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Doctor Who S11E04 'Arachnids in the UK' discussion thread
What did you think of this week's episode of 'Doctor Who'?
Previous discussions:
What did you think of this week's episode of 'Doctor Who'?
Previous discussions:
I think this was the first episode that really proved that the new crew is able to deliver excellent "normal" Doctor Who content. While I loved the pilot and Rosa, they were somewhat special items. The second episode of the series was okay, but I wasn't that into it either.
This one was just pure fun, and a great mix of DW:s silliness and more serious moments.
I usually like politics in my sci-fi, but the Trump and environmental commentary seemed a little bit out of the place. Not a huge problem, but a bit weird.
Yeah I feel like it could have been done well but it was just awkwardly executed and way too obvious.
I thought the point of Doctor Who's scary episodes was to take everyday things that aren't scary and make them scary - not to show us things we already think are scary! I will admit there were moments in this episode when I turned away. I don't like big hairy spiders. No. Just no.
This is the first episode where I feel like Jodie Whittaker has found her footing as the Doctor. She wasn't crazy or random or out of control or out of her depth. She knew what she was doing, and she got the job done - as the Doctor and as Whittaker.
I expected we would see more of Gran, because she's too good a character to throw away after just one use. However, I thought it come via a time-travel gimmick, rather than her being a memory. Those four throwaway lines were almost a total waste of the actor's time.
And, while I'm all for diversity, I thought the "I'm your niece's wife" line was gratuitous on so many levels. Firstly, her being related to Jack Robertson added absolutely nothing to the plot or his character. Secondly, we don't need to have same-sex relationships referenced in every episode. Thirdly... if you're going to do that... it would have been much funnier if she had been his actual niece. It would have made more of a point about how callous Robertson is if he can't remember his actual relatives, rather than some distant relative-by-marriage.
And, on that note, did we really need a stereotyped obnoxious American businessman shoehorned in to the plot?
He owned a chain of luxury hotels basically the same as Trump does. He just happened to be in the UK for the opening of that hotel.
Hasn't that been a thing from the very beginning? Never watched much Classic Who, but I distinctly remember 10 throwing a fit over guns on multiple occasions.
It's been a thing since the 10th for sure, but previous Doctors have actually used guns in self-defense before and even to kill various creatures, so I wouldn't exactly say the "guns are bad" thing has been "from the very beginning".
I find this comment interesting. What one considers as "politics" differs depending on the overton window and one's position on the compass. Science Fiction -- at least, Classic Science Fiction, has always been contemplative and ready to tackle issues that mainstream media has never really had the guts to go for. This is especially so for Sci-Fi on TV! Star Trek, for example, was in part a way for Gene Rodenberry to put forward his ideas of humanism to a wider audience. Getting back to the main thread (what one considers "politics", etc.) for example, in the 1960s having a Russian or a Person of Colour on the main bridge of the Enterprise was considered a heavily political gestures, these days we would not blink an eye towards it! Indeed, one fan of Star Trek was Martin Luther King Jr., who talked the person who played Uhura out of quitting, because the role she had was important in inspiring people.
Another example is the Daleks, which were pretty much always a reference to Nazis, but the show really took it to the extra mile in the 1970s. I don't feel I need to wax lyrical on this point much more, because Who (like any good science fiction story) has pretty much always been political if you actually paid attention and examined the story (IO9 has a good breakdown on New and Old Who episodes that unabashedly referenced contemporary political events: https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-7-least-subtle-political-allegories-on-doctor-who-1740916612)
Indeed, it's actually difficult to envision stories without a political stance of some sort, you can see this in the many different media critique videos of many, many different films and tv shows. For the best examples, the viewpoints and stances are already there in the media, and the examiner simply lifts the veil for you! I recommend Mikey's critique on Hot Fuzz, in the latter part of the video he takes the video in a political direction, and it's suprising how deep a comedy like HF goes in this regard! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSQ8WYTytW0). I also recommend Lindsey Ellis' channel, for other, well voiced good examinations of popular culture items that are more political than you'd expect.