[Gaultheria]

Well. That finale was slow and weird. As much as we criticize OUAT’s later seasons for being all about “Plot! Plot! Plot!”, it’s just as bad for a show to be all about character like this one was.

[Gaultheria]

I think it doesn’t quite sound like a town name, rather an overly-comfortable suburban neighbourhood bounded by Ordinary Street and Normal Boulevard. Horrible place to trap someone from a special background, where he can’t live up to his full potential.

Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher

[Gaultheria]

totally something Moff would do.

I wonder if Moffat likes puns, because there’d be one implied in this plot.

Also, I had NO idea that was Simm in the hair and prosthetics.

I like that it’s a tip of the hat to the Master’s old habits, from Time-Flight (1982).

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[Gaultheria]

My favourite part of this episode was the performance of the Master in disguise, whom I shall call Zathras.

The ship was a beautifully creepy setting. A setting like that deserves a full novel, not just a couple of episodes.

Re: Bill’s conversion: In a show where realistic world simulation computers are a thing, I don’t trust what I see on my screen. The Doctor has had this longstanding dilemma of “Can Missy be trusted?”, and he had access to Monk technology for several months. You see where I’m going with this. For most shows, this’d be overthinking it, but the Grand Moff likes his convoluted series arcs, revisiting things from earlier in the season.

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[Gaultheria]

There’s a really interesting theory I was talking about with @runaroundmacy and @ranishapitts about Missy’s reform. Basically, Missy is pre-Simm Master; she regenerates into him and the animosity SimmMaster feels for the Doctor is based on whatever happens these next two episodes.

That would be neat, but wouldn’t it break continuity? Professor Yana was Simm Master’s “preincarnation”, and Yana and Chan-Tho worked together long enough to develop a close friendship (at least from her point of view). Or do you mean that Missy regenerates into Yana?

Simm Master in the preview has the classic Master beard, which I don’t think he ever wore during the Tennant years. He could be putting on a favourite old face, like the Doctor did as the Curator.

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[Gaultheria]

Thinking about it from Henry’s point of view…

– “Childhood’s End”

– “Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction”

…but meaningful titles always sound like they’re trying too hard.

If I could choose the title, “Operation Cobra” has an almost unlimited number of anagrams, and I think people would tune in for “Airborne Cat Poo”.

Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher

[Gaultheria]

I like this kooky theory.

Thanks! I was wrong about this…

After seeing “Smile”, I think Bill’s planet is a far-future copy of Earth.

…but still kind of close, though just by accident, so I’ve got my fingers crossed for luck this time.

Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher

[Gaultheria]

I know they won’t keep the kinder, gentler version of Missy/The Master forever, but I like seeing the different facets of their relationship.

Keeping alive the Doctor Who Podcast’s tradition of “Kooky Theory of the Week”: “The Lie of the Land” was the first time Bill met the Doctor.

I think the Doctor and Missy switched bodies during the imprisonment flashback, or did something like 11’s Zygon/Human identity spell. As the ship crashed into the dock, the laughing Doctor’s voice changed from male to female, to show that the real identity is reasserting itself. Nardole has been there all along to keep the Master from going off the deep end, while the Doctor serves the Master’s sentence.

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[Gaultheria]

The way the monks talk — simply opening their mouths wide to produce complex speech — is just like how the very first original-series Cybermen talked.

From the season trailer, we know those Cybermen will make an appearance.

I wonder if the monks are Cybermen without their suits.

Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher

[Gaultheria]

Also – you think being a social outcast in a feudal society is “relatively comfortable”?!!

Food, clothing, house, family, physical health — that’s what I meant by comfortable. The “relatively” part was recognition that her situation wasn’t perfect, just pretty good.

I really don’t think that the show has given us reason to think that Milah was suffering from depression as opposed to some other reason for her behaviour. When I criticize Milah, I’m not criticizing depression, just going with the broadcasts and not adding detail.

I get the impression that you know someone with depression who may have thought or done some of the things Milah did. Depression and other forms of mental illness are terrible burdens that real people have to bear.

TV drama can deal with this topic very powerfully, like in the van Gogh episode of Doctor Who. I just don’t see it in OUAT’s Milah episodes.

Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher

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