7X04 The Power Of Three (Grading/Discussion) (SPOILERS!)

well, you know models after ten years....

 

He's written two episodes this year, was supposed to write three and "Pond Life" too. He's been allowed to cover the big character stuff that RTD or Moffat would normally do themselves. It's hard not see him as being groomed for the Big Seat.

 

Just be sure to add that setting to your list of things the sonic screwdriver can do!

Anyway, a meh episode with a lot of really cool elements that just didn't gel or contribute much to the story. I agree with Intrinsical that the black boxes were a metaphor representing all the gadgets and software we let into our lives, but that element and the warning it should have conveyed wasn't explored well. Maybe the idea got written and re-written too many times and lost in all the other stuff thrown in. This was a chili with too many ingredients, and should have focused exclusively on the Ponds and the boxes.

That's not to say I didn't like seeing the Brigadier's daughter ... I loved that revelation. And the orderlies with speaker grills. And the Shakri with the curious fondness for the number seven. But it all served to clutter the story rather than enhance it.

Out of four episodes so far, this one ranks better than "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", but not as good as "Asylum of the Daleks" or "A Town Called Mercy".

 

That's not what I meant.

Look at Rose. Martha. Donna. Sarah-Jane. Jo Grant. Each of these companions went on to better things after their time with the Doctor.

Rose got her family reunited and ultimately her own Doctor.

Martha became a doctor herself and worked with UNIT and Torchwood before marrying Mickey.

Donna (who, admittedly had the most tragic fate all things considered) at least went back to her family and a future with a loving husband and considerable wealth (courtesy of her father.)

Sarah-Jane was still a journalist but was off basically being the "Doctor" on her own show.

Jo Grant ultimately became a world-class adventurer and matriarch of her own family.

What did Amy do after her time with the Doctor? She became a model and nearly divorced her husband.

In-story, it's not so egregious. Looking at it from the writer's perspective though, it's clear to me RTD had a better handle on what to do with his female characters than Moffat does.

I'm sure people will disagree with me here; I just think it was rather short-sighted and that it's nice to see that the writers have sort of addressed that.

 

I probably should've put a smiley on that, I got your point.

 

Just had a thought regarding the ten years. Which time periods are counted here for Amy`s doctor live?

Starting with the Eleventh Hour.

Surely not the "5 minutes" time he got a bot wrong.

Does the Atraxi/Prisoner Zero adventure already count?

Cause the Doctor went off to fly in the ne TARDIS and missed 2 years of her live again.

So only 8 years would remain.

Then they are on continously until A Good Man Goes to War when River drops them home. Let's say this was more or less real time, so 2 years.Do we know how long the Doctor was away?

Next big break is after Wedding of River Song until the end of Widow, Wardrobe... which covers another 2 years?

Pond Life is what 5 months?

That leaves 3.5 years, one of which is covered by the latest episodes...

Did I get that about right?

 

This episode was average, but compared to the other shit we've put up with from offat, it was good. I missed episodes being set in the present day, but the box thing was so bad. I mean come on, boxes just falling out of the sky then people taking them home without the military getting involved? WTF?

Still, I felt a bit of RTD nostalgia during the episode, then I thought to myself "dear god, Smith would probably be my favourate doctor if RTD was still in. This episode showed off Smiths tallent really well. Still average though.

 

No worries. Didn't mean to sound all nerd-rage-y about it. Just clarifying

 

I found the Shakri villain to have a very Classic Who vibe about him, from that observation room, to his make-up and appearance. I could easily imagine Tom Baker or Peter Davison facing him.

For me, I think this episode was the least engaging of the episodes so far this season. There was nothing outwardly wrong about it, but it just didn't have that zip. I liked the Brig's daughter heading UNIT, and the bit with the soccer (er, foot-) ball was a nice callback to "The Lodger". It was nice to see Brian Pond again, though he didn't have much to do. Doesn't Rory have a mother? Wouldn't it be funny if they'd cast Julie Walters as his mum, heh.

 

Or you could say he's covered the big character stuff of the characters who aren't going to be around much longer?

Oh well, guess we'll see when it finally happens. Do you know exactly when Moffat is leaving as well?

Personally I wasn't overly happy with the endings RTD gave any of his era's companions. I found them shallow. Rose settling for second best with fake dad and fake Doctor, Martha giving up her career and fiance to be a mercenary with Mickey? And as for Donna...what he's saying is, it doesn't matter if you lose everything that makes you special, just so long as you're rich. Amy may be floating around a bit aimless, but at least she's doing things off her own bat, a far better example to set than the others.

Just my tuppence worth or course

 

Oh God, don't bring up Donna. If anything sparks my nerd rage it'd hae to be her final fate. I can't really think what'd be worse short of Sliders girl being left in an breeder camp.

 

Yea, Donna was selfish, shallow and brash when she first met the Doctor. She became Sophisticated, but, still firm, and she really carried the morality insistence well. And then, she'd grown so much, and just wanted to keep traveling with her Mate. Poor thing wound up exactly back how the Doctor found her

 

And the Doctor can never see again. Between her and Rose I get the feeling that RTD doesn't like people playing with his toys.

 

I like this theory even more and it probably fits better, too.

I'm not sure I want either of them, but oddly enough, if I had to choose one, it would be Chibnall. I know I sound like a broken record about this (and who thought I would be such a Chibnall defender?), but he has written great stuff for Life on Mars, Law & Order: UK and even Torchwood. I think he's well-rounded enough to take over Doctor Who if he's offered the part.

That being said, I think I would much rather have someone from outside the house of production to take over from Moffat. Just to change things up a bit.

 

Very decent episode. Even though they've only done four stories so far, this is turning out to be the best season of 21st Century Who so far consistency-wise. I haven't seen a "meh" episode yet.

 

An okay episode, even if it's just an extended version of Pond Life. And yes, I am aware that this was written and filmed before Pond Life, but the two are basically the same concept. Except they traded the Ood butler with the cubes.

I like the parts of this episode that are a character piece for the Doctor and the Ponds, and for once this season there was a good reason for Amy and Rory to be there. But unfortunately, the episode seemed rather unfocused on its subplots. The cubes which turn out to be connected to mysterious aliens at the hospital just seem to be on the periphery the whole time and then suddenly out of nowhere we're on a starship that happens to belong to a race previously believed to be mythological by the Time Lords. Then we have UNIT mixed in which we learn they're adopting a more scientific approach to things though this isn't really explored much beyond a few lines of dialogue. And we're introduced to a new character who happens to be the Brigadier's daughter, though this is largely ignored.

Really, it felt like there was too much crammed into this episode. Amy and Rory's out of TARDIS life could have been its own episode, and UNIT dealing with the cubes could have been another, and both storied could have been improved as a result.

Aren't they being a bit too complicated about why the Doctor feels so attached to Amy because she was the first one he saw after regenerating? Never mind the Doctor has never been too attached to people just because they were the first he met as a particular incarnation, wouldn't the far simpler explanation that he's her son-in-law work much better?

So, why didn't they use the UNIT theme music from the RTD era in this episode? I know since Moffat took over they haven't really bothered with the music from RTD's run. But the Cybermen have the same theme music under Moffat as they did under RTD, and the UNIT theme was even used on SJA, so why didn't they use it here.

Also on the music front, I noticed in the scenes set in December there was a Christmas song playing that was also heard in The Runaway Bride and Turn Left. Is this an actual song, or just something recorded for specifically for the show?

Just why were there all those lens flares in all the scenes set in the hospital? I don't watch hospital dramas, do a lot of them have lens flares and this show was trying to parody that like they parodied Trek XI's lens flares with the starship bridge in A Christmas Carol?

I was going to comment that it would have made more sense to place A Town Called Mercy after this episode, since that would explain why the Ponds are travelling with the Doctor, and this episode even featured a visit with Henry VIII which was mentioned last week. But I see some are suggesting A Town Called Mercy could have happened during the anniversary celebration the Doctor took the Ponds on, and I agree that is the perfect solution to that continuity hiccup.

So, from Amy's perspective it's been ten years since she first started travelling with the Doctor. Meaning she's now 31 and the year is 2020. No, I'm not trying to make a point, just making the observation.

 

I'm astonished at how many posters in this thread don't know the song. Must be getting old.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xg9bx3_slade-merry-christmas-everybody_music?search_algo=2

 

Might just be a US thing, I've never heard of that song.