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auroracloud) wrote2020-01-11 01:01 am
auroracloud) wrote2020-01-11 01:01 am
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An actual Spyfall thoughts/reactions post, with spoilers
Okay, here are some initial thoughts actually about Spyfall parts 1 and 2 before I crash into bed. So, spoilers ahead for the two newest Doctor Who episodes. Nothing super analytical, but what comes to my mind first. This was supposed to be brief, but surprise surprise, it wasn't.
Apart from the thing I complained about, I mostly had fun! A lot of it was a parody of James Bond films etc. and I'm not into that genre, but I've seen enough of it to get the most references, and it did get a lot more complicated and interesting in part 2, with time travel and the like. I'll have to digest the Big Plotty Stuff before I decide what I think of any of it.
So, thoughts:
- I'm a lot happier with how the companions (yeah, I'm being stubborn and not talking about "the fam") were written into the story than I was at any point in S11 - it feels like they had a lot more equal parts in the story this time. And Yaz actually got things to do, other than ask the Doctor questions! Not huge things, but you could see her investigating and doing stuff to figure things out, and being a bit of a leader when the three were on their own, saying or doing things that got them somewhere. But Ryan and Graham also had things to do. And the show even remembered again that Ryan had a disability! And that Yaz has a job!
- I had some issues in S11 with the Doctor being written too gentle and nice, and too passive, but now I was happy with her. She had proper steel and layers in her, I felt. I could trust this Doctor would get me to safety and save the world, while I wasn't always sure about that in S11. Maybe Jodie Whittaker is also settling into the role and finding it easier to put those things in there, but I'm sure it helps when the script gives her more meaty stuff to do and say. Yet she also got to be the madcap traveller and quirky genius a lot, which I adore.
- Ada and Noor! I have such a thing for awesome women of history of science/tech, so this was so very exciting. Yay for genius women saving the world! The only thing I'm not thrilled about with regards to Noora and Ada is the memory wipe. I'm never okay with memory wipes. Also, I was shipping them already. (I wasn't the only one, right?) I know that it probably had to be because history, but well. I'm going to write an AU where they become adventurous time-traveling tech geniuses together. I hope.
- Though, Ada Gordon? Her maiden name was Byron. Chibnall probably wanted some misdirection so she wouldn't be recognized immediately, but it didn't make sense historically. Because of the name, I was first like "is that... nah, can't be, she didn't go by that surname at any point".
- Okay, okay, yes, I'll get into that topic now. THE MASTER. I don't know how this ties to the continuity - is he supposed to be who Missy regenerated into? Kind of feels like some character development un-happened. Guess it could always be a pre-Jacobi Master, as long as we don't know. I'm not sure how that would play out with the Time War and all, but it's a possibility. But. Regardless of that, oooooh I love this actor in the part. Just one story and he's already put so much into it. Also, this is officially the first time I've ever found a Master to be hot when it's not Missy. None of the male ones until now did it for me at all.
- Hmm, so he had to live through most of the 20th century. Guess who also lived through the 20th century? Has there been Jack/Dhawan-Master slash already? It's been days, there must be.
- Though obviously there's a lot of Thirteen/Dhawan-Master fic already. I mean, I knew that even before I checked the tag.
-> I'm more than Okay with this. Despite the fact that I don't usually ship Doctor/Master except for Thirteen/Missy, and that I would rather see Thirteen with women (because reasons). Then again, by this point we can consider both of them nonbinary anyway. But this ship? I don't know yet if I ship it, but I'm definitely Okay with the ship.
- However, I have my limits and I do not want to see the AUs people doubtlessly have written about that scene where the Doctor has to kneel to him and call him Master. One of the downsides of following fandom actively is that even when you're watching the show for the first time, there's a part of your brain going "Oh no, I see what certain fanfic writers are doing with this, and I don't want to see it, help me".
- On a less positive note, I'm not feeling great about a white woman leaving a non-white man with literal Nazi soldiers and cheerfully commenting on how his appearance is going to get him into trouble. I mean, obviously he did associate with them in the first place and try to get them to get her, which is also Not Okay, and he was committing a lot of murder, but the situation still leaves me super uncomfortable. I'll have to check out how fans of colour are reacting because of course they know better than I do just how the dynamics feel for them, but it doesn't feel right how it was done in any case. The Doctor shouldn't be okay with someone suffering because of their apparent ethnicity, regardless of what the other circumstances are.
- So, uh, the whole mess with Gallifrey? I've no idea what I think yet. That's one of the things that has to wait for me to see what I think about. Was it really necessary to burn it again? Why does the modern era want to do so much Tragic Backstory Where Gallifrey Is Destroyed? Also why does every showrunner try to entirely rewrite what we think we know about Gallifrey and the Time Lords? I guess that's a just a thing now. Hmm, he'd better follow up on it really well.
- On the upside, I guess the Timeless Child reference means that even though S11 was light on plot and such, Chibnall probably had something like this planned for S12 all along. Of course, it might not mean it - he might just have dropped it in to vaguely hint at something and figured things out later - but at least he was planning to do something with it.
- With regards to the Master just burning the place down and going full murdery on the world and the Doctor again... I hope they're not just erasing all the character development Missy had, if this is indeed a post-Missy Master. I really did like that character development. I suppose if he found out something really awful, it could snap him back to what his default mode of acting was for so long. It's not like Missy found it that easy to try to be good, either. But, well, we're back to let's hope Chibnall can follow up on what he set up now.
- But regardless of any of my worries about the plot, my confusions about the continuity, or my fury at the BBC fucking spoiling me for the reveal, let's say it one more time: Sacha Dhawan is freaking awesome in the part.
- I probably had other things to say but it's late and I can't remember them anymore. Uh, still really like this arrangement of the theme tune? Also, nice to see Yaz's family again.
Apart from the thing I complained about, I mostly had fun! A lot of it was a parody of James Bond films etc. and I'm not into that genre, but I've seen enough of it to get the most references, and it did get a lot more complicated and interesting in part 2, with time travel and the like. I'll have to digest the Big Plotty Stuff before I decide what I think of any of it.
So, thoughts:
- I'm a lot happier with how the companions (yeah, I'm being stubborn and not talking about "the fam") were written into the story than I was at any point in S11 - it feels like they had a lot more equal parts in the story this time. And Yaz actually got things to do, other than ask the Doctor questions! Not huge things, but you could see her investigating and doing stuff to figure things out, and being a bit of a leader when the three were on their own, saying or doing things that got them somewhere. But Ryan and Graham also had things to do. And the show even remembered again that Ryan had a disability! And that Yaz has a job!
- I had some issues in S11 with the Doctor being written too gentle and nice, and too passive, but now I was happy with her. She had proper steel and layers in her, I felt. I could trust this Doctor would get me to safety and save the world, while I wasn't always sure about that in S11. Maybe Jodie Whittaker is also settling into the role and finding it easier to put those things in there, but I'm sure it helps when the script gives her more meaty stuff to do and say. Yet she also got to be the madcap traveller and quirky genius a lot, which I adore.
- Ada and Noor! I have such a thing for awesome women of history of science/tech, so this was so very exciting. Yay for genius women saving the world! The only thing I'm not thrilled about with regards to Noora and Ada is the memory wipe. I'm never okay with memory wipes. Also, I was shipping them already. (I wasn't the only one, right?) I know that it probably had to be because history, but well. I'm going to write an AU where they become adventurous time-traveling tech geniuses together. I hope.
- Though, Ada Gordon? Her maiden name was Byron. Chibnall probably wanted some misdirection so she wouldn't be recognized immediately, but it didn't make sense historically. Because of the name, I was first like "is that... nah, can't be, she didn't go by that surname at any point".
- Okay, okay, yes, I'll get into that topic now. THE MASTER. I don't know how this ties to the continuity - is he supposed to be who Missy regenerated into? Kind of feels like some character development un-happened. Guess it could always be a pre-Jacobi Master, as long as we don't know. I'm not sure how that would play out with the Time War and all, but it's a possibility. But. Regardless of that, oooooh I love this actor in the part. Just one story and he's already put so much into it. Also, this is officially the first time I've ever found a Master to be hot when it's not Missy. None of the male ones until now did it for me at all.
- Hmm, so he had to live through most of the 20th century. Guess who also lived through the 20th century? Has there been Jack/Dhawan-Master slash already? It's been days, there must be.
- Though obviously there's a lot of Thirteen/Dhawan-Master fic already. I mean, I knew that even before I checked the tag.
-> I'm more than Okay with this. Despite the fact that I don't usually ship Doctor/Master except for Thirteen/Missy, and that I would rather see Thirteen with women (because reasons). Then again, by this point we can consider both of them nonbinary anyway. But this ship? I don't know yet if I ship it, but I'm definitely Okay with the ship.
- However, I have my limits and I do not want to see the AUs people doubtlessly have written about that scene where the Doctor has to kneel to him and call him Master. One of the downsides of following fandom actively is that even when you're watching the show for the first time, there's a part of your brain going "Oh no, I see what certain fanfic writers are doing with this, and I don't want to see it, help me".
- On a less positive note, I'm not feeling great about a white woman leaving a non-white man with literal Nazi soldiers and cheerfully commenting on how his appearance is going to get him into trouble. I mean, obviously he did associate with them in the first place and try to get them to get her, which is also Not Okay, and he was committing a lot of murder, but the situation still leaves me super uncomfortable. I'll have to check out how fans of colour are reacting because of course they know better than I do just how the dynamics feel for them, but it doesn't feel right how it was done in any case. The Doctor shouldn't be okay with someone suffering because of their apparent ethnicity, regardless of what the other circumstances are.
- So, uh, the whole mess with Gallifrey? I've no idea what I think yet. That's one of the things that has to wait for me to see what I think about. Was it really necessary to burn it again? Why does the modern era want to do so much Tragic Backstory Where Gallifrey Is Destroyed? Also why does every showrunner try to entirely rewrite what we think we know about Gallifrey and the Time Lords? I guess that's a just a thing now. Hmm, he'd better follow up on it really well.
- On the upside, I guess the Timeless Child reference means that even though S11 was light on plot and such, Chibnall probably had something like this planned for S12 all along. Of course, it might not mean it - he might just have dropped it in to vaguely hint at something and figured things out later - but at least he was planning to do something with it.
- With regards to the Master just burning the place down and going full murdery on the world and the Doctor again... I hope they're not just erasing all the character development Missy had, if this is indeed a post-Missy Master. I really did like that character development. I suppose if he found out something really awful, it could snap him back to what his default mode of acting was for so long. It's not like Missy found it that easy to try to be good, either. But, well, we're back to let's hope Chibnall can follow up on what he set up now.
- But regardless of any of my worries about the plot, my confusions about the continuity, or my fury at the BBC fucking spoiling me for the reveal, let's say it one more time: Sacha Dhawan is freaking awesome in the part.
- I probably had other things to say but it's late and I can't remember them anymore. Uh, still really like this arrangement of the theme tune? Also, nice to see Yaz's family again.
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As far as destroying Gallifrey-it’s been pointed out four seasons post-restoration, the show runners haven’t been doing much with it either. It was just...there.
The last thing I expected from S12 was a het (esque) ship, so they’ve definitely surprised me.
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Ha, it's very true they didn't do much with Gallifrey anyway. Which is a pity, since they went through all that trouble in order to restore it, and then it's just floating there.
Hmm, I didn't really feel the show was doing the ship, I mean the Doctor and the Master are always going to seem shippy to the fandom, but I didn't feel like they're doing a het ship just because they have a female Doctor and a male Master now. But I am also terribly dense about picking up het cues. I really really don't want them to snog in canon, though, I'm just fine with fans running away with it if they stay in character (which they probably won't). It's not like Chibnall's got a great track with queer rep so far, though - all the non-straight folks we got in S11 either died swiftly, were already dead, or were mourning a dead spouse.
I'm not at all into the feeling I get that Chibs is going for Yaz/Ryan, though. I love both of them, I just don't feel an ounce of romantic chemistry between them, yet I feel that's what's being built up. Siiiiiiigh. I hope I'm wrong.
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I enjoyed Missy trying to do good so I’m curious how the new master fits in. Did the revelation of the timeless child just undo all that? I guess we’ll see
Ohh Jack/Master is something I’d not thought of but I definitely want
Gallifrey being destroyed again was definitely sad.
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I don't know what it says about me that my mind jumped to Jack/Master right away. Probably that I really like Jack and I'm super into cross-era stuff and filling out blanks. Which would be true.
ETA: And yeah, I'm really wondering how to fit all this into the continuity considering Missy's development. I kind of feel like this Master could still feel like a reasonable consequence if the timeless child revelation actually turns out to be bad enough (I'm having some doubts about Chibnall being able to deliver because stuff like that easily falls flat, but I'm hoping, it does feel like he put a lot of thought and effort into this story). Mostly because Dhawan played him with a lot of nuance, and I felt like he had more of a need to at least explain himself to the Doctor than some pre-Missy Masters have had, which could line up with having had the experience of trying to be better and choosing the Doctor's side. I'm curious to see what follow-up there'll be - with the way the story ended for the Master, I've no doubt there'll be follow-up later in the season.
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I think this is what happens when you have showrunners who are fans — they all have their own Ideas about Gallifrey and the Time Lords, and want to get it into the show by hook or by crook. We've had it with just about every showrunner since Segal, if not Holmes. Even odd little web-only branches like Scream of the Shalka and Death Comes to Timedid it.
And the stunning revelations rarely are. They remind me of the line in the Father Brown story: "But the mystagogues hide a thing in darkness and secrecy, and when you find it, it's a platitude."
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Stunning revelations are so very often a let-down, and Chibnall doesn't exactly have a good track record with awesome sci-fi plots, so... I'm going to try to remain cautious in my expectations.