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capri0mniAnd yet, after the Christmas Special, there's virtual silence?!
So I guess I'll have to start (if you want to get something done, be ready to do it yourself :::Rhubarb, Peas, and Carrots:::)
I want to squee!
I want to Grumble!
So this will be a Squumble!
Anyway, I'll get the grumble out of the way:
There were no closed captions on the Amazon Video Stream!
I'm privileged enough to be able to understand audio, but I've gotten so used to having closed captions that not being able to read and listen at the same time is as distracting to my brain as a vague itch between my shoulder blades that I cannot reach. So that actually subtracted from my enjoyment of the episode, and it's frustrating because I'm sure that all of the creative, talented people who actually had to work to create this story had nothing to do with it.
Also, the trailer had captions, so I had no reason to suspect that the actual episode would not. And I didn't find out the truth until after I had already bought it.
I suspect something sloppy and irrational, like not double-checking the copyright license (I'd come across the tidbit, somewhere, somewhen, that captions are licensed separately from the audio -- talk about Humbug!).
And that has me worried about all of Series 10...
Okay, now for the squee.
First: this Christmas Special is just proof that "The Husbands of River Song" was actually the first episode of a two-parter.
Second: In the negative reviews I've seen, the biggest complaint has consistently been that this episode was not Christmassy enough. But frankly -- I found that aspect refreshing. This was, after all, an entire series of Doctor Who in just under an hour, so a strong story that gives us some character development for the Doctor was more important to me than a bare scaffolding on which to hang yet more Christmas baubles. I think (I hope) that this story finally brought the Doctor around to grieving his losses and accepting them -- not just River Song, but also Clara -- and Amy and Rory, too,* so that Moffat can wrap up his last year with a "clean, emotional, slate."**
Third: Overall, the emotional tone of this episode was just sweet -- the Harmony Shoal aliens, notwithstanding. I mean, a superhero with a nanny alter-ego. Also, a superhero whose code of ethics includes not causing grievous harm or destroying a city block just to stop the bad guys (are you listening, Marvel?)
Fourth: I was pleasantly surprised by Nardole -- that he was allowed to be actually competent, and point out where the Doctor is wrong -- and have the Doctor admit that Nardole was right, at the end.
Fifth and Finally: This was a story with a second hero (besides the Doctor) And the Doctor acknowledged that they were both on the same side from the very beginning. Hip-Hip-Hooray!
*(Wasn't that contraption on the roof in New York City his last ditch attempt to get around the "Temporal Anomaly" that "he caused," in order to get a chance to see Amy again -- having an innocent child swallow the last, key, element sure was a clever way to get the Doctor to stop trying on that front).
**Now, I want to check the TARDIS interior again, to see if that scribbled-on chalkboard is still there (Was that a visual metaphor, all along?).
So I guess I'll have to start (if you want to get something done, be ready to do it yourself :::Rhubarb, Peas, and Carrots:::)
I want to squee!
I want to Grumble!
So this will be a Squumble!
Anyway, I'll get the grumble out of the way:
There were no closed captions on the Amazon Video Stream!
I'm privileged enough to be able to understand audio, but I've gotten so used to having closed captions that not being able to read and listen at the same time is as distracting to my brain as a vague itch between my shoulder blades that I cannot reach. So that actually subtracted from my enjoyment of the episode, and it's frustrating because I'm sure that all of the creative, talented people who actually had to work to create this story had nothing to do with it.
Also, the trailer had captions, so I had no reason to suspect that the actual episode would not. And I didn't find out the truth until after I had already bought it.
I suspect something sloppy and irrational, like not double-checking the copyright license (I'd come across the tidbit, somewhere, somewhen, that captions are licensed separately from the audio -- talk about Humbug!).
And that has me worried about all of Series 10...
Okay, now for the squee.
First: this Christmas Special is just proof that "The Husbands of River Song" was actually the first episode of a two-parter.
Second: In the negative reviews I've seen, the biggest complaint has consistently been that this episode was not Christmassy enough. But frankly -- I found that aspect refreshing. This was, after all, an entire series of Doctor Who in just under an hour, so a strong story that gives us some character development for the Doctor was more important to me than a bare scaffolding on which to hang yet more Christmas baubles. I think (I hope) that this story finally brought the Doctor around to grieving his losses and accepting them -- not just River Song, but also Clara -- and Amy and Rory, too,* so that Moffat can wrap up his last year with a "clean, emotional, slate."**
Third: Overall, the emotional tone of this episode was just sweet -- the Harmony Shoal aliens, notwithstanding. I mean, a superhero with a nanny alter-ego. Also, a superhero whose code of ethics includes not causing grievous harm or destroying a city block just to stop the bad guys (are you listening, Marvel?)
Fourth: I was pleasantly surprised by Nardole -- that he was allowed to be actually competent, and point out where the Doctor is wrong -- and have the Doctor admit that Nardole was right, at the end.
Fifth and Finally: This was a story with a second hero (besides the Doctor) And the Doctor acknowledged that they were both on the same side from the very beginning. Hip-Hip-Hooray!
*(Wasn't that contraption on the roof in New York City his last ditch attempt to get around the "Temporal Anomaly" that "he caused," in order to get a chance to see Amy again -- having an innocent child swallow the last, key, element sure was a clever way to get the Doctor to stop trying on that front).
**Now, I want to check the TARDIS interior again, to see if that scribbled-on chalkboard is still there (Was that a visual metaphor, all along?).
no subject
Date: 2016-12-30 10:44 pm (UTC)I've seen you in passing; I'm a friend of kerravonsen. :-)
Ugh seconded! Utterly tasteless and offensive. That whole lonely god thing was not just hubris but marinated in self-pity. "No one understands me; woe." Ugh, ugh, ugh. I was so glad to see him go, though he tried to linger. For a self-described fanboy, RTD didn't understand DW at all.
I love Eleven! Also Four, Five, and Twelve too. I've heard Two is pretty awesome, but I doubt I'll ever catch up on him or the other doctors apart from isolated eps.
no subject
Date: 2016-12-30 11:14 pm (UTC)I also insisted that we wait between cliffhangers, to give him time to wonder and speculate about what would happen next.
And Dad got it immediately: "He's not the hero because he has any special powers, but just that he's lived so long, and has wisdom" [<--paraphrased from 20-ish years ago]
no subject
Date: 2016-12-31 08:18 pm (UTC)I remember watching Five at the time (very delayed here in those days) and have got a couple of his CDs too. Six remains an unknown though I've met Colin Baker who was very funny about his stint (he bit his companion Peri on the bum for a dare, and she floored him. Report here
no subject
Date: 2016-12-31 10:06 pm (UTC)Of all of them, Three is the biggest blank space for me. And yes, for his entire first season (and part of his second???) The Third Doctor had been banished to one time period on Earth, sans working TARDIS, as punishment for his breaking Timelord law and meddling. But they reunited him with Two (and One, briefly, despite Hartnell's dementia) for the Tenth Anniversary Special in 1973.