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Season 1 (Series 14) Episode 1 Discussion Post
(sh.itjust.works)
I figured this should be made for everyone โ I didn't see one already.
Overall I enjoyed this one, felt like a return to a classic monster-of-the-week format, with a decent setup and good intrige, although the reason that the monster was created being 'the computer thinks babies needs monsters' fell a little flat for me.
The commentary on abortion and refugees was a tad shoehorned also, but not a deal breaker for me.
Really liking Ncuti's take on the Doctor and his chemistry with Millie Gibson, and definitely excited to see where the overarching story line for the season goes.
I agree with this 100% tbh. Though I also think the pacing is too slow for me. It seems like they want to work everything into the dialog instead of telling us the story visually too. I'm still happy with it so far though.
I liked the commentary. I find in sci-fi a short parallel to our world is often not seen as a jab because the veneer of sci-fi is enough to disguise it for most people.
I asked my partner if he noticed the commentary and he didn't at all ๐
Funny, I thought it was rather obvious, but I guess not for everyone.
For me sci-fi as commentary works best when it shows a better world, and laughs at the primitive ideas of the past (our present), rather than presenting a hot-topic issue from our time as being still relevant 20000 years in the future, as that just dates it to the current conversation.
I think you're right in that it's better to be subtle.
The thing about audiences is that they span the gamut, so a little bit of in-your-face is likely seen as warranted for that spectrum of the audience, and a little bit of subtle for observant viewers casts a wider net.
Although I find Doctor Who to be among the least subtle in whatever it tries to do in the genre so, anything over the top kind of feels like it fits in the show as long as they intersperse the season with less obvious commentary as well. My partner only complained that everyone was running around and screaming the whole time ๐
Let's just hope nobody interprets using proper pronouns as leading to a nuclear apocalypse ๐ซฃ