Doctor Who: 3x11 "Utopia"

[kerravonsen]

Well, that was good, but the way my flist was squeeing about it, my expectations were too high.

Jack resenting the Doctor abandoning him: check
Jack happy at seeing the Doctor: check
Jack flirting with everything in sight: check
Jack getting back his groove: check

Interesting explanation for why the Doctor abandoned Jack -- though I had personally assumed that the explanation was (a) he thought Jack was dead (only Rose knew that Jack was alive, and she'd forgotten what she did) or (b) the Doctor was half nutty because of his regeneration crisis and wasn't really thinking. But it brings things together -- the reason for Jack having the hand (and being so obsessed about it) and also why the Doctor deliberately takes off when he sees Jack coming.

Derek Jacobi: yes! Gravitas and bewilderment flipping over into arrogance and scorn.

You could see it coming; Martha being innocently encouraging, assuming that any Time Lord is a good Time Lord -- after all, how would she know that the one most likely to escape by running away and hiding, the one Time Lord of all their race most obsessed by survival, would be the Master...

It was so like him to turn on his devoted assistant with rage. Megalomaniacs are not nice people. Though it makes me wonder how he turned that way in the beginning, what made him so obsessed with power and pride. I mean, by now, sure, he's not likely to be at all sane -- if the Doctor had a bad time, the Master wouldn't have had a good one. Though they also seem to have had different reactions to being human; the Master's stint as the Professor didn't seem to have softened him one iota.

John Simm: unexpectedly good. The way he relished leaving the Doctor in the lurch "Tell you my plans so that you can foil them? I don't think so!" Yes, he's completely unlike the classic Master, but in the same way that the Doctor gets a personality change, he's the same person also. Except a bit manic and cheeky, like a naughty boy playing with nuclear bombs.

Why did the Master take the Doctor's hand? To use as a Doctor-detector of his own?

Is there any particular reason why the end of the universe had to get its wardrobe from Mad Max? I suppose it's the post-apocalyptic feel. And what's with all the pointy teeth? And why do they want to hunt humans anyway?

The way that the Master said "Utopia" at the end, with such scorn, makes me wonder if Utopia is a dupe, a trap. He took away the data about it - why? To make sure that the Doctor didn't have it, or that he himself did have it?

I guess the Doctor sabotaged the TARDIS as it was taking off.

From the preview of next week, looks like Mr. Saxon does get elected, and starts taking over the world (after all, if you want to rule the universe, you've got to start somewhere...). And that he's getting off on taunting the Doctor. Which is also very typical: the Master has to let somebody know how clever he is, and the only one that he can really do that with is the Doctor.

Obviously they're going to get back to 2007. And they're going to defeat the Master. And he's going to get away to fight another day. Only question is, is it going to take one episode or two to do it? Probably two, I expect.

ETA: I think the reason is that it didn't make me squee like everyone else is that it suffers the way many RTD scripts do: lots of cool character stuff and snappy dialogue, but the plot itself is a bit meh. "Blink" was much better.

Comments

[jthijsen.livejournal.com]

"Blink" was much better.

True, but then "Blink" was exceptional. You can't expect such almost impossibly high standards in every single episode.

John Simm was great. I loved him in Life on Mars, playing the perfectly sane cop, so I was a bit surprised to see him playing an insane Master. But it really worked.

[kerravonsen]

True, but then "Blink" was exceptional. You can't expect such almost impossibly high standards in every single episode.

Oh, certainly. However, the way my flist was squeeing, I thought that it was another one that was that good -- and it wasn't.

John Simm was great. I loved him in Life on Mars, playing the perfectly sane cop, so I was a bit surprised to see him playing an insane Master. But it really worked.

Yes, it did -- I think it actually worked better than Derek-Jacobi-as-Master, in some ways.

[kerravonsen]

Funny thing is, though, I'm actually less worried about Mr. Saxon now that I know that he's the Master, than I was when it was just a rumour. There's something more frightening, for me, for a legitimate government doing evil and poisoning people's minds, than there is for someone who is an imposter and a con-man doing the same.

Or maybe I just have more confidence that the Doctor can defeat the Master, because he's always done so before.

[azarsuerte.livejournal.com]

I've discovered--by way of my ongoing obsession with NCIS, which is probably the most predictable crime procedural on the air but has *great* characters--that I don't really care that much about plot as long as I get good character stuff. *g* So I was pretty happy with this one, although yes, "Blink" was definitely a stronger episode.

[kerravonsen]

I guess I'm greedy: I want both character and plot. 8-)

[azarsuerte.livejournal.com]

*g* It's probably a side effect of the fact that I usually can't *write* plot worth beans, but I'm very strong with dialogue/character development, so I only demand what I would be able to give or something like that. ;-)

Ramblings on Utopia

[de-gnome.livejournal.com]

Blink was one of the best episode in the entire of the new series (I was walking down the road and saw a weeping angel... not good). Though Jack and Martha's interactions in Utopia were funny.
I reckon the Master took the hand so he could tell when the doctor (the only real threat to him) was coming.
I wonder if he became human to escape the time war (to not have to fight - the coward)
And dont any of the time lords have names, or are they all titles? I mean wouldnt you runout after 30 or so titles?
I wonder whether they bring in the torchwood team to help destroy the master. thast would be interesting.
And how are they supposed to go back to 2007? is the doctor going to fix/remake Jacks wrist thingy

Re: Ramblings on Utopia

[kerravonsen]

I reckon the Master took the hand so he could tell when the doctor (the only real threat to him) was coming.

A Doctor-detector like Jack used it as. I expect so.

I wonder if he became human to escape the time war (to not have to fight - the coward)

But of course! Mind you, he probably did fight (he has been known to cooperate with the Good Guys when the universe is about to be destroyed, on other occassions) but certainly he would have bailed out as soon as it looked hopeless.

And dont any of the time lords have names, or are they all titles? I mean wouldnt you runout after 30 or so titles?

You haven't seen any Old-School Who? Yes, they have names. Long, unpronouncable names, such as Romanadevoratrelundar. I expect the ones who stayed on Gallifrey kept using their names, but the renegades (the Doctor, the Master, the Rani) tended to take a nom-de-guerre.

I wonder whether they bring in the torchwood team to help destroy the master. thast would be interesting.

Too many characters to keep track of, though. I don't think they will.

And how are they supposed to go back to 2007? is the doctor going to fix/remake Jacks wrist thingy

That's my guess. Cannibalize Jack's gizmo and use the equipment they have on hand, to make a one-trip-only time machine.

Re: Ramblings on Utopia

[de-gnome.livejournal.com]

'You haven't seen any Old-School Who?'
No. When i have money again, I'm going to rent (or buy) the older Doctor Who... because the only episodes i've seen of those are the ones shown on TV about 2 years ago (i think it was the fifth doctor).