Bring on the hate from the Barbelith miserable machine.
Mon then, Randy. To be fair, in my time I've seen you turn your nose up at a fair few things I'd consider Joycore. I reckon response to this series has been pretty positive so far.
Me? I'm not feeling this episode especially, and other than the first episode (which I reckon was a bit of a wobble) I think this series has been fuckin excellent so far. Been very old who in a lot of places. I thought Pompeii was a bit Hartnell, Ood a bit Troughton (from what little I know of the era) and Sontarans a bit Pertwee. Lots of great character stuff, tons of icky/scary monstery gubbins and a good deal of heart.
I'm really getting this. Much as it surprises me to say it, I think Tate is a better companion than Agyeman was. Agyeman could never really sell me on the big emotional bits. I thought when it came to the epic stuff, it was always kind of undersold and when it was the more personal stuff she never quite pushed it hard enough. She was never less than extremely likeable, but I couldn't really get into her.
I think Tate's great, aside from the odd bolshy shouty moments when some of her more irritating comedic tics come out I think she pitches it just about right. I think she handles the family stuff brilliantly and I thought her bit with the unprocessed Ood was great too. Bringing The Doctor down to earth is what she does best, and that's what I wanted from her character since the end of Season 2.
This episode felt a little poorly directed and poorly played. Save for the major twists, the script seemed a bit by the numbers, tanking it along to get to the end. The pacing of the direction was a bit skewiff and I don't reckon the acting was as good as it's been elsewhere, even amongst the principles.
I wasn't totally sold on Little Ms. Moffett either, who I reckon is probably a pretty good actress but, nice gesture aside, was maybe slightly miscast. I dunno. There were bits where I thought she was great (her death scene where The Doctor's talking to her as she slips away was her strongest moment here. Bloody brilliant, that.) But though I agree with her enthusiastic take on the character 100%, something about the way she played it didn't feel quite right to me. Mostly, I think she was lacking emotional weight, and as a result, it made it harder for them to sell the Buffy bits.
There was lots to like too though. The main twist about the length of the war was good (though I caught that before the reveal) and I thought Martha's reaction to the Hath dying was some of the best emoting she's done (even though the manner of his death was a bit muuuuuh).
Going from my own fannish nitpicks, I would have liked it if Jenny's death had been not from a bullet but from a defect in the cloning process, giving her only a short while to live. This would have worked into the main twist perfectly and I think it would have made for a stronger, more cohesive story. She totally could have been saved by her Really Great Time Lord DNA still.
I still thought it was good. Just not so much as the last few. I'd love to see Jenny again though, cause she has the potential to be a really interesting character. She needs a seat in the TARDIS, definitely. |
