remindmeofthe | (no subject)

Doctor Who!

I missed doing a post on last week's ep, so I'll address it briefly now. Even though I've forgotten most of it. It was just that kind of episode.

I thought it was good for the first two-thirds or so, but then it fell apart, starting with the revelation of the Oods' (Ood's? Where do I put the apostrophe when the plural form doesn't have an S?) true biological structure. Brain in their heads, brain in their hands, and a random giant ur-brain just hanging around? Seriously? How in shit do the Ood get anything done? Before they were conquered, did they create, like, little slings they could put their second brains in while they did things like build shelters and make meals and whatever else an Ood does? And what about the giant ur-brain? How the fuck did that evolve as part of the Ood? Was it its own little brain once upon a time, and it latched onto the Oods' telepathy and made itself part of them? But then how did the Ood function without it? Man, just because it's sci-fi doesn't mean it doesn't have to make some vague kind of sense. I would expect such a species from Torchwood, sure, but Doctor Who is supposed to be a bit smarter than that. Although I did love Donna getting the opportunity to own the bad guy with, "Of course they did, you moron! They hold their brains in their hands! They have to trust everyone!" Which right there is the show highlighting the ridiculousness of the Ood, but still. Donna being smart = for the win.

And, oh, Donna. I said a while back in a post on

maggiesox's journal that it would make me so happy to be proven wrong in my Donna hate. I am happy! Donna is awesome. I loved her thinking she had to speak into the Ood's telepathy sphere, because that's the sort of conclusion most normal people would reach. It was a great little moment that fleshed out how new she is to space travel and she's trying and she wants to help. And her wanting to go home after hearing that desolate song? Who could blame her? First Pompeii and triggering all those deaths, and now bearing witness to her own species' enslavement of others. Can't the Doctor take her someplace nice? I said it after Pompeii and I'll say it again - I am assuming that after this ep he took her somewhere quiet and beautiful and happy. Anyone would want to go home if they only saw the horrors of the universe and none of its joys. (You'll notice she changed her mind after seeing that, unlike Pompeii, this adventure had a happy ending. Pompeii was a rough way to start.) I love Donna. If she keeps this up, she's gonna become my favorite companion by a long shot, and I never thought I'd say that about Donna.

(Brief aside - both Pompeii and the Ood enslavement are examples of things that are easy to gloss over when you read about them in history books, but a lot harder to ignore when they're happening right in front of you. Interesting. If it weren't for the arrival on the Ood planet being the result of a totally random journey, I'd wonder if the Doctor weren't trying to teach Donna something. As it is, though, I'll just put it down next to the vanished planets and disappearing bees as an interesting series four theme.)

Okay! Enough Ood. Time for the Sontaran! (Sontarans? Dammit!) Stop reading now if you have not seen "The Sontaran Stratagem" yet!

I liked this episode. It was just some fluffy, goofy sci-fi fun after the heavier themes of the last two episodes. And a cliffhanger! I'm so happy! I started hoping for one when I realized how little run time was left to resolve everything, and there one was!

And such goodness within the ep! MARTHA. I am always pleased to see Martha. I am even more pleased to see two Marthas. Multiple Marthas! The more Marthas, the better, I say. I'll be interested to see what happens with the clone. It would be cool if she survived the ep and was able to be separated from Martha through the severing of whatever link the Sontarans are using to fuel the clone with Martha's memories, and became an individual unto herself. Probably she'll just die somehow, though. Oh well.

And Martha and Donna! I loved the interaction and how the Doctor was all braced for fighting after what happened with Rose and Sarah Jane, but instead they clicked right together. Man, I want The Donna and Martha Show. They could run around being awesome together. And maybe cross over with The Sarah Jane Adventures, but I don't know if my computer screen can handle that much awesome at once. It might explode. Anyway. I loved Donna in this ep, again, some more. Once again she applied a bit of obvious logic to show up the guy in charge by revealing a major flaw. "Super-temp!" Yes. And her admission to Martha that she hadn't quite exactly told her family where she was going, and Martha's gently matter-of-fact explanation of what doing the same thing ended up costing her own family. And letting the Doctor blather on just a bit too long saying goodbye until he finally figured out that she was just popping home for a visit. Which, okay, was slightly mean, but it fits with Donna's refusal to get caught up in the Doctor's taking himself so very seriously, so I can live with it. I liked seeing her with her grandfather again, too; they really have a sweet, natural chemistry that makes their bond believeable even though they haven't had a whole lot of screentime together. And Donna's mother giving her entire lecture without appearing to take a breath made me laugh, just because of the actress's delivery.

I also liked seeing some old-school villains that we hadn't seen before on the new Who. I haven't seen any old Who, but, you know. There were like twenty-six seasons and I KNOW there had to be more than just freaking Daleks in every single story. And thus we have the Sontarans. (I looked the plural up.) I thought the jokes about the Sontarans' appearance were sly and funny, if unoriginal. "How do you tell each other apart?" "We wonder the same thing about you."

I enjoyed the dialogue in this episode, too; I'm going to have to watch it again just to catch all the jokes that went flying. The Doctor was great in this episode, being his spazzy self and empathizing with the loneliness of genius and maybe showing off for everyone just a little. I enjoy Ten the most when he's making random throwaway comments and then snapping back to his previous train of thought like nothing ever happened. And that was pretty much all he did for like two-thirds of this episode.

So: "Planet of the Ood" ultimately tried too hard and just devolved into silliness, where "The Sontaran Stratagem" didn't try to do anything except be entertaining and succeeded quite nicely. It was hardly perfect, but it was fun. And sometimes this show just needs to be fun.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was entertaining but towards the end there was one major and obvious flaw: Why does no one think to break the fucking car windows? I know it's *difficult* (god knows I've broken enough in my time to know this) but with a screwdriver and a bit of force ...

I KNOW. That was annoying me too. I'll just assume everyone was too panicked and the poison gas had, like, intellect-suppressing side effects or something.

New DumbGas™! For those times when you need to make your enemies stupid!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's manufactured at Torchwood. And they don't use animals for experimentation.

Gwen and Jack have had so much of it that they're addicted now and sneak in at night to huff it and Ianto has to drag them out of the chamber while wearing a gasmask.

... I'm slightly frightened by how hot the mental image of Ianto in a gas mask is.

And Owen and Tosh come in the next day and watch Gwen and Jack sitting in the corner with one of those shape-matching toddler toys, trying to cram the round block into the square hole, and just sigh and accept extra-high-octane coffees from Ianto without a word because it's going to be ONE OF THOSE DAYS.

And Tosh very quietly passes Ianto the Valium she's stolen from Owen's supplies before he can break down and start chewing the inside of his mouth off.

And Owen immediately starts stealing random pieces from the kids' jigsaw puzzles that are kept around for when the gas wears off just enough for Gwen and Jack to handle them. The ensuing wails of frustration will irritate the hell out Myfanwy, but it will be generally agreed that it was worth it.

Owen so would do that, and he'd still be sniggering into his coffee when the gas finally wore off. Ianto and Tosh would have to really POKE him into trying to find a suppressant for the addictive response in Jack and Gwen's brains. :D

Of course. It would require vigorous poking, and possibly promises of sexual favors. From Ianto, anyway. Tosh would be more likely to offer to write some sort of supergenius computer program that would do something Owen hates doing for himself.

IYHAIFHAHACSJACX A you're fucking *right*. I think Owen probably would actually sleep with Ianto if offered. WHY DID I NOT SEE THAT.

I fully agree. Ianto could probably use that power for good with Owen much as he used it to control Jack. Except instead of distraction, it would be bribery. And they would both know it.

"Come on, Ianto, you really think I can be bribed?"

*Ianto gives him a look that says "I am not about to insult either of us by actually answering that."*

". . . right, that should only take me an hour and then I'm all yours."