the sontaran stratagem

[usuallyhats]

Warning for lack of squee; I did not love it. (also apologies for any redundancy, have not read anyone else's reviews yet.)


First, postivity: The bit between Martha and Donna at the beginning was great, it fulfilled all my hopes and I would really have liked more of that, also the scene between them when Donna notices that no-one's had any sick leave ever. And it was good to hear that the Doctor has been mentioning Martha. The scene where the Doctor thinks Donna is leaving was good except (seguing neatly into negativity) that it really emphasised the fact that Martha never got anything like that, and I still can't work out why. It's not like they didn't have an opportunity! Argh. I hope (insofar as I can bring myself to care anymore, sigh) that she gets a proper goodbye this time round.

NewUNIT: I am not angry yet, though I did twitch every time Donna compared them to Gunatanamo, or Martha talked about changing them from the inside, or the Doctor grandstanded about how he is Not Friends with people with guns. Mostly I am meh. The thing I like about UNIT is the slightly ad hoc nature of it, that they're a fairly small outfit doing their best in strange situations and although they're army enough that they'll try and follow protocol, they'll throw away the rule book and wing it if necessary. I love the line in the UNIT audios about how no-one has ever asked for a transfer out of UNIT. Actually, speaking of the UNIT audios, the second one, Snakehead, is a pretty good example of the way I think UNIT should operate - Chaudhry and Dalton, with very little backup other than Hoffman on the phones and a few knowledgeable civillians they've picked up along the way, trying to sort everything out as quickly, quietly and efficiently as possible before ICIS turn up and mess everything up. I like the family aspect of it, the idea that they care about each other and what they do, and that it isn't just another job. That UNIT, I love and was excited about Martha joining. This UNIT, with its hundreds of troops and its resources and its power? Not so much. I just don't find it interesting, really. I did like Ross, though.

Insert obligatory comment about the soundtrack here. (Seriously, is it getting worse or am I just noticing it more?)

The Sontaran redesign is comically awful. I was withholding judgement until I saw them in action, now I dodn't have to any more! They are incredibly plastic and shiny and just silly. Which is a shame, because I was watching The Time Warrior recently and the orignal Sontaran design is just fantastic.

Overall I found it a bit dull, to be honest. And the cliffhanger seemed to go on for ages. Sigh. I think at this point I might as well just write disenchanted on my forehead and have done with it. Oh well, maybe next week will be better.

Comments

[ecossefilmmaker.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...yeah new UNIT wasn't as much fun as old UNIT but we'll see how they get on next week! I loved the episode tho, very exciting :)

[usuallyhats]

I miss old UNIT... but maybe they will be better next week!

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Ross and Wilf are my fave S4 people... (Ross is the NewBenton y/n?)

I want to get and listen to the UNIT audios (but it'll have to wait as I've very little time for listening to audios).

As for Martha's goodbye - I've given up hoping or expecting she'll get a proper one. (I had to write fic to calm down over Donna getting Martha's goodbye !)

[usuallyhats]

Ooo, yes, Ross is the new Benton! I like that idea. The UNIT audios are pretty great, but I know what you mean about not having time to listen to things... I've usually got at least a couple of things waiting for me to get to.

I am still holding out a teeny bit of hope for a proper goodbye for Martha. I don't resent Donna getting one, she deserves it too, but if only it had been slotted into last week's episode or something!

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Ooo, yes, Ross is the new Benton! I like that idea.

And me ! I'd watched "Terror of the Autons" before I saw this week's ep and there was Benton, and then there was Ross and I was bouncing gleefully !

The UNIT audios are pretty great, but I know what you mean about not having time to listen to things... I've usually got at least a couple of things waiting for me to get to.

I have loads of Eight audios, and a small handful of Five and Six ones that I ought to listen to before I get hold of anything else !

I am still holding out a teeny bit of hope for a proper goodbye for Martha. I don't resent Donna getting one, she deserves it too, but if only it had been slotted into last week's episode or something!

I love Donna (not quite as much as Martha, admittedly, but still) - and I very much want her to have a proper goodbye at the appropriate time. But I strongly resented her getting "You saved my life in so many ways" when we've not seen that on screen yet, whereas Martha had literally saved the Doctor's life more than once AND the lives of others by Ep 4 of S3 !

[usuallyhats]

I have loads of Eight audios, and a small handful of Five and Six ones that I ought to listen to before I get hold of anything else !
Ah, you're sorted for a while then!

But I strongly resented her getting "You saved my life in so many ways" when we've not seen that on screen yet, whereas Martha had literally saved the Doctor's life more than once AND the lives of others by Ep 4 of S3 !

Yeah, now you mention it, that is a bit stupid - I will try and resent the writers and not Donna, but it's hard!

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Ah, you're sorted for a while then!

Yus ! I just need to make time to listen (trouble is, most of my spare time's spent either writing or watching more non-RTD!Who !)

Yeah, now you mention it, that is a bit stupid - I will try and resent the writers and not Donna, but it's hard!

See I find it VERY easy to resent the writers and not the characters !

[velvetfascism.livejournal.com]

I liked the episode a lot more than the others this series, but you're right. UNIT doesn't feel right now it's big and flashy. I'm still hacked off about the Doctor's attitude towards them. But I like to think that was because he was missing Alister ;)

[usuallyhats]

Hee, yes, that's a good thought! He did have that line about how they used to be more "homespun".

[stoplookingup.livejournal.com]

I pretty much agree with you on most of this.

In a sane world, I'd be certain that the Donna goodbye was very intentional irony, an anvil that's setting up an emotionally satisfying Doctor/Martha scene in the near future. My interpretation would be that we're supposed to think, "Clueless Ten doesn't say it when he should and does say it when he shouldn't," and this anvil means he will figure it out and say it TO MARTHA, only even better.

That's in a sane world, but of course this is Rusty's world, and I've gotten used to the anvils turning out to be ranvils that go nowhere. However, I'm giving the benefit of the doubt here and assuming we're getting a big payoff soon. (I'm such a masochist.)

RE: The silly Sontarans -- I'm convinced that this season feels more like a kid's show than the previous three, which is weird given that we've finally got a more mature Doctor/companion relationship. But between the Sontarans and the Adipose and the anachronistically modernized Pompeiian family and the general campiness -- I'm worried.

[usuallyhats]

In a sane world, I'd be certain that the Donna goodbye was very intentional irony, an anvil that's setting up an emotionally satisfying Doctor/Martha scene in the near future.

I really hope this is right - but like you say, the anvils so often go nowhere. It's so frustrating, I've stopped myself speculating about things because nothing ever seems to add up.

Sontarans: I think I read somewhere that this season is supposed to be lighter than last year? Which would explain the silly monsters. I don't really mind the kid's show elements too much, except when they're used as an excuse for lazy writing.

[stoplookingup.livejournal.com]

Truth is, the cheesiness of silly monsters bothers me. It bothers me in old Who, too, but I live with it because it's part of the deal -- like cracked windows and ill-fitting doors in a beautiful old house -- I try to see it as part of the charm. (But it still bothers me.) But in new Who, with the budget and CGI they now have? Silly monsters are the kind of cheese I just can't get behind. I'm shallow that way.

[usuallyhats]

Yeah, it's kond of amazing that they can spend so much money on them and still have them look rubbish. I have quite a high tolerance for creaky effects (luckily!), but I think it's the CGIness of the new series stuff that throws me out. At least with a man in a rubber suit there's something there, even if it is just a dehydrated stuntman. With CGI I'm always aware that it's just made of pixels. I remember reading somewhere ages ago that described the new Sontarans as designed to be action figures, and that's a problem too - they look like toys!

[the-smut-fairy.livejournal.com]

Nice cliffhanger, dear scriptwriter: "Oh no, my grandfather is in a car filling up with poison gas and the door is locked! If only, if only the barrier separating us were made of some sort of easily breakable material... I dunno, something similar to glass...*"

(*Aside: find and watch Behind The Mask: The Rise of Lesley Vernon)

[usuallyhats]

It was a particularly stupid cliffhanger...

[ghostpaw.livejournal.com]

I know, have these people never heard of a brick?

(my first thought was "see, this is why you need the handgun, 'cus then you put the safety on and use the butt to break the passenger side window..." and then I realised that was the dramatic but impractical Torchwood solution)