Doctor Who 12.03

[selenak]

*imitates mad Australian warlord* Mediocre. I mean, I'm on board with the big speech message, and the bad monster suits and bad make-up felt almost endearingly early 1970s, but if you do a "ensemble under threat" story, you need to bring the one shot characters to life, and, imo as always, this didn't really happen.

Otoh I did like the emotional continuity of having the Doctor (though she denies it) being in a bad mood at the start of the episode and her companions knowing that something is goin on behind the facade that she doesn't talk about. Also, looks like this regeneration is really into using telepathy, which I find interesting.

Since I don't have that much to say about this week's episode, have a fanfic rec:

Inside and Out, starring the Twelfth Doctor, Missy and *Spoiler* from Spyfall. Until we're told otherwise, this is so my headcanon.

Comments

[astrogirl]

Oh, thank you for the rec!

And I'm amused by the fact that I seemed to like "Orphan 55" more than most people, when things were so often the other way around last season, with me being the one getting grumpily hung up on the flaws much of the time. :)

[selenak]

:) You're welcome.

And hey, I don't expect to love/like every episode! Last season I liked the one with the frog a lot and was bewildered to get online and discover almost universal loathing...

[davetheanalyzer]

Yeah, the episode was overstuffed with one-shot characters. Either some had to be cut or there needed to be a longer run time. I did like some of Ryan's scenes with Bella and when Yaz noticed and poked him about a supposed crush, it was thankfully more on the friendly teasing side than any jealousy. When the fam got back to the TARDIS, I did wonder why they didn't immediately swoop in to rescue Bella and Kane, since you know, time machine and all.

Saw one or two people complain the ending speech with the Doctor to her companions was too on the nose but I felt it made in-universe sense. The companions are understandably rattled by the revelation and the Doctor tries to rally them by pointing out the best and worst humanity can become.

[selenak]

Agreed on the in-universe sense. As to why they didn't save Kane and Bella at the end, yes, that's definitely a plot hole.

[bimo]

You know, the way "Orphan 55" copped out on Kane and Bella (especially Bella) is actually one of the major factors contributing to my decision to stop watching any further Chibnall era DW.

Personally, I don't believe that abandoning these two characters was just a simple plothole, but fear that instead it was done on purpose, in order to implicitly convey the message that Kane and Bella actually *deserved* to die for their actions, Kane for creating the holiday resort in the first place and Bella for endangering and ultimately killing most of the guests over the course of her petty revenge.

So instead of a situation in which Kane and Bella get saved and handed over to whatever authorities in charge, the episode presents use with a case of completely uncommented, unaddressed self-justice.

And I've come to expect better from this show.

[selenak]

Huh, jesuswasbatman in his post had the reverse impression that we were supposed to sympathize with Bella and utterly disregard the loss of life she's responsible for. Personally, I didn't have the impression either is true. For starters, why not simply leave Kane dead and let Bella die instead of going for a last minute show up and leaving them alive for the audience, if you want to punish them by narrative?

To me, the bigger problem is that I don't care about them, either positively nor negatively. And I need to, in this kind of story. Reminds me of the one Twelfth Doctor era episode that bored me and left me indifferent instead of horrifying me, the one with the sand.

Not that I want to talk you into continuing to watch. I'm with you: if the viewing joy doesn't outweigh the occasional annoyance anymore, one should quit, not hate-watch. By now, I've done it with several shows, and haven't regretted it once, plus DW due to its format is constantly reinventing itself anyway, so is easy to return to at a later point.

[bimo]

I can see where Londonkds and you are coming from. So let's add lack of narrative clarity to the list of things that are problematic about the episode. ;)

so is easy to return to at a later point.

And/or to go back to an earlier one in the meantime...

In order to cope, I've just started an 11th Doctor rewatch, since that's an era of Who which I for the most part enjoyed but don't already know inside out. (During the original run I watched most of the episodes just once.)

If you compare filming and narrative choices, one really outstanding ascpect is how differently Eleven and Thirteen are being introduced to the viewer. There is an incredibly strong sense of wonder and (almost) fairy tale magic to "The Eleventh Hour", because huge parts of the ep are seen through the eyes of young Amelia. "The Woman Who Fell to Earth", in contrast, starts with Ryan's grief over the loss of Grace.