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pochapal · 7 months

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I shall tempt fate!

Thoughts on the thirteenth doctor?

I didn’t like the era much but 13 is awesome imo ^^

[approximately 1 trillion turrets taking aim] okay SO the thing with 13 is that everyone who watched her and hated her was a needless redditbrained loser who didn't understand a thing. yes she was kind of mid in the end BUT not for a single reason any of her detractors like to espouse.

she was on track for a very good slow burn tragic arc of over-correcting twelve's flaws (he got too attached and this burned him over and over and over again) where in her attempts to protect her companions from the same doomed fate as every previous human to enter the tardis she ends up not showing how she really feels at all until it's too late for it to count because whether or not she's attached or distant all humans die in the end and to travel with the doctor is to in part indulge in a death drive because by nature of being a companion it means eventually you are going to collide face first with tragedy. all the pieces for this are there very much in her first two seasons and this reading even explains why the finales were kind of lacking oomph (her distancing in attachment also extended to Being The Doctor on some level; this could have compounded with all the latent Gender stuff real nicely but didn't) since it was kind of all building to one core tragic break.

this likely would have happened in her third season but then covid kind of destroyed production and obviously every ambition/plan had to be downscaled into flux which was like. fine??? nothing really bad to say about it other than it feels a touch truncated but that was mostly due to pandemic filming restrictions than anything else (and will never be as terrible as the parts of the moffat era which suffered extensively as a result of sherlock existing and taking up the lead writers/producers time and effort). only issue with it was that it shifted tone/direction in a way that kept all of 13's era on this same flat note right at the moment when this naturally should have been shifted up a gear for the third act.

unironically in an ideal world we got a full length third season for thirteen and the one thing that needed to happen was yaz dying. like i liked yaz and everything but girlie needed to die so badly in some episode and for her to die thinking that the doctor never actually cared about her, forcing thirteen to realize becoming disattached doesn't prevent tragedy from happening it just deprives her of love. continuing this ideal scenario the next beat that needed to happen was thirteen absolutely fucking snapping as yaz's death serves as the catalyst for all the other billion emotions she's been pointedly Not Feeling in this incarnation - this in turn would allow us to see shades of the rogue doctor or whatever her name was (renegade doctor? fugitive doctor? exile doctor?) and create an interesting interplay between the two. this'd then lead to an "Oh Fuck I Have Really Fucked Up At Being The Doctor Huh" moment where she starts aggressively Being The Doctor (maybe strongarming dan into being a companion semi against his wishes to fill the void?) and maybe fucking with her own history/reputation or w/e which might've fed into the timeless child mystery thing somehow (don't ask me i'm spitballing on half-remembered information). also identity crisis heartbroken thirteen at the end of her life reaching back into herself and re-using ten's face as a kind of "second chance" at all the parts of herself that ten embodied and she didn't (the absolute love for companions and humanity) where the tension is now whether or not fourteen ignores the literal centuries of history separating himself from the last time he wore this face and that feeding into the new rtd era.

even a small number of these things would have made thirteen probably one of the best doctors in the series in all the metrics that really matter but we didn't get that so we have to contend with what we do have and that was mostly just...okay. thirteen for me is like. she was brimming with potential to go down a certain route i would have eaten up but things never quite fell into place. probably a whole bunch of reasons behind the scenes why thirteen's era fell short of total greatness but i still enjoyed good chunks of thirteen more than certain doctors who i can and will name (doctor eleven they could never make me like you) so she has that going for her at least. also can't be fully mad at the writing because i actually have an unjustified soft spot for chibnall (this is my biases talking but the countrycide episode of torchwood top 1 piece of doctor who media and i'm so mad he didn't lean back into the folk horror aesthetic again for the witch trials episode in thirteen's run) and overall thirteen's era was just. it was consistent. i really wish covid hadn't fucked over the final season so the nascent themes in her arc could've come to a more satisfying fruition because i will always be a forever truther thirteen's era was slow-building up to something really good. the haters will never convince me otherwise.

#coolstuffiseverywhere #my thinking is guided by the sole principle that doctor who is only good when it's both melodrama and tragedy #this might be because i infinitely prefer melodrama/tragedy over scifi. this is also because i am huge brained and beautiful all the time

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rupphiremoyo · 2 years

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Some More Soft Yasammy Headcanons

Yaz loves lying on top of Sammy when they cuddle. The feeling of Sammy's fingers combing through her hair and one arm slung protectively around her waist? Amazing. Combine that with the sound of Sammy's heartbeat lulling her into a light sleep and Yaz absolutely melts.

When the girls feel overwhelmed and lost in her memories of Isla Nublar, they'll stop what they're doing and just hold each other. Yaz will rub soothing circles on Sammy's scars from the Scorpios Rex attack and Sammy will kiss every inch of Yaz's face until they both feel safe and secure again.

Sammy once stumbled upon one of Yaz's old sketchbooks and found several drawings of herself in it. When she brought it up to her girlfriend, Sammy shyly said, "You made me look so pretty." To which Yaz replied, "You are so beautiful, I could never do you justice."

Yaz casually mentioned that she was running out of good songs to listen to while she runs, so Sammy spent hours making the perfect playlist for her girlfriend. Not only does Yaz listen to it every time she works out, but she'll have the biggest lovesick grin on her face as she listens to it.

Sammy is notorious when it comes to falling asleep on the couch. The girls could be watching a movie or having an Esther Stone marathon and it won't take long for Sammy to fall asleep on Yaz's shoulder or in her arms. Yaz finds it incredibly cute and will usher her sleepy Sammy to their bedroom for a good night's sleep.

These two will never shut up over the fact that they're dating. Like they will take any opportunity that is given to them to mention that they're girlfriends.

Sammy: "Have you met my amazing girlfriend, Yaz? Hold on one moment while I tell you all about my super talented and insanely pretty girlfriend—"

Yaz: "You see that stunning girl over there? The one who looks like the physical embodiment of sunshine? That's Sammy. My girlfriend."

Sometimes Yaz will pretend that she can't open jars and will hand them to Sammy just to see her open them with ease then immediately turn to brag and flex her arms. Does Yaz do this because she loves Sammy's smile? Yes. Does she also do this because she's obsessed with Sammy's country strong muscles? YES.

Sammy makes amazing hot chocolates. When the weather gets cooler or the girls have a late night sugar craving, Sammy will head to their kitchen to whip up some hot chocolate. All the while Yaz will be hugging her from behind and watching her girlfriend work her magic. (And if Yaz manages to sneak a few marshmallows, that's her business.)

These girls melt when they kiss. Like when their lips caress they'll feel warm all over and full of giddy excitement. They'll find any excuse under the sun to kiss each other and show how much they mean to each other.

When Yaz wraps her arms around Sammy's waist and pulls her in close for a tender kiss? Sammy is a goner. When Sammy traces the bottom of Yaz's lips with her fingers before gently tipping her chin up so she can lock their lips together? It's a TKO for Yaz.

At the end of the day, Yaz and Sammy are each other's favorite person. And despite the insane, dino-related circumstances that brought them together, they couldn't imagine their lives without each other in it. 🧡💜

#did someone request some more yasammy fluff??#no just me?#well y'all are gonna get some soft yasammy headcanons anyways #because i love them #and i hope y'all love them as much as i do #i might work on some yasammy date headcanons in the future #but for now enjoy these soft gfs #yasammy #yaz x sammy #yasmina fadoula #sammy gutierrez #jwcc #camp cretaceous

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minimoefoe · 6 months

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the giggle thoughts

- is the toymaker racist btw bc why did he ask that man at the beginning where he's from?? and the man's reaction was like 'I'm from cheshire (or some other uk place beginning with C I don't remember)', like he was offended the toymaker asked omg the toymaker is racist fr isn't he that so weird

- have been shitting on the toymaker's german accent for months but it was funny at points. the american was cringe tho idk

- a long intro without the doctor showing up felt sooooo chibnall era coded (not in a good way I hated when chib did that)

- that today text that came up on the screen was very unnecessary and weird

- obviously the ep is a commentary on ppl online being very 'I'm right, you're wrong' and wanting to fight ppl and I get it and I love it but also it was so on the nose and unsubtle like ppl say chib was unsubtle (o55 speech) but this was too and not always in a good way

- that first scene at unit with everyone went on for a bit too long

- I have no attachment to mel so I really don't care that she's here

- saw someone on twt say what if mel is ruby sunday's mum and I was like don't be stupid you're just saying that bc the actors have done a photoshoot together but mel specifically mentioning being alone and having no one and the fact we know she's gonna be in the show a bit going forward and we know ruby is gonna search for her parents... have dots been connected or am I being insane too now? idk anything about mel so idk if it would make sense for her to abandon a child but I guess there a millions reasons it could have happened that could work with mel's character

- the amy clara and bill puppet show <3333 so obsessed

- I liked the spice girl scene and a lot of other toymaker scenes but also he wasn't as good as i was expecting him to be. a lot of the ep didn't have the vibe I was expecting tbh idk

- 15 showing up genuinely made me sob like idk I think just waiting so long to see him and it finally happening and him just have such amazing vibes INSTANTLY really fucked me up like I love his attitude and the way he talks and the things he says and his energy so much and it just hit me quick as fuck

- 14 and 15 hugging and being there for each other really got me I loved it

- 15 really is the embodiment of like, the doctor has been on their feet too long and needs a break and I guess 15 is the doctor once the doctor has finally had that time to just relax and he's just so happy and full of life AHHHHHHHHHH

- idk how I feel about 14's face explanation. it's kinda silly? like.. i really don't know

- no yaz mention in that tardis scene is a genuine piss take. they were literally talking about the doctor's lifestyle and the ppl he's loved and yaz didn't come up??? are you joking? she literally fits right into the convo around the doctor needing to take a break and just Be for a bit like 13's whome thing was not wanting to attach herself bc she doesn't ever know what's gonna happen and now 14 is here literally about to live a normal life. genuinely really annoying. basically every other significant companion got a mention

- 14's ending feels like fanfic and part of me likes it and part of me is like.. idk. I'm gonna need to sit on a for a bit

- I've known about the bi-generation for months bc of leaks and I was expecting to REALLY not be a fan but I didn't hate it. idk if I love it either tho. rn all I know for sure is that ncuti is our doctor now and I love him

#dw txt #doctor who #dw spoilers #wrote all this right when rhe ep ended and #imma need to rewatch soon #bc theres stuff i missed for sure #and stuff i probs have updated opinions on already #idkkkkkkkkk #dw live

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modernwizard · 2 years

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Why I love Dhawan Master #53: He remembers his lines!

The list is BAAAAAACK, folks! Now that gifs of The Power of the Doctor are appearing, it's time to continue my illustrated list of reasons I love the Spymaster!

In no particular order, here is an illustrated list of reasons I love Sacha Dhawan’s Master, most of which boil down to the way that Sacha Dhawan so expertly embodies the Master to such a degree that we can look into this character’s mind as we never have before.

Find my full series under the HELP I WUVS HIM tag or at the why I love Dhawan Master tag.

#53: He remembers his lines!

Back in Spyfall II, he TCEs Ashad and misses a great opportunity for a witticism.

Because he loves callbacks and "the classics," as we know, he resurrects that quip in The Power of the Doctor when, having taken Thirteen's place, he menaces Yaz:

#sacha dhawan #dhawan master #dw meta #doctor who #the power of the doctor #HELP I WUVS HIM #why I love Dhawan Master

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2000sfm · 4 months

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JUST ANNOUNCED 🎬 ! @2000sgossip published the official cast for the cheetah girls, buffy the vampire slayer & the oc - everyone wonders if they will be just as good as the original. their publicist just needs to make sure they follow the hollywood 101 rules & if they launch their social media account within 24 hours, they will take over the trends.

yaz aydem demet ozdemir is playing dorinda badem (dorinda thomas)

chalida "lia" anothai pat chayanit is playing buffy summers

katherine boyd mimi keene is playing summer roberts

( demet ozdemir, female, she/her ) — 🎬 just announced, YAZ AYDEM has been cast as DORINDA (THOMAS) BADEM in the upcoming THE CHEETAH GIRLS reboot. the twenty-eight in letters year old is trending as people are debating if the oversharing on instagram lives, a smile thats full of sunshine, showing up to sets in sweats, burning every dessert she makes that they are known for is enough to make them as good as original. a quick google search shows that their fans call them compassionate, but internet trolls think they’re more untidy. i guess their newest interview for variety where they talk about one fun fact will let people know them better. ( maddi, 25, est, she/her, none, filming starting soon for cheetah girls 1 ! )

( pat chayanit, agender, they / them ) — 🎬 just announced, CHALIDA "LIA" ANOTHAI has been cast as BUFFY SUMMERS in the upcoming BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER reboot. the twenty - nine year old is trending as people are debating if the vintage lace - up leather ankle boots covered in dirt from a good hike ; dozens of yellow notepads containing repetitions of their lines ; a mauve lipstick print in the corner of a mirror, multi-coloured drinks served cold over ice ; the late - nights spent laughing instead of sleeping that they are known for is enough to make them as good as original. a quick google search shows that their fans call them adaptable, but internet trolls think they’re more bitter. i guess their newest interview for variety where they talk about how this will be their first major role in a series, following only credits in minor roles will let people know them better. ( nikki, 30, est, they / them, no triggers ! )

( mimi keene, cis female, she / her ) — 🎬 just announced, KATHERINE BOYD has been cast as SUMMER ROBERTS in the upcoming THE OC reboot. twenty-four year old is trending as people are debating if the embodiment of sweet sour gone, clothes littered across the bedroom floor, leaving red kisses and confusion everywhere you go, and the occasional clap back to haters that they are known for is enough to make them as good as original. a quick google search shows that their fans call them passionate, but internet trolls think they’re more impulsive. i guess their newest interview for variety where they talk about the outfit she was wearing when a "fan" approached and threw water on her before her bodyguard had to stop her from engaging in an altercation will let people know them better. ( j, 22, est, she/her, n/a )

#appless rp #oc rp #oc celeb rp #rich kids rp #city rp #accepted #THIS IS ALL SO GLORIOUS I LOVE THEM ALL ALREADY

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swamp-cats-den · 3 years

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War of the Sontarans was the first Doctor Who episode to take place in what is now a part of my country (a friendly reminder that Crimea is Ukraine), and what an episode it was! I haven't enjoyed DW that much since the RTD era. The thing is, this show is neither a contemplative drama nor a (dubiously) fun Marvel action flick, the only way for it to work is to be both unashamedly silly and deadly serious at the same time, and somehow, after two seasons of trial and error, Chibnall has embraced it.

The portrayal of the Sontarans probably embodies this kind of approach the most. They go from being ridiculously stupid to positively terrifying in the span of a second, and that's exactly what Doctor Who villians should be.

The Doctor herself shone in the episode as well. She went full-on Ten here, representing the humans without their consent and getting enraged by the military destroying a retreating enemy, the same hubris and hypocrisy combined with very real kindness and compassion that made me fall in love with the character a long, long time ago. I also really loved Mary Seacole as Thirteen's temporary companion. To be honest, at this point, I'd prefer the Doctor to team up with various people in each episode rather than watch her interact with Yaz.

And that brings me to the part I can't help but critisize - the companions. I still don't like Dan, he feels like a caricature version of a simple everyman trope. And the funny thing is, he was still given much more to do than Yaz! Not to mention that his 'growth' came out of nowhere. I mean, this dude had spent, like, an hour in a cage on a spaceship, about five minutes with the Doctor and immediately decided to infiltrate the military base of a deadly enemy? I know he was feeling unaccomplished in life and all, but at no point did the narrative show any change.

I have to say I loved that silly idea with floating sentient lights, there was something so sad and touching about them in a uniquely awkward Doctor Who way, but then Chibnall had to go and destroy the atmosphere by introducing those human-looking guardians. He anthropomorphizes everything way too much.

I also would love for the episode to have a bit more of social commentary, like the Sontaran two-parter in Season 4 did. On the other hand, considering the fact that Chibnall wouldn't know subtlety if it hit him in the face when it comes to such things, maybe getting vague hints only was for the better.

Regardless of all the criticism, War of the Sontarans was the first Chibnall episode that didn't feel like a chore to get through, and instead of desperately searching for at least some highlights, I was just genuinely having fun.

#doctor who #doctor who season 13 #war of the sontarans #but I also remember being pleasantly surprised by the first 2 episodes of season 12 #and then it turned to maybe not shit #but its usual meh

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lloydshoulddyehishair · 4 years

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hopes for s13 and brief review of s12?

okok ik s12 just aired but--- hear me out skjskyjs

i really liked this season, wouldn't say i loved it, but still liked it. we got a proper storyline unlike in s11 and some(?) character development, the soundtrack was good - which it also was in s11 - and i loved that they brought the master back.

yet i cant help but be quite annoyed about some things in this season.

the master:

like i said i loved that they brought the master back BUT how can we not have missy mentioned at least once. if this master is an incarnation after missy he for sure would have mentioned her at least once to spite the doctor and hurther even more by her having failed missy or something like that. and if he was an incarnation before missy i'm pretty sure that the doctor would have mentioned her at least once. it just feels like everything that missy hat going for her during s9/10 got thrown out of the window and i highkey do not like that.

i really hope that in s13 we will get some closure on that because i don't really believe we've seen the last of the master yet.

angst? things?

something that bothered me and a lot of others with the doctor in s11 was that it felt like the doctor lacked something the other new who doctors always had and that had just become part of the doctors character over the years.

i'm talking about the darkness, the anger, the sadness.

and i know we got some of that in s12 which i LIVED for btw because i am a huge sucker for angst. but (i'm going to use this word so much in this blog thingy skjs) we never really had an anger moment that made one go "oh damn" like we had with the previous doctors. i mean matt smith had one of those moments in his second episode.remember how he had this cold anger towards amy for pressing the forgot button about the starwhale situation because she didn't want the doctor to have to make a decision - so basically making the decision for him - and how he then screamed at everyone in fury. those are the kinds of moments im talking about and i feel like we haven't had one of those with the thirteenth doctor yet. (i love her anyways because i am basically whipped for her but still)

and i know many, many people like exactly that about her and say that it's refreshing to see a doctor that didn't embody those things and this is obviously just my opinion. i just feel like the doctor isn't really the doctor withthout some characteristics and that's one of them. (maybe its just me growing up with him always being like that that makes me miss it so much now)

and this is definitely not jodies fault because she's a great actress and more than capable of doing a scene like that - she just wasn't given the right material to work with.

the companions:

so this will be quite short because i only have two things to say

1. character development.

it's been two seasons and i'm still not quite sure what kind of people yaz, graham and ryan are and thats just-- not good.

i think they introduced too many characters at the same time and thats why they could barely pull of any character development. would've enjoyed it more if they did something like in s5 where amy travels alone with the doctor for half the season - we get an idea of who she is, ect - and then properly introduced rory.

2. HUGS

where are the good old hugs? thirteen deserves a hug and if she goes of the show without being higged at least twice i will RIOT and steal chris chibnalls identity to rewrite doctor who.

the only hug thirteen got was when she hugged najia khan. yaz' mum. like---

clara oswald would NOT have let this happened

y'all remember when i said i only had like two points about this? i was lying

rule 1

3. death

okay so if there is one hope i have for the next season that i want to happen more than any of the others it's

DO NOT KILL THE FAM OFF

not because i love them so much (i mean i do love them but--)

but because its getting quite boring at this point.

the last three companions have all been (more or less) killed off in some way. amy and rory being taken by the weeping angels and dying of old age, clara being killed by the raven thing, bill being converted into a cyberman.

don't even need a huge donna situation. maybe just have them go on their own, deciding it'd be better to stay home now, like martha did in the end of s3.

that'd be refreshing.

i'm exited for how theyll decide to let the fam go especially since there are rumors that tosin (ryan) and bradley (graham) will be leaving the series.

maybe have ryan realize that all of that traveling is too risky for him after all and that he wants to stay in sheffield and have graham stay with him because he wants to look out for his grandson.

i don't know what to do with yaz tbh because i doubt they'd keep her as a companion for three full seasons with that little character development, ect. maybe have her stay and then go mid-season? idk

regeneration:

i think we all know its coming. the doctor is probably going to regenerate at the end of s13 or around the christmas/new years special. and while i'm not ready to let her go yet because i feel like they could do so much more with her character and i just lover her so much, i don't think they'll make her stay for four seasons. the longest run any doctor had was three seasons so thats why i'm assuming she's going in s13. (i dont fucking want her to go i cant - - - - -)

so if they make her regenerate i hope that they'll do two things:

have her have a memorable speech, doesn't have to be as deep and heart clenching as the one 12 had (i'm still crying about it) but maybe something along the lines of 10 would be nice. but just beacuse i love angst.

the other thing i'm hoping for is that she won't regenerate into a man just yet. not because i want to push some fEmInIsT aGeNdA but because i feel like there are many things that can still be explored with a female doctor - ESPECIALLY HISTORY WISE. yeah we got some of that during the with trials (was that the episodes title? not sure) in season 11 but 1 episode out of 372802275110 (ok i just smashed the numbers on my keyboard but still). have her explore some more of the struggles women in the past had to go and sometimes still go through.

jack:

let me tell y'all something

if they just brought jack back for those 5 minutes in s12 where he didn't even directly interwct with the doc and won't bring him back in s13 i WILL throw hands.

i need a thirteen and jack reunion with jack hugging thirteen tight and lifting her up from the ground and spinning them around while she's still in the air in his arms, grinning like a freaking retard beCAUSE I AM SOFT LIKE THAT

i'll probably do a blog about the things that i really liked about s12, because i feel like it seems like i hated s12 which i really didn't just kinda sad and disappointed (ex. the jack situation) about some things

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aion-rsa · 2 years

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Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks Review

https://ift.tt/3FOlsAC

Warning: this review contains spoilers for Doctor Who ‘Eve of the Daleks’

“You go through all those presents and right at the end, tucked away at the bottom, there’s always one stupid old satsuma. Who wants a satsuma?”

Surprisingly prescient words, spoken by the newly-minted Tenth Doctor all those Christmases ago. After all, we as an audience have barely finished unwrapping Doctor Who: Flux, which was teed up to be the biggest, most ambitious, apocalyptic magnum opus of Chris Chibnall’s tenure – the very definition of an overstuffed stocking. By contrast, being back to business as usual and the third New Year’s Day Dalek special in a row, there was every chance that ‘Eve of the Daleks’ was going to turn out to be the satsuma of this year’s run.

How delightful, then, that this holiday outing turned out not just to be one of the tightest and most engaging episodes Chibnall’s ever written, it’s also one of the better Dalek outings since the show came back in 2005. Absolved of a self-imposed need to deliver whopping great changes to the show’s canon or to try and deliver prestige entertainment in place of family telly, this story clearly lands in a place where Chibnall is most at his ease – a small cast of offbeat characters, a location with an established sense of place, and a ticking clock to outrun. In that regard, it’s similar to his first-ever Doctor Who episode, ‘42’.

We’ve a lengthy pre-titles sequence which introduces Aisling Bea as Sarah – grumpy, acerbic, and very much aware that everyone she knows is having a better New Year’s Eve than she is. We also meet Nick – heartfelt, hopelessly optimistic and wielding Monopoly. In their own ways, they both embody different perspectives on coping with holidays where you’re having a terrible time – is it better to face up to how awful things are, or soldier on and try to make the best of it?

Nick is here to stow the rather weathered edition in his storage unit, but is clearly so desperate to eke out his brief time in Sarah’s company that he insists on being read the full list of banned items. “Is it a toxic, hazardous or radioactive board game?” she asks, witheringly. Yes, Sarah, it’s Monopoly at Christmastime. That’s caused wars.

Here’s when the Doctor, Yaz and Dan gatecrash Sarah’s seasonal doldrums, because the Doctor has decided to initiate a full reset to flush out the remaining Flux debris from the TARDIS and “minimise the number of doors”. This line feels like a leftover from a slightly older version of Flux, because the Doctor already did a cold reboot in ‘Village of the Angels’ and the TARDIS seemed to be back to normal after that. It doesn’t really matter either way, though – whatever the Doctor’s reasoning, it serves to boot them all out of the police box and into the plot.

We’re missing one key player in all this, of course – well, two, if you count a criminally underused Pauline McLynn as Sarah’s Mum. A Dalek arrives, and although it’s mostly of the bronze design that’s endured since 2005, it is now equipped with a rapid-fire upgrade to its gunstick. It doesn’t serve much of a plot purpose (though perhaps quick successive blasts are what stops the Doctor regenerating?) but from a production perspective it’s remarkably effective – hearing the traditional weapon fire effect revved up this way just makes the Daleks seem more intimidating than usual, somehow.

This Dalek makes short work of Nick and Sarah before confronting the Doctor, who finds herself unable to jam its weapons systems with her sonic. (Wait, when did that work, exactly?) Just this once, everybody dies! Except it’s not really just once, because this is a time loop story, and so everyone finds themselves back at the beginning ready for round two.

It’s quite common in sci-fi for people to become gradually aware of time loops over several iterations, but the story doesn’t have time for that, so everyone’s immediately clued into what’s happening and we learn some of the nuts and bolts of how the episode will work: the exit is shielded, the place is full of Jeff’s random contraband, and the Dalek is predicting what their actions will be in each loop based on what they tried in the immediate past.

The Dalek knows it has the upper hand and absolutely relishes these encounters. Sometimes it toys with its prey, taking time to insult and belittle their efforts to escape, other times it just glides into the room and makes people dead. It’s this unpredictability and a sense that the mutant is really savouring its mission that makes this one of the most chilling uses of a Dalek since, well, ‘Dalek’.

Loop three sees the group discover the truth about Nick’s storage unit, in which he’s been storing discarded items from every ex-girlfriend ‘just in case’. Sarah absolutely demolishes Nick here, and his direct response is to sacrifice himself in a vain attempt to secure freedom for the others – or perhaps it’s just less painful for him than staying in the room with Sarah. Part of what makes Aisling Bea’s character so interesting is that while she doesn’t intend to be cruel, she’s unabashedly selfish and short-tempered, and her thoughtless actions result in genuine harm to others.

Doctor Who: Flux’s Unanswered Questions

By Louisa Mellor

Doctor Who: Flux Ending Explained

By Chris Farnell

Since the Doctor can’t resonate concrete (a lovely callback to ‘The Doctor Dances’) and escape the Dalek we’re soon onto loop four, where everyone’s made aware that each go-around is getting shorter – and on top of that, a second Dalek has arrived. These reversals of fortune are part of what makes this story work so well. Each and every time it looks like the Doctor’s about to get the upper hand, the Daleks raise the stakes and scupper whatever her plan is.

Dan goes off to delay the new Dalek in a tactical move every five-year-old figured out ages ago – he runs around it in a circle faster than it can turn to face him, though it’s a short-term strategy at best. From the original foe, we learn that it’s the TARDIS reset that’s responsible for the time loop, and the Daleks are seizing on the opportunity to pay back the Doctor for their war fleet being destroyed by the Flux. (It seems that the universe will remember the events of the second wave for future stories, but the devastating consequences of the first Flux will continue to be swept under the rug, at least for now.)

In loop five, the logic of the episode stumbles slightly. Sarah suggests that in the loops so far, Nick has never survived past 11:55pm – and if that pattern holds, by the time the next loop begins, he’ll already be dead. The Doctor seems to agree with this assessment, and heads off to save him.

It’s a nice idea, but Sarah herself is gunned down almost immediately in loop six and yet she’s alive and well next time around. After that, this potential extra wrinkle – companions needing to survive long enough to reach the minutes the next loop will encompass – never gets mentioned again. If Sarah had been the one to insist on doing the saving, there would have been some emotional heft to this, but Nick ends up rescuing himself and ultimately it’s just a slightly odd diversion. That said, the fact this nit exists to pick is testament to how tightly the rest of the story has been written.

Running out of minutes, the Doctor realises that the Daleks’ weakness is that they’re anticipating the humans’ actions based on what they got up to in the previous loop. She suggests using one of the loops to enact a decoy plan – feeding false information for the Daleks to ingest which will get them out of the way long enough to escape. As part of this, Nick runs to his storage unit and constructs a box fort out of all his ex-partners’ belongings, leading the Daleks to believe that building bunkers is the Doctor’s new strategy. When the final loop arrives, they converge on what they believe to be another barricade full of cowering humans, only to ignite Jeff’s illegal fireworks and blow themselves sky-high as Team TARDIS watch from a safe distance. 2022 arrives, the TARDIS is fixed and Sarah leaves with Nick to go and see the world. Whew.

If that were all there was to this episode, it would still be a bit of a belter, but it also finds time to work in some sweet character-building. Most of this is the ‘meet cute’ between Sarah and Nick, of course, but we also get an important scene where Yaz finally confesses her feelings for the Doctor and Dan, brilliantly, calls the Doctor out on having a lot more emotional awareness than she pretends to. It might be a charitable assessment of Whittaker’s blunt, emotionally-distant incarnation, but it’s a point well made about the character as a whole – somewhere in the Thirteenth Doctor’s head, memories of Rose still linger.

There’s space for a few laughs, too, from Yaz’s horrified “they’re alive still, aren’t they?” when Nick reveals his Vault O’ Girlfriends, and the Dalek’s blunt assertion that Dan has been designated the Inferior Human. It’s certainly not a comedy episode, but it has its fair share of funny lines. The acting’s on point, too, with Whittaker fully leaning into Thirteen’s arrogant streak as she fatefully stares down eyestalk after eyestalk, but it’s Aisling Bea and Adjani Salmon that steal the show this week with two very flawed, vulnerable and human performances.

Maybe it’s all the real estate offered by the ELF Storage facility, but the constraints of pandemic filming seem a lot more obvious here than they did during Flux. There’s a lot of empty space being deployed, whether it’s framing characters in long, thin rooms so they can stand well apart or during carefully-distanced chase scenes. Rather than hamper the production, though, the limited sets and other considerations lead to some interesting choices and angles. The episode feels a lot less cinematic and ‘big-budget’ than Flux, but is no worse off for it.

What’s also interesting is how well this could have served as a regeneration story if the final few minutes had played out differently. There’s the promise of a full TARDIS reset, for one thing (I personally was hoping to see the original console room when the doors opened) but there’s also a surprising cameo from Karl – the same Karl who was being chased by Tim Shaw back in ‘The Woman who Fell to Earth’ and apparently lives in Manchester now. Having him there for the Thirteenth Doctor’s final adventure would have made for quite the narrative bookend…

That’s the realm of might-have-been, though. We’ve two more specials to look forward to, and if they can match the quality and the creativity of ‘Eve of the Daleks’ I suspect people will genuinely be anticipating their arrival. Once again, we see that Doctor Who doesn’t need a huge budget, overburdened scripts or universe-ending antimatter waves to succeed. Sometimes the best things in life are the simple pleasures.

“Who wants a satsuma?” As it turns out, Doctor, I did. Happy New Year.

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Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer in the UK

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yeonchi · 4 years

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Doctor Who Series 12 Review Part 9/10: Ascension of the Cybermen

Air date: 23 February 2020

The first part of the series finale has aired and it’s just tension all round. There isn’t a lot of story arc progression, so I hope the wait will be worth it come the second part’s premiere.

My spoiler-free thought for this episode: “Is Ireland going to be the main theme of these two episodes?”

Spoilers continue after the break.

This story follows three streams covering three groups, with one such stream seemingly being separate from the other two.

Stream 1: Graham, Yaz and the survivors

Having failed to protect the human settlement, the fam are separated from the Doctor as she tasks them with protecting the human survivors. Graham and Yaz become separated from Ryan when the damaged Gravraft they boarded had to take off as it was being attacked by Cyberdrones.

In the middle of a field of dead Cybermen, they find a dormant war carrier ship and board it. As they discover that said ship is full of dormant Cybermen, Ashad (the Lone Cyberman) and the two Cyberguards under him board it and proceed to reactivate them while Graham’s group attempts to get the ship moving to Ko Sharmus. Upon approaching Ko Sharmus, Yaz manages to contact the Doctor just as the Cybermen break into the control deck.

Stream 2: The Doctor, Ryan and Ethan

The Doctor is unable to stop Ashad and decides to act as bait. As the Gravraft takes off, she finds Ryan and Ethan, saving the latter from Ashad in the process. They steal one of the Cyberfighters and head for Ko Sharmus while Ashad and his Cyberguards follow in the other Cyberfighter.

Later, they make contact with Ko Sharmus, which is actually a person rather than a planet. Upon landing, Ko Sharmus shows the Doctor and the others to the Boundary, which is seemingly the way out of the galaxy that leads to a different destination each time (according to Ravio). The Doctor approaches the Boundary and discovers the destroyed Gallifrey on the other side just as the Master comes out to greet her and the others.

Stream 3: Brendan

This is the separate stream of which the context is currently unknown. I smell IRA influence from this, but let’s hope I get proven wrong next week before any Irish people get offended (not that they would care anyway, probably).

An Irishman, Patrick, finds a baby in a basket while riding his bike in the lane. He takes it back home to his wife, Meg, and inform a policeman, Michael, about it. With the parents seemingly nowhere to be found, Patrick and Meg are granted custody of the baby, who they name Brendan. As the boy grows up, he joins the gardai with Michael leading his interview.

While chasing a thief to a cliff, Brendan is shot in the heart and falls off, seemingly dying in a sequence slower than Takatora Kureshima’s defeat by his brother in Kamen Rider Gaim. Upon being found by Michael, Brendan seemingly comes back to life and is commended for this miraculous recovery.

Later, upon his retirement, Patrick and Michael, who seemingly haven’t aged a day (along with Meg), take Brendan to the back office and strap him to what is apparently an electric chair (or a device that looks similar to the Chameleon Arch), claiming that they had to wipe his memories. This is where we leave them.

More on the Lone Cyberman

We learn a bit more about Ashad’s origins in this episode. It was already obvious that he was partially converted, but we learn that while he volunteered to be converted, he was rejected by the Cybermen for some reason during the middle of the conversion process. After loathing his own existence, Ashad came to understand that he was chosen for a higher purpose and as such, he took it upon himself to revive the Cyber-Empire following their destruction.

Adding onto my comparison to Dogold of Kyoryuger in last week’s review, I feel that Ashad’s story now has additional elements (or throwbacks) from Chaos and Brajira/Buredoran, the respective main antagonists of Kyoryuger and Goseiger. Given how he was initially rejected by the Cybermen, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ashad gets killed later so the Cybermen can get stronger. I might have to trawl around for more tokusatsu examples again if that happens.

Speaking of which, I find it strange that the Cybermen rejected Ashad, given their belief that humans and everything that they embodied, including their emotions and physical bodies, were weaknesses to them. Initially, they would only convert humans, but as we saw in Nightmare in Silver, they decided to start upgrading other species as well.

The TARDIS Data Core’s article for this episode compares Ashad’s self-loathing to the Daleks cultivated from human cells in The Parting of the Ways. I think that in comparison, the Daleks are the insaner of the two, in part due to hiding in silence for hundreds of years and being driven mad by their own humanity. What contributes to the latter is the Daleks’ hate against anything that isn’t Dalek.

Other general thoughts

There have been multiple Cyber-Wars shown in the series, including the one shown in Nightmare in Silver. None of them can all fit in one timeline because over the years, the history of the Cybermen has been known to be different due to parallel evolution.

I thought that Fuskle may have autism, but maybe he just has PTSD.

The Doctor’s words to her fam about the Cybermen may probably be the most emotional moments of her life.

So the unit that Ryan was strapped into in last week’s teaser image appears to be the piloting mechanism for the Cyber-shuttle. That’s a bit of a relief. We still don’t know what the full context of that image is, but still, I should probably leave out any speculation in my reviews.

Was there any doubt that the Master would escape from the Kasaavin’s realm?

You know, maybe Missy did manage to regenerate on the Mondasian colony ship and become O. Given how distraught he was at having discovered the Timeless Child, the Master as O doesn’t seem as antagonistic towards the Doctor than he was as Harold Saxon or any incarnation before that. Maybe the Doctor trying to turn Missy good did have some effect on her future incarnation, that is if it is even true.

Summary and verdict

Like I said at the start, this episode was just buildup upon buildup upon buildup (as with the first part of every other series finale pretty much). Next week, our questions will hopefully be answered as the Cybermen chase the Doctor into Gallifrey while the Master shows her the truth that he saw.

Rating: 9/10

Stay tuned next week as I review the tenth and final episode, The Timeless Children. The question of whether I’ll need a (strong) drink after that will be answered in the spoiler-free thought for that episode’s review. There will be an epilogue post following that as well.

#doctor who #doctor who series 12 #thirteenth doctor #doctor who series 12 review #thirteenth doctor review

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modernwizard · 2 years

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Why I love the Spymaster #81: His retrospection!

Find my full series under the HELP I WUVS HIM tag.

#81: His retrospection!

The Spymaster is always reminiscing and comparing the present to the past. Let's look at some examples:

Example 1: In Spyfall I, he describes his use of the TCE on the real O as "classic."

In Spyfall II, he calls Thirteen's telepathic connection with him "old school:"

Example 2: In The Timeless Children, he reminisces about schooldays with the Doctor [H/T @themastergifs ]:

Example 3: In The Power of the Doctor, he uses the phrase "old school" again, this time talking about his forced regeneration of Thirteen:

In general, the Spymaster also hearkens back to his first incarnation [Delgado] and second incarnation [Ainley] in not just his words, but also his actions. His reliance on the tissue compression eliminator itself [#62: He likes dolls!] ties him back to Delgado and Ainley, who favored it as a weapon [#26: His Delgadesco flourishes!]. The Spymaster's affection for and admiration of Yaz [#36: Self-deprecating flirting with Yaz! and #59: Still not killing companions!] recall Delgado Master's warmth toward Three's companion Jo. He talks about the past all the time and in some ways embodies it. And there's also the little matter of the entire Matrix -- the entire history of the Time Dorks -- downloaded into his head.

The Spymaster's deep links to the past indicate his fundamental nostalgia. Just look at his approving label of the TCE as "classic," implying something strong, powerful, worthy of respect because it has withstood the test of time. As much as he reviles Time Dork culture and arrogant hierarchy, he also describes his reuse of forced regeneration as "a tribute to our elders," signaling that, on some level, he still appreciates the old ways. He refers to the past so frequently because he thinks that things were better back then.

More specifically, he thinks that he was better back then. The TCE signifies his Delgado and Ainley incarnations, which were marked by a neater, more self-controlled self-presentation [Delgado] and more gleeful destruction than self-reflection [Ainley]. He had his shit together back then. Now, feeling at loose ends, he uses his old equipment to regain that old sense of master.

He also thinks that his relationship with the Doctor was better in the past. The bit in The Timeless Children -- "We had some fun there" -- reminds him that, at some point, the Doctor and the Master both enjoyed each other's company. His call for Thirteen to join him in his trip down memory lane -- "Eh?" -- and his twice looking back at her show how much he wants her to join him. They don't have much fun with each other now, but he wishes that they could.

The Spymaster's obsession with the past shows the depth of his unhappiness. He's so unhappy with his present self that he's constantly trying to travel out of it by remembering, talking about, and acting like the way he used to be. Perhaps the incorporation of the Matrix and the Cyberium in his head allow him to escape into the minds and pasts of others so that he doesn't have to remain in the excruciating now.

@themastergifs @natalunasans @timeladyjamie @rowanthestrange

@whovianuncle @sclfmastery

#themastergifs #doctor who #the spymaster #spymaster #sacha dhawan #HELP I WUVS HIM #spyfall ii #the power of the doctor #the timeless children #nostalgia #unhappiness #escape #self-hatred

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modernwizard · 4 years

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Why I love Dhawan Master #36: Self-deprecating flirting with Yaz!

H/t to @ventingbouto and the Little Things That the Master Does That I Just Love series, which inspired this.

Find my full series under the HELP I WUVS HIM tag or at the why I love Dhawan Master tag.

Read more about my version of Dhawan Master/Thirteen [plus fam] in The Happy Famverse, a series of comic shorts about the domestic lives of [extended] Team TARDIS.

#36: Self-deprecating flirting with Yaz!

He’s really playing up the lovable loser dork here, isn’t he? Not once, but twice, he acts cool/knowledgeable and then undercuts his own damn self by admitting that, uh, nope, that coolness was just an act. No, they did not win. No, that was not an actual saying. Implication: Yeah, yeah, he is kind of a doofus, trying to impress Yaz.

This is hilarious because of how many levels of acting he’s juggling here. He’s the Master, playing O, who’s playing a cool guy, but who fails. He probably takes it as some elaborate joke because she thinks his performance [O as cool guy] fails, but that actually means that his ultimate performance [the Master as O pretending to be cool guy] succeeds, bwah hah hah hah hah!

Check out their expressions in the two gifs too. In the first, Yaz, who clearly knows zilcho about gambling, is all ready to be super thrilled. Hey, the Master’s cheering! Clearly something awesome has happened! His exultant expression drops so quickly, though. False alarm: He’s just a disappointing doofus.

The second time, though, happens about two seconds after the first. Yaz will still follow the Master anywhere. Look at how intently she’s watching him and with what indulgence she rolls her eyes at him. She thinks he’s kinda witty and sweet, if clearly an overenthusiastic dingus. She’s charmed.

Meanwhile, he’s making this “[pause] no” thing into a shared joke, and he’s monitoring his success. At first he’s staring off into middle distance, but he meets her eyes right after “No.” When he makes eye contact, his eyebrows are up; he’s waiting for something. Then he watches her as she rolls her eyes fondly at him. He tracks her as she looks down, and then he looks down too, smiling. He has what he wants. She thinks he’s adorable. Success!!!

Oh, he can be. He very much is. He “can be” so much that he can successfully play a loser pretending to play a winner. He “very much is” a self-satisfied master of deception. He also “very much is” hilarious to watch.

[NOTE: Over in my Happy Famverse, Yaz and the Master are friends. They actually like each other for actual reasons. She also has a crush on him.]

#HELP I WUVS HIM #sacha dhawan #dhawan master #why I love Dhawan Master #yaz #stick with me yaz because i control everything #nerd playing a loser #have i mentioned that i wuvs him?#because i wuvs him

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modernwizard · 4 years

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Why I love Dhawan Master #26: His Delgadesco flourishes!

H/t to @ventingbouto and the Little Things That the Master Does That I Just Love series, which inspired this.

#26: His Delgadesco flourishes!

The first Master was played by Roger Delgado, and no one has been able to do as amazing a job as him since. For one thing, the guy was a super talented actor. Classical or comedy, he could do it all, with gravity, pride, and pathos.

For another thing, the role was kind of written for him. Thus he was able to own it in a way that no other Masters can. They’re just borrowing it from Roger Delgado...

For another thing, he brought so much extra to the character. Jon Pertwee, who played Three, and Roger Delgado were very close friends, and that just shines through on the screen. Take a look at any episode with Three and Delgado, and you’ll see how much fun they’re having, how comfortable they are in each other’s presence, and how much they just plain like each other. That genuine emotional attachment gave the supposedly villainous Master a warmth and likeability that really grounded Delgado’s portrayal. Why yes, Delgado Master is an over-the-top embodiment of ham, cheese, and probably bananas, but Delgado’s ability to infuse the character with real-life emotions makes the Master that much more believable.

Wait a minute. This is not a paean to Roger Delgado. This is supposed to be a paean to Sacha Dhawan! Ahem. Sorry.

Anyway, Delgado Master is the bestest, and you just can’t argue with facts. Since I love Delgado Master, I enjoy any other Master’s references to him. Therefore, Dhawan Master, who revives some of the spirit and the aesthetic of the Delgadesco years, pleases me immensely.

I’ve listed some of these traits out in separate entries, but let’s gather together some of my favorite Delgadesco flourishes:

1. The tissue compression eliminator or TCE. It’s the classic Master’s preferred weapon. It first showed up with Delgado Master, looking like a cigar.

Ainley Master also wielded the TCE frequently, although his looked more like...well...a vibrator:

In a call back to “a classic,” as he calls it, Dhawan Master uses the same weapon, but with a different form. As I’ve previously discussed, it’s now a nifty little steampunk gizmo.

Sometimes reinventions of the old favorites lose the charm of the original, but the latest TCE retains all of its old flair. The flair, of course, consists in its ability to kill people by tuning them into dolls. The charm of the original was not the fact that it looked like a penis. Clearly Dhawan Master has improved the Incredible Shrinking Device!

2. The dapper self-presentation. As you can see from the picture above, Delgado Master is always immaculately and expensively attired, with fastidious attention to details [such as matching tie and pocket square]. Dhawan Master too enjoys bespoke ensembles with strong matching elements. However, his double-double-knotted shoelaces, cockeyed pants cuffs, and dusty shoes signal that this version of the Master is less preoccupied with details and a little messier than Delgado.

3. The use of assault. As I noted when I was talking about Dhawan Master’s weaponized intimacy, hand-to-hand combat is a rarity among Masters. Delgado, however, regularly karate chops, jumps on, and otherwise physically subdues the chumps who try to resist his psychic powers. By the same token, Dhawan Master chokes Thirteen. Neither of them, for all their dapperness, are afraid of getting their hands dirty and doing the brutal deed themselves.

4. He’s cool with the companions. Delgado Master and Jo, Three’s companion, had an interesting sort of relationship that approached respect sometimes. When he wasn’t trying to kill her, Delgado Master tended to treat Jo with courtesy [calling her “Miss Grant”], seeming concerned when she was hurt [”I’m sorry about your coccyx, Miss Grant”], and regarding her more with avuncular amusement than hatred or wrath. I theorize that, since she was the only companion who ever figured out how to resist his mental coercion [by reciting nursery rhymes], he grudgingly admitted that she was perhaps a worthy opponent. ^_^

As for Dhawan Master, I’m probably going to regret saying this when he murders the fam and fingerpaints with their blood, but I like how he seems pretty cool with the companions. Ainley Master was a sadistic asshole who stole Nyssa’s dad’s body and then lurked around, snickering, just to torment her. Simm was a flamboyantly misogynist, racist, and homophobe who tortured Martha, Jack, and Martha’s family and killed Bill. Missy played cat-and-mouse with Clara and psychologically abused Bill. By contrast, Dhawan Master has [so far] behaved in a rather, uh, pleasant manner toward Yaz, Ryan, and Graham. He saves his wrath and pain for their true target -- Thirteen -- and [so far] doesn’t bother fucking with the companions.

In fact, he even has some kind of relationship with two of them, at least in the person of O. He picks up on Graham’s curiosity about the Doctor’s past and teases him with his shelf full of information about Thirteen.

He’s also totally flirting with Yaz, for example, at Daniel Barton’s gambling party.

Master: Well, you know what they say. “Unlucky at dice, lucky at love.”

Yaz: Do they really say that?

Master: No. :(

And, during his dramatic in-flight revelation, he appeals directly to Yaz: “Stick with me, Yaz, because I control...everything.”

I have no idea if the Master’s teasing of Graham carries over from the O persona because he doesn’t address Graham after coming out as himself. The Master’s interest in Yaz, however, does carry over. Does he like her? Does he want to get in her pants? Is this foreshadowing for future manipulation in the form of some massively stupid plot where he tries to destroy the Doctor by seducing a member of the Doctor’s fam to evil? Please, God, let it not be the last one. Anyway, it’s nice to see a Master who’s not hellbent on humiliating, torturing, and killing the companions [yet]. Dear BBC -- for once can we have a Master who doesn’t kill the companions?

#dhawan master #the master #delgado master #HELP I WUVS HIM #dw meta #doctor who #tissue compression eliminator #tce #worthy opponent #why I love Dhawan Master

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modernwizard · 4 years

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Why I love Dhawan Master #50: His revealing performances!

Find my full series under the HELP I WUVS HIM tag or at the why I love Dhawan Master tag.

Read more about my version of Dhawan Master/Thirteen [plus fam] in The Happy Famverse, a series of comic shorts about the domestic lives of [extended] Team TARDIS.

#50: His revealing performances! The Master, @sclfmastery and I agree, is a performative entity. While some people may think of a performance as a false face that someone puts on, the cool thing about the Master’s performances is that they’re all true. In other words, each role highlights some aspect of the character’s personality in that regeneration.

Let’s look at Dhawan Master...

The role of O at home allows him to express his admiration for, interest in, and love for the Doctor.

The role of O at the party shows his charm as he befriends Yaz and easily wins her confidence.

The role of explosive guy on explosive plane gives him an outlet for all the excitement, playfulness, and rage that he’s been bottling up as O.

The role of inventor of the Incredible Shrinking Device plays up his theatricality, his resort to violence, and his need for an audience.

The role of Nazi accentuates the fact that he himself was raised in a militaristic environment with strong fascist, imperialist overtones and trained to fight for its causes.

The role of Ozymandias [”Look on my works, Doctor, and despair!”] channels both his love of power plays and also his dim awareness that he’s probably eventually doomed.

The role of guide to the Matrix accentuates his obsessive pursuit of knowledge, his focus on details, and his literal need to control the narrative.

The role of Cyberium host reminds us that this is a character with a long history of impulsive, ill-advised collaborations with entities that end up turning on him.

The role of creator of the CyberMasters highlights how much his life, like that of the CyberMasters, has been shaped by being under someone else’s control, unwillingly altered, and forced to fight.

#the master #dhawan master #sacha dhawan #HELP I WUVS HIM #why I love Dhawan Master #roleplay #all the masters are into it #it's what they live for #besides survival #the faces we wear #dw meta

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous – A Parents’ Guide

https://ift.tt/3iW8hT3

The following contains spoilers for Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.

The Jurassic World franchise is known for its PG-13 level of violence and thrill-factor, but Camp Cretaceous seems aimed for a younger audience, as evidenced by the PG rating and the current McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys. But is it right for your kids? From one parent to another, here are the things I noticed that might be triggers for your kids, as well as my experience watching the season with both of mine.

What Will Appeal to Kids

Let’s start with the good. This show is full of dinosaurs, and the animators clearly enjoyed luxuriating on the sheer awesomeness that these prehistoric titans embody. The campers get to ride among them in gyrospheres—the see-through, ball-like vehicles that are possibly the coolest conceit of the franchise—and zipline past the necks of the tallest sauropods. While in an underground kayaking river, they see bioluminescent parasaurolophuses. Several of the campers are present when a baby ankylosaurus hatches from an egg (which is a little heart melting, even for the most cynical viewer).

The cast of campers is largely likeable, and while viewers might not identify with all of them, there’s likely to be at least one member of the cast who they empathize with. Dino Nerd Darius, the first camper viewers meet, is an excellent viewpoint character for watchers who are entering this world, especially those who are as excited about dinosaurs as he is. In a familiar trope, the campers overcome their differences to work together as a team—and become friends. The trope is familiar because it works; we’re rooting for these scrappy underdogs to make it off the island and get back home.

The Cliffhangers

But it’s important to know that season one does not end with a conclusion to the story. Spoiler: The kids do not make it off the island. They’ve been abandoned by the adults and left to fend for themselves, because despite their best efforts, they miss the last ferry.

Despite this uncertain fate, the season finale does feel like it wraps up the larger arc of the season. It closes with assurances that the campers believe they’re going to make it, that adults are determined to come back for them, and that a missing camper survived (more on that below). The season certainly feels finished, even if the story is left completely open-ended.

But while the season finale isn’t a true cliffhanger, a large chunk of the episodes are. This is not a one-a-night before-bed TV show. This is a show that’s designed for binge watching. Episodes 2 and 4 end at relatively safe places, where the action isn’t imminent, but those are about the only two that offer a decent pause. If you’re planning to watch this as a family, leave more time than you think you need. (Parents like me will be just as eager as their kids to see what happens next!)

The Jump Scare

In the tradition of Jurassic Park movies starting with the very first one, Camp Cretaceous relies heavily on the adrenaline pumping of the jump scare. The opening scene of the first episode places viewers in a first-person video game perspective as Darius plays the official Jurassic World game—something not revealed to the viewer until a T-Rex’s jaws come closing down to black out the screen, just before a “Game Over” symbol.

There are plenty of moments throughout the series where the main characters think they’re safe, and danger appears out of nowhere, threatening everything. Sometimes the viewers share the sudden revelation of danger—that surprising shock of teeth and claws right at the forefront of the screen. Some kids thrive on this type of action; mine (five and ten) ended up attached to one arm on each side as we binge watched the last four episodes. Compared to superhero action, where the impact always affects someone else, Camp Cretaceous’s intensity comes from putting the viewer right at the center of the action.

Death

It should be no surprise to anyone familiar with the franchise that people get eaten by dinosaurs in Camp Cretaceous. The animation is handled very delicately. Viewers never see any of the details of the fates of these usually unnamed park employees. The one named adult who is eaten, Eddie, has just stolen a vehicle from the campers, which is likely to make viewers feel substantially less sorry for him. His scene is fairly dramatic: viewers watch him try to escape from the Indominus rex, who ultimately prevails in getting a human meal, and his screams, though quiet and faraway, are certainly audible.

How Camp Cretaceous Connects to the Jurassic World Canon

By Jennifer Lee Rossman

But it’s not just seeing people get eaten, or knowing that the kids are finding what’s left of those who were attacked, that makes death loom large over the series. Much of Darius’s motivation comes from losing his father to an illness. The pair had promised to visit Jurassic World together, until Darius’s father’s sickness got the better of him. In one of the most touching episodes in the season, viewers see Darius’s father in his hospital bed, fighting for his life—but losing. Viewers don’t see his death, but Darius’s loss feels palpable. We needed a box of tissues to deal with those scenes, but for kids who fear losing parents to illness—particularly in the midst of a worldwide pandemic—it’s important parents are ready for those scenes going in.

There’s also the tease of the death of one of the campers. In the last episode, camper Ben plummets from a monorail into the jungle below, his fate unknown to the other campers. By this point in the series, the campers have survived a number of long falls before this—zip lines are supposed to be one of the fun features of the camp, but when the campers are using one to escape the Indominus rex, the fun gives way to fear. In one episode, Camper Yaz jury rigs a zip line to evade a leaping Mosasaurus in a horror version of a Sea World aquarium. So it’s not a certain thing that Ben died in the fall—and the fact that the campers choose to continue their escape without looking for him is one of the big, ethical moments in the series, where the kids choose the chance that the five of them will survive over the likelihood that, if they search for Ben, all six of them could die.

Ultimately, Ben survives; his fingers twitching as his companion dinosaur discovers him are the last things viewers see in season one. But that moral question has no easy answer, and sometimes it’s those bigger questions that challenge younger viewers, even more than the scary parts.

Romance

There’s no explicit romance in season one, which is more focused on friendship than other teen drama. Kenji, the oldest and richest of the campers, makes several comments about impressing girls, and once claims to describe himself as a “tall hot drink,” a comment met with groans and one, “Gross.” (Brooklynn, a social media star who has a deep love for her espresso machine, tells Kenji, “You could never be coffee.”)

One close friendship does develop between two girls, and while fans of other Dreamworks shows like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power may start shipping them, budding romance at this point is only wishful thinking.

My Family’s Takeaway

All kids are different. My ten year old found the intensity and the jump scares much more upsetting than my five year old, who was all about the cool dinosaurs. Both relied on me to assure them that things were going to be all right at the end, which was a bit of a leap of faith on my part, since I was also watching the series for the first time. Thankfully, Dreamworks did not let me down: all the kids made it out alive, and if all of us dropped our jaws that the kids actually failed to get off the island, it just whet our appetites for a second season.

Some kids, especially those who have watched other parts of this franchise, will handle the show’s intensity like champs. There’s almost no gore (the kids get dirty, but I can’t recall seeing any blood in the entire first season), which makes it slightly tamer than the cinematic parts of the franchise. The trailer is a good indication of the tone of the show, giving examples of how the music heightens the tension, and how danger lurks around every corner. If you’re still not sure, the first episode makes good use of all of those elements, and while the stakes are absolutely higher as the season goes on, if you think your kids can handle the first episode, they’ll probably be fine for the whole season.

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That said, I’m really glad my kids didn’t watch the show on their own. We’ve had no nightmares, but I think that’s in part because they watched it with a parent, who could help them feel safe in spite of the intensity. As it turned out, watching it with them really enhanced my experience as well. My vote? Make this a family night watch and share in the awe and wonder of dinosaurs together.

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