7X03 A Town Called Mercy (Grading/Discussion) (SPOILERS!)

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by Samurai8472, Sep 15, 2012.

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Grade "A Town Called Mercy"

Poll closed Oct 16, 2012.
  1. Geronimo!

    16 vote(s)
    14.0%
  2. Good

    65 vote(s)
    57.0%
  3. Average

    27 vote(s)
    23.7%
  4. Bad

    5 vote(s)
    4.4%
  5. Horrible

    1 vote(s)
    0.9%
  1. Ghost Bones

    Ghost Bones Captain Captain

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    Susan has regenerated into a transgender horse. That's just the kind of thing new Who would do as well.
     
  2. Pindar

    Pindar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Dont think there was an need for the Ponds in this episode, that's us over the half way point now. By the time Strictly starts up properly it will all be over.
     
  3. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    That was OK, Westerns really aren't my favorite genre. The story was very obvious in comparing and contrasting the two Doctors, so nothing was really new there. The story was well done but not nearly as entertaining as the last two. An average view, all together.
     
  4. Holdfast

    Holdfast Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    What do you mean, "even?" :D

    In its prime, Red Dwarf regularly handled quite a few sci-fi concepts with more depth than many more serious SF shows. But yeah, Gunmen of the Apocalypse was pretty cool. Although, Western setting aside, a more pertinent comparison from the Dwarf library would probably be The Inquisitor, except in that case it was the rogue justice-seeking simulant who had the ability to travel through time. ;)
     
  5. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    He's not going to do a Peter Pan? Show up one night but they're too old, so he invites Wendy's kids to Neverland... No, he's already "playing" with their child.
     
  6. gturner

    gturner Admiral

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    I think instead of having the Sheriff get shot, they should've had Major Carter come out of nowhere, put a staff blast into the Cyborg, and say, "Colonel Mitchell, good to see you sir!"

    Then wrap up the episode and not have the Doctor not explain a darn thing to the Ponds.
     
  7. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    The entire episode hinged on a good performance from the actor who's portraying Kahler Jex and unfortunately, he fell flat. This episode would have been a lot stronger if we as an audience were able to feel Jex's guilt, remorse and ultimate self-sacrifice.
     
  8. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I mean "even" because Red Dwarf went to shit for a while.

    They didn't know what to do with all the money that came with success.

    Possibly my least favourite episode and then I buy a 300 page hardcover which is just an adaptation of that same episode strung out to 8 times the size.
     
  9. Holdfast

    Holdfast Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, no argument there. But S1-6 has some truly wonderful treatments of a large range of familiar sci-fi concepts. I'd happily put up many of those eps against the same concepts being treated in any of my favourite more serious SF series.

    Fingers crossed for the quality of the new RD series.
     
  10. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I didn't care for this one very much, the Doctor/Matt felt forced when he wasn't just simply out-of-character. Hell, he basically got the one truly good man killed by throwing a tantrum.

    Why'd he ever drop Amy and Rory off in the first place? Seems pointless if he's constantly going on adventures with them. I know the whole codependency or whatever thing is coming up but it just doesn't feel right.

    I think the horse gag would've worked better if he had stopped with the first line.

    Next week looks to have potential to be interesting.
     
  11. Holdfast

    Holdfast Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The intersting aspects of the Ponds story effectively ended last series; they even got a nice wrap-up. At this point it feels indulgent to have us still putting up with them. Admittedly, I don't care for them so I'm biased, but I still think the show should have brought in the new companion full-time at the start of this series instead of waiting around filling time with all this silly "codependency or whatever thing" as you put it. It all feels a little adolescent, the Doctor not just cutting the apron strings, tbh. He's 1200 (or whatever), not 12.
     
  12. JRoss

    JRoss Commodore Commodore

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    ^+1. We need better than Amy.

    I'm dreading Clara now, though. At first I didn't care either way, just glad that we'd get someone new. Then her character (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) is introduced and we see someone who is just so gosh-darn special that she gets to look directly at the camera and deliver her line to the audience.
     
  13. I am not Spock

    I am not Spock Commodore Commodore

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    ^Guess I'm the only person who likes Amy. I'll be sad to see her go. But then, I like Clara/Oswin as well so far.

    Anyway, I enjoyed the episode. It was nice to see them do a Western. And I liked that there wasn't a clear cut villain, he was a morally ambiguous character. It was good to see them acknowledging the Doctor's tendencies to push the moral boundaries in recent episodes. I wonder where they're going with this storyline.
     
  14. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    I speak "horse".
     
  15. Mister Fandango

    Mister Fandango Fleet Captain

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    Hardly. Both she and Rory have been some of the most interesting and fun companions on the show, and they're at the top of my list since the restart. Now Rose, she was annoying. Followed closely by Donna. (I still have no idea why she's so popular. Everything about her grates on the nerves.) Martha is the only real contender, but she was a wasted opportunity because of RTD's hard-on for turning her into a lovestruck twit.

    That said, the Ponds did have a nice ending last series and they could have easily moved on with new companions after that. But they didn't, and I'm not at all upset about it. In fact, I like the almost cocky attitude they're starting to develop about it; what, being the Doctor's in-laws, experienced time travelers, and so on and so forth.

    Heck, the in-laws part is what really makes it work. As much as most men would love to ditch their in-laws on a rock somewhere, they know they'd have hell to pay from their wives the moment they tried. As it stands now, he already tries to keep a good distance from them, only showing up after months and months of down time.
     
  16. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    he's not leaving them behind from his adventures. but hen I don't remember them visiting henry the 8th, so we're not seeing everything. The Doctor is "most probably" giving them a breather, but what's he doing? 10 months go buy for them, but maybe only a couple hours, a few minutes, seconds for the Timelord as he reads a book in the bathtub... He's still 12 hundred, so it's not like it seems that centuries are still passing between visits.
     
  17. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I will say this, you don't see many episodes where the heroes take advantage of the antagonist's morality.
     
  18. Mister Fandango

    Mister Fandango Fleet Captain

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    Well, he did have enough time to have at least two adventures between visits, one with Nerfertitti and one with the safari hunter fellow.
     
  19. Similitude

    Similitude Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Good, not great. Weakest of the three, but still I enjoyed it.

    Only 2 episodes left of Amy :(
     
  20. Saga

    Saga Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    enjoyable episode. thought it was better than Dinosaurs on a Spaceship to be honest. wish Rory had more to do in this ep.