I can get behind the lock, but the handbag? They could have found a better way to break her glasses than that.
Spoilers The Pyramid at the End of the World (Grade & Discussion Thread)
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I can get behind the lock, but the handbag? They could have found a better way to break her glasses than that.
I liked this episode quite a bit. It did feel urgent and what was wrong with the idea that one guy could lead to our destruction. We're human, we make mistakes every day and we've seen even minor mistakes could lead to dire consequences. I also liked the stuff with the alien monks, even though I wish there was more development other than "do you consent".
It wasn't the best episode I've seen but the last few weeks have been kinda boring so this one at least kept me interested all the way through.
It wasn't the best episode I've seen but the last few weeks have been kinda boring so this one at least kept me interested all the way through.
I rather enjoyed it. You could sub in the Time Lords and the notion of the Web of Time (from the novels, where they had mapped and crystallised certain timelines, cementing their power until the Daleks managed to do the same thing in secret during the Time War) for the Monks and their threads of fate.
Though given that the Monks were already known to be capable of creating a simulation of all human history, I thought the group were a bit quick to accept the vision of the future as real and not a hoax.
Though given that the Monks were already known to be capable of creating a simulation of all human history, I thought the group were a bit quick to accept the vision of the future as real and not a hoax.
It occurred to me that the Monks use of simulations to map out the future is reminiscent of the concept of psychohistory in Asimov's Foundation Series.
I feel pretty indifferent about this episode. The concept of the monks and what they were up to was pretty interesting but I hated the military aspects and the Doctor's contrived talking out the realization it would be bacteria. It didn't feel earned and it seriously sounded like he just knew what the answer was and just wanted someone else to say it first. It felt like a lot of the same old Moffat stuff that I've grown pretty tired of. That countdown idea...ugh... That three minute countdown that doesn't actually countdown actual minutes or seconds... So Moffat I found myself unreasonably angry.
And true to his form I just felt like this episode was a lot of standing around just so we could get to that cliffhanger. All in all I have been loving this season because of how much Moffat stepped away some of his usual trappings to deliver fun episodes, but now that there is more of an overall continuing plot, we're right back to his old and tired tricks. For me, delivery on a great concept just feel flat.
Highlight of the episode was Bill's reaction to the news of the Doctor still being blind and her calling him a stupid man. But her decision was a stupid one that was obvious and so forced. Yeah, we knew she would do it, we knew it was a selfish and bad choice, but as presented it was a plot decision and not a character decision. This I did not appreciate.
But it was still better than the Zygon 2-parter at least.
And true to his form I just felt like this episode was a lot of standing around just so we could get to that cliffhanger. All in all I have been loving this season because of how much Moffat stepped away some of his usual trappings to deliver fun episodes, but now that there is more of an overall continuing plot, we're right back to his old and tired tricks. For me, delivery on a great concept just feel flat.
Highlight of the episode was Bill's reaction to the news of the Doctor still being blind and her calling him a stupid man. But her decision was a stupid one that was obvious and so forced. Yeah, we knew she would do it, we knew it was a selfish and bad choice, but as presented it was a plot decision and not a character decision. This I did not appreciate.
But it was still better than the Zygon 2-parter at least.
The episode explains that it was the doomsday clock, not a literal countdown, which is a real thing where scientists display fake minutes until midnight as a figure of speech for how close the Earth is to global destruction. So, no, the time was not real minutes but an indication of how close they were to the end of the world. That is why when the doctor sets the bomb, the doomsday clock starts running backwards, to indicate that catastrophe has been averted.
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Yes, I was aware of this. It was just not something I thought was particularly clever. It felt like more 'hey look at this cool idea, it's a science thing and the episode has scientists,' for me... The type of thing I feel like litters these type of episodes that I don't enjoy as much.
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I don't understand the sequence either - we saw no reason for her to need to keep the door open, and I saw no repercussions of her losing her glasses(it's not like there were scenes of her being unable to see anything properly or trying to see something). I suppose it's always possible that they'll become relevant next episode.
The episode explains that it was the doomsday clock, not a literal countdown, which is a real thing where scientists display fake minutes until midnight as a figure of speech for how close the Earth is to global destruction. So, no, the time was not real minutes but an indication of how close they were to the end of the world. That is why when the doctor sets the bomb, the doomsday clock starts running backwards, to indicate that catastrophe has been averted.[/QUOTE]
Interestingly, the effect of the monks arriving was initially to improve matters with the Doomsday Clock - the real one's at 23:57:30.
dJE
it has the anti-GMO hang-up, yes. Then too--anyone can do it these days, it seems
Back in Sweden, Charpentier kept a colony of Streptococcus pyogenes in a biohazard chamber. Few people want S. pyogenes anywhere near them. It can cause strep throat and necrotizing fasciitis—flesh-eating disease. But it was the bug Charpentier worked with, and it was in S. pyogenes that she had found that mysterious yet mighty protein, now renamed Cas9
https://www.wired.com/2015/07/crispr-dna-editing-2/
Some good news:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinm...enetic-engineering-safer-to-use/#60757c807e75
Now me--I have no problem with the technology--but I'd like to see it done is space--at first.
This would force big Pharma to pump money into space start-ups--and would prevent anything like a man-made Andromeda.
I noticed that they got in a little anti-trump dig in the episode when Bill says "How would I know the President? I would not have even voted. He's orange".
The glasses breaking were why she didn't do the mixing of the chemicals, that was the point of the handbag scene. She can't read without her glasses, and he's hungover. So, the decimal point gets moved, and they end the world. It was the literal playing out of what the doctor was saying over the top about tiny things having large consequences.
I voted 'average' for this one because I think it is the perfect word. It was an average Moffat episode. Overly contrived and thought itself very clever. A lot of set up for a cliffhanger and by the looks of the trailer for next time, yet another parallel future which the return of the Doctor will save. The line where the Doctor says he's not God but it's an easy mistake to make? That's how Moffat sees this character - have enough faith in the Doctor and you will be healed. That's next week though.
Some good concepts in the episode, but executed very poorly with too many contrivances - the lock made of physical wheels in particular. Who has a lock like that? It would be a keypad with the numbers in a predictable position for him to enter. The lock was painfully obviously only there to create a scenario in which he needed to see to escape.
Smaller annoyance - why do they keep calling the American guy overtly wearing four stars "Colonel"?
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This sums up everything about the elements of Moffat's style that I'm not a fan of. I'd like to buy you a drink.
Except actually we're living in a simulation where it's actually the past and we're all secretly waiting for the heart of an exploding TARDIS to telephone us all simultaneously with a cryptic message which translates as "Hello Sweetie".
I'll have a coke.
There is a certain "small universe" element to things. Although that might be largely unavoidable in a show about a single person who keeps saving the world
I will admit though... When Moffat is truly clever and delivers, he shines quite brightly. This just wasn't one of those times for me.
I have the episode taped. The biggest hurdle to seeing the episode is a definite lack of enthusiasm.
I have decided to get off the train for this season. I do not like where this train is heading. I feel I have been on this journey before. The destination was not worth the trip then, and I do not see the destination being this time any better. Hopefully, under new management, the train ride will be not so burdened with the issues which have come up with this current management.
I have decided to get off the train for this season. I do not like where this train is heading. I feel I have been on this journey before. The destination was not worth the trip then, and I do not see the destination being this time any better. Hopefully, under new management, the train ride will be not so burdened with the issues which have come up with this current management.
Can somebody explain the 'automatically venting into the atmosphere with no emergency shut-off' ridiculousness?
Also, are we really to believe that the doctor doesn't have a mirror or other reflective object (to help the scientist see the numbers on the lock) in his 'bigger on the inside' jacket pockets? Or that there is no camera capable of turning toward the lock?
Also, are we really to believe that the doctor doesn't have a mirror or other reflective object (to help the scientist see the numbers on the lock) in his 'bigger on the inside' jacket pockets? Or that there is no camera capable of turning toward the lock?
Maybe it's the showrunner in Moffat. Reading his thought process in an interview for Extremis it seems that Moffat had basically predetermined that it was time to generate a clever one. I wonder if maybe his process is a bit too methodical for his own good at times.
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017...steven-moffat-reveals-the-secrets-of-extremis
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