Sunday, June 25, 2017

A Sunday Doctor Who Review

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I will be discussing my thoughts and feelings of the Doctor Who episode "The Eaters of Light" after the cut. I will not worry about spoiling the plot, so read at your own risk.

SPOILER ALERT --- SPOILER ALERT --- SPOILER ALERT --- SPOILER ALERT


Doctor Who: "The Eaters of Light" - Bill and the Doctor have an argument about a missing Roman legion and travel in the TARDIS to find out who is right.

I really liked this episode. I mean, I think it's the best of the season so far by a longshot. I liked Bill thinking that, because she read a book, she's got more knowledge than the Doctor. It's funny, and I think she was more teasing him than truly believing she was right. It seemed like she intentionally pushed his buttons in order to take her there, so she could find out what really happened.

I was a bit distressed that the Doctor let Bill go wandering off alone, but the plot called for it. The main "conflict" of the episode is really the Doctor wondering what happened to Bill, and Bill struggling to get back to the Doctor.

The opening scene with the little girl and her brother was very cool and very classic pre-credit Doctor Who. It just works so beautifully, with the music and the stone and the crow singing "Doctor!" Also classic were the somewhat dodgy special effects at the end, when the people marched into the gate.

The Vestal virgin second class bit was hilarious, even if it makes no sense in the context of the Doctor's history. There were a lot of little bits like that in this episode that were very funny, even if they didn't make a great deal of sense.

I like Bill's slow understanding of why everyone speaks English. I especially like when she notes it affects the Romans and the Picts and lets them understand each other. The way they both say each other sounds like children, and the Doctor says they all do... it's heartbreaking. It also explains a lot: "Is this what happens when you understand what everyone in the universe is saying? Everybody just sounds like children?" Yup, that explains the Doctor and why he sometimes acts the way he does.

Nardole's "Death by Scotland" comment is probably the best one in the entire season, maybe in Nardole's entire history as a Doctor Who character.

I'm a little confused on how the timing of the gate will work. If every few seconds in there is days out here... how long can the Picts and Legion survive? Assuming they have some food supplies, and they take turns fighting so they don't get overwhelmed. Is this a problem that will crop up again that the Doctor should look at the future to solve? Is the boy from the opening scene right, that the gate will open and eat everything up again? And why on earth did the musicians go along? It's not like they need to attract the beasts.

Missy. Hmm. That discussion was interesting, and possibly very telling. I suppose we won't know until the next episode.

TL;DR summary - Loved it.

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