Spoilers The Tsuranga Conundrum grade and discussion thread
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
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And she shielded the others from the detonation with her body.
[Get Smart]She was this close to another regeneration.[/Get Smart]
[Get Smart]She was this close to another regeneration.[/Get Smart]
I have a mental image now of a spleen making the siren noise from Ghostbusters.
And yeah, I figured the Doctor's biology was more complex, hence the lesser ability of the medics to treat her properly - they may not even have Gallifreyan physiology on record. She's just lucky medicine in the 67th Century is (pregnancy notwithstanding) less invasive than that of, say, San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1999...
Otherwise lovely episode hurt by a serious absence of pting.
I am all for moving personal stories about people I have not heard of before, in a space version of ER, but I'm not sure an underused pting running around was the best combination. There should have been more patients onboard, uninformed about the threat, with the pting running into their chambers and eating their scifi cardiograph and stuff.
I am all for moving personal stories about people I have not heard of before, in a space version of ER, but I'm not sure an underused pting running around was the best combination. There should have been more patients onboard, uninformed about the threat, with the pting running into their chambers and eating their scifi cardiograph and stuff.
And a pay-off from the earlier reveal that The Doctor was also involved in the conflict (having a whole Volume dedicated to them in the history), she knew the ceremony off by heart. Makes you wonder how many times The Doctor was part of ceremonies for casualties from this.
Avocado Pear is gonna be the pseudonym of Jack or River come the 28th Century, betcha.
Which would bring a new twist to Capaldoc telling his next incarnation "never eat pears"...
My mind is a terrilble thing.
Which would bring a new twist to Capaldoc telling his next incarnation "never eat pears"...
My mind is a terrilble thing.
And quite moving, since the Doctor in previous incarnations has been shown as seldom wanting to be involved in memorials or forced to face the aftermath of deaths. That she had taken the time to learn the words to this one was a nice touch.
I said that about a minute into the episode, when commenting on FB... But then it turned out I was wrong and it was the Doctor vs Nibbler.
First thing I thought of on this comment.
(The chapel bell tolls and an organ plays as a coffin is carried in for the service. Group Captain Gilmore escorts Mrs Smith, with Allison and Rachel behind. The Doctor stops Ace at the threshold.)
DOCTOR: Time to leave.
ACE: Yes. Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes?
ACE: We did good, didn't we?
DOCTOR: Perhaps. Time will tell. It always does.
Remembrance Of The Daleks
Plenty of clunkers already. All people need to try is to rewatch in a few weeks.
I've not seen the episode, so the "pregnant man in a galaxy far far away" is probably due to some medical experiment, or pointing out how some species DO have the male doing the gestating. Biological processes do differ between species. There's nothing more or less to it when comparing species, it's like taking an orange and comparing it to a hippo snorting crack. Just doesn't happen.
Ditto for last week's spider story, and there aren't too many RTD stories that are actually good sci-fi to begin with. Great drama, good soap opera, but not great sci-fi, and pitiful fantasy. But RTD did cover the bases and had put out some great sci-fi as well. And he, like Chibnall, knows how to put on a good show in the production department. Just, as writers, the sci-fi aspects seem fleeting at times.
Being an alien and having a different range... far lazier things have happened this season that people have tried to justify, with me not being one of them oddly enough.
I usually give 2 or 3 episodes, and by tomorrow it'll be the 5th. I only recently heard the next three are written by others so I might tune in. Or I might not. Chibnall also said that he was working with a group of writers, so he's still involved in all the stories.
Chibnall is no Nation. I can't imagine Terry Nation writing a character who lands on an alien planet where only the name is known, walks out, wanders around for a while, and then finally boasts about going to take some atmospheric readings. Is there a deleted scene somewhere that was made at the time of filming and not a couple weeks ago as a DVD bonus feature?
She still forces the sonic screwdriver stance and some jokes that are on the level of Tennant or worse. The show has been playing it safe and trying to recapture Tennant's audience. But that's not lasting, there's enough from the ratings and my prediction is that ratings will drop again, by another 2 million or so. The end numbers will still be respectable, but that just means people tuned in to see it. Then give another 18 to 24 months before the next season and I will bet that there will be a bigger ratings drop.
And that one was a bit 2D as it was with the hospital stuff, though somebody infiltrating the TARDIS would be cool. WHy couldn't Chibnall, if they're going to play hospital, do a one-up on the cliche horror show and make it non-cliche?
Fun episode. A sort of Fourth Doctor feel to it. (Kinda Nerva station, kinda Robots of Death.) It is odd for the episode to feel both crowded and empty at the same time. There needed to be a few other people on the ship, make it feel like there were more stakes. I liked the Doctor having an "equal number" in Cicero for a few scenes. I will say, poor Yas feels a little forgotten about. She did have some cool moments, but largely seems an afterthought much of time. Hopefully next week corrects that. Ryan and Graham were great. The pregnancy storyline either needed a trim or more drama. Not bad, but I would have liked more time with Cicero Siblings.
Ronan (Roman? It felt like everyone had a different take on it.) was sort of an odd choice. Could have easily been another medtech/nurse on the ship or been a sacrificial player. I thought Jodie's Doctor got some much needed time to shine with smaller moments away from the companions. I tend to think of McGann as the "Man of Infinite Compassion" incarnation of the Doctor, and Jodie seems to be vying for the "Empathy is Infinite and Contagious" incarnation. Her joy at the antimatter engine was great. I also enjoy her penchant for turning rote exposition of "future history" into excitement, something some of the other Doctors have struggled with from an acting standpoint. The only weird thing I've noticed is Jodie tends to crouch down a lot and sort of fold in as a character trait and it seems sort of odd. I tend not to think of her as tall.
The bridge of the ship reminded me a lot of the Dalek ship from Victory of the Daleks for some reason.I actually think the Pting was a little too cutesy and their reactions were disproportionate to it. (Especially the initial crowd shot of them where they seem to be reacting to it being about waist high.) I had fun with it. I also enjoy the relative non-violent nature of the episode. Killing the lead medic felt off and like bad false drama. I wish he'd been sent off in one of the pods in the asteroid belt rather than just blowing up. Especially as the Pting didn't seem to be capable of the type of work to get the escape pod to explode.
Interesting that we've had a Predator pastiche, Alien pastiche (with a healthy dose of Futurama's Nibbler), a Quantum Leap homage and several episodes folks have noted resemble Star Trek.
Ronan (Roman? It felt like everyone had a different take on it.) was sort of an odd choice. Could have easily been another medtech/nurse on the ship or been a sacrificial player. I thought Jodie's Doctor got some much needed time to shine with smaller moments away from the companions. I tend to think of McGann as the "Man of Infinite Compassion" incarnation of the Doctor, and Jodie seems to be vying for the "Empathy is Infinite and Contagious" incarnation. Her joy at the antimatter engine was great. I also enjoy her penchant for turning rote exposition of "future history" into excitement, something some of the other Doctors have struggled with from an acting standpoint. The only weird thing I've noticed is Jodie tends to crouch down a lot and sort of fold in as a character trait and it seems sort of odd. I tend not to think of her as tall.
The bridge of the ship reminded me a lot of the Dalek ship from Victory of the Daleks for some reason.I actually think the Pting was a little too cutesy and their reactions were disproportionate to it. (Especially the initial crowd shot of them where they seem to be reacting to it being about waist high.) I had fun with it. I also enjoy the relative non-violent nature of the episode. Killing the lead medic felt off and like bad false drama. I wish he'd been sent off in one of the pods in the asteroid belt rather than just blowing up. Especially as the Pting didn't seem to be capable of the type of work to get the escape pod to explode.
Interesting that we've had a Predator pastiche, Alien pastiche (with a healthy dose of Futurama's Nibbler), a Quantum Leap homage and several episodes folks have noted resemble Star Trek.
If this episode saw the return of Leela, we could have had a Futurama reference.
Tsuranga Leela?
Anyone?
Anyone at all?
I'll see myself out.
If only. I've been wanting a Leela episode for years.
This episode was boring. Someone on Reddit mentioned this and I think it could have worked really well as a Tardis bottle episode with just the Doctor and the companions. That way we could have spent more time with them rather than have even more guest stars and too many things going on. Also, I found the music distracting. You don't need to have a score all throughout the episode. Sometimes just having dialogue works.
I still liked it better than last weeks so I gave it a 6.
I still liked it better than last weeks so I gave it a 6.
I'd give this one a 7.5. It was sweet, charming and interesting--but the bit with the baby being born was a bit too cornball, even for me. Better than last week's, though.
I struggled with keeping the tv on while watching this episode. As the episode neared the end, the more I wanted to bolt away.
Familiar trends are starting to appear in this series. One of the more notable for me is Yaz and Ronan having a quick chat. These chats feel like they are added to the episode and are not really a part of the larger story and plot. Are these chats adding to something?
I liked the Doctor initially. However, I am starting to cool towards her. They are really dragging it out with her adjusting to her new body. The actress is doing her best, yet it feels as if the material is not challenging her as an actress. Based on next week's preview, she will have more trouble iwth her body. My memory is a little foggy here. I do not remember another Doctor going through these many episodes of adjusting to their new body. It seems after the initial awkwardness in one episode, they hit the ground running soon afterwards. By the way, I know what they were doing at the beginning, but why were they doing it?
The Pting is a energy-guzzling gremlin. In all the times before, when people were confronted with these beasties, why is it that no one noticed they were attracted to and consumed energy?
They mentioned they have run out of ideas for the Christmas special. I am beginning to feel the well was already running low before they came to that realization. Tonight's episode would be Exhibit One for me.
I am rather terrible at giving numbers to those things, but if I had to, i would rate it toward the lower end of the scale.
Familiar trends are starting to appear in this series. One of the more notable for me is Yaz and Ronan having a quick chat. These chats feel like they are added to the episode and are not really a part of the larger story and plot. Are these chats adding to something?
I liked the Doctor initially. However, I am starting to cool towards her. They are really dragging it out with her adjusting to her new body. The actress is doing her best, yet it feels as if the material is not challenging her as an actress. Based on next week's preview, she will have more trouble iwth her body. My memory is a little foggy here. I do not remember another Doctor going through these many episodes of adjusting to their new body. It seems after the initial awkwardness in one episode, they hit the ground running soon afterwards. By the way, I know what they were doing at the beginning, but why were they doing it?
The Pting is a energy-guzzling gremlin. In all the times before, when people were confronted with these beasties, why is it that no one noticed they were attracted to and consumed energy?
They mentioned they have run out of ideas for the Christmas special. I am beginning to feel the well was already running low before they came to that realization. Tonight's episode would be Exhibit One for me.
I am rather terrible at giving numbers to those things, but if I had to, i would rate it toward the lower end of the scale.
The first dud of the series so far for mine. There were some nice moments - the Doctor gushing over the anti-matter drive, the pilot general's joy in flight and the ceremony for her death, the conversation between Yaz and Ryan, Yaz using the creature as a football - but otherwise there wasn't much of interest and the nice bits didn't make up for the rest of the episode. The Doctor, three companions, six other characters...too many people with not enough to do, and while Ryan gained some characterisation this week I'd rather learn about the "new" Doctor and the companions than random people we'll never see again.
I'm still liking Whittaker but she does need to tone down the Tennant-ish aspects of her performance. Whether it's the writing or what the showrunner / directors want her to go with or her own choice or whatever, I'd rather she was herself than a caricature of a Doctor I detest. Here's hoping, I suppose.
I'm still liking Whittaker but she does need to tone down the Tennant-ish aspects of her performance. Whether it's the writing or what the showrunner / directors want her to go with or her own choice or whatever, I'd rather she was herself than a caricature of a Doctor I detest. Here's hoping, I suppose.
How was she adjusting to her new body? The pain was because she got bloody well blown up and took the brunt of the blast.
This was pretty much the only thing that wasn't "covered" well enough for me in the episode. Did the fluid link break down again? A simple line to that effect would've sufficed.
