S10.E02: Smile

[clack]

I found Bill more enjoyable without all the previous episode's clunky introductory beats ( Bill serves food at a university and audits the Doctor's lectures because she's stalking a student, but the stalking is cool because Bill is a lesbian! And the Doctor intuits somehow that Bill is not a student! And now let's meet Bill's foster mother! Etc)

In this episode, all the Bill characterization we get is 1) she knows her sci-fi tropes, 2) she questions things that others might take for granted, and 3) she's having a blast travelling with the Doctor. And that's all the viewers need. On with the story!

[Bruinsfan]

3 hours ago, jcin617 said:

You know, I don't recall companions getting so worked up about regenerations in the past, until Rose did.   They were confused, for sure, but they just accepted it was something that happened and went with it - even though it was usually pretty chaotic (Four-to-Five's for instance).

I think Peri got pretty worked up, but then she was trading down from Peter Davison's kind Doctor to Colin Baker's snide, conceited asshole. And he tried to strangle her shortly afterward!

[Jamie Satyr]

26 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

I think Peri got pretty worked up, but then she was trading down from Peter Davison's kind Doctor to Colin Baker's snide, conceited asshole. And he tried to strangle her shortly afterward!

I was going to say! I don't think Baker recovered from that auspicious start to his tenure as the Doctor! He still muses about wanting to be more like the ECC's "Doctor" in the black leather jacket, but production when in the other direction coming up with that patchwork mosaic nonsense! ;-)

[LoneHaranguer]

8 hours ago, FiveByFive said:

I completely and totally adore Bill. I love her questions right down to, why not just move the chair?

Was bringing up the chair Bill's way of calling the Doctor old? BTW, why is there seating? Historically, that's not something usually found in the control room. One had a wooden chair, but he was a bit of a geezer.

[Mulva]

So what's to stop the colonists from shutting the robots down again, permanently?  It's what I'd do in the circumstances.  I really didn't care for the Doctor's attitude that they should just overlook their loved ones being murdered.

[HauntedBathroom]

The Doctors reasoning was that the robots were sentient, so closing them down would be mass murder. And he tends to oppose that.

[smorbie]

5 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Was bringing up the chair Bill's way of calling the Doctor old? BTW, why is there seating? Historically, that's not something usually found in the control room. One had a wooden chair, but he was a bit of a geezer.

I don't know about the chairs; I thought they were always there, at least in the NuVwho verse.  When 12 redecorated he got rid of the round things although he said he always liked them.  I couldn't help but wonder why he got rid of them, then.

I like that they don't know what the round things are.

[FiveByFive]

7 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Was bringing up the chair Bill's way of calling the Doctor old? BTW, why is there seating? Historically, that's not something usually found in the control room. One had a wooden chair, but he was a bit of a geezer.

It was kind of brilliant in a way. Pilots of aircraft generally have seats to sit in while they're piloting. Since she was talking to him about flying the Tardis, the simple issue was, if you're flying around space why are you standing up while doing it? You've got a chair but it's too far back against the rail. Why not have the chair be next to the controls like any other drive/pilot of any vehicle?

Upon looking back there has been some kind of seat in several iterations of it. No one ever really uses it so they're not something you notice. Ecc/Tennant's doctor had a chair which was closer to the controls that made more sense. Matt Smith's doctor had a chair against the rail. This Doctor has one but it's further back from the Tardis controls. I literally never paid attention before her comment. 

[hnygrl]

This is one of those episodes that work best if you suspend belief and don't question it. Once you start asking questions, the episode falls apart. Overall I'm loving this season/series. What a relief to finally after all these years look FORWARD to Saturdays and a new episode instead of dreading it.

Someone pointed out up-thread that all the colonists need to do is turn off all the robots.
I'm thinking "easier said than done." The Doctor did it via Sonic and somehow, sonic-ing one, rebooted them all. Unless these robots have a Borg-Cybermen-Like Hive Mind (and where's the controller if they do?), that won't work.

Nowadays, after' The Doctor's Wife,' I LOVE IT when they end up somewhere strange!!! It means She's taking them where they NEED to go and I can't WAIT to see why!!!

Seeing them somewhere totally NOT HOME made me "squee..." She's alive, he's back in the box, and there's work to do Mister Time Lord...so get to it if you wanna see home again.

[that one guy]

On 4/22/2017 at 2:44 PM, Triskan said:

Got confused by the whole "last humans", "earth evacuated" thing.

Same incident that drove the humans off the Earth in the 37th Century, referenced in the 4th Doctor serial Ark in Space and the Eleventh Doctor story the Beast Below (which you can be forgiven for forgetting, because it was very bad).

 

On 4/22/2017 at 3:28 PM, foreverevolving said:

Speech patterns and attitudes change not only over time but by location too (slang in NYC would be different than in LA, let alone in a different english speaking country).

True, but I don't think they're really even speaking English. The TARDIS gets into your head and starts translating everything for you, is the way I understand it. 

This was okay, I loved the relationship between the Doctor and Bill. But, everybody knows turning the computer off and turning it back on again is the FIRST thing you try. Then you call the help desk, THEN you blow it up. I mean, seriously. Maybe it's one of those things that gets all out of order if you're a time traveler.

Also, this is the kind of story that should have been a two parter. The colonists who woke up didn't even get individual identities. There should have been one episode before the colonists reanimated, then another one after they woke up. Although I don't know that "Emoji are evil" is a theme that can carry a show for two hours. They totally are, though. That stupid shrug emoji is definitely a sign of the human race's impending doom.

[Llywela]

6 hours ago, smorbie said:

I don't know about the chairs; I thought they were always there, at least in the NuVwho verse.  When 12 redecorated he got rid of the round things although he said he always liked them.  I couldn't help but wonder why he got rid of them, then.

I like that they don't know what the round things are.

They are called roundels, and the Doctor used to know what they were for - they were for accessing TARDIS wiring, we saw more than one Classic Doctor opening the roundels to get to the wiring beneath while doing repairs!

As for this episode, I do regret that the ending was so rushed and the colonists so poorly realised - I'd been enjoying the episode thoroughly up till then.

[smorbie]

5 hours ago, Llywela said:

They are called roundels, and the Doctor used to know what they were for - they were for accessing TARDIS wiring, we saw more than one Classic Doctor opening the roundels to get to the wiring beneath while doing repairs!

As for this episode, I do regret that the ending was so rushed and the colonists so poorly realised - I'd been enjoying the episode thoroughly up till then.

I guess the Doctor forgets through the years.  

I thought the ending was a bit rushed, too.  It's like they had so much fun setting up the story, but then they didn't have time to tell it properly or something.  Nevertheless, I'll let that go because I honestly don't care.  It's just so wonderful to be enjoying the show and watching the Doctor enjoy himself that I'll just follow along for awhile.

[Llywela]

1 minute ago, smorbie said:

I thought the ending was a bit rushed, too.  It's like they had so much fun setting up the story, but then they didn't have time to tell it properly or something.  Nevertheless, I'll let that go because I honestly don't care.  It's just so wonderful to be enjoying the show and watching the Doctor enjoy himself that I'll just follow along for awhile.

Tell me about it. Both episodes so far have had plenty of weaknesses, in terms of plot and pacing, but I'm just so damn relieved to be enjoying both the Doctor and his new companion that I can't quite bring myself to care! I can live with weak plot and dodgy pacing, heaven knows the show has a long history of both, but I have to be able to engage with the characters, and that's where the last few seasons originally lost me.

But I'm scared of being too optimistic about the rest of the season. I've been burned this way before.

[smorbie]

If the franchise hadn't been so strong it wouldn't have survived the last few years, I don't think.  I missed the last part of 11's time, part of Amy and all of the ShowKiller's tenure as well as all of 12's time.  I just caught up on the Who TakeOver.  I was surprised at how awful the last few years have been and at miserable the Doctor was.

[Mabinogia]

I don't think the colonists were the point, which is why they weren't fully developed. The emoji-bots were who the story was about, and how, programmed and left to make the humans lives perfect, they misunderstood their directive and removed anything that would upset the humans. I am perfectly content believing some stupid human will screw it all up and the emoji-bots will hopefully kill them all and live peacefully in their cool new world.

[LoneHaranguer]

14 hours ago, FiveByFive said:

Why not have the chair be next to the controls like any other drive/pilot of any vehicle?

The TARDIS is designed to be run by six people, so the Doctor needs to keep moving between stations. A chair near the console would be more of a nuisance that an aid. The Doctor can do some types of hops from one spot, but there's no need to sit down for a trip that short. I hadn't thought about it, but seating seems to be more prevalent in the new series. Judging by the number of seats I see in photos on the net, it looks like the seating is so that his  "entourage" can hang around and watch him work.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

Doctor Who's Latest Emoji-Themed Adventure Raises ???

Will Bill's sophomore episode leave her ;^D or 8^( ?

[that one guy]

1 hour ago, Tara Ariano said:

Doctor Who's Latest Emoji-Themed Adventure Raises ???

Will Bill's sophomore episode leave her ;^D or 8^( ?

That review made me realize what it is I love about Bill, and also perhaps why the plots themselves have been a little underwhelming. My kid turns 10 in a few weeks, and while he's still curious, Bill reminds me what it's like to have a bright, curious two year old following you around with a constant machine gun fire of questions and non-sequiturs. The good thing is that their conversations are great, the potential downside is that there's no time to develop the colonists as characters because the entire script is basically just Bill asking "Do two hearts give you high blood pressure" and "is there still food sexism in the future" and "why don't you put the chairs closer to the control panel" and "why don't you just call the help line?" Which honestly is a great question. All these sci-fi robots that go crazy and try to destroy humanity, why isn't there a help desk? An FAQ? A Setting menu? How did any of this crap make it past beta? One thing speculative fiction has taught me about the future is that customer support will be crappy.

Anyway, Bill makes me realize what was wrong with the Clara era - making the companion all magical and special makes it harder for the character to function as an audience stand-in.

[LoneHaranguer]

4 hours ago, that one guy said:

Anyway, Bill makes me realize what was wrong with the Clara era - making the companion all magical and special makes it harder for the character to function as an audience stand-in.

Isn't one of the ongoing messages of the series that anyone can be special? Clara had the same issue as Rose in her second season by having a deus ex machina to raise her up, instead of it coming more naturally, like the typical companion or self-sacrificing hero of the week.

On 4/23/2017 at 3:14 AM, 17wheatthins said:

It's so nice to see a fun dynamic between Doctor and Bill. Her many questions didn't bother me so much;

I'd like to hear better questions from her. I thought her comment about "TARDIS" was dumb. If's a name coined from a phrase in English, just like "radar" or "snafu". Those won't work in Chinese or Russian either, and they have different names in those languages.

[LoneHaranguer]

10 minutes ago, 17wheatthins said:

And I always thought the same thing about "TARDIS" lol so I guess I felt like my opinion was slightly validated by Bill. :-)

It's possible the mention was intended to be a subtle callback to the Doctor's granddaughter, who was the one who came up with the name while staying with him in England, and whose picture we were shown for no apparent reason (yet).

[Tivo Junky]

On 4/23/2017 at 0:01 PM, Terrafamilia said:

Does anyone know where the location shots of the future building were filmed? I somehow got the sense that not all of it was CGI, but what do I know. 

That beautiful location was Valencia, Spain.  I believe it's their Science Center.

[festivus]

10 hours ago, 17wheatthins said:

And I hope Moffat doesn't have a *reason* for showing that photograph. 

Oh he does. You know he does. 

[tennisgurl]

I'm really enjoying Bill and her dynamic with the Doctor. I love her enthusiasm for traveling, even when things get scary or intense. If I was traveling through space and time, I would probably be a lot like Bill, asking every question that pops into my head, running around everywhere, and taking pictures with my phone. Its not some kind of burden to travel with the Doctor, like it so often was with Clara. I'm actually not a Clara hater, but that was my least favorite aspect of her character, and its nice to have someone around who actually wants to be there.

As for the story itself? Basically an update of The Happiness Patrol (with that Thatcher commentary) with a bit of that social media episode of the new season of Black Mirror, where everyone has to be happy all the time or people will rate them down and screw their lives up. I thought the whole first half, and most of the second, was really good, and set up a lot of suspense and mystery, and the location really did feel futuristic and exciting, but due to being empty, also creepy. I also liked the emoji robots. I thought they were pretty cute, if they work out that whole "murder people" bug. However, the whole thing kind of fell apart at the end. Suddenly, everyone's awake, everyone's pissed off and shooting, the Doctors giving a speech about how much they suck for using robots and making everything too nice, the robots are defeated, but not killed, and that's it. Its like it was a two part episode that got shrunk into a single episode. I would have preferred if the colonists never even woke up, maybe except for the kid, who wakes up by accident, and Bill and The Doctor figured out how to deal with the robots without the colonists getting involved. It was like there was a message, but it was so half assed and rushed into the last act, that I'm really not sure what it is. Its like they saw The Happiness Patrol and how it beat people into unconsciousness with its message, so they decided to make their message this time so vague, no one will be able to really care about it. Or, as I said, make it a two part episode and spend more time on the colonists and their future.

I'm also going to assume this is the in between place where humanity went right after Earth got messed up. Humanity came here, regrouped, and a bunch of them would go on and explore the galaxy, and then eventually make it back to Earth and try to rebuild. That's the only way this whole premise of the entire human race being here could make sense.

On ‎4‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 8:02 PM, that one guy said:

True, but I don't think they're really even speaking English. The TARDIS gets into your head and starts translating everything for you, is the way I understand it. 

The way I've always understood it, the Tardis will translate anything people say to make it easy for The Doctor and their companions to understand them, both in language and in dialect, and vice versa. So that's why almost everyone in all of time and space sounds British (unless its a plot point) when they should be speaking anything but English. It means they can get right to the story without translation issues.  It also allows them to hire mostly local actors, and not have people questioning why people from ancient Mongolia or from Jupiter both sound like their from Manchester. There's a scene from a few seasons ago, when Clara was still pretty new, where she and the Doctor end up on a Soviet submarine in the early 1980s, and when these two random people show up on their submarine, the crew accused them of being spies. Clara tried to protest, saying that if she was a spy, she would be speaking Russian and not English to them, and they all just stare at her like she's an idiot. The Doctor then explains that they hear her speaking in a way they understand, and then Clara makes the connection that a bunch of guys on a Soviet vessel probably aren't actually speaking to each other in English in thick British accents. That's the whole translation thing in a nutshell I think.

Yeah, I did a bit of a re-watch lately, why do you ask?

But, nitpicks and rushed ending aside, it was still a good episode, and I'm cautiously optimistic about the season so far.

[benteen]

Speaking of nitpicks...did The Doctor and Bill not notice that kid was gone?  They almost got him killed due to sheer negligence.  That party didn't work for me.

[Llywela]

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I'm also going to assume this is the in between place where humanity went right after Earth got messed up. Humanity came here, regrouped, and a bunch of them would go on and explore the galaxy, and then eventually make it back to Earth and try to rebuild. That's the only way this whole premise of the entire human race being here could make sense.

I don't think the entire human race was meant to be there. Just whatever representatives of it were on that colony ship. Bill freaked out because she figured out from the records that the ship had left Earth due to a disaster (probably the solar flares first talked about in Ark in Space) - but the Doctor told her in that same conversation that he'd encountered other colony ships from the same evacuation programme over the years, so they both know that these people aren't the only humans left, although they would represent a good proportion of those who managed to escape. Bill might not have registered that part, but the Doctor knows it well.

[Mabinogia]

10 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

The way I've always understood it, the Tardis will translate anything people say to make it easy for The Doctor and their companions to understand them, both in language and in dialect, and vice versa. So that's why almost everyone in all of time and space sounds British (unless its a plot point) when they should be speaking anything but English.

Yes, the Doctor explained it in Fires of Pompeii which led to Donna (whom Bill reminds me of the most) going up to a native and speaking Latin to see what it would turn into. I loved that scene. Bill is very Donna like in that same "let's see what happens if I do this" way and bringing up things the Doctor hasn't thought of (he had never thought to try speaking the native language to see what happens) or that he has never been asked before, like why the chairs are so far from the console.

I prefer seeing the Doctor challenged in this very human way, because I think one of the things he likes about humans is their inherent curiosity about the world. I prefer this kind of challenge to the impossible girl kind of mythic challenge Clara presented. It's far more relatable and quite frankly, for me at least, more fun to watch.

[truther]

2 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

Yes, the Doctor explained it in Fires of Pompeii which led to Donna (whom Bill reminds me of the most) going up to a native and speaking Latin to see what it would turn into. I loved that scene. Bill is very Donna like in that same "let's see what happens if I do this" way and bringing up things the Doctor hasn't thought of (he had never thought to try speaking the native language to see what happens) or that he has never been asked before, like why the chairs are so far from the console.

I prefer seeing the Doctor challenged in this very human way, because I think one of the things he likes about humans is their inherent curiosity about the world. I prefer this kind of challenge to the impossible girl kind of mythic challenge Clara presented. It's far more relatable and quite frankly, for me at least, more fun to watch.

My thoughts exactly -- it's making the whole concept of travel through time and space fun, which is what it should be.  You're supposed to be blown away when you realize you're standing on another planet or in a different time.  There should be a million questions cramming your totally overwhelmed brain.  You should be struggling to make sense of it all and doing everything you can to capture the moment, comprehend it, and enjoy it while it lasts.  Clara, on the other hand, too often rolled her eyes like a spoiled teen.  

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, truther said:

Clara, on the other hand, too often rolled her eyes like a spoiled teen.

OMG she was totally the teenager in the back seat of the car during family road trip messing with her phone and responding to every cool landmark or crazy roadside attraction with "whatever" and then texting her friend about how lame it all is and she would rather be at the mall (do kids still hang at the mall or am I dating myself horrible? lol)

I love Bill's fearlessness in asking questions, even if they aren't all big important questions. Like I said, and others have too, Bill is exactly what I would be like if I got to travel around in the Tardis. I'd be asking silly questions, running around mouth hanging open at all the amazing things I was seeing and taking as many pictures as my mobile could handle. I would have gotten a selfie with the emoji robots if I could, not gonna lie. I may never share it with anyone, but once I got back to my boring normal life I'd like to pull it out and remember how awesome the whole experience was.

[LoneHaranguer]

On 4/22/2017 at 10:05 PM, alrightokay said:

The emoji-robots idea was intriguing at first; I actually think it's believable that emojis would become a sort of "universal language" in the future, since the symbols cross a lot of human cultural boundaries (except for the British pound symbol, I guess).

Has the show ever clarified whether symbols are included in the TARDIS translations? IOW, was the robot displaying British pound signs or did it just appear that way to Bill (and us)?

4 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

do kids still hang at the mall or am I dating myself horrible? lol

Yes, they do, if one is available; they're rarer than they used to be (many torn down in favor of big-box stores and traditional shopping centers).

[SnideAsides]

On 24/4/2017 at 10:27 PM, darkestboy said:

I didn't mind Nardole essentially sitting this one out as it gave us more of a chance to explore the Twelve/Bill dynamic. Capaldi and Mackie work so well together and I loved the way Bill was learning more about the way the Doctor thinks and acts to situations too.

This. I could be wrong (I'm not spoiled), but I feel like they're essentially going to wind up using Nardole the same way they used Kamelion in the classic series. He's there if they need him, but if he's not needed, he'll stay in the TARDIS and nobody will care.

[sugarbaker design]

15 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Has the show ever clarified whether symbols are included in the TARDIS translations?

The TARDIS translation of symbols, or written language, was shown in the episode where little Melody Pond's name was sewn into a blanket, and then translated into River Song.

[RobertDeSneero]

On 4/25/2017 at 1:45 PM, that one guy said:

Anyway, Bill makes me realize what was wrong with the Clara era - making the companion all magical and special makes it harder for the character to function as an audience stand-in.

This is why companions tend to be modern-era young people.  Tropes exist for a reason.   Keep that in mind the next time people clamor for something different.  (Which isn't to say that a different style of companion can't or hasn't been done.)  The reaction to Clara makes me think that the fanbase will be horribly divided by a female Doctor.

Clara was an action junkie who was addicted to traveling with the Doctor and thought she should be treated as an equal and get a turn to drive.  It was a natural conclusion to her story that she gets her own TARDIS to gallivant around in.  Bill is just happy to be along for the ride.  Will she become more than just an audience for the Doctor?

[hnygrl]

I'm liking the low-key-ness of this season thus far. I feel like they're building up to the hard stuff, the devastating stuff, slowly, episode by episode.  I'm curious - but strangely not at all worried - to see how Bill handles the reality of the "Last of the time Lords" the "Oncoming storm" blah blah yadda, add your own negative. I think it'll be okay. She's really open-minded and open-hearted, and while she'll be openly sad, even horrified, she'll "get" it.

So far, so excellent.

I'm still only cautiously optimistic though...this IS Moffatt after all. We're gonna get that kick in the 'nads eventually.

[azshadowwalker]

I thought the Doctor was a complete and utter asshole at the end. These people just awoke from stasis, find out their loved ones are dead AND the things that killed them are hanging out still posing a danger to them (hope nothing fucks up that programming again), and he acts like they're assholes for thinking they need to protect themselves. 

 I was indifferent to Clara, but I am sorry to see so many are still hung up on the character. I had hoped to discuss the episode, so I had to skip a bunch of posts. Obsessing about her didn't have much to do with this episode, after all. 

[Jamie Satyr]

1 hour ago, azshadowwalker said:

I thought the Doctor was a complete and utter asshole at the end. These people just awoke from stasis, find out their loved ones are dead AND the things that killed them are hanging out still posing a danger to them (hope nothing fucks up that programming again), and he acts like they're assholes for thinking they need to protect themselves. 

 I was indifferent to Clara, but I am sorry to see so many are still hung up on the character. I had hoped to discuss the episode, so I had to skip a bunch of posts. Obsessing about her didn't have much to do with this episode, after all. 

It's been more a habit after taping every episode to both Beta (until '86) & VHS formats since '81 with the "Key To Time" arc! Being from the old school, we were more accustomed to "standalone" fare and had limited exposure to these extended soap opera storylines! We know Missy's still lurking, so how does BILL fit in the grand scheme? That'll keep me guessing for a while! River being Amy & Rory's kid was a little more predictable! ;-)

Edited May 3, 2017 by Jamie Satyr

[Mulva]

8 hours ago, azshadowwalker said:

I thought the Doctor was a complete and utter asshole at the end. These people just awoke from stasis, find out their loved ones are dead AND the things that killed them are hanging out still posing a danger to them (hope nothing fucks up that programming again), and he acts like they're assholes for thinking they need to protect themselves. 

 I was indifferent to Clara, but I am sorry to see so many are still hung up on the character. I had hoped to discuss the episode, so I had to skip a bunch of posts. Obsessing about her didn't have much to do with this episode, after all. 

In my head canon, the colonists promptly turned the robots off the minute the doctor left and melted them all down for scrap.

Yes, his whole attitude of, 'well they've forgotten all about it so you shouldn't be bothered' was awful.

[Mabinogia]

56 minutes ago, Mulva said:

In my head canon, the colonists promptly turned the robots off the minute the doctor left and melted them all down for scrap.

ha, in my head canon they didn't care about the Doctor's warning and the robots killed them all. I'm a cynic.

[festivus]

Ha ha, I definitely don't love humans as much as the Doctor does. 

[jhlipton]

On 4/22/2017 at 10:12 PM, Lantern7 said:

What was the name of the robots?

The nano-bots were called Vandy.  The emoti-thingies weren't robots per se but interfaces between the Vandy and the humans (or so the Doctor said).

On 4/23/2017 at 8:11 PM, raven said:

I haven't watched Who in years - stopped with the beginning of Eleven and Amy Pond

I've got you beat -- I haven't watched since the Tom Baker era!  But thanks to Pearl Mackie, I'm in/

[AudienceofOne]

On 23/04/2017 at 0:12 PM, Lantern7 said:

I like Bill. Really, I do. But is she going to constantly ask questions?

Not just questions. Dumb questions. "This colony ship has pods in it. Doctor, what's in those pods?" I get the companion is the audience proxy but I didn't think the audience was a backwards four year old with a learning difficulty. I apologise if I just insulted those with learning difficulties. 

In terms of pacing, this was quite a good episode. In terms of conceptual underpinnings, it was a bloody disaster.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, "when you were first trying to randomly kill us for breaching the parameters of your programming, I didn't recognise you as an emergent lifeform."

I mean, WTF? And his response to this conundrum was that the humans had to stay there, paying rent and being perpetually happy because they had "nowhere else to go" and were outnumbered by the killer robots? What's even worse, for me, is that he dubbed them the "Indigenous lifeforms" which is (a) not true and (b) truly fucking insulting to every actual Indigenous peoples who's had to deal with colonisation. 

The initial idea - a program for happiness that malfunctioned because it couldn't deal with normal human grief - was actually a truly interesting one. And the fact the Doctor couldn't just blow the colony up to deal with it was also an interesting one. But once all that was established, it just turned into a giant offensive mess. I get that the colonists response of grabbing guns to kill the robot was the wrong one. But not because they were being colonisers - because they needed a more strategic approach to deal with the robot's programming and violence wasn't it. The fact that whole final scene was constructed around a young boy's perfectly normal grief made it even worse. 

"Don't be violent" is fine as a moral message. "Don't be violent... Be happy no matter what or else"? What kind of morality is that?

Not to mention that after declaring them an "emergent lifeform' and even the "Indigenous peoples', the Doctor fucking reboots them: treating them like machines, not lifeforms and completely whitewashing their history. "I know they murdered everyone you love. But they don't remember it so why does it matter?!!"

This is the kind of philosophical underpinnings that gave us the Kill the Moon and Forest of the Night a few seasons back. Somebody missed their ethics classes.

Edited May 4, 2017 by AudienceofOne

[Mabinogia]

I think the Doctor rebooted the robots to the point where they don't think they have to kill. It is now up to the colonists to not be happy all the time but teach the robots that human sorrow doesn't mean they have to kill them all. It's a chance not to start the cycle all over again, but to change the cycle through learning and understanding so that the robots don't go on a killer rampage again. If he is right that they are emerging then they can learn a different response to human sorrow.

It was all very rushed at the end, which is a pity. This could have benefited as a two parter. Part One ending where it did and Part Two dealing with two sets of colonists (human and robot) trying to build a new world together, rather than one enslaving the other and then being all pissy when the slaves didn't do what they were expected to, though they did do exactly what they were told to do, so this is all on the stupid humans anyway. lol It did feel incomplete as it was left. Though it was still 100% better than any ep last season except the one where the Doctor was alone in the mind castle because that was amazing because the Doctor is more free and in a better, happier place it seems. And that is the Doctor I prefer. Some angst is fine, but all angst all the time was making this a very depressing show to watch. This season, flaws and all, has been a joy to watch so far.

[smorbie]

On 4/27/2017 at 6:05 PM, LoneHaranguer said:

Has the show ever clarified whether symbols are included in the TARDIS translations? IOW, was the robot displaying British pound signs or did it just appear that way to Bill (and us)?

Yes, they do, if one is available; they're rarer than they used to be (many torn down in favor of big-box stores and traditional shopping centers).

It's the fashion of the season, I guess.  But, I liked malls.  And I would wander into stores I'd NEVER visit as big box stores or strip malls.  I don't get the thrill of them.