Spoilers Can You Hear Me? grade and discussion thread
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
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I gave it an 9 but could probably go 8.5, but either way---I really liked this episode. It was tense, intriguing, had actual character development (*gasp*) and lo and behold, the writers fleshed out the story instead of rushing it through in a jumbled mess. In other words, it was a complete story and not a jumble of frenetic action swirling around the Doctor.
I gave this one a 7. It was muddled. The setup was fantastic. What's going on in Alleppo? How does it tie into the Doctor and her companions? Wow, it involves colliding planets, and gods! But, then what's his name left the Doctor there just locked up. What's he, a Bond villain. And, she escaped so easily. And the solution seemed to come out of left field. Maybe I missed something but it wasn't exactly clear how she put them back in the box. And, even if there was an explanation, it was just way too easy.
And, the public service announcement type ending with please talk to someone was very clunky and heavy handed. They really don't have any subtlety with their messaging. Just a weird way to end the story. It felt artificially tacked on. I supposed it might foreshadow changes at the end of the season.
Fantastic set up, poor resolution, and strange talky, heavy handed ending. At least the Doctor had a strong antagonist to match up against. That did help.
I also wondered if the fact that the lady was not named, unlike her male counterpart, is meaningful? Perhaps she comes into play later on?
And, the public service announcement type ending with please talk to someone was very clunky and heavy handed. They really don't have any subtlety with their messaging. Just a weird way to end the story. It felt artificially tacked on. I supposed it might foreshadow changes at the end of the season.
Fantastic set up, poor resolution, and strange talky, heavy handed ending. At least the Doctor had a strong antagonist to match up against. That did help.
I also wondered if the fact that the lady was not named, unlike her male counterpart, is meaningful? Perhaps she comes into play later on?
Yes! Very nice!
There really isn't a better way to handle it because that's really all you can do.
It was an okay episode. I did like the cut up bits about Yas. It seemed to be a different story and the bits of when she was talking to Ryan proved to be quite in depth. The bit about the two evil people did seem shallow. I did like the horror bits with the separated fingers flying to certain people. It was all about the bits not adding up to a whole.
Something bothered me - Yaz' dream is set "3 years ago", but I believe in the Series 11 opener it was implied she'd been a copper since 2016. Now could have been she joined just after this experience, but either way it makes her a bit older to have been worrying about grades unless she attended uni - Yaz is supposedly 21 or 22 so she'd have been past A-levels by the point at which the dream is set...
I really liked this. A little disjointed to begin with but once it warmed up very good. I liked the Doctor talking to herself, not the first to do that, loved references to Eternals, Guardians and the Toymaker. The finger in the ear thing was very silly but the detaching bit was creepy and I think just imagining that bloke appearing in your bedroom is more terrifying than the werewolf thing, though the claw in the pre-title sequence was scary.
Feels like they're giving Yaz a personality too late, but there was some good stuff there and loved the cinematography of the open road/moorland. Yes the mental health message was a little clunky in places, but glad that Ryan's friend was struggling before the nightmares.
The twist that the Doctor was tricked into releasing the prisoner was good, surprised me at least. Not sure about the Doctor's inability to deal with Graham's very real worry about the cancer returning. I can see both sides. On the one the Doctor effectively ducking out of saying anything seemed a bit of a misstep given this was an episode about mental health, on the other it's a very Doctor thing to do, Eleven sometimes struggled with personal things. And as has been said, sometimes listening is enough.
Nice to see the companions contemplating a time beyond the Doctor, I always found the Rose/Donna "I'm going to travel with you forever!" thinking a bit unrealistic.
I am enjoying this season so much more than the last one.
Feels like they're giving Yaz a personality too late, but there was some good stuff there and loved the cinematography of the open road/moorland. Yes the mental health message was a little clunky in places, but glad that Ryan's friend was struggling before the nightmares.
The twist that the Doctor was tricked into releasing the prisoner was good, surprised me at least. Not sure about the Doctor's inability to deal with Graham's very real worry about the cancer returning. I can see both sides. On the one the Doctor effectively ducking out of saying anything seemed a bit of a misstep given this was an episode about mental health, on the other it's a very Doctor thing to do, Eleven sometimes struggled with personal things. And as has been said, sometimes listening is enough.
Nice to see the companions contemplating a time beyond the Doctor, I always found the Rose/Donna "I'm going to travel with you forever!" thinking a bit unrealistic.
I am enjoying this season so much more than the last one.
At the beginning when the companions peeled off, my first thought was 'Heck yeah, a companion light epi'
But then...
I didn't hate it, but I felt there was to much going on for one episode. Too many characters with too many story lines.
The evil Gods plot was interesting, even if the resolution was rushed.
Clearly they plotting the exit for Ryan and maybe Yaz. I think at this point I'd like a one companion season.
I did love the jacuzzi line. Clearly the folk of ancient Aleppo like a good spa!
But then...
I didn't hate it, but I felt there was to much going on for one episode. Too many characters with too many story lines.
The evil Gods plot was interesting, even if the resolution was rushed.
Clearly they plotting the exit for Ryan and maybe Yaz. I think at this point I'd like a one companion season.
I did love the jacuzzi line. Clearly the folk of ancient Aleppo like a good spa!
Yeah, you do kinda find yourself thinking ‘hmm, Vincent and the doctor vs Doctor Who does Freddy’ even if it wasn’t terrible.
I liked Ryan’s mate. He was believable. I am so used to modern TV I was expecting them to drop the ‘oh, it’s Ryan’s boyfriend’ just for points, but was pleased when they didn’t. Not becuse I was all up in arms over say the Astrocop couple last week, because I wasn’t; but because it’s good to see just really close mates represented without it going to romance. Modern fandoms seem to work on an inverted when Harry Met Sally principle sometimes, hence all the Holmes/Watson shippers. It gets dull.
It was an okay episode. I give it points for setting up a genuinely disturbing and unsettling vibe with the dreams and nightmares. But really, this episode felt like a lot of set up with a very quick and brief resolution. Getting tired of all these guest companion joins the TARDIS team for the week deals we've been getting given the regular companions often get shunted aside. Granted, this week we did get some insight into Yaz's background, got to learn something about Ryan's outside life, and even met some of Graham's friends. I can't help but wonder, with Ryan's anxiety about missing out of his friends' lives, and Graham's concerns that his cancer could still be present, to say nothing of the Doctor's refusal to reassure Graham about being cancer-free, are they starting to set up their potential departure? We are getting closer to the end of the season, it wouldn't be unheard of to start laying groundwork for stuff in the finale.
In the season 11 premiere, Yaz said she was on her "second year training probation" which would mean she'd been with the police since 2017. And presumably throughout season 11 she was 19, since that's how old Ryan says he was in the premiere, and they are supposed to have gone to school together. Unfortunately, timing gets muddled, but keeping things as simple as possible, let's assume from the companions' perspectives, they've been spending a subjective year with the Doctor, that means Ryan and Yaz are now 20. If "three years earlier" means three years from Yaz's perspective, than she would have been 17 in the flashback. Meaning she joined the police a year later when she was 18.
A refreshing lack of deaths, a nicely creepy vibe in many places, good, understated villain, some impressive visuals, generally well-handled mental health theme, and the atmospheric music worked really well, yet...
It just left me a little cold. Something I can't quite put my finger on lacking. Maybe it was the fairly one-dimensional guest companion. Maybe it was the plot, which, beyond one interesting moment with the Doctor being tricked, felt a little undercooked. Unsure. I just didn't quite enjoy it as much as I probably should have.
It just left me a little cold. Something I can't quite put my finger on lacking. Maybe it was the fairly one-dimensional guest companion. Maybe it was the plot, which, beyond one interesting moment with the Doctor being tricked, felt a little undercooked. Unsure. I just didn't quite enjoy it as much as I probably should have.
Gave it an 8, mainly because it didn't make me uncontrollably retch (unlike some other eps this season and last). The villians were well thought out... loved the animation backstory on them... and the dialogue was actually indepth this time.
An enjoyable episode... Some creepy moments with the fingers and all, and I liked it. I wasn't bored for a moment.
We even got more hints about the timeless child.
11th Doctor's explanation for the Dreamlord might have either been error or a lie, because the way that episode ended with that reflection on the TARDIS console made me wonder if that was really the end of that. I like this idea that Zellin in another form could have been the Dreamlord.
7/10
Small side note from last series.
Only the Doctor is a bit of a dummy in the final episode with Tim Shaw (the alien Demtel man, look that up) she forgets that she has seen this kind of thing before with compressed planets when she visited Calufrax as the 4th Doctor.
We even got more hints about the timeless child.
11th Doctor's explanation for the Dreamlord might have either been error or a lie, because the way that episode ended with that reflection on the TARDIS console made me wonder if that was really the end of that. I like this idea that Zellin in another form could have been the Dreamlord.
7/10
Small side note from last series.
Only the Doctor is a bit of a dummy in the final episode with Tim Shaw (the alien Demtel man, look that up) she forgets that she has seen this kind of thing before with compressed planets when she visited Calufrax as the 4th Doctor.
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Personally, I felt the set up was superb. And they actually created antagonists that were smart enough and powerful enough to defeat the Doctor, until whoah, no, she magically defeats them. The resolution felt like quite a let down. Then a lecture about mental health. Which, ok, is a good message but it could've been handled more deftly.
I went with an 8. Good tense story, with an all too quick & easy resolution (see the Smash The Sonic thread).
I didn't know you could bung up a couple gods in a cell that easily.
I didn't know you could bung up a couple gods in a cell that easily.
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