#episode the woman who lived

[variousqueerthings]

Oh, I love puppets! / I'm just passing through, like fish in the night

It's The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived tiiiime, and this is one of the big recurring thematic episode holders of the season, and possibly... possibly I should watch them again at some point, when I'm not over-inundated with what in hindsight was a bit of a bonkers schedule of getting through M*ffat-era in a relatively short space of time, because I think some of it lost me a bit. not the plot, just a couple of Things here and there, which actually goes back to the first couple of episodes, where they were mentioning a Hybrid, but I'm like. wait did I miss something? was this Hybrid relevant or did it just Appear as another legendy type thing? why is it being mentioned like everyone knows what it is out of the blue?

this not because I remember the Hybrid being mentioned in these episodes, but because "Me" mentioned them in the finale episode and I was like... wait, hold on a second, I missed all this build-up, does it tie back into these episodes... I cannot tell you, I honestly can't, I cannot remember, I didn't note when the Hybrid was mentioned. but I will rate what I do remember!

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 3/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 5/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 3/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 8/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 7/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 8/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10

FULL RATING: 67/100 (if I can count….)

this season is so far pretty consistently in the high 60s. it's a good season, but a few things are definitely starting to look like A Pattern (this is why it's great to have a System, I can be like "it's not just vibes, see I have a System, and if people tell me the System is highly subjective, I can knock over a water deliberately and run away in the confusion)

OBJECTIFICATION: as far as I can remember there's nothing here on that front. we've been cured at this point, I tellya

PLOT-POINT: Clara isn't really going through an emotional journey in the first episode (the Doctor sure is though boy oh boy) and straight up isn't in the second one, unfortunately. we'll get to that.

COMPLEXITY: okay so on the surface, these are quite simple, chill plots, I enjoy them both. the snag is... what the fuck just happened with Me??? immortal Me???? really immortal Me???? I wrote way more about that in the point below, but yeah I think they should have made her... less immortal. durable perhaps. long-lived. but ooh that was... that was very very immortal huh

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: one thing I've noticed, that I dunno which point to put on and so has ended up here (but maybe it should have been on the "plot point" point, is that several times throughout this season we've smash-cut to "Clara is in danger in some way/close to death and then the Doctor gets her out of the situation"

I note this because I feel like it's there as a recurring joke, but also it comes up in "Face The Raven" that Clara seems to be enjoying herself too much with these life-and-death situations, but... I don't think it's clear enough. Idk if I'm being pedantic or not, I really really don't, but I'm not a fan of these "insights" into their adventures being uniformly about danger as a Joke

couple of times, sure, but... do you ever go somewhere just for the joy of the experience? why no snapshots into fun/beautiful/joyous experiences? like back in Rings Of Akhaten, it felt like yes there was danger because of circumstance, but the point of the journey was to experience, in fact the thing that tends to keep companions coming back is "anything could happen next that is wondrous, despite the danger (although the danger could become intoxicating, this isn't the goal from the outset, and how companions interact with that danger when it appears in balance with the joyous experiences gives a lot of the tension of their individual stories)."

this is a thing that happens at the beginning of this episode and is irrelevant to the rest of it. Clara's relationship with danger beyond "she weirdly doesn't care much" isn't as explored as I'd want it to be. genuinely why do we never see them setting out to have a good time? what do these scenes tell us about their dynamic, and are they telling us this On Purpose, or am I reading too much into them?

I'm jaded I tell you, jaded!!!! I never know when M*ffat is doing something because of "fun setpiece opening" or when it genuinely Means something. Fuckit I'll read into it: Clara has a weird fucking relationship with danger, because she seems to have been casually on the verge of death several times and brushed it off in a super chill way within the same episode! there we go, read into it

the other way to read into it is Clara has a weird fucking relationship with danger, because the Doctor's influence has made her believe she is literally invincible and nothing really bad can happen -- this despite her boyfriend yeeting himself into the atmosphere after becoming a cyberman

anyway, there is actually some real ongoing Plot stuff in this lol, I went off on a tangent to begin with because of that being the beginning: this plot is not... really related to Clara. it semi-is because of the end of the season, but I do think it's weird that this double-episode about Me -- who will later travel with Clara -- doesn't really cement a bond between Clara and Me. like yeah, they get on in the first episode, but in the second episode where we meet Me properly -- the Me we'll know moving forwards -- Clara just isn't there. I genuinely don't get it, because I've said that there are episodes where it feels like Clara is redundant from a thematic and lore/plot-building perspective, but this episode which sets up Me, doesn't also set up little threads that could make us look back end-s9 and say "ah yeah, I can imagine what kind of co-travellers these two might become"

but back to Me. IIIIIIIIIIIIII have questions. I actually think this is way bigger for some reason than a lot of more commonly discussed lore-building. like, sure, Time War, granted I was 10 or so so maybe that's just in my read of the story as indelible, but then bringing Gallifrey back, yeah, makes sense, it's a show that goes on forever, Timeless Child, yeah why not, [spoilers for the last special in case you haven't seen it] doesn't change much, but the Doctor just... made someone immortal? Immortal immortal???? meet them again end of the Universe immortal??? just travelling around in another Tardis immortal???????? you can just do that?????? why does this shock me so much, idk. maybe it's because with the Doctor you can really fuck with stuff, they're already an alien who can change their face, I get you wanna shake that up sometimes

this just casually happened midway through a season and is -- as far as I can remember -- irrelevant outside of this season of the show. it's sooooooooooo. can we talk about how this works please??? what. what was that for??? so many questions about Me-as-concept, but I guess she's just... out there. still potentially immortal?? she's gotta be more immortal than the Doctor is, how can she be totally unharmed after whatever the fuck trillions? trillion tillions??? of years???? okay stop thinking about this now, brain broken

fuckn Jack was made immortal by the time vortex itself and is less immortal than she is, okay I'm over it now. so many questions

COMPANIONS MATTER: Clara kind of does in the first one, in that she's the point of contact with Ashildr. but then she's literally not in the second one at all. I wonder if JLC had a commitment, it feels like a commitment thing. RIP because that was genuinely an episode I think Clara should have been in

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: this is a turning point for the doctor, and I do note it's happened roughly halfway through his run, in which he basically realises that he has to save this girl, because this face -- in turn -- was saved back in Fires Of Pompeii. truthfully I don't think anyone questioned Capaldi looking exactly like... well, Capaldi, but fuckit, it's Doctor Who, fuck around a bit + it's for good and not evil! (+ hi ten hi donna!!!)

the point is that the Doctor's been having a bit of an identity crisis ever since this face arrived, and spent all of s8 running around seemingly just dissociating from themself and everyone else in the Universe, and s9 they've sorta been going. oh hey people. I don't want to be an asshole anymore. I got flashcards! (I wish actually the flashcards had been there from s8, I think they would have made s8 Doctor much more fun to engage with for me)

these episodes really feel like the episodes to fully nail that, although s9 has been going in that direction from the start. can I trace it back to anything particular in s8, yeah, I guess, it's sort of thereee in certain interactions, especially in the last few episodes. truth be told, now I'm a little away from s8, it's like I can't quite remember just how pissed off and distant he was all the time, I've just got to trust my notes saying he was (this is why we take notes kids -- the kids are me, I did not take notes for s9 so now there is a very limited amount of time I have to write these reviews before it stops existing for me)

I think this works. I have... questions... about the "can't travel with another immortal" bit which I'm putting here, because while I like the Doctor finally voicing their thoughts on some of the internal stuff that's been going on (which, notably isn't to Clara, but then again the Doctor often doesn't tell their emotions to companions, because they must be Spared, get some therapy king, and apologise to Martha Jones someday) -- while I like the Doctor and Me having that conversation about "the mayflies" (which I'm also into as descriptor), I feel like it's a bit of a cop out, similar to back when River Song was like "naahhh can't travel with you because scheduling issues uh Real Plot Reasons I swear" and just like then, I feel like they wrote their way into a corner with this one

I think personally Me should have flat out refused the Doctor. Or have it be like with Jack Harkness -- You Feel Wrong To Me, because Me is frankly a nightmare creature according to season 9, and by this I mean not in personality (remarkably chill considering linear immortality spent Alone until the end of the Universe???) but simply wait what you can just make people immortal like that??? Doctor Who Explain!

I think the Doctor should have been wahaaaay more disturbed having created a fuckn Creature, not just because she may do immoral things because she forgets what it's like to be mortal, but because it's some fuckn Horror Shit that's going on here. I mean, it's there and I'll read more into it, but it's so. "oh yeah, this is a thing I can do, and I chose to do" and not "wait was this a really really really fucked up thing to do??? am I the bad guy???????????? do I remember life and death as concepts???????????????????????????" this is noooot Fires of Pompeii where they handy-dandy yoink out some people so they don't burn to death, this is bringing someone back from the dead and MAKING THEM IMMORTAL. this is more Time Lord Victorious than Just Save Someone

I can tell this will be in my head for awhile....

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: looots of fun references in these episodes, generally just a good time. the only thing is... immortal Me. is. so. immortal. the most immortal. I spit on your other immortals. how did you immortal so hard?? harder than any other immortal character??? did it have to be so, for writing reasons???? (you can probably tell at this point I will be returning to this concept in the finale review!)

“SEXINESS”: I... genuinely do not remember. I don't think there's anything weird here. I should've taken notes, but past me was having a time.

INTERNAL WORLD: there's two worlds here and both are actually fine. I feel like we're not just in these times as set dressing (like I often felt with the paternoster gang and the victorians). the Vikings are a coherent village and I care about them (maybe not totally historically accurate but that's not the point with this, it's the feeling that they belong in the world set up for them) and the 1600s part 2 was given enough to feel lived in. I think it especially helped in both cases that we were seeing people around the leads who felt real -- that's what has often been missing in the past of this era, that it's not just the Super Impressive Immortals And Aliens And Important People but that people exist in these kinds of stories (and they're all important)

POLITICS: this was super unintentional and I'm mostly having a laugh but...

Lady Me: My chosen name is "Me." The Doctor: No it's not [deadnames her].

Doctor Stooop you literally chose your own name in canon!!!

generally, okay, I'm being a meanie here in over-analysing, but I do wish what is very similar to an orlando-type storyline were more queer. orlando is like. my jam. and this character is basically orlando. and she crossdresses. but a queer writer would have been soooo much juicier with this narrative. it's especially noticeable as we've got a couple of literal gender-crossings with Time Lords, but I do think the show is still in its... not infancy but let's say toddler-era when it comes to queer intersectional feminist vibes. it's basically still doing the "girls rule, boys drool" type thing

FULL RATING: 67/100 (if I can count….)

I CANNOT STRESS HOW PERTURBED I AM BY CASUAL HALFWAY THROUGH A SEASON IMMORTAL CHARACTER CREATION. fuckn. who knows when I'll have finished rolling that around in my head

they're good episodes, this is a good season, but. and I write this having recently finished said season. the things it's setting up will not be paid off for me, which is a shame. I enjoy this season, but I enjoy it more for its parts than its whole. I like a lot of the ideas it's putting out that will end up coming back in the last episode. but it's. the way it casually does things and asks me to go along with them, when I'm going, "no nonono wait, I have questions about this one, you can't throw away the rule book entirely," and just adds plot and emotional beats without build-up to those beats. I like those beats, but why didn't you build to them??? (this was a problem in the first double-episode, it's a problem in this double-episode, and I know it'll be a problem in the last three episodes, post Sleep No More)

mayflies though. I do like the mayflies

[tardxsblues]

he is me

[whateverisbeautiful]

The

Only

Time

I

Feel

Safe

Is

When

I’m

With

You

[oddly-casual]

Fiona and Cake spoilers seriously

(Something I noticed abt Betty and Simons relationship)

I love Betty and Simon’s relationship, I think their back story is so cute and romantic and all that lovely stuff don’t get me wrong.

But there’s this under tone of Betty constantly giving things up for Simon and we don’t really talk about it a lot???

Like, Betty let Simon have his moment with the artifact and the pubic, she also doesn’t go to her trip in favor of going on an expedition with Simon. Then when she goes to leave again she stays for Simon.

Even Fiona is like “you went with her on the bus?” And Simon just looks all confused like “what? No, why would I do that?” Like- hello???

Then after that she gave up her entire life and mind to get Simon back to the point where she literally says “I don’t know who I am without him anymore.” And that just sucks! Since the beginning Betty has been the one giving up the most, her mind, her own possible career, and it’s a story of love of course and it’s very sweet but it’s also a story of sacrifice.

Their love wasn’t a perfect solution, it was already sort of imbalanced when it started and I lowkey love how we see those cracks even before they’re together.

Again, I love their relationship and I think it’s sweet. I just think we should talk about Betty’s side more, especially when she tells a story of what most women do in relationships, sacrifice.

[kennyomegasweave]

In defense of Maya (without knowing the manga):

She definitely annoyed me because obviously I know Taichi isn't the person she was claiming he is and she clearly knows Kohei likes him as a friend, at least, so it's like ...girl, come on. But like.

She only went off on Taichi after she got the first set of notes he took? Which, let's be honest here, were dogshit. He really didn't take a service that Kohei needs seriously and he was initially doing it for Kohei's lunch. She didn't lie there. We also learned there's only 23 notetakers in the entire college. This is a service that is very much needed, yet doesn't have nearly enough volunteers for, and Taichi was treating it like a joke that didn't matter at first. That shit was hella disrespectful. He didn't mean it as such, and Kohei didn't take it as such either, but it was. So no shit Maya got that notebook and was like "...what the hell am I supposed to do with this? And this is who Kohei thinks is so nice and cool and everything?"

All Maya has are the initial terrible notes that Kohei gave her like they were helpful (they weren't) and knowing Kohei only kept Taichi as his note taker because he liked being around him. With the unspoken fact, that maybe non disabled people didn’t pick up on, that he also only kept Taichi as his note taker because there just aren't enough note takers, so he couldn't have gotten better anyway. Which almost certainly factored in as to why Maya blew up at Taichi. Disabled people shouldn't have to accept shit notes just because the alternative is no notes at all. We already have to work uphill cause of the disability, it's adding insult to injury to basically know everyone’s like "well, yeah it sucks, but you could have nothing." Or even a “yeah, I didn’t care at first, but I do now!” Because it’s like “it’s great that you finally realized this is a real service needed for a real disability that affects real people. Glad you finally figured that out. Congrataritos.” Like it is exhausting being disabled and having to sit there and smile when people have their lightbulb growing moment since we don’t have the option to dick around until we decide to lock it in. So I completely got why those shitty notes set Maya off. Because she didn't go off at him after the dinner, it was after she got those notes.

And on a related note, we all clapped for Taichi when he went off on homegirl in the cafe because she wasn't treating Kohei like a real person with real issues, but he also wasn’t taking Kohei and his problems seriously with those initial notes. Like yes, he started trying and actually doing better, but that only happened once he became friends with Kohei and realized he needed to do better. Who knows, maybe the cafe girl could have grown as a person, like Taichi did, if she had been able to get to know Kohei as a real person. But Taichi didn't let her get that chance, just like Maya wouldn't have let him get that chance if she could. The only difference in those two situations, to me, is Taichi is already Kohei's friend so Maya can't stop them from interacting like Taichi did with that girl.

Like I’m sorry y’all, Maya's not being any more of a bitch than Taichi was because she can only work with the information she has, which obviously isn't what we as viewers have. She’s pushy and overbearing and, yeah, annoying because she also obviously has a crush on Kohei and we know he's sprung on Taichi, but it’s really not like she just looked at Taichi and went “fuck this guy” for no reason.

[quietwingsinthesky]

no but really CAN we talk about amy convincing the doctor to commit to a suicide pact with her when she lost rory. she didn’t even have to try that hard. he got in that car without even hesitating. he was fully ready to die for real with her.

[dandrew-stuff]

Here is : Talking About The Dead: Part 2

Danai and Yvette Nicole Brown take a deep dive into episode 4 of The Ones Who Live and answer some of your burning questions❤️‍🔥

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Danai Gurira (@danaigurira)

[chaos-bringer-13]

My brain just hit an old hyperfixation (is this what it's called? I hope I used the word right) and oh dear am I losing my mind now. I need to write a story I think. About this one old guy. He's unhinged. There's so much information about him and yet not enough. I want to explore his character so much. He's definitely a criminal - at least he was one - and I'm 95% sure he can do actual real magic, and he's a musician and an artist and an actor and a magician and a philosopher and a traveler and a conman and so much more and also I think he's some kind of immortal. Maybe he just has a VERY long life. It's strongly implied he was a pirate at some point of his life. He started a cult by accident several times. My conspiracy theories about him include him being a secret god.

He's also a freaking round blue raven. Someone save me from my mind.

[laniidae-passerine]

catch me laughing in the club awkwardly because this season has a 19 year old blonde female companion from London, a space travelling left of law brunette queer boy who flirts heavily with the doctor, absolutely zero writers of colour and no mention of sensitivity readers…….and next season the new companion is a woman of colour. uh oh!

[hampterguts]

forever amazed and confused at how often transformers franchise just straight up depicts suicide attempts. like not even considering the superhero trope of "i have to save everyone!!! by choosing to die!!!!!" thing. like. non-allow-yourself-to-die-to-stop-a-thing-from-killing-everyone-immediately type situations. which tbh i wish more ppl talked about but not the point here

like. sure mtmte, a comic abt mentall illness and war, i expected it to be aware of the concept. but its not handled well and mostly used for shock value or "im better now i swear! i have a husband and everything" BUT ITS IN THE KIDS SHOWS TOO??? MY BESTIE G1 RODIMUS?? BEAST WARS DINOBOT???

[tardxsblues]

Don't you worry. I'll remember it.

[cowboyinternist]

The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home please?

i’d vote for her

[elfietheespeon]

October daily art challenge, Day #29: That one random knitting woman that lived next to Fuze, who for the longest time I thought was Meryl in disguise

There's a greater than zero chance that she was the last person to see Fuze alive.

[alrightsnaps]

My issue with how the show handled Francesca's story is that they could have made her bisexual and honored both love stories (John&Michaela) but they didnt???? I know people disagree and say shes bi but my interpretation based on the show and bts commentary by jess is that shes a lesbian

yeah that's my takeaway too anon. it’s been addressed so many times by various fans atp so it feels like beating a dead horse but the finale didn't feel like a bisexual awakening to me. it felt more like a closeted lesbian storyline, and it was further confirmed by all the comments by jess about frannie and john having a different, more platonic love yada yada.

michael and francesca’s relationship in the book is definitely the more spicy, passionate one but john and frannie are very much portrayed as a couple in love during their marriage, playful and flirty and all that. they're not just “platonic”. they don't just share mutual respect and friendship, they're in love with each other.

and what's funny is...i wouldn't even mind a closeted lesbian falls for husband's female family member storyline! i don't even care about ~emotional cheating~ and whatnot. but it's a storyline that would have made sense if francesca had made the “practical” choice and married someone like lord samadani! NOT when you dedicate an entire season to francesca falling in love with john and literally fighting everyone in order to marry him. viewers were invested on john and frannie’s romance so it felt like a slap on the face when in the last episode all of violet’s fears and misgivings about their marriage are essentially confirmed.

[yahoo201027]

Day in Fandom History: October 24…

The Doctor lands in 1651 England, where after getting caught up during a potential robbery, reunites with Ashildr, now calling herself as 'Me', and team up to get an important artifact that they're both after. “The Woman Who Lived” premiered on this day, 9 Years Ago.

[revolutionarykiwi]

Something that has slightly limited my ability to consume all Doctor Who materials is my refusal to believe that Sarah Jane has died in-universe, meaning that I cannot watch anything that suggests otherwise.