I know some of you are saving up episodes and stuff, so maybe watch out in this thread. I'll try not to give out too many spoilers, but I wanna talk about the show so something might slip out.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this season thus far, although in hindsight I agree the golden arrow really doesn't make sense.
Most of the episodes really seem like one-offs, not like the classic Who where story arcs would run for weeks, from one set of episodes to the next. Some of the ideas seemed kinda hokey or like they've been done before, but we have to remember we're actually on the 34th season of televised Who plus years and years of novels and comics.
I loved the first episode, and really loved Into The Dalek. Time Heist was absolutely awesome as well. I'm pleasantly surprised with Clara's character development, although Danny Pink is acted kinda wooden.
The latest episode, Dark Water, is fantastic! Its the first time in a long time that I actually screamed in frustration when "To Be Continued" showed up at the end! My daughter who is enjoying Doctor Who with me feels just as frustrated at having to wait six more days to the next episode!
The one thing I really didn't like at the end of the earlier episodes this season was the totally jarring Missy in The Promised Land. Well, they explain it in Dark Water, and as much as I hated the little vignettes, now that I understand what its all about I absolutely love it!
I think Peter Capaldi has been brilliant as the Doctor, and like I said, Clara has grown as a person now that she's no longer being portrayed as the love interest.
So... Dark Water. Make sure to watch it, its awesome.
Very hit and miss this season.. So much so that I love and hate some episodes.
1. Bad start great end?
2. Not bad
3. Really not bad till the ending?
4. I really liked this one
5. Best episode so far
6. Good
7. Not bad
8. I thought I would hate this one based on the preview but actually enjoyed it.
9. Ok
10. OK
11. Much better ones you get to the end.
The last few have been fantastic, I'm looking forward to watching the season finale.
The thing that surprised me MOST about the revelation was I really, really thought VILLAIN was going to turn out to be a different foe from ages past
When she said it though all I could think about was the many years of b---ds
I really didn't think I'd like the Orient Express one, boy was I wrong. And the dimensional invasion was probably my favourite so far, very classic Doctor Who
Lazy, your summary doesn't really sound like you hated any of them...
Mr. A, I thought the dimensional invasion showed a completely different side of the Doctor, where he finally just gave up and called them monsters.
For me, the moon episode was the worst of the bunch. And yet even that one I didn't mind watching.
I certainly haven't felt like watching these episodes were a waste of my time. And I really like the angry eyebrows. I hope Capaldi sticks around for a while.
Trying to remain spoiler free but.
Hated the dinosaur
Hated the gold arrow
Hated what happened to the moon, because of continuity issues (fine as a one off concept I suppose)
Forrest again a cool one off concept but bad for continuity.
I really hate world wide events that are forgotten.
I love well thought out time loops however
Yeah, the dinosaur in the opener seemed kinda out of place. It didn't seem to add to the story.
You have convinced me that the golden arrow was a terrible plot mcguffin, although if you ignore that ending the rest of the episode was fun to watch.
I am in full agreement with the moon; that just, that... No, I could just not stretch my suspension of disbelief that far.
I didn't like the forest episode because it was waved off as "humanity will turn it into a fairytale and forget all about it". And also because the view of the world showed forest covering the oceans... The actual character interaction was decent, but like you said, it's one of those world wide events that was just hand-waved away by the end of the episode.
I actually didn't like The Caretaker, which is where the doctor becomes the caretaker at Clara's school and then has to battle a robot that has "enough firepower to destroy Earth" yet is easily jumped over. I liked parts of it, like that it's set in the same school as the first episode ever of Doctor Who, that the doctor uses a psuedonym that has been around since the third doctor ("John Smith"), and that they're using names from old Doctor Who (the "artron emissions" that attracted the robot are from the fourth doctor).
Well thought out time loops are cool, indeed. I also like when they subtly weave in stuff from old Who, like when they mentioned the Macra in "Gridlock" or when they built an episode around the Ice Warriors in "Cold War".
Caught up.
VERY pleased with this season. Actually love how they wrote the Clara character and the role she has played in Twelve eps.
Cant believe how dark/HORROR oriented virtually every ep has been. Least small-child friendly season for sure. Nightmare fuel, lots.
Also (grunch) pleased I can finally read this thread :)
Update: less spoilerific chatter than expected. oh btw before tonight's "conclusion" ( quotes because, you know, MOFFAT ) interesting speculation-filled convos found here:
"Clara's Mysterious Phone Call: A Theory"
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/claras-mysterious-phone-call-a-theory-68594.htm
Okay, I really really liked the season finale!
I'll wait a couple of days before discussing...
Thanks! :)
PS found this from June, before Deep Breath.
Wish granted! And loved it for it!
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/should-doctor-who-adopt-a-darker-tone-64107.htm
Some really thoughtful discussions take place in the comments on DWTV. Two great examples I found today:
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/is-the-doctor-a-good-man-64231.htm
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/comparing-the-different-arcs-of-the-revival-63649.htm
I am amazed and happy to see that site's threads so consistently filled with back-and-forth chatter that is interesting, civilized, respectful, and (in-universe) *logical* posts ... it's like, :blink: hey where's the rest of the internet! ;)
...But seriously, what I think shines forth in the above 2 discussions is demonstrative of WHAT exactly makes NuWho so enduring and unique -- the way it continues to combine accessible action adventure on the surface, but below the surface plenty of depth via solid character-development-based sociological/psychological issues. Often without coming to a nice simple black and white conclusion. 8)
I enjoyed the latest episode but was somewhat disappointed that the "instant" enemies popped up perfect where in the past it appeared to take a lot to manufacture them. I was expecting more half complete ones to emerge.
SPOILER ALERT
Keep in mind that
Spoiler
they were created by a timelord who spent an eternity perfecting the craft
Watch the last two episodes again with that bit of knowledge, and they play out quite differently...
Quote from: Thorin on November 10, 2014, 09:46:26 PM
Watch the last two episodes again with that bit of knowledge, and they play out quite differently...
Ok... but....
Spoiler
Recently dead Mr Pink even pops up as a 100% complete encased cyber-man by getting touched by the water.. They don't even bother explaining where the metal comes from... If they explained that they teleported in the outer armor or something that would have made at least a little in universe sense. However a little rain and out pops a fully armored and armed cyber man?
Must resist urge to open spoiler tags...
Quote from: Tom on November 10, 2014, 10:32:39 PM
Must resist urge to open spoiler tags...
Muah-hah-hah-hah-hah!
The downside to having a fiancee that wants your attention - you fall behind on tv shows.
Quote from: Thorin on November 10, 2014, 10:35:25 PM
Quote from: Tom on November 10, 2014, 10:32:39 PM
Must resist urge to open spoiler tags...
Muah-hah-hah-hah-hah!
The downside to having a fiancee that wants your attention - you fall behind on tv shows.
He just needs to log into plex... He has access to my shared library.
Quote from: Lazybones on November 10, 2014, 10:50:02 PM
Quote from: Thorin on November 10, 2014, 10:35:25 PM
Quote from: Tom on November 10, 2014, 10:32:39 PM
Must resist urge to open spoiler tags...
Muah-hah-hah-hah-hah!
The downside to having a fiancee that wants your attention - you fall behind on tv shows.
He just needs to log into plex... He has access to my shared library.
It is surprisingly hard to find media streamer boxes here, as internet is BAD and EXPENSIVE, noone really uses them. Also had a hard time finding a DP->HDMI adapter to at least use my laptop. I ordered some stuff online that'll hopefully find its way here. heh. wd-live-tv + hdmi cable + 500G hdd for pvr.
Quote from: Lazybones on November 10, 2014, 10:50:02 PM
Quote from: Thorin on November 10, 2014, 10:35:25 PM
Quote from: Tom on November 10, 2014, 10:32:39 PM
Must resist urge to open spoiler tags...
Muah-hah-hah-hah-hah!
The downside to having a fiancee that wants your attention - you fall behind on tv shows.
He just needs to log into plex... He has access to my shared library.
I was thinking more that she's taking up all his waking moments...
I still have not yet seen part 2 of the finale... but at risk of seeing spoilers Iwanted to share this I found today reading more @ DWTV website, this sums up why it's def gonna be a regular hangout for me:
One of the comnents:
"This website is a bit of a safe haven for quality Doctor Who discussion." (and also Douglas Adams quotes! " The challenge of Doctor Who is to make it simple enough for adults and complicated enough for children" :) )
Quote from: Tom on November 11, 2014, 03:43:35 AM
I ordered some stuff online that'll hopefully find its way here. heh. wd-live-tv + hdmi cable + 500G hdd for pvr.
the wd-live-tv doesn't do Native Plex, just DLNA... O well..
I was thinking you would watch on your laptop.
Honestly, I think I might re-watch series 8 over the next six weeks, before the Christmas special comes out. See what things I missed on the first viewing.
Quote from: Lazybones on November 11, 2014, 03:14:40 PM
Quote from: Tom on November 11, 2014, 03:43:35 AM
I ordered some stuff online that'll hopefully find its way here. heh. wd-live-tv + hdmi cable + 500G hdd for pvr.
the wd-live-tv doesn't do Native Plex, just DLNA... O well..
I was thinking you would watch on your laptop.
Crap, I was assuming it supported plex in some form. oh well. I can use my laptop, but I'll have to find a cable.
RE: Spoilery conversation
This is why I would kind of like to see a return to the older multi-part serials because in order to get everything they wanted to in the last 2 episodes there was a lot of glossing over things that I know were contrivances for the sake of time but would have been really interesting.
I'd much rather trade some filler episodes for some more thought out serials
Then again Dr. Who has never billed itself as being remotely believable so "a wizard did it" is why certain things happen
One piece of seemingly throwaway dialogue was about "Captain Scarlet" likely this went over most North American fans (and probably UK kids' heads). I'm wondering why they'd name drop it they way they did, very strange... was it an homage to the voice actor for Captain Scarlet who passed away in June this year? Weird little pop culture things that pop up
Err, anyway the ending overall seemed rushed and you know The M will be back
also Santa
ho ho ho
Quote from: Thorin on November 11, 2014, 05:19:09 PM
Honestly, I think I might re-watch series 8 over the next six weeks, before the Christmas special comes out. See what things I missed on the first viewing.
But the "aha/flashback montage" scene in part 2 summed up nicely all of the stuff to pay attention to / connect together for this series conclusion (i.e. focused on Missy). But then again it's Moffat so there's definitely other clues not included in that montage hidden throughout Series 8 that will eventually come into play in the Christmas special or beyond (like all of those post-it notes ... a few of them had wording that triggered plenty of speculation on DW forums)
Overall I had a great emotional EXPERIENCE of watching Death in Heaven, even though Logical Mind wanted to spoil the FUN during (he's starting to do that AFTER though... shut up, brain! enjoy the childlike wonder that IS the reason you watch DW!) Yes the "pollen" was a bit of a DEM but nothing as bad as some RTD "out of nowhere" stuff. But the plot moved along at a rapid pace with enough twists and laughs that I was certainly never bored. And I liked how Danny (and Kate's ... relative!) did ... stuff. Plenty of feels. (Osgood! NOOOO!)
Quote from: Mr. Analog on November 12, 2014, 09:15:07 AM
RE: Spoilery conversation
Err, anyway the ending overall seemed rushed and you know The M will be back
also Santa
ho ho ho
I would agree with you IF her demise came via the "gadget" that she had no problem falling in the hands of the Doctor and his buds (cuz when Osgood bit it I was thinking maybe it's a teleporter thingie like in Time Heist) -- however since Missy's demise came from ... a slightly different and unexpected direction. Well... methinks "she's dead, Jim". For reals.
PS: and hey you saw who is the actor playing Santa right? 8)
How 'Doctor Who' Responded To Fan Criticism And Rallied For Its (Second?) Best Season (aka "Season 8")
http://decider.com/2014/12/02/doctor-who-peter-capaldi/
Spoiler
"Having The Doctor's most potent enemy who's not encased in metal regenerate as a woman is an inspired response to complaints about casting another white man as a theoretically fluid cultural symbol. It's possible to see this as cynical, but really, it's cool to just introduce new wrinkles into the Doctor-Master relationship and see a formidable female Time Lord. Besides, even if the casting is just an attempt to draw complaints away from Capaldi (which wouldn't matter since Capaldi is an excellent Doctor), it doesn't matter -- Michelle Gomez is a winner in the role, and given that she's returning for next season, her Missy seems likely to become the revived series' first truly successful recurring villain."
So... there's
that.
Told ya she'd be back :)
Quote from: Mr. Analog on December 05, 2014, 10:20:04 AM
Told ya she'd be back :)
Okay so you were right, yippee... So what, big deal, you want a hug* or something?
;)
Seriously surprised though, not because the actress or character were lacking (clearly not!) but because WHAT THE HELL CONTINUITY/LOGIC/PHYSICS, where did you go bro?
* http://www.redbubble.com/people/fottantuno/works/13048787-never-trust-a-hug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eufwf9V_rdg
I threw out continuity when the Daleks came back ... and the Cybermen ... and pretty much every other popular thing
It's sort of like DC comics "Crisis" which killed off a TON of characters to retcon their universe back in the 80s but since so many popular characters disappeared they eventually brought EVERYTHING back and had to do it again
So, I know there are a lot of mouth-breathers that get really bent out of shape over crap like this but they need to STFU because the series has been going so long and brings so much variety it's absolutely impossible to maintain any kind of continuity or in-universe reality
TBH when I first got wind of this mastermind I thought it may be a return of the Rani, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the return of such a great character
Och, can you imagine if the Black Guardian / White Guardian multi-season storyline came back? Or the Celestial Toymaker?
That would be Awesome!