DW: Evolution of the Daleks
Saturday, 28 April 2007 19:27![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
usuallyhats
Have watched Evolution of the Daleks, and hmmm. There was some good stuff in there but mostly it was made of holes and me shouting at the screen.
First of all, the pig men. I was hoping they were going to explain this a bit, but no. Why would they bother making them look like pigs? If they do the face and the brain separately, why not just do the brain? And why did the ones whose brains had been altered look more like pigs than Lazlo? Do the Daleks really just like saying "pigslaves"?
The bit on the tower makes me uncertain too. I was confused: they seemed to be talking about solar flares at one point and then suddenly it was all about lightening? Was I missing something in there? Also the Doctor would have been fine if he'd been touching nothing but the pole thingy - I couldn't see if he was or not - like birds on electricity lines (this is me remembering my GCSE Physics diagrams!).
Also I am a bit skeptical about whether you can actually make people think like Daleks by interpolating Dalek DNA into their own. Surely if anything that would have altered them physically? Oh, this reminds me of the "fun with DNA" episodes of TNG. And when exactly did they have time to whip up hundreds of exterminaguns? (I did like the 30s design of them, though. Dalek design + 30s design = win!) There was much laughing at the coloured water with bubbles in it and the one bunsen burner that meant "skience be happening now!" And the sonic screwdriver can turn on gas taps and then light the gas now?
I mock the Emo Dalek Man, I mock him a lot. I also can't help but wonder why he seemed to decide that what makes humans so good at not getting wiped out is our stunningly original bipedal structure. OK, it's visual shorthand for the mental changes, but still, not convinced. And! How did a whole person fit inside a Dalek if the Dalek was still in there? How exactly did the Dalek merge the two of them together? Um, maybe I do not want to know?
I had to shout at Solomon a bit when he was trying to tell the Dalek that they were all the same underneath, no, it's not the same as you, it's a bloody Dalek! I suppose he had no way of knowing and it fitted in with the whole "everyone's accepted in Hooverville, isn't tolerance great?" thing, but still. Inclusion is all well and good but maybe drawing the line before you try and include the psychotic pepperpot that wants to kill you would be a good idea?
Good things:
Dalekanium, hee! This amused me. OK, I am inconsistent in my attitude to made up skience, sorry.
It all looked very good, I must say, though I'm sure the New York geography (and accents!) were horribly wrong. But I do love rich sets where there's a lot of stuff going on and clearly a lot of effort's gone into designing them. The plans for the Empire State Building I liked a lot. And the lifts!
Martha! Thinking and making plans and the Doctor relying on her to do so. And she has so much energy and determination and self confidence; I love that. And hugging, yay! I really felt for her when she was talking to Tallulah about how she wasn't sure if the Doctor even really wanted her around. Sack up, Doctor, and stop taking your emo out on the poor girl!
I liked the Doctor's speech about refusing to commit genocide. The ideas in these two stories were great. The concept of the Daleks going "eh up, these human things are pretty good at surviving, maybe we should look into that" is a great idea. And the bit with the radio, for a moment I thought that they were going to suggest that Sec had got it wrong by taking on the physical form of a human while still being mentally a Dalek, but alas I was disappointed.
Oh, and the Doctor being all "yay, the Dalek men are not evil, the day is saved!" and then having to watch them all die, woe. Tennant did that bit very well.
The characters and the look of the episode, some of the ideas behind it, its sheer energy and excitedness, all did their best to carry it, but overall it didn't entirely come off, I think. Next week's looks shiny but maybe it is that I am being dazzled by the black tie?
First of all, the pig men. I was hoping they were going to explain this a bit, but no. Why would they bother making them look like pigs? If they do the face and the brain separately, why not just do the brain? And why did the ones whose brains had been altered look more like pigs than Lazlo? Do the Daleks really just like saying "pigslaves"?
The bit on the tower makes me uncertain too. I was confused: they seemed to be talking about solar flares at one point and then suddenly it was all about lightening? Was I missing something in there? Also the Doctor would have been fine if he'd been touching nothing but the pole thingy - I couldn't see if he was or not - like birds on electricity lines (this is me remembering my GCSE Physics diagrams!).
Also I am a bit skeptical about whether you can actually make people think like Daleks by interpolating Dalek DNA into their own. Surely if anything that would have altered them physically? Oh, this reminds me of the "fun with DNA" episodes of TNG. And when exactly did they have time to whip up hundreds of exterminaguns? (I did like the 30s design of them, though. Dalek design + 30s design = win!) There was much laughing at the coloured water with bubbles in it and the one bunsen burner that meant "skience be happening now!" And the sonic screwdriver can turn on gas taps and then light the gas now?
I mock the Emo Dalek Man, I mock him a lot. I also can't help but wonder why he seemed to decide that what makes humans so good at not getting wiped out is our stunningly original bipedal structure. OK, it's visual shorthand for the mental changes, but still, not convinced. And! How did a whole person fit inside a Dalek if the Dalek was still in there? How exactly did the Dalek merge the two of them together? Um, maybe I do not want to know?
I had to shout at Solomon a bit when he was trying to tell the Dalek that they were all the same underneath, no, it's not the same as you, it's a bloody Dalek! I suppose he had no way of knowing and it fitted in with the whole "everyone's accepted in Hooverville, isn't tolerance great?" thing, but still. Inclusion is all well and good but maybe drawing the line before you try and include the psychotic pepperpot that wants to kill you would be a good idea?
Good things:
Dalekanium, hee! This amused me. OK, I am inconsistent in my attitude to made up skience, sorry.
It all looked very good, I must say, though I'm sure the New York geography (and accents!) were horribly wrong. But I do love rich sets where there's a lot of stuff going on and clearly a lot of effort's gone into designing them. The plans for the Empire State Building I liked a lot. And the lifts!
Martha! Thinking and making plans and the Doctor relying on her to do so. And she has so much energy and determination and self confidence; I love that. And hugging, yay! I really felt for her when she was talking to Tallulah about how she wasn't sure if the Doctor even really wanted her around. Sack up, Doctor, and stop taking your emo out on the poor girl!
I liked the Doctor's speech about refusing to commit genocide. The ideas in these two stories were great. The concept of the Daleks going "eh up, these human things are pretty good at surviving, maybe we should look into that" is a great idea. And the bit with the radio, for a moment I thought that they were going to suggest that Sec had got it wrong by taking on the physical form of a human while still being mentally a Dalek, but alas I was disappointed.
Oh, and the Doctor being all "yay, the Dalek men are not evil, the day is saved!" and then having to watch them all die, woe. Tennant did that bit very well.
The characters and the look of the episode, some of the ideas behind it, its sheer energy and excitedness, all did their best to carry it, but overall it didn't entirely come off, I think. Next week's looks shiny but maybe it is that I am being dazzled by the black tie?