7X02 Dinosaurs On A Spaceship (Grading/Discussion) (SPOILERS!)

Same here. I felt a couple of times the first two episode they had to really blow by the setup for an episode because they were trying to get what would traditionally be two episodes into one.

 

That was pure fun from start to finish.

 

Great fun, can't wait to re-watch it with the kids tomorrow, as they should love it. I cracked up at the 2001 reference. I was a bit confused as to why they didn't teleport back from the beach/engine room. The "teleport's fried" bit was a bit cliche. It's a good thing the teleporter technology on Trek isn't quite so, dodgy.

"Mr. Scott, two to beam up."
"Ach, sorry sir, the teleport's fried."
"Again? Why can we beam down, but never beam up again?"
"Plot reasons, sir."

Amy proved quite resourceful, though, once again, Rory shined. At this point, I may enjoy Rory a bit more than Amy. Granted, I'd prefer to be watching the beautiful Karen Gillan, but Rory is the more interesting character.

 

I do wonder how this episode would've played out without Riddell and Nefertiti. Could've been all Rory, Amy and Brian and might have been a bit tighter or at least different. Or with Nefertiti and no Riddell and perhaps not such a happy ending between her and the baddie?

I wonder if they'll explain why the Doctor has been such a dick to the Ponds with regards to his timing. Is he truly completely oblivious or is he trying to do what's best for them weaning them off? After all he's a time lord he doesn't have pick them up ten months later just because it's been ten months for him.

 

Amy and her response to Nefertiti about being a queen. Her reiteration about being a queen sounded much more serious than the first. Is it meaningful, or just nothing?

 

I've been going through Series 1 of nuWho recently and noticed this is nothing new for The Doctor. In 'Aliens in London' when he takes Rose home, he believes it to have been just twelve hours since he initially took her in the episode 'Rose.' When in fact it had been a whole year; he miscalculated there.

Then when Eleven left and told young Amy he'd be back the next day to pick her up, he doesn't get back till she is a young woman.

I don't recall Ten ever making those mistakes, but then he was never shown leaving his companions, unless they were leaving for good.

 

Yeah, that one was alright. I wasn't expecting much from the title, but on the other hand I (and I seem to be in the minority on this) like Chris Chibnall, so I was quietly hopeful it would be more than just a silly romp. Basically I think Chibnall doesn't always execute his sci-fi plots all that well, but his character work is outstanding.

And so it proved. It was lightweight froth at the start, with dinosaurs and missiles and Egyptian queens, blah blah blah. But when it sobered up and got down to business, with the character of Solomon, it was absorbing stuff. Solomon was such a wicked, evil man (and superbly acted, which always helps) - how can anyone have a problem with him getting killed?! He got what he deserved! I was really depressed at how little Rupert Graves got to do, though. It wasn't Chibnall's writing that was at fault - just the simple maths of a 45 minute episode not being long enough to do justice to so many characters. I wanted to see more of everyone (even Amy was okay in this one!), and that to me is the sign of a good writer IMO.

I know many people who would kill me for saying this, but I really hope they make Chibnall (or Paul Cornell) the showrunner when Moffat finally has mercy on us and leaves the show.

 

Yeah at the end, they'd need to do something to provoke the endgame. I thought he was going after the TARDIS initially when he was speaking of the unique treasure onboard.

I wonder how the hell that database thing works anyway. It's pretty amazing if it can identify anything through the entirety of time and space.

 

It didn't recognize a Timelord or Gallifreyan so it doesn't know everything.

 

I really loved it. The good parts were Solomon, the Doctor's verdict against Solomon, the Silurian Ark, having someone besides America or England running Earth in the future.

The bad parts were Amy's acting in the scenes with her and the noobs. I liked each of the new characters, but they felt a bit tacked-on. I knew by my experience with media that the two were going to end up together, but there was literally nothing about their dialogue that indicated any sort of chemistry. When the audience needs Amy to tell them that there is chemistry there really is none. Sometimes Smith talks too fast to be understood.

This was nice in that it was a thrill-ride episode that really avoided the whole "base under siege" gimmick. This episode gives me hope that we'll see a shift in the story, just like Seven went from jolly wanderer to cunning avenger.

 

Got a feeling he's just being an irresponsible child...he's not really paying attention to the intervals at all. They are. I think that the clue to the end of the Ponds is Amy's statement to Rory in Asylum that she gave him up. In the end, when they go, it's going to look like the Angels did it, and maybe they do, but it's also going to be a case of Amy giving up the Doctor to be with Rory in the past, which is what's going to hurt him the most.

 

Solomon "died" by a remnant from 10, "no second chances, I'm that sort of a man."

 

Yeah but that was like 700 years ago. He's moved on.

 

I loved this episode! I'll say it again, Doctor Who now feels more like the classic Doctor Who, just great fun, no huge arcs, just the Doctor and companions getting into trouble and finding their way out. It is as Doctor Who should be. I finally feel like Doctor Who has found its stride this season. I am absolutely loving it more than ever. Kudos to this season so far, kudos.

/edit - only 1 minor complaints, I still think the Intro is too dark, on my TV it looks very "green" or something, the color is off and dark

 

However, in the very first season of Doctor Who there was whole episode based around the fact that the doors opened while in transit, and all heck broke lose on the TARDIS, heh. They've certainly retconned, or changed the fact that the doors can be open in space now, cause it wasn't like that in the classic series.

 

The robots reminded me something out of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. As an American I wasn't lost on it, though I didn't know they were a comedy duo till just now, but I found it humorous and took away a positive experience.

 

Upgrades

I also see that they outsourced earth's protection to India by 2267

 

Perhaps this might be a bit of a stretch, but in the last 7 years I've been watching Doctor Who, tonight's episode might be in the top 5 favorite episodes for me. I had a blast watching that episode tonight. We got to meet Rory's Dad and he and the other two characters added so much to the story (I want to see that gang team up again, they were too good together), Dinosaurs in space (Did the beginning of the Raptor scene remind anyone of Jurassic Park because that's the first thing I thought) and the stuff with the Triceratops. I had sad that she got killed, and actually that was reason enough to blow up Soloman, among other things. Still, great episode, I laughed, had a good time, and this reminded me of the RTD Doctor Who and why I got into the series in the first place.

Next week, Ben Browder and I can't wait.