This is why I'm not a wholehearted fan of Mark Watches _________

[lizbee]

He misses things. Sometimes it's just subtextual. Sometimes it's RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TEXT, BEING TALKED ABOUT.

From his review of "The Doctor's Wife":



It is not an actual woman Time Lord on screen, but I literally YIPPED with excitement to the answer of a question so many of us have asked: Are Time Lords always dudes? NO. Oh god, is there now a possibility that there could be a woman as a Time Lord? COULD YOU IMAGINE ALL THE SHITTY BACKLASH FROM THE FANDOM. oh god just the very concept sends me into a tizzy of excitement and i have to move on or I will wet myself with joy.



This is awkward because ... well, there's his review of "City of Death", for one thing. And the paragraph right at the top of his review of "The Doctor's Wife" where he talks about having watched "The Armageddon Factor". And there's also a review for "An Unearthly Child".

I mean, come on. He has comments later on where he says he flat out didn't know Romana was a Time Lord. And he watched. "City of Death". *stare*

(Someone else on my DW flist has also commented on this. BUT I FELT LIKE IT DESERVED SOME FLAILING OF MY OWN.)

Comments

[rhivolution]

Uh. Yeah. It's a little hard to miss in City of Death.

[head.desk.]

I'm hoping someone has set him straight in comments, because that is a damn big thing to miss.

[myniamh]

Wow ... how could he have missed Romana (I and II) being a Time Lord. He's had a billion comments nattering on his blog about Time Lords for ages. I stopped reading his reviews a bit ago but I'm certain there was a big discussion about Romana and The Rani at some point. ¬¬

[gominokouhai]

Wow. That's special.

[andraste]

HOW COULD HE MISS ROMANA? In City of Death! When she is standing right there in a school uniform being awesome and Time Lord-y?

[phosfate]

He has comments later on where he says he flat out didn't know Romana was a Time Lord.

AHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

[rembrandtswife]

Yeah, I think that's the reaction this dude most deserves.

[akashasheiress]

WTF... Did he miss the part where she totally changed bodies all of a sudden?

[holyschist]

I am also...not a wholehearted fan.

[lizbee]

He seems like a lovely guy, but most of the time I find the real insights in the comments to his reviews.

[holyschist]

Yeah, he's entertaining, but not that insightful, IMO. I find the spoiler policy pretty much bars the kind of discussions I like best, though.

[lizbee]

Yeah. I like his Avatar reviews, because there's a commenter called Shyfully who always has something interesting to say. But generally I don't read his DW reviews that closely.

[nam_jai]

Yeah, I enjoy his reviews for the most part, with occasional reservations, but that one was possibly the biggest facepalm ever. You can maybe excuse Susan, because of those people who argue about whether she was actually a Time Lord or just plain old Gallifreyan. And I can't remember if "The Armageddon Factor" makes it explicitly clear that Romana is a Time Lord*. But "City of Death"? There's the drawing, there's "You and I exist in a special relationship to time," there's how it's an integral part of the plot, how can you miss that?

Oh wait, clicking on the "City of Death" review, he calls Romana a Time Lord, so he didn't miss it. I guess he just ... forgot.

*ETA, because really: Except for how he might have noticed Romana was played by a different actress.

[ellen_fremedon]

*blink*

I knew there was a reason I could never get into his reviews.

[fyrdrakken]

I have been having this thought lately:

See, I watch fannish shows with my mother (who's a second-generation sci-fi geek herself, and doesn't go to cons but does have me bring her back fannish T-shirts when I go), and she's interested enough in the shows she likes to talk meta, or have me fill her in on backstory and/or online fannish speculation, or go browsing on Wikipedia for historical details.

But. We have a slightly different viewing philosophy, in that she has a tendency to treat the TV as background noise while she's going about her evening (to the point of leaving it running some movie she's seen several times before in the background while she's reading), whereas I tend to focus if it's a show I care about. It has caused mutual aggravation, when she comes home from work and settles down on the couch to watch what I'm watching and then starts trying to tell me about her day -- and then the second or third time I rewind the same bit so I can try to actually hear the dialogue, I gripe at her about it and she winds up just as annoyed with me as I am with her. Or there's the questioning about the actual show we're watching, which -- I like talking meta, or subtext, or fannish speculation, and I'll happily pause the show to fill her on something along those lines. But I absolutely hate it when she interrupts a scene to ask me a question that just proves she hasn't been paying attention.

I've realized I watch these things like I'll be tested over the material later. (Because I sort of will -- on my LJ/DW friends list when the episode is getting discussed, or possibly years later when we're still watching the same show and one of these bits turns out to have become necessary backstory.) She doesn't. I don't think this guy does, either.

[lizbee]

That's a good point, and I also wonder if taking notes for his blog means he misses things. (Which is certainly the reason I don't enjoy liveblogging myself, though I quilt while I watch TV, so...)

[fyrdrakken]

A few of the TWoP recappers had made remarks to the effect they watch a show at least twice, with the note-taking for the recapping being on the second viewing. Which, yeah, on the first run you're going to miss things, especially if you're distracted by your notes.

Years ago, I used to try to watch TV while I was doing something or other on the computer -- and I kept missing things, or having to rewind and watch the same bit a few times over because I'd been distracted. And then I got back into knitting and had something to keep me from fidgeting that allowed me to focus, and suddenly I was much better at staying on top of my current shows or marathoning old ones because it wasn't wasting my time (and I had socks to finish, or whatever).

[sabrina]

Um. Okay, I have not watched every episode of classic Doctor Who ever, but it's not that complicated to know that Romana is a Time Lord...

Fail.