All posts by SF Bluestocking

Television

Supergirl: “Stronger Together” is a solid followup to last week’s overstuffed pilot

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“Stronger Together” is a strong second episode for Supergirl after a slightly overstuffed (though very informative) pilot. However, it feels as if there are a couple of different shows being mashed together here, and I’m not sure that it’s entirely working.

There’s the show about Kara Zor El, plucky young super hero growing into her powers and figuring out her place in the world with the help of her friends. Then there’s the show with secret government agencies, a prison full (or, I guess, not full any longer) of evil aliens, and Kara’s presumed-dead-but-really-evil aunt, General Astra. These two shows so far seem to have very little to do with each other, their tones so disparate, and they are even so visually different that transitions between them feel jarring.

On the one hand, it’s nice to see a super hero property avoiding some of the darkness that has become so increasingly characteristic of the genre, but Supergirl seems less intent on eschewing it altogether and more committed to just keeping the dark parts of the show almost completely divorced from the brighter parts. And so, half of this episode was Kara adorkably fumbling her way through her first days as a superhero, and the other half was her finding out that her mom’s evil twin wants to murder her.

Still, it’s an awfully enjoyable show.

Melissa Benoist continues to bring a sort of irrepressible awkward charm to Kara Zor-El while also showing to advantage in her action scenes. One thing I noticed this week that I really like about the way this Supergirl is being portrayed is that whether it’s Benoist’s natural physique or some strategic padding, Supergirl has got some seriously visible upper body strength. While the character isn’t devoid of sex appeal, it seems as if the show is dedicated to presenting her as tough, practical, and sensible first.

The show also isn’t jumping too quickly into the implied-to-be-impending love triangle between Kara and James and Winn. I was especially concerned about Winn after his moment of indignation in the pilot of Kara’s lack of interest in dating him, but he seems to be settling comfortably into being a true and loyal friend to her. This week, while Winn did seem slightly competitive with James, I didn’t get any of the Nice Guy™ vibes that I detected in the first episode. James, on the other hand, got to have a somewhat romantic moment with Kara this week, but it wasn’t overdone and didn’t feel like a rush on the part of the writers to push Kara into a romantic relationship. Incidentally, this was one of the episode’s best scenes, title drop and all.

My personal favorite scenes this week, though, were all scenes between women.

Alex and Kara’s fight was important, and I’m very glad that the seemingly too-quick resolution of their conflict in the pilot wasn’t the end of any complexity in their relationship. So far, the show seems to be avoiding a lot of the standard troubled sibling relationship tropes in favor of showing a complicated but generally happy friendship between Kara and Alex. Certainly they have disagreements, but they seem to also care really deeply for each other in a way that colors all their interactions.

The next standout scene was Kara’s fight with General Astra. I think they could have played up the trauma Kara likely experienced upon meeting her mom’s evil twin, but it was a pretty badass fight. The show’s visual effects come off a little hokey at points, but I actually enjoy that as I feel it makes for a more authentic comic book feel. I don’t think anyone is watching this for realism.

Finally, I adored the final scene of the episode. With so few female-led superhero projects in production, Kara picking up Cat Grant’s car is a nice subversion of regular super hero tropes. Also, it just looks cool. Hovering in the air, Kara looks positively angelic, and this might be the most sort of iconic moment of of the series so far.

Speaking of Cat Grant, though, brings me to my one major criticism of this episode: It seems a little hypocritical of an ostensibly feminist show to be CGI-ing the shit out of Calista Flockhart’s face. At first I thought there was just a general soft focus in the scenes at CatCo, which tend to be very pastel-colored, but the more I saw it, the more I realized that it’s just on Cat Grant’s face. I totally see Cat as a character who is vain and image-obsessed, but that would mean lots of make-up or maybe some too-young designer outfits. This is actually someone going in during post-production and removing all the lines in her face so she looks like a creepy android or something. Needless to say, I hate this so much.

Overall, though, I’m still enjoying the show a lot, and I can’t wait to find out how the interview went.

Book Reviews, Fantasy, Novella

Book Review: The Last Witness by K.J. Parker

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The Last Witness is decidedly not my kind of book. If I wasn’t making a point of reading all of the Tor.com novellas in publication order, I would never have picked this one out based just upon its back cover copy. Needless to say, I’m glad that I’m working on this reading project, because I would be sad to have missed this little gem of a story.

The Last Witness deals with some rather heavy ideas about memory and storytelling—specifically the stories that we tell others and ourselves. It’s a fascinatingly speculative story with an intriguing perspective and a main character with a powerful magic that is the very definition of a double-edged sword. He can steal memories, but he remembers them all perfectly, himself. The story answers some of the questions that must be asked as a matter of course once you think up that kind of magic power.

As the story unfolds, we learn more and more about Parker’s wonderfully unreliable narrator, where he came from, and what having this power has made of him. There’s not a lot in this premise that is terribly surprising, but the story is well-constructed, and when the twist comes near the end it’s, well, not unexpected exactly, but so perfectly placed and executed that it provokes a deep emotional response as one is forced to change the way one thinks of the narrator and the story he’s told up to that point.

My biggest criticism of the book is that there are parts that are just plain confusing. Because of the mechanics of the narrator’s magical ability, he sometimes has a difficult time differentiating between his own natural memories and those that he’s gleaned through his work. While everything becomes clear by the end of the story, there were several times in the first third or so where I found myself struggling to make sense of it. This isn’t aided, either, by the fact that there are no chapters or other markers to clarify shifts between the narrator’s memories and other people’s memories that are being remembered by the narrator or between flashbacks and the present day events of the story. It’s not bad enough to make the story unreadable, but I could definitely see this being off-putting for people who (unlike myself) have no problem abandoning a book partway through.

I don’t expect that The Last Witness will be among my favorites of the Tor.com novellas, but I’m happy to have read it. It’s a solidly written story with an interesting protagonist, a clever twist, and a satisfying conclusion.

Doctor Who, Television

Doctor Who: “The Zygon Invasion” is just kind of boring

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[SPOILER ALERT]

I was so excited to see Clara have so much more to do in “The Zygon Invasion” than she has the whole rest of the season that I didn’t even realize that she was replaced by Zygon before she’d spoken half a dozen words. I only called it about a minute before it was actually revealed to the audience, and I’m usually pretty good at detecting evil twins. I’m not sure if I’m happy to have been surprised by what was really a pretty well-written episode or if I’m just terribly irritated by the revelation that Clara is once again being reduced to furniture.

Aside from that, this was (objectively) a fairly good episode and one of few in the Moffat era to pass the Bechdel test. With Jemma Redgrave returning as Kate Stewart, Ingrid Oliver reprising her role as Doctor fangirl Osgood, and several minor female characters making their Doctor Who debuts, it’s an episode that is just packed full of women in key roles. Peter Capaldi has really settled into his role as the Doctor, and he continues to be great fun to watch. I even rather like the Zygons, although I’m not sure where the show is going with this storyline.

Here’s the thing about this episode, though: I just didn’t like it. Clara being damseled is part of the reason, certainly. There’s not much that will annoy me more about any story than female characters being reduced to objects in need of rescue. But that’s not entirely it, either.

Mostly, I found the episode to be thematically muddled and, frankly, boring. Honestly? I think I’m just almost unable to get really excited about this show anymore unless it does something really fascinating, which it didn’t manage to do this week.

The peace with the Zygons that was negotiated in the anniversary special seems highly impractical, and the desire of the Zygon radicals this week—supposedly to live openly rather than secretly and in hiding—seems eminently reasonable enough that it’s hard to see them as entirely villainous. On the other hand, with the Zygons having, apparently, made no effort to resolve their problem through diplomatic channels, their violence seems disproportionately and absurdly unnecessary and counterproductive. By using language that ties the Zygons to real-world terrorists, the show is inviting a comparison that doesn’t really stand up to any real scrutiny.

Doctor Who is a show that only rarely addresses these kind of real world political issues, and it’s disappointing to see it done in this manner, if only because this shallow treatment of complex issues risks becoming incoherent. Things didn’t break down entirely this week, though, and the second half of the two-parter might make more sense of the copious set-up we were presented with this week. We’ll see.

Television

Ash vs. Evil Dead: “El Jefe” greatly exceeded my expectations

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Ash vs. Evil Dead is, so far, everything I hoped it would be. My expectations weren’t high for this show, but I have to admit that my hopes were, and Starz has delivered.

My biggest fear about this television adaptation was that, in a time where grit and grimness is highly popular, it would take the material far too seriously. Fortunately, that isn’t the case so far. In fact, in “El Jefe” I think the material was treated with exactly the level of seriousness it deserves.

That said, most of this first episode was devoted to introducing characters. establishing the show’s mythology, and setting up the initial crisis. All of these things are accomplished by the end of these first forty minutes, and the episode is tightly scripted, fast-paced, and hilariously entertaining.

Ash himself is less likable that I remember, although to be fair it’s been probably ten years since I last watched Army of Darkness, which gives a much better picture of Ash’s character than Evil Dead ever did. Still, Bruce Campbell is ridiculously charming, and he makes the most incredibly goofy faces. I could have done without seeing him grossly proposition a girl young enough to be his daughter, although Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) seems like a character who can hold her own with an old creepy. In any case, that bit of weirdness was basically entirely made up for by getting to see Ash smash a bunch of vases against his own face while fighting an evil doll—and the CG for that scene was perfectly terrible, by the way.

Ash’s sidekicks, Pablo (Ray Santiago) and the aforementioned Kelly, fit into the Evil Dead universe perfectly, and Ray Santiago could give Bruce Campbell a run for his money in the silly faces department. Pablo’s almost blind faith in Ash is endearing, and Kelly so far doesn’t fit neatly into any particular stereotypes. I also like that while Pablo may be smitten with her and Ash might leer at her, the camera treats Kelly with respect; I can’t think of any pervy shots of her, anyway, which helps to reassure me that Kelly doesn’t just exist to be ogled or end up a love interest.

The other major character that got a lot of screen time this week was state police officer Amanda Fisher (Jill Marie Jones), whose first encounter with the evil force Ash has awakened (in a scene that highlights the dangers of mixing drugs and ancient books of magic) ends with her having to shoot her partner’s head off, which earns her a suspension from the force and an internal investigation. Amanda’s introductory scenes are the only ones in this first episode that I think were at all scary, but they also felt very consistent with the tone of the old Evil Dead films, with a similar visual effects style that relies chiefly upon great gouts of fake blood. While Amanda is moping in a diner after her traumatic experience, we get to meet Lucy Lawless’s character, Ruby, the only main character who remains mysterious by the end of this episode.

Overall, this episode greatly exceeded my expectations, and I’m now legitimately excited about this show instead of just in it for the nostalgia factor. The next test for Ash vs. Evil Dead will be whether or not the show continues to hold up without Sam Raimi at the helm for every episode. Next week, someone else takes the reins, and we’ll find out. Hopefully, we’ll also get to see more of Lucy Lawless.

Weekend Links

Weekend Links: October 31, 2015

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A Softer World comes back from the dead for Halloween.

Publisher’s Weekly has posted their list of the best sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books of 2015.

Strange Horizons finally got around to reviewing season five of Game of Thrones, and I think this is pretty spot-on.

You know how lots of people seem to think that Game of Thrones is some kind of historical documentary? There’s a new university course to help perpetuate that misconception!

Flavorwire has a list of the 20 creepiest haunted houses and mansions in literature.

Speaking of haunted houses, both Jezebel and Motherboard published profiles this week on Margee Kerr, who does science on how and why people experience fear and has recently published a fascinating-sounding book on what she’s learned so far.

Web Urbanist explains the symbology of gravestones.

If you’re looking for something scary to watch this weekend, Ms. Magazine’s multi-part Feminist Guide to Horror Movies might give you some guidance.

For fans of movie gore, there’s this very cool Cinematic History of Fake Blood:

Deadspin will tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the man who played Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters II.

Space.com asks sci-fi authors what they think alien megastructures might be like.

While Gizmodo points out that most Earth-like planets haven’t even been born yet.

Suvudu interviewed Updraft author Fran Wilde.

SFF World interviewed Jane Yolen.

Slade House and Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell writes about the influence of Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea novels.

Robert Jackson Bennett has some opinions about princesses.

James Davis Nicoll is planning The Year of Tanith Lee.

Rocket Stack Rank looks at the influence of the Locus Recommended Reading List on the Hugo Awards.

jennre has a wonderfully comprehensive post on women in early sf.

At the Barnes & Noble blog, a much less comprehensive but still refreshing list of 6 SFF books challenging gender roles that aren’t by Joanna Russ.

I’m always excited to see another new collection of women’s science fiction stories, and Sisters of Tomorrow looks like it’s going to be a good one.

Finally, and this is big news for writers out there, submissions opened today for Lightspeed Magazine’s POC Destroy Science Fiction issue. I loved Women Destroy, and this year I’ve been greatly enjoying Queers Destroy, so I expect POC Destroy to be up to the same high standards as the rest of the Destroy projects.

 

 

Television

iZombie: Peyton is great, but Peyton plus Blaine is better

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iZombie surprised me this week, by following up last week’s very good episode with another that I like even better. “Even Cowgirls Get the Black and Blues” is an episode about heartbreak, which it deals out in spades, and, relatedly, the ultimate randomness and meaninglessness of the universe. Nevertheless, this is also an episode full of hope, although I wouldn’t exactly call it optimistic, either.

The biggest surprise this week by far was how much Peyton was in the episode. Last week, we seemed to have gotten her back in exchange for no Blaine at all, but this week we get some of both—and both together, which is something I never knew I always wanted. Peyton and Blaine together is only my second favorite development of the episode, though.

The very best thing that happened this week? Peyton and Liv’s actual reunion at the start of the episode. After the last few episodes, which really focused on the breakdown of basically all of Liv’s relationships and Liv’s growing feelings of isolation and disconnectedness, it’s so nice to see something in her life going well. I was a little concerned last week when Peyton just left the birthday cake for Liv, but it turns out she really was just busy. When Liv tracks Peyton down at the gym, Peyton is pleased to see her friend, apologetic about the months of radio silence, and ready to talk about things.

Unfortunately, Liv is called away to help Ravi, but this isn’t the last we see of Peyton. Honestly, though, after all the time this show has spent sidelining and just plain disappearing Peyton altogether, I find it a little hard to credit this turnaround in their treatment of this character. This week sort of doubled down on Peyton’s storyline from last week and tied it together with Blaine’s in a way that makes me think that Peyton is going to continue to play a significant role in this season’s overarching plot. That said, the show has teased Peyton’s importance before with no payoff, so I’m trying to manage my expectations about this until I see at least a few more episodes in this same vein.

Blaine, of course, is shaping up to be a great villain, and this week he’s delightfully evil as he continues looking for the recipe for the tainted Utopium from the boat party. I pretty much loved everything about every scene Blaine was in this week. His texting henchman is excellent, and all of the Blaine scenes this week had the great balance of darkness and humor that characterizes this show at its best.

Aside from Peyton’s return, the other big emotional component of this episode concerns Liv’s relationship with Major. I’m very surprised to see this plot moving along as quickly as it seems to be, although I’m also not convinced that this really is Major’s rock bottom. If it is, it’s going to be profoundly unsatisfying and will really cement Major’s position as one of the most boring ex-boyfriends on television.

In basically every way possible, Major behaves abominably to everyone he comes in contact with this week, which is par for the course with this fetid pile of unexamined privilege. The difference between this week and every other week, however, is that we’re actually starting to see him being called out on it. Peyton has been back all of two days and has noticed what a weirdo Major is being. Ravi actually confronts Major about his bizarre behavior. Even Liv finally goes to Major and tells him that they are for real over. And then Major shows up on Liv’s doorstep and it looks like maybe this thing is back on—although I’d call it even odds that making out with his zombie ex-girlfriend might just be another rung on Major’s descent into crisis.

The problem with Major, of course, is that he’s just plain unlikable. I think I could deal with that if Major’s character arc was taking him towards being a villain, but he’s just awful as a romantic hero. Peyton’s return and her reunion with Liv, with its hugs and apologies and empathy, really helps to highlight just how terribly unreasonable Major has been in the way he’s treated Liv. It was gratifying this week to see Liv herself get to call Major out for this, but the ending of the episode reveals just how much Liv is still dealing with her own feelings of self-loathing, guilt, and shame—and how vulnerable and starved for affection she really is.

Overall, “Even Cowgirls Get the Black and Blues” is a solid episode. The murder mystery sort of fades into the background, and the effects of the murdered woman’s brain on Liv was subtly and sensitively handled, which was a nice change from some recent episodes where Liv picked up a few too many of her brains’ worst qualities. I liked the way that the randomness of the murder ended up echoing the randomness of Liv’s being turned into a zombie in the first place, and it was good to see Liv starting to deal with her feelings in a better way than she has been. Key to that development is Peyton’s return, and it’s very clear that Peyton’s forgiveness and acceptance of Liv is vitally important. I just hope that Peyton sticks around this season.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

  • Ravi’s new girlfriend, Stephanie, seems nice, but I got a sort of weird vibe when she congratulated him on banging Peyton.
  • Minor is a great name for that dog, which is totally adorable.
  • Is Babineaux getting a love interest? That would be swell, because that poor man hasn’t had much to do this season so far.
  • Ravi was awesome this week, in general. He dressed like a cowboy, was a supportive friend to Liv, and called Major out in a pretty significant way.
Television

Minority Report: “Fiddler’s Neck” could have been a nice change of pace, but ends up being a little dull

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The more I watch Minority Report, the more I come to terms with all the reasons why this show is almost certainly going to be cancelled after just one ten-episode arc. It makes me a little sad because I think the show, in the beginning, had a lot of potential, but it’s basically all been squandered with bad writing and ill-conceived plots.

“Fiddler’s Neck” takes us to the weird Luddite island where Dash and Arthur grew up after the end of precrime and where Agatha still lives. It’s a nice change of pace, although the episode more or less maintains the case-of-the-week format that has previously been established. This time, though, we get lots of Agatha-related flashbacks, as this week’s case involves the daughter of her old flame. We also finally get to see Agatha and Vega in the same room, which I have mixed feelings about.

Fiddler’s Neck, apparently, used to be a peninsula and is only an island as a result of global warming. We even get a shot of the ruins of an amusement park to show how bad the global warming and coastal flooding is. Fiddler’s Neck is also, apparently, a refuge for libertarians, anti-vaxxers, and natural-living folks of all types. It’s basically so backward the US government gave up on trying to control it, and so it’s a place governed by its own sort of local militia—which turns out to just be a group of crooked rednecks with shotguns. It makes sense, I guess, why the precogs would end up there, but it also makes a lot of sense that Dash and Arthur would get the hell out as soon as they could.

Most of this episode was in service to giving us a better idea of who Agatha is, which I was excited about since she’s been one of the more consistently interesting characters on the show. It turns out, however, that she’s actually kind of boring. Certainly, her doomed love story with the guy who hired her to work on his farm when she first came to the island is dull and cliché, anyway.

I had high hopes for Agatha and Vega together, but even that didn’t really pay off. Agatha was coldly aloof, and Vega spent most of the episode just looking like she smelled something nasty. There were no sparks, no big arguments, and no major meeting of the minds between these two, and I felt like the end of the episode signified nothing more than a return to the status quo. With only ten episodes to work with, I hate to see any episode do as little as this one did to either provide interesting exposition or further the plot.

I’m so sad about this show. It’s one that I think started off with a lot of things going for it, but week after week it continues to fail to deliver on a premise that ought to be really interesting. Instead, Minority Report has turned out to be just a second-rate cop show with some flashy sci-fi window dressing. It’s likable lead actors do the best they can with poor scripts and boring stories, but their charm really only goes so far.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

  • This was an excellent episode for world building, which would have been awesome if it was the second or third episode of the series. This late in the game, it feels superfluous, especially since the most interesting parts don’t really contribute much to the main story.
  • The B-plot, which had Akeela discovering an investigation of Blake and then going to Wally for help, was just awful. Disconnected from the main plot, poorly written, badly executed, and Wally was really unnecessarily nasty to Akeela.
  • I laughed out loud when Vega was trying to show how big she thinks an ear of corn is.
Television

Supergirl: I’m only half in love with this show, but it’s still early

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Supergirl’s first episode is everything I dreamed it would be. It’s a huge info dump of some of the most ridiculous superhero mythology ever conceived, and it’s self-consciously (and at times misguidedly) feminist in a way that I hope doesn’t turn out to be characteristic of the series. But it’s also enormously fun.

Melissa Benoist is mostly responsible for this as she plays Kara Zor-El with a sort boundless enthusiasm and charm that makes her instantly lovable. Benoist’s charisma isn’t the only thing to love about this Supergirl, though. While the episode itself is full of dull/silly-but-necessary backstory that is told in flashbacks and voiceovers, Kara’s character is shown to us and by the end of this pilot, we have a pretty good idea of who she is.

I adore Kara’s straightforward earnestness and her apparent total lack of any ability to keep a secret. I love that Kara isn’t a reluctant superhero, although the pilot is careful to show that her transition from determinedly ordinary woman to costumed hero isn’t going to be entirely seamless. Still, this isn’t some kind of chosen one scenario, Kara’s powers aren’t a surprise or a burden, and it looks like most of Kara’s challenges are going to be external ones.

Even better, this pilot basically starts with the assumption that Kara is smart, strong, and capable of dealing with these challenges. The only time we see Kara out of sorts is when she meets James (not Jimmy) Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) who is so hot that she’d have to be far more than superhuman not to be flustered. In her other interactions, even with her demanding boss, Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart), Kara is confident and earnest without being annoying.

This characterization of Kara is probably the most feminist thing about this show, and it’s definitely the feminist thing about the show that feels least studied and forced. I appreciate that the show is explicitly feminist, and I there are actually a couple of more self-aware moments that are downright hilarious (the waitress who just straight up says “Can you believe it? A female hero! Nice for my daughter to have someone like that to look up to,” for example), but I’m not convinced yet that this is entirely intentional. Cat Grant’s speech about the “Supergirl” name was downright cringeworthy, and the misogynist villain was a bit of a flop.

The show also isn’t as feminist in its execution as it ostensibly is in its writing. While there are multiple female characters, and the episode passes the Bechdel test many times over, Kara doesn’t seem to have any actual female friends. There are also no women of color in this first episode at all, and while it’s nice to see a race bent James Olsen, I did get the uncomfortable feeling that Mehcad Brooks was being used as “exotic” eye candy.

It could be that these are things that will be improved upon in future episodes. This is only the pilot, after all, and often there are major changes made between pilots and subsequent episodes. I sincerely hope that this is the case here, because I think Supergirl has the makings of a truly good show.

Book Reviews, Fantasy

Book Review: Updraft by Fran Wilde

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Updraft is an exciting, inventive debut novel with a delightful protagonist and a unique and totally unexpected setting. I often think that authors have to pick and choose where they want to do things that are new and fresh and different, and Fran Wilde has chosen really well here by writing a relatively pedestrian story in a fascinating new fantasy world.

Kirit has never wanted to do anything other than become her mother’s apprentice and learn to be a trader between the tower communities that make up the world of Updraft, but her plans are derailed just days before she’s supposed to take her flight test so she can travel freely around the cities. The plot of Updraft is a simple one, really, a fairly classic coming-of-age-with-complications story as Kirit finds herself forced into a role she never wanted and starts uncovering secrets that make her question everything she thinks she knows.

­You can tell when reading Updraft that Wilde has really thought about every aspect of this world, and probably her greatest achievement is in the society she’s invented for the people who inhabit her bone tower cities. The largely oral traditions are well-thought-out in a world where lack of trees and paper would make for minimal written communication, and this is also, to a large degree, where the major ideas and themes of the novel come from. In a world without written records, who controls information, who has the power, and how does that affect a civilization?

Also, there are huge monsters called skymouths that sound something like enormous aerial squids and something like flying gulper eels. And it’s never exactly spelled out, but the bones these people are living on might be growing out of the back of something even bigger.

While I’ve read reviews that class Kirit as an “unlikable” heroine, I adored her. It’s refreshing to read about a girl character who isn’t anxious from the beginning to sacrifice herself for some greater cause, and I love that Kirit has a bit of a stubborn, selfish streak. Kirit doesn’t want any part of being some kind of chosen one, and she only participates in “destiny” under duress and with no romantic notions about it. Kirit is a tough girl from the start, and Updraft is the story of how she grows into a strong woman with a well-developed sense of civic responsibility.

Also a nice change from many other books about young heroines, Kirit isn’t neatly paired off with a man at the end of the novel. Instead, she’s made over her society and stands ready to be a significant part of a future that is very different from their history up to this point.

So far, it looks as if Updraft is planned as a standalone novel, but I rather hope that Fran Wilde returns to this world and these characters. For all that this is a book that deals mostly with the uncovering of secrets, I still feel as if there’s a lot more to be explored. I, for one, would still like to know what exactly the bone towers are the bones of.

 

Doctor Who, Television

Doctor Who: “The Woman Who Lived” is the show’s best episode in years

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“The Woman Who Lived” is the first episode this year that I’ve unequivocally loved. In fact, I’d say it’s the best episode of Doctor Who since 2010’s “Vincent and the Doctor.” It’s certainly the best episode so far of the Capaldi era, which has generally been lackluster to say the least. Interestingly, and I think not insignificantly, this is also the first Doctor Who episode written by a woman (Catherine Tregenna) since 2008. It shows, and in a good way as I think “The Woman Who Lived” is an episode that very much benefits from a woman’s touch.

The most important woman involved in this episode, though, is the titular one, played with rather surprising deftness and nuance by Maisie Williams. I wasn’t particularly impressed by Williams’ workmanlike turn as Ashildr last week, but this was no simple reprisal of that role. Rather, after some eight hundred years, Ashildr has taken and abandoned many names and now refers to herself as just “Me.” She’s known colloquially, however, as the Knightmare, an infamous highwayman, and she meets the Doctor when they both are trying to steal the same object in 17th century England.

At first, Me thinks that the Doctor has come back for her, and she hopes that he will take her with him on his travels, but he quickly disabuses her of this notion. It turns out that she’s got a back-up plan, involving a lion-alien and an ancient space artifact and a gateway to maybe Hell, but this is really all secondary to her interactions with the Doctor and the emotional journey that they both go through over the course of the episode.

A major theme this season has been the need for this Doctor to reconnect with his humanity, to rediscover his purpose, and after 800 years of functional immortality the woman who was once Ashildr finds herself in much the same position. She’s a perfect foil for the Doctor here and forces him to look at his own life choices and deal with some of the consequences of the decision that he made for her. This is exactly the sort of accountability that the Doctor needs and that used to be more commonly provided by his companions, but it’s nice to see here, especially handled so nicely.

I’m not back to the level of enthusiasm I had for Doctor Who, say, five years ago, but this episode is the most enjoyable the show has been for me in a long time. It was smart, funny, and hit all the appropriate emotional notes perfectly.

Some stray thoughts:

  • Though the idea doesn’t make a ton of sense, I love the thought that Me’s memories fade over time, and her library of journals detailing her many lifetimes is fascinating.
  • I really was impressed with Maisie Williams in this episode. It’s a little surprising to see someone so young be really believable as an eight hundred-year-old immortal.
  • I could have done without the lion alien, to be honest. He was really just silly-looking, and I think Me could have easily come up with her plan some other way, perhaps using some other artifact or device.
  • I love puns so much.
  • I found that I didn’t really miss Clara this week. She’s had so little to do lately, that it’s hardly noticeable when she’s gone.