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Television
4920

Watched the second half of s2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures before work today. Loving it as usual! The Luke-Clyde-Rani trio has a great dynamic (not to mention Sarah Jane being a delight herself), and the Trickster has solidified himself as a fun and frightening villain with some amazing episodes—doubly so when you count his involvement in Turn Left.

One thing I’ve really liked about SJA is how it focuses on different, complex family structures. Storylines like Clive reuniting with his absent father, Luke being adopted and dealing with the struggles of not being a “normal” child, and Sarah Jane’s lack of memories of her parents are presented with care in a way that’s easy to empathize.

Also exciting to meet the Brigadier for the first time! (Or last time, in a River Song kind of way. Feels like I’m meeting every classic character out of order)…

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4921

Another Trickster fan >:) excellent

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4922

It’s such a gut wrenching episode, though I find it hard to rewatch at times. The whole episode is very uncomfortable (in a good way) to watch that I’ll often avoid it like the plague. It really is such a great episode.

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4923

Oh for sure, I truly mean it when I say I cry every time. It hits like a brick in the chest.

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4924

Each time i rewatch Turn Left, the closer i get to crying at it. I think A Dazzling End is my favourite piece of Doctor Who music ever

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4925

I love your enthusiasm for the Moffat era, I feel exactly the same way but cannot put it into words as well as you do there! :star_struck:

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4926

So, followed up the Mara stories with Snakedance. I really liked this one, way more than Kinda, which I was a little disappointed with. The setting of Manussa is fantastic, all the little worldbuilding bits are fun to watch, the Mara feels like much more of a threat in this one, Lon works as a nice henchman and man. Five and Nyssa in this one. FIVE AND NYSSA IN THIS ONE.

Five has a reputation for being a bit passive, but in this one he really is more enthusiastic and comes across as stressed at times, which makes sense and it really makes you see that he cares for Tegan (in Kinda he does say he’s concerned here and there but Tegan does end up being slightly forgotten about) which I loved. I also loved him comforting Tegan at the very end, that was so sweet and I shan’t lie, I almost teared up, Davison and Fielding play it really well.

And then we have Nyssa. I like Nyssa, there’s just something about her that grabs me. Even though she’s rather quiet and that in all the other Five stories I have watched (Kinda, The Visitation and Earthshock) she kinda gets the short end of the stick and doesn’t do that much, there’s something I just like about her, maybe I have a crush on 1980s Sarah Sutton. But to the point, in this one she’s much more active, figuring things out and on her own she manages to sneak past guards and almost rescues Five which was so fun to watch. I love her in this story.

I just enjoyed watching Five and Nyssa figure out what to do, alongside Chela, he was cool too (that rhymed). Possessed Lon was a great time, seeing him manipulate his way to get the Great Crystal by smashing the artifacts to coerce Ambril, and then even being rude and cruel to his own mother. It really shows how evil and terrible the Mara is which is great.

As for negatives, as much as I liked the worldbuilding, the explanations regarding the crystals and how they worked and how Dojjen figured all the stuff out and etc. got a little messy and difficult to understand. And sometimes the pacing could be off, with some weird cuts to scenes where not much happens, as well as some of the time where Five and later Nyssa are stuck in the prison.

Overall though, I really enjoyed this one a lot. 9/10 honestly.

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4927

After those, you may want to check out the audio Cradle of the Snake that acts as a prequel/sequel to Snakedance.

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4928

In approximately 1 minute: The Well!

I see it’s already provoked lots of discussion in its own thread. I’m excited!

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4929

It’s been ages since I’ve rewatched this one (if I’m putting on something from series 6, it tends to be either the opening two-parter or The God Complex), but I absolutely love how Eleven goes full mask off at the end. I sometimes see Eleven described as one of the more light-hearted Doctors, but I honestly find him the most sinister because his antics are just a front - when the chips are down, he’s as arrogant as Ten and as manipulative as Seven. He’s also the only Doctor who I can remember coming close to threatening his companions (when he’s trying to find out who sent the letters in The Impossible Astronaut - I can’t really imagine any of the other Doctors behaving that way). It’s emphasised really well in both The Girl who Waited and The God Complex

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4930

I rewatched this not that long ago and was surprised by how much it went up in my estimation - I really enjoyed it and found so much more in it than I had before.

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4931

I think Matt Smith does it magnificently as well - it’s probably why I like the Seven era so much too, because conceptually the vibes are very similar: a goofy Doctor with a manipulative streak, and a young companion who puts her entire self-identity in the Doctor and inevitably gets broken by that in various ways. I think Amy and Ace have a lot of similarities, and it does break my heart that Amy gets overlooked because she is wonderful.

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4932

Definitely - I think Matt Smith really gives an excellent performance, especially in Eleven’s darker moments. I’ve never really thought of Seven/Ace and Eleven/Amy as being particularly similar before, but I definitely see the parallels now you point them out. I think the big difference for me is that, at least in her audio/novel appearances, Ace is pretty aware of just how manipulative Seven can be, but ultimately remains with him in spite of it, while Amy never really reckons with Eleven’s darker side until the end of The God Complex.

I think the one character who does, at least partially, recognise Eleven for what he is, is Rory - he calls him out in his very first episode, and then again in The Girl Who Waited. I would have loved to have gotten some more moments like that, especially with Amy involved - I agree that she (and Rory) are really great companions, and I would love to see more companions in their mould in future

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4933

Currently going through The Green Death and ABSOLUTELY LOVING IT!!!

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4934

To the Last Man was alright.

I’m getting rather tired of the time displacement trips Torchwood has been extremely fond of so far, and I didn’t fully understand the plot.

BUT THEY KISSED! (They might have kissed before but I don’t remember)

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4935

For Who, I’ll be watching The Well and The Keys of Marinus either tonight or tomorrow. For other stuff, I just started watching Etoile on Prime last night, and am really enjoying it.

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4936

This one is, to my memory, the last one.

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4937

Just watched this. Not Doctor Who, but it does get a few mentions, and David Tennant is just amazing.

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4938

Sadly, not available in my country.

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4939

Watching :meat_on_bone: right now.

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