Doctor Who, S4E4 - The Sontaran Stratagem
Does having the title of the episode in my subject header constitute a spoiler?
Given that they display the title with the author credit within the first 5 minutes of the episode, I think it's ok. Yes?
And man, this was really freaking long. Gold stars and some cookies (pick up in New Jersey) if you read to the end. (And my sincerest apologies to those that saw the content of the entry because I mis-typed the lj-cut tags.)
Within the first three minutes, I had my first squee moment: DONNA DRIVING THE TARDIS. Seriously, that gives me tons of Classic Who vibes and it's awesome to see a companion in New Who finally doing it. And to be honest, Donna is the type of companion that would ask to have a go. The Doctor/Donna relationship is not one where the Doctor is the one to have the keys to the universe and is showing it to his commpanion; it's where Donna is an active participant in the journey. She takes the wheel once in a while (oh, oh, oh... I bet she will drive the TARDIS on her own in the future. Yes? YES?), so to speak.
"This is your final destination" has taken on new meaning, thanks to this episode. I have a GPS system on my cell phone which I use frequently when I'm going to an unfamiliar location. I found having the phrase "final destination" to be literally true rather creepy, although I have to say that I am experiencing a disconnect between what happened to the poor woman in the opening scenes and what happened with the Doctor and his UNIT driver.
It's great to see Freema's name in the opening credits again. Then again, I think that her story is contuing to be told. I firmly believe that she is New Who's Brigadier. A good person who tries to use UNIT to do good. I am looking forward to seeing her on an on again-off again basis in *Who* (unless the rumor mill turns out to be true, which is actually something I don't want, but won't go into flaming protestations if it happens). I love how pleased the Doctor looks just before he hugs her. It's so sweet. It's a wonderful connection that they have. He does care about her, wants her to succeed and do well... and she's sort of "home on Earth" for the Doctor in the same way that the Brig was. The only minor fail was the LACK of the Brig (or overt mention of him) in the episode.
It's nice to see Martha as a proper doctor. Given her life experiences, her YEAR of travelling (and I'm sure tending to the sick along with spreading the word of the Doctor), it is understandable that she is fully qualified. In that environment? It was wartime, some of the most intense and best on-the-job training for those in the medical profession. She's got level one clearance and is highly trusted. Understandably so. It really, really pleased me.
I haven't seen the second part, but I think Helen Raynor just had a really off time or something with "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks" which I didn't like. I do admit to be extremely biased against the New York setting, not because of the New York setting but the accents got to me (although they weren't as bad as I expected to be from the trailers). I liked this! And I liked bits of "Ghost Machine" in Season 1 of Torchwood and parts of "To the Last Man" from Season 2. I need to shove her out of the DO NOT WANT space in my brain, because she really isn't a DO NOT WANT writer.
Donna and Martha -- they have chemistry and it is good, yes? The warmth that Donna shows to Martha? I think it is another notch in how she's just shown to be a Good Person (and any suggestion of future evil!Donna will turn out to be inadvertantly-evil!Donna). I love how observant Donna is. AGAIN! "Who is the lucky man?" Hee! And "She's engaged, you prawn." AWESOME! *loves Donna so much, it hurts* AND IT IS TOM YES YES YES! (Does this mean that, someday, we will see Tom Ellis again? Pwease? Awesome that he's in Africa. A pediatrician in Africa. *love* "I've got a doctor who disappears off into distant places. Tell me about it." *love* It sounds like she's landed herself a really great guy, too. *love*
LOL COMPARING THE DOCTORS!
"Is he skinny?"
"No, he's sort of... strong."
"He is too skinny for words. IF YOU GIVE HIM A HUG, YOU GET A PAPER CUT!" LOLs all around!
And I love his expression. It's so "Oh my goodness, the new girlfriend is meeting the ex" sort of exasperation.
It's nice to see that all the worry about UNIT being the baddies to be false, even though their status was a bit questionable in the beginning. I mean, they are doing it in Not Ten's Style, but they are trying to prevent alien problems, sort of like Torchwood but on a much larger scale. It's interesting to see Donna and the Doctor's general discomfort at the execution of Operation Blue Sky. I get the impression from the Doctor that it reminds him a little too much of Torchwood One. It's sort of... disconcerting to think of this regeneration's discomfort with the military when he used to work happily with it in earlier regenerations. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.
The dialogue between Martha and the Doctor when they were talking about her participation in UNIT was really interesting. I like how she demonstrates her desire to make a change, to make things right, a trait that many companions that willingly leave the Doctor have. She's was the the peacemaker for her family and now and she's serving that role in a larger context within UNIT.
Colonel Mace is cool and I like the interactions that he has with the Doctor. It has Classic Who echos. I loved the mention that the Doctor "work for them long time ago *in the 70s*." AHHHH my little fangirl heart beats! "It was a little more... homespun back then." Hee!
I LOVE DONNA TAKIN' THAT SALUTE!
Speaking about Donna, I thought she was pretty awesome this episode. She was quite a fountain of knowledge, which pleases me. And when the Doctor and Donna were left together and she dove right into the problem? AWESOME. I love how she is being the one that bounces ideas out. Again, she's not being the problem SOLVER, she's just being a really darned good assistant, the one that he turns to.
When she comes back after looking at the human resources files, my first thought was "OH DONNA GO ON YOU RESOURCEFUL THING". And then look at this look:
OH YES. BRING ON THE UST! "I can see why he likes you." OH YES INDEED. I loved it. I love team Donna/Martha since they do seem to get on well. There's no jealousy, there's no malice. There's a shared understanding, like Martha and Jack, about how thrilling it is to be with him. I bet Donna and Jack would get along swimmingly too, yes?
The later interaction between Donna and Martha, especially abut her family and being with the Doctor was interesting. The theme comes up again: the CHOICE that is being made and the CONSEQUENCES of the choice. "The Doctor, he's like fire. Stand too close and people get burnt." It does a good job setting up the later Doctor/Donna scene where he thinks she's leaving.
And speaking of that scene... I liked seeing how the Doctor reacts to being rejected by Donna! "It's a bit... soon. There are so many places I wanted to take you." GOD I CAN'T STAND THE UST! I LOVE IT! The seemingly endless ramblings with the sudden dawning that she's NOT leaving. Hilariously funny - Tate and Tennant really being a good game to the table.
I worried about Ross when he became the Doctor's driver. It felt a lot like REDSHIRT. Thank goodness, that didn't come to pass but maybe he'll bite it in the next episode.
The creature in the tank, very creepy and gross (and has echos of some anime character that is currently escaping me... I'll come up with it, though). Umbilical cords... Ood cords... is there a link? (Perhaps only in my fevered, fannish brain that looks for links everywhere.)
Why is the Sontaran so short? I don't remember the Sontarans being so short or polite. Was that a disconnect for anyone else? He looks like Rick Moranis' character Dark Helmet in Spaceballs. When he said, "Words are the weapons of womenfolk. I judge you unfit." it didn't feel threatening or whatever. I was giggling and not taking them seriously at all. Perhaps that was the intent? It fell a bit flat for me, so I didn't find the Sontarans a threatening baddie. It's hard to take them seriously when I keep imagining Tom Cruise underneath the potatohead. And how pleased was I when the potato-dialogue came up? Hilarious! "It's like a potato." LOL! "A TALKING BAKED POTATO" *dies* "PINK WEASEL!" *dies again* Really good stuff.
I wonder why the Sontarans were not allowed to be a part of the Time War. Unless they wanted to be on the side of the Time Lords: I can't imagine the Daleks saying no to more bodies to hurl at their enemies. How do they know that if this is the Doctor that he is the last of the Time Lords? (And yay for the silver sphere spaceships!)
I'm not sure what I feel about having Luke Rattigan in league with the baddies (although the actor is sort of cute in a 'he looks sort of like Sweets in Bones' sort of way). He seems like an extraneous middle-man, although I get the impression that him and his school of geniuses (anyone else think that they studied at Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters?) will end up saving the day in the next half. I kept thinking that David Krumholtz would be better in the role. The conditional clause bit and the ATMOS System bits were funny, but then it definitely turned dark. "It's been a long time since anyone's said no to you, isn't it? Not easy, is it? Being clever. You look at the world and you connect things, random things. You think, why can't anyone else see it? The rest of the world is SO SLOW. You're on your own." OOH. The Doctor's words are hauntingly like he's talking to himself. I think he recognizes that. Ten's growing as a character, we're seeing him change and it's really cool.
Intruder window, indeed. *facepalms* I hate admitting to liking the cheese.
When the genius kid and the Sontaran were looking out at the surface of the earth, the shot totally reminded me of the shot at "The End of the World" with Rose and the Doctor. "It was never big enough for me." Are they trying to draw connections or am I being the typical obsessive fan seeing connections where they aren't there?
When Martha discovers the strangeness of the workers, narrows it down to hypnosis (go Martha go), that was cool but then the big flashly lights went on as she was drawn into the evil plans! And she was so tiny compared to the two soldiers. And then later: creepy, gooey, naked, unblinking evil!Martha! Oo! With a ropey white umbilical cord in her neck! Oo! I can't wait for next week to see how they wrap that up.
I think that there's something about Donna and the way she's presented in Season 4 that makes one connect with her so easily. As she's walking down the street back to her home (which I could definitely see doing myself), encountering one of her neightbors and says that she's "been away", I can see myself in those shoes. I can see having this short walk to my home by myself in a familiar place for the first time in a while and thinking about what I've seen so far and emotionally reacting to it like Donna reacted. I think that over Rose and Martha, we are seeing the story from Donna's perspective. I think she's being written like an equal: we're not just following the Doctor's story, but hers too (and not just in bits like previous seasons, but following her story too as a general rule). It's so touching and real. Her interactions with Wilf are wonderful! "Are you safe with him?" I think what I like is their relationship's contrast to Rose and Martha's relationships with their families. I think Wilf cares, really cares, and understands Donna's participation.
When the Doctor finally shows up and meets her family, it was such a shout out to previous Christmas specials. I LOVE IT when Who does that. It hugs my fangirl's heart. (And Cribbins is so good. SO GOOD.)
So, looking forward to next week where I hope that Raynor doesn't disappoint me. How will they get Wilf out of the car? How will the smoke affect people? How will the potatoes get baked!? What exactly is the Sontaran Stratagem?! Is it saturday yet?
Given that they display the title with the author credit within the first 5 minutes of the episode, I think it's ok. Yes?
And man, this was really freaking long. Gold stars and some cookies (pick up in New Jersey) if you read to the end. (And my sincerest apologies to those that saw the content of the entry because I mis-typed the lj-cut tags.)
Within the first three minutes, I had my first squee moment: DONNA DRIVING THE TARDIS. Seriously, that gives me tons of Classic Who vibes and it's awesome to see a companion in New Who finally doing it. And to be honest, Donna is the type of companion that would ask to have a go. The Doctor/Donna relationship is not one where the Doctor is the one to have the keys to the universe and is showing it to his commpanion; it's where Donna is an active participant in the journey. She takes the wheel once in a while (oh, oh, oh... I bet she will drive the TARDIS on her own in the future. Yes? YES?), so to speak.
"This is your final destination" has taken on new meaning, thanks to this episode. I have a GPS system on my cell phone which I use frequently when I'm going to an unfamiliar location. I found having the phrase "final destination" to be literally true rather creepy, although I have to say that I am experiencing a disconnect between what happened to the poor woman in the opening scenes and what happened with the Doctor and his UNIT driver.
It's great to see Freema's name in the opening credits again. Then again, I think that her story is contuing to be told. I firmly believe that she is New Who's Brigadier. A good person who tries to use UNIT to do good. I am looking forward to seeing her on an on again-off again basis in *Who* (unless the rumor mill turns out to be true, which is actually something I don't want, but won't go into flaming protestations if it happens). I love how pleased the Doctor looks just before he hugs her. It's so sweet. It's a wonderful connection that they have. He does care about her, wants her to succeed and do well... and she's sort of "home on Earth" for the Doctor in the same way that the Brig was. The only minor fail was the LACK of the Brig (or overt mention of him) in the episode.
It's nice to see Martha as a proper doctor. Given her life experiences, her YEAR of travelling (and I'm sure tending to the sick along with spreading the word of the Doctor), it is understandable that she is fully qualified. In that environment? It was wartime, some of the most intense and best on-the-job training for those in the medical profession. She's got level one clearance and is highly trusted. Understandably so. It really, really pleased me.
I haven't seen the second part, but I think Helen Raynor just had a really off time or something with "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks" which I didn't like. I do admit to be extremely biased against the New York setting, not because of the New York setting but the accents got to me (although they weren't as bad as I expected to be from the trailers). I liked this! And I liked bits of "Ghost Machine" in Season 1 of Torchwood and parts of "To the Last Man" from Season 2. I need to shove her out of the DO NOT WANT space in my brain, because she really isn't a DO NOT WANT writer.
Donna and Martha -- they have chemistry and it is good, yes? The warmth that Donna shows to Martha? I think it is another notch in how she's just shown to be a Good Person (and any suggestion of future evil!Donna will turn out to be inadvertantly-evil!Donna). I love how observant Donna is. AGAIN! "Who is the lucky man?" Hee! And "She's engaged, you prawn." AWESOME! *loves Donna so much, it hurts* AND IT IS TOM YES YES YES! (Does this mean that, someday, we will see Tom Ellis again? Pwease? Awesome that he's in Africa. A pediatrician in Africa. *love* "I've got a doctor who disappears off into distant places. Tell me about it." *love* It sounds like she's landed herself a really great guy, too. *love*
LOL COMPARING THE DOCTORS!
"Is he skinny?"
"No, he's sort of... strong."
"He is too skinny for words. IF YOU GIVE HIM A HUG, YOU GET A PAPER CUT!" LOLs all around!
And I love his expression. It's so "Oh my goodness, the new girlfriend is meeting the ex" sort of exasperation.
It's nice to see that all the worry about UNIT being the baddies to be false, even though their status was a bit questionable in the beginning. I mean, they are doing it in Not Ten's Style, but they are trying to prevent alien problems, sort of like Torchwood but on a much larger scale. It's interesting to see Donna and the Doctor's general discomfort at the execution of Operation Blue Sky. I get the impression from the Doctor that it reminds him a little too much of Torchwood One. It's sort of... disconcerting to think of this regeneration's discomfort with the military when he used to work happily with it in earlier regenerations. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.
The dialogue between Martha and the Doctor when they were talking about her participation in UNIT was really interesting. I like how she demonstrates her desire to make a change, to make things right, a trait that many companions that willingly leave the Doctor have. She's was the the peacemaker for her family and now and she's serving that role in a larger context within UNIT.
Colonel Mace is cool and I like the interactions that he has with the Doctor. It has Classic Who echos. I loved the mention that the Doctor "work for them long time ago *in the 70s*." AHHHH my little fangirl heart beats! "It was a little more... homespun back then." Hee!
I LOVE DONNA TAKIN' THAT SALUTE!
Speaking about Donna, I thought she was pretty awesome this episode. She was quite a fountain of knowledge, which pleases me. And when the Doctor and Donna were left together and she dove right into the problem? AWESOME. I love how she is being the one that bounces ideas out. Again, she's not being the problem SOLVER, she's just being a really darned good assistant, the one that he turns to.
When she comes back after looking at the human resources files, my first thought was "OH DONNA GO ON YOU RESOURCEFUL THING". And then look at this look:
OH YES. BRING ON THE UST! "I can see why he likes you." OH YES INDEED. I loved it. I love team Donna/Martha since they do seem to get on well. There's no jealousy, there's no malice. There's a shared understanding, like Martha and Jack, about how thrilling it is to be with him. I bet Donna and Jack would get along swimmingly too, yes?
The later interaction between Donna and Martha, especially abut her family and being with the Doctor was interesting. The theme comes up again: the CHOICE that is being made and the CONSEQUENCES of the choice. "The Doctor, he's like fire. Stand too close and people get burnt." It does a good job setting up the later Doctor/Donna scene where he thinks she's leaving.
And speaking of that scene... I liked seeing how the Doctor reacts to being rejected by Donna! "It's a bit... soon. There are so many places I wanted to take you." GOD I CAN'T STAND THE UST! I LOVE IT! The seemingly endless ramblings with the sudden dawning that she's NOT leaving. Hilariously funny - Tate and Tennant really being a good game to the table.
I worried about Ross when he became the Doctor's driver. It felt a lot like REDSHIRT. Thank goodness, that didn't come to pass but maybe he'll bite it in the next episode.
The creature in the tank, very creepy and gross (and has echos of some anime character that is currently escaping me... I'll come up with it, though). Umbilical cords... Ood cords... is there a link? (Perhaps only in my fevered, fannish brain that looks for links everywhere.)
Why is the Sontaran so short? I don't remember the Sontarans being so short or polite. Was that a disconnect for anyone else? He looks like Rick Moranis' character Dark Helmet in Spaceballs. When he said, "Words are the weapons of womenfolk. I judge you unfit." it didn't feel threatening or whatever. I was giggling and not taking them seriously at all. Perhaps that was the intent? It fell a bit flat for me, so I didn't find the Sontarans a threatening baddie. It's hard to take them seriously when I keep imagining Tom Cruise underneath the potatohead. And how pleased was I when the potato-dialogue came up? Hilarious! "It's like a potato." LOL! "A TALKING BAKED POTATO" *dies* "PINK WEASEL!" *dies again* Really good stuff.
I wonder why the Sontarans were not allowed to be a part of the Time War. Unless they wanted to be on the side of the Time Lords: I can't imagine the Daleks saying no to more bodies to hurl at their enemies. How do they know that if this is the Doctor that he is the last of the Time Lords? (And yay for the silver sphere spaceships!)
I'm not sure what I feel about having Luke Rattigan in league with the baddies (although the actor is sort of cute in a 'he looks sort of like Sweets in Bones' sort of way). He seems like an extraneous middle-man, although I get the impression that him and his school of geniuses (anyone else think that they studied at Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters?) will end up saving the day in the next half. I kept thinking that David Krumholtz would be better in the role. The conditional clause bit and the ATMOS System bits were funny, but then it definitely turned dark. "It's been a long time since anyone's said no to you, isn't it? Not easy, is it? Being clever. You look at the world and you connect things, random things. You think, why can't anyone else see it? The rest of the world is SO SLOW. You're on your own." OOH. The Doctor's words are hauntingly like he's talking to himself. I think he recognizes that. Ten's growing as a character, we're seeing him change and it's really cool.
Intruder window, indeed. *facepalms* I hate admitting to liking the cheese.
When the genius kid and the Sontaran were looking out at the surface of the earth, the shot totally reminded me of the shot at "The End of the World" with Rose and the Doctor. "It was never big enough for me." Are they trying to draw connections or am I being the typical obsessive fan seeing connections where they aren't there?
When Martha discovers the strangeness of the workers, narrows it down to hypnosis (go Martha go), that was cool but then the big flashly lights went on as she was drawn into the evil plans! And she was so tiny compared to the two soldiers. And then later: creepy, gooey, naked, unblinking evil!Martha! Oo! With a ropey white umbilical cord in her neck! Oo! I can't wait for next week to see how they wrap that up.
I think that there's something about Donna and the way she's presented in Season 4 that makes one connect with her so easily. As she's walking down the street back to her home (which I could definitely see doing myself), encountering one of her neightbors and says that she's "been away", I can see myself in those shoes. I can see having this short walk to my home by myself in a familiar place for the first time in a while and thinking about what I've seen so far and emotionally reacting to it like Donna reacted. I think that over Rose and Martha, we are seeing the story from Donna's perspective. I think she's being written like an equal: we're not just following the Doctor's story, but hers too (and not just in bits like previous seasons, but following her story too as a general rule). It's so touching and real. Her interactions with Wilf are wonderful! "Are you safe with him?" I think what I like is their relationship's contrast to Rose and Martha's relationships with their families. I think Wilf cares, really cares, and understands Donna's participation.
When the Doctor finally shows up and meets her family, it was such a shout out to previous Christmas specials. I LOVE IT when Who does that. It hugs my fangirl's heart. (And Cribbins is so good. SO GOOD.)
So, looking forward to next week where I hope that Raynor doesn't disappoint me. How will they get Wilf out of the car? How will the smoke affect people? How will the potatoes get baked!? What exactly is the Sontaran Stratagem?! Is it saturday yet?