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Anyone else watch the Christmas special?
–I think if I focus on the message and ignore parts of the plot, I like it a lot more. The plot was rather…Moffat-ish, by which I mean a bit much, too twisty. But the message behind the plot about memories and fairy tales was great and also felt Moffat-ish.
–The Twelfth Doctor and the First Doctor had great banter and I like 12 correcting 1 about some of those misogynistic tendencies of the 1960s but also think the bit ran a bit long.
–Even if I wasn’t her biggest fan, it was right that Clara got to come back for a goodbye. Ten said goodbye to all of his companions, Eleven saw Amy one more time.
–Making the Captain tied to the Brig was a smart way to go because up until that reveal, the Captain felt like a waste only designed to ensure the Doctor got to be a Christmas hero.
–I’m super excited for Jodie! But um…she appears to be falling to her demise!
–Peter Capaldi did a great job, per the usual. He never got the best material over the past three seasons, but he always did well with it. He has a real talent at delivering big speeches.
–Unnecessary Dalek was unnecessary as was the entire excursion to the center of the universe.
–“The universe generally fails to be a fairy tale. But that’s where we come in.” That’s it. That’s the show. Best line of the night and it shows, I think, that Moffat does know what Doctor Who is at the end of the day. It’s a fairy tale with a classic hero.
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"The bit about how only the Doctor’s children know his name was oddly specific. I wonder if that’ll be a recurring plot point in the new season. It sounds “bigger” than just something Susan’s parent or Jenny might have known.
(I still think Gallifrey and Skaro are the same planet in diverging timestreams. That puts one particular name at the top of the list, especially in light of what Rusty keeps saying.)
Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher
The bit about how only the Doctor’s children know his name was oddly specific. I wonder if that’ll be a recurring plot point in the new season. It sounds “bigger” than just something Susan’s parent or Jenny might have known
Was he saying that only his children know his name or was the Doctor saying that only children–in general–know? I thought Moffat was making a statement there about how children are still capable of seeing magic and believing in fairy tales before they grow up into adults.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Was he saying that only his children know his name or was the Doctor saying that only children–in general–know? I thought Moffat was making a statement there about how children are still capable of seeing magic and believing in fairy tales before they grow up into adults.
Hmmm… The fairy tale aspect is a theme Moffat likes, so maybe, but the reference to the Doctor’s unnamed name just makes it unnecessarily mysterious. A complicated description takes away from the emotional impact of a simple truth. But that’s Moffat’s way.
Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher
Ooookay. My feelings are very mixed. I liked the last 25%. lol
I was quite upset that they made The First Doctor out to be so misogynistic. He had plenty of faults, but sexism was really not one of them. He was quite patronizing, yes, but to ALL his companions, male and female. Except possibly Susan. I feel like they threw that in to try to make a connection to why The Doctor is regenerating as a female. Or something. It was weird.
The glass memory people were weird to me as well. They were theoretically people being removed at the moment of their deaths so they could copy their memories into their system… Except… Bill didn’t die in the end, so she should have had a lot more memories post-Doctor, and possibly been older. Surely she didn’t still die young… And I felt very much like The Doctor when he said he didn’t know what to do with them not being evil. I don’t quite know how to process the fact that there was literally no villain at all.
The Rusty addition was also weird. Why did Rusty hate The Doctor so much suddenly? It’s not like they parted on bad terms… And I felt like if they were going to bring back a one-off character from Capaldi’s run, there are SO MANY MORE memorable ones than Rusty. In my opinion.
All that said, I liked it from the moment Silent Night started. The totally human miracle, the speech about his life being a battlefield, the “one last walk” with Bill, getting his memories of Clara back (even though I didn’t love the way they had them interact for that little bit – seemed forced and a bit odd to me), the ring falling off his finger when he regenerated into Jodie…
I agree that the whole “children can know your name” thing felt forced. I’m sort of interested in how Jodie’s Doctor is going to survive the whole falling out of the TARDIS thing, but I’m mostly vaguely annoyed that they put a bit in there where the TARDIS is literally rejecting her. If it had been another regeneration into a man, it wouldn’t have had the same feeling, but it kind of gives a feeling of “See? Even the TARDIS doesn’t want a woman”.
Those were my impressions on first watch. I was also sort of hoping we would have gotten some answers like why Twelve was present at the saving of Gallifrey, but I guess I will just have to move on. Lol.
The glass memory people were weird to me as well. They were theoretically people being removed at the moment of their deaths so they could copy their memories into their system… Except… Bill didn’t die in the end, so she should have had a lot more memories post-Doctor, and possibly been older. Surely she didn’t still die young…
Glass-Bill and Water-Bill could both be snapshots of Original-Bill from a moment before her first body’s death.
The Rusty addition was also weird. Why did Rusty hate The Doctor so much suddenly? It’s not like they parted on bad terms… And I felt like if they were going to bring back a one-off character from Capaldi’s run, there are SO MANY MORE memorable ones than Rusty. In my opinion.
I think it’s a sci-fi version of smashing the mirror. Take your most shameful secret memory. Multiply its strength a million-billionfold. Now imagine there’s one other person — just one — who peered into your mind and saw the shame that’s the source of all your self-loathing. Can you look that person in the eye?
I’m sort of interested in how Jodie’s Doctor is going to survive the whole falling out of the TARDIS thing, but I’m mostly vaguely annoyed that they put a bit in there where the TARDIS is literally rejecting her. If it had been another regeneration into a man, it wouldn’t have had the same feeling, but it kind of gives a feeling of “See? Even the TARDIS doesn’t want a woman”.
I think it was a reference to the last time the show rejuvenated itself by changing both Doctor and showrunner. It kind of works as a birth metaphor.
Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher
@Gaultheria – Your explanations do make more sense, and I think if I rewatch (especially the Rusty bit) with that in mind, it would potentially improve my experience. I have been soliciting opinions from people who liked it about what they liked about it in an attempt to give me fresh perspective on it.
The glass memory people were weird to me as well. They were theoretically people being removed at the moment of their deaths so they could copy their memories into their system… Except… Bill didn’t die in the end, so she should have had a lot more memories post-Doctor, and possibly been older. Surely she didn’t still die young…
Glass-Bill and Water-Bill could both be snapshots of Original-Bill from a moment before her first body’s death.
The Rusty addition was also weird. Why did Rusty hate The Doctor so much suddenly? It’s not like they parted on bad terms… And I felt like if they were going to bring back a one-off character from Capaldi’s run, there are SO MANY MORE memorable ones than Rusty. In my opinion.
I think it’s a sci-fi version of smashing the mirror. Take your most shameful secret memory. Multiply its strength a million-billionfold. Now imagine there’s one other person — just one — who peered into your mind and saw the shame that’s the source of all your self-loathing. Can you look that person in the eye?
I’m sort of interested in how Jodie’s Doctor is going to survive the whole falling out of the TARDIS thing, but I’m mostly vaguely annoyed that they put a bit in there where the TARDIS is literally rejecting her. If it had been another regeneration into a man, it wouldn’t have had the same feeling, but it kind of gives a feeling of “See? Even the TARDIS doesn’t want a woman”.
I think it was a reference to the last time the show rejuvenated itself by changing both Doctor and showrunner. It kind of works as a birth metaphor.
I’m a fan of both this and Sherlock so seeing Mark (The Captain) was a treat. I generally enjoy the companion callbacks. *wipes eyes* I think I forgot about Rusty for like several moments..then was like..ooh the one with the ponds and Clara? ..yeah, I think *squints* or something like that.
It did remind me of Eleven’s debut yes.
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Keeper of Emma’sTrue Love Care Bear Stare & Snow & Charming’s Charm Heart.
I think I forgot about Rusty for like several moments..then was like..ooh the one with the ponds and Clara? ..yeah, I think *squints* or something like that.
Rusty was the Dalek they tried to fix in Into the Dalek… Twelve’s second full episode I think. It was the episode where The Doctor asked Clara if he was a good man IIRC…
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