The Girl Who Died Reaction and Discussion Post [SPOILERS!]

[jjpor]

So, it's that one already. You know the one, the one where Maisie Williams out of Game of Thrones plays Susan Romana the Rani the Master/Mistress's Daughter none of the above...a guest character. Probably

Comments

[alumfelga]

Someone wants to fangirl with me? This way, please: http://alumfelga.livejournal.com/5316.html :)

[jjpor]

I really enjoyed your reaction post - and was sort of heartened by it. I know everybody is entitled to their own opinion and that you're rarely going to get two Who fans to completely agree on anything, but some of the negativity I see around fandom these days really gets me down in spite of myself, because so much of it seems really unfair and prejudiced based on a narrow view of what Doctor Who should be and do. Especially people saying they hope the show gets cancelled - there's no call for that, ever. So some positivity bucks me up when I come across it

[alumfelga]

Thanks! I express my disappointment and negative feelings, too - sometimes I just have to - but when I'm cheerful, I'm cheerful and I don't let other people ruin it for me. Besides, I like to focus on good aspects of the show so when I'm not satisfied with new episodes, I'd rather spend my time analyzing and writing about those I like. I don't think there's any point in hate-watching (how else could you call the "I hope it gets cancelled" opinions

[wunnerwmn]

Sooo...where'd everybody go? One comm here people seemed to overwhelmingly hate the episode, on another elsewhere they loved it. I'm somewhere in between

[jjpor]

I know what you mean re reactions to this - not much middle ground in fandom these days, although I seem quite often to find myself falling into it. :)

I liked this just fine, possibly slightly less than Robot of Sherwood, which I seem to have liked better than most people did, but I agree very similar in tone. Until that kick in the teeth at the end, of course.

Yeah, I can swallow "horny" "Vikings", if only because I can fool myself it was some sort of knowing Time Meddler reference, and I'd probably be willing to handwave the hitherto unknown European species of electric eel if it was just a throwaway joke...but as a major plot point?? :D

I agree, though, the thing about not being the police was a fantastic line.

I think the foreshadowing is there in Clara's case, definitely. I also think the Doctor is going to have cause to regret his actions with regard to Ashildr next week, if he doesn't already.

[shyfoxling]

I agree, though, the thing about not being the police was a fantastic line.

It kinda reminded me of (probably slightly misquoting here) "He'll be all right, he's a Time Lord." "It's just what they're called. It doesn't mean he knows what he's doing."

[ravenskyewalker]

I liked it as much as I expected to like a story written by Jamie Mathieson... which is quite a lot, actually. I've liked most of what I've seen in the Twelfth Doctor era, and am really tired of hearing about the virulent haters. I must have no taste, because I'm liking DW more than I have in years, and by years, I mean... oh, 1989. (That's right, before modern DW.) This is why I stay and hide in a pretty small corner of fandom

[dbskyler]

Why did the Sixth Doctor choose to look like the Gallifreyan guard (Commander Maxil) who shot the Fifth Doctor in "Arc of Infinity"? To remind himself that Time Lords are jerks?

This needs to be made into a fanfic ASAP.

[shyfoxling]

DO EEET

[jjpor]

I'm still wary of Mathieson, if only because I didn't quite get the praise heaped on him by fandom last season. I mean, he wrote two top-notch stories no doubt, but crowning him showrunner-in-waiting as so many people seemed to be doing

[shyfoxling]

I feel a bit thick, but I am still totally clueless as to who from the Doctor's past Maisie is supposed to turn out to be.

[ravenskyewalker]

It's not that Ashildr's someone from the Doctor's past; he's somehow remembering having met her in the next episode, "The Woman Who Lived," which was the point of him telling Clara, “People talk about premonition as if it’s something strange. It’s not. It’s just remembering something in the wrong direction.” He's getting future echoes, by virtue of being a Time Lord.

[dbskyler]

I didn't care for it. I didn't feel that Ashildr's character was developed very much, and I got the impression that the audience was supposed to care about her mostly because the actress appears on GoT. But I don't watch that show, and I didn't feel any special connection to her, which I think would have helped carry the emotional thrust.

The set-up to next week looks like it could be interesting, though. But the Doctor can basically make people immortal now? I don't really like that as a concept. Besides, it makes Rassilon look like an idiot for going through all that work in "The Five Doctors" to get immortality when he could've just used a little square thing instead.

[ravenskyewalker]

The little square thing was Mire battlefield medical technology, not Time Lord, so Rassilon might not have had access to it at that time, in that story. *grin*

[Apologies for edits. Can't use words properly.]

[dbskyler]

Yes, Gallifreyan non-interference means no access to the good stuff out there! ;) And, I just realized I typed Rassilon when I meant Borusa. But you know whom I meant!

[ravenskyewalker]

Yes, I know, but the funny thing is that, since both of them were in that story, some distracted part of my brain decided, "That's okay, could be either one of 'em." heh heh