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New Who: "Planet of the Dead" (Yet Another Goddamned Reaction Post Cluttering Up Your Friends List)
Spoiler free: I had no very low expectations, and found myself watching with a stupid grin on my face, occasionally pausing to email people and squee. This episode made me happy in my face, and contained none of the Rusty!fail I had been expecting.
Exceeding expectations: the Psychic Older Woman of Colour did not die a horrible death. The military woman of colour took a stance at odds with the Doctor's priorities and standards, and was not punished for it. In fact, the only people who died were a middle-aged white man and a couple of aliens, all of whom got proper respect from the script. So, yay.
Carmen, the Psychic Older Woman of Colour was a bit of a type. I kept waiting for her to say something that wasn't a Grimme Prophecie, but the moment never came. On the other hand, she got the same amount of fleshing out as the rest of the non-Michelle Ryan or David Tennant bus passengers.
Michelle Ryan was lovely, wasn't she? I covet her boots, along with her eye make-up, hair and bra. I'm one of the twenty people who actually watched Bionic Woman, and more than that, I even liked it. Sort of. So I'm always pro-Michelle Ryan, and I luuuurved Christina. Admittedly I'm easy; I was sold when they said she was an aristocratic thief. (Note to self: watch Leverage.) But Christina had many positive qualities in addition to her larcenous hobbies: organised, authoritative, unimpressed by skinny men with giant hair who claim to know everything, curious, and she tried to give the Doctor orders.
The plot itself was decent, not brilliant, but we know what happens when RTD tries to be brilliant. It actually made sense, which is something I don't normally expect from his scripts.
I really enjoyed the UNIT scenes, although I kind of wish that we could see some soldierly types who aren't totally impressed by the Doctor. (Presumably the recruiters funnel those people into Torchwood.) I loved Malcolm, though, and I liked the way he was increasingly less awestruck by the Doctor. Until they met in RL anyway, and suddenly it was declarations of love all over the place. Which would have been funnier if the Doctor hadn't managed to be simultaneously uncomfortable and blase about it. I don't know; based on everything in DW, I'd never watch anything RTD wrote about gay people. And yes, I realise there's a certain irony in saying that.
Here is something very silly: I secretly resent Captain Magambo for not being Brigadier Bambera. This is stupid, because obviously UNIT can have more than one black woman in positions of power, but I just miss Bambera. And I always find it weird that Magambo wears a skirt, which is also silly, but I just hate wearing skirts.
I thought I had so much to say, but it's all slipping away! I totally ship Doctor/Christina, and I loved her ending. I was sad the Doctor wouldn't let her come with him, but he didn't seem particularly emo, just acutely aware that bad things happen to his friends. And he helped her steal a flying bus, which is pretty good compensation for not taking her as a travel companion. (I also ship Brax/Christina, because she's an art thief, and he's a collector. IT'S OBVIOUS WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT.)
Anyway, I liked it. It wasn't perfect, but it felt like OldSchool Who, right down to the occasional ropey effect, aliens that looked like dudes in boilersuits and masks, and UNIT being militaristic but not OTT.
Exceeding expectations: the Psychic Older Woman of Colour did not die a horrible death. The military woman of colour took a stance at odds with the Doctor's priorities and standards, and was not punished for it. In fact, the only people who died were a middle-aged white man and a couple of aliens, all of whom got proper respect from the script. So, yay.
Carmen, the Psychic Older Woman of Colour was a bit of a type. I kept waiting for her to say something that wasn't a Grimme Prophecie, but the moment never came. On the other hand, she got the same amount of fleshing out as the rest of the non-Michelle Ryan or David Tennant bus passengers.
Michelle Ryan was lovely, wasn't she? I covet her boots, along with her eye make-up, hair and bra. I'm one of the twenty people who actually watched Bionic Woman, and more than that, I even liked it. Sort of. So I'm always pro-Michelle Ryan, and I luuuurved Christina. Admittedly I'm easy; I was sold when they said she was an aristocratic thief. (Note to self: watch Leverage.) But Christina had many positive qualities in addition to her larcenous hobbies: organised, authoritative, unimpressed by skinny men with giant hair who claim to know everything, curious, and she tried to give the Doctor orders.
The plot itself was decent, not brilliant, but we know what happens when RTD tries to be brilliant. It actually made sense, which is something I don't normally expect from his scripts.
I really enjoyed the UNIT scenes, although I kind of wish that we could see some soldierly types who aren't totally impressed by the Doctor. (Presumably the recruiters funnel those people into Torchwood.) I loved Malcolm, though, and I liked the way he was increasingly less awestruck by the Doctor. Until they met in RL anyway, and suddenly it was declarations of love all over the place. Which would have been funnier if the Doctor hadn't managed to be simultaneously uncomfortable and blase about it. I don't know; based on everything in DW, I'd never watch anything RTD wrote about gay people. And yes, I realise there's a certain irony in saying that.
Here is something very silly: I secretly resent Captain Magambo for not being Brigadier Bambera. This is stupid, because obviously UNIT can have more than one black woman in positions of power, but I just miss Bambera. And I always find it weird that Magambo wears a skirt, which is also silly, but I just hate wearing skirts.
I thought I had so much to say, but it's all slipping away! I totally ship Doctor/Christina, and I loved her ending. I was sad the Doctor wouldn't let her come with him, but he didn't seem particularly emo, just acutely aware that bad things happen to his friends. And he helped her steal a flying bus, which is pretty good compensation for not taking her as a travel companion. (I also ship Brax/Christina, because she's an art thief, and he's a collector. IT'S OBVIOUS WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT.)
Anyway, I liked it. It wasn't perfect, but it felt like OldSchool Who, right down to the occasional ropey effect, aliens that looked like dudes in boilersuits and masks, and UNIT being militaristic but not OTT.