a minority opinion
Oct. 28th, 2009 09:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dbskylerI seem to be in the minority, but I really didn't like "The Madwoman in the Attic" at all.
It was supposed to be Rani's episode, but we didn't find out anything new about Rani that was interesting or relevant. She wants to be a journalist -- yeah, knew that already, and there was nothing about why she wants to be one, let alone what her time with Sarah has done to that ambition. We got introduced to Sam, an old friend from her old neighborhood, but there was a curious lack of connection between the two of them and no development of exactly what their friendship is all about. We found out that Rani has been telling Sam about Sarah and aliens, but there appeared to be no motivation behind her doing so other than a lack of discretion. Compare this to the moment when Clyde told the truth to his father -- his motivations were completely spelled out, and we in the audience were yelling "no!!!" at the screen even as we understood why he was breaking Sarah's trust. This time around, there was no emotion behind the revelation and it was never explained in terms of either Rani's character or her relationship to Sam. It also didn't seem to matter very much, not even to Sarah.
As for Eve, she was mildly interesting, and I liked that she was a refugee from the Time War, but the whole business with the ship didn't really make sense and I didn't like the super-powers that Eve and especially her ship seemed to be endowed with. I get that they're time-sensitive, but how exactly does that allow the ship to remove Sarah, Luke and Clyde from Rani's life? And what did that "removal" mean, anyway? Did they disappear -- cease to exist? Or did they just never allow Rani to come around and visit anymore? The revelation of this, its consequences and its resolution should have been the focus of the episode, but instead it was given backseat status in favor of the "Eve+Sam+caretaker go off and jaunt through space and have time-baby" plotline.
Finally, the ship just wanting a black hole all along and the solution with K-9 felt like a stupid and obvious plot device to bring back K-9 for the next episode.
However, there were a few moments in the episode that I liked. As many others have noted, Clyde and Sarah had great banter. The glimpse of the future with the TARDIS materializing was wonderful. And then there were the scenes that induced major, major squee: Time Warrior, Planet of the Spiders and Hand of Fear. Oh, Hand of Fear, you were best of all. All this time I've been fantasizing that Tom Baker would show up on SJA, and there he was!!!! I'll forgive a lot for having that moment.
Unfortunately, "Madwoman" had an awful lot that needed forgiving.
On the other hand, if this week's episode is half as good as it appears it will be, I'm going to be in an extremely forgiving mood.
*bounces with anticipation*
It was supposed to be Rani's episode, but we didn't find out anything new about Rani that was interesting or relevant. She wants to be a journalist -- yeah, knew that already, and there was nothing about why she wants to be one, let alone what her time with Sarah has done to that ambition. We got introduced to Sam, an old friend from her old neighborhood, but there was a curious lack of connection between the two of them and no development of exactly what their friendship is all about. We found out that Rani has been telling Sam about Sarah and aliens, but there appeared to be no motivation behind her doing so other than a lack of discretion. Compare this to the moment when Clyde told the truth to his father -- his motivations were completely spelled out, and we in the audience were yelling "no!!!" at the screen even as we understood why he was breaking Sarah's trust. This time around, there was no emotion behind the revelation and it was never explained in terms of either Rani's character or her relationship to Sam. It also didn't seem to matter very much, not even to Sarah.
As for Eve, she was mildly interesting, and I liked that she was a refugee from the Time War, but the whole business with the ship didn't really make sense and I didn't like the super-powers that Eve and especially her ship seemed to be endowed with. I get that they're time-sensitive, but how exactly does that allow the ship to remove Sarah, Luke and Clyde from Rani's life? And what did that "removal" mean, anyway? Did they disappear -- cease to exist? Or did they just never allow Rani to come around and visit anymore? The revelation of this, its consequences and its resolution should have been the focus of the episode, but instead it was given backseat status in favor of the "Eve+Sam+caretaker go off and jaunt through space and have time-baby" plotline.
Finally, the ship just wanting a black hole all along and the solution with K-9 felt like a stupid and obvious plot device to bring back K-9 for the next episode.
However, there were a few moments in the episode that I liked. As many others have noted, Clyde and Sarah had great banter. The glimpse of the future with the TARDIS materializing was wonderful. And then there were the scenes that induced major, major squee: Time Warrior, Planet of the Spiders and Hand of Fear. Oh, Hand of Fear, you were best of all. All this time I've been fantasizing that Tom Baker would show up on SJA, and there he was!!!! I'll forgive a lot for having that moment.
Unfortunately, "Madwoman" had an awful lot that needed forgiving.
On the other hand, if this week's episode is half as good as it appears it will be, I'm going to be in an extremely forgiving mood.
*bounces with anticipation*
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-29 05:53 am (UTC)No, but I feel guilty for having enjoyed it so much.
Aww, that's so nice to hear -- I keep thinking that everyone's lost interest in the fic or even forgotten it completely given that it's taking me so %^&*(*&^ long to finish it! Anyway, the chapter is not yet ready to be posted, but I promise it will get done and I will post it even if it's completely jossed by the time I get it out there ; )
Nope, not forgotten or lost interest... In fact, I'll have to go back and re-read the earlier chapters soon...
(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-29 06:07 am (UTC)