clocketpatch (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clocketpatch) wrote2013-04-29 10:11 am
clocketpatch) wrote2013-04-29 10:11 am
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS Review
I don't know what to think about this episode. I did not understand it. At all. Except I did understand portions of it. Except, I find myself not particularly caring about any of those portions (which may well be a side effect of the "let's rewind and pretend this never happened" ending). I think I might, in future, end up going along with the episode and just pretending this never happened.
…
That said, my reactions as I watched it were as follows:
My, this seems a very contrived situation.
I literally have no idea what is going on. And who is trapped under the TARDIS? Is that stuff spilling out around the TARDIS supposed to be parts of the ship that have exploded out and what? I just don't know.
It is going to be impossible to tell these three guys apart if they keep their respirators on.
Oh good, they've taken them off.
Eleven is a bit shouty. And (retrospective wondering) did he foresee all of this because I can't see him really offering the TARDIS to anyone for keepies (and how would he do that anyways, given that she will apparently fry and cannibalize anyone she takes a dislike to, which make TARDIS travel far, far, far more terrifying than ever previously imagined)
Still, it's the sort of thing that happens when you get onboard a spaceship with a madman.
And, um… how is Clara dying exactly? What is going on?
I also want, briefly, to note that the Orange/Blue, Pink/Blue contrast has got wildly out of control and Eleven currently looks like he's been splattered in DayGlo paint.
I was originally hoping that burnt up thing would be a mutated Sontaran. You know, one of those Sontarans who just sort of wandered in one day back in the late seventies and then just sort of… failed to wander out again?
That theory was quickly scrapped around the time Clara started exploring various rooms of the TARDIS:
Rooms with little mysterious packages and one of Amy's paper TARDISes (Both adorable and tear-jerking and a realization that Eleven was lying through his teeth when he said he has no keep-sakes. But then, he does that).
There's the swimming pool, way off in the distance. It does exist!
Here's the library proper and a mysterious book, the Mystery of the Time War and big bottle of Essence of Gallifrey and lots of creepy voices coming from here and there and everywhere.
Why do I feel:
1. This just turned into a bit of a fanfic
2. This stuff will be relevant to the plot later on
3. The 50th anniversary will be involving the restoration of Gallifrey (possibly utilizing a mixture of Clara, the TARDIS's grow-any-machine-machines, and Eleven's creepy bottle collection)
Or maybe not.
…what the heck has Eleven been doing in his spare time anyway?
I also keep thinking:
Essence of Gallifrey! Add a dash of telepathy to your shower with this invigorating scent. Also available: Lemon-Scented Time Lord Body Wash, and The Foaming Bubble Bath of Rassilon. Hurry! Stocks are limited!
And cracking up as a result.
Anyway, back to the mysterious burnt, red-eyed boogey-man. I briefly thought about certain spoilery rumours I've heard about said 50th special WARNING! POSSIBLE SPECULATIVE SPOILERS! and wondered if this could be a zombie alt!Doctor or some kind phantom memory of a terribly burned Eight on the brink of regeneration wandering the TARDIS for all eternity or something equally horrible (in a, that's really, honest-to-goodness disturbing kind of way) and canon-smashing.SPECULATION ENDS
But I quickly dumped that theory and decided it was a future projection of someone onboard the ship, but I couldn't figure out who (I thought there was only one zombie creature at this point). Then I realized that there were multiple creatures, but by that point the Doctor was explaining the logic behind what I'd already deduced (future projections! They are! Don't I feel the smartest?)
"Good guys do not keep zombies" (paraphrased) is, I think, my favourite quote for the episode.
There was a nice little Indiana Jones-esque thing going on here as the TARDIS suddenly started shooting spears at the main characters for a reason I did not catch due to not being able to hear the dialogue (I may well have enjoyed this episode more if I'd been able to hear/understand more of the dialogue. I was getting one word in ten, if that.)
Then the sub-plot with the family of space salvage operators reached its inexplicable zenith, and, after a quick off-screen amputation, everyone went on a nice stroll to see the Eye of Harmony.
…
After seeing the Eye of Harmony, some other stuff I don't understand happened (and the two remaining brothers got turned into a Siamese twin mutant via the power of the Angry Growling TARDIS).
Eleven and Clara stood on a cliff and had a deep and meaningful conversation in which she revealed (once again) that she doesn't have the slightest clue what Eleven is on about, and Eleven tried to explain that Clara keeps on dying and he finds this fascinating and frustrating (not so much because she keeps dying, but because he doesn't understand why, which is creepy Eleven, and Clara really ought to mind what the psychic in the last episode said about you having a sliver of ice in your heart, because I think you might've gone off the deep end a bit after the Ponds left and you're hiding it more or less well, but I keep waiting for you to pull a Ten and start committing genocides at random).
Then they jump off the cliff and I wonder for a moment (and actually sort of hope) that this will be a cliff-hanger. I think that the trouble with this short series (and let's not kid ourselves and call it 7b. It's 8 and it's short) is that the episodes are all trying to be BIG but they don't have the space to spread their wings. There are places where stretching things out might make them a bit more coherent (in the case of this episode, I think that substituting some of the shakey camera angles and running through the TARDIS halls scenes with some more character development and explanation for what's going on might've gone miles to address this… however, as a fan who enjoys fannish things, I could probably have watched them running through TARDIS corridors all episode with no explanations or plots given).
Anyway. Cliff jump!
Annnnddd… The engine has exploded! Man… this seems familiar…
And for a second I'm actually starting to hope that some certain previous plotlines which have been left hanging for several years *cough* the TARDIS exploding in series 5 *cough* are about to be resolved. I get so excited. A crack appears in a wall! Eleven steps through it! I realize that the landing pads on the salvage ship more or less match the pattern of the scorch marks by Amy's house –
But none of this is confirmed. Instead it's just the episode erasing itself into meaninglessness.
I'm going to choose to believe that the bizarreness of this episode caused the cracks to spread through the universe and the TARDIS to blow up and the universe without stars to come into existence. It makes me happy to believe this. So I shall.
Also, Clara's wearing a different outfit and has a different hairstyle at the end. What's up with that?
…
The end. Next week: Vastra + Jenny + Comedy Sontaran + Cybermen. Wheee! (I am excited, while trying not to be too, too excited, because I doubt that I'll be able to watch this one on the airdate. Though I have come up with a Daring Plan to watch it at the gym while running on the treadmill if I can get there in time for the opening credits)
…
Now, having had all of those reactions, and having swung from one thought to another and been left mostly confused, it wasn't until an hour or so after the episode that I realized that what it reminded me of wasn't a particularly odd fanfic, nor even The Edge of Destruction though I'm certain that bits and pieces were an homage to that. No, it wasn't even the confused splendor of the EDAs, or the TV Movie, or the review written by Larry Miles six years ago where he ponders how long it will take for the Eye of Harmony to make an appearance in the new series (he correctly predicted that Davros and Rassilon would show up first).
No, it was none of that. I was walking along down the street with a brisk wind gusting my coat around my hips and I wasn't thinking about Who in particular, more about the oddness of my day in general. It was warm (very warm) despite it snowing only a few days before, but the snow was gone, the grass green, the mosquitoes on a quest for blood. A random horse and carriage taxi was clacking down the street ( very random, as this city does not have a horse and carriage taxi service), and out of a nearby karaoke bar came the voice of a very able singer giving a performance of Ground Control to Major Tom which was, incredibly, in-accent and better done than the original.
So, a lot of bizarreness, but the kind of bizarreness that you just accept in stride because life is like that. Then I started thinking about Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS and what it was about it that niggled and I realized that its bizarreness fit better with the odd logic of a dream than with the (often just as messed up) logic of the waking universe.
The episode had seemed oddly familiar while I was watching it, and looking back at it, I think that feeling of familiarity came from how closely its structure mirrored that of a dream. At least… that's the sort of weird dream I have. With a clearish plot and cast of characters running around to complete unspecified goals as grand and meaningless declarations are made and a bunch of dramatic stuff happens for no apparent reason. Then, at the very end, the alarm rings and everything resolves unnaturally fast and you wake-up feeling unsatisfied.
So, uh, yeah. Not sure how much of this muddle makes sense, but that my big summary:
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS is like an odd dream you can't quite remember. It also may or may not be responsible for the TARDIS exploding in series 5.
…
That said, my reactions as I watched it were as follows:
My, this seems a very contrived situation.
I literally have no idea what is going on. And who is trapped under the TARDIS? Is that stuff spilling out around the TARDIS supposed to be parts of the ship that have exploded out and what? I just don't know.
It is going to be impossible to tell these three guys apart if they keep their respirators on.
Oh good, they've taken them off.
Eleven is a bit shouty. And (retrospective wondering) did he foresee all of this because I can't see him really offering the TARDIS to anyone for keepies (and how would he do that anyways, given that she will apparently fry and cannibalize anyone she takes a dislike to, which make TARDIS travel far, far, far more terrifying than ever previously imagined)
Still, it's the sort of thing that happens when you get onboard a spaceship with a madman.
And, um… how is Clara dying exactly? What is going on?
I also want, briefly, to note that the Orange/Blue, Pink/Blue contrast has got wildly out of control and Eleven currently looks like he's been splattered in DayGlo paint.
I was originally hoping that burnt up thing would be a mutated Sontaran. You know, one of those Sontarans who just sort of wandered in one day back in the late seventies and then just sort of… failed to wander out again?
That theory was quickly scrapped around the time Clara started exploring various rooms of the TARDIS:
Rooms with little mysterious packages and one of Amy's paper TARDISes (Both adorable and tear-jerking and a realization that Eleven was lying through his teeth when he said he has no keep-sakes. But then, he does that).
There's the swimming pool, way off in the distance. It does exist!
Here's the library proper and a mysterious book, the Mystery of the Time War and big bottle of Essence of Gallifrey and lots of creepy voices coming from here and there and everywhere.
Why do I feel:
1. This just turned into a bit of a fanfic
2. This stuff will be relevant to the plot later on
3. The 50th anniversary will be involving the restoration of Gallifrey (possibly utilizing a mixture of Clara, the TARDIS's grow-any-machine-machines, and Eleven's creepy bottle collection)
Or maybe not.
…what the heck has Eleven been doing in his spare time anyway?
I also keep thinking:
Essence of Gallifrey! Add a dash of telepathy to your shower with this invigorating scent. Also available: Lemon-Scented Time Lord Body Wash, and The Foaming Bubble Bath of Rassilon. Hurry! Stocks are limited!
And cracking up as a result.
Anyway, back to the mysterious burnt, red-eyed boogey-man. I briefly thought about certain spoilery rumours I've heard about said 50th special WARNING! POSSIBLE SPECULATIVE SPOILERS! and wondered if this could be a zombie alt!Doctor or some kind phantom memory of a terribly burned Eight on the brink of regeneration wandering the TARDIS for all eternity or something equally horrible (in a, that's really, honest-to-goodness disturbing kind of way) and canon-smashing.SPECULATION ENDS
But I quickly dumped that theory and decided it was a future projection of someone onboard the ship, but I couldn't figure out who (I thought there was only one zombie creature at this point). Then I realized that there were multiple creatures, but by that point the Doctor was explaining the logic behind what I'd already deduced (future projections! They are! Don't I feel the smartest?)
"Good guys do not keep zombies" (paraphrased) is, I think, my favourite quote for the episode.
There was a nice little Indiana Jones-esque thing going on here as the TARDIS suddenly started shooting spears at the main characters for a reason I did not catch due to not being able to hear the dialogue (I may well have enjoyed this episode more if I'd been able to hear/understand more of the dialogue. I was getting one word in ten, if that.)
Then the sub-plot with the family of space salvage operators reached its inexplicable zenith, and, after a quick off-screen amputation, everyone went on a nice stroll to see the Eye of Harmony.
…
After seeing the Eye of Harmony, some other stuff I don't understand happened (and the two remaining brothers got turned into a Siamese twin mutant via the power of the Angry Growling TARDIS).
Eleven and Clara stood on a cliff and had a deep and meaningful conversation in which she revealed (once again) that she doesn't have the slightest clue what Eleven is on about, and Eleven tried to explain that Clara keeps on dying and he finds this fascinating and frustrating (not so much because she keeps dying, but because he doesn't understand why, which is creepy Eleven, and Clara really ought to mind what the psychic in the last episode said about you having a sliver of ice in your heart, because I think you might've gone off the deep end a bit after the Ponds left and you're hiding it more or less well, but I keep waiting for you to pull a Ten and start committing genocides at random).
Then they jump off the cliff and I wonder for a moment (and actually sort of hope) that this will be a cliff-hanger. I think that the trouble with this short series (and let's not kid ourselves and call it 7b. It's 8 and it's short) is that the episodes are all trying to be BIG but they don't have the space to spread their wings. There are places where stretching things out might make them a bit more coherent (in the case of this episode, I think that substituting some of the shakey camera angles and running through the TARDIS halls scenes with some more character development and explanation for what's going on might've gone miles to address this… however, as a fan who enjoys fannish things, I could probably have watched them running through TARDIS corridors all episode with no explanations or plots given).
Anyway. Cliff jump!
Annnnddd… The engine has exploded! Man… this seems familiar…
And for a second I'm actually starting to hope that some certain previous plotlines which have been left hanging for several years *cough* the TARDIS exploding in series 5 *cough* are about to be resolved. I get so excited. A crack appears in a wall! Eleven steps through it! I realize that the landing pads on the salvage ship more or less match the pattern of the scorch marks by Amy's house –
But none of this is confirmed. Instead it's just the episode erasing itself into meaninglessness.
I'm going to choose to believe that the bizarreness of this episode caused the cracks to spread through the universe and the TARDIS to blow up and the universe without stars to come into existence. It makes me happy to believe this. So I shall.
Also, Clara's wearing a different outfit and has a different hairstyle at the end. What's up with that?
…
The end. Next week: Vastra + Jenny + Comedy Sontaran + Cybermen. Wheee! (I am excited, while trying not to be too, too excited, because I doubt that I'll be able to watch this one on the airdate. Though I have come up with a Daring Plan to watch it at the gym while running on the treadmill if I can get there in time for the opening credits)
…
Now, having had all of those reactions, and having swung from one thought to another and been left mostly confused, it wasn't until an hour or so after the episode that I realized that what it reminded me of wasn't a particularly odd fanfic, nor even The Edge of Destruction though I'm certain that bits and pieces were an homage to that. No, it wasn't even the confused splendor of the EDAs, or the TV Movie, or the review written by Larry Miles six years ago where he ponders how long it will take for the Eye of Harmony to make an appearance in the new series (he correctly predicted that Davros and Rassilon would show up first).
No, it was none of that. I was walking along down the street with a brisk wind gusting my coat around my hips and I wasn't thinking about Who in particular, more about the oddness of my day in general. It was warm (very warm) despite it snowing only a few days before, but the snow was gone, the grass green, the mosquitoes on a quest for blood. A random horse and carriage taxi was clacking down the street ( very random, as this city does not have a horse and carriage taxi service), and out of a nearby karaoke bar came the voice of a very able singer giving a performance of Ground Control to Major Tom which was, incredibly, in-accent and better done than the original.
So, a lot of bizarreness, but the kind of bizarreness that you just accept in stride because life is like that. Then I started thinking about Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS and what it was about it that niggled and I realized that its bizarreness fit better with the odd logic of a dream than with the (often just as messed up) logic of the waking universe.
The episode had seemed oddly familiar while I was watching it, and looking back at it, I think that feeling of familiarity came from how closely its structure mirrored that of a dream. At least… that's the sort of weird dream I have. With a clearish plot and cast of characters running around to complete unspecified goals as grand and meaningless declarations are made and a bunch of dramatic stuff happens for no apparent reason. Then, at the very end, the alarm rings and everything resolves unnaturally fast and you wake-up feeling unsatisfied.
So, uh, yeah. Not sure how much of this muddle makes sense, but that my big summary:
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS is like an odd dream you can't quite remember. It also may or may not be responsible for the TARDIS exploding in series 5.
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