In the fourth episode of the ninth series of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, the Doctor must toy with time in order to save Clara. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
AHHHHH THIS IS SO COOL. Much like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Under the Lake,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d this episode treads in familiar waters. (Heh heh.) It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s full of tropes I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen quite often in the genre and in this show specifically, and yet, the bulk of this still felt exciting and thrilling. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK.<\/p>\n
The Bootstrap Paradox<\/b><\/p>\n
Otherwise known as a causality loop! We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen them before on\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably the only thing here that wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t terribly exciting to me. The other details of the story were, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a huge deal made out of this paradox as if\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0had never used it before. At the same time, the opening fourth-wall-breaking monologue is SO PERFECT, as is the chance to watch Twelve play the electric guitar again. And there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a new theme!!! So, who cares about my opinions, ELECTRIC GUITAR TWELVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS.<\/p>\n
Before the Flood<\/b><\/p>\n
Seriously, bless the location scout who found that base to film all the scenes that took place in 1980. What a wonderfully creepy location, first of all, and the perfect place to represent the army base that later would become the final resting ground of the Fisher King. WHICH HURTS MY BRAIN A LITTLE BIT, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why causality loops are so frustrating. Amidst the ruins of an abandoned base, O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell, Bennett, and the Doctor attempt to discover\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0this alien ship landed in the first place and why the weird subconscious message was burned into their minds. Thus, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re introduced to Prentis\u00c2\u00a0before<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0they die, and then THE FISHER KING.<\/p>\n
Do we even know what species the Fisher King is? NO. Do we know their motivations beyond sending a signal to his people so they can take over the Earth? NO. Do I care? NOOOOOOO. BECAUSE HOLY SHIT, THE FISHER KING IS SO TERRIFYING AND COOL AND I LOVE HIS REVEAL AND I LOVE THAT HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S JUST AN UNREPENTANT VILLAIN HERE. I definitely love it when the characters are complex and layered, but you know what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also great? An antagonist\u00c2\u00a0 who doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give a shit about anyone and is there to create dramatic tension for other people. YES.\u00c2\u00a0YES<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Cost<\/b><\/p>\n
There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a thread of a story in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Before the Flood\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that is eventually discarded by the end of the episode, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the major flaw I see in the second half of this two-parter. Once Clara and the Doctor communicate with each other (OVER HUNDREDS OF YEARS, HOW COOL), they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re able to compare facts from both periods of time, which helps them to determine what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on. This is important because this episode features a moment where Clara and the Doctor feel\u00c2\u00a0very<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0similar to one another. The Doctor even calls it out to Clara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face, stating that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s room for only one Doctor in the TARDIS.<\/p>\n
I see that now as foreshadowing for what Clara and the Doctor choose to do in this episode. Both characters compel others to do things for their own benefit. The Doctor tests his theory about the list of names that Clara gives him by letting O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell die, even though he could have rewritten time. Clara, on the other hand, asks Lunn to go retrieve her iPhone, since he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s immune to the ghosts. Both Bennett and Cass call out the Doctor and Clara, respectively, but I feel like Whithouse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s script never follows up on this. Especially in the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fair thing to be angry about! Yet the story is dropped.\u00c2\u00a0Is<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Clara becoming more like the Doctor, and is that a bad thing? If the cost of them doing good is human life, is it even worth it? I suppose I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even have noticed this if the Doctor hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t chided the Fisher King for using people for his own ends; isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that exactly what he did, too?<\/p>\n
Beethoven<\/b>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fifth<\/b><\/p>\n
In the end, the Doctor was in the stasis chamber the whole time, which makes me wonder: DID HE SERIOUSLY STAY INSIDE THAT THING FOR 150 YEARS? Actually, wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the Doctor have appeared in the present time immediately after the dam broke? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure how time travel works in this specific context, but the Doctor was in that chamber, and it sat there for 150 years, so WHAT.\u00c2\u00a0WHAT<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Before the Flood\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>. In the fourth episode of the ninth series of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who, the Doctor must toy with time in order to save Clara. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-5615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-who","tag-mark-watches-doctor-who"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5615\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Death Note<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Neon Genesis Evangelion<\/em>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"