DW 28x12: Army of Ghosts
Jul. 1st, 2006 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieI dunno. That just sort of...left me cold, in much the same way as ROTC/AOS didn't really do much for me. About two thirds of the way in, I was thinking, "You know, I wish we had more episodes like 'Idiot's Lantern.'" Which, you know, at least was fun.
This was...not, really. Yvonne was not so much evil as irritating, and Torchwood would have been much better if we hadn't been hearing about it EVERY TWO SECONDS from the media and from the show itself. And I feel like a bad fan--here we have the Cybermen and the Daleks all together, which is supposed to be the coolest thing ever, and I...really don't care. Like, at all. Possibly my problem is that I still don't find the Cybermen a particularly scary villain, for reasons I stated when they first showed up this season and which I won't go into again.
They did tie together all the divergent little threads from this season--Cybermen, alternate univese, Torchwood, hell/beast--which was nice, but it felt kind of like a paint-by-numbers thing. Of course the sphere comes from a place some people call "hell." Of course it's in Torchwood's possession. Of course Torchwood is run by vaguely evil people. Of course it's related to the Cybermen and the AU. I was surprised that the Daleks showed up--I'd heard rumors that people had seen a Dalek exterminator ray in the preview (I didn't watch it so as not to be spoiled), but I'd forgotten until they flew out of the sphere.
But the beginning was sort of awful--the voice from beyond the grave thing was a bit silly. Although we did finally get to see a FRAKKING ALIEN PLANET or two, which was nice. I want to see the episode with those dragon-looking things in it that perhaps was made in some alternate universe. Then the middle sort of plodded along; I knew the moment we saw the plastic wrap around the "No Entry" area that there would be Cybermen behind it, and as soon as we saw people with things in their ears (even before they got one in both ears), I twigged to the connection to the AU. Then there was the ending, and I...kind of don't care how it turns out.
And what was up with the 3D glasses? Another Ghostbusters thing?
"How long you gonna stay with me?" / "Forever" was sweet, although very anvilicious. Rose is so outta here by the end of the next episode.
Hmph. I think I need to rewatch this when I'm in a better mood. We walked all over the world at the Frist and the library today, so I'm exhausted, and my knees are killing me.
*stalks off to sulk*
This was...not, really. Yvonne was not so much evil as irritating, and Torchwood would have been much better if we hadn't been hearing about it EVERY TWO SECONDS from the media and from the show itself. And I feel like a bad fan--here we have the Cybermen and the Daleks all together, which is supposed to be the coolest thing ever, and I...really don't care. Like, at all. Possibly my problem is that I still don't find the Cybermen a particularly scary villain, for reasons I stated when they first showed up this season and which I won't go into again.
They did tie together all the divergent little threads from this season--Cybermen, alternate univese, Torchwood, hell/beast--which was nice, but it felt kind of like a paint-by-numbers thing. Of course the sphere comes from a place some people call "hell." Of course it's in Torchwood's possession. Of course Torchwood is run by vaguely evil people. Of course it's related to the Cybermen and the AU. I was surprised that the Daleks showed up--I'd heard rumors that people had seen a Dalek exterminator ray in the preview (I didn't watch it so as not to be spoiled), but I'd forgotten until they flew out of the sphere.
But the beginning was sort of awful--the voice from beyond the grave thing was a bit silly. Although we did finally get to see a FRAKKING ALIEN PLANET or two, which was nice. I want to see the episode with those dragon-looking things in it that perhaps was made in some alternate universe. Then the middle sort of plodded along; I knew the moment we saw the plastic wrap around the "No Entry" area that there would be Cybermen behind it, and as soon as we saw people with things in their ears (even before they got one in both ears), I twigged to the connection to the AU. Then there was the ending, and I...kind of don't care how it turns out.
And what was up with the 3D glasses? Another Ghostbusters thing?
"How long you gonna stay with me?" / "Forever" was sweet, although very anvilicious. Rose is so outta here by the end of the next episode.
Hmph. I think I need to rewatch this when I'm in a better mood. We walked all over the world at the Frist and the library today, so I'm exhausted, and my knees are killing me.
*stalks off to sulk*
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no subject
Date: 2006-07-02 06:55 am (UTC)I really don't buy the opening as a voice-from-beyond-the-grave...I still definitely think there's a twist there. (Vague ideas in my post. Very vague.)
And c'mon...companion!Jackie was comedy gold! And the Doctor manipulating Yvonne, beautiful!
The "how long you gonna stay" thing...what I liked about that was that it was one place where the Doctor really seems to want Rose to stick around as badly as she wants it. He's been more realistic/fatalistic when the subject has come up at other times in the season. So I found him asking the question very sweet.
And of course I'm a fanboy who loooooooooves the Cybermen, so I'm all about the coming war. :?P But mileage varies and all that.
And you're reading Eyre Affair...WOO! Love that book/series so much! (And I should send you my mental 'cast list'...which includes Laura Fraser as Thursday Next and David Tennant as Bowden Cable, among others. *g*)
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Date: 2006-07-02 07:22 pm (UTC)I saw companion!Jackie and though, "I'm supposed to find this funny, aren't I? Crap." I found her amusing in a very detatched sort of way, I suppose.
Yvonne irritated me so much that I wasn't even all that fond of the Doctor manipulating her. I think I would have liked it better had I been in a better mood.
The "how long you gonna stay" thing...what I liked about that was that it was one place where the Doctor really seems to want Rose to stick around as badly as she wants it.
Yeah, that was interesting. I wonder if it's just there to rev up the emo for when Rose makes her departure, or if it's going to tie into something in the next episode.
Eyre Affair: I just finished it this morning, actually. It was quite good although I think if I knew anything about Jane Eyre it would have been even better. (Although the dialogue sucked badly at times, and the whole Landen thing seemed like it had been shoehorned in at the request of an editor who thought that the book wouldn't sell to the target female audience without a romance of some sort for the main character. But those were the only two things I didn't like about it.) Thursday was quite nifty, and the whole universe in general was pretty cool. I liked that it was hinted at, but never spelled out, that Hitler had occupied England, and the endless Crimean War was...an interesting choice. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Thursday goes into JE as a little girl and causes the carriage accident.
I can't see Laura Fraser playing her, though. LF's just not...hmmm. Not hardened enough, I don't think. My mental picture of Thursday is of a taller, dark-haired Dana Scully circa seasons 5-7 of the X-Files. I guess DT could work as Cable, but I honestly didn't make up much of a picture of him in my head, so I don't really know. I woud put Jude Law in as Landen.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-02 09:43 pm (UTC)Eyre Affair: Cool. I loved it...even the romance, 'cause I'm sappy like that...and I think the series gets better as you go. More fiction, and more fictional characters I adore. Hamlet in the 4th book is *priceless*. *g* And yeah, I didn't really know Jane Eyre either...I actually had to go and grab a copy off the shelf at work to double check which ending was the real one! *snerk* But I got a real quick out of it nevertheless. The alternate universe stuff I thought was brilliant. The Crimean War...I thought it was pretty much chosen specifically so Thursday's brother could have died in the Charge of the Light Brigade...and as a Tennyson fan, I loved that. *g*
Laura Fraser...yeah, I can see the not-hardened enough...it was one of those things where I cast her early mentally, and later realized she'd be stretching her acting chops, but I liked having her in my head anyway. :?P Landen for me was Clive Owen. (Jude Law's an alright actor and seems to be a bit of a cad...Clive Owen just rocks. I loved King Arthur especially.) Let me see, other EA castings you'd recognize...I thought Thursday's father could only be Bill Nighy. *g* Spike was Ronen Dex from Atlantis. The baddie was Jeremy Irons. Rochester was Jeremy Brett. Thursday's brother (the living, minister one) was Jeff from Coupling...
no subject
Date: 2006-07-04 06:35 am (UTC)I certainly hope so. I watched that part again tonight, intending to watch the whole episode over while in a better mood, but was so horrified by the melodrama that I just said "Ack" and turned it off.
Eyre: Does the series get better? Excellent. I'm going to get the rest out of the library sometime soon.
The Crimean War...I thought it was pretty much chosen specifically so Thursday's brother could have died in the Charge of the Light Brigade...and as a Tennyson fan, I loved that. *g*
Ahhhhh, I see now. Heh. I was trying to figure out a historial reason for it...
You know, I don't think I've ever seen Clive Owen in anything. Hmmm. I haven't seen enough of Bill Nighy (only in "Fairy Tale") to really know how he'd work out as Thursday's father. Never heard of Jeremy Brett or watched Coupling. Never seen Jeremy Irons either, come to think of it, although his voice for Scar in the Lion King makes me think he could do a baddie well. I do recognize Ronan, though, yay! Although I think Spike would be played by someone a little less thick than Jason Momoa. Maybe not, though.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-08 03:06 pm (UTC)Clive Owen: The main things I've actually seen him in were King Arthur (did I mention how much I love that movie?) and Gosford Park, I think. I've also seen bits of Second Sight, which is a dark cool PBS Mystery! series he did.
Bill Nighy: Is awesome in everything. You really need to see the I Capture the Castle Film! (He's the father there.) He's also in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the film) as Slartibartfast. He's a real jerk in Constant Gardener (plays it brilliantly though, and that whole movie is incredible). He's *hysterical* in Love, Actually (another of my must see Brit movies). He's all over the place, really...
Jeremy Brett: was Sherlock Holmes in the 80s and 90s, and brilliant at it.
Coupling: You know is by Stephen Moffat, right? *g* Also brilliant...only the Brits can make a show that's all about sex and still about *people*. And it's just plain hysterical, 'cause, y'know...Stephen Moffat.
Jason Momoa: Thick as in size, or thick as in brains? *snerk* (I know very little about SGA actors. I just think his character is cool. And the dreads, and I can totally see him monster fighting, so...yeah, he works for Spike in my head.)
And pardon the oldness...I let a lot of email and LJ slip while I was finishing up the novel, so playing catchup this weekend!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-08 05:41 pm (UTC)I did see part of Love, Actually. Ended up turning it off in disgust, actually. Ah, well.
I've heard of Coupling, but haven't seen it. Sounds intersting, though.
Jason Momoa: Thick in both, really, but more in brains. *g*
no subject
Date: 2006-07-08 05:55 pm (UTC)Ok, ok, I'll shut up. :?P
Oh, but random fact of the day: Richard Curtis is not only good friends with Neil Gaiman, he was the inspiration for Richard Mayhew, the main character in Gaiman's 'Neverwhere' TV series and novel. *g*
Coupling: is *hilarious*. Might take an episode or two to get used to the speed at which the innuendo flies and the wackiness of the chars, but you fall in love with them. *g* And one of the leads, Steve (yup, Stephen Moffat wrote a show where one of the pairs of lovers is Steve and Susan...based largely on himself and his wife, Sue, who's a producer on the show!)...is played by Jack Davenport...alias Commodore Norrington in Pirates of the Carribean.
See, Britain really is the smallest world. *g*
no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 04:10 am (UTC)See, Britain really is the smallest world. *g*
Smaller even than the Canadian Sci-Fi Actors Union! *g*