ValueSubtracted

@ ValueSubtracted @startrek.website

3627

3626

3 yr. ago

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Have you ever considered that the Prime Directive is not only not ethical, but also illogical, and perhaps morally indefensible?

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5h ago

Retrospective Discussion | Doctor Who (2005) | 2x05 "Rise of the Cybermen"
ValueSubtracted @startrek.website 5h ago
Don Warrington did a good job
For sure - he made the most of that role.
The earpod hack could be more subtle.
But you've gotta have the handles!
Torchwood is repeatedly mentioned in this episode, which doesn’t make sense. Torchwood only came about because the doctor existed in the main universe.
That's...a very interesting point that I hadn't considered.

5h ago

Retrospective Discussion | Doctor Who (2005) | 2x05 "Rise of the Cybermen"

ValueSubtracted @startrek.website 5h ago

Yeah, I guess my issue with Lumic is that I feel like he should either be more charismatic, or far less - a real Zuckerberg type. As it is, he strikes me as something in between.

I came in to this one expecting to hate on it a little bit, but it's not really bad - it's just doing too much.

This two-parter is basically all table-setting for the finale, and this one in particular is stuck (re-)introducing the Cybermen and establishing this parallel universe, which could (or should) each be a separate story on their own. It's a lot of heavy lifting, all in service of an episode we won't see for another month.

But there's a lot to like! The Doctor's dismissiveness toward Mickey is awful, but I find it funny every single time. The aspects of the story that are a pseudo-sequel to "Father's Day" work very well - it's always fun to see Pete again, and this version of him really does seem the-same-but-different - ditto for Jackie. Noel Clarke - scandal noted - also does a good job when it comes to Mickey's sudden backstory.

That said, Clarke is really not good as Ricky - I don't know if he was directed to play the character the way that he did, but it was a bad choice. And John Lumic is a bland and forgettable villain. Since the Cybermen are rather bland by their nature, you'd hope that their creator would have personality and charisma to spare, but it's just not the case here.

I'm not a big fan of Cybermen stories in general - a bunch of emotionless killing machines aren't the most compelling, though from what I can remember, the next episode wrings some good drama out of the body horror of it all. Like the Borg, I find them to be a bit of a dead end, made interesting only by what's going on around them. In this case, the themes of the people of Pete's World giving themselves over to an omnipresent app and wearable technology is better now than it was 20 years ago.