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selenakDue to RL business but not lack of appreciation, two short reviews
You know, with the exception of the boring Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle, Lost is really good with canon love relationships. To be specific, established relationships. Sun and Jin were and are very moving and never easy, Bernard and Rose are just adorable, and Desmond and Penny manage to really sell that star-crossed lovers thing without ever making it feel trite or forced. I never got around to writing my review of Antonement, but one observation - for both book and film - would have been that as opposed to the majority of the readers/viewers, I don't hate Briony and did not fall in love with Robbie and Cecilia, partly because to me, they were very much idealized lovers, the product of Briony's guilty imagination as much as her earlier lie was, with Cecilia never breaking faith with Robbie, never doubting him, never giving up on him. And yet Penelope Widmore and Desmond Hume on Lost, who are so obviously modelled on the faithful Penelope of myth and her wandering Odysseus, never gave me such emotional distance. Perhaps because Desmond is allowed to screw up his relationship with Penny in the flashbacks not just due to outside interference but due to his own insecurities and emotional immaturity at the time, and Penny is allowed to be cold and angry about it, as one would, instead of instantly forgiving and understanding. That they still love each other and keep faith with each other thus comes across as more real and less idealized. Consequently, scenes like the phonecall as the climax of this episode really really work for me, and are immensely moving.
Sayid was wonderfully calm and competent (which he usually is, unless the CIA is messing with him), and the newbies continue to be intriguing. The twist with Dan Faraday was inspired and one of those things that don't occur to me before but once revealed make so much sense that I slap my head and say "of course!". Because the resemblance between Daniel's behaviour and Desmond's when Desmond is having his flashes is really obvious. At a guess, Past!Dan tried out his machine on himself, and that among other things is why he was made a member of this team. Moreover, it gives his first flashback - the way he cried in front of the tv screen when the plane crash was shown but didn't know why - a whole new meaning, as it does to his short term memory problems. Well done, writers!
The only thing missing, as I said to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
astrogirl2, was Desmond at one point muttering "am I mad, in a coma, or travelling in time?"
This was the last adventure of the Second Doctor and is Neil Gaiman's favourite. It instantly reminded me of what we discussed both apropos Torchwood's To The Last Man and DW's Human Nature/Family of Blood - the huge emotional resonance WWI has for English and to some extent other European viewers, as opposed to the very different connotation WWII evokes in American fictions. The opening, with the Doctor and his companions Jamie and Zoe arriving in what appears to be the middle of No Man's Land is rendered so grim that I'm amazed this was still regarded as children's tv at the time, and of course the basic idea of old generals of all sides conspiring to send their armies against each other as canon fodder, cattle to be slaughtered, is straight out WWI poetry. This being Doctor Who, the generals in question are aliens in disguise, but the message is pretty clear anyway, especially given that after we were introduced to the 1917 time zone, we find out the war games extend to many different conflicts in many different time zones. (And they pretty much avoid stereotypes, save for the cringe worthy Mexican guerillero.) Extra kudos for the fact that the first of the time-abducted people to be shown strong-willed enough to be immune to the general hypnosis is a black man (and one who is a fighter, not a slave, despite hailing from the American Civil War scenario). I also liked Lady Penelope the ambulance driver very much and was dissappointed she disappeared half way in the story; she had reminded me a bit of Barbara.
This was the first DW story to feature the Time Lords - and indeed to give us the name of the Doctor's people - and it's a nicely drawn out reveal. The War Chief as a renegade Time Lord is more easily spotted by viewers already familiar with the later canon than he must have been to original viewers; the moment where he and the Doctor recognize each other for what they are is nicely underplayed in the middle of an action sequence. Of course, other things clash horribly with later canon (to wit: the War Chief doesn't regenerate when killed later on), and while the War Chief is in some ways a prototype for the Master - black beard, fellow renegade only evil, offers to share galactic domination with the Doctor - the fact that the Doctor doesn't know him in person and there is no previous relationship means their scenes lack the emotional resonance that Master/Doctor - and Rani/Doctor, for that matter - scenes have.
The big stunner of the story is of course the ending, and here I must say fanon has lied to me. I thought all of Jamie's and Zoe's memories of the Doctor were taken away, but the Time Lord speaking to the Doctor explicitly tells him they do remember their first adventure with him (though nothing later) when returned to their original time and place. Still, again, it was a very dark ending, with the Companions forcibly separated - and separated for good - from the Doctor, the Doctor, the wanderer per se, being condemmed to one planet and time and his own memory interfered with so he can't fly the TARDIS anymore, and the forced regeneration. The imagery used for the later - the Doctor driving away getting smaller and smaller in the darkness, his protests fading away - is haunting. Before Rusty came up with the Time War, this probably was the most traumatic thing ever to happen to him.
Trivia: the fact the Time Lords first offer the Doctor to choose his next appearance ties with the fan speculation - mostly based on Romana's way of handling her regeneration and also supported by the Master's most recent regeneration, coming as it does with "if the Doctor can be young and strong, then so can I" - that Time Lords usually can to some degree influence and even form their new bodies; it's just that the Doctor is bad at it and thus keeps getting surprised.
Making the villains all wear glasses makes me wonder whether Malcolm Hulke or Terrence Dicks were traumatized by a glass-wearing teacher as children.
Awwwww, the modest beginnings of the sonic screwdriver, here used to, well, drive a screw!
You know, with the exception of the boring Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle, Lost is really good with canon love relationships. To be specific, established relationships. Sun and Jin were and are very moving and never easy, Bernard and Rose are just adorable, and Desmond and Penny manage to really sell that star-crossed lovers thing without ever making it feel trite or forced. I never got around to writing my review of Antonement, but one observation - for both book and film - would have been that as opposed to the majority of the readers/viewers, I don't hate Briony and did not fall in love with Robbie and Cecilia, partly because to me, they were very much idealized lovers, the product of Briony's guilty imagination as much as her earlier lie was, with Cecilia never breaking faith with Robbie, never doubting him, never giving up on him. And yet Penelope Widmore and Desmond Hume on Lost, who are so obviously modelled on the faithful Penelope of myth and her wandering Odysseus, never gave me such emotional distance. Perhaps because Desmond is allowed to screw up his relationship with Penny in the flashbacks not just due to outside interference but due to his own insecurities and emotional immaturity at the time, and Penny is allowed to be cold and angry about it, as one would, instead of instantly forgiving and understanding. That they still love each other and keep faith with each other thus comes across as more real and less idealized. Consequently, scenes like the phonecall as the climax of this episode really really work for me, and are immensely moving.
Sayid was wonderfully calm and competent (which he usually is, unless the CIA is messing with him), and the newbies continue to be intriguing. The twist with Dan Faraday was inspired and one of those things that don't occur to me before but once revealed make so much sense that I slap my head and say "of course!". Because the resemblance between Daniel's behaviour and Desmond's when Desmond is having his flashes is really obvious. At a guess, Past!Dan tried out his machine on himself, and that among other things is why he was made a member of this team. Moreover, it gives his first flashback - the way he cried in front of the tv screen when the plane crash was shown but didn't know why - a whole new meaning, as it does to his short term memory problems. Well done, writers!
The only thing missing, as I said to
astrogirl2, was Desmond at one point muttering "am I mad, in a coma, or travelling in time?" This was the last adventure of the Second Doctor and is Neil Gaiman's favourite. It instantly reminded me of what we discussed both apropos Torchwood's To The Last Man and DW's Human Nature/Family of Blood - the huge emotional resonance WWI has for English and to some extent other European viewers, as opposed to the very different connotation WWII evokes in American fictions. The opening, with the Doctor and his companions Jamie and Zoe arriving in what appears to be the middle of No Man's Land is rendered so grim that I'm amazed this was still regarded as children's tv at the time, and of course the basic idea of old generals of all sides conspiring to send their armies against each other as canon fodder, cattle to be slaughtered, is straight out WWI poetry. This being Doctor Who, the generals in question are aliens in disguise, but the message is pretty clear anyway, especially given that after we were introduced to the 1917 time zone, we find out the war games extend to many different conflicts in many different time zones. (And they pretty much avoid stereotypes, save for the cringe worthy Mexican guerillero.) Extra kudos for the fact that the first of the time-abducted people to be shown strong-willed enough to be immune to the general hypnosis is a black man (and one who is a fighter, not a slave, despite hailing from the American Civil War scenario). I also liked Lady Penelope the ambulance driver very much and was dissappointed she disappeared half way in the story; she had reminded me a bit of Barbara.
This was the first DW story to feature the Time Lords - and indeed to give us the name of the Doctor's people - and it's a nicely drawn out reveal. The War Chief as a renegade Time Lord is more easily spotted by viewers already familiar with the later canon than he must have been to original viewers; the moment where he and the Doctor recognize each other for what they are is nicely underplayed in the middle of an action sequence. Of course, other things clash horribly with later canon (to wit: the War Chief doesn't regenerate when killed later on), and while the War Chief is in some ways a prototype for the Master - black beard, fellow renegade only evil, offers to share galactic domination with the Doctor - the fact that the Doctor doesn't know him in person and there is no previous relationship means their scenes lack the emotional resonance that Master/Doctor - and Rani/Doctor, for that matter - scenes have.
The big stunner of the story is of course the ending, and here I must say fanon has lied to me. I thought all of Jamie's and Zoe's memories of the Doctor were taken away, but the Time Lord speaking to the Doctor explicitly tells him they do remember their first adventure with him (though nothing later) when returned to their original time and place. Still, again, it was a very dark ending, with the Companions forcibly separated - and separated for good - from the Doctor, the Doctor, the wanderer per se, being condemmed to one planet and time and his own memory interfered with so he can't fly the TARDIS anymore, and the forced regeneration. The imagery used for the later - the Doctor driving away getting smaller and smaller in the darkness, his protests fading away - is haunting. Before Rusty came up with the Time War, this probably was the most traumatic thing ever to happen to him.
Trivia: the fact the Time Lords first offer the Doctor to choose his next appearance ties with the fan speculation - mostly based on Romana's way of handling her regeneration and also supported by the Master's most recent regeneration, coming as it does with "if the Doctor can be young and strong, then so can I" - that Time Lords usually can to some degree influence and even form their new bodies; it's just that the Doctor is bad at it and thus keeps getting surprised.
Making the villains all wear glasses makes me wonder whether Malcolm Hulke or Terrence Dicks were traumatized by a glass-wearing teacher as children.
Awwwww, the modest beginnings of the sonic screwdriver, here used to, well, drive a screw!
