ElleryAnne

Aw, RIP Doris Day. And many thanks for her work in protecting animals, especially for her horse rescue program.

Gee, such persuasive arguments about the merits of the season. As a happily married woman, I guess I simply have to love the past season. Except I don't. Some of the online media articles have perfectly valid complaints, IMO. Most of the complaints that I've seen in the media have been about other aspects of the show - particularly the writing and the "PC" aura many of the episodes have. I don't see the point in dismissing it all as "they just hate a woman Doctor", as if none of the other reasons are valid, simply because one doesn't personally agree with them. YMMV, of course.

Damn. I'm actually crying over this one. I just... no words.

Aw, I remember her from FreakyLinks. RIP.

I didn't really know anything about Clark Gable's grandson. But a day after seeing that post, I still can't stop thinking how heartbreaking it is. No mother should ever have to post those words.

For me, it's in the fact that Chibnall has all season chosen "safe" villains - by which I mean, his villains are generally types that PC culture is happy to see as villains. White men, rich corporate Trump-types, that sort of thing. There were a couple of episodes that strayed from this, but overall as a season it felt like Chibnall played it safe, even to the point of cowardly, in his storytelling. And if he'd done it well, I wouldn't personally care. But they were also bland and one-dimensional, and that's harder to overlook. It's seemed at times that he was more concerned with having appropriate villains than with having original stories. In the long run I feel like it just ended up being unfortunate for JW, who deserved better stories than she got. And I wonder how much of the feeling about the PC-ness (?) of Thirteen's first season has to do with when folks first discovered Doctor Who. I didn't know the show until its reboot, and Nine and Ten remain my favorite Doctors. During the past several years, I've seen numerous episodes with the earlier Doctors, but I wasn't alive during those years to learn to love them first. And the first four seasons of Nu-Who aren't (IMO) terribly preachy - they're more sci-fi drama/adventure/touch of comedy. Are most of the comments about the past season being more PC coming from people who prefer the RTD and/or Moffett eras, or is it more evenly distributed with those who were fans of the show from its inception in '63?

I absolutely agree with this. One of my issues with much of the past season has been that there's something almost defeatist about many of the episodes, and the Doctor and companions end up walking away looking tired and worn. But Jodie lights up the screen when they give her a chance to be happy and hopeful. I wish her debut season as Thirteen had happened under a better showrunner.

Just watched the first couple of episodes. "Drift Away" is a little too on the nose for the opening of the first episode. Will has strong lungs, what with managing a trek up a snowy mountain and time in a forest fire with barely a gasp. That's not even counting the rest of the kid's day. I like Penny and Judy. From some angles, the actress playing Penny reminds me of a young Karen Gillan. Judy thanking the robot was a nice moment. After the overwrought danger of the first episode, I was glad the second episode had a couple of quiet moments that let the characters just... be. I can usually suspend disbelief with the best of 'em, but I don't understand why a couple (whether or not on the verge of divorce) would take minor children away to colonize other planets. It seems to me that if we ever really colonize other worlds (hopefully not), it should be left to couples with no kids to tackle that zany project, and have the babies after you've landed safely and set up a stable base. Or of course, you could just hope that your bad choices are all serendipitously wiped away by a benevolent and forgiving robot. Here's hoping. Otherwise, she gets irritating real soon.

Overall, I liked it well enough, I guess. I don't have any burning desire to rewatch it, but I liked it better than I liked eight out of ten of this season's episodes. This season has been so frustrating, because I like JW as the Doctor and I like all three companions, but something about the episodes keeps missing the mark. It's like taking a sip of your favorite soda and finding it's gone flat. I liked having a Dalek episode. After a season in which the bad guys were often human and the aliens were kind of odd (i.e. Tim Shaw), it was fun having a familiar enemy to root for the Doctor to defeat. I liked the storyline with Ryan's dad. I was wishing that at the end they all were trying to save Aaron, or forming more of a chain to pull on Ryan who was pulling on Aaron, but I guess they wanted the focus on Ryan's love being what saved his dad. Whatever. I'm glad Aaron didn't die. Mostly, what I liked was Ryan talking with Aaron earlier in the episode and telling him that hey, you're expecting respect but we're not there yet. Another good moment - the Doctor shrugging off the Tardis' ability to be bigger on the inside as not being a big deal, and Mitch saying, yeah it is. I liked Thirteen's scarf. Wasn't really feeling Ryan's shirt. Graham's scarf was nice, the jeans not so much. Yaz... she was there, right? I like her. Wish they'd give her something memorable to do once in a while. I feel like she wanders through the episodes wearing a perception filter. The Tardis was crowded. At one point, there were six or seven people in there. I could do without the family that doesn't know how to cope without the internet, and ditto the possibly-Brexit-related loss of UNIT. I don't get why Chibnall can't seem to tell a story without putting in something random that will take the audience out of the story. There was discussion a while back about how the show is generally a kid's show. The first couple of minutes of this episode were really not something I would let my kids watch, though.

Oh, I don't mind that Thirteen has a lighter soul than some of the previous Doctor incarnations. I just think it's that difference, rather than difference in the actor's age or gender, that creates the "optics" mentioned upthread.

I wouldn't have thought age or gender in particular, but more about something in the way they carry themselves. For instance, Matt Smith was young and played Eleven as rather frenetic on the surface, but with an old soul. When I watch him, I feel that he's carrying a lot of sorrow in there somewhere. JW plays Thirteen with a joyful, youthful excitement. I like her as The Doctor, but I don't often see the weight of a thousand years of pain and wisdom in her eyes.

First time this season I can say this, and I'm happy to do so - I loved this episode. It wasn't perfect, but it had the elements I look forward to in this show, and managed to be emotional, thoughtful, suspenseful, hopeful and fun by turns.

It's been five days since I saw the episode, and I still don't know whether I liked or disliked it overall. It was basically Through The Looking Glass, and What The Doctor Found There. I do know that I rolled my eyes at the frog, but I liked the Doctor's conversation with it. I think it may be one of those episodes where I'll have to watch it a couple more times, many months apart, and see how it grabs me. I thought the episode was pretty good on some of the character beats for the companions (I'm loving Graham and Ryan's relationship (even if it's presented with occasional flashing arrows from the writers saying "Watch how cleverly we're building this relationship")), and I liked Hanne. Erik should be boiled in oil.

Pretty good episode. One of the few this season that I enjoyed enough to watch again. I found it visually appealing - the setting, the mud aliens (their make-up as well as the physical staging of them in the woods), the costumes (particularly James')... it was engaging to watch. The plot wasn't bad, and it had elements of creepiness that weren't just depressingly due to the flaws of mankind. And there were some good lines throughout. In general, it felt like an episode of Doctor Who. I'm one of those who is annoyed by the inattention to period clothing, but I've just decided to accept that the bar isn't set very high this season on things like that. It takes me out of the story sometimes (it did in Demons of the Punjab, as well), but if the story overall is good enough, I get drawn back into it quickly enough. AC was great as King James. The role suited his style well. (Or vice versa.) JW, as usual, was excellent.

An ok episode, but Kerblamazon's robots seemed like cheap knockoffs of the angel robots in Voyage of the Damned.

I liked this episode. Probably my second favorite of the season, behind The Ghost Monument. Loved the characters, the visuals (including that beautiful wedding outfit) and the relationships. I thought it was historical without being overly political (also true of most of the DW eps that travel to past events), but I respect that not everyone is going to agree with that. To each his own, and I don't get the need for snotty intolerance in response. Treading into real-world events can sometimes take a viewer out of the story aspect, if it's not done right. It's okay to want DW to be an escape from real-world issues, not a reminder of them. I thought this episode was done pretty well in that regard, but I still found myself wondering if anyone in 1947 was going to comment on what the time-travelers were wearing, so maybe not. IDK. Maybe it was even addressed, and I didn't catch it because the music drowned out the voices. (I'm really hating the music this season in general, other than the opening theme.) And the math on Nani's age... so, okay, I guess a couple of different things took me out of the story-telling in the ep. I have to agree that there's something about this season that's just lacking in the fun department. It's more than halfway through the season, and it seems that, while Thirteen is great (I love her and I like all three companions), the episodes have been missing something. Again this week, there's death and sadness and trouble and the Doctor can't do much about it for reasons. I knew Prem was doomed from the start, so I couldn't even root for the Doctor to do much more than maintain a status quo. So, three cheers for... not messing up the timeline?

The Pting looked like the unholy offspring of a Slitheen and the baby from Dinosaurs.

I liked the episode. But reading through this thread depressed the hell out of me.

I haven't been a fan of Natalie's, but that TC was uncomfortable like watching an intervention. Also no fan of Jeremy's, so glad he's gone. In fact, there are about six other members of Goliath that can go next and I'll be happy. Christian and Gabby are kind of adorable together right now. Or maybe Gabby's adorable about Christian, and Christian's just adorkable.

Yes, Jessica, it must be that you're just that big of a threat. Good grief. Fire, tarp, a fishing pole... maybe next season they can just give them all gift certificates to Albertson's every three days. I don't like people going through other people's personal bags. I don't care whether or not it's good gameplay - I just don't like it. The yellow string for the idol looked like it was less obviously placed than the purple string last week.

No! What a gorgeous voice he had. RIP.

Gee, Jeff, way to turn someone's pain to your advantage by tying it to the theme. Blech. Speaking of the theme, I need it to be gone like yesterday. I cannot do a season where half of the castaways are the human equivalent to the dogs in the commercials with the Sarah McLachlan song.

Has it been confirmed whether Jelena, Terrence, Sloane, Pete and/or Ahsha are going to be in S4?

When the homeowner said she'd be happy with anything as long as her walls weren't covered in shards of glass and exposed nails, I was sure she'd inadvertently given Hildi an idea for her next episode. I thought both rooms were okay, but not fantastic. I liked both homeowner couples, though, and I'm glad they liked the results. I'll fight you for it. It was adorable.

I was surprised Dom won the IC. That didn't look like the best way to hold those poles, at the height he had them. Very likely. But it's not as if players can always trust those they consider allies. I like Wendell, and I also understand why he's seen as a strong player that they should try to take out. Frankly, I can admire the nerves of steel but I wouldn't want him to join the ranks of the unwitting blindsides who go home with an idol or two in their pockets because they trusted their allies one TC too long. Yeah, I caught that too. I thought maybe I'd imagined it because it seemed so unlike him. When's the last time someone's visiting loved one was a son/daughter?