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Doctor Who: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
Apologies to anyone who got spoiled in the time between posting this and noticing I'd messed up the cut tag!
Spoilers think it's the light fitting.">
I liked this, but not so much I have no words, like last week! So that's good! Unless you hate my posts, in which case you can backbutton away. (Not being pass-ag; I'm just secretly convinced everyone hates me.)
Mostly I think, okay, Chibnall, once your villain has committed mass murder and killed the happy triceratops, we know he's the bad guy. You don't need to resort to blatant rapeyness to rub it in. It was gross in the Sixth Doctor's era, and it's gross here.
(Actually, given that his earliest appearance in relation to Who was rubbishing Six's era, it's kind of hilarious that the problems with his episodes -- rapeyness, a generally problematic approach to women, violence, the Doctor killing his enemies -- were also hallmarks of the Sixth Doctor era. You really never forget your first Doctor, do you? Bring on the women who imprinted on Seven and Ace!)
Things Chibnall seems to like almost as much as fictional rapeyness: PTERODACTYLS. More pterodactyls, less rape, that's the way to go.
(When he shot Tricey, I had a serious moment of DON'T CHOP THE DINOSAUR, DADDY!, so it was maaaaaaaaaybe not as affecting as it was intended to be. Usually I have a hard time coping with animal death, but it's hard to feel sad when you're thinking of dinosaur lollies.)
Also, I really liked Nerfertiti's characterisation overall, but I kinda hope the Doctor picks her up and takes her home when she gets sick of Ridell, because she has the whole Akhenaten era to live and work through, and possibly also that bit where she may have been the queen regnant between Akhenaten and Tutunkhamun. On the other hand, who wouldn't run away from Amenhotep IV for a while if they could?
(I also wasn't hugely bothered by the sexualisation of Nefertiti, because my very first encounter with her in fiction was the Dorothy Porter poem where she visits prostitutes to take revenge on Akhenaten for his affairs. DOROTHY PORTER, GUYS, SO GREAT. On the other hand, the actress was a lot better at being competent and generally great than she was at that kind of artificial sexiness, so.)
If fandom doesn't produce some Eleven/River/Nefertiti, and also fic where Eleven takes Nefi home via a visit to Liz X, I shall pout.
PREDICTION: Fandom will find Nefertiti ~deeply problematic~ and therefore ignore her, while complaining loudly about Ridell while also giving him lots of attention. WHITE GUYS, EH?
(I have to say, though, I hated Ridell a lot less than I expected to, given his background, but then, my expectations were REALLY low.)
I also expect someone to find it highly problematic that Amy is explicitly framed as a feminist here.
(To be honest, I was done forever with fandom's special version of "feminism" when I saw the Legend of Korra meta that explained that, because Lin Beifong can walk and chew gum at the same time, she's "coded male" and therefore doesn't count as a female character. I just ... that degree of erasure and goalpost moving was too much.)
And it makes sense that she's sort of drifting in and out of jobs, and having trouble settling -- I'm always surprised we don't see more of that in ex-companions, and unlike Rory she doesn't seem to define herself in any way by a job or career. And that kind of mid-tier modelling is the kind of job where you can wander off and do something else for a while, then call your agent and say, "Oh, hey, I'm free, is there any work?" And also, she's still in the process of learning how not to be the girl who waited, and that won't happen overnight.
Hey, hey, hey, there were multiple people of colour in this episode, and none of them died. So well done there, Chibnall; let's hope this sets the pattern for the rest of the series. This is the second time he's written a clever, sympathetic Desi woman; Indira didn't have a big role, but she had a lot of layers and presence instead of being Generic Soldier Type With Missiles. Bring her back sometime, show, she was competent and sympathetic and should have an adventure that doesn't involve missiles!
(Although, seriously, Doctor, giant spaceships crashing into the planet is generally considered bad for the place. Forgive me if I'm TEAM INDIRA here.)
I can't believe we had an entire episode about dinosaurs and things crashing into the Earth, and not a single Adric joke. FOR SHAME, CHIBNALL, FOR SHAME.
Finally, I really liked Brian Williams. There was a dash of Wilf, but without his tedious Doctor-worship, and an echo of Jackie Tyler, but without the narrative stopping repeatedly to tell us how worthless she is. I liked the quiet tension between him and Rory re Rory's masculinity, the way it's obviously such an old argument that Rory doesn't even get upset, because he's the more secure and less anxious of the pair. (And I love that he proves himself to his dad through his nursing skills, instead of anything more masculine.)
Something about this episode felt very monochrome -- maybe it was Ridell being such a throwback, or the fairly random presence of an historical celebrity, or the DINOSAURS ON A SPACESHIP. But it worked, and added to our growing Silurian mythology. So well done, Chibnall, marks off for rape, but otherwise a solid effort.
Spoilers think it's the light fitting.">
I liked this, but not so much I have no words, like last week! So that's good! Unless you hate my posts, in which case you can backbutton away. (Not being pass-ag; I'm just secretly convinced everyone hates me.)
Mostly I think, okay, Chibnall, once your villain has committed mass murder and killed the happy triceratops, we know he's the bad guy. You don't need to resort to blatant rapeyness to rub it in. It was gross in the Sixth Doctor's era, and it's gross here.
(Actually, given that his earliest appearance in relation to Who was rubbishing Six's era, it's kind of hilarious that the problems with his episodes -- rapeyness, a generally problematic approach to women, violence, the Doctor killing his enemies -- were also hallmarks of the Sixth Doctor era. You really never forget your first Doctor, do you? Bring on the women who imprinted on Seven and Ace!)
Things Chibnall seems to like almost as much as fictional rapeyness: PTERODACTYLS. More pterodactyls, less rape, that's the way to go.
(When he shot Tricey, I had a serious moment of DON'T CHOP THE DINOSAUR, DADDY!, so it was maaaaaaaaaybe not as affecting as it was intended to be. Usually I have a hard time coping with animal death, but it's hard to feel sad when you're thinking of dinosaur lollies.)
Also, I really liked Nerfertiti's characterisation overall, but I kinda hope the Doctor picks her up and takes her home when she gets sick of Ridell, because she has the whole Akhenaten era to live and work through, and possibly also that bit where she may have been the queen regnant between Akhenaten and Tutunkhamun. On the other hand, who wouldn't run away from Amenhotep IV for a while if they could?
(I also wasn't hugely bothered by the sexualisation of Nefertiti, because my very first encounter with her in fiction was the Dorothy Porter poem where she visits prostitutes to take revenge on Akhenaten for his affairs. DOROTHY PORTER, GUYS, SO GREAT. On the other hand, the actress was a lot better at being competent and generally great than she was at that kind of artificial sexiness, so.)
If fandom doesn't produce some Eleven/River/Nefertiti, and also fic where Eleven takes Nefi home via a visit to Liz X, I shall pout.
PREDICTION: Fandom will find Nefertiti ~deeply problematic~ and therefore ignore her, while complaining loudly about Ridell while also giving him lots of attention. WHITE GUYS, EH?
(I have to say, though, I hated Ridell a lot less than I expected to, given his background, but then, my expectations were REALLY low.)
I also expect someone to find it highly problematic that Amy is explicitly framed as a feminist here.
(To be honest, I was done forever with fandom's special version of "feminism" when I saw the Legend of Korra meta that explained that, because Lin Beifong can walk and chew gum at the same time, she's "coded male" and therefore doesn't count as a female character. I just ... that degree of erasure and goalpost moving was too much.)
And it makes sense that she's sort of drifting in and out of jobs, and having trouble settling -- I'm always surprised we don't see more of that in ex-companions, and unlike Rory she doesn't seem to define herself in any way by a job or career. And that kind of mid-tier modelling is the kind of job where you can wander off and do something else for a while, then call your agent and say, "Oh, hey, I'm free, is there any work?" And also, she's still in the process of learning how not to be the girl who waited, and that won't happen overnight.
Hey, hey, hey, there were multiple people of colour in this episode, and none of them died. So well done there, Chibnall; let's hope this sets the pattern for the rest of the series. This is the second time he's written a clever, sympathetic Desi woman; Indira didn't have a big role, but she had a lot of layers and presence instead of being Generic Soldier Type With Missiles. Bring her back sometime, show, she was competent and sympathetic and should have an adventure that doesn't involve missiles!
(Although, seriously, Doctor, giant spaceships crashing into the planet is generally considered bad for the place. Forgive me if I'm TEAM INDIRA here.)
I can't believe we had an entire episode about dinosaurs and things crashing into the Earth, and not a single Adric joke. FOR SHAME, CHIBNALL, FOR SHAME.
Finally, I really liked Brian Williams. There was a dash of Wilf, but without his tedious Doctor-worship, and an echo of Jackie Tyler, but without the narrative stopping repeatedly to tell us how worthless she is. I liked the quiet tension between him and Rory re Rory's masculinity, the way it's obviously such an old argument that Rory doesn't even get upset, because he's the more secure and less anxious of the pair. (And I love that he proves himself to his dad through his nursing skills, instead of anything more masculine.)
Something about this episode felt very monochrome -- maybe it was Ridell being such a throwback, or the fairly random presence of an historical celebrity, or the DINOSAURS ON A SPACESHIP. But it worked, and added to our growing Silurian mythology. So well done, Chibnall, marks off for rape, but otherwise a solid effort.
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I thought this was a really solid father-son episode in that it didn't bang you over the head or make the whole story about their reconciliation or whatever, which typified last season. As you say, it's obvious that there's a history of masculinity "my son is a nurse" stuff going on there that is just gently referred to rather than made HUGE. I liked it.
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I enjoyed this one heaps! Lots of rompy fun, excellent guest actors, Rory is a Weasley (Arthur Weasley is a Pond!!), Rory has been quietly checking out medical tech and obtaining it for his first aid kit, but mostly I yearn for Maurice/Who crossovers because Riddel is almost the perfect age/time to be notquiteScudder (+/- 10 years).
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I never expected triggers from Doctor Who. Knowing that Solomon dies is somewhat helpful, but still not excellent. Usually I'd have rewatched it already, but I'm hesitating because it's going to be triggering and stressful.
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Indira should be the new Brig and blow stuff up when the Doctor won't.
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But I already have to write Riddell/Nefertiti spanking fic (she does the spanking, obviously) for someone else, and ... oh, all right, I'll see what I can do.
because Lin Beifong can walk and chew gum at the same time, she's "coded male" and therefore doesn't count as a female character
WHAT. And if she'd been an ordinary cop, she'd have been "weak" and "feminized," and the writers would have been even more terrible at characterization than they apparently are, right?
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Aaaaaaaah, and that's why I like him but find Wilf irritating and was being befuddled by the comparisons.
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The more I think about this, the more important it gets to me, in light of how Ten was virulently anti-violence even after he'd been violent himself. Harriet Smith shoots down a threat to the Earth and the Doctor changes history to smack her for being uppity. Team Indira says "we're going to shoot down a threat to the Earth" and the Doctor just says "can you give me a little more time" not "OMG HOW DARE YOU GUNS ARE NEVER THE SOLUTION, WATCH ME KILL THE BADDIES WITHOUT ONE."
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Yeah, this confused me a lot.
The Ponds being 30-ish now strikes me as... eep? I get where the show is going with this, and they do a good job with the wardrobe indicating that they're not youngin's anymore. (Rory is particularly drab with the sweater vests, but Amy's home attire is very much comfy compared to her usual wear.) Still, the old age makeup for Amy last year was in my opinion, some of the most effective age makeup I've seen in years, so let's see them do it.
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Also she rescued herself, like the bad ass she is. That was awesome.
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