In the fifth episode of the ninth series of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, THIS SHOW HAS GOTTEN SO GOOD AND I AM VERY PLEASED. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
I honestly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know how there is a second episode in this arc. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m ecstatic that this is now the third two-parter in a row; the show appears have to returned to the days of doing serials!!! NO ONE SPOILED THIS FOR ME, IT IS SO WONDERFUL. And Maisie Williams AND AN EXPLANATION FOR PETER CAPALDI SHOWING UP ON THE SHOW BEFORE AND\u00c2\u00a0HELP ME<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Vikings!<\/b><\/p>\n
I believe that this is the first historical setting since \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Robot of Sherwood,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a cool idea to do VIKINGS. Not just Vikings, but Vikings invaded by ALIENS who appear as A BEAUTIFUL REFERENCE TO\u00c2\u00a0MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL.\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>There is no way that Odin in the sky isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a reference to that. I reject any other interpretation. But I think the setting works perfectly with the theme since \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Girl Who Died\u00e2\u20ac\u009d so directly addresses the challenges of being a time-traveling hero. By sticking the action in a time without any technology at all, it highlights the difference between the Doctor and the communities he interacts with. That difference is something he always has to be cognizant of.<\/p>\n
Well, maybe\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0always.<\/p>\n
The Impossible<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Girl Who Died\u00e2\u20ac\u009d also taps into one of the most pervasive storytelling tropes in history: the story of David and Goliath. When the Mire abduct all the warriors from Ashildur\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s village in order to steal their testosterone and adrenaline, the Doctor gives up. Understandably so! He advises the villagers to go hide, far away, and let the Mire view this battle as a victory. Even if Ashildur challenged them to a fight, there was no chance of them winning. We all knew this! The Doctor knew this, and he reasoned that his intervention could skew history in some terrible way if he did anything.<\/p>\n
Which we all know is kind bullshit, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? In fact, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue that the point of this episode is to make it clear that the Doctor has continually chosen to break the rules over his life in order to save others. So why stick to the rules\u00c2\u00a0this<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0time?<\/p>\n
Fuck the rules! Because\u00c2\u00a0babies<\/i>. Look, I know it might be a bit cheesy, but I really adored the use of the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s understanding of baby talk in this episode. Babies are really poetic, aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they? But the scenes worked for me because it pushed the Doctor to realize that there was no honor in leaving people in a helpless situation. If he helped them out and then they helped\u00c2\u00a0themselves<\/i>, wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that be the best outcome? Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he give them a chance to succeed rather than just let them succumb to their fate?<\/p>\n
SO HE TRAINS THEM. THERE IS A HILARIOUS MONTAGE AND IT ENDS WITH A BARN CATCHING FIRE BECAUSE THIS EPISODE IS ABSOLUTELY 100% OKAY WITH PLAYING ALL OF THIS FOR HUMOR. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfect. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a clever red herring: I believed so fully in this episode being a victorious, adorable story that when it turned dark, it felt like a slap in the face.<\/p>\n
Oh god, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about that.<\/p>\n
The Girl Who Died<\/b><\/p>\n
Ashildur doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get that much development in the episode\u00c2\u00a0until<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0she dies, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a critcism. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bubbly, brave, and eager to prove herself, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing that the show is going to REALLY dig in to her characterization in the next episode. For now, though, this episode drops one hell of a twist on us.<\/p>\n
Why does the Doctor have to let Ashildur die?<\/p>\n
He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t travel through time for her. He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fuck with the timeline at all. He figures out a way to use the Mire technology to revive her and\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well. Technically, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s made her immortal. MAYBE. And while the ramifications of this aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t dealt with aside from the stunning closing sequence, the show\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0give us a fantastic motivation for the Doctor. I honestly didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0need<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the show to further explain Peter Capaldi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence, at least not anymore. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Doctor, plain and simple. But that flashback to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Fires of Pompeii\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is so goddamn immense! The Doctor realizes he chose that specific face to remind himself that\u00c2\u00a0people are worth saving<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Given what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen of Twelve\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s growth over series 8 and 9, I feel like this is a fitting development. Twelve is so much colder and closed off than his last iteration, and he\u00c2\u00a0knew<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0he would be. His face was a reminder of that, something he would see every day so he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never forget it.<\/p>\n
Yet I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine that this is going to be a happy story. Even with a second Mire chip, Ashildur may not find immortality to her liking. Who would? What if the Doctor has done something immeasurably horrible to her??? Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing this with a cold. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the worst I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel hopeless. But I should really go to sleep and rest and I CANNOT. I NEED THE NEXT EPISODE NOW, AND I AM GONNA GO WATCH IT, SLEEP BE DAMNED.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Girl Who Lived\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 fifth episode of the ninth series of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who, THIS SHOW HAS GOTTEN SO GOOD AND I AM VERY PLEASED. 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-5616","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\/5616","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=5616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5616\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5616"}],"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":"