(no subject)

[luciazephyr]

So, on a whim, having not watch DW since the Master Trilogy back two(?) series ago, pulled up Midnight on YouTube to watch.

On one hand, SEE, THIS IS WHY I LOVE BOTTLE EPISODES. Give me a show (especially sci-fi) that was forced to do a Bottle Episode and I will point to that episode as one of the best in the show's run. "Grace Under Pressure" immediately springs to mind, along with "Boom Town" which was one of my favorites from Nine's arc. By taking away all the sci-fi trappings, you lay all the weight on the writers and the actors and if you have a good set of each, you get something so brilliant and awesome, it blows most of the big budget boomfests out of the water.

On the other hand... :deep breath: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH OH GOD WHAT THE FUCK AAAAAAAAAAH.

Goddamnit, Moffat, stop that, you monster!

-Lucy

Comments

[vinylsigns.livejournal.com]

I assume the shouting is in reaction to the weeping angels' return? :P

Yes! Midnight is probably my favorite series 4 episode for the very reasons you listed. Also, because it places the Doctor in a position he's rarely in: not in control of the situation (in fact, having people turn against him). Just oooooh that makes for wildly interesting reaction on Ten's part :)

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

The angels... no, just the episode "Midnight" itself. I never made it through "Blink". That one was just too damn scary for me.

Moffat is EVIL. The entire episode was just terrifying and a scary Deconstruction of all the things people expect from a DW episode (ie: all of Ten's strengths very nearly killing him).

[vinylsigns.livejournal.com]

Luuuucyyyyy, it was written by RTD :D

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

SO I NOW HAVE BEEN INFORMED.

As mentioned below, the fact that it has a good ending and is terrifying lead me to assume Moffat.

[vinylsigns.livejournal.com]

Which would be a fair call to make--with the exception of Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. I called the rest of the story halfway through the first eppy :|

[firefly99.livejournal.com]

OMGGGGGGG. I loved Boom Town, my family hated it, I'm so glad you agree with me. Midnight, meanwhile, is the most perfect thing RTD has ever written.

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

Wait, wait, "Midnight" wasn't done by Moffat? What, really?

... In all honesty, I didn't think RTD was capable of writing a decent ending. Huh.

[firefly99.livejournal.com]

No, Midnight was RTD going 'see, I can do it'.

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

And then immediately after foisted the show off on Moffat.

Well done, RTD! :raucous applause:

No, sorry, I'm being a jerk. God knows I don't watch it anymore because DLing the show every week sucks and watching the edited down versions on SyFy months later sucks more. But still. Tinkerbell Jesus Doctor sticks with ya, you know.

[firefly99.livejournal.com]

Yeah, RTD's writing style is either OH LOOK I GET IT HE'S JESUS or 'and then the Doctor pushed the magic button which fixed the overly ridiculous conundrum he was in, and the world was saved'. Still, when you actually rewatch S3 knowing what you do about how it'll end, it doesn't come out of nowhere so much because you start seeing Martha begging people to believe the Doctor will save them, and for that reason I hate Ten's last episodes infinity-billion times more.

I have never felt so massively 'OH NOW YOU ARE JUST SHITTING ME' since I beat MGS4, for god's sake. Ugh.

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

I'm in the dark about what happened in Ten's last episodes. Except the Master showed up, John Simm was playing him, and it apparently rocked. I really should catch up... But I'd have to watch both Martha and Donna's arcs. I wonder if the store has the DVDs for rent...

Mostly, I dislike RTD for almost backpedaling on the Jack = Face of Boe thing. Apparently in the DLable commentary for that episode, he tried to take it back only to be shot down by his fellow commentators. Have some respect for continuity, FFS RTD.

[firefly99.livejournal.com]

HIGHLIGHTS OF TEN'S LAST EPISODES -

blond Master

going crazy colonel

shooting lightning

flying

plenty of master/doctor fanservice

LOWLIGHTS OF TEN'S LAST EPISODES -

WORST. PLOT. EVER.

not only is the plot totally stupid, it's also shittly constructed. mgs4, for all its nonsensical nanomachiiiiiiines raving, made at least symbolic sense - snake gets old because the games are old, soldiers go crazy when disconnected from the system because they're trying to suppress impossible pain. ten's last eps are RTD coming up with a point only to forget about it five minutes later with a NEW SHINY DISASTER.

seriously, he even admitted in an interview that he knew the plot was constructed badly , doing such things as coming up with subplots that go nowhere and buggering Chekhov's Gun so hard it must have felt like it was dating Captain Jack, but he didn't care because he said it made the story 'surprising'. Instead of, you know, bad and annoying instead of just bad.

as a MGS fan you know when I say this, I mean it - OH MY GOD HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE SOMEONE TO DIE, YOU CAN STOP MONOLOGUING NOW IT'S ONLY BEEN - OH NOOOO NOT ANOTHER CUTSCENE WHILE YOU'RE STILL DYING, SHUT UP AND DIE, I DON'T CARE ANY MORE, BYE BYE SEE YOU SAY HI TO BIG BOSS FROM ME ON YOUR WAY TO HELL

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

Just goes to show that RTD is not actually that good of a writer. Obviously he makes a gem or two like "Midnight" and I quite loved the first two parts of the Master Trilogy before the deus ex machina ending, but overall... eeeeeeeh.

Ten's final words were kinda heart-wrenching though. :YouTube'd it: I guess they work better on their own, not after ages and ages of OH GOD DIE PLZ.

Tell me they didn't kill the Master though. please please please, he was so awesome.

[firefly99.livejournal.com]

Have you tried using this to get iPlayer?

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

No I haven't, but I did stay up ridiculously late to watch Ten's finale eps and god. John Simm and Tennant and WIlf = Awesome. Everything else = um what. I may be missing some necessary background, but everything does seem to come out of nowhere and then immediate retreat back into nowhere (What happened with the cute green not-cacti aliens? Did they really just leave?). And YMMV, but I found the sequence with the Doctor pointing the gun between the Master and TIMOTHY DALTON WHAT to have gone on waaaay too long and by the end it lost all its dramatic effect.

Also, maybe you can enlighten me, but I still don't understand how or why the Time Lords put the drumming in his head. Also, wow, giving it plot significant purpose really annoyed me. The Master is CRAZY. Why are they doing this to the awesome that is his crazy?

And seriously, what happened with Donna? Wasn't she starting to remember before doctor ex machina knocked her fool self out? Also, was the evil black guy actually evil or just wanting immortality? He didn't seem to be doing anything bad, just stupid. Was he meant to be a villain?

I have many questions. D8

But I will grant RTD one thing. The Master Race thing was hilarious and creepy and kind of totally awesome. And not just because it resulted in this.

[firefly99.livejournal.com]

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

....

Right click SAVED.

[make-a-move.livejournal.com]

And he's in charge now! FEAR FOR YOUR LIFE.

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

Yanno, I may have to DL the first ep of the newest arc just to see how Eleven does. I was rooting for a girl Doctor or maybe a male companion (I miss Jack and Mickey okay), but eh.

But yeah, hearing the news they gave Moffat the show makes me tremble with great fear. D8

[make-a-move.livejournal.com]

I would like to see a male companion again. I'm getting annoyed with the new!Who style of 'all female companions must fall in love with the Doctor.' Apart from Donna. Donna was ace.

It's a return to watching the show from behind the sofa! His episodes may be scary, but they're excellent. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the show moves forward underneath him.