Doctor Who: "The Rebel Flesh"
May. 22nd, 2011 11:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizbeeNon-spoilery: was it just me, or was this episode difficult to watch? In the sense that I couldn't see what was happening on the screen, I mean. It might have just been the time of day and the angle I had my screen, but in the end I had to close the curtains and turn off all the lights, and I was still having trouble following events.
I really liked this when it was an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I quite liked the approach of giving it the Battlestar Galactica treatment, complete with resurrection tanks and efficient use of the guest cast. It was also reminiscent of the Sontaran two-parter in 2008 and even "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit", so well done team for maximum derivation.
(The tIP/tSP resemblance may be just in my head, as I vidded those two eps to "Supermassive Black Hole", which obviously played in this ep. And that's a bit surreal, btw.)
That sounds dismissive, but the bits I could see, I really enjoyed. It's an interesting and properly skience-fictional plot, very TNG in its NEW LIFE IS SACRED stance, but that's okay, because it's a bit like coming home, if you know what I mean. It was a bit by-the-numbers, but in a good way. I'm curious to see what happens next.
Character-wise, I feel like Eleventy has been getting in touch with his inner Seven lately, with the keeping of secrets from Amy, and the way he seems to be one step ahead of the plot but keeping it to himself for reasons as-yet unknown.
I guess this is more of a Rory episode, and Amy is more reactive, but it's interesting that he identifies with the duplicates (hey, he was an Auton that time!), and I liked the way he tried to look after Jennifer. And also the way Amy was a bit >.> at him, but not actually jealous or pouty that he was LOOKING AT ANOTHER WOMAN ZOMG, and generally more concerned that he was about to die a horrible death.
I suspect I'd have had an easier time following the plot if I could distinguish between the guest cast. There was Chris Skelton off LoM/A2A, the MP from Party Animals, Jennifer and an old guy, but for some reason I couldn't easily tell the voices apart. (Even Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill's voices were confusing me this week. MAYBE I AM JUST TIRED OR SOMETHING, IDK.)
Also, is "poncy" not a homophobic slur in the UK? Because I was kind of WHAT THE HELL? WHY DID HE SAY THAT? HOW DID THAT MAKE IT TO AIR? at that line. Wiktionary defines it as UK slang meaning having pretentions to being posh or intellectual, or effeminacy, but I've only ever heard it used in the context of effeminate. Either way, I was very O_O at it.
Randomly:
- Rory isn't dead! Yet.
- So it's the 22nd century, and Earth is subject to solar ... shenanigans. By the 29th century, the planet will have to be abandoned due to solar flares, leading to the events of "The Ark In Space" and "The Sontaran Experiment", and "The Beast Below". I do like a semi-consistent future history.
- I really hope it doesn't turn out that the Flesh/Gangers are going to evolve into Autons.
On the other hand, I expect the twist in the two-parter is that the "human" work crew are also Gangers, and have been all along.And also there will be a Rory Ganger, and he will die.
I really liked this when it was an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I quite liked the approach of giving it the Battlestar Galactica treatment, complete with resurrection tanks and efficient use of the guest cast. It was also reminiscent of the Sontaran two-parter in 2008 and even "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit", so well done team for maximum derivation.
(The tIP/tSP resemblance may be just in my head, as I vidded those two eps to "Supermassive Black Hole", which obviously played in this ep. And that's a bit surreal, btw.)
That sounds dismissive, but the bits I could see, I really enjoyed. It's an interesting and properly skience-fictional plot, very TNG in its NEW LIFE IS SACRED stance, but that's okay, because it's a bit like coming home, if you know what I mean. It was a bit by-the-numbers, but in a good way. I'm curious to see what happens next.
Character-wise, I feel like Eleventy has been getting in touch with his inner Seven lately, with the keeping of secrets from Amy, and the way he seems to be one step ahead of the plot but keeping it to himself for reasons as-yet unknown.
I guess this is more of a Rory episode, and Amy is more reactive, but it's interesting that he identifies with the duplicates (hey, he was an Auton that time!), and I liked the way he tried to look after Jennifer. And also the way Amy was a bit >.> at him, but not actually jealous or pouty that he was LOOKING AT ANOTHER WOMAN ZOMG, and generally more concerned that he was about to die a horrible death.
I suspect I'd have had an easier time following the plot if I could distinguish between the guest cast. There was Chris Skelton off LoM/A2A, the MP from Party Animals, Jennifer and an old guy, but for some reason I couldn't easily tell the voices apart. (Even Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill's voices were confusing me this week. MAYBE I AM JUST TIRED OR SOMETHING, IDK.)
Also, is "poncy" not a homophobic slur in the UK? Because I was kind of WHAT THE HELL? WHY DID HE SAY THAT? HOW DID THAT MAKE IT TO AIR? at that line. Wiktionary defines it as UK slang meaning having pretentions to being posh or intellectual, or effeminacy, but I've only ever heard it used in the context of effeminate. Either way, I was very O_O at it.
Randomly:
- Rory isn't dead! Yet.
- So it's the 22nd century, and Earth is subject to solar ... shenanigans. By the 29th century, the planet will have to be abandoned due to solar flares, leading to the events of "The Ark In Space" and "The Sontaran Experiment", and "The Beast Below". I do like a semi-consistent future history.
- I really hope it doesn't turn out that the Flesh/Gangers are going to evolve into Autons.
On the other hand, I expect the twist in the two-parter is that the "human" work crew are also Gangers, and have been all along.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-22 02:09 am (UTC)But then I realized there is the Doctor who is made out of Flesh. Urk. Yeah, that would potentially be Autons with time travel.
I don't know. I hope it's not quite that obvious.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-22 02:11 am (UTC)Although, given that the Nestene have never seemed totally evil, so much as being entities whose goals are in conflict with humanity's/the Doctor's, maybe this can end with the Autons turning up and taking their fleshy brethren to the stars. And then there would be hugs. Plastic hugs.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-22 03:38 am (UTC)And yeah, Eleven is definitely getting his Seven on. It was a bit predictable and trope-y, but I enjoyed seeing Rory's interactions with Jennifer.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-22 03:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-22 09:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-31 11:11 am (UTC)OTOH, slang etymologies are very difficult to work out, as there are rarely good records of usage until they get into the mainstream, and they can mutate quite fast.