Doctor Who
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Qhue
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Spoilers for plot and speculation
So that was a pretty aggressive as hell twist. After she got a hole blown in her chest my immediate thoughts were 'robot decoy' or 'simulation' or 'timey wimey' but this appears to have been none of those things. Bill Potts has been converted into one of the original Cybermen.
I knew something epic had to happen this week as they had announced a Facebook Live conversation to be had with her and Moffat immediately following the episode and I got a text right after it aired in the UK telling me to shut down all social media until after I saw the episode. Even still this is the first companion death since the show came back in 2005 and in so doing it skews the show to the dark side of entertainment.
On the positive side, however, it re-introduces the abject horror that is the Cybermen. People got too used to them as tin soldiers and not enough has been made of the fact that they are originally just people who get converted through a horrific and grotesque process. They were 'the Borg' decades ahead of their time and really do deserve more respect as an adversary.
Now the BBC has gone on record since last night as saying that this is not necessarily the end of Bill Potts, but she is a Cyberman as confirmed in the post-episode talk so unless she managed to get a cosmetic and brain upgrade to become a very human looking android I think this is the last we will see of the 12th Doctor's companion.
This also opens up the possibility of another big time jump in the Doctor's personal story when we move on to the 13th as he will likely still be feeling the effects of losing Bill shortly after losing both Clara and River Song and might go back into one of his depression modes.
Still interested to see if indeed David Bradley shows up next week as the First Doctor...
I knew something epic had to happen this week as they had announced a Facebook Live conversation to be had with her and Moffat immediately following the episode and I got a text right after it aired in the UK telling me to shut down all social media until after I saw the episode. Even still this is the first companion death since the show came back in 2005 and in so doing it skews the show to the dark side of entertainment.
On the positive side, however, it re-introduces the abject horror that is the Cybermen. People got too used to them as tin soldiers and not enough has been made of the fact that they are originally just people who get converted through a horrific and grotesque process. They were 'the Borg' decades ahead of their time and really do deserve more respect as an adversary.
Now the BBC has gone on record since last night as saying that this is not necessarily the end of Bill Potts, but she is a Cyberman as confirmed in the post-episode talk so unless she managed to get a cosmetic and brain upgrade to become a very human looking android I think this is the last we will see of the 12th Doctor's companion.
This also opens up the possibility of another big time jump in the Doctor's personal story when we move on to the 13th as he will likely still be feeling the effects of losing Bill shortly after losing both Clara and River Song and might go back into one of his depression modes.
Still interested to see if indeed David Bradley shows up next week as the First Doctor...
Phazael
Confirmed Beta Shitlord, Fat Bastard
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First episode all season I really liked. Also, the first that was not jam packed with SJW virtue signaling, in fact for the only time all season it was completely absent. Loved the twist and I really hope this is the direction they continue to go. Also fuck the writers, because a full season of Doctor/Missy interaction like this would have been epic instead of most of it being squandered on "Lookie! Gay Black Buckweat was Space Kangz!" dominating the fucking show. No wonder Capaldi is bailing. He (and the fans) got robbed of some really awesome story possibilities on the altar of BBC agenda pushing.
Enzee
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i mean.. glad you didnt think so, just surprised you werent offended by the doctor's line about gender stereotypes being silly if the whole season has been 'full' of sjw stuff in your opinion.
I was really hoping, and still kind of am, that missy just ends up being the new 'doctor'. I keep thinking ill get tired of her, and she just keeps being great. Her lines at the start introducing herself as 'doctor who' were all great. Or, as you said, more episodes of her traveling with him. Their banter is just hilarious.
I dont think bill is dead. She still had her skin under there. He will find a way, or likely missy will, to undo the transformation. Bill may die, but they wrote this before they knew if the next showrunner would use her or not, so i dont think this is how she would actually die if they decide to kill her off.
Phazael
Confirmed Beta Shitlord, Fat Bastard
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Actually it was Simm (earlier Master) who said something along the lines of "We Time Lords are so old we are beyond that bullshit" which I knew was them attempting to virtue signal, but it actually came off making fun of themselves for giving so much of a shit about it. Second time they unintentionally mocked the agenda they were trying to push (other was when the roman bi dude made fun of Billy for being a prude for only banging one gender), but we know those people are so up their own asses that they don't realize when they have accidently wandered into self parody.
But yeah, a whole season of Missy under rehabilitation would have been fucking awesome, but instead we got the spotlight on some snaggle-pussed carpet muncher who speaks with such a cockney accent that I cannot understand her half the fucking time, and oh yeah she keeps reminding us how she is gay, black, and all that. Captain Jack never had to tell anyone he was into the wang, because it didn't fucking matter. If you want gay characters to be taken as normal and accepted, then stop shinning a fucking flood light on it every chance you get (Modern Family and Supergirl are also pretty fucking terrible about this). But mainly, we had Capaldi, who is a classic old man Doctor in the Pertwee/Hartnell/McCoy mold and an amazing actor. We had a great companion (Nardo) and an amazing foil for banter in Missy. But hey, lets spend a whole fucking year centered around some shitty acted and written walking stereotype, instead of the actual aliens in the science fiction show. And what makes it worse is that they did the exact same fucking thing wasting his first two seasons on Clara bullshit, which was WAY played out after the 50th special. Instead of doing something new, they did it again but worse in every way with an unrelatable character with an ugly as shit and untalented actress behind her. Clara was at least pretty to look at, if nothing else. Mackie has nothing and I would bet anything they brought Nardo in to cover up how useless she is, since he was a last second addition to this season. Fuck, the cyberman head from Smith's last episode was a better fucking companion. I think Mel is still worse, but Billy definitely passed up Perry on the all time worst companion list. And rumors were that she was also a pain in the ass to work with for both Capaldi and Gomez, so no wonder they are both walking after this season.
Capaldi (and we the fans) got robbed because BBC wanted to play the virtue signal game and/or focus on companions instead of the title character (again). It might have worked if they had made the lesbianism incidental and found a descent (or at least average looking) actress. Good black actresses do exist in Britain and are on other BBC shows (the cop chick in Dirk Gently even looks like an attractive version of Mackey but can actually act), but I think they are trying to tap into millennial audiences with who they picked instead (and that horrifically bad class show), instead of focusing on the writing.
But yeah I am guessing she wont be dead and will be the only person their from this season, come next year, given how committed to this current rabbit hole BBC is. I fully expect next season to include a gay muslim scientist in the middle ages who was about to cure cancer and launch a space program before white Christian crusaders overran his lab and stole his secret infoz, the way this show is headed.
But yeah, a whole season of Missy under rehabilitation would have been fucking awesome, but instead we got the spotlight on some snaggle-pussed carpet muncher who speaks with such a cockney accent that I cannot understand her half the fucking time, and oh yeah she keeps reminding us how she is gay, black, and all that. Captain Jack never had to tell anyone he was into the wang, because it didn't fucking matter. If you want gay characters to be taken as normal and accepted, then stop shinning a fucking flood light on it every chance you get (Modern Family and Supergirl are also pretty fucking terrible about this). But mainly, we had Capaldi, who is a classic old man Doctor in the Pertwee/Hartnell/McCoy mold and an amazing actor. We had a great companion (Nardo) and an amazing foil for banter in Missy. But hey, lets spend a whole fucking year centered around some shitty acted and written walking stereotype, instead of the actual aliens in the science fiction show. And what makes it worse is that they did the exact same fucking thing wasting his first two seasons on Clara bullshit, which was WAY played out after the 50th special. Instead of doing something new, they did it again but worse in every way with an unrelatable character with an ugly as shit and untalented actress behind her. Clara was at least pretty to look at, if nothing else. Mackie has nothing and I would bet anything they brought Nardo in to cover up how useless she is, since he was a last second addition to this season. Fuck, the cyberman head from Smith's last episode was a better fucking companion. I think Mel is still worse, but Billy definitely passed up Perry on the all time worst companion list. And rumors were that she was also a pain in the ass to work with for both Capaldi and Gomez, so no wonder they are both walking after this season.
Capaldi (and we the fans) got robbed because BBC wanted to play the virtue signal game and/or focus on companions instead of the title character (again). It might have worked if they had made the lesbianism incidental and found a descent (or at least average looking) actress. Good black actresses do exist in Britain and are on other BBC shows (the cop chick in Dirk Gently even looks like an attractive version of Mackey but can actually act), but I think they are trying to tap into millennial audiences with who they picked instead (and that horrifically bad class show), instead of focusing on the writing.
But yeah I am guessing she wont be dead and will be the only person their from this season, come next year, given how committed to this current rabbit hole BBC is. I fully expect next season to include a gay muslim scientist in the middle ages who was about to cure cancer and launch a space program before white Christian crusaders overran his lab and stole his secret infoz, the way this show is headed.
Phazael
Confirmed Beta Shitlord, Fat Bastard
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Agendas aside, though, if both D12 and Bill get whacked in this episode then they end up being the bad guys with the best track record of killing both the Doctor and his companions, in terms of kill count. The Mondasian Cybermen were the first bad guys to kill the Doctor and they also managed to nab Adric. So ganking D12 and slagathor would give them an all time total of four main character kills.
Yeah, kind of deus exey. I did like the rest of the episode though. Probably one of the better finales.
Enzee
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Seeing the quick flashbacks of all the previous companions (and watching a re-run of the Davro's episode from Tennant's era with all the companions) really illustrated a problem I've had with the show for awhile. The seasons, and episodes even, don't feel very connected. Davies was great at callbacks and connecting different episodes together. I'm not just talking about over-arching season long plots (i.e. bad wolf and the 'crack'). The same companions showed up at various times during Davies run (mickey, rose, captain jack, etc..). Even old companions would come back for an episode or two. It really hammered home the effect the Doctor has on people and his relationships. Moffat did the meta-plot well in his first few seasons with Smith, but it has started to taper off more and more, and he didn't connect the little bits between episodes in the same way. Imagine if the Ponds had met up with James Corden's character for an episode, or CptJack visited them to ask for help contacting the Doctor for a Torchwood related problem (even if they couldn't get the rest of the Torchwood cast, whatever).
As it stands, I can tell there is no plans to have Bill and StarEye ever show up again, or 'Me' and Clara for that matter. If this was Davies running the show, Clara and Me would have popped in to help out during this season at some point. I also doubt Nardole will be involved with the next Doctor, and that's a shame too. Just look at how much everyone likes Strax, Vastra and whatshername. They should be doing that MORE.
I realize sometimes it'd be impossible because of actor availability, but I don't think the BBC and Moffat are even trying in the first place is my point.
As for this episode
As it stands, I can tell there is no plans to have Bill and StarEye ever show up again, or 'Me' and Clara for that matter. If this was Davies running the show, Clara and Me would have popped in to help out during this season at some point. I also doubt Nardole will be involved with the next Doctor, and that's a shame too. Just look at how much everyone likes Strax, Vastra and whatshername. They should be doing that MORE.
I realize sometimes it'd be impossible because of actor availability, but I don't think the BBC and Moffat are even trying in the first place is my point.
As for this episode
I liked it, but too bad we only got dual Masters for basically one episode. Their ending was funny and fitting, but too abrupt. The very end of the episode was a great cliffhanger for the xmas episode, really looking forward to that one. TARDIS showing him how stubborn he was as the 1st not wanting to regenerate. Clearly, the TARDIS wants him to realize he's not wanted to change before, and it turned out fine every time. If Tennant was most like the 5th, and Smith the 7th; Capaldi's doctor is clearly most similar to the 1st Doctor, so it's just perfect that's the version he meets.
Phazael
Confirmed Beta Shitlord, Fat Bastard
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Everything not involving the Masters was garbage in this episode. You could see it on Capaldis face, he wants out of the shitshow. Nardo was potentially one the better companions ever, but instead lets make box munching buckwheat the super special god companion again and keep talking about how much she loves the snapper.... Christ.
I mean, it wasn't CW bad, but holy fuck did the writing for this show just drop off a fucking cliff. You can bitch about Capaldi, but he got handed shit scripts and forced to play second fiddle to mostly lightweight companions for three fucking years. No wonder he (and Gomez) bailed. I am just glad they whacked Bill too or I would stop DVRing this shit show. No idea why they dumped Nardo. Worst part of the Missy ending is that the Doctor never got to be aware of that final exchange. They could have had a whole season of politics free Missy rehabilitation and build to the Simm Master confrontation, but instead we wasted Capaldi's last year (and the rest of his patience) on a bunch of soap boxing while the story telling took a complete back seat. This show broke my heart worse than Flash S3 did.
I mean, it wasn't CW bad, but holy fuck did the writing for this show just drop off a fucking cliff. You can bitch about Capaldi, but he got handed shit scripts and forced to play second fiddle to mostly lightweight companions for three fucking years. No wonder he (and Gomez) bailed. I am just glad they whacked Bill too or I would stop DVRing this shit show. No idea why they dumped Nardo. Worst part of the Missy ending is that the Doctor never got to be aware of that final exchange. They could have had a whole season of politics free Missy rehabilitation and build to the Simm Master confrontation, but instead we wasted Capaldi's last year (and the rest of his patience) on a bunch of soap boxing while the story telling took a complete back seat. This show broke my heart worse than Flash S3 did.
