Heh, I wonder how many older siblings in the UK will be torturing their younger brothers and sisters over the next few weeks by saying things like, “wasn’t that statue a few feet further away yesterday?”
Blink is a strong episode that is every last little thing that Torchwood, as a Doctor-less Doctor Who universe series, SHOULD have been.
About my only complaint is that the antagonists are yet again an “evil from the very beginnings of the universe”. Next week: The Doctor versus Cthulhu!
I haven’t been watching Doctor Who with any form of regularity, but I had nothing to do and caught the first of the two-parter. Meant to watch the second, and forgot. Meant to watch this week’s, too, and forgot.
Arse.
Also, is this a bad time to say that I kinda liked Torchwood? Admittedly, it was in a guilty-pleasure kind of way, but still…
Nothing wrong with liking Torchwood. Evidently enough people liked it that it’s got a second series.
Great episode. Why did we have to get 8 bad ones first?
Next week actually looks good as well.
Things in particular that I liked about this episode (spoilers, obviously):
[ul]
[li]It all fit - all of the motivations in this episode actually worked out, which is rare. All the people who got stranded in time and left messages had to remain stranded in time. The Doctor couldn’t go back and rescue them because then they never would have left the messages and he never would have gotten his TARDIS back.[/li][li]The weeping angels - they definitely succeeded in creating some suspenseful scenes. I was sure that brother guy was done for. The “beginning of hte universe” thing, as mentioned above, is overdone by now, but that’s easy enough to forgive, and the “they can’t be looked at” thing is a bit too magical-sounding, but it’s Doctor Who, so I’m not exactly expected anything to hold up [/ul][/li]
It was really a strong episode overall, though. Clearly the main actors were on vacation or something, but this was a much better Doctorless episode than Love and Monsters was.
It was pretty much always going to get a second series. Also, Hyperdrive got one too.
[quote=“Cosmic_Hippo”]
Things in particular that I liked about this episode (spoilers, obviously):
[list]
[li]It all fit - all of the motivations in this episode actually worked out, which is rare. All the people who got stranded in time and left messages had to remain stranded in time. The Doctor couldn’t go back and rescue them because then they never would have left the messages and he never would have gotten his TARDIS back.[/li][/quote]
Well, the Doctor can go 38 years without a problem… so it wasn’t him that needed saving.
Of course that would have left two Doctor’s stranded in the early 70’s…
Hey, that would be fun :)
I think they’re from “the very beginnings of the universe” because there were
other universes before ours. Maybe they’ll get the next version right.
Bit behind, so I caught up on the last four episodes this weekend:
42
I rather liked this one, with the real time plotting keeping everything at a hectic pace. Yeah, the trivia question door locks were pretty silly and I’m not exactly sure how the engines fired up at the end, but the tension kept it entertaining. Perhaps, though, the Doctor should have spent less time yelling “I’ll save you!” and got on with the actual saving.
HUMAN NATURE/THE FAMILY OF BLOOD
This could be the best overall two-parter the new series has seen. I’m glad the Family weren’t killed as they might be the most interesting new villains yet. Creepy, darkly humorous, and poised for a comeback (the sudden switch to the first-person omniscient with Son-of-Mine sounded like he was reflecting on the events from some point in the future).
My main quibble (apart from the Doctor’s new mirror-putting ability and his dropping Father-of-Mine off in a random sewer somewhere) is that the “Come with me” card is being played way too much these days. In context, it makes sense that he would ask Joan to go traveling, especially since it seemed like it was more to ease her pain than his. But since he’s done it so often lately, it robs the offer of any weight.
I don’t mind the vengeful edge of the Doctor since he’s now reeling from both the loss of his people and the loss of Rose. However, I’m hoping that this gets thrown into sharp relief if it transpires that he really isn’t alone and that some of the Time Lords have survived (other than the Goateed Chuckler, that is.)
BLINK
As a firm believer that the hedge animal scene in The Shining is the scariest thing Stephen King ever wrote, I am inclined more than most to love this episode. And I did. Sure, I wish we had never seen the teethy grimaces of the Angels as the blank stares were creepier, but that is a minor nitpick of a story that was so well executed. I completely agree with Meister that this is how you do Doctor-less Doctor Who and that Torchwood’s writers should watch it repeatedly before the second season of that show begins.
Speaking of Torchwood, I’m very interested in finally seeing Captain Jack’s return to the TARDIS next week.
I make fun of Torchwood without mercy, yet I watched every single episode. Sometimes I even went as far as NOT washing my eyes out with bleach afterwards.
The series had some promising ideas and the episode Random Shoes is one of the better examples, but then there’s also the bad examples like Cyberwoman where the writers never carry through on those promising ideas.
In a perfect world, the writers of season two of Torchwood would be forced to watch Blink every day to learn how to do Doctor-less Whoniverse television. They’d also be forced to watch Farscape which. while having it’s own faults, was a far better example of how to have sex, violence, romance and conflict occur between main characters in sci fi world.
This is one of my favorite episodes ever. I’m still kinda creeped out, I am certainly glad that there aren’t any statues around my apartment building! That last montage made me want to cry. ;_;
One of the greatest things about this episode is that a generation of British kids are now going to be prone to nightmares about statues.
Cool…
Mind, the prop team need a good kicking.
Awesome. I won’t put any spoilers in here yet. But suffice to say, 1) this cements that Captain Jack is simply at his best as a Doctor Who companion and 2) What an amazing way to kick off the finale and tie into earlier episodes. It all fits really well, and that was an awesome bait-and-switch.
I love how he was just as cheery and happy-go-lucky as the Doctor.
A million percent awesome.
Did anyone else notice how old school this episode was?
It really reminded me of the Tom Baker era stuff, and in a good way.
Also: At the end of the universe mankind will inhabit an abandoned quarry!
OK, it’s been almost a day now. I can’t stand it any more.
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I take back what I’ve said in previous posts: it was in no way anti-climactic to find that The Master has returned. And if I can’t have Anthony Stewart Head as the Master, then I can’t think of anyone else I would have rather had than Derek Jacobi. Let me repeat:
DEREK FREAKIN’ JACOBI.
My one disappointment with the episode is the regeneration. I know why they did it: Jacobi wanted to have his cake and eat it too (play the iconic character while not having to sign up for a semi-recurring role) and the producers wanted a villain that skews to the younger demographic. But the five minutes of delicious Jacobean evil made me yearn for what could have been. It would have been nice if the regeneration happened at the end of the story arc. Ah well.
The build-up to the reveal was extraordinarily well-done. Good pacing by RTD and the director, good work by the cast, the mind-whispers growing more and more revealing by the minute, and the explanation of how the Master survived was surprisingly satisfying and internally consistent.
I have to admit to being a bit wary of the young Master. It’s interesting to see him played as a dark reflection of the Doctor, including his madcap demeanor. But I really don’t want the Master to turn into the Joker. Still, we only saw him for thirty seconds, so I’m reserving judgment until next week.
The interaction between the Doctor and Captain Jack was also intriguing. I’d like to see how this plays out over time. Does Barrowman have to go back to Torchwood? We haven’t had a long term trio in a while, and I’m liking the dynamic.
According to this week’s episode of Doctor Who Confidential, Jacobi is actually a big fan of the series, both classic and reboot, and shocked the producers by coming to them about a part. From the sound of his interview, I have no doubt he’d have taken on the full role if he had the time.
As for John Simm’s Master, the producers also make a point of mentioning in the same episode of Confidential that what we see of him is the same post-regeneration madness that affects the Doctor, such as in the Christmas Invasion.
The previews make him appear slightly more subdued, but I also don’t think the slightly wacky side will go away completely. Still, as long as he doesn’t feel the need to dress like an asian sorcerer as a disguise in the middle of pre-historic earth, like in Time Flight, I’m okay with it.
If anyone’s missed the “Saxon” references in the series to this point, they’re available on www.votesaxon.co.uk.
And forget the Joker, he reminded me of Frank Gorshin’s Riddler in the 60’s Batman.
That occurred to me, but…
The previews make him appear slightly more subdued, but I also don’t think the slightly wacky side will go away completely.
Especially the bit with the gas mask and the thumbs up.
And forget the Joker, he reminded me of Frank Gorshin’s Riddler in the 60’s Batman.
Touché.