|
Bicyclops posted:The Big Bad Wolf is made real due to a TARDIS malfunction and he beats up Charles Dickens for making that "What the Shakespeare!" joke. Guest starring Tim Allen as the wolf, who for some reason spouts random phrases related to gender essentialism as the Doctor pats him on the back and shares a beer. Sorry, oxxidation, I had to spoil it. Hmmm... E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:Oh let me guess: it's an episode of doctor who
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 20:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 05:49 |
|
|
Bicyclops posted:The Big Bad Wolf is made real due to a TARDIS malfunction and he beats up Charles Dickens for making that "What the Shakespeare!" joke. Guest starring Tim Allen as the wolf, who for some reason spouts random phrases related to gender essentialism as the Doctor pats him on the back and shares a beer. Sorry, oxxidation, I had to spoil it. This sounds better than most of the episodes in the next season, I won't lie.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 20:53
|
|
|
Bad Wolf might be the weakest link of the whole season.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 21:12
|
|
|
Bown posted:Bad Wolf might be the weakest link of the whole season. It's bad. Aliens of London was worse.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 21:19
|
|
|
Bown posted:Bad Wolf might be the weakest link of the whole season. Hm. Subtle. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 21:37
|
|
|
BSam posted:Yeah don't worry, there's no more Mickey. You are a bad person. Sorry, Occupation, there's much more Mickey, right up until the end of the second season. He does get a little better, though, and on the whole, he's more interesting than Rose (mostly because Clarke is a better actor than Piper).
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 22:00
|
|
|
Spatula City posted:You are a bad person. I already hinted this at him so it's no biggie, but good grief the man wrote it himself: quote:Don't post spoilers. I quite frankly don't care about if you spoil this show for me, because you can't possibly ruin my enjoyment of this show, but you'll ruin the genuineness of my reactions to specific events which will make for worse reviews which will make for a less entertaining thread. So, posting spoilers doesn't piss me off- that's like making poop dirty, in my mind- you'll just be making the thread worse, and that's lame. Stop doing it! Thank you in advance! Superlative gratitude!
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 22:02
|
|
|
You think you're so clever? Well I've watched some Doctor Who so here's some spoilers 
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 22:07
|
|
|
MrL_JaKiri posted:You think you're so clever? Well I've watched some Doctor Who so here's some spoilers Lol
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 22:09
|
|
|
Spatula City posted:(mostly because Clarke is a better actor than Piper). It's strange as Piper's acting was pretty good in Secret diary of a Callgirl.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 22:13
|
|
|
Geokinesis posted:It's strange as Piper's acting was pretty good in Secret diary of a Callgirl. She's a natural whore.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 22:15
|
|
|
Oxxidation posted:This sounds better than most of the episodes in the next season, I won't lie.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 05:34
|
|
|
It's going to be like that time the poor Enterprise recapper at TWOP had to recap The Shipment.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 05:52
|
|
|
g0del posted:Speaking of next season, I think Anus should skip ahead and watch "Love & Monsters" now, because I don't think he's going to last that long going in order. And you haven't really lived until you've seen that episode. Really can we just get a highlight list of episodes for him? I want to see him take on "Fear Her" too. And lord knows I want to hear his thoughts on a Series 4 companion.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 07:26
|
|
|
I think you guys have kind of missed the core concept.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 10:40
|
|
|
MrL_JaKiri posted:I think you guys have kind of missed the core concept. Yeah, let's just sit back, relax, and watch the hits come when they do. Even the good episodes have enough bad to go around. Also, a thread full of "Wait 'll 'e gets a load of _______!" sounds really boring and is probably what they're trying to avoid.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 11:09
|
|
|
I agree but am also worried he'll get too frustrated and bail early. Like, how do you make it through the endless string of mediocrity and puppy dog eyes that is season 2 if you don't like anything about the show already?
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 12:13
|
|
|
Or through the slog of daring ways the show finds to try a new basement that is Series 3. I mean "Daleks in Manhattan" anyone? We all want to see his thoughts but I don't know if I could last that long on a re-watch and I actually like the drat show.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 12:21
|
|
|
Hopefully Oxxidation has enough dirt on him to force him to finish what he started.
MikeJF fucked around with this message at 13:30 on Aug 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 12:21
|
|
|
Well that'd be more likely if you guys would shut up about the future. Geez, don't scare the What's the point of getting someone to do blind reviews if you natter away about the episodes to come? Just sit back and enjoy the 
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 12:38
|
|
|
Oxxidation posted:Harriet Jones (Penelope Wilton) Yes, we know who she is.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 13:05
|
|
|
Occ has been moving along at a commendable clip thus far and I have no reason to dissuade him from his present course. We will continue sequentially, possibly excepting briefer episodes like the Children In Need specials, until one/both of us gets bored/succumbs to unfathomable madness, etc.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 13:18
|
|
|
MikeJF posted:Hopefully Oxxidation has enough dirt on him to force him to finish what he started. The irony is he does, but if either of us quits first it'll be him
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 14:07
|
|
|
mind the walrus posted:Really can we just get a highlight list of episodes for him? I want to see him take on "Fear Her" too. And lord knows I want to hear his thoughts on a Series 4 companion. No, we have to wait until he slowly loses his mind and starts foaming at the mouth with rage or slowly becoming Doctor Who's number one fan. He already gave a fairly mediocre episode a B and devoted more word-rage to the farting aliens than they're worth. By the time he gets to the end of the Tennant years, he'll either have a bomb planted in the BBC offices or he'll be wearing a Tom Baker scarf and calling his padded cell his TARDIS.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 14:32
|
|
|
I can't even imagine someone who hates Dr. Who trying to get through the Tennant years. I personally really enjoy Tennant but his performance is so Dr. Who it hurts sometimes. You can very easily tell he was a kid who grew up on Dr. Who and dreamed of playing him. Eccleston is probably the most different from all the other doctors, which I think probably contributed to the success of the first revival series.
Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Aug 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 14:42
|
|
|
Oxx is at a concert tonight I think But it's been a while since my last review so I'll be posting one tonight! How's about instead of...whatever weird poo poo you guys normally do in this thread you all be mini-Oxxes (Oxxen?) and contextualize this episode in a non-spoilery way/post your thoughts in an organized and interesting fashion like he normally does because BOY OH BOY DID I HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING A BUNCH OF THIS EPISODE Anyways review in my next post
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 02:33
|
|
|
Doctor Who "Dalek" Series 1, Episode 6 This episode is a really, really bizarre one for me to review, because there's a confluence of everything I like (thus far) about Doctor Who, everything I hate, and a whole shitload of nostalgia that flies way over my head. For once, I feel completely out of my element reviewing an episode of this show, because "Dalek" doesn't really feel like an episode written for me (a brand new DW watcher and ostensibly new fan); it feels like a love letter to the Doctor Who fandom, which I can really respect. I'm a diehard Community fan, which is a fanbase that has been collectively mistreated and abused for over half a decade now, so I can really respect and even somewhat admire a show that's willing to play to the niche, hardcore fanbase (as Community often does) even when it makes the episode more or less insufferable, so I'll be, in general, a lot more compassionate and forgiving to "Dalek" as a whole. Sure, there's problems throughout, and they're myriad, but I feel less mad about them this time around because I can see the dialog the showrunner, Russell T. Davies, is having with the audience throughout the episode. The episode kicks off with The Doctor and Rose disembarking the TARDIS in Utah, in the far-flung future of 2012. Seems like The Doctor received a distress signal from a creature in desperate pain at this location, so he travels to help it. Unfortunately, the location of the distress signal is also the secret bunker of reclusive egomaniac Henry van Statten (Corey Johnson), a reclusive, ego-maniacal billionaire collector of alien artifacts. The Doctor and Rose have accidentally broken into one of the vaults, and thus are immediately arrested and hauled to Statten for questioning. The Doctor is able to sufficiently impress Statten with his knowledge of alien artifacts, so Statten invites him to visit, and attempt to make sense of, the newest artifact that Statten has uncovered, which coincidentally is also the source of the distress call. Funny, that. Unfortunately, The Doctor is horrified to discover that the "artifact" is, in fact, a Dalek, which I know contextually to be the "Big Bads", the major antagonists of the Doctor Who universe. Empirically speaking, I never really knew what they did or how they worked, so the impact of the Dalek reveal was somewhat blunted for me, but I still got the sense that this was a major dramatic reveal that probably would have worked fairly well if I was an actual Doctor Who fan. While this Dalek reveal is occurring, Rose spends time with who will eventually become The Doctor's newest Companion, Adam (Bruno Langley), a low-level flunkie of Statten's. Speaking objectively, Adam seems like an at least somewhat interesting character, played at least decently by Langley. Unfortunately, the entire context of Adam and Rose's scenes together are meant to either set up his eventual integration into The Doctor's crew (which were so obvious and overall poorly written as to make me roll my eyes- Oh, you want to see the stars, Adam? You don't loving say!), or to set up yet another potential suitor for Rose. After finally getting rid of the excruciating Mickey-Rose-The Doctor love triangle in the previous episode, for Rose to immediately start flirting with a guy she just barely met is infuriating. Plus, now that I'm aware that at some point in the near future Mickey comes back, setting up a potential love rhombus focused squarely on Rose...god, it makes me want to loving gag. Rose isn't that interesting of a character, guys! Stop making every guy she meets want to gently caress her! Christ. Anyways, beyond this The Doctor immediately tries to kill the Dalek, both to protect Earth and to avenge his fallen race-apparently, the Time War mentioned in the second episode dealt primarily between the Daleks and the Time Lords, with both races wiping each other into extinction- except for one on either side. In any case, the Doctor is subdued and restrained, since his alien origins were revealed in his conversation with the Dalek and Statten wants to experiment on him. His imprisonment prevents the Doctor from preventing Rose from touching (and subsequently releasing) the Dalek from his confines, which quickly leads into the Dalek terrorizing the base, killing hundreds of guards, until the end of the episode where the Dalek, having been irrevocably changed by absorbing Rose's DNA, begs Rose to order it to kill itself, to end its suffering. A surprisingly dour resolution to the episode as a whole and on reflection, a remarkably dark one. There's a lot of issues I have with this episode. Firstly, Corey Johnson's performance of Statten is...interesting, to say the least. Statten is by nature kind of a hammy character to portray- he's essentially the real antagonist of the episode, an unscrupulous capitalist motivated solely by greed who does such reprehensible things as wiping the minds of his fired employees and dumping them in a random city. Unfortunately, Corey Johnson decides to amplify the naturally over-the-top antics of his already exaggerated character, which works for a while but eventually becomes just altogether way too much. It's not even that Statten's dislikeable- he barely resembles a human being, barking orders to put "not one scratch" on the Dalek while it's frying scores of humans. There's a point where motivated self-interest would have Statten disregard his own insane greed, but it takes far too long into the plot for Statten to reach that point. Secondly, the entire plot of the episode hinges on Rose, essentially, being a giant goddamn moron and Adam to be desperate enough to win her affections that he's almost as huge of an idiot as her. The conflict of the episode- the Dalek escaping its chains and terrorizing the compound- are predicated on it absorbing a time traveller's DNA and subsequently being able to "power up" on the temporal juice or something, whatever, just go with it. Unfortunately this means that the episode justifies this logic by Rose inexplicably deciding to meet the new alien creature all by herself, then completely buying the Dalek's sob story where all common sense in Rose's peanut brain were just overwhelmed by her compassion. This despite literally coming off not one, not two, but three- yes, three- separate instances of an alien race attempting to manipulate humans into doing what the alien race wants them to do for the alien race's own malevolent ends. Admittedly, the scene with the Dalek convincing Rose that it was being tortured and was dying was fairly convincing (and also mostly true), but you'd think after a certain point Rose would practice the "look but don't touch" strategy when talking to aliens, especially when having just recently met evil sticky aliens that absorbed people who touched them barely a week prior. It also does enormous harm to Rose's character as a whole. At this point, I don't want to see Rose on screen any more, because her entire role on Doctor Who is either to be a complete idiot, fawn over or be fawned over by the men who surround her, or to be endangered and thus motivate the hero(es) to save her. This isn't even to mention the quality of the actress portraying her, which is mediocre at best; she's the archetypal sexist woman character, to only exist as a plot point, an object with a pulse- and the smarts of one. It's just loving embarrassing at this point. Finally and most importantly, I just think the Daleks are fundamentally a really loving stupidly designed antagonist. In theory, they're a really great antagonist- I love the idea of a race designed purely to hate and genocide, a race of programmed slaves, of robots meant to accomplish only whatever tasks given to them. I love how the Daleks are able to dimensionalize The Doctor's character, how it informs his backstory and reveals the layers of rage and pain he has over the Time War. I love the arc that this specific Dalek has, how there's little moments as it's crushed by the feeling of pointlessness as it realizes it's the last Dalek left. I love how the thing that gives it strength- Rose's DNA -is the thing that eventually destroys it as it literally cannot understand or digest human emotions. I especially love the end of the Dalek's arc- as it, for once, feels joy before begging Rose to order it to kill itself. There's a weirdly sympathetic, emotional end as the audience realizes that the Dalek is literally so beholden to its own programming that it can't even commit suicide without being commanded to, how utterly pathetic and miserable a Dalek life must be that I felt myself almost choking up at the end scene, somehow sympathizing with a race of genocidal maniacs. But I was hamstrung at every time by the physical design of the Dalek. It just looks so loving stupid. It's like...someone took a pineapple and duct-taped a plunger to it. Even though some lines worked, overall I felt the screechy, overly-high-pitched voice of the Dalek to be really, really annoying. There's ways to do good robot voices that can convey emotion and gravitas (for instance, in the Rick and Morty episode "Lawnmower Dog", Snowball's robot voice is fantastic) while still conveying the unnerving inhumanity at its root, but for the most part the Dalek's voice was just plain irritating and somewhat laughable. I understand that the Dalek design is, I assume, a big nostalgia boost, I get that. But to me, someone new to the series, everything about the physical design of the Dalek, down to its stupid-as-poo poo floating or downright lazy "walking" speed, makes it a laughable antagonist, not something to buy as either a real threat or as a sympathetic one. It really sucks, because I really wanted to like the Dalek, the moral complexity of its backstory and, especially, how their race as a whole influences The Doctor are all things I want out of Doctor Who. But I really cannot get over how stupid they look, act, and sound, and it really does negate almost all of the emotional impact those scenes could provide. So why do I give this episode a B if I really hated a lot of this episode? I think it's a credit to how incredible Eccleston's acting is throughout. Nearly all of the Doctor's interactions within "Dalek" are flat-out amazing, with Eccleston really able to portray his just plain wondrous dramatic range and really sell all the scenes he is in, whether it be with the Dalek or with Statten. There's just some absolutely great, impactful stuff- that near-ten minute scene to kick off the episode, with The Doctor expressing his rage and hysterical glee at being able to confront the last survivor of his most hated enemies is some brilliant stuff, with Eccleston able to make The Doctor turn from sympathetic to frightening in seconds. I mean, the beginning scene of this episode was so goddamn good I was almost ready to become an actual, unironic Doctor Who fan, because this emotional relatability is what I come to character dramas for. I really cannot talk up enough how great Eccleston is throughout, especially at the very beginning and very end of this episode; it's a legitimate acting triumph he displays and truly raises the material. I mean, look at this exchange: Dalek: "KEEP BACK!" Doctor: "What for?! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ME?! (beat) If you can't kill, then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the POINT of you? You're NOTHING!" I mean that was goddamn hair-raising. And even the Dalek's capper to the episode, as The Doctor works himself to a hysterical rage and torture the Dalek to death, of "YOU WOULD MAKE A GOOD DALEK.", even though it was a bit obvious and on the nose, it doesn't really matter when it totally works anyways. I guess this is a long-winded way of me saying that I think I get it. I think I get why people are Doctor Who fans, even though this show is wildly inconsistent and downright terrible a lot or even most of the time, that the highs are so high as to make it all worth it. I don't know if I feel the same way- actually, I do, I know I don't -but that beginning and ending Dalek scenes. gently caress. I...yeah. Grade: B Random Thoughts:
NieR Occomata fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Aug 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 03:51
|
|
|
I hate Daleks. I hate their stupid design and their one note characterization. Every time they show up I groan and almost every episode that heavily features them is extremely bad. But this isn't one of them. It actually works and makes the Doctor/Dalek relationship kind of interesting. Too bad it was pretty much a one time thing. Ugh this is really the first season 1 episode I actually like (not counting the Face of Boe sections of that one episode). I'm glad I didn't start with this season or I'd never have made it through it. Regy Rusty fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Aug 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 04:05
|
|
|
E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:[*] I assume that exhibit at the very beginning of the episode with the white mask which The Doctor disregarded somewhat wistfully as an "old enemy" is some overt reference to the old serials, right?[/list] Think of it as both a nod to the old stuff, and foreshadowing for Series 2.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 04:09
|
|
|
I haven't seen a ton of DW so I've never actually seen an episode with a Dalek in it but that design is just so awful.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 04:17
|
|
|
Why couldn't they just stay in the 60s where they belong? I think this show is actually pretty good with their alien design when they actually make new things instead of bringing back nostalgia bait. The only thing I've watched of original DW is the very first few episodes including the original introduction of the Daleks. They were boring and awful then too but maybe there's something in the intervening years that makes them less dull.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 04:23
|
|
|
Daleks look dumb, this episode would've the best time to retire them, but
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 04:27
|
|
|
Evil laser-shooting pepper shakers. The ultimate enemy of a time travelling demi-god.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 04:31
|
|
|
Cybermen have gone through dozens of designs and revisions. It seems that Daleks can only change color schemes, which is unfortunate, because they need a revision. There was a good joke about it going up a staircase in this episode if I recall.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 04:37
|
|
|
Every episode of the new show where they've done a Dalek redesign has been a poo poo show, so maybe some things are better left as they are.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 05:00
|
|
|
It was an old joke in Britain that you could easily escape a daleks just by going up stairs. This episode concocted the silly floating thing to mess with everyone's expectations. (But then raised the question - why don't they always do that?!) Christopher Eccleston yelling at the dalek was pretty much the only thing I remember about his episodes (well, up until you reminded me of the goddamn 'toxic' bit) and his take on the Doctor. It was maybe the only good scene in the series up to that point for me, but nowhere near enough to salvage it. Don't become one of them. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 05:36
|
|
|
Daleks are hateful genetic purist creatures who pretty much travel in personal army tanks. Whether intentional or not, the Daleks owe much of their concept/design to the Nazi army. Debuting in 1963, less than 20 years after World War 2, it can be seen why this is/was such a menacing creature. That said, it doesn't resonate as strongly with viewers seeing the design some 50 years after its inception. Edit: There is no way to make a floating Dalek not look ridiculous.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 05:44
|
|
|
VagueRant posted:It was an old joke in Britain that you could easily escape a daleks just by going up stairs. This episode concocted the silly floating thing to mess with everyone's expectations. (But then raised the question - why don't they always do that?!) This is wrong, Daleks could levitate in the seventh doctor serial Remembrance of the Daleks. It was the cliffhanger for one of the episodes!
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 05:48
|
|
|
Zaggitz posted:This is wrong, Daleks could levitate in the seventh doctor serial Remembrance of the Daleks. It was the cliffhanger for one of the episodes!
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 06:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 05:49 |
|
|
E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:This episode is a really, really bizarre one for me to review, because there's a confluence of everything I like (thus far) about Doctor Who, everything I hate, and a whole shitload of nostalgia that flies way over my head. For once, I feel completely out of my element reviewing an episode of this show, because "Dalek" doesn't really feel like an episode written for me (a brand new DW watcher and ostensibly new fan); it feels like a love letter to the Doctor Who fandom, which I can really respect. I didn't know anything about Doctor Who when I started watching this season either, and this episode was useful in that it uses a single Dalek to sort of try and amp up the stakes of dealing with them and also introduce them (and also try and make them vaguely scary by acknowledging at the beginning that they look ridiculous and having everyone be surprised when it starts murdering people). The one thing is that I don't think they ever did a really great job of even making the Time War make sense or whatever, I thought for several years that the whole "time war" thing had always been in Doctor Who's backstory instead of something that had ostensibly happened recently, and so the more references there are to the time war in an episode, the less sense it really made to me. With respect to the Dalek, they do a good job of establishing the following without any real confusion: - Daleks are very dangerous and very evil and very smart and lie a lot. - They also have weird techno-magic. - The Doctor has dealt with them a lot before and they've killed a lot of people he cares about. - In fact, they're tied up in his ~SUPER MYSTERIOUS~ backstory. - They're largely indestructible and implacable so anytime the Daleks are present in an episode going forward, the Doctor will have to defeat them with more cunning than he usually displays. Also there will always be people shooting at them and getting murdered for it. - Daleks look really dumb.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 06:30
|
|