While one is tempted to think of “Planet of the Spiders” as the antecedent here, the Pertwee serial I’m more reminded of is “The Green Death,” in which the monsters were regular Earthly maggots mutated by toxic waste. It’s also interesting how the mildly educational flavor of the Hartnell era is back now, with a lot of fairly grounded discussion of spider biology.
So far the emphasis this season is on fairly mundane antagonists, Tim Shaw and the Stenza aside. A mean race coordinator, a pathetic bigot with a time machine, a corporate creep whose greed accidentally creates the crisis. It really is quite a change, and if anything, it’s maybe too great a departure. The Doctor deserves worthy antagonists.
Honestly, I'm concerned the show doesn't feel enough like
Doctor Who anymore. People were comparing "Rosa" to
Star Trek or
Quantum Leap -- this one reminded me more of a
Primeval episode.
Chris Noth’s character was annoying, but I liked the rest of the character stuff. I like how outgoing this Doctor is, like seeing Jade on the phone in the hallway and asking if everything was okay. She’s the diametric opposite of her aloof predecessor. And it was lovely the way Graham, Ryan, and Yaz
chose to come with the Doctor. The bond they’ve formed is really nice.
Was kinda hoping the Doctor would be a little more put off by the spiders considering they're one of the odd, motley crew who have killed one of her iterations in the past.
Well, technically it wasn't the Metebelis III spiders that killed the Doctor, it was the radiation the Doctor exposed himself to in order to return the blue crystal he'd stolen. If anything, Three attributed his death to his own hubris in stealing the crystal. It was the price he had to pay to make amends. So I don't see the incident imbuing the Doctor with any lasting arachnophobia. Radiation phobia, perhaps, especially after it killed Ten too.
Yeah, I have to say that did bother me. I actually wished that they'd made a bigger point of not-Trump actively not heaving it be a mercy killing. Their plan did rather seem to be "let them suffocate to death." And I thought the scientist saying they deserved a natural death of forcing them into a tiny room and starving them to death was odd.
No, Jade's intent was to confine them in the panic room until steps could be taken to end their lives humanely, presumably using whatever euthanasia drugs or chemicals they use at her institute. The reason the Doctor objected to Robertson shooting the mother spider was because it was a slow, painful death rather than a humane, peaceful one. Also she just objects to gratuitous cruelty to the helpless.
