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mrmallard · 4 months

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So I finally watched the final 60th anniversary special of Doctor Who: The Giggle.

I don't know how to really put into words what I just did. You know that facial expression and noise you make with your mouth as you like slap your thighs to stand up at another person's place as you go to leave? The "aight imma head out" rigmarole? I kinda just did that. Not because I'm going to stop watching the show, but because I Just don't know how else to express what just happened. It's more of a "well shit I don't know what to tell you" thing then a "aight imma head out" thing. I have so many heavy thoughts on the episode.

I'm going to throw out two spoiler-free thoughts, and then when I go to bed in the next half hour I'll do a more detailed spoiler-filled post beneath a readmore.

My thoughts are:

I'm so glad to have Murray Gold back. Murray Gold fucking owns, he was the main music guy up until Chibnall but he really shone during the first RTD run. That ghostly "oooooooh ooooh oooooooh" song he did in series 2? Fucking rules. His music defines the show as much as anything else. Good old Murray Gold.

Neil Patrick Harris did a phenomenal job as the Toymaker. I thought the Toymaker logic was very cool and interesting. I thought NPH brought so much to the performance that I can't even go into due to spoilers. All in all, NPH was an outstanding guest star.

My third thought is too long-winded to put in a dot point.

I feel about this finale the same way I felt about the Flux miniseries. That miniseries had some of the best episodes of Chibnall's run, but it also had two of the best episodes of the entire revival - I think the Sontaran episode was the best Sontaran episode of the entire revival, and the Village of the Angels episode is my personal favourite Weeping Angels episode.

But the odd-numbered episodes were a bit shakier than the even-numbered episodes, and for the six episodes of the miniseries, all of the foibles and shortcomings and mistakes were propped up by a final episode that would either make the entire arc worth the wait, or completely waste whatever the fuck that Flux storyline was building up to. When that final episode aired? It didn't live up to my expectations.

Those two episodes are still genuinely incredible episodes of the show, and feathers in Jodie Whittaker's cap as an actress and Thirteen's cap as a character. But the overarching Flux storyline just leaves me feeling incredibly unsatisfied. The storyline didn't stick the landing. And it might provide the show with material ripe for the picking going forward, ala the Time War, but as that six episode strand of Doctor Who goes, it just didn't stick the landing.

The Giggle kicks off an entire era of the show that has the same sword of Damocles hanging over it, at least for me.

I'll give Ncuti Gatwa a chance, I haven't seen him as the Doctor in his first full-length episode yet. My issue here isn't with him. But given the highly unique circumstances of The Giggle, this is an ambitious story arc with a mountain of potential - and an equally critical possibility of missing the mark, like how I felt like the Flux storyline did.

I'm not even bitching about the Timeless Child, because I LIKE the Timeless Child. If anything, the Timeless Child makes episode outcomes like The Giggle possible. I'm speaking for my dissatisfaction with the Flux.

But we have Russell T. Davies back at the helm, and if anyone is going to do a story arc like this justice, it's him - god help me if this statement ages poorly. I have faith in the actors and the writers, and I have faith in RTD. I'm extremely interested in seeing what the fuck Ruby Tuesday's deal is - what a name. Lock me up for beating a dead horse, but I'm Cautiously Optimistic.

So that's my final thought. This storyline that the Giggle sets up, imo, needs an absolutely dynamite payoff. This needs to be leading to SOMETHING. Even if the run falters, it needs to have that strong ending that at least pays off the run beforehand and provides closure to the long-term story arc posed by The Giggle. It doesn't even have to be a 10/10 ending - I watched the Moffat seasons and explicitly didn't like them. It just has to be a solid 8/10.

So that's my spoiler-free review of The Giggle. Murray Gold is a fucking superstar, Neil Patrick Harris killed it as The Toymaker, and in the everloving name of fuck, PLEASE stick the landing better than the Flux miniseries did. Please. Thirteen was my favorite Doctor and I'm still so bitter over The Flux.

#doctor who #doctor who spoilers #long post

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omegangrins · 3 years

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A Rant on the End of Tremors 7: Shrieker Island

As the main man said,

Throwing caution to the wind because this blew up elsewhere.

If you can do it with Justice League, fuck it, let's do it for every shitty movie we've got.

While we're at it, can we change the ending of the 7th Tremors movie so *MAJOR FUCKING SPOILERS* Burt Gummer doesn't die or at least bring Jamie Kennedy back, or Marvel style recast Jon Heder, so he dies saving his son instead of a random-ass person who could have easily saved themselves. Or cut the forced montage of Burt clips at the end so his death is at least ambiguous. Seriously beyond pissed about that one. THAT is no way for him to go.

I would also like to point out that the next Tremors *HAS* to be titled Tremors 8: Ouroboros and bring everyone back for Burt's funeral . Otherwise, what's the fucking point?

I have feelings about it, people. *FEELINGS!!!*

One of my favourite childhood memories is picking out Tremors 2 from the local gas station's movie rentals and forcing my parents to watch it. I was probably 5-6 at the time.

Let's say that it's been a lifelong love affair ever since. It took me another 10 years before I even watched the 1st. Probably why I hold good sequels in such high regard.

I didn't even know about the 1st until it played as a trailer in front of 2 and never thought to watch until years later. That's a testament to its filmmaking if I ever knew one.

So seriously, that's how they chose to kill off one of the most well known and prolific characters in a movie/TV series known around the globe? With an unnecessaryily needed death and a montage of clips from all the other movies that are obviously better than this one.

And I'm saying that as someone who defends Chibnall/13th Doctor...

...and I'm fucking fuming because THIS is how you *actually* destroy something people love and hold dear to their hearts. It's like the ending of Game of Thrones. His shitty ass death has made it a loooooot harder to rewatch. And they are one of my favourite series!!! Not flawless but fun. But I will defend every other movie and all the episodes except this. Honestly I'll still defend 7/8ths of this one as well.

Like I said, it's easily fixed too. Fucking vice versa swap out Jon Heder for Jamie Kennedy, who the movies have been building up for the last two, and have Burt save his son in front of his old flame. Boom, you won't even need the montage of clips cause you can just have Travis and his mom reminisce about Burt instead. Show not tell. I don't even care he died by Graboid (although in all honesty, I've allways wanted El Blanco to take him down or Burt kills himself from the PTSD. It would have AT LEAST MADE SENSE. Hell, the best would be a heart attack to callback Val's "Yeah, Burt, the way you worry, you're gonna have a heart attack before you get a chance to survive World War Three.". But none of us ever get the best death.). And it's not even about Burt sacrificing himself to save a nobody. Cause that could work too. BUT YOU NEED TO BUILD THAT SHIT UP. Not just fucking drop it like it's hot.

Like I said too, the first 7/8ths ain't bad but it's an entirely different story than a swansong for a hero.

It's all about some billionaire scientist/cowboy hunter dude who likes to get his jollies off hunting the biggest and the baddest who ends up inviting people to this island so they can hunt down Super-Graboids he designed for shits and giggles. But then some Shrieker-fy....

And the pretentious douches come and die one by beautiful one while Burt tries to save them anyway and it's all spectacularly dumb fun until it comes crashing down in the final 10 minutes. Fuck, they should just cut the last 10 minutes. Then it's a perfect little Tremors ditty.

#RELEASETHE7THTREMORSWITH10MINUTESFROMTHEENDCUT

This isn't even about Jon Heder either. He's just doing his job. Hell, do what /u/VoiceofRonHoward pointed out.

"It is clear that Jon's character was just pasted in over Jamie's, the artifacts of the father-son relationship are all over it. They should have gone full Marvel and just replaced Jamie with Jon and acted like nothing happened."

CAUSE FUCK YES!! The only time a story sucks is when they don't commit. Commitment makes all the difference. Now, I'm pissed double-pissed they didn't do that instead since Heder and Kennedy are similar in terms of white-boy-ness.

Even Michael Gross agrees:

"Yes, yes. Now I can't presume to speak for Jamie [Kennedy]. My understanding was they asked him and he said no. And so that's why they went with somebody else. So I had nothing to do with that decision. I just heard the stories. I missed him for that reason. You begin a relationship with the character, and you want to continue it....

...As you build a relationship with this son, we had two, it would've been nice to have three, but that was the hand I was dealt."

One of my favourite bits of Tremors lore comes from the 5th too so it's not like I hate sequel changes out of hand:

"This is a warrior dance. Our ancestors hunting the lnkanyamba and the Impundulu.

"What's that?

"Impundulu. It's what you call the Ass Blaster.

"Ass Blaster.

"Yes.

"Hey, you know, you make Ass Blaster sound good.

Primitive cultures fighting Graboids, Shriekers and Assblasters. I just love that thought.

Hilariously, my meta opening to the 8th movie would be a flashback to 10,000 years ago and a Neanderthal-like Burt Gummer teaching others how to drive Graboids off cliffs like they did with mammoths.

Thank you for giving me the space to rant. Cause fuuuuuuhhhhhhhhuuccck!!!

Here's Michael Gross' own words from his AMA that prove the people making Shrieker Island didn't know their shit.

"The Tremors series is one very close to my heart and I want you to know how appreciated your continued effort is for your core fan base.

My only question would be were there ever any studio decisions made for Burt that you refused to comply with? Or was everybody pretty much always on the same page on what to do with the character?

Thanks again for your dedication.

- Josh"

"Thanks for the kind words, Josh. As regards the first four films, with Wilson and Maddock as the writers, we were very much on the same page. 5,6, and 7 were a bit different, because there was a 13-year hiatus between 4 and 5, and we had to refresh our memories while "reinventing" the franchise for a new audience. I will give you one example: in an early draft of Shrieker Island, a new writer wrote a draft where Burt threatened to shoot one of the bad dudes, and I had to tell him—this is true—"Burt never intentionally points his gun at another human being."

And his own thoughts on Burt's "death" and how to bring it all back together again.

Universal and the director [came] to me with this idea, and they said, 'This could be emotionally very powerful, if we have to say goodbye to this man after 30 years. And I hemmed and hawed, and I thought about it a little bit. And I said, 'You're absolutely right about the emotional gut punch this can be.' And I said, 'You're going to hurt a lot of people's feelings.' And I said, 'But I thought this franchise was over after four. So I could certainly live with it being over after seven.'

"What we negotiated -- well, it wasn't really a negotiation, we all agreed on this -- is that we kind of left the door open. >!Because although Burt is gone, we never see a corpse. We never see his remains. Everybody assumes he's gone. Is he buried somewhere? Is he unconscious somewhere? We never see Burt dead. We see Burt gone. We see Burt not returning. What does that mean? Has he been knocked out? Does he have amnesia somewhere? Does he wander off? Is he in a kind of coma? So yes, the way it ends is pretty profound."

"As regards to the end of Tremors 7, let me just say that while people ASSUME Burt is gone, we never see his remains, do we? Just sayin.'

"The only reason he has become the main character is that everyone else in the original cast moved on to other things. I NEVER thought of him as the central figure, but it just worked out that Michael Gross, like Burt Gummer, was a "survivor." :0) "

"No one would like to see it more than I!!! One of my greatest regrets is that so many other cast members fell away over time. Reba was on to other things, Kevin said no to a second, Fred said no to a third. I would LOVE one last go with all of them, but it is not up to me. :0( "

"There are no guarantees, but for those who wonder aloud if this is the final film, I will say what I have said before: SALES drive sequels, Show biz is 5% show and 95% business, so if this latest addition to the Tremors franchise, sells well, [Universal] will follow the money, and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment may will be back for more."

/u/ActorMichaelGross, the bell has been rung and the song sung. Get the producers on this ASAP!!

I was also the first person to discover the symbolic foreshadowing of Stumpy's end with Earl's sleeping bag in the original movie.

Let's just say, I really *really* love these movies. So if anyone knows anyone, hook me up to the producers of this series and I'll Justin Lin in the Fast and Furious out of this shit.

Since I don't think it's good to critique without proposing either, I say we can make up for this fuck up with the next movie. We'll call it Tremors 8: Ouroboros. After the snake which eats its own tail.

We find out Burt faked his death to get the Proudfoot Corporation to let down their guard and when everyone from the previous series comes back for Burt's fake funeral they give him ever loving shit for being such a paranoid whack-job that he would fake his death to fool a government agency. Why would he do this? He found an old photo of Hiram Gummer with a Graboid warning on the back and asks himself why this valley, why these things, why allways me? And we find out, it's not Burt. It's that lifestyles of extremes will end up in places of extremes. Burt and the Graboids are survivors of different species. Sure the Proudfoot Corporation IS using Mixmaster to combine Graboids, Shriekers, and Ass-Blasters into one super creature for the military but it pales in comparison to Burt looking at his life and wondering in shame how many ancient giants like himself he has killed. And with that, he actually dies, and we keep the ball rolling with the rest of the characters trying to stop what they allways thought was just another one of Burt's crazy conspiracies.

That's why it's Ouroboros. Everything comes back around. We could end/start the movie with Grady, Earl, and Jodi opening a Monster World in Perfection Valley a la Desert Jack's Graboid Adventure. I don't know. I'm fucking trying harder than the people they paid to do this already.

It ain't perfect but I'm building on sand here so changes are gonna get made.

Like if the makers of Tremors notice this,

Then DM me because fucking A you guys need some help.

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an-american-whovian · 4 years

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• The Story Thus Far:

The Doctor recently lost Rose and then basically gets friend zoned by Donna Noble on Christmas. It's okay, tho', Martha Jones is there to be a rebound.

Coincidentally enough, I was going through a rebound, myself, when this series came out.

Martha was cool -- my rebound wasn't. (I, eventually, dumped her over FB messenger; she wasnt happy about it.)

• Once, Twice, Three Times a (New) Lady:

Poor Martha had to follow up the heartbreak that was Ten and Rose. Freema Agyeman doesn't get enough credit in DW lore as a great companion (which she most certainly is!).

Like, is she a rebound? Pfft -- duh! Fucking Ten takes her to a cheap version of he and Rose's first date. That's okay, tho', because 'Gridlock' makes fer a dope ass episode.

• I Got Ahead of Myself, Again:

Before Martha comes along with her puppy dog eyes -- Catherine Tate's Donna is introduced. 'The Runaway Bride' is yer typical corny as fuck Christmas special; but the chemistry between Tennant and Tate is so dope you can put that ALL aside. (Anything is better than 'The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe'. That shit is painful.)

Lastly, love how at the end she rebuffs the Doctor's invitation to come along the TARDIS. Yet tells him that he still needs to find someone else to join him.

So good.

• Let's Get the 💩 Out of the Way:

'The Shakespeare Code' is too corny fer its own good. That Dalek two parter ALMOST ruins them forever. More importantly, what's with the pig faced henchmen!? Didn't we already have those in 'Aliens of London'!?

'The Lazarus Experiment' is kinda B-movie fun (but just BARELY).

'42'? Just four words, "Fuck you, Chris Chibnall".

• Space Police Rhinos Rule:

'Smith & Jones' is up there as one of my favorite series openers. Right away yer properly introduced to Martha and her family; the Doctor is running around being the Doctor. The Judoon are, like, so legit.

Those motorcycle henchmen are kinda dumb, tho'. Like, could they not afford a better look fer them. I do LOVE that the villain is an English 'Golden Girl' who sucks people's blood with a straw. Fucking gold.

Did I mention I love 'Gridlock'? You get a brief look at the Macra and that Face of Boe appearance at the end is SO DOPE. Enigmatic as fuck.

'Human Nature'/'The Family of Blood' is up there as ONE OF THE BEST Doctor Who two parters -- all time. I'll fight anyone about it. Like, the Doctor turns human and falls in love -- NOT WITH MARTHA, THO', 'CAUSE SHE'S TOO BUSY DEALING WITH RACISTS BIGOTS! It's just beautiful.

• Yer Gonna Wanna Fight Me About This One:

'Blink' is overrated. THERE I SAID IT! Like, it's a good story and all. However, some people put it up there in the top 5 stories of all time -- and I can't agree.

• That Time I Was Introduced to Scissor Sisters:

I think it can be said that series three ends in a three parter. It's pretty epic. The return of the Master is great. John Simm is pure manic camp. Captain Jack is back ready to bang everyone -- that's always cool. Although, at the end when they all "think" about the Doctor to save the day, he looks like he's gonna legit jizz himself. 💦

Then you get Martha kinda nicely(?) dumping the Doctor (at least it wasn't through FB messenger) and then the Titanic crashes into the TARDIS.

(Or he, also, briefly meets his Fifth regeneration somewhere in there. Depends how yer watching it.)

• Allons-y:

A step down from series one and two -- but there's A LOT still to love. I wanna like that Dalek two parter, but I cant. The American accents are terrible and that Dalek/Human hybrid with penises on his face doesn't do it fer me.

Also, fuck Chris Chibnall.

Aside from all that: a really impressive series with a VERY UNDERRATED companion.

Certified Freshly Squeezed.

#doctor who #an american whovian #dw #whovian #review #nuwho #the tenth doctor #david tennant #martha jones #freema agyeman #donna noble #catherine tate #series three #series 3 #the master #john simm #the face of boe #captain jack harkness #john barrowman

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