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Doctor Who S11.01 The Woman Who Fell To Earth (actual thoughts)
If anyone is curious, here is a trailer for The Man Who Fell to Earth, the 1976 movie about an alien who fell to earth, starring David Bowie. As a title it’s a very clever pun, and thankfully the episode is nothing at all like the movie, except for the titular alien. (Not that it isn't a fascinating film, but um, not really suitable for children.)
But onto my thoughts, such as they are this early on.
Chibnall Who
So, after 6 years of poetry we are back to prose. This is neither a bad thing, nor an ‘improvement’, it’s just a different kind of storytelling. What it does mean is that I can’t really compare this story to The Eleventh Hour - which would be the logical thing to do (new Doctor, new showrunner, new everything) - since The Eleventh Hour is a fairy tale. (I know I just said Moffat Who is poetry, but as you know it has layers). Instead we need to go back to Russell T Davies’ ‘Rose’ to find the ‘ordinary people’ into whose ‘ordinary lives’ an alien comes crashing down (literally!). Now for an indepth exploration of what ‘Rose’ did, you should read Liz Sandifer’s People Made of Smoke and Cities Made of Song (Rose), which delves into how the ordinary ‘normal’ tv world that Rose belongs to is invaded by weird sci-fi and how it draws her (and us) in. (It’s good, but very, very, very, very, very long.)
Now, however, I think we are one step further. I have repeatedly said that they were re-booting Doctor Who. RTD started it, changing some of the fundamentals, inventing The Time War, making the Doctor a Lonely Wanderer with the all the attendant guilt & a god complex on top, so that people felt this was a new show, something different from the silly monsters and wobbly sets. When Moffat took over he began putting things back together, fixing the Doctor, fixing his world, saving Gallifrey, and making the Doctor a renegade again [who stole a magic box and ran away]. There was a lot of soul-searching along the way, but - it worked. Reboot complete!
Now as I began to mull over The Woman Who Fell to Earth I realised that the tone, the texture of it all felt like Classic Who. So, what we have now, I think, is simply the Classic show in modern format. Of course it was a single hour of TV, rather than broken up into 4 or 6 twenty-five minute episodes (and thank goodness for that!), but you could go from the old show straight to this and immediately know it was the same thing.
Where RTD had to entice the viewers, explain/remind what Doctor Who was and what it did, and why, Chibnall has no such concerns. The show has been on for 13 years. All he wants is to get on with making Doctor Who - and he can! (Which is quite funny, considering the old!skool fans who whined about a ~lady~ Doctor…)
Thirteen
One of the ways we see the change/evolution/whatever is in the Doctor herself. All of our post-Time War Doctors have been fairly guarded, with various kinds of walls (charm, distraction, lies, rudeness), and the difference in Thirteen lies in her openness. She readily communicates her emotions and thoughts, no fuss.
The most striking moment is probably when she is asked about her family, but rather than giving a swift answer and then moving on (signalling that this is something marked Private), she gives a quiet reflection on how she carries those she has lost with her (and she was totally speaking about her Companions/friends, and not just the family she lost millennia ago). I was half-expecting her to echo Two’s ‘they sleep in mind’. It’s disarmingly open, and something (IMHO) borne out of Twelve’s great introspection.
And I like how she describes herself as ‘just a traveller’. (The Doctor in the TARDIS, next stop everywhere…)
The episode isn’t exactly brimming over with meta, but Promethia and I identified two Doctor mirrors: A dark one and a light one.
Dark Mirror - Tim Shaw
Come to earth to find someone special/chosen
When they get home, they will be a ruler
Carries a piece of their victims with them
The chosen one is kept in stasis between life and death. They're 'not important.'
Kills people by freezing them
Cheats. Also, the Doctor infers, cheats because they feel inadequate by the standards of their people
Is an alien who falls to Earth
The Doctor uses their transport pod to try to get back to her transport pod. And threatens to strand them on earth just as she's stranded.
Light mirror - Grace
Nurse
Adventurous and curious, rushing towards danger
Looks after her family
Brave - ready to jump into danger, no matter the cost to herself
Is a woman who ‘falls to Earth’
Ryan's monologue at the beginning is meant to make it sound as if he's talking about the Doctor, but then we find out he's talking about his Nan
And then Grace dies and Tim Shaw *might* be dead, we don’t know if he had a way to stop the micro bombs.
I don’t really know what to do with any of that, or what it means - is it in any way significant that the Doctor’s ‘light’ mirror died? I don’t even know if it’s an intentional thing. It’s quite possible that Tim Shaw was just a dick, and Grace was a tragic death.
Having re-watched it to see what actually happens, it seems Thirteen’s plan was quite similar to both Ten’s first episode and Eleven’s - send the bad guy back home so thoroughly beaten that the species would stop coming to Earth. Which is nicely consistent. :)
The Companions
Well, the Companions (or friends) are lovely and I look forward to getting to know them better. There’s a great article here on the BBC that should definitely read if you haven’t already seen it. Doctor Who: How the dyspraxic assistant became my hero. And I am v sad that Grace died, and yes it’s problematic.
However, there is the fact that no one blames Thirteen for Grace’s death, nor does the Doctor try to take responsibility for it - Grave’s actions and choices were hers, and hers only.
My only caveat wrt our new Companions is that I am straight back to my main issue with ‘Rose’: The shopgirl was never a point of identification, and although she was very nice I had been promised an alien!
Exactly the same here, except this time I am not curious about who the Doctor is; no this time I am busy being delighted every second Thirteen is on the screen and finding the others… less exciting. Not thanks to any lack on their part, Thirteen is just that mesmerising. <3
And here is her theme:
But onto my thoughts, such as they are this early on.
So, after 6 years of poetry we are back to prose. This is neither a bad thing, nor an ‘improvement’, it’s just a different kind of storytelling. What it does mean is that I can’t really compare this story to The Eleventh Hour - which would be the logical thing to do (new Doctor, new showrunner, new everything) - since The Eleventh Hour is a fairy tale. (I know I just said Moffat Who is poetry, but as you know it has layers). Instead we need to go back to Russell T Davies’ ‘Rose’ to find the ‘ordinary people’ into whose ‘ordinary lives’ an alien comes crashing down (literally!). Now for an indepth exploration of what ‘Rose’ did, you should read Liz Sandifer’s People Made of Smoke and Cities Made of Song (Rose), which delves into how the ordinary ‘normal’ tv world that Rose belongs to is invaded by weird sci-fi and how it draws her (and us) in. (It’s good, but very, very, very, very, very long.)
Now, however, I think we are one step further. I have repeatedly said that they were re-booting Doctor Who. RTD started it, changing some of the fundamentals, inventing The Time War, making the Doctor a Lonely Wanderer with the all the attendant guilt & a god complex on top, so that people felt this was a new show, something different from the silly monsters and wobbly sets. When Moffat took over he began putting things back together, fixing the Doctor, fixing his world, saving Gallifrey, and making the Doctor a renegade again [who stole a magic box and ran away]. There was a lot of soul-searching along the way, but - it worked. Reboot complete!
Now as I began to mull over The Woman Who Fell to Earth I realised that the tone, the texture of it all felt like Classic Who. So, what we have now, I think, is simply the Classic show in modern format. Of course it was a single hour of TV, rather than broken up into 4 or 6 twenty-five minute episodes (and thank goodness for that!), but you could go from the old show straight to this and immediately know it was the same thing.
Where RTD had to entice the viewers, explain/remind what Doctor Who was and what it did, and why, Chibnall has no such concerns. The show has been on for 13 years. All he wants is to get on with making Doctor Who - and he can! (Which is quite funny, considering the old!skool fans who whined about a ~lady~ Doctor…)
One of the ways we see the change/evolution/whatever is in the Doctor herself. All of our post-Time War Doctors have been fairly guarded, with various kinds of walls (charm, distraction, lies, rudeness), and the difference in Thirteen lies in her openness. She readily communicates her emotions and thoughts, no fuss.
The most striking moment is probably when she is asked about her family, but rather than giving a swift answer and then moving on (signalling that this is something marked Private), she gives a quiet reflection on how she carries those she has lost with her (and she was totally speaking about her Companions/friends, and not just the family she lost millennia ago). I was half-expecting her to echo Two’s ‘they sleep in mind’. It’s disarmingly open, and something (IMHO) borne out of Twelve’s great introspection.
And I like how she describes herself as ‘just a traveller’. (The Doctor in the TARDIS, next stop everywhere…)
The episode isn’t exactly brimming over with meta, but Promethia and I identified two Doctor mirrors: A dark one and a light one.
Dark Mirror - Tim Shaw
Come to earth to find someone special/chosen
When they get home, they will be a ruler
Carries a piece of their victims with them
The chosen one is kept in stasis between life and death. They're 'not important.'
Kills people by freezing them
Cheats. Also, the Doctor infers, cheats because they feel inadequate by the standards of their people
Is an alien who falls to Earth
The Doctor uses their transport pod to try to get back to her transport pod. And threatens to strand them on earth just as she's stranded.
Light mirror - Grace
Nurse
Adventurous and curious, rushing towards danger
Looks after her family
Brave - ready to jump into danger, no matter the cost to herself
Is a woman who ‘falls to Earth’
Ryan's monologue at the beginning is meant to make it sound as if he's talking about the Doctor, but then we find out he's talking about his Nan
And then Grace dies and Tim Shaw *might* be dead, we don’t know if he had a way to stop the micro bombs.
I don’t really know what to do with any of that, or what it means - is it in any way significant that the Doctor’s ‘light’ mirror died? I don’t even know if it’s an intentional thing. It’s quite possible that Tim Shaw was just a dick, and Grace was a tragic death.
Having re-watched it to see what actually happens, it seems Thirteen’s plan was quite similar to both Ten’s first episode and Eleven’s - send the bad guy back home so thoroughly beaten that the species would stop coming to Earth. Which is nicely consistent. :)
Well, the Companions (or friends) are lovely and I look forward to getting to know them better. There’s a great article here on the BBC that should definitely read if you haven’t already seen it. Doctor Who: How the dyspraxic assistant became my hero. And I am v sad that Grace died, and yes it’s problematic.
However, there is the fact that no one blames Thirteen for Grace’s death, nor does the Doctor try to take responsibility for it - Grave’s actions and choices were hers, and hers only.
My only caveat wrt our new Companions is that I am straight back to my main issue with ‘Rose’: The shopgirl was never a point of identification, and although she was very nice I had been promised an alien!
Exactly the same here, except this time I am not curious about who the Doctor is; no this time I am busy being delighted every second Thirteen is on the screen and finding the others… less exciting. Not thanks to any lack on their part, Thirteen is just that mesmerising. <3
And here is her theme:
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And here is her theme:
Mmm, I like it.
doctor who is a lady!
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I love Thirteen, love all the characters, love the cast, but...I miss the poetry and fairytale.
The most striking moment is probably when she is asked about her family, but rather than giving a swift answer and then moving on (signalling that this is something marked Private), she gives a quiet reflection on how she carries those she has lost with her (and she was totally speaking about her Companions/friends, and not just the family she lost millennia ago). I was half-expecting her to echo Two’s ‘they sleep in mind’. It’s disarmingly open, and something (IMHO) borne out of Twelve’s great introspection.
Yes. It's also interesting because when earlier post-Time War Doctors have talked about their emotions, it usually had a tinge of self-pity (sometimes more than a tinge), and a feeling of separateness from other people - my-losses-are-worse-than-anyone-else's-and-no-one-else-can-ever-understand. When Thirteen talks about her losses, she does so not to separate herself from others but to connect. She talks about her losses because she's asked by people who have just lost someone; she isn't telling them how different she is but how similar. Her telling them is an act of kindness - her experience might help them (it does). Other Doctors have been kind, but Thirteen talks about her feelings in order to be kind.
Promethia and I identified two Doctor mirrors
What about Graham? He mirrors the Doctor in having thought he didn't have much time left, in having survived beyond what was expected: "So by rights I shouldn't even be here" - neither should the Doctor, but she got a new set of regenerations thanks to Clara. Graham and the Doctor were both given the grace to survive.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI7tvyI1MwQ&feature=youtu.be
- what I think of as the "life goes on" music.
And that reminds me of Mal's question and Zoe's reply, both of which were about both Serenity the ship and Zoe:
Mal: Think she'll hold together?
Zoe: She's tore up plenty. But she'll fly true.
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Thank you! And posting makes other people contribute and automatically increases the ideas. (See sea_thoughts' comment on the LJ side.)
Mmm, I like it.
When I re-watched the confrontation on the crane I noticed it. :)
doctor who is a lady!
yes, yes she is.
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You and me both.
When Thirteen talks about her losses, she does so not to separate herself from others but to connect. She talks about her losses because she's asked by people who have just lost someone; she isn't telling them how different she is but how similar. Her telling them is an act of kindness - her experience might help them (it does). Other Doctors have been kind, but Thirteen talks about her feelings in order to be kind.
Oh I like this insight. Yes.
What about Graham? He mirrors the Doctor in having thought he didn't have much time left, in having survived beyond what was expected: "So by rights I shouldn't even be here" - neither should the Doctor, but she got a new set of regenerations thanks to Clara. Graham and the Doctor were both given the grace to survive.
Older white man get 2nd shot at life... Yes, nice. (Although then Grace dies. I am v v hesitant to read anything into anything!)
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I'll have to give that a listen when I get home. But Kerk noticed how the sonic looks like Serenity!
Mal: Think she'll hold together?
Zoe: She's tore up plenty. But she'll fly true.
♥
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I did, thank you.
When I re-watched the confrontation on the crane I noticed it. :)
I rewatched last night and noticed it in the sonic-making scene. It was like, wait, wait! That was actual music there! Not just wobbly sounds!
The sister is watching as it airs this season (finally!) and made me lol:
Where is my boy Murray at?
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We posted in unison!
I rewatched last night and noticed it in the sonic-making scene. It was like, wait, wait! That was actual music there! Not just wobbly sounds!
I think I first noticed it on my first rewatch in the train - when the Doctor falls through the roof of the train, we hear the Dr Who theme. And yes, sonic scene and crane scene. It's very... airy? Light? Does that make sense? Like it sort of hovers above the scene rather than be a part of it.
The sister is watching as it airs this season (finally!) and made me lol:
Love it. Although your begrudging acceptance of RTD is almost funnier...
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There it is. I knew there had to be something specific about her name.
I was kind of toying with the idea of everybody being some variety of Doctor mirror:
Yaz is a police officer, the other great Doctor mirror line of work. ETA: oh, and the first thing we see of her is 'sorting out fair play' between the two women in the parking dispute.
Ryan wants to be a mechanic (mechanic skills being so prominent for the Doc in this ep) and (forgive me) failed his driving test.
And Graham was in the business of transporting people around and is a widower living out some bonus years.
ETA: oh, and yes, I'm with Elisi in loving your distinction about why and how the Doctor shares about loss.
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I loved that moment. It was almost fourth-wall breaking? Have we ever heard the theme tune in the show itself before? Also someone pointed out it cuts out almost immediately as soon as she notices the super coil, which is lol.
Love it. Although your begrudging acceptance of RTD is almost funnier...
=D Really, I'm still getting milage out of that? I thought that passed its sell-by date years ago. Never mind, though, I'll keep going . . .
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Not as far as I am aware...
Also someone pointed out it cuts out almost immediately as soon as she notices the super coil, which is lol.
Yes it's very HERE IS THE DOCTOR! And then she has to go fix something.
=D Really, I'm still getting milage out of that? I thought that passed its sell-by date years ago. Never mind, though, I'll keep going . . .
We shall keep being amused.
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DRAMATIC FANFAR--never mind, shit going down . . .
We shall keep being amused.
Well, I'm never actually going to get tired of taking digs at Rusty, so this all works out well.
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*sigh*
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Thirteen was definitely thinking about the Ponds and River when she spoke about her family. Not to mention Nardole, Missy and Bill.
Ryan's dyspraxia was treated with great sympathy. Karl's anxiety? Not so much. Also Thirteen telling Karl that he had no right to kick Tim Shaw (who had stalked and threatened him) off the crane when she'd just set off five DNA bombs in him is certainly consistent with previous hypocritical Doctor statements, just not sure if it was meant to be seen as that?
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My reaction to it was much more akin to a sustained squee of glee at the prospect of new Doctor who with the perfect actor in the role.
Oh, my gods that theme! ♥♥♥♥♥
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I thought the design of the alien pod was superb. So striking and utterly different from anything we've seen on Doctor Who recently. It looks like it crashed in out of a Guillermo del Toro film. It totally gave me the 'weird alien thing invades the mundane real world' chills you'd think I'd be immune to by now. I mean, I prefer Moff's take, but it did work.
Also Thirteen telling Karl that he had no right to kick Tim Shaw (who had stalked and threatened him) off the crane when she'd just set off five DNA bombs in him is certainly consistent with previous hypocritical Doctor statements, just not sure if it was meant to be seen as that?
I'm having a hard time figuring out whether or not she intended him to live under her plan? Which rather changes what her statement to Karl means.
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Ooooh I love it. Yes. Poetry/fairytales/layers, or as Liz Sandifer put it re The Beast Below:
“As above, so below,” the injunction goes - a declaration that manipulating symbols and manipulating objects is, in some sense, the same thing. That a symbol and a thing are in some sense interchangeable. What is the moral heart of the Moffat era? It is simple.
The secret of material social progress is alchemy.
It's symbols all the way down.
BUT WE ARE BACK TO PROSE. And yes, I can see why people find that easier to deal with.
Thirteen was definitely thinking about the Ponds and River when she spoke about her family. Not to mention Nardole, Missy and Bill.
So very much. *heart breaks*
Ryan's dyspraxia was treated with great sympathy. Karl's anxiety? Not so much.
It was funny, but I didn't really read it as anxiety? Which might be on me, cause that's a great observation.
Also Thirteen telling Karl that he had no right to kick Tim Shaw (who had stalked and threatened him) off the crane when she'd just set off five DNA bombs in him is certainly consistent with previous hypocritical Doctor statements, just not sure if it was meant to be seen as that?
Well at least all he got was a little telling off, she didn't end Britain's Golden Age...
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I saw! Twas brilliant. And WHO tries to explain things to someone who has actually written for Doctor Who? I can't even.
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He says he hates heights so if nothing else, he's clearly suffering from work-related anxiety and is using those mantras to control that anxiety. And it was all played for comedy.
Well at least all he got was a little telling off, she didn't end Britain's Golden Age...
*snort* It certainly wasn't on Ten's level, I agree, but it was still a bit of a "how is that WORSE than setting off BOMBS IN HIS BODY?" moment for me.
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I'm having a hard time figuring out whether or not she intended him to live under her plan? Which rather changes what her statement to Karl means.
Yes, that's the thing, it was ambiguous. I expect the Doctor thought Tim might be able to get himself fixed if he went home. I just fail to see why Karl kicking Tim Shaw off a crane was somehow 'worse' than setting off five bombs in his actual DNA? *snark*
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Yeahhhhh…. Which explains why I was underwhelmed, frankly. People can say what they will about Moffat, but his storytelling had a lyricism that you could sink your teeth into (i.e. you could never say it “wasn’t exactly brimming over with meta”…).
All of our post-Time War Doctors have been fairly guarded, with various kinds of walls (charm, distraction, lies, rudeness), and the difference in Thirteen lies in her openness. She readily communicates her emotions and thoughts, no fuss.
This, I do like! Though I wonder if that openness and optimism is in itself a kind of wall... (Note the repeated "should be fine!")
My only caveat wrt our new Companions is that I am straight back to my main issue with ‘Rose’: The shopgirl was never a point of identification, and although she was very nice I had been promised an alien!
Lolllllll. I’m having that issue more with the new companions than I did with Rose - sheerly because of the lack of clarity about POV. With Rose (and Martha, and Donna, etc…), you got a very clear, strong sense of whose story it was - you may not have been thrilled by Rose, but you GOT her, right away. With multiple companions... I like the idea of that, but in execution it lacks focus, which makes it harder to invest IMO.
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I always really loved the poetry of Moffat, his circular writing and the fairy-tale feel of it all. I know I will miss that, but I do think a new showrunner was a good idea at this point.
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I *want* to be like 'ooooh, chewy, problematic Doctor moment!' but I'm just stuck at 'whut?'
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Same here, she was just an utter delight and just perfectly the Doctor. It's easy to see why they cast her.
I always really loved the poetry of Moffat, his circular writing and the fairy-tale feel of it all. I know I will miss that, but I do think a new showrunner was a good idea at this point.
I miss it already! But nothing can last forever, and if nothing else the poor man needed a break. Plus, the whole point of the show is renewal.
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It's perfectly serviceable. But yeah, no meta, no poetry. Ah well, we will always have Darillium.
This, I do like! Though I wonder if that openness and optimism is in itself a kind of wall... (Note the repeated "should be fine!")
Could be, guess we'll have to wait & see. But it's a good deal more endearing than 'You are so boring I deleted your name.' (Ah early!Twelve. Not an easy fella to get along with.)
you may not have been thrilled by Rose, but you GOT her, right away.
Oh absolutely. As Liz Sandifer put it:
'It takes all of a minute for us to know Rose, to know her living situation, her well-meaning but slightly oafish boyfriend, her uninspiring job. We all know her. There’s not a viewer in Britain who does not know her after this sequence. Ten point eight million of them. More than anything else on television that week save four Corries and a pair of EastEnders. Eighteen percent of the country. In unison run smack into Rose Tyler, Sun-child of the popular culture.'
With multiple companions... I like the idea of that, but in execution it lacks focus, which makes it harder to invest IMO.
Yes, there is not that intense focus - however Chibnall is great at ensemble, so I am looking forward to getting to know them all better. Also... I think the main thing was to introduce Thirteen. Rose was instantly knowable, and thus an excellent guide to learning more about the Doctor and his world. Eleven (as I say above) - fairy tale, little girl, magic. Eleven & Amy share their origin stories. But Thirteen... needs an audience? Does that make sense? She doesn't have the need for that co-dependency (poor Clara who bore the brunt of that), and although she likes the people she meets, she has no plans to keep them ('I'm almost going to miss you!'). She is oldskool, agreeable to having friends along, but not *needing* them in the same way.
Wooo, that became long & rambly.
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I think the idea was probably to mock the self-help culture? But yeah, not brilliantly done. :(
*snort* It certainly wasn't on Ten's level, I agree, but it was still a bit of a "how is that WORSE than setting off BOMBS IN HIS BODY?" moment for me.
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Cute video!
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It's getting towards Halloween, so it sprang to mind...