@tardigrade  You have a point.  I think a better term for “spoiler-free preview”, or “advance review”,  would be as — in the case of Who anyway — a “BBC Approved review”, ala one of the other threads here (and I will keep this in mind in the future).  The reviewer can describe things in the episode that were covered in the promotional mater…[Read more]

The Doctor and the co-ordinated military attack:

@ichabod  I doubt we’ll find out.  Maybe it was as simple as realizing that his own capacities were so hampered by the blindness that the best first move would be for humanity to try its heavy weapons…

@tardigrade  I don’t think the Doctor was very invested in the attack- it wasn’t his idea and…[Read more]

@missrori  Hell Bent:  everybody including Clara regarded him as a selfish monster for his actions, for risking everyone else’s safety just to save one person no matter how important they were. No one but Clara cared how he felt and had suffered; everybody else was more important than him. Why couldn’t he have just contented himself with soup…[Read more]

Before I get going, can I beg people not to keep referring to the “next time” clips which not everyone has seen? I believe those are considered spoilers on the episode forums (I certainly consider them as such).

@ichabod @tardigrade (and anyone else who mentioned this)  Agree about the aliens’ notion of love and consent. It occurred to me on sec…[Read more]

oooh I don’t know @tardigrade – I feel as an audience member and fan that I’ve entered into an unspoken agreed contract  with the makers of Doctor that I will never assume a regeneration is possible when a scene of jeopardy is introduced!

@tardigrade  I don’t think him not telling her about regeneration would have made much difference under the circumstances.  He was about to be blown to pieces at worst.  At best, well, Erica wouldn’t have been able to immediately get his body out of the room as it was burning.  He would have been flayed alive with burns, his lungs seared to a cris…[Read more]

@tardigrade the established lore on time-lord’s and their ability to regenerate is somewhat iffy when it comes to continuity – but we have over time learned that if their injuries are too severe, or if their hearts are damaged, or if they die instantly before the process has a chance to begin then they can’t regenerate… So I suspect exploding…[Read more]

@tardigrade  Oh, I agree with you that there were just too many issues with the script and story in this one for it to be satisfying.  The actors can only do so much, though with Capaldi that’s quite a bit!  I think you’re also onto something about budget issues — some of the special effects were quite poor (especially the withering pl…[Read more]

@tardigrade – I’d second @Thane15 – I think quite a few of us are loving and also having problems with the last couple of episodes, so do please keep posting! If this is only “everything is awesome!” then I may only ever post music (maybe that’d be no bad thing).
As mentioned, but maybe I wasn’t clear – I watch and have nits to pick then watched…[Read more]

@tardigrade

And then the Doctor’s sight is restored remotely, using essentially godlike powers. I’ll avoid using that three-letter acronym, to avoid raising hackles, and just settle for the innuendo in calling it “godlike”.

that scene would have made more sense, had they simply used the light from the pyramid to bathe the doctor in a healing…[Read more]

@tardigrade

I’m acutely aware this is a fan site, not really a platform for critique.

Very drole.

@tardigrade I agree, especially regarding the blindness issue — he can’t voluntarily regenerate just to solve that.  And if it’s cured before he regenerates, it will probably be a happy side effect of something else.  He lost his sight because he acted too rashly, yet nobly and heroically.  What would be the counterpart to regain it?…

@tardigrade I was going to say the same thing — regeneration by suicide would be too dark and family-unfriendly for this show.

The next two episodes could both turn out to be multiple simulations or just one — I like the idea that another Sim-Doctor, or even the real Doctor, lets them conquer and then surprises them — but pulling the rug out…[Read more]

@tardigrade comment “This is exactly what my mind has the hardest time answering “In fact, if the aliens were looking for a way to take over, what they have learnt is that if you can convince the population that they are living in a simulation that they will kill themselves out of spite. So doing just that might be very counterproductive.” I have…[Read more]

@tardigrade

I’m fine with him wanting to know what’s in the message. It’s just a perverse way he goes about trying to read it. At the end of the episode he “emails” a message to himself that is shown to him via his glasses. Earlier he’s actually trying to read an email– surely it’s much more obvious then to forward it to the device that wil…[Read more]

@tardigrade

If the Vatican priests really did believe they were simulated, then they would probably not think they had an eternal soul, so would not be in fear of damnation. And if it were an accurate simulation, then there is presumably another version of themselves in the real world acting as custodian of their soul.

Exactly! But of course that…[Read more]

Oh… Actually by using the back-button I can re-find it! And indeed correct the @ whilst I’m at it! Ooooh I feel like one of the Mum-Ra Monks, simulating posts and then re-doing them over and over till I get them right!

@tardigrade

Firstly to clarify something- some commenters are describing the episode as playing out in a VR world

Actually I…[Read more]

@tardigrade     The CERN scientist, when asked what they were doing, said, “Saving the world”. That suggests that it wasn’t escape, but foiling the plans of the simulators, that was the goal. Presumably also true for the clerics, as that goal might be viewed of being worth going to hell for, and a president who thought he was helping his people.

@tardigrade
I was trying to think of a way of expanding on my earlier luke-warm response to the episode; then I read your post above, which says everything I was thinking, although my thoughts were far more inchoate than what you successfully articulate.

I realise I was asking those sort of questions you point out while I was watching it. Which…[Read more]

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