Doctor Who

[Thad]

Well, that was fun. I don't think it'll make any top 10 lists but we needed a little silliness after the last two. Doctor's still too much of a hardass, but spoon fight makes it a little hard to believe he REALLY takes himself that damn seriously.

And yeah it got like Grant Morrison levels of meta in that last scene there, but what the fuck, I love that shit.

Anybody else distracted by the Sheriff looking EXACTLY LIKE Tony Ainley in Keeper of Traken?

[Bal]

That episode was a lot more fun than I thought it was.

[Lottel]

Let's just hope spoons don't become the new fez.

[Thad]

Well that was interesting.

Most definitely a Moffat episode -- "sequel to Blink" would be a good description -- but also made some major contributions to the lore.

The biggest: Time Lord isn't a race, it's a title. Which is one of those things the fandom has been debating for decades.

Additionally: this would seem to indicate that the Doctor wasn't born on Gallifrey. Right? I mean, if that's the same barn where the War Doctor decided the fate of Gallifrey, it's presumably not actually ON Gallifrey.

And yeah, lots more with the Pink/soldier angle. Specifically, it seems that the Doctor's career choice was between soldier and Time Lord.

It's also Capaldi's best episode to date, giving him a lot more dramatic range than just "shouty", and continues this season's trend of actually making Clara interesting.

[Bal]

I think that's my favorite yet this season, and will probably stand the test of repeat viewings.

The Doctor was conscious when Future Pink grabbed him out of the decompressing ship, but unconscious with a wound on his head seconds later in the Tardis. What happened?

[Lottel]

Man. The Doctor just CANNOT stop picking at Clara's appearance anymore can he?

[Bal]

I mean, yeah, but the joke is that none of it is even remotely correct. Also he did the same thing about his own appearance. I think his perceptions are just weird.

[Sharkey]

In regards to Listen: I absolutely adore that it's likely that there was never really a monster of the week, other than the Doctor's apophenia. Which, of course, always comes with a whole lot of plausible deniability. Anyone who has even the smallest measure of self-awareness knows what that's like. Christ, you should see the things overenthusiastic pattern recognition would make me believe if I couldn't step back and apply Occam's razor. But given the context of the show, Occam's scalpel would be just as appropriate. He can be forgiven for jumping to a monster under the bed conclusion, given that ninety-nine times out of a hundred it's been a monster under the bed.

Though I'm still disappointed that apparently they've already telegraphed Clara's sendoff. Aw, she gets married and has kids. Good for her. Insert "Moffat can't write women worth a damn" tumblr rant here.

[Smiler]

[Sharkey]

[Thad]

He can be forgiven for jumping to a monster under the bed conclusion, given that ninety-nine times out of a hundred it's been a monster under the bed.

See also: by the time you get about four episodes into X-Files, Scully can no longer be considered the rational one; in the context of that universe, skepticism is COMPLETELY IRRATIONAL.

(Also: Atheists in the Marvel and DC universes. DUDE, YOU HAVE THOR AND HERCULES ON YOUR SPEED DIAL.)

[Thad]

Nick Frost and Michael Troughton cast in the upcoming Christmas special.

So that's two of Troughton's sons and Davison's daughter now; when do we get Sean Pertwee?

[Thad]

A nice reminder that Moffat got famous doing Coupling, and a solid return for Roberts as well. There was some great cringe comedy in that episode, all building to some uncomfortable moments that WEREN'T comedy and were more successful because of the tonal shift.

That foreshadowing at the end, that one day the Doctor will demand too much from Clara, is clearly building toward something, and may support the rumors that Coleman is leaving after this season. That would be too bad, because she's really gotten good.


MEANWHILE, we've got Katy Manning visiting the set. I don't see any indication that she's actually going to be in the Christmas special, but I wouldn't rule it out.

[Mothra]

Loved this episode. Pacing was tight, characters were given something to do without feeling rushed, great character moments, more Clara being adorable, subtle ties back to Listen, genuinely funny moments... I really, really wish Doctor Who was like this more often.

Even just how it was produced — the way it was shot, the utter lack of jarring CG, and the way they handled the music — was such a huge improvement over the norm it's striking.

[Thad]

[Bal]

I really like the Clara/Danny/Doctor dynamic that's going on. Danny reminds me of Rory a bit, in the sense of his calling the doctor out early on how dangerous he can be without knowing it, but even more so. I also really liked the obviously incongruous but still fascinating idea of a decision that the Doctor can't make for us. He's been doing that for years, obviously, but I like it anyway. Another good episode for Capaldi and for making Clara interesting.

[Thad]

I think Kill the Moon was, in a way, Doctor Who boiled down to its very essence: who gives a fuck whether the science makes even the remotest kind of sense; we're here for the character moments. And there were some good ones here.

Other notes: Everyone at NASA has a British accent. And if I heard right at the end, Courtney is the President? Guess they amended the Constitution.

(ALSO: To signify that the moon landers were Mexican we get a Mexican flag and...a fucking poncho draped over a chair. Oof, BBC, that's kind of terrible.)

[Mothra]

Kill the Moon was... eh. Loved the concept, but they made such a huge deal out of the possibility that this was going to have massive changes for humanity either way. Then it happened and it didn't.

"Look! It laid another moon!" oh my god. Not even getting into the fact that it apparently just laid and egg the size of the egg it just hatched from, what was the point of any of this? Ugh.

[Grath]

Most unbelievable part of Kill the Moon, even more than Americans with British accents? A bunch of Americans go to the moon to blow it up and they DON'T bring about a dozen guns per astronaut?

[Mothra]

Yeah I did not at all get the "zero budget astronauts" thing. Like... okay, I get that there is no more space program, but if the entire motherfucking planet is in danger, I'm PRETTY sure they'd splurge on this one team they're sending to the moon with all their bombs.