Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)

[Devonix]

I think that's been the biggest problem with the season so far for me. Jodie Whitaker is a fantastic Doctor, they just haven't let her be her Doctor. There's been no real, big dramatic moment for her to put her imprint on the character, so the writers been relying entirely on pre-established characterization to carry her through and sometimes it doesn't ring right. The "no guns" moment in episode 2 worked much better than it did here because the characters were still in the middle of trying to figure out what was going on and letting Ryan run off to his CoD fantasy not only put him at risk, but the rest of the group. Here they pretty much already established they were going to kill the spiders anyway, but they still brought it up solely to let people say, "The Doctor doesn't like guns!" when instead they could have just left it at, "No thanks, we'd have no idea what to do with them anyway." It was a similar issue with the business man. He existed solely for the Doctor to have a jerk to argue with and to avoid blaming the scientist for the issue.

The characters are wonderful. I like the dynamic behind Graham and Ryan, though Yaz could use a few scenes to show off, whether as the group's muscle or investigator or something other than to balance the party. And again, there's no doubt that Jodie Whitaker is the Doctor. It's like the writers were given every lego in existence and can't figure out how to make anything more than four featureless walls and a flat roof.

Yes the No Guns rule only really fit for 10. It always seemed grafted onto other Doctors later on. When you're ok killing your opponent with explosives, but Guns are bad. Well you're a hypocrite. Guns are just smaller contained explosives.

[Fyraltari]

It was a similar issue with the business man. He existed solely for the Doctor to have a jerk to argue with and to avoid blaming the scientist for the issue.

I think he existed solely to satarized Donald Trump.

The characters are wonderful. I like the dynamic behind Graham and Ryan, though Yaz could use a few scenes to show off, whether as the group's muscle or investigator or something other than to balance the party. And again, there's no doubt that Jodie Whitaker is the Doctor.

Yup. I really liked that the Doctor was about to leave but clearly didn't want to and was overjoyed to have an excuse to stay with her friends a little while.

As for the gun thing, I don't really like the tone of the person who made that video, but it is a handy compilation of doctor violence.

[The Troubadour]

As for the gun thing, I don't really like the tone of the person who made that video, but it is a handy compilation of doctor violence.

Mind, I've watched very few episodes of the original series, but I'm willing to bet in few (if any) of those instances the Doctor initiated aggressions, used excessive force, or never tried a peaceful resolution first.

[Fyraltari]

Mind, I've watched very few episodes of the original series, but I'm willing to bet in few (if any) of those instances the Doctor initiated aggressions, used excessive force, or never tried a peaceful resolution first.

Oh yeah, most of those are completely out of context (Four is using that crossbow to shoot a rope for crying out loud), but not all are (One really tried to brain Za with that rock for convenience's sake*), which makes the whole "never touch a gun" thing rather hyprocritical. Which is not necessarily a problem mind you, a touch of hypocrisy in your main character is as good a flaw as any and the Doctor is honestly trying to hold himself to their ideals and the show punishes them sometimes for their behaviour.




*My personnal headcanon is that the Doctor loves humanity so much in part because by stopping him at that moment Ian stopped him on following the Master's steps.

[The Troubadour]

I think it's more of an issue of intent, as has been said before (plus, on an extradiegetic level, cultural differences regarding firearms): guns have no purpose other than violence, and the Doctor almost always tries to settle things with as little loss of life as possible.

Plus, they're probably still not over their experiences in the frontlines of the Time War.

[Thufir]

I feel like the Doctor's anti-gun stance kind of dates back to Three's tenure with UNIT, but back then his objection was less to guns in general so much as what he viewed as the military attitude of essentially "shoot first, ask questions later." Of course the Doctor would almost always prefer to ask questions first.
It's consistent across all incarnations that the Doctor never carries a gun as a general rule, that's a matter of principle, but he has used them on occasion when need arose, and he has certainly worked with people who used them without objections. Since the revival though, some episodes have kind of simplified the attitude into "Grrr guns bad."

What's weird is that in this particular episode there was no need for the objection to be about the use of guns - even if your plan was to simply kill all the spiders, just grabbing a bunch of guns and wandering around looking for them isn't a very practical way to go about it. Really you want to group them all together and contain them first - which is exactly what they did.

[The Troubadour]

Personally, I think the Doctor's objections made sense. First she didn't want to just kill the spiders, then she got mad that not!Trump shot the spider just to compensate for, er, size issues.

[Rodin]

Personally, I think the Doctor's objections made sense. First she didn't want to just kill the spiders, then she got mad that not!Trump shot the spider just to compensate for, er, size issues.

Except she did kill the spiders - she locked them in the safe room with no intention of releasing them. They would die of hunger (and cannibalism) eventually. This was justified by being more "natural" than being shot with a gun.

Saying "don't shoot it, it's just a confused animal, we're going to relocate it somewhere safe for it and you" is one thing. Saying "don't shoot it, we're going to kill it humanely" also makes sense.

The Doctor's solution just seems cruel while also being riskier than simply shooting the things. A better justification would have been "if we start shooting, they will flee from us into the city".

Edit: Please note that this doesn't make not!Trump's actions okay either - he shot it not in self-defense, or to prevent the spider from harming others, but in revenge for wrecking his hotel and as a demonstration of power.

[Psyren]

The spider episode was pretty meh. I'm hoping they give her better stuff to do in future, even if the whole season sticks with monster-of-the-week format.

[dps]

Except she did kill the spiders - she locked them in the safe room with no intention of releasing them. They would die of hunger (and cannibalism) eventually. This was justified by being more "natural" than being shot with a gun.

Saying "don't shoot it, it's just a confused animal, we're going to relocate it somewhere safe for it and you" is one thing. Saying "don't shoot it, we're going to kill it humanely" also makes sense.

The Doctor's solution just seems cruel while also being riskier than simply shooting the things. A better justification would have been "if we start shooting, they will flee from us into the city".

Edit: Please note that this doesn't make not!Trump's actions okay either - he shot it not in self-defense, or to prevent the spider from harming others, but in revenge for wrecking his hotel and as a demonstration of power.

I largely agree with you; I'm not sure how you'd kill the things humanely, but what the Doctor did seems even crueler than shooting them.

[Jeivar]

It's consistent across all incarnations that the Doctor never carries a gun as a general rule, that's a matter of principle, but he has used them on occasion when need arose, and he has certainly worked with people who used them without objections. Since the revival though, some episodes have kind of simplified the attitude into "Grrr guns bad."

You summed it up. Episodes like this one are a gross oversimplification.

[jayem]

The Doctor's solution just seems cruel while also being riskier than simply shooting the things. A better justification would have been "if we start shooting, they will flee from us into the city".

Or if the Dr could then do something for them once trapped.
Though there aren't too many options, any form of active involuntary 'euthanasia' would still have the problem of the guns/starving.
While Tardis magic such as shrinking them (aside from not fixing the long term problem) is also clearly only an option available to the Dr.

[Devonix]

You summed it up. Episodes like this one are a gross oversimplification.

It's kinda like Batman. Batman doesn't like and doesn't want to use guns. But he doesn't have some weird irrational hatred of them.

[Rynjin]

It's kinda like Batman. Batman doesn't like and doesn't want to use guns. But he doesn't have some weird irrational hatred of them.

Depends on the given characterization, though at least when he does veer into weird irrational hatred of guns it's explicitly pointed out as part of his trauma and compensation for it; it's irrational IN STORY and used as a character trait/flaw instead of just in a meta sense.

[Rodin]

Or if the Dr could then do something for them once trapped.
Though there aren't too many options, any form of active involuntary 'euthanasia' would still have the problem of the guns/starving.
While Tardis magic such as shrinking them (aside from not fixing the long term problem) is also clearly only an option available to the Dr.

The way I would have dealt with it if I were a Doctor Who writer is to throw in a couple of lines after the spiders are trapped (or while outlining the plan). Have the Doctor suggest that once they're in the safe room a sedative/knockout gas can be dumped into the air intakes for the safe room. Then the room can be safely opened, and the spiders placed safely with the research lab so a cure can be found for their condition. A few of the spiders may get overdosed and die, but that's no worse than humanely putting them to sleep like a vet would do for an incurably sick animal.

If you don't want to use sleeping gas for some reason, there are a couple of other immediate solutions to the problem. My preferred solution would be to bring a shipping container or some such up and put some drugged food in. Spiders eat the food, get knocked out, get relocated into more suitable containment. Or construct a big cage outside the safe room, then use tranquilizer darts on them.

Essentially, the spiders are numerous but aren't any more dangerous than any other wild animal, and we have myriad humane solutions for dealing with wild animals that have gotten into areas they shouldn't. Once they're properly in custody they either find a cure or they don't, but putting the spiders down at that point is a kindness after all other avenues have been explored.

[factotum]

Have to say, this series is beginning to lose me. It's nothing to do with the Doctor being a woman, I hasten to add--the same thing happened in Capaldi's first season, and he wasn't a woman last time I checked. I can't put my finger on what's doing it, though. Suffice it to say I haven't yet seen last week's episode, and I'm not convinced I'll watch this one either.

[Darth Ultron]

Have to say, this series is beginning to lose me. It's nothing to do with the Doctor being a woman, I hasten to add--the same thing happened in Capaldi's first season, and he wasn't a woman last time I checked. I can't put my finger on what's doing it, though. Suffice it to say I haven't yet seen last week's episode, and I'm not convinced I'll watch this one either.

I think the show over all is showing a lot of Burnout and Decay and Fatigue. In general TV shows really are not made to go on forever.

At the most basic, you can only watch the Doctor save the world like 25 times and watch aliens invade Earth like 25 times or watch them ''run" from a monster 25 times. So when you get to the 26th time, it's just ''eh".

Of course New Who gets worse will all the in universe recons, rewrites and changed things. And sure the in universe people have forgotten the last 25 invasions and are all ''wow", but the viewer is not.

We are also seeing a lot of repeat stories. And sure, a lot of stories will be repeated...but the real trick is to give the story a new and unique spin. And NeWho does not.

And the shift to bad storytelling, and the two that really stand out to me are too many Kids and Always being in 21st century UK.

And, of course, the final straw is now the Agenda. Now that the show is just someones Push My Wacky Ideas on Viewers, the show suffers. The Agenda Message comes first always, right in the front.....and then the characters tag along way, way, way in the back.

I think the show is likely to head towards cancellation, again.

[Rynjin]

Have to say, this series is beginning to lose me. It's nothing to do with the Doctor being a woman, I hasten to add--the same thing happened in Capaldi's first season, and he wasn't a woman last time I checked. I can't put my finger on what's doing it, though. Suffice it to say I haven't yet seen last week's episode, and I'm not convinced I'll watch this one either.

It's...better than Capaldi's first season, at least. And Matt Smith's last one for that matter.

The bright side to the flaws in this part of the season is they're fixable ones, a matter of scale rather than inherent wrong-ness. There's nothing wrong with a message show as long as it isn't an Anvil, and the new writing team and showrunner is showing basic competence above and beyond the previous staff.

Assuming they come up with an actual story to tell at some point, it should be enjoyable.

[SuperPanda]

I sympathize with those who are feeling burnout - I had that during the tail of Matt Smith and most of Capaldi but I've found the current season is rekindling my enjoyment, partially because I'm through that burnout now.

The most current episode is another smaller story, making 5/5 more or less localized and intimate stories setting a clear tone for this incarnation of the doctor so far.

Spoiler: One sentence episode descriptors includes episode 5:

Show

Episode 1: Introduce the Doctor and Thwart not-predator from taking his trophy.
Episode 2: Cross the death planet and find the TARDIS.
Episode 3: Protect history from an evil moron.
Episode 4: Giant spiders in a hotel.

Spoiler: Episode 5

Show

Episode 5: Specimen 616 (Stitch) is trying to eat a space ambulance.

Back in epsiode 3 I wondered if they were going to use future episodes to present at least some science ideas similar to how they shoe-horned in the extra history lessons about Rosa. In Episode 5, 13 gives a short lecture on the ship's anti-mater drive showing her as more of a teacher than some of the more recent Doctors have been.

I found the episode enjoyable throughout - not something that will knock your socks off if you're suffering franchise fatigue but solid if you still enjoy the basic premise of Who. Yaz got some action scenes, Ryan got some nice character moments, Graham continues to be the best companion. The one off characters were okay, none really stood out to me. I am very curious about next week's episode though.

[Sagitta]

I found The Tsuranga Conundrum strangely enjoyable. Another solid piece of work, but again nothing outstanding.

Spoiler

Show

For some reason I am really warming to the Pting, a silly creature that belongs in the Goon Show. It may yet prove to be as marketable as the Adipose.

[Kitten Champion]

I found The Tsuranga Conundrum strangely enjoyable. Another solid piece of work, but again nothing outstanding.

This is pretty much my opinion on this season in general. I find myself watching it, enjoying it, but I'm not especially in love with it that I'd necessarily recommend it to anyone who wouldn't be watching it anyways.

It's competent, the pacing has been brisk, and the characters have been consistently likeable.

My major sticking points with the nuWho, as someone who didn't watch classic Who (and has only seen maybe half a dozen episodes of that Netflix put up since) was it felt like it was being written by Doctor Who mega-fans. They seemed utterly dedicated to blowing smoke up the protagonist's butt, from swelling operatic speeches about his significance to the companions who adore him beyond measure. Though (some) of the companions also seem to get a similar over-the-top treatment with their cosmic importance, which is just as aggravating. At the same time the Doctor was being written very ostentatiously, with a lot of forced quirkiness and charm. The best episodes were the ones where they weren't concerned with the Doctor's legendary status or melodrama with his companions, the more creative high concept stories that could've been done at any time -- even now.

With this Doctor, she's not showy or constantly trying to prove how cool or witty she is (or, rather, the writers are). She isn't burdened by globs of emotional baggage from prior events to make her all edgy. She isn't mired in the companions life issues and isn't being constantly harangued for her moral choices. She's just kind, inquisitive, and brave -- ideal traits for a protagonist in such a series. In a way that comes off as sincere as well. The companions are actually sympathetic now, they're there for the adventure because their mundane lives have proven unfulfilling at this juncture, not to romance the doctor or for the writers to live vicariously through them. They feel like what companions should be, characters reflective of our modern world and viewpoints that we the audience can relate to.

It's not trying to reinvent the wheel. The plots feel relatively predictable to what's been done for decades before. It's just much more likeable and unassuming than it has been for a long while. Simply put, there's far less ego underlying everything.

[Darth Ultron]

Review, Episode 5

Spoiler: The Tsuranga Conundrum

Show

Well, the Agenda is a bit light on this one, just a Woman General and a Pregnant Man(sigh).

I really don't think the Heavy Character focus is working. It's not really want people come to watch in Doctor Who. There are tons of other shows to watch for ''soap opera" character stuff. Worse, it just does not fit in with the action and adventure show stye of Doctor Who. Like with a space monster and death all around....everyone has time to talk all about character stuff. Really, the monster feels tacked on...like the writer wrote all the ''cool character stuff" and then was told ''put some sci fi in it" .

Note, one of the things I mentioned they might not do: have the Doctor be in pain for an episode.....they did it. So, at least there they are not treating the Lady Doctor as special.

The monster is a Ping? A Ping? They sure need to work on names. The cute little monster hungry baby just really does not work though....it's just too silly.

So med guy saw something on the Doctor's read out.....I wonder what it was: My guess(sigh)

Spoiler: Guess

Show

Yup, the Lady Doctor is Pregnant with the Timeless Child!

Things That Don't Make Sense

*A 67th century Junk Galaxy? Why? How about just obliterate the junk...like drop it in a sun or black hole?

*So yet again the Doctor is being very careless and reckless...and nearly getting people killed? Guess this Doctor must be crazy or something?

*Yet again, the show pulls a Deus ex Machina. The sonic mine goes off, everyone ''near dies", but good thing the medical ship was like five feet away. Sigh. So...why was the ship so close?

*Yet again, a magic button is pushed and everyone is healed?

*Well, except the Doctor, who yelps in pain a lot. It's really a wonder that future medicine can even heal or help the Doctor?

*Guess the sonic mine did not do enough damage to trigger a Regeneration? Wonder why not? Does the ''regeneration" know it's the middle of the season?

*Two people on a ''ambulance ship"? seems really low.

*The ambulance ship seems lacking in basic security, something any medical place needs. A lot of wounded patience need to be restrained for their own good.

*For that exact reason too, you'd think they would have a security guard too, for the same reason. Like maybe a robot one?

*The Doctor sure acts crazy about being separated from the TARDIS for what reason exactly?

*And why does the Doctor not seem to care about the others on the ship at first?

*So did the little ping have a ship, or does it fly through space somehow?

*How did the little ping breech the ships shields? Did it eat them?

*So the Ping wants Energy and..er..life support....when it can live in space?

*Why does the ping go after the escape pods? Why not go after the biggest source and go after the ship?

*So why is it ''oh there is something on the ship, lets go look" even sound like a good idea?

*For some reason the ping tricks the medical guy into going into a pod, damages the pod, ejects it...and blows it up? How did it do all of those things? And more to the point, why?

*So the ping eats all sorts of things....but does not eat the sonic ''not a knife" why?

*So what is this The Book of Celebrants that came out of nowhere and seems to have a lot of useful information in it? Wonder why and how it never got mentioned before?

*So...the Doctor is all in awe of the General and what she did....in WAR? Why does the Doctor suddenly like warriors now? Does not the Doctor dislike most military people?

*The anti matter drive seems very primitive for the 67th century, even more so as it can be described with 21st century science. Why does the ship not have a much more exotic power source?

*So why does an ambulance even have stun guns?

*Wonder why the ping can just 'eat' the stun gun energy?

*If the ping likes energy so much...why does it just eat random parts of the ship? Why not go directly for the energy?

*So....why does not Ronan the Android just grab the ping and toss it out the air lock, or even walk it out the air lock.

*So...the general, hero of the Star League....is a fighter pilot?

*The ping can absorb a energy bomb blast?

*Wonder why the ping just does not just go eat a star?

Final-C, it was a more classic monster episode. But the monster was too silly, and there was way too much character stuff. Again, the Doctor was just a guest star.

[Jeivar]

Latest one was alright, but after five episodes I have to say: I can't understand Ryan's dialogue.

[Ebon_Drake]

Agree with others, the latest episode was a standard "run around in corridors" episode. Nothing particularly good or bad, very average and workmanlike.

Spoiler: Specific thoughts

Show

I was surprised that they didn't suggest it could be a potential assassination attempt on the general. I didn't mind it not actually being that, but the talk of being near a disputed border, the suspiciously-acting android and the weird circumstances of the P'ting getting on-board seemed to point to that. But nobody even pondered that as a possibility.

I felt they over-sold the threat level of the P'ting, especially given how cute and cuddly it looked. I don't think they needed to go all-out "there's absolutely 100% no way of killing this thing!", just making it clear that it's really hardy and there aren't any adequate weapons on the ship to deal with it would have been enough. I did chuckle when the general said a P'ting had destroyed an entire fleet - like, how??? If it gets on one ship just fly the rest away from it! Dive the affected ship into a black hole!

I also don't think it was necessary for the P'ting to apparently be able to fly through space fast enough to catch an interstellar ship. They could easily have written the plot so that it was a native of the junk planet that snuck on-board when the medical ship picked up the Doctor's gang. If they didn't want to kill it at the climax, have it go into a hibernation cycle or whatever after the bomb went off and then have the Doctor drop it back when they went back to the planet. Simple.

Still, that last shot of the P'ting floating away was adorable. What a happy, contented lil monster.

Overall I felt the previous episode had more meat to it, but at least this one had a proper resolution. I don't feel either are episodes I'd go out of my way to watch again. So far only Rosa would pass that test, maybe the first episode too due to its overall significance.

The next episode looks much more interesting. I didn't notice anything suggesting alien/time traveller involvement aside from maybe the shot of someone in armour (who could easily be a bandit or something), so could be a full historical episode? I doubt they'll actually do that, but it's a fun thought. The partition of India is another potentially sensitive topic, much like with Rosa I hope they don't do something daft like make Jinnah a Zygon.

Latest one was alright, but after five episodes I have to say: I can't understand Ryan's dialogue.

There were a few points in the latest episode especially where I thought the local slang would be completely lost on non-British viewers. I kind of love how Northern it's all been so far, but I can see how the cast's regional accents might be hard for some. Still, I wouldn't have thought they'd be much harder than Capaldi's or Eccleston's?

[Jeivar]

There were a few points in the latest episode especially where I thought the local slang would be completely lost on non-British viewers. I kind of love how Northern it's all been so far, but I can see how the cast's regional accents might be hard for some. Still, I wouldn't have thought they'd be much harder than Capaldi's or Eccleston's?

I'm finding that they really, really are. And it's not a matter of slang. It's like he's only saying half of each word.

Unrelated to that, I find that Graham is my favourite of the Fam. Most companions, it seems, are wide-eyed youngsters who get swept along by the awesome time alien. Graham is a mature fellow who has lived life.

[huttj509]

I'm finding that they really, really are. And it's not a matter of slang. It's like he's only saying half of each word.

Unrelated to that, I find that Graham is my favourite of the Fam. Most companions, it seems, are wide-eyed youngsters who get swept along by the awesome time alien. Graham is a mature fellow who has lived life.

I like the multiple companion structure they've set up. They're there with the Doctor, but they don't revolve around the Doctor. And they can talk to each other about their respective stuff rather than just to the Doctor.

It also lets them spread around the "companion roles." Person amazed at alien stuff, person wanting to help out, person in need of help, person who lets the Doctor show off, etc, can bounce around among them letting them be more rounded characters rather than "the X."

Overall I'm enjoying the episodes and want to see where things go.

[random11]

I like the multiple companion structure they've set up. They're there with the Doctor, but they don't revolve around the Doctor. And they can talk to each other about their respective stuff rather than just to the Doctor.

It also lets them spread around the "companion roles." Person amazed at alien stuff, person wanting to help out, person in need of help, person who lets the Doctor show off, etc, can bounce around among them letting them be more rounded characters rather than "the X."

Overall I'm enjoying the episodes and want to see where things go.

I generally agree, however, there is a price for spreading them around.
In this episode for example, "help the pregnant man" side story felt more like a distraction than something assisting the main story-line.

That being said, I did enjoy the episode.

[Thufir]

I found The Tsuranga Conundrum strangely enjoyable. Another solid piece of work, but again nothing outstanding.

That was kind of how I was feeling as well - lots of good bits but nothing really blowing me away. But what I find to be more significant than that attempt at a rational assessment is the fact that when just now I came in and saw my mum watching the episode, my immediate inclination was to sit down and watch it a second time.
I don't think The Tsuranga Conundrum will be appearing on a list of my favourite episodes, but most episodes don't otherwise it kind of defeats the point of picking a short list of favourites. It was good, it was fun, it was heartwarming, and I really enjoyed it.

On the series as a whole so far, none of the monsters-of-the-week have really stood out (1950s racism doesn't count as a monster of the week), but I've been really enjoying the ongoing character arcs with the companions - primarily Ryan and Graham dealing with the loss of Grace - and I love Jodie's Doctor. Relentlessly positive and full of joy at the wonders of the universe; Doctor of candyfloss, LEGO and hope.

[Darth Ultron]

{Scrubbed}

[Rynjin]

This is the kind of monster of the week story I like. Self contained, interesting creature that will (hopefully) never be seen again, and a little bit in the spotlight for every character.

I'll agree with the "it's okay, not great" assessment but I don't expect every episode to blow me away, so I was content with it.