Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Doctor Who "Deep Breath" – Not so Spoilery Review


            Everyone seems to have a different idea of what a spoiler is. I think of spoilers as anything that is meant to be a secret until you watch it. A spoiler reveals a fact or detail about a storyline that is meant to catch you off guard. Otherwise, it’s an appetizer. I am going to give a review of the first full episode with Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. I will not give out information on the few items in the episode that are meant to be a surprise. I will deal with other aspects of the episode.

            I want to start off stating that I half heartedly suspect that this “leak” was intentional. I think Steven Moffat is so excited about this new series himself that he somehow allowed this “leak” to happen. Why else will they be screening the new episode so far in advance in Wales? Do they actually believe that those people will stay silent about what they have seen? If they want to keep it secret, they can do so and they know how to do so. They kept the 50th anniversary on the low down and that plays into my suspicion here.

            I also want to say that this episode played beautifully in black and white, and that also plays a little into my suspicion that this was intentional. It’s one way to present the episode in black and white without much complaining. This episode, in black and white, had a Patrick Troughton, early Jon Pertwee vibe to it. I haven’t enjoyed a black in white episode in a very long time. I do hope that when the DVD comes out, it comes with the option to play it in black and white.

            So, for the review; I loved the episode. Peter Capaldi on his first outing did amazing. I am not a fan of “regeneration jitters” like some people are. I rather preferred the approach taken with Troughton and Pertwee after regeneration. Tom Baker started the tradition of bizarre behavior following regeneration and they went all out with Peter Davison. Colin Baker tried to kill his companion following his regeneration and Sylvester McCoy was so goofy and off the wall that it sadly turned me off to the rest of his tenure.

            Capaldi is a blend of all of the above. I was overall impressed with his first foray as the Doctor. What I was not a fan of was Strax, Jenny, and Vastra. They’re in the episode and painfully so. I really am not a fan of their characters. There is a dinosaur in the episode, for part of it anyhow. I thought at first that it was “Invasion of the Dinosaurs” version II, but that wasn’t the case here. I like the Doctor’s reactions towards the beast. It made for good material.

            The enemy is a really neat looking robot ~slash~ humanoid type being that has a speaking style that is almost without emotion. I like it. The Doctor really has wonderful dialogue with this being and we see a much darker Doctor emerge, especially in regards to how he handles “enemies”. There’s one point in the episode, and this may be considered a little bit spoilery, but the Doctor actually abandons Clara and leaves her with the monster. It makes the Doctor look very selfish and I love how they play it out. It was a surprise to me. It all works out in the end, but that’s part of the fun that I’ll leave to you watching the episode.

            After they dispatch the enemy (or so they think), the Doctor takes the Tardis out for a new refit. I’d love to see how it looks in color, but it looks pretty good in black and white. He returns for Clara and we see the Doctor has a new piece of furniture in the Tardis. It reminds me of a piece of furniture that Sylvester McCoy had for a little while in his Tardis, although I’m sure it’s not the same one. It does make the Doctor seem older and more thoughtful when we see him use this item. The last five minutes of the episode or so are well worth the price of admission. This episode is about the change in the Doctor and Clara’s relationship. They point out Clara’s pettiness. That is one of the few good scenes with Vastra. I’ll give her that. In fact, there is a sequence between Vastra and Clara that explains the last 9 years of Doctor Who and why the Doctor appeared so young while actually being so old. It was a brilliant explanation.

            The Doctor seems comfortable in his skin during the last five minutes and yes, there’s a much talked about cameo during this time. I’ve heard people say, especially those who have read the scripts, while not seeing the show, that they think it’s tacky. It certainly didn’t come across as tacky to me. I thought it was pretty good. I’m a Doctor Who fan from a long time ago and it really was nice to see.

            The ending of the episode sets up a story arc that is looks very promising. We see our old foe isn’t down and out as we have been led to believe. There’s a new lady in town who thinks she’s the Doctor’s girlfriend, and in this episode, the Doctor starts to realize that there’s someone out there, going back into last season, who is influencing chains of events in his life. I think his interest is piqued.

            Listen, if you want to know more, then go watch the episode. You certainly won’t regret it. I didn’t. I still plan on watching it in August. It’ll be interesting seeing how this looks in color, but again, it looked and played great in black and white. If nothing else, it has got me more excited for the new series of the show. I think that was the whole reason behind the supposed “leak”.

            I see there has been some complaining online from people who are saying that the new Doctor picks on Clara a lot. Listen, go back and watch Hartnell’s episodes. He picked on his assistants too, especially Ian Chesterton. Many times he couldn’t even get his name right! I’m glad to see Capaldi returning to this approach towards his companions. For far too long we’ve seen the Doctor be too cushy with his assistants, even kissing them. This Doctor isn’t the hugging type! I’m very excited to see where Doctor Who goes now. I’m afraid that they are going to lose some of the audience who tunes in to see a soap opera version of the show, but for old die hards like me, it’s a very promising start!

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