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Doctor Who Social Club
A community for discussing all things Doctor Who.
Rules
1 Be constructive
All posts/comments must be thoughtful and balanced.
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It is important that everyone from newbies to longtime fans feel welcome, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, religion or race.
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Utilize the spoiler system for any and all spoilers relating to the most recently-aired episode. Spoiler protection will not be granted to information that is out in the mainstream media.
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Upcoming Episodes
Date | Episode | Title |
---|---|---|
05-10 | DW 2x05 | "The Story & the Engine" |
05-17 | DW 2x06 | "The Interstellar Song Contest" |
05-24 | DW 2x07 | "Wish World" |
05-31 | DW 2x08 | "The Reality War" |
TBA | TWB 1x01 | TBA |
I enjoyed this episode. Seeing a return of a villain that makes them better than they were originally is rare. The central theme of this episode is how to do right by people - whether that's treating your friends right or your enemies.
I am glad that Rose finally had to confront Mickey. It is hard to blame her for wanting a more exciting life, but just running off leaving her boyfriend in the lurch is terrible behaviour. But on this the Doctor (and Jack) haven't been great supports. At the very end, when Rose clearly needs to talk to someone, they both just completely ignore her. They are all getting along quite well at the start of the episode, so it is rather jarring to end like that.
Being forced to confront justice is a really interesting dilemma. It is pretty clear that Blon has not and will not change, and that she's manipulative, and a killer. But the raxacori..., the Rs, are not much better, engaging in public torture shows and collective punishment of whole family groups. Ultimately I feel like the resolution could have been better - the doctor and co doesn't end up having to make a choice as Blon and the Tardis make it for them. The idea seems to be that by reverting to an egg and growing up in a happier family, Blon will live a better life... but If you've had your whole life reversed and live a different one, I'm not sure that's all that much better than a slightly expedited death penalty.
Annette Badland does some really good performance here, especially in the restaurant. Which is nice because it offsets the somewhat Scooby-Doo-esque "And I would have gotten away for it if it weren't for you pesky kids" at the start and the gloating double cross at the end. I did like that they managed to direct it such that the slightly dead-eyed slitheen costume actually show some sad emotion.
Other notes:
Don't worry, that will clear right up in...let's say 16 or 17 seasons.