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October 21, 2014 at 10:26 pm (This post was last modified: October 21, 2014 at 10:33 pm by Aractus.)
(October 21, 2014 at 1:06 pm)Esquilax Wrote:
Yeah, Flatliners was crazy overwritten, now that I think about it. Too much telling versus not enough showing, which seems to be a problem this series in particular has a lot of.
Regarding Missy, she falls into the same trap that Doctor Who arc villains have been falling victim to ever since the series got revived; nothing ever happens with them until the finale happens. These little scenes with her are supposed to be building tension and intrigue over who she is, but since I know the formula I have no reason to buy into that at all. Nothing of significance will happen surrounding that character until the last two episodes of the series, and potentially the last few minutes of the one before that. Since this has been the case for years, I can happily discard the teaser scenes with Missy as a waste of time, a pointless little bit of "mystery box" writing that thinks that deliberately withholding information is the same thing as giving the audience a puzzle to be solved.
A decent mystery gives the audience something to help piece the puzzle together before the reveal happens on screen. But there's no content in any of Missy's scenes, just a lot of fragmented scenes that lack any context. What am I supposed to make of that, and if I can't make anything out of it, why the hell are they bothering to include it?
Yep, Missy's character is predictable. I already predicted that she'd collect (or want to collect) Clara.
The problem is that Moffat has such a limited world-view. In one of the Christmas specials, I think it was "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe", the episode opens with a narrator saying that every planet celebrates the very middle of winter. Now I get that Moffat likes winter-themed episodes for the Christmas specials (he's even said that in interviews), however that line stuck out like dogs balls just because of its scientific invalidity. If a planet has seasons then, like the earth, the seasons in one hemisphere would be the opposite to those in the other. This is because they're caused by one half of the planet getting more exposure to the sun than the other half.
Ie, down here in Australia, and the rest of the southern hemisphere the winter solstice occurs on June 20 or June 21 - I know that because I've celebrated it all my life.
It's difficult to respect someone who believes that winter happens to the whole planet all at once.
(October 21, 2014 at 1:18 pm)Stimbo Wrote:
I think they ought to have quit these 'arc' things after the Bad Wolf one. Those little easter eggs actually got viewers hooked, in fact they were so subtle they had to have Eccles mention them at one point so people would notice. Then of course came the denouement, when all the stuffing fell out of it.
Since then, everyone's been expecting it. Unfortunately, it's not a trick you can pull off constantly.
The thing I didn't like about Bad Wolf was nuking all the daleks all at once using "tardis energy".
(SPOILER)
And that brings me to remember this week's episode (Flatline). The first scene doesn't even make sense in the context of the reveal - ie "I know who did it...". But what I really didn't like was the way the doctor simply sends all the monsters away using tardis and sonic screwdriver.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50.-LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea.-LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
October 21, 2014 at 11:05 pm (This post was last modified: October 21, 2014 at 11:07 pm by Cyberman.)
Agreed. There's far too much of the old "with one bound they were free" going on. As something of a writer myself, I make it a point of the process to invent a way to destroy the 'monster' at the same time as I'm creating it. Also, whatever mechanism devised to destroy it (or not) should be bound in some way either to its nature or its motivation in the story. For a Doctor Who example:
In Genesis Of The Daleks, Davros created and engineered the Daleks to consider themselves superior to all other forms of life. Unfortunately, he didn't reckon on them outgrowing the need for a creator, which they ended up destroying as an inferior lifeform.
A satisfying conclusion, rounding out the story. At least until four years later when the whole point of the story got thrown out the window. In any case, there was no need for any rushed magical ending.
The sonic screwdriver should be just that. A tool, not a tricorder or a magic wand. Like Sir Terry Pratchett observed, the Who writers all-too often rely on that ubiquitous element, MakeItUpAsYouGoAlongium.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
In Genesis Of The Daleks, Davros created and engineered the Daleks to consider themselves superior to all other forms of life. Unfortunately, he didn't reckon on them outgrowing the need for a creator, which they ended up destroying as an inferior lifeform.
A satisfying conclusion, rounding out the story. At least until four years later when the whole point of the story got thrown out the window. In any case, there was no need for any rushed magical ending.
Yes, but the story was effective at the time. Changing the outcome four years later doesn't change that in my opinion. Nor does it change the fact that he betrayed his own people and lead to their total annihilation all in pursuit of his scientific ideal.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50.-LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea.-LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
Scientific validity was lacking in "kill the moon" because (SPOILERS):
It would be an unacceptable risk to put nuclear weapons aboard a spacecraft which may break up and explode at take off or in the atmosphere, as has happened countless times in the past. That risk would stop you doing it today right now while we have active spacecrafts and satellites we launch into space, and that risk would only increase if you're planning on using an old spacecraft you dragged out of a museum!
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50.-LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea.-LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
(October 22, 2014 at 1:49 am)Aractus Wrote: Yes, but the story was effective at the time. Changing the outcome four years later doesn't change that in my opinion. Nor does it change the fact that he betrayed his own people and lead to their total annihilation all in pursuit of his scientific ideal.
Indeed, but that wasn't really the point I was addressing. I was merely saying that this was a character whose impact was sadly undermined by being resurrected needlessly, let alone repeatedly; and I note that I'm not the only nor the first one to say that. Compare for example with Sutekh, who even today stands among the all-time giants despite - or because - only appearing once. Granted, his legacy to the series as a whole isn't as important, but then he was never defined in that way.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
Not much of an accident scene when you don't see a single damaged car. But moving on...
The scene with Clara and the Doctor watching lava flow by was unnecessary to the story, and that time could better be used later.
The Cybermen - well they really gave away the "surprise" by releasing a preview the previous week with all the Cybermen in it! I'm guessing the cyber-eye and other visual cues were supposed to be more difficult to work out, but when you've already shown the audience who the enemy is in the preview they already know and all of that effort is wasted. Besides that the water that hides the non-organic material was a pretty good idea, but, why are they skeletons?? Cybermen are living breathing organisms thus they still require their organs and I would expect including their skin, but certainly their internal organs! And their blood, and lungs to breathe O2 and feed their brains (although it's true that Cybermen can go much longer than humans without O2, they still breathe it). The skeletons are sitting straight on the chairs; they should look suspended by their suits, but they don't.
Dr Chang tells the Doctor there are "institutes like this one all over the world", yet he still doesn't work out that he's on Earth??
The scene at the start with Clara saying "I love you Danny and you're the last person I will ever say that to" is pretty ominous, and it comes full circle by the end of the episode where Danny is saying "I love you" to prove he still has his feelings (which he does), and you're left with a sense that Clara has already had her feelings "deleted" because otherwise why isn't she recognising his statement?
How could Danny possibly meet the young boy he killed randomly years ago - it seems highly unlikely that W3 managed to collect him, and even so the scene went nowhere! I mean seriously??
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50.-LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea.-LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
If they don't explain how the master escaped the timelords in the next episode, I'm going to be pissed.
'The more I learn about people the more I like my dog'- Mark Twain
'You can have all the faith you want in spirits, and the afterlife, and heaven and hell, but when it comes to this world, don't be an idiot. Cause you can tell me you put your faith in God to put you through the day, but when it comes time to cross the road, I know you look both ways.' - Dr House
“Young earth creationism is essentially the position that all of modern science, 90% of living scientists and 98% of living biologists, all major university biology departments, every major science journal, the American Academy of Sciences, and every major science organization in the world, are all wrong regarding the origins and development of life….but one particular tribe of uneducated, bronze aged, goat herders got it exactly right.” - Chuck Easttom
"If my good friend Doctor Gasparri speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched.....You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. There is a limit." - Pope Francis on freedom of speech
When they revealed who Missy was, I completely bought out of the episode. It could have been so many things, any number of Time Lords/Ladies, and yet they decided to bring back the most boring one. That's not a slight on the classic Masters, just the John Simm one and where we left off with him. There really wasn't anywhere else to take that, and I just know we're not going to get any explanation about what happened to him after last time.
Regarding the Cybermen... why is it that they need the skeletons, again? Why take the useless part of the body and use that exclusively? Why not just build them robotic and upload the consciousness there? It's not like there's anything particularly unique about human skeletons that they need.
"YOU take the hard look in the mirror. You are everything that is wrong with this world. The only thing important to you, is you." - ronedee
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