#village of the angels

Hello, friends! Apologies for the delay. If you caught my last post, you’ll know I have been ill with a nasty cold. While I could have written while unwell, I didn’t want it to influence my writing. For instance, back in 2011, I lost $200 just before going in to see “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.” I’ll never know if I hated that movie because it was an unfulfilling yawnfest written by a transphobic anti-semite, or if it was because I lost two-hundred dollars prior. Either way, it didn’t help my mood. That being said, I should mention that I did watch Sunday’s episode through a wall of stinging sinuses and cold medicine. I’ll try my best to remember the details. And before we get to it, I would like to take a moment to wish Doctor Who a happy 58th birthday!

Continuing from last week’s episode, we’re back with the Doctor and her companions riding as passengers in a TARDIS hijacked by an angel. That’s actually a pretty cool sentence to say. I really like that concept. The TARDIS has not at all felt like a safe place this series, so this is pretty par for the course. I was surprised to see that the audience numbers had dropped between this episode and last week’s “Once, Upon Time.” Critics weren’t very kind last week, but even still, the Weeping Angels are a bit of a crowd favourite. You would think they would pull people back in. You certainly get the impression that’s what the BBC was hoping. Personally, I have never found the Weeping Angels as effective as they had been in their first episode- “Blink.” We’ve seen them go from silent predators to the Statue of Liberty. So going in, my bar was pretty low.

One unique aspect of this story is that it is the sole chapter of Flux not written completely by Chris Chibnall. This time there is Maxine Alderton, who you may remember as the writer of “The Haunting of Villa Diodati.” Oftentimes when a showrunner shares writing credit with another writer, it’s because they added a scene where the overarching plot of the series comes into play. However, Chris Chibnall has top billing, so I have no idea who wrote what. My inclination is to assume that Alderton wrote the bulk of the Weeping Angels story, while Chris Chibnall wrote the bulk of the Bel and Vinder storyline. It’s impossible to say without asking, but it seems a safe bet.

An aspect I really like about the opening scene with the Doctor is that it gave her a chance to do something clever. Rewiring the TARDIS to eject quantum entities reminded me a lot of the Fifth Doctor. It felt like something he would do. Any time the Doctor feels like the Doctor in this era is nothing short of a miracle. I’m pleased to say that we got a lot of great Doctor moments like we did in “War of the Sontarans.” I felt like the character totally did a backslide into bad habits last week. Emoting everything with huge emotion and every line expository. I had a feeling seeing her back into a simple monster of the week storyline would focus her character a bit. That isn’t to say this was a paint-by-numbers storyline. However, it does jive with my predictions about the structure of the series with one episode being a setup followed by an actual story.

The Angel may be expelled from the TARDIS, but it got the Doctor and her pals where they needed to be. We’re now back with Claire, a character from the first chapter of Flux. I rather like Claire. While I barely mentioned her in my review for “The Halloween Apocalypse,” she was one of the elements I found most intriguing. Perhaps it’s the fact that she has an interesting look about her, or the fact that she was tied to the Weeping Angels, one of the few non-Timeless Child elements of the story. Claire is being experimented on by a Dr Jericho, who is interested in Claire’s psychic abilities. Notably different is the time period from when we first met Claire in present day England, which is now 1967. This of course due to the fact that Claire had a run-in with a Weeping Angel.

One of the things I disliked when Steven Moffat brought back the Weeping Angels was the introduction of the concept that the image of an Angel becomes an Angel. I never liked this because it felt like an overcomplication of what was already an effective villain. I would rather see different stories than new powers. Sometimes I think modern Doctor Who forgets this to a degree. One of the strongest aspects to Doctor Who is how it juxtaposes completely different elements to a positive effect. If you don’t want to rehash the Weeping Angels, just change their location. You don’t need to give them new powers. I don’t mean they should never develop, they’re quantum beings after all. But it does feel as though there was always more of an emphasis on expanding their powers over creating interesting situations. Regardless, I rather liked how they use the idea of the image of an Angel becoming an Angel. Having an Angel hiding in Claire’s mind from the image of a premonition is peak Doctor Who. I’m into that. Totally.

One way I was less into the idea was the drawing of the Angel coming to life. I kind of wrote it off in my head at the time of “Well, that drawing was specifically of a Weeping Angel by someone with a psychic link.” Because I went to Sunday school and I’ve drawn some angels. I don’t think just any drawing of an angel in the Doctor Who universe is going to come to life. That would be silly. Though the EKG drawing of an Angel went surprisingly nowhere. While pushing one aspect of the Angels forward, one element that seemed like a step back was literally how little else of the Weeping Angels’ lore was actually considered. The Doctor is in a room with two other people and nobody. not even the alien Time Lord, thought to say “Let’s close our eyes in shifts.” It’s the Sontarans’ sleep schedule all over again. “You blink while I keep looking. Now I’ll blink…” Amy Pond figured this shit out immediately. This was a really bad sticking point for me throughout the episode.

The village has all come together in search of a missing young girl named Peggy. I’ll not say much about Peggy other than that she’s carrying on the fine tradition of terrible child actors in Doctor Who. After being zapped to 1901, it’s Yaz and Dan who find Peggy who was also zapped by a Weeping Angel. While there, they see Peggy’s guardians who were also taken by an Angel. This time they know better, but they totally don’t. They get too close to a Weeping Angel only to discover that you can only survive the Weeping Angels once. The result of being touched by an angel twice is that you turn into stone and then explode. Unless you’re Rory Williams and everyone else in the Winter Quay from “The Angels Take Manhattan,” where the whole point was that they kept people as batteries by sending them back through time, over and over. If you’re going to write a Weeping Angel story, you could probably stand to watch the four major Weeping Angels episodes. This isn’t like when Maxine Alderton ignored the fact that Mary Shelly was a companion of the Eighth Doctor. That was from the audios. But this was an actual episode. Come on, Maxine!

You may think to yourself “Oh damn, how are Yaz and Dan going to get out of this tight spot?” Well, you’ll be happy to know that the episode doesn’t share your concerns. The next time we see Yaz and Dan, they’re fine. I guess that Weeping Angel killed those old people and said, “Peace out.” There is a point in the episode where it mentions that the angels are cruel and like to leave a witness, but that’s hardly an explanation for letting three people live. It feels like a scene that was cut for time, which is ridiculous because you could have fit twenty minutes of extra storytime in by cutting out the scenes with Bel. I’ll get to that in a moment. Along with discovering the Weeping Angels have been sending people in this village back to 1901, Yaz and Dan also discover that this village has been ripped out of existence where it floats freely in space. That’s pretty cool I guess.

The Doctor decides to talk to the Angel living inside Claire’s head by making contact. I don’t care how I old I am, I will always get giddy at the sight of the Doctor saying “Contact!” right before sharing minds with someone. Claire keeps a gentle and breezy mind, which honestly I’m pretty jealous of. While in there, the Doctor learns that Claire has a fugitive Angel hiding in her head. The Angel is asking the Doctor for her help, which I am always into. She asks the Doctor for help, and in return, promises to tell her what the Division knows about her past. I love when the villains of the Doctor become uneasy allies. It’s like when Batman and the Joker share a laugh at the end of “The Killing Joke.” You know the peace won’t last long, but it’s a fun space to explore. While all of this is going on, poor Dr Jericho is drying his damn eyes out keeping a lookout on the Weeping Angels. I really loved returning Doctor Who veteran Kevin McNally in this role. Judging by Twitter, I’m not the only one. Throwing a cup at the Doctor to wake her from her psychic contact with Claire was the icing on the cake.

The Doctor discovers a secret tunnel out of the manor, only to find that there are Weeping Angels growing out of the walls. It’s like a game of Operation watching the Doctor and her new friends avoid reaching hands. Dr Jericho is less lucky when a bit of dust from a Weeping Angel sends him conveniently to Yaz and Dan’s location in 1901. The whole idea of the dust reminded me of the bit in “28 Days Later,” when Brendan Gleeson’s character goes rabid after a single drop of zombie blood lands in his eye. One might even say it was lifted wholesale. Another thing this does is put an end to the argument about breaking a Weeping Angel with a hammer. You’re just adding deathly dust to the air. The Doctor and Claire make it out just in time for the Doctor to understand why. They were being funnelled into a trap. The rogue Weeping Angel used the Doctor to offer her as a trade. She helps them capture the Doctor, and they leave her alone.

The Doctors friends, now trapped with 66 years between them, can only watch as the Doctor is transformed into an alicorn… er… Weeping Angel. You can hate the Chibnall era all you like, it’s rather warranted at this point, but that moment where the Doctor transforms will go down as one of the highlights. It truly is new territory for both the Weeping Angels, and the Doctor, so kudos for that one. I would be more excited for this development, were it not for the continuing fear that all of this is going to relate back to the Timeless Child. But there’s a whole other part of this episode that I’ve neglected to mention, and that is the Bel b-plot. The Bel-plot. My reason for this is because in between “Once, Upon Time,” and “Village of the Angels,” I read the most distressing fan theory- Bel and Vinder are the Doctor’s parents.

Usually, while watching Doctor Who, I don’t miss a whole lot. I’m invested in the story. But ever since “The Timeless Children,” my interest has waned massively. I’m no longer watching for clues or piecing together disparate pieces. I’m merely enduring the show. It’s hard to get excited when even the interesting parts of the series are in service of what I consider to be a ruinous angle for the story to take. I do not want to know who the Doctor was, and I certainly do not want to meet her parents. After the disastrous reaction to “The Timeless Children,” I am astounded that anyone at the BBC allowed Chibnall to continue down such a careless path. I’ve tried to remain positive and hopeful, but I can’t pretend anymore that continuing down the line of this horrible story only does more lasting damage to Doctor Who. Whether I can endure the show is less of a concern than whether the show can endure Chris Chibnall.

What’s ironic is that Bel and Vinder being the Doctor’s parents actually negates the arguments of people who were pro-Timeless Child. Everyone said “It doesn’t really change anything. It’s still a mystery as to who and what the Timeless Child is.” That mystery is as short-lived as its justification. We’re right back around to the idea that it is killing the initial concept of the show- Doctor who? The Doctor has gone from being a slacker who barely skirted through Time Lord academy, to a chosen child from the stars. The Doctor is no longer unique by virtue, but rather by providence. The aspect of the Doctor that makes her relatable is being replaced by a teenage fanboy’s power fantasy. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again- Chris Chibnall owes Pip and Jane Baker an apology.

It’s really a bummer to end this review like this. I liked most of the Weeping Angel storyline. But that turd keeps floating in the punch bowl, causing all of us to nurse our cups instead of swigging them down in victory. I feel like we’re past the point of good stories for Flux. My only real surviving interest in the story is seeing the TARDIS get put back to normal. I’m not implying that I’ve made up my mind, but my hope for this all to come together in a satisfying manner is at an all-time low. The word “retcon,” has been tossed around more than ever lately, and I can see why. I joked the other day that they should do as Community did with season four and just claim that the Timeless Child storyline was the result of a gas leak. The TARDIS has been sick this whole time and made everyone think the universe was suddenly devised by the mind of mad sixteen-year-old. Regardless, I hope this isn’t the last we see of Maxine Alderton.

Hello friends! My review for “Village of the Angels,” won’t be up until tomorrow. I am currently ill and have spent most of my day sleeping. I strongly considered pushing through and putting out an article, but I can’t focus very well at the moment. Please accept my apologies as I have not had the energy to do any writing. I would rather be a day late than put out a substandard article. Thank you for understanding! And thank you for reading. -Natalie

That episode…. I have no words

Like it was brilliant and everything

BUT I AM SHOOK

reactions to dw s13e04+05
(unfiltered and unorganized)

-really glad for that previously on now kdljfs
-hehe, phone booth.
-1967! second doctor era is happening rn!
-this is so stressful lol i hate it def gets that old clumsy science horror into your skin
-the director person smoked some good crack for this episode… just look at that shot from inside the console wiring… damn. i dont think anyone had ever done that before.
-ive got really dry eyes
-YAZ IS SO SMART
-did anyone else blinked when they did
-the fun thing with the angels it trying to keep your eyes open along with the characters lol liek when characters hold their breathing and you try to play the scene along too.
-or … is that weird… am i the only one that does that lksdjf
-“we dont even know if we are” dw gets philosophical.
-THEY ARE THE USING THE TARDIS AS IT SHOULD BE USED BACK THENNN
-yeah… the directing is very very in this episdoe lsdkjf it-s almost a little distracting…
-13 is so cute i love her so much!!!! I LOVEH ER SO MUCH
-FLAT TEAM STRUCTURE!!!!!!! (they’re always lying about that but I love the continuity lol)
-lots of the characteristics 13era flux era @blue and golden@ coloring in this one.
-that’s peggy?
-psychic paper i missed you
-some set design conventions should maybe be questioned. in this instance it makes it seem like mr. dr. jericho has an obsession with lamps lol
-“not unless you play george eliot’s rules. she allows them” flash headcanon: maybe the doc isn’t just doing the same obnoxious namedropping as always maybe she just -knows that from wikipedia or “historical fan sites”.
-MADAM EXPLAIN YOURSELF
-im flipping between liking eustacius and being very distrustful of eustacius
-oh damn angel!clare. that’s a cool effect.
-vibes to the woman getting possesed by the dalek in that other special? recurrent theme?
-shut up cop!yaz :l
-“she’s a ten year old girl, how much is there to know?” dslkff not inaccurate to how adults were back then.
-they should take turns blinking…….
-oh shit
-too late.
-floating canals of pasano
-the aesthetics of bel’s and vinder’s story is so gooodddd. so expanded universe-y.
-did-u-know: on neopets there was a special species of pet called lutari that you needed to downlaod a -phone game to buy. mind u this was way before smartphones and even this was before the blackberry. -in the end they released them to the public so they weren’t that special anymore lol
-climate change meta #29: water feature towns will be the first to go.
-“life parthner” …. not to be an nmd but why not just say “husband”  or “partner” dskljf
-this episode is so easy to follow compared to the rest so far. cant wait to for things to go batshit again lol
-this space venitian guy is not trustworthy either.
-haven’ you people ever heard of CLOSING THE GODDAMN DOOR
-this episode must have been very fun to film lol almost a stop motion film
-jericho called her ridiculous but at least he did listen to her lol
-not an episode for the frail of  jump-scares
thirteen has chemistry with all the women
-the tiny ping pong padel dslkfj
-21st novemeber.
-im noticing now that thirteen is always a lot less mean to temporal companions than her fixed ones. like -all the way to the tesla and ada episodes… i know we used to think it was mostly about her just bonding -with weird characters like her, but now i think it is not only that but also like… maybe something to do -with her only wanting to connect with this kind of, “one night stands”, so to speak? and kind of -purposely sabotaging her relationship with the fam to avoid being hurt again (well ok that much is a known fact already dlkf).
-who is clare though? where’s my character building sdlkjf
-oh clare dont worry abotu the dust tha happens to me all the time when i wake up from a long nap.
-“when do you think it is?”
“and there’s a strong possibility that the angels sent her too, so she’ll be worried” yaz is so smart!!!!
-dan looking at chickens and being like “no dinosaurs” i see what u did there nerds lol
-i suspected it as soon as we saw the old woman with the tombstones that she was peggy but now i -strongly suspect it
-lol they did well casting this girl.
fuck that’s a great visual!!!! this is definetly a serial man.
-“47 years of pain, Gerald”
-it would have been cool if they did the angel more sketchy- the fire effect was f
-ok but ldskfjsd … the more they stretch this dumb ass “the image of an angel becomes an angel” rule the more ridiculous their lore becomes. even if it makes for fire effects is like… ok so like, what constitudes an “image” of an angel? if you take photographs and reproduce them, are they all angels? why havent -they taken over the earth then ksdljf seems very easy to do in the age of social media and viral images. and what if you just “think” about them like clare did??? why isnt the doctor making up angels all the time with how many encounters she’s had with them?????
-(i may or may not be biased against this… one of my least favorite monsters in the canon…. dlksjf)
-why is jericho getting so much development and we still don’t know the first thing about clare… i dont like it…
-YESSSS OH MY GOD SHE’S GONNA DO THE CONTACT THING!!!! OH MY GODDDD
that said i think this is the first time in the doctor’s life they’ve ever asked permission to do it lmao. progress or just a random flux (ey) of common courstesy?
-CONTACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-damn that’s beautiful
-… i really love thirteen. i love jodie. she’s made some amazing scenes. pls dont let this next comment dispute that love .. ..  damn this “social distancing / greenscreen” acting does no do her favours sometimes dslkjfdkl
-the mystery building in this episode has been really weak tbh.
-OHHH SHITTT  THATS HER
-“oh, praise the stars! … the non-existent stars…”
-ohhhh no….
-the passanger  "soul-feeing" mechanic reminds me of an anime i saw once but i cant pin point which one -sdlkfj
-i love she
-belle picking up her own companion lol
-ENOUGH QUESTIONS, DAN
-rip gerald and jan… they had it coming though lol
-“i have a friend, and she’ll sort this. she always does” oh no, yaz… honey…
-this episode is really draining me lksdjf
-the most appealing thing about jericho is his name
-themes  IRL meta #40: there is something interesting here about he tv and like, attenion econmies, alienation and how it affects the phyche… and also “you are observed and that is my power over you” as the strenght of science… also isnt there something in quantum physics about “observation” literally affecting the thing it obeserves?
so not only can they become images but they can create the images as well… ok. ok
-did we really need 40 minutes of fluff just to get to the good part (The division questioning) dsklfj
division uses “every moment”…. hmm…
-the way it switches to “division” and “the division” seems like a clue as well. like it’s both organization and more like a natural phenomon.
-this episode is really showing how under-baked the WA lore is to begin with. like the doctor is being so prejudiced against this rogue angel, but from what we supposedly know… they don’t really act out of malice? they’re more like animals in the time-savanah that unfortunately have a very painful way of feeding. but they don’t have schemes of world domination or genocide or mass-lobotomization so it seems a bit weird that the doctor, on paper, would show no compassion for such creatures. but she has to act like that / be written like that because they’re “supposed” to be “the monsters of doctor who™” :/ … it’s all so against science-fiction principles for developing alien cultures / species…
-also honestly this set up so silly. like sdlkfj. this weeping angel division-pedia kidnaps clare to blackmail -the doctor so she will help her stop the angels but like… it’s the godamn doctor. she was gonna do that anyway dslkjf. the blackmailing was just unecessary.
-“including the ones taken from you” another dark!variation of thirteenth’s theme! #segunmoments
-“sorry, threw a cup at you”
-oh! i noticed those floor plans! good chekov’s gun.
-reverse the polarity of the neutron flow~*~*~
-“i think there  are angels in the walls here” “of course there are, why wouldnt there be”— this feels like -the entire process for writting this episode (or any WA episode)
-i kneeew itttt
-that was maybe too obvious lol
-ok so they can also transport by stone. sure. why not. let’s just keep making hem more broken lol
-im so tired of them trying to making us like this guy. is so transparent.
-oh so thatt’s why the plan was dumb lol. it was trapppp
-this confrontation scene is a high time for Teh Scronché ™
“You are recalled” HOLY SHIT FINALLY!! STUFF HAPPENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-AHHH
-predictable yaz reaction is predictable sldkfjlskdf
-damn, cool transformation sequence.  
-omg CREDIT INTERRUPTIONS WHAT.
-ok im just gonna say it…. space venetian’s guy’s acting… .. . not the strongest sdfjlkf
-PARALLEL TO YAZ AND THIRTEEN GETTING SEPARATED TO THESE TWO BEING SEPARATED
-those two are such nerds

well… it was overall a well-realized, visually stunning episode… but i was kinda bored the whole time :/ … i think the reasons were that: a) the world of the town and clare didnt feel as “live in” or imainative as other ones we’ve seen in flux. and b) the lack of doctor o/ companion interactions set it down my stimations too. and c) it didnt really feel like a flux story? besides the little vignette with in space venice,  it could have been inserted any other season. all that said, the last 3 minutes almosssst made up for all of that sdkljf

_______________________________________________________________

-the recap drilling in that somehow this is all gonna be the doctor’s fuck up *somehow* dklfjfdskjfkld
-(love that for her)
-i can see that limited edition figurine ™ on display already.
-“BLINKING… BLINKING!! … tough crowd >:(” thirteen sdlfjd you’re such a child i love you.
-“my friends are never lost” AWW ……… well, actually-
-this era has some….. inconsistent issues with font.
-i can see the big finish “gap years” audios on sale already.
-why is jericho still herrreeee eeee ugh
-yaz’s 1900s look is….  a lot…………………………… wowie
-yaz’s theme variation?
-orange vs blue motif again with the doctor in this dimmension vs the companion at the temple.
-RETURN TO OOD
-“she is waiting”… yes definetly a tardis like ppl speculated  so .. . omg MASTER??? RANI?????????? VALEYARD? ?? BRAX????????? F  R E D???????
-RASSILON? (https://youtu.be/SfGDbEGC6hw)
-eu vibes intensify again
-AHHH
-cant have aworld-trodding story without constantinople
-the transition yesss
-temple raiding,
-december 5th!!!!  omf i love when shows do that slkdfjsd
-yaz stepping it up with these historical-lesbian outfits every scene.
-AWNSER THE QUESTION OR ILL BITE YOUR TOES
-the use of genre-conventions in their plot is very fun (temple-raiding, agatha cristie-esque travels, etc)
-“you seem remarkably proficient at this, Ms. Khan”  this will be a Problem.
-HOLY SHIT… UNIT??????????????????????????
-HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT
-I WASNT EXPECTING THIS OMG GDLJFGKLDFJG
-UNITED NATIONS TASK FORCE MOTHER FUCKERSSSS
-i didnt say it last ep but the colorization in this “pasture” setting is rather nice! looks like an old picture.
-OH MY GOD THE HOLOGRAMS
- CHIBNALL YOU ARE JUST PULLING MY EYELIDS WITH THESE PARALLELS NOW ARE YOU SERIOUS
-also blue scheme of the vinder / bel one vs golden one for thasminssss
-EVERYTHING CONNECTS
-(btw for the Xenites… ring trilogy boat scene vibes anyone? “I’m lost without you, Xena”?)
-the chidi “This broke me. the little dot over the "i”. I’m done.“ meme but it’s me with this scene :)
-it’s about the cones yearning
-gayness aside that was a great scene. lots of build up, set up, character stuff in like 1 minute!
-"there will be displaced creatures who need a home. that would mean a time of battle for ownership of battle of the earth” the climate change meta keeps intensifying (also once again chibnall being weird about his messaging dsljkfsd “that dalek is a refugee” flashbacks )
-jericho taking a hint and dan being a good bro.  gotta #respect.
-(also how many times has this happened in their journey that they know what to do by heart….….. . fic writers go off)
-Susan, that you?
-(maybe it’s just another future / past doctor skldjf)
-damn, you can feel how the doctor still edges and puffs   when they talk about the “time lord directive”… interesting…
-I guess one can’t unlearn  cultural ingraining in 4billion years it seems…
-“not every civilization works or is enlightenement” shut up you fucking colonizer.
-omg his dark materials viiiiiiibes
-DOG NINJA TIME
-dog ninja and bel not getting alone lol we love to see it (I like that flux has this constant ensamble… sometimes they’re more refreshing than our fam sdlsk)
-how are so many people surviving in a world with nothing
-“YOU ARE SPACE. AND WE ARE TIME.”
-I was at first kinda underwhelmed by their plan to use people as a power source bc from all aspects, electrically, chemically, etc. people must be a really shitty power source compared to so many other things. Howeverrr…. maybe this functions like Clara’s leaf? you know, using the “potentiality” of teir futures that are taken from them? it’s a bit of a watsonian explenation that probably isn’t true (compared to the doylist one that was “the writers just wanted something that sounded evil” lol) but y'know, i think it could be cool to interpret it like that, mixing that bit of lore with this…
-oh shi they were part of the flox all this time!!
- OH THAT’S WHY IT’S CALLED THE DIVISION!!! (I thought it could have been something to do withthe space between atoms but this is super cool too)
-THE DOCTOR GETTING DISTRACTED BY THE COOL SCIENCE ADKLJFDS
-FUCKING TYPICAL…. i love them T_T
-I was wondering about this!!! ever since the first episode it was so suspect that they never mentioned the multiverse when they talked about “the end of the universe”. Aghh, I love this serial guys. It’s been so clever in hinting things by suspectfully ignoring them.
-oh no, the V-word……
-“what sort of virus?” “You”  LMAO SHE LOOKS SO OFFENDED I DIED
-“You got out from division, and you couldn’t leave the universe alone. You know, I blame myself a little but, mostly, I blame you. I thought you were managable. But I had to admit I what I always knew deep down. You’d never stop if you rediscovered what Division had done. I mean, morality… was always your flaw” “Morality is a strenght” fuck im so into this. peak who. quintessential who. essecential who. concentrated who JUICE. inject IT into my VEINS.
-oh I guess flux wasn’t a doctor fuck up after all lol god bless.
-these guys are such good villains honestly…well, time lords as villains are the BEST, really.
-‘cause like you can see the logic/nuance on why they did this, their need for control and to ultimately preserve the unvierse (deep down the same drive the doctor and company follow), but it is their methods and lack of willingness to like… not try to mastermind the entirety of existence that is their downfall. there’s a really cool social commentary/philosophical viewpoint in that.
-I like how she even says “the TARDIS”  kind of disparingly lol almost making fun of the made-up acronym ldsjf
-can’t introduce the first female doctor without introducing her abusive mother.
-cartmell would be proud
-speaking back to the thing about “weirdly ignoring things in the script” but actually that turning out to be foreshawding… I think that’s why this UNIT origin stuff is so damn satisfying sdlkfj 'cause not only is it cool in itself,  but it was *also* super suspect that after all the mythological work that’s been done in the entire expanded universe of doctor who to show earthlings fighting back against threats and even seeing them before the doctor does (both UNIT and Torchwood constantly, plus sometimes old companions doing it) it was so suspect that this aspect wouldn’t come up again in the apocalypse.
- LETHBRIDGE STEWART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-“HE’S A SHOUTER, BUT HE’S VERY GOOD”
-TARDIS!!!!!!!!!!!!  (are they referencing a particular story?)
-“it does look… special” the shade lmao
-“my god, general, you really are a fool” i like this guy now dkslfj so much shade in every sentence.
-RIP. UNIT boss #1
-(their first boss dying foolishly~ like that tho… not be mean but… #onbrand)
-oh, that’s why it’s called the grand serpent.
-(Boreal in HDM vibes? lol)
-the division probably uses and discards oods like this all the time…
-i mean im loving this but… it does seem like a fairly complicated plan just to get the doctor in one place sdkljfdklsjf if the division is All That maybe they could have, idk lured her into a big cardboard box with some jammie dodgers on a string…?
-(but maybe the point is that thid is all kind of irrational?)
-THE MASTERRR!!!!!! dslkjf honestly this is all his fault. thank you master for this amazing serial. u did awesome sweet you can have that little murdering-of-all-of-gallifrey, as a treat <3
-climate change meta#3948: the timeless  child represents the mistreatment of refuges? (probably hinting at the child being lost as being the victim of something the division/the time lords might have done in the first place? maybe by warring war on a distant ancient galaxy?)
-time lords are colonizers meta #43928390´+3498: “You took something that didn’t belong to you” “(laughs) I *rescued* you”
-“what if, what if, what if” “you denied my life!” “I gave you your life. Everythin you are is because of me.” …………… oh no this hits too close home i dont like it.
-hearing tecteum rn makes me feel like this -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2INBe_qZFo but with an extra dash of abusive dynamics ldk
-at the same time im like thirteen… shoving chibnall down a hill… screaming angstyly “SHOW ME THE RESSSST”
-OMG ya’ll im lossing my mind i looked up that scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDsJaJiZmfY) to make the joke and was gobsmaked by the parallel….  "(…) that all I am is somehow because of you, and believe me when I say, I cannot *bear* that" /// “everything you are is because of *me*”
-her face ): my heart :(
-now tecteum is making fun of her profession seriously chibnall im seriously worried about your upbringing now bro SDLKJFdskljfkldsjfkl what did you have to go through to write this stuff
-“what do you even do, doctor? when are you even getting married?”
-i mean tecteum is wrong in her reading of the doctor’s companions as their “experiments” that they “uses” for company,…  but i imagine it manages to tug a little at the doctor’s conscience bc of how shit she’s been to her friends lately sdfjfds so i’m sure even tho she says “we’re not the same”
(that’s what u call.. ,. .. a pro abuser mood )
-aside: the doctor is now even more of a … like, quintessential “classic english literature” right? with this background of the poor street urchin that gets picked up and used by the shitty lower-tier family of nobles… it’s all very Dickensonian lol
-their actinggggggg. im feeling things.
-passanger is really creepy in this scene.
-ouch the green screen dlkfjs at least the design is nice though
-“finally, someone with a gun” FDLKSJ i love her. Di honey he doesn’t know what a liverpool is dlskjfdklsj
-I love them and their little quest damn. BIG FINISH GET TO WORK.
-“telephone?”
-yaz looks so cute in her lil fur hat T_T
-i love this show
-FETCH YOUR DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SCREAMING
-i love this dumbass, campyass, heart-wreching show.
-vandalising around world heritage sites is just peak companion energy.
-“HUMANS ARE SO ANNOYING. SPECIALLY HIM”
danista nation RISE
-“i have no rabbits” “…it’s a metaphor” “or hats” “IT DOESNT MATTER” dfsslkjflksdjf she is so damn tired
-“it is designed that way” mannnnnn. the asshole ABUSE…. .w e love to see it sldjfdskl
-oh the house!!! i forgot about it too dsklfjklsd
-FOBWACH FOBWACH FOBWATCH
-seriously it is so fitting that there was a “snake” right under the noses of UNIT’s early years. im screaming at how fitting it all is lol
-“people don’t like you, Prentice” i died
-more gold vs blue schemes with this scene in the dinning room vs this one in the car.
-“still no doctor” poor lil’ lesbian
-THE MAD MOLE
-shout out to all the liverpolians who called out who this guy was 'cause no one else would have ever known haha
-petty sheffield vs liverpool rivalries, we love to see it.
-that “fianlly” was weirdly moving sdljfdslkf
-oh noooo ooooooooooo rowan’s meta on the memories… is coming TOT
-cartmell…. imma let you finish…. russel imma let you finish…. moffat imma let you finish… nathan turner imm-
-the doctor’s unphased face as she hears tecteum’s bs is like, peak doctor. i love it when any doctor makes that face sljfdjkl
-i love that engines of the machine are in touch with the drama of the scene, like how they hummed right after “what would you give to know?”  lol
-“what if i left the earth?” now that’s an incentive!
-KATE STEWARTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
-KATE PLEASE DONT DIE
-fFUCK UFCK KFSDLKJFK I CANT BELIEVE HE EVEN WENT BACK TO GIVE THIS MUCH LORE TO THE UNIT BEING DISPATCHED THING SDKLFJDKL AND WE ALL THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A RBEXIT THING !!!! AHHHHHHHHH
-“i see you. i see *you*. whatever you are. hiding in plain sigh for so long, barerly aging. you are gambling that nobody cares, that nobody looks at unit anymore. but i care, more than anyone.”
-“a weekend, a day?”
-KATE DONT DIE!!!! DONT DIE PLEASE
-osgood! man chibnall is such  a faboy lol i would not have done that reference slkdjf
-THEY’RE ALL ENSAMBLING THIS IS SO EXCITING
-ministerio  del tiempo and doctor who fans losing their shit over these “tunnels”
- who is that??? sdlkjf
-chekov’s potato gun
-HOLD ON TO THAT HAT
-imagine plotting this season dslkfjdlks im
-RIP tecteum we hardly knew ya.
-O BRASIL TA LASCADO

damn
hto damn

this arc remainsthe most ive enjoyed dw.

thank you @chibnall for tailoring this crazy season tome specifically (and like 8 other people).