#in terms of hiding it from yaz etc

[shinraelectricpowercom]

hm. well. that was a lot of set-up i think

[uozlulu]

Doctor Who "Spyfall Part 2" reaction and spoilers.

I’m glad that we’re seeing the companions on the plane at the same time as the Doctor in the strange alien synapse-like place because it reassures us that while everything we know might not be accurate, at least the Doctor didn’t dream up her companions.

Ada sounds like she’s experiencing astral projection or maybe alien abduction, which in fairness if the Master is involved it is indeed an alien abduction of sorts.

The downside to the Doctor being in alien synapse land is the electricity effects really. Doctor Who is more fun when I can actually look at the screen.

”This is my guardian,” sounds ominous.

”You told me everything was foolproof.” It’s the Master. The Master is a fool. So I suppose this is proofed by fool more than fool proofed.

The Doctor is now in 1834 and it’s like you can hear the TARDIS screaming internally already.

Oh good. The Master is here. I mean this both literally and sarcastically as always, which is why I love the Master.

I know that a lot of people are sad that the Master is like this despite everything Missy went through but honestly I would be shocked if any of that stuck. I feel like the Master’s narrative purpose is to show the audience how much trouble we could be in if the Doctor hadn’t looked at humanity and gone, “I love them.” Like if the Master were to come to terms with humanity and treat them as equals, then the Master would lose their narrative function. So, I think from the Master’s perspective (provided of course the multiple Earths last episode wasn’t an indication that he’s an AU version who’s lost his own Doctor and thus transplanted himself into continuity to fill the void Missy left behind), he’s tried being good, it was an interesting experience. Now he’s ready to do something more fun because life is too boring otherwise.

”You’re not in control of those creatures.” AU or not, the Master is still the Master. I’m surprised the Doctor didn’t see this fact coming from miles away. I love how gleefully smug her face gets about this too.

I mean he might have told her to kneel and call him Master, but really he’s probably here to bring her back to the present because he’s screwed up (yet again).

Frankly the ability of people to track me is one of the many reasons I keep my phone off 99% of the time.

Ah, multiple time periods not multiple earths. So Master is our Master, which is good to know.

This place Graham, Ryan, and Yaz are hiding reminds me a bit of the place Ten, Martha, and Jack were hiding during the Saxon stuff

I’m not sure how I feel about the Master in a Nazi uniform. Like he tends to be evil but mundane things like businessmen, politicians, cult leaders, etc… Also, there’s something a bit dubious about putting Dhawan in a Nazi uniform especially given the rise in neo-Nazism globally in the modern era. Now I admit that I’m not sure about western Asians in Nazi Germany, but I do know black people in Nazi Germany had to follow the Nuremburg laws though they were not rounded up in masse and taken to camps and eastern Asians were considered “honorary” Aryans. That said, it’s likely both parts of “Spyfall” were written before Dhawan was cast, but again, it does kind of bring up questions as to why they wanted to put the Master in a Nazi uniform regardless of who played him. I mean like, to me, again the Master narratively is a foil to the Doctor when it comes to humanity, so it seems like instead of picking sides in a human vs. human conflict, he would create his own conflict. Although I’ve not seen what he does in the extended universe so who knows. I just know it’s kind of throwing me out of the episode a bit here.

I do like that they are in 1940’s Paris, hopefully it will get people thinking and learning about World War Ii beyond what’s taught in school

I’m glad they’re doing telepathy without flicking the image to indicate it’s happening like they used to do in Classic Who especially if the Doctor was being telepathic with other forms of the Doctor.

”Where?” the Master asks like he’s forgotten how utterly dramatic the Doctor is. Of course they’re going to meet atop the Eifel Tower.

Oh good. The Master has suggested a better plan. No wonder he both thinks he wants the Doctor out of the way but isn’t actually getting the Doctor out of the way.

The Master does have a point. When does the Doctor pay attention to him unless he does something awful. Might also explain why the Master had to resume being the Doctor’s foil after Missy’s arc as well since there was no point to continuing to be less evil if the Doctor wasn’t going to even acknowledge it, which in turn would make things boring, which in turns leads to the Master seeking out ways to make things more fun.

Maybe Galifrey destroyed itself if the Master is telling the truth, which I’m inclined to think he is, which might have kicked off his need to screw with the Doctor to deal with discovering Galifrey ate itself whole. Or maybe the alien that was after the Doctor last series visited Galifrey and burnt it to the ground. That is also possible. If the Master is telling the truth of course.

I like that the Master was forced to live time linearly on Earth for the last like 77 years because the Doctor screwed with his TARDIS.

I like that this Master story ends with the Doctor giving the Master his just desserts because it underscores how dangerous the Doctor is after the Master shows us how dangerous the Doctor could be if the Doctor saw humanity the way he does.

Noor asks, “The fascists – do they win?” and the Doctor says, “Never, as long as there are people like you,” and that is very true and I do like this message despite the uniform debacle earlier.

While I’m glad that this means Dhawan!Master will be back later, I am not sure how I feel about this turn of events. I suppose this is why they put him in the Nazi uniform earlier. At the same time, I suppose given the manipulation of the drums, something like this plot was possibly inevitable considering it does kind of fit with IRL revenge we see in the news from time to time. I am curious though how we get from Missy to Dhawan’s Master. If that is how this goes. I mean it is possible, given that we’ve never really known any of the Master’s incarnations before Delgado that this is a bit wibbly wobbly. Hopefully we’ll gain insight into how this fits as this larger arc takes shape.

”Questions?” is so sharp, so maybe anxious.

Well, that went places I didn’t expect it to go and places I’m not sure how I feel about them. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully it’ll all work itself out in a way that makes this two parter make more sense.

[octofurvus]

Doctor Who spoilers, ahoy!

This one seems to be very hit or miss right now, but I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed it. As a parody of the whole Spy genre, it’s fairly successful. I loved to over the top-ness combined with the humor of it, all the gadgets and such, the party, etc... It is probably Chibnall’s strongest ep as a showrunner and is very promising in terms of where he’s taking the show this season.

The tense moments were very tense, some predictable, but I think that made them better (specifically Yaz’s teleport into the glass box). The emotional beats were a bit clunky in terms of writing, Yaz’s convo w/ Ryan, par example.

And, of course, the Master has returned after only a whole season, basically. Not a bad thing, but unusual compared to how the show’s been doing it so far. And my thoughts about that are more in the potential of it based on what we’ve already seen.

I really like what we’ve seen of his Master so far. A lot of people are saying that he reminds them of Simm’s Master, and I can definitely see that, but I don’t think that he’s an in between regeneration or even out of character as the regeneration after Missy.

I got me some theories, so buckle in.

Missy stabs Simm!Master, Simm!Master shoots Missy in the back, they laugh at the irony, blah, blah, blah... Missy dies alone. Missy dies alone and is then alive, probably because of these really cool aliens (I didn’t mention them up top, but I really like them) and probably because she is a Time Lord (I keep using she b/c she hasn’t regenerated yet). And, because she is herself, she strikes up a deal with these aliens to help them conquer the universe. 

Missy is confused as to why the Doctor didn’t come find her, so she tries to find him. He’s not on the ship, he must have found a way to leave and didn’t come find her (or he found her and just left her, which would be even more infuriating). She was cocky going into that confrontation with Simm!Master, I don’t think she expected to get shot like that, and I think it’s because her thoughts about good are confused, ‘the good guy always wins’ sort of attitude. There’s already this seed of ‘the Doctor just wants to make sure they don’t have to deal with me anymore’ that was REALLY big with Simm’s Master (and y’know, she just saw him again; which is why Dhawan’s Master is Like That). In her realization that ‘being good’ won’t bring the Doctor back, she decides to concoct a scheme

Now, she is angry and confused and ready to find the Doctor, or ready for the Doctor to find her. Missy procures a TARDIS, and gets to Earth under the guise (for the aliens) of infiltrating the planet for however long. UNIT is dead, so she goes to MI6 (second best place to get files on the Doctor?). A dude just starting? Perfect. Kidnapping, forced regeneration? guided regeneration? Sure! The TCE, the Master finds the Doctor, but holds off to get one that’s after The Doctor Falls.

(Side Note: I want to know how many times he fucked up without the Doctor noticing before they caught on to this one little detail (my guess is he forgot his own birthday no less than 3 times))

We get the reveal, we get the Doctor teleported to that place Yaz was (the Doctor knows where she is? I think? That’s the impression I got), then we get  next episode. There is a shot somewhere of Graham in a place that looks like it could be the Master’s TARDIS; based on that, there might be some trying to convince the companions that the Doctor is hiding stuff from them (she is) and that he can help them, that would be cool.

Here’s what I WANT to happen: the Doctor and the Master get in a situation where they could both die (big room with control panels, countdown clock, the whole enchilada) that the Master could help to stop, but doesn’t want to. He wants to take the Doctor down with him. Cue: packed, rushed conversation, the Master gets answers, the Doctor understands the Master a bit more. I’m thinking a nice hug at the end and an apology from the Doctor without expecting any forgiveness. The Master’s like ‘damn, dude, fr?’ and stops the clock. He helps the Doctor stop these aliens. There’s an offer of travel, he refuses and goes off in his own TARDIS. (Set up for finale ep? Maybe!)

ALTERNATIVELY

Dhawan!Master is just pretending for the aliens (Note: His last line) and is going to try and find a way to help her when he literally can (or is already doing it from the inside). All the stuff I mentioned with the aliens and finding someone to impersonate are still true, but they’re of a different motivation.