Dark Water reaction post

[dbskyler]

Sadly, my streak of not liking any New Who story with the Master in it remains unbroken. I just don't enjoy crazy!Master, and apparently that is not affected by the Master's gender presentation. Although I do like the fact that we now have definitive, on-screen canon that a female Doctor is possible one day. While we were told that information back in "The Doctor's Wife," that could have been argued away as "the Doctor lies." This, not so much.

But sigh, did we have to get a female version of the Simm portrayal? It makes me long for the level-headedness of Ainley!Master. (And yes, I know that Ainley!Master was not exactly level-headed, but he was in comparison to Missy, which is my point.)

The afterlife stuff was all squicky-creepy. The bit with the Cybermen in the water, with only their internal skeletons showing, was cool, I'll admit, but why add the weird afterlife stuff to it? The Matrix on Gallifrey was not heaven, or hell, or a way for Time Lords to be immortal. It was simply a repository of knowledge and memories. The dead were still dead, even among the Time Lords. (Well, except for the Master -- that sucker keeps coming back.)

Then there was that bit with the dead still being conscious in their bodies, and experiencing getting burned alive when they're cremated. WHAT THE FUCKING HELL? THERE ARE CHILDREN WATCHING, BBC. CHILDREN WHO MAY HAVE LOST FAMILY MEMBERS. CHILDREN WHOSE FAMILY MEMBERS MAY HAVE BEEN CREMATED. There is absolutely no excuse for having that in a Doctor Who episode. It's not an "ooh, let's be scary" moment, it's full-on body horror, and triggering, and just completely inappropriate. Even if you somehow had to stress the plot point that the Cybermen need buried bodies over cremated ones -- and I don't see why you would -- there were at least fifty umptillion better ways of doing that. It could have been as simple as a setting on the Master's laser screwdriver that uncremates bodies. That wouldn't have been any more ridiculous than 3/4 of what happened in "The End of Time."

I hope next week is better, but I am not holding out hope.

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on disliking the whole batshit!crazy!Master thing. I miss Delgado!Master - his plans might've been off the wall, but he himself wasn't crazy. It seems too cheap making the Master(/Mistress) crazy.

My own reaction went along the lines of "OMG! What the actual f***ing f***! Moffat went THERE?! WHY?!" (And that's to bringing back the Master, not the gender thing, 'cos I've been arguing for a female Doctor for yonks.)

So with you on the cremation thing. It's only a couple of years since I lost my dad and he was cremated...

[clocketpatch]

I'd guessed Missy's identity ages back, and was amused by the portrayal, and by the fact that the slash is all canon now, I mean, it was before, but now there's been onscreen, against-a-wall, angry kissing... kind of sad that it took a gender reassignment for the execs to think that was okay, though. I mean, either that's not ever okay, or it's okay all the time. Urg.

The cremation stuff was so wtf, but Moffat and co have been pushing the wtf line all series. I don't think they realize that "darker and grittier" doesn't give them license to just put whatever controversial body-horror type stuff they want onscreen. You can do adult topics, but there are still kids watching. !!!

(I was highly amused by the Thick of It reference though.)