Well damn

[elisi]

TIBERIAN THOUGHTS – Sheffield Steel, or a Subjective Look at the Thirteenth Doctor #7: “Kerblam!”

This might be the most indepth take so so far. And the most... brutal, I think. The conclusion *burns*.


The thing is, I am easy to please. It takes a lot to genuinely offend me (when it comes to TV), and Kerblam! managed it.

In happier news, I watched 'The Twin Dilemma' this afternoon and it was DELIGHTFUL. <3 (Haters to the left.) All the love for Six. Gimme a Doctor who is arrogant, doesn't give a crap about niceties and is happy to destroy the bad guys, it's like balm to my soul. :D

(I am really REALLY hoping the S11 finale does something drastic. Otherwise I am going to seriously doubt my commitment to Sparkle Motion.)

Comments

[auroracloud]

I think I'll save reading that review to another day, because I just watched me some Second Doctor and am in my happy place. But yeah, Kerblam! managed to get my ire up, and I've generally been in such a loving mood of this series so far... Grrgh.

I have to say that when the Twin Dilemma was on the Twitch marathon, I watched about 15 minutes and then had to quit. Even though I knew it would happen at some point, I just couldn't handle the strangulation scene at all. The only Sixth Doctor episode I saw in full was The Mark of the Rani, which I totally enjoyed, though. Six is not among my biggest favourites, but I do like him and I can appreciate that level of snark. Also, I've started listening to some of his Big Finish adventures, and they're delightful.

I don't really need an arrogant Doctor, though, and I'm perfectly fine with him/her acting decently towards human beings including companions - it's not in conflict with taking moral stances and defeating bad guys. :-) My favourite Classic Doctors are Two and Five, who are also the nicest ones (though Two definitely has bursts of temper and moments of petulance). Though I do like (almost) all the others. But regardless, I do want a moral stance I can get behind and actual defeating of bad guys to happen!

Glad I've got reasonably much Classic Who stocked up.

[elisi]

I think I'll save reading that review to another day, because I just watched me some Second Doctor and am in my happy place.
Stay in your happy place!

I have to say that when the Twin Dilemma was on the Twitch marathon, I watched about 15 minutes and then had to quit. Even though I knew it would happen at some point, I just couldn't handle the strangulation scene at all.
Personally I thought was far less awful than I expected. It's one of the things learned by fandom osmosis, so I was prepared for the whole thing to be awful and was most pleasantly surprised. (Overall I mean. That particular scene was... not terrible nice.) ETA: My thoughts are basically: Was this an intelligent decision to make for the writers? No. Did it fit with the overall arc of what they were doing with Six post-regeneration and was it dealt with within the story? Yes. Ergo, I'm okay with it, and presumably the writer(s) have lived to regret their idea.

I don't really need an arrogant Doctor, though, and I'm perfectly fine with him/her acting decently towards human beings including companions - it's not in conflict with taking moral stances and defeating bad guys. :-)
Well 'my' Doctor is Eleven, so being an adorable puppy of a character (with darkness beneath) is more than fine. I think it's the contrast to Thirteen that is making Six especially welcome.

My favourite Classic Doctors are Two and Five, who are also the nicest ones (though Two definitely has bursts of temper and moments of petulance). Though I do like (almost) all the others. But regardless, I do want a moral stance I can get behind and actual defeating of bad guys to happen!
This! So far the only Classic Doctor I have watched all of is Seven, whom I adore, because he is a Trickster-y manipulator and I like that trait. Also the writing is excellent. But I am prepared to love them all!

Glad I've got reasonably much Classic Who stocked up.
Same here! And then there's Big Finish...

[gillo]

Ouch. Yes, though, it covers a lot of my issues with the episode and this series. I love Jodie, but I am not comfortable with a lot of the writing, both on a detailed and a macro scale. And the Kerblam! Man is an unironic picture of Amazon of the future. We will all love the Kerblam Man or history will be rewritten to exclude us.

(Just as T May has rewritten history to exclude the 48%. Upset? You bet.)

[elisi]

Ouch. Yes, though, it covers a lot of my issues with the episode and this series.
If it's a deliberate choice, in that it is building towards something, then it may be excusable. If we are to take it straight... then I genuinely don't know.

(Just as T May has rewritten history to exclude the 48%. Upset? You bet.)
Hey I didn't even get to vote! :(

[sea_thoughts]

Yes, the way they pulled it apart is just *kisses fingers* perfection.

I hate that they're doing this to our first female Doctor.

[elisi]

Yes, the way they pulled it apart is just *kisses fingers* perfection.
And it's... not hard to point out the flaws? As they say, it's very upfront about what it does.

I hate that they're doing this to our first female Doctor.
THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's definitely both in-depth and very brutal...

[elisi]

The ending genuinely shook me. It's one hell of a post.

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

Kerblam! is genuinely the first time I've actually been disappointed by The Doctor. It's almost like she was in a completely different episode to the one I was watching, and then something something sci-fi quantum parallel universe happened and that third act bait and switch happened. I'm especially annoyed that my first let-down was by the first female doctor. And I wonder how I'd react if this had been a Tennant or Capaldi or Smith episode, and now I have to go and examine my internalised misogyny to see if I'd be as unforgiving of a male Doctor. Grrr.

[elisi]

My ire is 100% aimed at the writer (well, the writer, producer, showrunner etc.) Doylist all the way.

On a Watsonian level, the crack ate it. Gone, vamoosed, Kerblam! never existed.

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

I'm struggling with this season. It's not Jodie. It's the so so Chibnall writing. The best episode's have all been one's he hasn't written. If this doesn't improve I may have to sit his show run out. Sorry to be negative but need to vent.

[elisi]

No worries, I'm right there with you.

However I'm currently watching the Sixth Doctor and enjoying his run very much indeed. Thank goodness for 50+ years of show to delve into since the current stuff isn't up to the standard hoped for... :)