If you're
reading this, you might've guessed that I was just scrambling into my seat at
the computer, cracking my knuckles, warming up my plunger and whisk, and
started engaging in furious writing, eager to share my thoughts, theories and
reactions to a new face taking up the role of our most famous and beloved alien
time traveler. And for that, I have
brought you
the Rogue Dubstep remix of "Clocks" by Coldplay as the
optional theme song for
this review!
Once again,
our beloved Gallifreyan time-traveling (formerly raggedy) madman Doctor has
regenerated, leaving us floundering in painful tears as we try latching upon
ANY REASON to love the new "Clock Doc" (as I like to call him)! And after the few episodes of stale writing
left us with a thirst for fresher excitement of the Doctor's adventures, it
seemed that we were in need of a new face to refresh the flavor of the series. Obviously, they went with
Peter Capaldi (who
himself is a Whovian—THANK GOODNESS! No
need to trust someone who's a stranger to the tales of the Whoniverse!), not
because he would be good over the long run, but because they just needed to go
in a different direction: a worn-down alien whose been a little reset with a face
recalled from his Tennant days in ancient Pompeii and a Scottish accent with
angry eyebrows! Not to mention that I'm pretty sure new
memes were born that night!
Which
brings me to my first point:
The Theatrical Entrance of the Two Temporal Travelers
A Tyrannosaurus
Rex in Victorian England choking on the TARDIS….. Finally, the writer(s) redeemed themselves at
Whovian storytelling! Because nowhere
else can there be such an entrance!
NOWHERE!
DO YOU HEAR/READ ME,
NETWORK TELEVISION?! NOWHERE!!!!! *plungersmacks self* Sorry, a little ranty, a lot squirrelly during drafting (especially since Fox is doing "Gracepoint," the
bastardized/Americanized version of Broadchurch that is apparently what
mainstream America is allergic to, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!). But this introduction and quite a few funny
moments really make up for the floppiness in the last Christmas episode, The
Time of the Doctor (which I was able to tolerate watching again, noticing a few
references to previous Doctors that I haven't seen before).
Secondly…..
Character Analysis: The WHO in "Doctor Who"
(Shuddup, critics!)
The new
Doctor is definitely a little more callous, a bit more insensitive and definitely
less relatable in an alien kind of way, like, "I'm an ALIEN, with
non-ginger kidneys!" Lots of memories
seem to have faded from his mind, and he is less cuddly. He is a little more angry, and he's got the
eyebrows to match! To me, in that scene
in the "escape pod," which turns out to be—SPOILER ALERT!—a skin
balloon, he also seems to be a wee bit a of a drinker; I have very few memories,
in my time of being a new-gen Whovian ("new-gen" meaning having come
into the Whovian "fandom"—hate that word—during the series reboot), of
seeing the Doctor with a glass of anything alcoholic ON SCREEN! Anyways, he seems to dislike the human race
quite a bit, much like Eccleston's Doctor (number 9), according to Diane (found
on Twitter at
@DiHard11). Capaldi also
seems to have difficulty expressing that whole manic, hyper, young, rapid
thinking Smith's Doc (#11) had. He
is
HAWT in that
Kuroshitsuji-esque-butler-looking-but-still-an-outfit-that-can-stand-on-its-own suit ensemble, but
another downside (despite the non-ginger kidneys) is that he's a spitter. YUCK!
I
hate that, I just do; in fact, going to one of the worst case
scenarios, hawking a "loogie" makes me gag, having suffered through
seeing many in high school water fountains and hearing the sound over and over
again. *shudders* #HighSchoolNightmares
As for the
companion, Clara is still clever, able to think on her feet (or horizontally on
her back/front/either side), but the usually sassy confidence was definitely
shaken with the change of face and personality.
It was obvious in the beginning, and certainly towards the end, but we were
all
going through that, enduring the
Whovian's Cycle of Regeneration Reaction. And I can relate to that; in fact, in the
aftershow After Who Live, hosted by Chris Hardwick (Wow, is
this
the reason for the @midnight hiatus? Answer: NO.), a few celebrity guests (specifically,
Wil Wheaton, Alton Brown, Mark Gatiss, et al.) discussed how the companion can
be expressing the same emotions we were feeling, which is true: the companion
is the audience's avatar in the Whoniverse, albeit one we can't control all the
time unless it's in fanfiction written to satisfy our inner desires. (*eyebrow waggle*) But Clara still delivered her usual
Impossible Girl charisma, talents and skills, looking hawt in Victorian era
clothing and delivering a kind of emotionally fueled banter, reflecting our
thoughts of "Who is he now?"
(She could be a Bond Girl!
Somebody, please! Contact Time
Lord 007 and inform him of this!) It
is
a shame, though, that Jenna Louise-Coleman will be leaving the series by
Christmastime, which begs the question: how will she leave? Will she be killed off, like all her other
selves? Or will she be disembarking at
her final destination, with the possibility of a return during some sort of
huge epic special episode like Martha Jones and Rose Tyler? This discussion must be held!
With these
two paired up, and aided by Madame Vastra, her wife Jenny, and Strax (the
potato clone with a craving for war and battles and glory, LIKE A POTATO
KLINGON!), they were able to provide the core of the episode, the A(liens)-Team
that were able to fight what's wrong.
They also were able to provide a LOT of hilarious moments and new
memes! I believe some were tweeted
about….
I loved the term "Planet of the Pudding Brains,"
especially since it could make a GREAT t-shirt!
And the moments with Vastra knocking out the Clock Doc in that way,
Strax doing the whole "here's some 'clean' water," and medical
examination thing, as well as knocking out Clara with the newspaper and going
through the whole "dip him in acid" bit—all that had me cracking up,
laughing so hard (much like Phil "Bad Astronomer" Plait did that one time....) that I was worried I was going to
wake up my neighbors! I can't watch it
again and again without laughing!
And,
finally….
The Plot—TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD, But Not Really…..
The plot
actually works: grand, hilarious entrance and whole identity crisis, mixed
together with the issue of clockwork androids that remind you of Girl In the
Fireplace, and the base consisting of the audience waiting for the "I am
the Doctor," moment just seems to make it work well like a
thoroughly-blended smoothie. Or
perfect-thickness milkshake—I say milkshake, because I like milkshakes better;
it's just a matter of preference, I say!
Not to mention the well-done scenes of Clara struggling to hold her
breath and passing out, the flashbacks, the lead clock-droid, any other scenes
you may like—this one is for the "Excellent Episodes" pile,
especially with the new TARDIS interior!
I didn't notice the new windows and I'm pretty sure that the TARDIS is
sporting a fresher coat of blue paint, but there are
new round things inside
(YAY, ROUND THINGS!), and a library area in the main control room, with more
seats throughout! MOAR YAYS, BUT FOR
SEATS! Though, I might add complaints
from others such as my parents (classic Whovians, from the Tom Baker era) and
Reppy the Republican Dalek, as well as the Deviants in Deviant Art's Devart
chat later on after initially posting this review.
However,
questions abound with SPOILERS! First of
all, where the hell is that "promised land," looking a hell of a lot
like MY Garden? Is it part of the
TARDIS? And who is this Missy
chick? I can totally get an Evil vibe
from her (even though she's a fictional character; yes, I know, Dad.), but the
ethics (Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic) axis is questionable. There may be an underlying motive for it, and
the brief disappearance of the Doctor after the initial conflict raises even
more questions, which doesn't help his alibi in regards to this new problem. I think my current (at the time of publishing
this blog post) theory for this story arc can be best expressed in my tweet:
And I loved seeing that familiar face at the
end!!!! It helped make that
transition easier on us Whovians! Well,
me definitely; others probably want to speak for themselves. And when that took place, I could, then, see
the previous Doctor in the Clock Doc!
That was quite helpful, and I loved it; I hope this happens
again in the future regenerations of Doctor Who! I also loved After Who Live! I hope it continues throughout the season;
especially since I can see how much of a workaholic Hardwick is—yet another
project to add to his pile: @midnight, Nerdist Industries and Podcast, All Star
Bowling, and Talking Dead, to name a few.
I think he needs to be strapped down, sedated a wee bit, and given a
massage! IT'S NOT A KIDNAPPING BUT AN INTERVENTION,
HARDWICK, BECAUSE ALL OUR POINTS ARE BELONG TO YOU!
All in all,
4.5 plungers/TARDISes/sonic screwdrivers/Doctors out of 5! And I hope that the accessory hand thing
takes off like Doc Five's accessory celery.
These clockwork droids, along with Missy (and Miss Tasha Lem, Mother
Superious of the Church of the Papal Mainframe/Church of Silence), would make
GREAT costumes for a Doctor Who cosplay event that is going to take place October 2014 in Bethlehem, PA (which is within my sector). There are going to be cosplay groups coming
from ALL OVER just for this event! One
of the main sponsors is one of my frequent haunts:
The Underground Lair, the
nerdshop that has "vintage" toys, items that the Santa Time Lord
never gifted to you for Christmas in your childhood, games galore, Whovian
merchandise and items that were crafted by local residents (whose species have
yet to be determined), Potter-things, gay-pride items (all for you,
NotGayDalek!), and other items that are for sale for a great price! They are willing to purchase toys you want to
get rid of or help you sell them for a certain percent of the price! (They are
not a pawn shop,
therefore they will
not haggle over the price they are willing to pay. Don't even try; Dan told me so himself.) I plan on being there, taking pictures and
doing coverage for the blog and stuffs, but YOU SHOULD TRANSMAT OVER AND BE
THERE, TOO! Your attendance is required
by the Sontaran-Dalek Alliance! Let's
make the streets of Bethlehem, PA,
bleed TARDIS BLUE!
MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! (For the record, it wasn't
my
idea, but I do like it and am allowing it to happen!)
Anyways, I hope the improvements continue (despite
the oddly different intro sequence; that's the reason why I call Capaldi's doc
the Clock Doc; I mean, come on! I loved
the old smoky sort of timey-wimey wormhole temporal vortex! But why have the intro focus on clocks? It makes no sense to me at all! But now's not the time to rant about it…),
because I shall be a Whovian until I am nothing but a timeline in my giant
TARDIS-tomb on Trenzalore! And with
that, in the present, Non-Greenwich meantime, I hope you enjoy your regenerated
tacquitos! Because they're Scottish with
non-ginger kidneys in need of our love!
P.S. The following
tweet MUST BE EXPRESSED! And retweeted
and overshared! BEHOLD!
P.P.S. Where can I
get one of those Team Adipose t-shirts?
I must acquire one straight away!
MY DEAR OOD! I have a quest for
you, and you must embark on it immediately for it to be completed (with
autographs) in time for Christmas/my birthday!...... *zooms off on hoverbike*
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