Where Does the Time Go??

          I’ve finished my responses to the latest series of Doctor Who, so now it’s time to catch this blog up on life in general! I really don’t know where the time goes… it’s been just shy of three months since I did a non-Who related post, and checking back, it’s almost one year since I started this whole blog experiment. Frankly, I’m kind of happy with myself that I’ve kept it going for a year, but honestly if I hadn’t been doing Time Stream entries and then my Series 9 recaps, I don’t know how much content would have really been here. I think for the sake of space and time (ha!) I’ll do a list of the highlights, expanding where need be:

•     Spent Halloween night (wow, I HAVEN’T updated in ages!) with friends eating homemade pizza and watching bad movies. We started with Death Bed – The Bed That Eats. If you’ve ever heard Patton Oswalt’s description of this movie, it’s even worse than you think. There are moments where you think the moviemakers *know* how bad it is, but oh my lord, it’s horrible. We followed it up with Hobo with a Shotgun, which was practically Oscar worthy in comparison. Gruesome, grindhouse-y violence and Rutger Hauer as the title Hobo, couldn’t ask for better!

•     The weekend of November 13-15 was time for L.I. Who, up in Long Island, NY. What a great, great weekend. A number of Who luminaries were there, including Carole Ann Ford, Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri, Janet Fielding, and my very first companion, Katy Manning. Oh she is just a sweetheart – and a fantastic hugger! There were a lot of Doctor Who podcasters there whose work I enjoy – Graeme Burk from Reality Bomb, both Erika Ensign and Deb Stanish from Verity!, Chip from Two Minute Time Lord, and the Three Who Rule from Radio Free Skaro. You know you’re an obsessed Doctor Who fan when meeting Doctor Who podcasters is as exciting as meeting folks from the show!!

 

•        The weekend after, my wife’s BFF came up from Florida for the weekend (Hi, April!!) and we had a great time. Spent a day in Philadelphia where I highly recommend Honey’s Sit ‘n Eat for breakfast. SO GOOD! Bookstore browsing filled up a good portion of the rest of the weekend and it was just nice to spend time with a friend we don’t see often enough.

•        Thanksgiving was a quiet affair this year.  Me, the Wif ™ and her parents – that was our whole dinner party. My kids were with their mom for Thanksgiving this year, so it was nowhere near as hectic as it has been in years past. It made for a nice easing into the holiday season, and we weren’t going insane with leftovers for a week! A couple days of good turkey sandwiches and we were all finished up.

•          This brings us to December. C2 had a Christmas dance recital last weekend. I always think that I won’t be interested in any of the acts except for the ones my own kids are in, but every time I end up enjoying myself. The same day C1 was on a class trip to NYC and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He had a great time and is definitely a fan of the city, saying he thinks he might want to live around there someday. Egads, I’m not ready for that. This Friday is his 15^th birthday, and almost as importantly, the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Much like we did last year with The Hobbit, we’ll be taking him out to dinner and a movie, although this year we are bringing his girlfriend (of almost four months!) along as well. Then it’ll be Christmas and New Years and sheesh, I really DON’T know where the time goes.

          That’s a very condensed look at how the past few months have been for me personally. I’m still looking for a teaching job. There have been a couple interviews, but nothing has panned out yet. I’m holding out hope for the New Year. Everyone is healthy, the kids are doing great in school and life at the Cat Ranch is as good as ever. I’m hoping to be even better with this blog in 2016, but I want to thank those of you who read and give me a like on Facebook or wherever. It means a lot.

 

          Happy Holidays, One and All!

Series 9 - Face the Raven / Heaven Sent / Hell Bent

          Much like I did with the “Girl/Woman” two-parter earlier in the season, I’m going to combine my review posts for the final three episodes into one multi-part essay. I wasn’t necessarily *planning* on doing it this way, but the last three stories are so tightly connected that it seems the best way to do it. Also, after having seen “Hell Bent”, I can’t write the same reaction to “Face the Raven” that I would have done at the time. Ready? Let’s first head down a trap street…

<SPOILERS AHEAD!!!>

          Clara,Clara,Clara. It’s been obvious this season that our dear Ms. Oswald is something of an adrenaline junkie, and her travels with the Doctor are what fuel her addiction. She seems to be the one always pushing to go further, explore more deeply, and basically jump in with both feet. At one point in “Face the Raven” (and isn’t that just a poetically lovely title?) she is hanging out of the TARDIS doors, but almost falls out completely.  When she gets back in, safe and sound, she is laughing hysterically. It’s not the laughter of someone who literally escaped death not 30 seconds before, but she was like a little kid, “let’s do it again!!” That scene is meant, I think, to encapsulate all of Clara’s adventure-lust. What it did for me as a viewer was sort of distance her from me as an identification figure. There’s a difference between fearless and reckless, and Clara has become more and more reckless this season. A lot of it does stem from her “I want to be like the Doctor” mentality, which comes back to bite her at the end of this episode. But I also think since the death of Danny Pink last season, Clara has decided to live this life with the Doctor full speed ahead, consequences be damned. She’s moved beyond simply seizing the day and living life fully. Clara has become someone who will ignore warnings and march straight into danger, much like the Doctor, but with an overconfidence that becomes her undoing.

          Sarah Dollard’s script for “Face the Raven” is beautifully written, and has some ideas that I would love to see explored further down the line. The Street has a lot of potential as a setting, although I don’t know if it would be possible to continue its story without the participation of Maisie Williams. Mayor Me seems to be the driving force behind the Street and its occupants. I loved the idea of the Janus – such a simple concept, that I’m frankly amazed it hadn’t been done before. The final moments between Clara and the Doctor are beautifully written and both Capaldi and Coleman bring their A game. I do think Clara might not have been so quick to simply give in and accept her fate, it seemed a little too pat for me. If nothing else, she’s a scrapper. It’s only with her line “Let me be brave” that I felt she truly accepted what was happening, and a lot of her talk beforehand was sheer bravado.

          Next we move on to “Heaven Sent”. Good Lord, I thought Peter Capaldi’s performance in “The Zygon Inversion” was fantastic, but here? This is an acting master class in performing, essentially, a one man show. Every emotion, every little nuance that Capaldi can muster up is put to perfect use in this story. With his performances this season, I feel confident in saying that Peter Capaldi his put himself in the upper echelon of actors who have played the Doctor. The man is just so freaking good! 

          The story itself is a jaw dropper, before we even get to *that* ending. I sometimes have recurring nightmares, where in one night I’ll have the same bad dream over and over, and that is exactly what this was for the Doctor, except that instead of just one night, it was billions of years. The Doctor, alone and scared more than I think we’ve ever seen him, facing a nightmarish, unescapable world. When we find out what he does to escape – eventually – it’s a heartbreaking moment. Knowing what the Doctor puts himself through for the sake of his friend, reinforces the bond that the Doctor and Clara have. 

Much has been said already about Rachel Talalay’s direction on both this and “Hell Bent” and I just want to add my voice to that praise. This was beautifully directed and AMAZINGLY edited by Will Oswald. The montage at the end of the episode, could have been dull, could have been another Chronic Hysteresis scene from “Meglos”, could have failed in any number of ways. But by using different takes, different pacing, it’s a standout piece of work.

          It’s hard to talk about “Heaven Sent” without moving right into “Hell Bent”. Although the two parts are, like all Steven Moffat two parters, wildly different in tone, they connect to each other seamlessly. The barely contained fury that the Doctor shows at the end of “Heaven Sent” is echoed throughout his early scenes on Gallifrey at the start of “Hell Bent”. He is wordless, dismissive of those who sought to bring him in. His standoff with Rassilon as the soldiers side with the Doctor shows the power that this man has.  The Doctor, whom we all think of as a “non-violent” hero, is lauded on Gallifrey as a War Hero. Again, Peter Capaldi is brilliant in this episode, taking the reins of command of Gallifrey as easily as he might put on a coat.

          For me, though, this was Jenna Coleman’s perfect last hurrah as Clara. I really enjoyed “Face the Raven” and would have been satisfied if that had truly been the end of Clara Oswald. Bringing her back here, in the moment before her death, gives us one last look at the Clara I knew from this season.  The one who will fight like hell and can still be brave in the face of her own demise. Admittedly, the thought of her gallivanting off with Me in their own TARDIS isn’t my favorite part of this story. I kind of wanted her to face up to her death like she supposedly did in “Raven”. So I’m not one of the ones calling for a Clara and Me spinoff, but a guest spot at some point isn’t out of the question.

          When the Doctor returns to the TARDIS at the end, changes his clothes, and gets his new sonic screwdriver (which I keep thinking is like the Phillips head version of the sonic), it’s one of those scenes that just leaves me grinning like an idiot.  The Doctor is back. He may be without his memories of Clara, but I think that was one of the only ways to tie up her run as a companion. They were co-dependent on each other and the Doctor needed to flush her out of his system. But now he is traveling, alone, knowing who he is. He’s found Gallifrey and seems to wash his hands of the whole planet. This was a terrific finale to what I think may be the strongest season of Doctor Who since 2005. The Christmas special looks to be a bit of lightweight fluff after this, but I for one can’t wait to see what Series 10 has in store next year!

Series 9 - Sleep No More

Busy, busy and WAAAYYY behind on things so expect a mini flood of entries over the next few days! First off, I’ll take a look at what seems to be one of the most divisive episodes of Series 9, “Sleep No More”.

Spoilers Ahead!!

        When I first learned that this was going to be a “found footage” episode, I was happily intrigued. I remember seeing The Blair Witch Project back in the day, but since then I haven’t watched many found footage movies to have a definitive opinion on the sub-genre. (One exception is Chronicle, a pretty refreshing take on superhero movies with a great build-up but mediocre third act). It was also a Mark Gatiss script whom I usually enjoy, even if his stories tend not to be my favorite of any given season. All in all, I was predisposed to get some enjoyment out of this story, and I did. Is it the best of the season? Not by a long shot, frankly, and I might even rate at the bottom of the poll for Season 9. To be honest though, Season 9 has been so good, that even stories which don’t necessarily rock my world are still worthy of some kudos.

          And kudos I have. The “found footage” aspect of the story, at first just appears to be a gimmick, a bit of playful cinematography and script writing. The idea that the way we as viewers are seeing the story unfold is actually a plot point was a clever bit of misdirection. The reveal was done so subtly that I almost missed it the first time watching. I also enjoyed the multi-cultural, Indo-Japanese make-up of the rescue crew. Between this and the “Under the lake” two-parter there’s been a definite uptick in the diversity of casting this year. Additionally, the actress playing the grunt, Bethany Black, is the show’s first trans actress, and was refreshingly not playing a trans character.

          The concept for the story itself was good, but there was just *something* I can’t quite put my finger on that didn’t quite jell for me. I LOVED the use of “Mr. Sandman” and the Sandmen themselves were realized pretty well. I do think they were well served by the low lighting in the story; I’m not sure how well they’d do in some brightly lit corridors.

          Reece Shearsmith. As I sit and write this, I keep coming back to his performance as Rassmussen, and I think it’s one of the biggest stumbling blocks in this story. It was obvious from the beginning that he would be the villain of the piece, and not the big eye-booger monsters. But even with that knowledge, there was no real subtlety to the performance, nothing that could make a viewer second guess Rassmussen. Even his “death” halfway through was anti-climactic since he is the one narrating. “Of course, I’m not dead” doesn’t really cut it and completely undermines the Doctor and company’s discovery of him later.

We, as the audience shouldn’t be steps ahead of the Doctor. Yes, the Doctor lost in this one, and that’s a fair dramatic conceit – he’s our hero, but he IS fallible. What is a sticking point is that the Doctor doesn’t know the extent to which has lost. Gatiss has said he has a second part to this story in mind, and I’ve heard (rumors only) that it could be a prequel. Either way, I’m not necessarily keen on a return to this story without some major overhauling. 

Wow, my vehemence above makes me realize that I have stronger feelings on this story than I thought! I’m still a fan of Mark Gatiss, both as actor and writer. Heck, I still have Nightshade, his first Doctor Who book up on my shelf of NA’s! “Sleep No More” isn’t his strongest work, not by a long shot. Personally I’m still a big fan of “The Unquiet Dead” from Series One. “Sleep No More” attempted to be different which always scores points in my book, but not everything worked together to really make this episode special. If there’s a good way to do it, I’d love to see another try on found footage, but as it stands, this attempt is less than successful.

Series 9 - The Zygon Inversion

          I don’t even know where to start with this story. “Fantastic” seems almost cliché at this point, but it truly was. I was worried that the second part wouldn’t live up to the first, but those worries were unfounded. Consider the landing *stuck*.

First off, that script! Tight, superbly paced, and full of those moments where you just smile and say “THIS is why I love this show!” I just loved so much about it. The truth behind the “Osgood Box” was clever yet so bleeding obvious after the fact. “Five rounds, rapid” is a salute to the Brigadier that was nowhere near as forced as Cyber-Brig last season. The Zygon forced to normalize against his will? What a heart wrenching character! In an episode without much guest cast, this nameless Zygon was a scene stealer. I’m curious as to what Steven Moffatt contributed to this, as he wasn’t credited on “Invasion”, but was on “Inversion”. Maybe adding some more touches from “Day of the Doctor”? Regardless, the script for this story was simply amazing.

Of course there are two standout moments in this standout episode. Jenna Coleman’s interplay with herself as both Bonnie and Clara was so very, very well done. Both characters had to run through a series of emotions – anger, confusion, self-satisfaction – and both characters were pitched so differently that there were moments where I legitimately forgot it was only one performer. Jenna Coleman has left some big shoes to fill for her eventual replacement.

The second stand out moment? It is of course when the name “Basil” is spoken, thus answering the biggest question… Oh, alright, it’s the Doctor’s speech in the Black Archive. As if there was any doubt. THIS is the Capaldi I’ve been dying to see, the DOCTOR I’ve been dying to see. I know that Matt Smith could have delivered this speech, maybe Tennant could have, and I’d love to see what Christopher Eccleston would do with it. In the end, though, it’s Peter Capaldi, and it’s a thing of beauty. He has the gravitas, the world-weariness that it takes to make a speech like this work. His Doctor, even with the knowledge that he didn’t blow up Gallifrey (um, spoilers, I suppose for the two of you who haven’t seen “The Day of the Doctor”) still remembers the day he made that decision, still feels that decision weighing on him. Still remembers his actions throughout the Time War, ones we have NO idea about. His frustration with the Zygons and humans inability to simply talk things out is palpable. I’ve heard and read a few different people saying that this is the big clip they’ll show whenever talking about Capaldi’s Doctor, and I couldn’t agree more.

Osgood. Oh, be still my beating heart, but Petronella Osgood is such a lovely character, I am so glad they didn’t kill her off. Again. Also, is it just me or do we in fact know which Osgood is which by the end of the story. They’ll be mixed up again in any future appearances, but really. “Question Mark Collar” Osgood has been with the Doctor the whole time, “Seventh Doctor Jumper” Osgood is a shape-shifted Bonnie. There has to be one human, one Zygon for the whole plan to work, so ta-da! “Question Mark Collar” Osgood MUST have been the human the whole time. Also, if she was the Zygon, could they duplicate a Zygon from another Zygon? Wouldn’t that be like a VHS copy of a VHS copy, prone to some serious degradation? If you don’t know what VHS is, then A) go ask your parents and B) I’m old.

“The Zygon Inversion” is a great episode of Doctor Who. Even more, I think it’s a great episode of TV drama, full stop. With this two-parter, Peter Harness has written a story that, and I use this word knowing what it means to Who fans, is sure to be a classic. Five stars. Ten out of Ten. Just magnificent.

PS. This weekend is Long Island Who 3, THE Doctor Who convention on the East Coast. I have gone the two previous years and am looking ridiculously forward to this one. Paul McGann, Katy Manning, Janet Fielding, Camille Coduri, Noel Clarke, and a TON more guests will be there. I’m not sure what the ticket situation is at this point, but if you can make it there, I can’t recommend it enough. Their website is: http://longislanddoctorwho.com  Let me know if you’re coming, I’d love to meet you!

PPS: I've neglected to mention that I've been illustrating these posts with the posters designed by Stuart Manning.  They are perfectly fabulous. You can find him here:  https://www.facebook.com/stuartmdesign/