my Fifth Doctor viewing continues
Feb. 9th, 2010 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitSpoilers for "The Visitation," "Black Orchid," and "Earthshock" below the cut.
The Visitation
The first episode was dull, but it picked up considerably after that despite a standard "alien invasion of earth, with genocide" plotline. I'd have liked to see a little more development of the baddies--the antagonist wasn't even given a name, just a species! Interesting possibilities--the Terileptil love of art and beauty and their simultaneous love of war, the main baddy's having been a prisoner--were dropped without a trace.
On the other hand, for once everyone in the main cast had stuff to do. Nyssa was quietly competent in a really delightful way; I especially loved her blowing up the android and then calmly stepping over the burning pieces to get the fire extinguisher. Tegan got to needle the Doctor (Doctor: We'll find them. Tegan: Like you found Heathrow?), but was nice to Adric when the Doctor was inexplicably nasty to him after Adric and Nyssa managed to pilot the TARDIS on their own. And Adric got some lovely sad moments of emotional development; he's clearly frustrated at how little the Fifth Doctor seems to care about him, and hurt at his growing isolation from the team as a whole. But he also had one of the story's better funny moments, when he and Nyssa are having trouble landing the TARDIS:
The best part of the story, though, was unemployed-actor-turned-highwayman Richard Mace. Michael Robbins, playing Mace, stole every scene he was in with his theatrical swaggering, his laziness, cowardliness, and the bravery and loyalty underneath it all. I desperately wanted him to become a companion, and I was rather worried by our last glimpse of him, with beams from the burning building falling all around him. That was one of several dark notes in this story, including the massacre of the family at the beginning, the Terileptils' nasty twist on biological warfare, and the fact that the Terileptils are still alive and conscious when the Doctor leaves them in the fire at the end (we see Main Baddy actually melting in the heat, which is about the grimmest thing I can remember seeing in a Classic Who story). I've heard people say the Five turns quite dark over the course of his run; it seems to me that he's already there.
Speaking of things being less than peachy, I've decided that the arguments between the current team TARDIS aren't very much like the affectionate bickering between, say, Two and Jamie and Zoe. There's a lot more anger and competition, and it can be hard to watch sometimes.
Black Orchid
I don't have much to say about this one. The first episode was light, charming, and full of fun. I especially loved seeing the characters in other clothes for a change. (What's up with the companions never changing their outfits? I don't remember that in earlier eras. Even Jamie wore different shirts with his kilt.) Tegan and Nyssa both looked great in their costumes, and Adric was unexpectedly handsome when not wearing something shapeless in hideous colors.
The second episode turned bleak and moving. I saw the plot twist coming a mile away, but it was still effective. Given the 1925 setting, I couldn't help reading scarred!mute!broken!George as analogous to those First World War veterans who came home with devastating physical and psychological injuries. That impression was compounded by the fact that there was actually no alien in this episode: what happened to George was done entirely by human beings.
I could've done without the dodgy racial stuff, however.
And I'm confused about why, since the Doctor wasn't of course the intended substitute cricketer, the chauffeur who picked them up at the station asked specifically for "The Doctor." Apparently it was the nickname of a famous cricketer? But unless they were expecting that cricketer, which seems unlikely, I don't get it.
Earthshock
Oh, Adric. "Now I'll never know if I was right." You poor brave boy.
As with "Castrovalva," I want to lock RTD in a room with a copy of this story and make him watch it about twenty times. THIS IS HOW YOU DO SAD. You don't need anvilicious dialogue and godawful angelic choirs; stark simplicity works better. What works is Adric's quiet terror and resignation, the shock on the Doctor's face and the way Tegan doesn't even dare try to comfort him, the silent credits. This is writing that trusts the story it's telling, and trusts the viewer to get it without being manipulated.
I still haven't seen the beginning of Adric's arc, but what I have seen, I think works really well. I like Adric enormously and I'm sad to lose him, but I find the overall story compelling, and that includes the awkwardness that sets in after the Doctor's regeneration. The thing is, it's a story that hurts, because it's about love failing. I don't mean that in a shippy sense, necessarily, but there's clearly a deep affection and closeness between Four and Adric, and then everything changes post-regeneration. The new Doctor just isn't as interested; he likes his new friends better, and Adric is increasingly left out. As Adric says (I think it's in "The Vistation," to Nyssa) no matter how hard he tries, he's not accepted.
Adric and the Doctor do patch things up after their flaming row at the beginning of "Earthshock," but I doubt it was sufficient to make up for the pain Adric's been through ever since the regeneration. And I think Adric's refusal to get in the escape pod had everything to do with wanting to prove himself to the Doctor and win back the Doctor's full respect and affection. After all, what better way to make the Doctor love you than to save his "home from home," earth?
Then of course there's the culminating irony that Adric's sacrifice was completely in vain. Not only did he not divert the freighter, but because it had (unbeknownst to him) travelled back in time, he didn't need to. It's of a piece with the rest of Adric's story, in that it's about failing despite one's best efforts, about things going wrong in ways that hurt and aren't one's fault and aren't preventable. It's sort of the opposite of a coming-of-age story, in that the adult lessons Adric learns--love doesn't last, people leave you, things go wrong and you die--are all about endings rather than beginnings. Adric goes straight from youth to the disappointments of middle age, and never gets a proper young adulthood in which to become his own person.
*sniffle*
I really don't get the fandom's general Adric-hate. And at this point, thinking about it--about the glee I've seen people express at Adric's death--makes me rather angry.
Other things about the story: it had lots of women in positions of responsibility. Women soldiers, women scientists, women ship captains. It's something earlier Who (especially the Second and Third Doctor eras) tended to be pretty good about, but it feels like a while since I've seen such an egalitarian representation. "Earthshock" was also a good use of the Cybermen. Not quite consistent with previous canon--the Cybermen have personalities now, and are capable of deliberate sadism--but it worked.
In conclusion: oh, Adric.
The Visitation
The first episode was dull, but it picked up considerably after that despite a standard "alien invasion of earth, with genocide" plotline. I'd have liked to see a little more development of the baddies--the antagonist wasn't even given a name, just a species! Interesting possibilities--the Terileptil love of art and beauty and their simultaneous love of war, the main baddy's having been a prisoner--were dropped without a trace.
On the other hand, for once everyone in the main cast had stuff to do. Nyssa was quietly competent in a really delightful way; I especially loved her blowing up the android and then calmly stepping over the burning pieces to get the fire extinguisher. Tegan got to needle the Doctor (Doctor: We'll find them. Tegan: Like you found Heathrow?), but was nice to Adric when the Doctor was inexplicably nasty to him after Adric and Nyssa managed to pilot the TARDIS on their own. And Adric got some lovely sad moments of emotional development; he's clearly frustrated at how little the Fifth Doctor seems to care about him, and hurt at his growing isolation from the team as a whole. But he also had one of the story's better funny moments, when he and Nyssa are having trouble landing the TARDIS:
Nyssa: Try and think what the Doctor would do if he were here.
Adric: He'd probably get angry.
Nyssa: I said empathize, not be silly.
Adric: [Thinks, flips some switches.] Got it! [Thwacks the console with his fist. TARDIS starts working properly.]
The best part of the story, though, was unemployed-actor-turned-highwayman Richard Mace. Michael Robbins, playing Mace, stole every scene he was in with his theatrical swaggering, his laziness, cowardliness, and the bravery and loyalty underneath it all. I desperately wanted him to become a companion, and I was rather worried by our last glimpse of him, with beams from the burning building falling all around him. That was one of several dark notes in this story, including the massacre of the family at the beginning, the Terileptils' nasty twist on biological warfare, and the fact that the Terileptils are still alive and conscious when the Doctor leaves them in the fire at the end (we see Main Baddy actually melting in the heat, which is about the grimmest thing I can remember seeing in a Classic Who story). I've heard people say the Five turns quite dark over the course of his run; it seems to me that he's already there.
Speaking of things being less than peachy, I've decided that the arguments between the current team TARDIS aren't very much like the affectionate bickering between, say, Two and Jamie and Zoe. There's a lot more anger and competition, and it can be hard to watch sometimes.
Black Orchid
I don't have much to say about this one. The first episode was light, charming, and full of fun. I especially loved seeing the characters in other clothes for a change. (What's up with the companions never changing their outfits? I don't remember that in earlier eras. Even Jamie wore different shirts with his kilt.) Tegan and Nyssa both looked great in their costumes, and Adric was unexpectedly handsome when not wearing something shapeless in hideous colors.
The second episode turned bleak and moving. I saw the plot twist coming a mile away, but it was still effective. Given the 1925 setting, I couldn't help reading scarred!mute!broken!George as analogous to those First World War veterans who came home with devastating physical and psychological injuries. That impression was compounded by the fact that there was actually no alien in this episode: what happened to George was done entirely by human beings.
I could've done without the dodgy racial stuff, however.
And I'm confused about why, since the Doctor wasn't of course the intended substitute cricketer, the chauffeur who picked them up at the station asked specifically for "The Doctor." Apparently it was the nickname of a famous cricketer? But unless they were expecting that cricketer, which seems unlikely, I don't get it.
Earthshock
Oh, Adric. "Now I'll never know if I was right." You poor brave boy.
As with "Castrovalva," I want to lock RTD in a room with a copy of this story and make him watch it about twenty times. THIS IS HOW YOU DO SAD. You don't need anvilicious dialogue and godawful angelic choirs; stark simplicity works better. What works is Adric's quiet terror and resignation, the shock on the Doctor's face and the way Tegan doesn't even dare try to comfort him, the silent credits. This is writing that trusts the story it's telling, and trusts the viewer to get it without being manipulated.
I still haven't seen the beginning of Adric's arc, but what I have seen, I think works really well. I like Adric enormously and I'm sad to lose him, but I find the overall story compelling, and that includes the awkwardness that sets in after the Doctor's regeneration. The thing is, it's a story that hurts, because it's about love failing. I don't mean that in a shippy sense, necessarily, but there's clearly a deep affection and closeness between Four and Adric, and then everything changes post-regeneration. The new Doctor just isn't as interested; he likes his new friends better, and Adric is increasingly left out. As Adric says (I think it's in "The Vistation," to Nyssa) no matter how hard he tries, he's not accepted.
Adric and the Doctor do patch things up after their flaming row at the beginning of "Earthshock," but I doubt it was sufficient to make up for the pain Adric's been through ever since the regeneration. And I think Adric's refusal to get in the escape pod had everything to do with wanting to prove himself to the Doctor and win back the Doctor's full respect and affection. After all, what better way to make the Doctor love you than to save his "home from home," earth?
Then of course there's the culminating irony that Adric's sacrifice was completely in vain. Not only did he not divert the freighter, but because it had (unbeknownst to him) travelled back in time, he didn't need to. It's of a piece with the rest of Adric's story, in that it's about failing despite one's best efforts, about things going wrong in ways that hurt and aren't one's fault and aren't preventable. It's sort of the opposite of a coming-of-age story, in that the adult lessons Adric learns--love doesn't last, people leave you, things go wrong and you die--are all about endings rather than beginnings. Adric goes straight from youth to the disappointments of middle age, and never gets a proper young adulthood in which to become his own person.
*sniffle*
I really don't get the fandom's general Adric-hate. And at this point, thinking about it--about the glee I've seen people express at Adric's death--makes me rather angry.
Other things about the story: it had lots of women in positions of responsibility. Women soldiers, women scientists, women ship captains. It's something earlier Who (especially the Second and Third Doctor eras) tended to be pretty good about, but it feels like a while since I've seen such an egalitarian representation. "Earthshock" was also a good use of the Cybermen. Not quite consistent with previous canon--the Cybermen have personalities now, and are capable of deliberate sadism--but it worked.
In conclusion: oh, Adric.
Off the Network
Date: 2010-02-10 03:48 am (UTC)I never hated Adric. And I think you hit the nail on the head with the difference of four and Five toward Adric.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Re: Off the Network
Date: 2010-02-10 05:22 am (UTC)