The Companion

yes, I figured it was to match the opening sequence but it was unnecessary and I felt it was jarring. The final line from the Doctor was pretty great and very Doctory and then they went and overlaid the ending with unnecessary narration.

They could have at least had her carry off a few extra macguffins with the Dalek weapon.

Agreed on the poor military tactics. Down to just screaming run and breaking formation. My other "that guy" comment is the weird narration at the end. Totally unnecessary and distracting. Honestly, I still didn't feel like Ryan's dad deserved the level of forgiveness he got. That being said, I hope it is a resolution. Perhaps he can earn it off screen and we can give Yaz more to do. Right? How shallow were those holes? You walked the earth to bury them and left them like 6 inches below ground? I really really missed it on Christmas. I put away the food, cleaned the dishes and put my son to bed. It felt like it was time to sit down, pour a glass of wine and turn on the Christmas episode. Instead I had to wait and ultimately didn't even watch it the same day it showed (a rare occasion) because my New Year's Day involved so many other things plus football. I am not sure I see sexism in three companions. Eleven treated Rory and Amy as family (and ultimately married into their family). Honestly, I think the three companions thing came down to the following: they didn't want a one companion scenario to avoid any discussion of romantic attachment. I suspect they also wanted to have some sort of romantic storyline. They have done so for most of the companions, and Clara with Danny highlighted how very weird that is when you have one person leaving their significant other behind on a regular basis to have adventures. So, they wanted two young people who could end up in a romantic storyline down the road. However, they didn't want that to be the initial arc. Therefore, they wanted another companion to both break up the romantic tension they plan to insert down the road and to provide alternate drama. The easiest way to do that was with a family member, but there needed to also be a conflict. Honestly, I would watch Graham and JW. I find him significantly more entertaining than Yaz and Ryan. Honestly, though, I don't mind the dynamic of a full TARDIS. There are things that I complain about this season, but the full TARDIS just isn't something that bothers me. I loved Danny Pink and wish he had gotten to be something other than an accessory. I thought he was an interesting character and using him as a plot point for Clara really sucked. Agreed that I didn't love the family drama, though I did appreciate that Graham continues to be an awesome stepfather and granddad. Agreed. We didn't need another storyline about loss. Yeah, I laughed at the idea that he made some really great impenetrable armor and somehow found the supplies for complex missiles. Sometimes you just have to go with it, but that was stretching it. Is she my mummy? :) I feel like I have done a lot of complaining, but honestly I did like it. I love JW as the Doctor, and particularly her nerdy science side and enthusiasm. I am never a huge fan of Daleks, but did like they way they used them here. One Dalek was actually a lot more fun to watch than an army of them. I wasn't a huge fan of family drama but did really think there were some good scenes relating to the drama. I liked the silly first kiss only couple. They were cute and I wanted them to prevail, especially after what happened to that poor girl in kerblam. Overall, I thought it was a good cap to the season and a solid special.

It begs the question: Is there anyone who has wronged you so thoroughly that you would wait 3,407 years to try to get revenge? I loved this line, though I was surprised there wasn't more to address their planet killing and the fallout when they realized it was all for nothing. I know it was because they were listening to Tim Shaw under the mistaken belief that he was their god, but holy hell, they committed mass xenocide. It seemed they should have been a little more shaken up to me. I thought it was a weak point in an otherwise strong episode. They seemed super chill to find out they were manipulated into committing large scale murder. Also, when she told them to keep their faith, maybe also add not to murder planets for it? I loved this interaction between the two of them. Their character arc was pretty enjoyable for me. I liked the season and really liked the frog episode that apparently was fairly polarizing. I did miss some overarching elements being brought through the season. It felt a bit disjointed. This season has been less kid friendly in our case than some of the prior seasons. My son LOVES Doctor Who, but he is only 5, so we vet what he gets to watch. He doesn't find the monsters on the screen scary (he actually loves the weeping angels), but scary onscreen deaths are a problem. Almost every episode this season included an onscreen death (as opposed to someone being dragged away or an implied death) or it had so much dialogue there was no real way to keep him engaged. Example: why show the missing dude's (Kevin's?) face in Arachnids? My kid loves the giant spiders, but the guy wrapped up and dead in the cocoon was a bit much for him. The explosion with Charlie in there might have gone over his head but the people soup and bubble wrap bomb definitely wouldn't. The Doctor literally thought she had killed Tim Shaw (though it was more getting him to kill himself), so it was a bit inconsistent to think it was a-ok to leave him running around murdering planets. The resolution was good, but it wasn't the Doctor's and that was a little frustrating. Overall, I enjoyed the episode so I don't mean to sound negative about it. I would like to see a bit more cohesion in the story telling next series and agree that Yaz should get more to do. I love JW in the role, so I hope they can give her some good material to work with.

Join me at the pub, a "Mead-summer Night's Dream." Then we can grab a bite at "The Flying Chaucer." The entire system has always been a bit monstrous, right? The idea that you can objectively quantify action, and the (albeit hilarious) moral implications of really ethically neutral decisions?The idea that we are held to standards and rules that are never fully explained to us? But this reveal does make it far more horrifying. Ohh, I would love to hear Chidi try to decide whether it is better to tell him and ruin any remote chance he has or not tell him and let him continue to live in such a miserable fashion. Agreed it is a grim prospect, but I am not sure that it was ever anything justifiable. Even where it was rare to get in, it was still pretty awful that your choice in music could end up causing you to be tortured for eternity. This show is pretty cynical and has a lot of dark humor, which is why I love it. I suspect the answer is going to be less about rigging and more about some sort of failing in The Good Place. More on that below. I wonder if it isn't going to end up being some impossibility in building a good place for anyone, or that essentially building a Good Place requires too much work because people are unpredictable and they tend to cause problems with each other as well. In the way that Michael's neighborhoods constantly failed, one can imagine a comparable problem when trying to actually make a Good Place. If there are other people, they would be constantly interacting with one another and things could turn into a bad place. If the other people are angel actors, they still might not hit the right notes, etc. Imagine: we tried to make a place with all her favorite foods, but she got sick of them. We gave her unlimited puppies, but there were too many puppies. Her "soul mate" was too perfect and she started picking fights with him because of it. We had to suspend Good Place protocol or we had to raise the points to get in because all of our people are currently maintaining like 10 good places, and we can't add another.

She was phenomenal. Michael clearly has no actual knowledge of who is in the Good Place. Agree with others that he was making it up. I particularly loved that he basically died because he hoped into a small space without thinking and still did it. Agreed. She was just slightly off.

"The Husbands of River Song" is one of my favorite episodes of all time. Admittedly, I love River Song, so that has something to do with it, but I also thought it had a great balance of humor and emotional kick. Agreed, though, that Christmas wasn't really a huge factor. I am a bit sad because it is one of our Christmas traditions to watch the Christmas episode. Agreed. That was a beautiful moment. We have seen him long to be able to tell her about his adventures, and to get that emotional payoff was really satisfying.

Yeah, I get the concept of being so blinded by grief you desperately cling to something that is gone instead of seeing what is in front of you, but this man enacted a one-person terror campaign to keep his daughter in the house then disappeared without a word for four days. The most generous interpretation is that he thought it might be dangerous, but that is pretty awful because he left her helpless in the house. If something happened and he couldn't return, she would have been in there indefinitely, terrified of a monster and unable to get help. When she was found, she was cowering in a wardrobe. That is some next level bad parenting. If he had stumbled upon the world and was kept there because he was scared his wife would disappear, that would have made more sense. Torn between returning to his daughter and staying with the wife he lost. However, the fact that he returned and set up a fake monster means that he could have brought his daughter with him and chose not to.

The frog would be delightful if you had never even envisioned such a thing. You have this sentient universe that can do anything but has no experience. It clearly learned from the people it pulled from, and one of the concepts was a small green creature that hops. Who wouldn't then want to try on being a frog?

Me too. I thought it was fantastic. Super creepy with an emotional punch at the end. I felt really bad for the poor frogverse. If anyone can understand solitude and what it can do, it's the Doctor. I mean, the Doctor was saddest about losing the people herself. I loved the granddad moment, personally. It was so obviously going to be Grace on the other side of that sheet, yet it still felt pretty impactful. Watching Graham lose her again was tough. I think we have seen Ryan and Graham bond all season, and not just over their shared loss. To me, it felt like a good point to have that moment. I loved the sandwich bit. Graham is definitely my favorite. The sheep uprising was hilarious. Rory is unimpressed. :) Other thoughts: - not sure about the flesh eating moths. They seemed over the top. I guess you needed some danger, but they seemed a bit extraneous to me. - loved the visuals. The balloon lantern was super creepy. - Erik was a pretty terrible dad, but I particularly didn't understand the decision to leave his daughter alone. Why not just take her with him? - JW continues to hit all the right notes for me. I really think she is a great Doctor - Yaz got to apply some training, which was nice.

Or, if common IT legal practices haven't changed, the Doctor checked a box at checkout. :)

I don't pretend to be an expert on King James I's love life, but I think it is theorized by many that he was bisexual. He had male lovers, but also a wife and a mistress. The wife, of course, probably doesn't mean much in that time period as he had an obligation to produce an heir, but the mistress seems to indicate an interest in both men and women.

I agree with all of this. Sadly, I wonder if they just didn't want the Doctor in a dress. It would be nice to at least have the Doctor explain why she is choosing not to blend or have her companions blend. Perhaps the two are related. The Doctor has never really had to think about how others would perceive her clothing. However, the companions very frequently dress in period appropriate clothing. It just feels really inconsistent.

You could see her steaming when wet in one scene. Had to have been miserable. The Doctor has always forced his way through things. He ignores decorum rank, and rules. I suspect, as a woman, she felt like she could do the same. I agree that the odd decision not to dress to the period is a bit strange. Perhaps they want to keep the Doctor in trousers, but it is a strange choice and they don't even try to justify it. They were trying for a historic adventure, so it isn't like they thought they were heading to the 1980s. I loved this one. Enjoyed the bad guys. The creepy zombie makeup and makeup for the queen were really cool. We finally got some helpful and interesting Yaz content. i really liked Willa and I was glad the Doctor's insistence that she stay didn't get her killed. Also, agreed that King James was great as written and acted.

He said he use them to test the bubble wrap bombs, didn't he?

Agreed. She had stopped them from deploying. They weren't on a timer. Why not ask the bots to retrieve and deliver the bad guy, then safely dispose of the weapon. The bots weren't compromised. The packages were. I thought it was cause she has two hearts. Awww. Poor system. I thought the misdirection was great. She was so clearly a red shirt and then they introduced the love story and you thought maybe they save her and these two crazy kids make it. I am really sort of sad about her. She gets only her second present ever, it is empty, and then she was killed to make a point. Poor girl. The system couldn't have given her chocolate first or bluffed or something? I loved that Yaz went to talk to the daughter. I hope she gets hefty benefits for her college education. Her poor doomed dad. Overall I liked the uncanny valley creepybots. The fez made me way too happy. It was nice use of the team (though really, a police officer can't detain a suspect). It was another dark episode with a body count, but it was a good one.

I loved when Tahani just assumed they had always been besties, both confirming her regard in this life and assumption it had always been that way. It was sweet. Yes! I am dying at the mental image of Bad Janet in his place. I agree! Poor Chidi is so wound up all the time. It was fun to watch him play beer pong with a pool ball. I think Jason's genuine sweetness makes him a great character. Of the four, his problem is less a personality trait and more the impulsive decision to do bad things without playing them out in his head. Personal growth for him probably just looks like not performing criminal acts and thinking before acting. Maybe considering a non-Molotov cocktail solution. The snail funeral was amazing. Some part of me wants their version of New Orleans (where I live). We all know Eleanor has been here.

So they don't kick you out? You just stay and watch? No judgment! :) I feel like I have read it represents lack of control and anxiety, but who knows? I haven't personally had it, but I do have recurring dreams about law school classes I haven't attended where I have to take the exam and/or can't find the classroom. Also a lot of dreams about elevators that don't go where they are supposed to (which seems to have replaced dreams where I am driving but my brakes don't work well and I keep accidentally running red lights). I did love that she was wondering if she pulled off the bald look while her teeth fell out.

JW continues to do incredible work. Her nerdy sciencey scenes are amazing and she looked absolutely gutted at the gunshot. We have seen the Doctor have to stand by when a death was a fixed point and it is hard every time. This was no exception. It was a heavy episode. I am glad next week looks a bit lighter. That being said, I also thought it was a powerful one and beautifully shot. Graham continues to be fairly awesome with his "Doc" and his sarcasm about danger and his dad advice. Ryan still can't help pushing buttons. Yaz still feels a little underdeveloped but I like her interactions with her family.

The lizard made that scene. It was hilarious. He really is up for anything. Centaur Tahani was amazing. She was everything I didn't know I needed in my life. The flashbacks were adorable as was the argument Eleanor made being based in philosophy.

I do think that is correct, which is why I wanted to be sure to note that I thought the issue originated with the humans (and certainly through the lens of Ryan's family background). I guess I just didn't love the equivalency there from the writers, who seemed to think being unwilling to show up for your kid was the same thing as making an intentional choice to place your child with a loving family (and certainly, even that doesn't encompass all of adoption). I can live with it, and I don't see the resolution as anything other than positive, but I do wish that writers who seem to be very intentional about a lot of representation would have considered whether or not the connection was one they wanted to make. Good luck to your older sister! Adoption IS a wonderful thing.

I think that is a fairer point, though to the extent the birthing pods are readily available and the c-section type surgery was fairly minor for him (he was sitting up fairly soon after not really much worse for the wear), I am fine with handwaving that the species has just evolved in a way that birthing requires assistance (something that arguably many humans require as well for safe and healthy births), and that the birthing pods may facilitate something more akin to a non-surgical birth. In fact, if they have some sort of accelerated healing it might also explain the short gestational period and the massive healthy baby (which, I know, is actually about the actor but that baby was huge). Looking around the earth, we haven't exactly all developed the most logical and efficient way to reproduce either. I understand the criticisms that the male pregnancy storyline may have been a bit cliche, but I actually liked the shorthand of putting the characters into a familiar yet alien situation. I would have liked a little more discussion of the world from which he originated, but the character was quite likable and I liked the representation of hope that the birth represented in the same room as death. I do have to say, I didn't love the assumption that choosing adoption is equal to abandonment. Many people choose adoption as an act of love and sacrifice to give their child something they don't believe they can give. I hated that it was presented as something bad and dishonorable, as opposed to a loving choice. The character presented it as a thoughtful way to ensure his kid got a loving family when he wasn't ready to parent, but it certainly wasn't interpreted that way by the humans and I felt like we were supposed to be happy that the baby was with his biological father rather than that his biological father was able to find the resources and confidence to parent (which is an equally wonderful thing, don't get me wrong). Something there missed the mark for me, but I am biased as a parent through adoption. I just hate the way birthparents/origin parents are treated like they didn't care about their kid or "gave them up" or "abandoned" them.

I mean . . . Male seahorses carry and birth their young. Male pregnancy has literally been applied to them. I loved this episode, but we know I LOVE running around spaceships. The monster was simultaneously adorable and menacing. The Doctor was very Doctory. There were interesting side characters and you felt their loss. Agree that some of the character development was a bit awkward, but I found it enjoyable overall.

An astute observation indeed. This is 100% how i feel about margaritas. Agreed. I really liked that it wasn't a sitcommy ending where everything was a-okay. Whether she had gotten an apology or not, she is still broken (as I believe she put it). She lives with that trauma and she is beginning to work through it and overcome it, but it will always be a part of her. Certainly, they are making a lot of personal progress, regardless of where this is going. I would most be on Team Elehani, were I a big shipper. Pretty sure that isn't where they are going, though. I agree with this. It was about Eleanor coming to terms with the fact that her mother is never going to be the mother she needed or deserved, and recognizing how that trauma has affected her. I think it is a big step towards moving past it (along with understanding that she didn't cause it and it isn't her fault). I think there is also an element of understanding that what she will get from her mother is very limited, so any way forward has to come from somewhere else. It isn't fair, and an apology wouldn't fix it. I was glad it wasn't reduced to that. Notwithstanding, spending her time and energy trying to get even isn't going to help either of them. I actually appreciate that this show writes complex characters and relationships. I suspect there will be something to that, in the future. I think it is an intentional counterpoint to the point system.

His delivery is so great. Also: Let's just say we both lived in the same neighborhood. That was some good emotional payoff, especially because Tahani's jealousy needed to progress. Of the gang, she has avoided her issues the most, I think. I am not a big shipper, but I did enjoy Jason and Janet this episode.