The Crimson Horror

The Crimson Horror

First, let me address the elephant in the room.  Can we say misogyny? The crimson horror was one of the terms men used for women during that time of the month.  Now, I will give some benefit of the doubt, maybe that’s just an American phrase.   But let’s get back to the episode.

Okay, what was with the feinting dude?  Was he a reference to Pat Troughton and his love of Panto(mime)?  Was it just comic relief?  It seemed stupid to me. 

Next there was a vague one line reference to Tegan.  I understand it’s the fiftieth and they want to cramp in all the references they can but the way the line was written it seemed like the doctor didn’t like her at all! 

Now I know the spiraling staircase was a throwback to “Snowmen”, but it gave me a headache.  Up and down, down and up.

There were several throwaway references to the Great Intelligence that either weren’t used or will come up later.  First the “terror rained (reigned) down”.  That was how the GI was defeated in “The Snowmen”.  The Sweetville symbol was similar to the GI symbol.

Also what was with the Thomas Thomas kid?  I got the symbology.  It was so lame I missed it the first time.

I know this is not my usual review but this was not the best episode.  Sorry, try again next week.  Eight ball fuzzy.

Journey to the Center of the T.A.R.D.I.S.

So I took me a while to write my review of Journey to the Center of the TA.R.D.I.S..  Why? I generally take a couple of views to get all the references to Classic Who and pick up subtleties I might otherwise have missed.  However, the BBC did my work for me.  I really don’t write reviews of the actual episode so I’m kind of at a loss for what to write about.  One thing that sticks out is the interior of the TA.R.D.I.S..  I wasn’t actually impressed with the swimming pool.  Sorry, it was nice but I would have like spas or fountains or flying fish and more than just a passing glimpse.  The Library, now that was cool.  I could spend my life in the library.  The Encyclopedia Galifrey being bottled was cool, although J.K. Rowling might want some copyright money.  The Time war book seems to have caused a lot of tongue wagging on the internet.  I don’t know why, it speaks to the entropy in the universe.  No knowledge is ever lost.  My personal theory is that the Doctor swiped it from The Library (The planet, not his).  If Clara learned the Doctor’s name, the knowledge is out there now to be learned, she won’t “forget it” now.  The brothers that ran the salvage yard remembered some things and Clara is plucky, bright, and determined, otherwise she wouldn’t be a companion.  What was infinitely more interesting was Clara’s reaction to “apparently” learning the Doctor’s name.  (We don’t know that’s what she read, it could have be a line explain the T.A.R.D.I.S. in a simple way or something) Clara implied that the information that she read was something she ALREADY knew!  At least that’s the way I interpreted it.  I felt that there was too much crammed into the story.  I’ve been watching “Classic” Who and this story would have done well as a 4 or 6 part serial with the secondary story of the brothers expanded and more exploration of the T.A.R.D.I.S..  So all in all a meh episode.  It served to move the plot forward, sort of, except where it didn’t because of the wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey stuff.  Clara learned who the Doctor was, maybe, except she didn’t because she doesn’t remember.  Only two things really happened.  One the Doctor asked Clara what she was and she said “Clara” and didn’t know about the other three versions of herself.  Two, the salvage brothers were nicer to each other.  Let’s see what happens next week when Dame Diane Rigg joins us for The Crimson Horror!

N.B. Clara said." So that's Who.." And Also the Key to the T.A.R.D.I.S. say Smiths has to be important or they wouldn't have shown it.

Rings of Akhaten

So this is supposed to introduce us to the pace of the new companion.  Last week we saw her in a frantic pace and it was more the Doctor trying to get the feel of her and how she interacts with him.  This was more of how the tone of the series is going to be. *shrugs*  The blue screen stuff was so-so.  I really expected better.  What is it with stuff disappointing me lately? I have heard the latest online ramblings.  The whole season is supposed to be a dream, with Tennant coming back at the anniversary after not having regenerated after the End of Time.  I would love that,but not all the clues work.  One of the clues is the birds chirping.  But that is from the episode with the Dream Lord which occurs with Amy after regeneration.  Another thrown away clue was that the Doctor quoted Puff the magic dragon in this week’s episode. Missed that did you?  He tells Merry she has yet to see the painted wings and giant rings or something.  Subtle.  And he mentioned his granddaughter.  Almost everyone caught that.  Why?  He told Rose and Donna he forgot about that or removed that part of his memories or something.  Also, why was Donna left out of the companions special?  She was a GREAT companion in my opinion.  She and the Doctor has great adventures, lots of fun and without her he would have never met River, had another Daughter, defeated the Time Lords etc, etc. Sorry, tangent. So, Let’s get back to this week’s episode, shall we? The singing threw me.  It was great; the girl should have an opera career.  But I would have loved to be able to know WHAT they were singing.  The words and the dialogue were overlapping and you had to listen carefully to understand either one.  I choose the dialogue.  I would still like to hear the music though; I do appreciate it for its musicality.  I also understand that the long drawn out speech was achieving a point but it was still long and drawn out.  The Doctor’s speech was pointless after Clara made hers.  I would have also appreciated knowing why they called the monster/mummy thing grandfather unless this ties back into the whole this season is a dream thing.  That would make sense because the Doctor views himself as a mummy/monster/god/grandfather who abandoned his children/grandchildren.  If the whole season is a dream what does Clara represent? She doesn’t represent the child/grandchildren he’s lost because he’s being shown representations of them. Also interesting point, Clara’s mother was born on September 11.  The Doctor has pointed out that certain time/dates are fixed points and some are hot spots.  I would think that that date would be.  Other bloggers have pointed out that the car that almost ran over Clara’s father looked like the car that ran over Rose’s father.  If this is a dream world that would make sense because he’s pulling images he knows.  If not, that would be a freaky coincidence.  Oh well, that’s my thoughts on this week’s episode.  Feel free to yell in the comments.