Quarter Mooning: Last Christmas

[patches365]

After watching this year's Christmas Special, I've pretty much given up on the series until someone replaces Moffat. As such, I don't really feel like this episode is worth committing my usual 4-5 hours to review it, so I'm just going to do a more abridged review from memory so I don't have to sit through the episode again.

Comments

[betawho]

Thank you. I had the same reaction. What's the point anymore? It's just "cool looking stuff that doesn't make any sense" coupled with unlikeable characters

[newmoonstar]

Wow, you've hit the nail on the head with the drug analogy, that really is what it feels like to watch Doctor Who now; seeing someone you love who used to be so brilliant and full of life and love slowly let go of everything they used to be and sink into listlessness and bitterness and self-destruction. And we keep hanging on because we love who they used to be, and can't really believe it's gone forever. But there's a point where they've let themselves go so far that no one can save them, and I feel like we've hit that point with New Who.

It's a horrible feeling, but I actually feel better now that I've let go of the show and moved on. There's still the DVDs of the old stuff, and there's always new Big Finish, after all. Even without the current show, DW will always be around.

[betawho]

Specific things in this story that bothered me. We get, yet more, of the "everybody lying" trope. Presumably now it's all "cleared the air" but that trope was never there for an actual dramatic reason, it was just something to flog the characters with, so I'll be surprised if we've actually seen the end of it. (Just like I'm sure the Doctor will still be angsting next season, whether he has a reason to or not, because "angst is cool, people like angst

[patches365]

And it's the whole reliance on "telling" that has made me give up on the show, because what they tell you is almost always in stark contrast to what they're showing you, meaning that even though this is a visual medium, you're pretty much being expected to ignore everything you see and, as the Doctor is so apt to insist, do as you're told.

[nutmeg_44]

I completely agree. I went into this episode with zero expectations and still somehow manage to be completely disappointed.

I was bored, didn't care for any of the main characters, side characters or even the gimmicky elves. Although, one of the elves made me remember to check if Misfits would be coming back for another season.

I was watching The Runaway Bride Christmas special and the Smith and Jones season 3 premiere episode and I just could not get over how awesome they were as stories. Cohesive, comprehensive and flawless. Why can't more episodes be like that? Who did we wrong, as a fanbase, to deserve the mess we're getting now?

Honestly, I think I'm done with Who until Moffat is replaced. Either that, or I'll just continue watching out of habit.

[patches365]

The difference is that the pre-Moffat companions were written much more consistently. If you re-watch their introductory episodes, the Doctor typically doesn't even start doing anything until at least halfway through the episode. The rest of the episode is about them. Who they are, what they want, and what qualities they have that the Doctor would find suitable in a companion

[betawho]

Moffat's method of solving problems is like Kirk's solution to the Kobayashi Maru test: hack the test itself. Sure, you might end up "winning" in a creative way, but the method in which you won bears zero resemblance to any real-life option, leaving the solution ultimately unfulfilling.

This. Exactly exactly this.

That's why I find these stories so ultimately unfulfilling and often not worth rewatching (and why Moff's stories that don't do this are the only ones that seem worth it, and are often brilliant, like Empty Child or Time of Angels.)

I've become resigned to the fact that Moffat will write 80% of a good story, then at the end the ending will have nothing to do with anything that came before. Which just sort of renders the whole story moot.

It's not the characters who are cleverly or bravely finding solutions to problems anymore. It's the fact that at the end of the story, the writer simply rewrites everything so that there never was a problem to start with. (Or that it wasn't the problem we were told for 80% of the

[patches365]

Heh, it reminds me of the awesome rant in MrTARDIS's "The Snowmen" review once it finally dawns on him exactly what Moffat is doing as a writer. He used to be pretty pro-Moffat and would let a lot of things slide, but watching this just made me throw my hands in the air and declare, "YES! SOMEONE ELSE GETS IT!"

[finding_neo]

You did a great review even without spending 4-5 hours on it.

And even worse than the episode itself is how everyone is applauding it. Feels a bit like the relatives telling Aunt Susie after Christmas dinner how much they loved her fruit cake, as they each sneak behind her to get to the kitchen garbage to spit it out.

During Series 9 Series 8 will probably be revealed as ALL being a dream. I wouldn't put it past Moffat's ego. Unfortunately the show has become such a train wreck I can't look away now so I'll be a sucker for Series 9. Just please tell me they're not doing anything for the 10th anniversary of the reboot.

[patches365]

Given where the Doctor was depicted as waking up, I'm afraid of the S8 finale being retconned as being a dream. He looked like he was in the volcano, which itself was a dream. Lord knows that Moffat has used pretty much every other excuse in the book so far to get out of having to be held accountable to continuity, from "he was lying", to "universe reset button", to "it was all a dream".

[betawho]

Moffat has used pretty much every other excuse in the book so far to get out of having to be held accountable to continuity, from "he was lying", to "universe reset button", to "it was all a dream".

This, exactly.

He's got a very "cover your ass" way of writing that just basically tells the audience it's "okay" for him not to bother with being at all consistent, even with his own stories or characters.

It's infuriating.

[patches365]

He's got a very "cover your ass" way of writingThat's a very apt description of it

[stevegreen]

I wish I could wake up and discover Capaldi's first season had actually had a competent showrunner.

[davidwake]

I caught myself wanting an episode with Tom Baker coming round in the Panopticon matrix room, finding he's an old man, but that "Deadly Assassin" onwards were all just a dream. (We'd miss out on Leela, but sacrifices must be made.)

[misterandersen]

+1 like