Doctor Who 10.04

[selenak]

Well, then.



Whenever the show does one of And-then-there-were-none episodes (here it's the haunted house variation), they either seem to be avarage or extraordinary. The avarage ones all share the same problem: to wit, the guest cast isn't very memorable. (Whereas if the scriptwriter manages to individualize the episode ensemble, so you care when they're taken off the table one by one, the resulting episode already is a win in my book.) This was an avarage episode in this regard. What interest in the plot I have is solely related to whether or not the Landlord is meant to parallel the Doctor. (Oh, and I also thought upon the reveal that it's a good thing those bugs never made it to White Pine Bay, Oregon, because Norman Bates would have so gone for that solution.)

Otoh the interaction between Bill and the Doctor continues to be delightful, from him helping her move via the TARDIS onwards. That he's taken to be her grandfather (and vain enough to protest that surely father would work better) was another moment that makes me hope we'll see or at least hear from Susan this season. Though the person in the vault now definitely sounds like the Master, any of them. (Surely, Nardoles's "you never learn" to the Doctor re: Mystery Person and Doctor socializing with same and donating pianos to same can't refer to anyone else?) Because Moffat loves his time travel and self fulfilling prophecies, my current guess is that this is not Missy but Simm!Master, who'll regenerate into Missy in the course of this season's story. However said story will end will inspire Missy to do the Hereafter/Cyberman plot she does in Twelve's first season.

Speaking of regeneration, that was a pointed pause and non-answer from the Doctor when Bill stumbled across that word in his short explanation about Time Lords. Which made me sigh for Doylist reason. We all know it's coming, and dammit, I'll miss Twelve. Eleven I liked without loving him, but Twelve I love again.

Lastly: Bill pointing out to the guy that she's into girls was, I presume, to clarify she's not bi? Or maybe just to give us a matter-of-fact acceptance moment on screen.

I need a Bill icon, but I haven't found one that truly swept me away yet.

Comments

[jesuswasbatman]

Might have been to clarify she's not bi. It might have been seen as necessary, given that before the series began there were people declaring (including in mainstream news publications) that Moffat writing a lesbian character was inevitably going to be exploitative misogynistic straight-male sex-fantasy.

[selenak]

*sigh* Figures. I had forgotten the Irena Adler effect.

[muccamukk]

There's a great crisis in icons right now. Anyone who wants one has had to use the one set that exists, or make their own.

[selenak]

*shakes stick* In my day, the new Companion was featured on doozens of icon posts with 20 icons per post AT LEAST within two weeks of their first appearances!

[muccamukk]

I remember making Martha icons from leaked set photos. Kids these days.

[vilakins]

I found the recreation of the people eaten by the insects hard to take - they must have been correct right down to the quantum level to have their memories intact. The plot was very simple, but I do enjoy Bill and the Doctor's interactions.

I'm puzzled by the relationship between Nardole and the Doctor though. Nardole calls him 'sir' but almost seems to be in charge and has the right to criticise him. Which would be what a friend would do, but he's still the servant n some level.

[watervole]

I wondered who the insects would attack next... They're still there.

I think Nardole is a servant, but he's been there 50 years, so he regards himself as indispensable and able to state his own opinions whenever he likes.

Interesting that he isn't quite a 'companion'. He and the Doctor are close, but not in the same way. Possibly because he doesn't want a mentor and the Doctor loves to share the wonders of the universe. Nardole isn't really into 'wonder'.

[vilakins]

True, that. And Bill is, delightfully.

[watervole]

I'm really hoping for something relating to Susan.

I wonder if Bill might be Susan's granddaughter - no family photos means she won't recognise the picture on the Doctor's desk.

[vilakins]

I wondered that too, though are they in the same timeline? I think Susan left after a bad Dalek invasion in the 60s and Bill didn't know what Daleks were. Hmm, does changing the timeline wipe people out or are they persistent. I suppose memories would change, but Susan's would remain as she's a time lord.

However I hope Bill isn't her granddaughter and we've had a lot of so speshul companions. I want her to be wonderful all on her own.

[lokifan]

I'm thinking the grandfather/father thing means Susan will be relevant this season (and maybe Susan's parent?)

I actually thought her "into girls, usually" could be taken as an indication she's bi!

[selenak]

Do we have any indication whatsoever in the past seasons of four decades whether Susan's parent was male or female? I don't recall. Of course, now that it's on screen canon Time Lords can change gender when regenerating it's entirely possible the parent was born as one and then became the other.

Missy mentoned her (dead) daughter in the "two lies and a truth" game she played with Clara, and I've seen at least one fanfiction which couldn't resist letting that daughter be Susan's parent, too.