Smile (DW S10.2)
This is very brief, and mostly just writing SOMETHING...
Smile (& The Pilot)
Human colonists from the doomed planet Earth do not have an easy time.
I know people have compared Smile to The Happiness Patrol, but in that episode the happiness was politically enforced. This is technology malfunction; a different kind of story.
It’s also a story about the future of the human race:
BILL: I've got to know. The people who came here, were they the last people? Were they our last hope?
DOCTOR: Earth was evacuated. But there were a number of ships. I've bumped into a few of them over the years.
Wonderful gif set here comparing The Beast Below and Smile, and the companions’ reaction to discovering the future of the human race. It’s also worth noting that it’s the first proper adventure for both of them.
Going back to the Classic show, there is of course Ark in Space and Frontios, both of which deal with human colonists from a doomed planet Earth. (There are probably more, those are just the two I happen to know & remember at this point in time.)
And in both stories, the humans are under attack.
So yeah, mini robots that will kill you for being sad seems like par for the course.
I ought write something about seeing and being seen, which was of course one of Twelve’s main themes:
DOCTOR: You can't see me, can you? You look at me, and you can't see me. Have you any idea what that's like? I'm not on the phone, I'm right here, standing in front of you. Please, just, just see me.
Deep Breath
The Doctor noticing Bill, Bill noticing Heather, and then a whole episode about perception and the way we communicate our moods (emojis), and how the technology isn't able to understand things properly.
Also links with 'the Smilers' in The Beast Below and how they too turned nasty. (The Beast Below was a lot more political, and I wonder if anyone's done a proper comparison w/The Happiness Patrol?)
(Also appreciating the Egyptian bits, hoping there will be more of that, and the lack of straight white men.)
The Doctor
The thing that struck me is how someone could go straight from the Seventh or Eighth Doctor and onto Twelve and be none the wiser as to there having been a Time War. (I am sure it’ll be brought up, but it’s a thing in the past, not something for the Doctor to angst over.)
I know I talk a lot about Moffat rebooting the show, but it’s lovely to see it in action. The Doctor is once more the renegade, and he doesn’t particularly like his home or his people. He fits into his university office as snugly as Professor Chronotis did into his in Shada. (You should read Shada because it's very good.)
Bill
I like Bill.
I don’t really have any deep thoughts or meaningful things to contribute. I want it to be Saturday so I can watch her again. She’s delightful.
A few Tumblr links, as Tumblr is good at bite-size posts:
Hey, so, um... talk about your handle on Bill. What do you think of her?/half a handle, i said. quicktake guesses
Personal take
Plus one about Heather:
This isn’t a ghost story, it’s a love story!
And finally, the sassy one! ;)
Nardole
Best quote is by Promethia:
I love how he's like 'so I got beheaded and attached to a robot and then you dug me out and recorporealized me, so let me chide you like a Jewish grandmother.'
I am already looking forward to him meeting Missy: "Oh, you're going to kill me, aren't you? Well, here we go again."
Also good post on how the companions reflect the audience
Post has been cloned from dreamwidth. Comments welcome everywhere.
Smile (& The Pilot)
Human colonists from the doomed planet Earth do not have an easy time.
I know people have compared Smile to The Happiness Patrol, but in that episode the happiness was politically enforced. This is technology malfunction; a different kind of story.
It’s also a story about the future of the human race:
BILL: I've got to know. The people who came here, were they the last people? Were they our last hope?
DOCTOR: Earth was evacuated. But there were a number of ships. I've bumped into a few of them over the years.
Wonderful gif set here comparing The Beast Below and Smile, and the companions’ reaction to discovering the future of the human race. It’s also worth noting that it’s the first proper adventure for both of them.
Going back to the Classic show, there is of course Ark in Space and Frontios, both of which deal with human colonists from a doomed planet Earth. (There are probably more, those are just the two I happen to know & remember at this point in time.)
And in both stories, the humans are under attack.
So yeah, mini robots that will kill you for being sad seems like par for the course.
I ought write something about seeing and being seen, which was of course one of Twelve’s main themes:
DOCTOR: You can't see me, can you? You look at me, and you can't see me. Have you any idea what that's like? I'm not on the phone, I'm right here, standing in front of you. Please, just, just see me.
Deep Breath
The Doctor noticing Bill, Bill noticing Heather, and then a whole episode about perception and the way we communicate our moods (emojis), and how the technology isn't able to understand things properly.
Also links with 'the Smilers' in The Beast Below and how they too turned nasty. (The Beast Below was a lot more political, and I wonder if anyone's done a proper comparison w/The Happiness Patrol?)
(Also appreciating the Egyptian bits, hoping there will be more of that, and the lack of straight white men.)
The Doctor
The thing that struck me is how someone could go straight from the Seventh or Eighth Doctor and onto Twelve and be none the wiser as to there having been a Time War. (I am sure it’ll be brought up, but it’s a thing in the past, not something for the Doctor to angst over.)
I know I talk a lot about Moffat rebooting the show, but it’s lovely to see it in action. The Doctor is once more the renegade, and he doesn’t particularly like his home or his people. He fits into his university office as snugly as Professor Chronotis did into his in Shada. (You should read Shada because it's very good.)
Bill
I like Bill.
I don’t really have any deep thoughts or meaningful things to contribute. I want it to be Saturday so I can watch her again. She’s delightful.
A few Tumblr links, as Tumblr is good at bite-size posts:
Hey, so, um... talk about your handle on Bill. What do you think of her?/half a handle, i said. quicktake guesses
Personal take
Plus one about Heather:
This isn’t a ghost story, it’s a love story!
And finally, the sassy one! ;)
Nardole
Best quote is by Promethia:
I love how he's like 'so I got beheaded and attached to a robot and then you dug me out and recorporealized me, so let me chide you like a Jewish grandmother.'
I am already looking forward to him meeting Missy: "Oh, you're going to kill me, aren't you? Well, here we go again."
Also good post on how the companions reflect the audience
Post has been cloned from dreamwidth. Comments welcome everywhere.