Spoilers Spyfall, Part One grade and discussion thread

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by The Nth Doctor, Jan 1, 2020.

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How do you rate Spyfall, Part One?

  1. Oh, brilliant!

    18.5%
  2. 9

    17.3%
  3. 8

    23.5%
  4. 7

    16.0%
  5. 6

    6.2%
  6. 5

    3.7%
  7. 4

    3.7%
  8. 3

    4.9%
  9. 2

    1.2%
  10. Rubbish

    4.9%
  1. Captain Crow

    Captain Crow Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
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    Most likely it's just an easter egg recycling of the Time Lord Hearts beat rhythm which itself is a riff of the baseline the show's theme tune. Something which they've done a few times already as door knocking.
     
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  2. StCoop

    StCoop Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    What if this Master is actually a clone created during Saxon's days as a way of surviving his actual death. This would explain why he's so much like Simm and also avoid invalidating Missy's redemption.
     
  3. Photoman15

    Photoman15 Commodore Commodore

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    The sunny shores of Trenzalore
    If they (Moffat) can invalidate the Masters redemption ("get out of the way"), then Chibnill can return the favor and invalidate Missy's. I said from day one that TEoT was just as much about the Master's redemption as it was a farewell for 10 (and an intro for 11).
     
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  4. diankra

    diankra Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Capaldi is after the first regeneration of the new cycle, as Troughton was after the first change of the previous cycle.
     
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  5. matthunter

    matthunter Admiral Admiral

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    Moffatt carried it over, and Chibbers has run with it. The First Doctor and Susan were possibly from the far future, until they weren't. Making it up as they go IS this show. So don't complain if something someone made up (Doctor can heal instantly if still regenerating unless killed outright) gets picked up and used again. It does work, you just don't like that it does. Bit like the civil service and Dominic Cummings.
     
  6. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Eh, as it is every time Kate makes an appearance we get bashed over the head with references to the Brigadier in a vain attempt to solidify it for the two people who might not yet get the fact that she's his daughter. If she does return again, how about not mentioning she's the Brigadier's daughter? We all remember the dozen times per episode they mentioned it in in the other episodes she was in, we don't need to be reminded again.
    Capaldi and Missy kissed in season 8.
    Yeah, I also noticed they seem to be developing something between the Master and Yaz. Could be interesting to see how that develops in future episodes. At the very least, it gives Yaz something to do.
    That wasn't really redemption. The Master just wanted Rassilon dead more than he wanted the Doctor dead in that moment.
     
  7. Robert D. Robot

    Robert D. Robot Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    ... What if the Master is not 'our' Master, but a Master from one of those alternate Universes. Maybe the Master isn't the Escape Artist that we always assumed that he was. Replacement Masters simply keep jumping into our Universe via that abandoned coal mine in Lackawanna!
     
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  8. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That would depend on how beholden Chibnall is to RTD's ideas. RTD stated that Time Lords are unique to our universe, meaning there aren't any in any other universe in the entire multiverse.

    Regardless, we're probably overthinking things since anyone who actually thought the Master was truly dead with Missy were the ones deluding themselves.
     
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  9. Velocity

    Velocity Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Maybe he was ill from all that scenery he chewed.
     
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  10. ClayinCA

    ClayinCA Commodore Commodore

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    I do kind of hate the idea that the Master/Missy's redemption arc, so much a part of the show a mere two seasons ago, could be tossed aside so easily; Missy had become so complex that it seems a retrograde step to just change her back into a cackling loon supervillain. But I suppose change is the nature of the show, right?
     
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  11. David cgc

    David cgc Admiral Premium Member

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    There's definitely an argument that allowing the Master to be reinvented continuously is the very thing that let Moffat do such a great storyline with Missy, and being tied down to that would prevent Chibnall or any future writer from doing a similarly effective reinvention.

    I don't know, I'm reserving a lot of judgement about this episode until I see the conclusion. There's simply no way to tell how or if this interacts with the Missy arc. Like, at the moment, it feels weird to have the Master reset to, what, 35 years ago with the shrink-ray stuff when their redemption arc was a little over a season ago. Seriously, the last two-parter was when we previously saw the Master, that's not a lot of time for an off-screen reinvention. Add to the fact that both Harold Saxon and Missy were built up and built up with extremely direct, personal attacks on the Doctor... well, again, we need to see part 2, but at the moment, it feels like the Master is just wanking around being evil for laughs, without the same sort of personal obsession and vendetta that characterized their more recent appearances.
     
  12. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

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    Can I ship the Doctor and Master?

    Oh gosh darnit I forgot that Capaldi and Missy did kiss. But they didn't nookie.
     
  13. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    Lumley and Price ran away together at the end of Curse of The Fatal Deaths. They Probably nookied.
     
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  14. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

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    Hey was that thing the Timelord matrix they were sent to or the Masters confession dial?
     
  15. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    "Why do they call you the Master?"
     
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  16. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    The simplest solution seems to be that this Master is a regeneration that came before Missy. I mean did we actually see Simm regenerate into her? I don't recall exactly, but I don't think we did. Simple, but cheap.
     
  17. jaime

    jaime Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Hmm. That is an interesting way of looking at it, but Capaldi doc wouldn’t have existed without the new cycle. I suppose what you are arguing is essentially that Smith is both 13 and 1 as a result of that regeneration. Which is also interesting because it means that any ‘new cycle’ is always one less than an initial cycle.
     
  18. Timelord Victorious

    Timelord Victorious Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Not really, if we are talking about regenerations. It‘s always 12 regenerations.
    But one Doctor was born instead of regenerated into.
     
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  19. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

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    Is that place the Timelord matrix or some other place?
     
  20. captainkirk

    captainkirk Commodore Commodore

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    When was that established? Was that onscreen or just something RTD said himself?