I thought it was definitely a lighter-weight episode than "Listen," but that was probably a good choice - not every episode should be heavily laced with metaphor and philosophical musings about the nature of the Doctor.
As a lighthearted romp, I thought it was pretty good. Well-cast guest stars, and I hope we see them again (I suspect they'll become recurring like Vastra, Jenny, and Strax). It's a shame Clara didn't have more to do, but it looks like she'll be pretty central to next week's episode.
I found it disappointingly obvious that the Doctor was the Architect, but a reveal like that can be tricky to pull off.
...talking to players is like being a mall Santa. Everyone immediately wants to tell you all of the things they want, and you are absolutely powerless to deliver 99% of them.
I liked the plot, but it felt a little rushed. The heist movie style is very YMMV. I think that the moral and ethical implications of using some sort of mind control to make a telepathic being melt people's brains is...not good. More specifically, I have to assume that the Doctor got the full story from the old woman, which makes me wonder WHY he did it. I suppose there's a timeline preservation angle there, but still...
The Doctor doesn't like working for people who do bad things. Sure, the Doctor's a lying, cheating thief, but he's still a person who tries to do good, who wants to be a good person, and...
Well, I couldn't help but think of that Ten special with the space Titanic. That final scene, where Ten as good as admits that he would've preferred that the investor guy died instead of some of the other people...
I think that the moral and ethical implications of using some sort of mind control to make a telepathic being melt people's brains is...not good. More specifically, I have to assume that the Doctor got the full story from the old woman, which makes me wonder WHY he did it.
I don't think the Doctor's motivation was unclear at all - he was doing it to free the Teller and its mate from enslavement, not for Karabraxos. That, to me, is a very Doctorish thing to do. Like you said, she obviously gave the Doctor the full story when she phoned him (after all, we never saw her even tell him about the bank, but she clearly did that). The only thing that was really left to the imagination is the reason for Karabraxos' change of heart in her old age - that could have been explored a little further.
Like you said, though, it was a pretty overstuffed episode as it was.
...talking to players is like being a mall Santa. Everyone immediately wants to tell you all of the things they want, and you are absolutely powerless to deliver 99% of them.
It was okay, but I'd pieced a lot of it together early on. I'm guessing a lot of other fans did as well. I think jeffel82's comment of "lighter-weight" is a reasonable summation.
I do have to wonder...how on Gallifrey does the TARDIS phone ring at just the right points in the Doctor's life? I thought at first there'd be time coordinates as part of the number, but then it'd always ring to a certain point in time. I could see him modifying companion phones to synch up to his life's timeline, but passing out numbers is a different story.
Also, solar storms affect the TARDIS?! There are an awful lot of solar storms going on at any point in the cosmos. That would TRIBBLE up an awful lot of landings and adventures. That little one-shot plot device may come back to haunt them.
I do have to wonder...how on Gallifrey does the TARDIS phone ring at just the right points in the Doctor's life?
That is a question for the ages. In this particular case, I suppose you could say that the point in the Doctor's life is irrelevant - there was nothing in this adventure that required this point in his life.
Also, solar storms affect the TARDIS?! There are an awful lot of solar storms going on at any point in the cosmos. That would TRIBBLE up an awful lot of landings and adventures. That little one-shot plot device may come back to haunt them.
I was surprised too, but it seems like the kind of plot point that future episodes will ignore with gleeful, wild abandon.
...talking to players is like being a mall Santa. Everyone immediately wants to tell you all of the things they want, and you are absolutely powerless to deliver 99% of them.
Overall, I felt it was a weak episode, but at least it had the Doctor in, rather than that wanker Matt Smith... With him in the role, it would've been abysmal.
Overall, I felt it was a weak episode, but at least it had the Doctor in, rather than that wanker Matt Smith... With him in the role, it would've been abysmal.
Yeah, pretty much this.
Attack Eyebrows was epic, the cyborg and the mimic were good enough, but the episode as a whole was weak.
Attack Eyebrows was epic, the cyborg and the mimic were good enough, but the episode as a whole was weak.
Yeah, it basically felt like an unfinished, not fully thought through draft of an idea, rather than a polished episode. No fault of the actors or characters, but the writers...
Yeah, it basically felt like an unfinished, not fully thought through draft of an idea, rather than a polished episode. No fault of the actors or characters, but the writers...
I do have to wonder...how on Gallifrey does the TARDIS phone ring at just the right points in the Doctor's life? I thought at first there'd be time coordinates as part of the number, but then it'd always ring to a certain point in time. I could see him modifying companion phones to synch up to his life's timeline, but passing out numbers is a different story.
Remember the TARDIS is not just a time traveling starship. It's a living entity of time and space. It doesn't take The Doctor where he wants to go, but where he needs to go. It sees the entire time-space continuum, and interacts with it accordingly. Sexy knows when the phone will ring and will deliver the message when he needs to hear it.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP"
2. The doctor lies. I saw nothing about the Tardis being affected by the solar storm, just that he didn't bring it along.
The Doctor stated that the solar storm was the reason he couldn't use the TARDIS during the actual heist (though he did use it earlier to plant the briefcases).
I just noticed that the inability to fly the TARDIS during a solar storm was established back in "The Rebel Flesh."
...talking to players is like being a mall Santa. Everyone immediately wants to tell you all of the things they want, and you are absolutely powerless to deliver 99% of them.
Comments
The Doctor doesn't like working for people who do bad things. Sure, the Doctor's a lying, cheating thief, but he's still a person who tries to do good, who wants to be a good person, and...
Well, I couldn't help but think of that Ten special with the space Titanic. That final scene, where Ten as good as admits that he would've preferred that the investor guy died instead of some of the other people...
That's the Doctor in a nutshell, IMHO.
I don't think the Doctor's motivation was unclear at all - he was doing it to free the Teller and its mate from enslavement, not for Karabraxos. That, to me, is a very Doctorish thing to do. Like you said, she obviously gave the Doctor the full story when she phoned him (after all, we never saw her even tell him about the bank, but she clearly did that). The only thing that was really left to the imagination is the reason for Karabraxos' change of heart in her old age - that could have been explored a little further.
Like you said, though, it was a pretty overstuffed episode as it was.
I do have to wonder...how on Gallifrey does the TARDIS phone ring at just the right points in the Doctor's life? I thought at first there'd be time coordinates as part of the number, but then it'd always ring to a certain point in time. I could see him modifying companion phones to synch up to his life's timeline, but passing out numbers is a different story.
Also, solar storms affect the TARDIS?! There are an awful lot of solar storms going on at any point in the cosmos. That would TRIBBLE up an awful lot of landings and adventures. That little one-shot plot device may come back to haunt them.
That is a question for the ages. In this particular case, I suppose you could say that the point in the Doctor's life is irrelevant - there was nothing in this adventure that required this point in his life.
I was surprised too, but it seems like the kind of plot point that future episodes will ignore with gleeful, wild abandon.
Yeah, pretty much this.
Attack Eyebrows was epic, the cyborg and the mimic were good enough, but the episode as a whole was weak.
MOFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(also a Say My Name, "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN!!!!!!"-style, but hey...)
Remember the TARDIS is not just a time traveling starship. It's a living entity of time and space. It doesn't take The Doctor where he wants to go, but where he needs to go. It sees the entire time-space continuum, and interacts with it accordingly. Sexy knows when the phone will ring and will deliver the message when he needs to hear it.
-Leonard Nimoy, RIP
2. The doctor lies. I saw nothing about the Tardis being affected by the solar storm, just that he didn't bring it along.
The Doctor stated that the solar storm was the reason he couldn't use the TARDIS during the actual heist (though he did use it earlier to plant the briefcases).
I just noticed that the inability to fly the TARDIS during a solar storm was established back in "The Rebel Flesh."
Nice catch!