and even that flopped. I feel like the last thing a person who's partner just passed away due to being hit by a car, is stand in the middle of the road. Though maybe the wall of post-it notes somehow told her the clusterfuck of events that were about to happen and she decided to end it right there. Clara going against the Doctor was the best part of the episode, and one of the best scenes in the series so far.
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It also made her completely unlikable for me. Seriously, what a bitch. Was an awesome scene, though.
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Oh and I'm pretty sure I had an aneurysm at the Steve Jobs line.
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Don't be a grumpy bastard, it was a pretty funny line. At least they don't have clown music and trombones to tell us when something's funny like they did in 6 and 7.
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People did get upset, but specifically with the idea that cremated people feel the pain.
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I loved that bit, because when Doctor Who goes dark they go
super dark, and I love every minute of it.
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I don't really know what that would have added, except the need for even more damn explanation next week for those who didn't watch the original series.
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Pretty much. There just wouldn't be much point, especially after they've spent so long setting up the relationships with The Master in the new series. Also:
http://www.blastr.com/2012/08/steven...xplains_wh.php
Sad to see John Simm go, though. He was an excellent take on The Master.
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It doesn't matter that it was a dream. What's important is that Clara did what she did believing she was doing that. She's a control freak and she doesn't behave when she doesn't get what she wants. When the Doctor wouldn't help her decide what to do with the Moon, she flipped out. When she played the part of The Doctor in Flatline, the Doctor was worried by how well she did. Clara is a reflection of the Doctor's less admirable traits.
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Yeah, this is pretty much my opinion of that scene.
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I do like Clara's morally ambiguous character development. She's effectively a user, a liar and a bit narcissistic...it's a pretty nice departure from the usual two dimensional companion.
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She's an unlikable bitch, but that's way better than the unlikable cardboard cutout. In that sense, I love her. She's gone from the worst written companion in the show's history to one of the best.
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I was sort of hoping Missi would be the Doctor's grand-daughter who had for whatever reason been corrupted over the centuries, now that would have been a mind fuck.
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Oh god, me too. Then I was worried because grody incestuous snog.
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Also I fucking love the Cybermen, I pretty much only watch Dr Who for them these days, but I was so disappointed that despite their re-design, they've been given that same steam-clunk sounding walk. I thought they were supposed to be constantly upgrading and all that, surely they would have realised a while ago that yes, noisy fucking walking is ominous but it's really not great in terms of combat...
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Maybe these are earlier models than the ones from series 7. Either way, I agree. They were a step down, but they were still awesome fucking Cybermen.
In summary, I have a little faith that Moffat will explain the plot-holes, and if not, it was still a fun fucking ride. Mmm, very series 4-esque.
Apart from the shitty pacing, that is. RTD would write 2/3 episodes with an overarching plot, where as Moffat just writes one regular episode and drags it out into multiple ones, that's what I've noticed.
