8x09 Flatline (Discussion/Grading) SPOILERS!

[Count Zero]

Good to see the Doctor finally having second thoughts about his attitude toward peoples disposability though.

I think this episode showed that he never felt anyone's disposable. The end of the episode was quite significant in that regard. He didn't think that any of the people who died were disposable - or "brushwork" as it was put. It pained him that he couldn't save them. Which is why he's trying to keep the emotional distance we've seen from him.

This episode was a good mix of suspense, silly and fun moments and great character moments. The sentence by the Doctor towards Clara at the end gave me chills. "You were an exceptional Doctor. Goodness had nothing to do with it." I'm intrigued. I suspect we'll get the whole story about the Doctor's doubts of his own goodness by the end of the series.

What did everyone think of Missy's appearance at the end? It was too enigmatic for me to make sense of but I'd be interested to hear your takes on it.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Last time I saw a 2-Dimensional villain, well it wasn't really a villain, but last time I saw a 2 dimensional threat, Worf had to deliver a baby.

 

[diankra]

The obvious assumption would be that it was Missy who gave Clara the Doctor's number, thus setting in motion the entire chain of events that led to her becoming scattered across the Doctor's timeline to save him from the Intelligence, for reasons yet to be apparent but presumably leading to something the Doctor won't like.
But that might be too obvious.

 

[Skellington]

Barely sentient.

No, only kidding, it was Eyebrows - and partly because of the "barely sentient" line and other little gems.

Capaldi and Coleman were both wonderful (so it must be Saturday). Loved the conversation at the end.

Missy's laugh sounded a bit familiar.

 

[Nightowl1701]

The obvious assumption would be that it was Missy who gave Clara the Doctor's number, thus setting in motion the entire chain of events that led to her becoming scattered across the Doctor's timeline to save him from the Intelligence, for reasons yet to be apparent but presumably leading to something the Doctor won't like.
But that might be too obvious.

Simple. Without Clara, the Doctor would have died, once and for all, at Trenzalore. And without the Doctor, Gallifrey cannot be restored to our universe.

The only problem with that is: Gallifrey is under new management.

Missy's laugh sounded a bit familiar.

It did, didn't it? As did her grin...

 

[DarthPipes]

Okay, I LOVED that episode. It felt like an RTD-era story. The Doctor puts his companion down in a place they're not supposed to be (which of course happened all the time on Classic Who) and return to the present day to discover people have gone missing under unusual circumstances. Plus we had some actual consequences with people staying dead and one of the survivors being a miserable bastard.


Flatline was a great use of Clara in the central role (she was fun as "The Doctor") while still keeping the Doctor involved (and ripping out some great one-liners along the way). The two-dimensional monsters were inventive and scary with some terrific CGI. It might have been interesting if the monsters have just misunderstood what they were doing but we do get the Doctor's great line telling them that they "are determined to be the monsters."

Great visuals with the Doctor doing his best Addams Family impersonation. We even get cool stuff like a train bearing down on the TARDIS.

A suspenseful hour of television.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I'm thinking about season one when 9 says that the TARDIS doors won't hold because it's a "real" Dalek Army on the other side of them.

1. Siege mode.

2. Stop reducing the weight of the ship. If the TARDIS was suddenly expressing the weight of a planet, it would have powdered the Dalek ship it was berthed in, and crushed the rest of the fleet too as thousands of transsolar disks were drawn towards it's colossal mass.

3. (Skipping ahead to last fortnight) If the TARDIS weighs the same as a moon, yet doesn't exhibit those characteristic because of Timelord technology, couldn't the TARDIS have as easily reduced the weight of the moon even as it's mass was increasing?

 

[Mr Light]

Yet another very enjoyable standalone episode with a great premise. Aside from some fundamental story problems with "Listen" this has been a very solid season so far.

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

Damn, that was a rollicking good ride! But after watching the denouement eight times now, I still am at a loss as what the Doctor names the 2D invaders. The music and effects swallow it up. Anyone catch it?

 

[Nightowl1701]

"I... tried to talk. I want you to remember that. I tried to reach out. I tried to understand you. But I think that you understand us perfectly. And you just don't care.
"And I don't know whether you are here to invade, infiltrate or just replace us, but I don't suppose it really matters now. You are monsters! That is the role you seem determined to play, so it seems that I must play mine - the man that stops the monsters.
"I'm sending you back to your own dimension. Who knows, some of you may even survive the trip. And if you do, remember this: YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!!! THIS PLANE IS PROTECTED!!! I...AM THE DOCTOR!!! AND I NAME YOU...THE BONELESS!!!"

 

[Mr. Adventure]

AND I NAME YOU THE ♫♪♫♪BON♫♪♫♪E♫♪♫♪LE♫♪♫♪SS♫♪♫♪!!

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

"I... tried to talk. I want you to remember that. I tried to reach out. I tried to understand you. But I think that you understand us perfectly. And you just don't care.
"And I don't know whether you are here to invade, infiltrate or just replace us, but I don't suppose it really matters now. You are monsters! That is the role you seem determined to play, so it seems that I must play mine - the man that stops the monsters.
"I'm sending you back to your own dimension. Who knows, some of you may even survive the trip. And if you do, remember this: YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!!! THIS PLANE IS PROTECTED!!! I...AM THE DOCTOR!!! AND I NAME YOU...THE BONELESS!!!"

Ah, yes. The power of a name. Thank you!

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

AND I NAME YOU THE ♫♪♫♪BON♫♪♫♪E♫♪♫♪LE♫♪♫♪SS♫♪♫♪!!

Yeah, that's about how I felt!

 

[TimmyWl]

It was a good episode. I liked the hand coming out of the small TARDIS. The train disappearing act was rather shocking along with Clara convincing the young lad to not stay in the train as it went on to somewhere.

 

[davejames]

Ok that was freakin awesome, and might just edge out Listen as my favorite of the season so far. The monsters were some of the creepiest and most original I've seen in awhile (maybe even better than the Weeping Angels), there were lots of really fun gags involving the shrunken TARDIS (the best obviously being when the Doctor has to slowly crawl it off the train tracks, which was silly as hell but absolutely hilarious to watch), and it all ended with probably the most badass victory and speech from this Doctor yet.

The effects were really damn impressive throughout as well. Whether it was the furniture being absorbed into the walls or the bizarre animated creatures or the TARDIS slamming down on the tracks at the end.


And oh yeah, how can I forget the giant hand grabbing that guy from out of nowhere! That was the biggest "holy shit" moment I can ever remember on this show.

 

[Brent]

He sure did spray paint a good looking door with only one color of spray paint, heh, that silliness aside, this was a great episode.

This reminded me of classic who where weird things would happen to the TARDIS. Not enough TARDIS oriented episodes in the new series IMO. So I liked that.

Interesting learning that the TARDIS's true weight would fracture the surface of the Earth. The theory that the TARDIS is as big as a moon, with the same gravity apparently, seems to be true.

Enjoyed seeing what Siege mode TARDIS looked like, though would have liked some comment about the chameleon circuit since it reverted back there for a moment.

The monsters were pretty scary, and I like that they were just flat out monsters, not misunderstood, just monsters being monsters.

Clara made a good Doctor. I can see a lot of woman cosplaying Clara at conventions with that coat and a sonic.

This was also a good premise, dealing with a 2D alien species, very unique concept.

Overall, A+

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Would the weight of the inside of the TARDIS really ever come to bear in this dimension?

What we see as a police box is just the small part of it projecting into our dimension, no?

 

[davejames]

I think this episode showed that he never felt anyone's disposable. The end of the episode was quite significant in that regard. He didn't think that any of the people who died were disposable - or "brushwork" as it was put. It pained him that he couldn't save them. Which is why he's trying to keep the emotional distance we've seen from him.

I don't get the sense that his emotional distance and cold demeanor is a purposeful thing. It feels to me like it's a new part of his personality that he's troubled by and aware is a problem (or is "faulty," as he would call it), but he's not quite sure what to do about it.

He still believes in doing the right thing as much as he ever did, but can only go about it in an outwardly insensitive and cold-hearted way for some reason.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

AND I NAME YOU THE ♫♪♫♪BON♫♪♫♪E♫♪♫♪LE♫♪♫♪SS♫♪♫♪!!

Yeah, that's about how I felt!

You're not the only one, check out this real caption from tonight's episode:

I saw this on GallifreyBase but had to see it with my own eyes. That's a picture I took myself.

 

[SeerSGB]

AND I NAME YOU THE ♫♪♫♪BON♫♪♫♪E♫♪♫♪LE♫♪♫♪SS♫♪♫♪!!

Yeah, that's about how I felt!

You're not the only one, check out this real caption from tonight's episode:

I saw this on GallifreyBase but had to see it with my own eyes. That's a picture I took myself.

The fuck?