Lab. A scientist we can't see hits a button and electricity crackles. He tells someone else that the prototype has passed every test and is working. In the shadows, a man says that "working" isn't the correct word because that would apply only to machines. The man comes out of the shadows so that we see he's in a motorized chair.
Kirsti: I flail with excitement because it's Owen from Vicar of Dibley!!! Excuse me while I spend the rest of the episode expecting him to talk about how he's late because his sheep exploded or something.
Sandy’s having his morning coffee, thinking about what kind of bagel he feels like this morning. Ryan’s brother, Trey, also recognized as “NOT Gavin DeGraw” walks into the kitchen. Today’s the day! Today’s the day Trey moves out of the Cohen commune and into his own place. Sandy’s all like “PRAISE! I have enough troubled youth on my hands, but call me if you need anything.” Trey’s like, “Nah, I’m ok. You guys have done too much for me already. Not many people would take in an ex-con; Ryan’s lucky to have you.”
BROTHER BURN.
BROTHER BURN.
A young woman runs along an abandoned dock at night in tiny shorts and a sports bra. I roll my eyes so hard they nearly fall out of their sockets because no woman on earth would go running alone at night dressed like that. (A: +1.) She stops to get a drink at a water fountain, then looks up when there's a crack of thunder. She sees a ghostly sailing ship float past, then vanish. She runs off, looking freaked out.
Cut to her house, where she's showering. Segue: does anybody actually do a shampoo advert style hair flip in the shower? Because I call bullshit. It just makes the ceiling wet and drippy.
Cut to her house, where she's showering. Segue: does anybody actually do a shampoo advert style hair flip in the shower? Because I call bullshit. It just makes the ceiling wet and drippy.
A group of monks approach a castle and a bald one, the head monk presumably, tells a man that they want the house, and they will be taking it now. The owner is like LOL okay, do you want my wife, too? But Bald Head Monk isn't kidding around and says that he will take that shit with his fists. He kicks Home Owner to the ground and a fun(ny) fight scene develops as Bald Head Monk orders the other monks to remove their hoods, revealing a group of Not Monks who are actually Ninjas with badass fighting sticks. They fight their way through the entire castle, taking it over. Learning martial arts would be so be worth it if it kept you from having to sign a 30-year mortgage loan.
First, there is a mini-episode that connects The Parting of the Ways with The Christmas Invasion, which you can watch here. Mostly it's Rose asking this new Doctor who he is. It's a single shot, tight scene that looks like it was filmed like this: Hey. No one move! Read this script real quick! We're gonna shoot it in five. And I mean that it in the nicest way possible, as I think this was aired to benefit charity... Point is that the acting is a bit off and it is a strange introduction to David Tennant's Doctor. I watched this and at the end yelled, "BRING BACK ECCLESTON."
Kirsti: Whereas, you know, I watched it after I'd already seen all of Ten and I squealed.
Kirsti: Whereas, you know, I watched it after I'd already seen all of Ten and I squealed.
This episode is off to a great start because the title is Bad Wolf which means we kick off the drinking game BEFORE we start watching. This pleases me greatly.
We start 100 years after the Simon Pegg episode. The Doctor wakes up in a tiny spinny elevator. He falls out and a girl with pigtail buns helps him up as he stumbles about, terribly confused by how he got there. Pigtails explains that he's been "chosen" to be in some sort of Big Brother type house. The Doctor is summoned into "the diary room" where he sits down in a big red chair with a giant case of "Are you fucking kidding me?" which is a fair reaction.
We start 100 years after the Simon Pegg episode. The Doctor wakes up in a tiny spinny elevator. He falls out and a girl with pigtail buns helps him up as he stumbles about, terribly confused by how he got there. Pigtails explains that he's been "chosen" to be in some sort of Big Brother type house. The Doctor is summoned into "the diary room" where he sits down in a big red chair with a giant case of "Are you fucking kidding me?" which is a fair reaction.
We open at a prison. A dude I know from One Episode of Everything Ever heads into the visiting area where he's visiting Gordon. UGH, GORDON. (A: I second this ugh.) He fills Gordon in on what happened in Wyoming, and Gordon's all "SAM WINCHESTER WAS THERE". Our random visitor, Kubrick, confirms it, but says he's heard the Winchesters were there to help. Gordon refuses to believe it, and says "Sam Winchester must die". He hangs up the phone (without saying goodbye) and we fade to black.
After a bunch of previouslies reminding us about the Slitheen, a worried man tells someone off screen that he's looked at the plans for something and they're unsafe. He pleads with Mystery Person to put a stop to it immediately before millions of people die. The camera pans around to show us Margaret, now in some position of authority. After establishing that he hasn't shared this information with anyone else, he turns away and says that the plans are almost as if someone wants the project to go wrong, wants to wipe the entire city off the map. He turns and screams because Margaret has taken off her skin suit and is all Slitheen-y. She attacks and we throw to the credits.
We pick up right where we left off, with the Empty People closing in around the Doctor, Rose and Jack. The Doctor yells at them all to go to their room. They pause. With more conviction and a hand point, the Doctor says he's very cross and again orders them to their room. We cut between him and the Empty Child who was closing in on Nancy. The Empty Child hangs his head, chastised, turns around and leaves. All of the Empty People do the exact same.
Improbable Bonfire. Dumbledore's Army: Murder Unit (D: A+) jumps from being with the body and its pool of blood on the floor to being out in the woods - basically this is the bridge between the Grimmauld Place scenes and the woodsy Lying Liar Coin Toss. Up the hill from where they're lying low, two people are about to hook up - it's implied that they're a cheatery secret couple and needing to hook up with people in the miserable freezing cold is a great argument in favor of fidelity - but they stop when they hear a phone ringing. They leave rather than investigate, because nobody's trying to get murdered investigating shady noises in the woods. (M: Not even for sex.) Laurel silences her phone very slowly (gotta get those texting gloves, girl!) and Michaela starts whisper yelling at her for telling Frank all of this.
The TARDIS appears in front of Rose's less than fancy looking apartment complex. (K: For the Americans among us, allow me to teach you about council estates, otherwise known as "where Rose Tyler lives.") Rose and the Doctor get out and her first question is how long she's been gone. Only about 12 hours. Rose laughs and promises not to take long, as she just wants to check on her mother. She tells the Doctor not to disappear on her. He gives her a cute little smile in return.
Cute in a, "yeah, yeah, whatever you say," way.
Sweeney: I mentioned this last time, but to reiterate: while I'm still not really enjoying this show, these bits are cute.
Cute in a, "yeah, yeah, whatever you say," way.
Sweeney: I mentioned this last time, but to reiterate: while I'm still not really enjoying this show, these bits are cute.
I have been putting this off for an unreasonable amount of time, mostly because I've been busy but partially because of my struggle to get into this show. I was feeling kind of guilty about it, too, because I want so badly to love this thing that everybody else loves. Then I remembered that (a) the 1x01 comments are filled with amazing stories of many a devout Whovian's struggle to come into the light -and- (b) There are a half dozen, "LOL you gave Sweeney that episode to start with?" comments on the last post. So, you know, these are all things. What I'm saying is THANKS, GUYS.
(In truth, there's no winning for you - either you don't warn me and I'm all, "WHAT ARE WE WATCHING? WHY WHY WHY?' or you do warn me and I'm all, "THANK YOU FOR PLANTING SEEDS OF DREAD.")
(In truth, there's no winning for you - either you don't warn me and I'm all, "WHAT ARE WE WATCHING? WHY WHY WHY?' or you do warn me and I'm all, "THANK YOU FOR PLANTING SEEDS OF DREAD.")
We start at the Improbable Bonfire again and I'll admit that I cheered a little. I don't know what it is about that bonfire. Maybe it represents the few seconds during the beginning where I still understand 100% of what's happening. Namely: FIRE. BIG FIRE.
Democracy Diva: It always just makes me think, FIRE BAD. TREE PRETTY.
Mari: Best thing to come out of that episode.
We zoom, zoom, zoom to 12 Grimmauld Place. Sam Keating (Viola Davis's husband) is all murdered on the floor and Laurel (I think. It's hard to tell in the murder lighting) is just looking at his body.
Democracy Diva: It always just makes me think, FIRE BAD. TREE PRETTY.
Mari: Best thing to come out of that episode.
We zoom, zoom, zoom to 12 Grimmauld Place. Sam Keating (Viola Davis's husband) is all murdered on the floor and Laurel (I think. It's hard to tell in the murder lighting) is just looking at his body.
We pick up exactly where we left off, with Rose running into the TARDIS. Only this time, the shot is from the inside. The Doctor grins and asks Rose where she wants to go first - forwards or backwards in time. She picks forwards, one hundred years. The Doctor flicks some switches and gizmos on the TARDIS console, and they vworp vworp their way to the 22nd century. But when they land, the Doctor declares 100 years to be nothing and suggests going further. Rose agrees, and he flicks some console stuff again. More vworp-ing, and they're 10,000 years in the future, at the height of the New Roman Empire. Rose smirks that the Doctor thinks he's impressive, and he decides they're going further. He mans the console again and we see the TARDIS flying through a time vortex. (L: Flying with our old, dear friends, Bad Special Effects. Man, those guys stay busy!)
First and foremost, Kirsti is the long time fan, this is my second watch and Sweeney is the first time watcher. As always, we try to keep things as spoiler-free as we can, for the benefit of the Snow.
I started watching Doctor Who and quit after 1.5 episodes because it was boring me to tears. At some time while season 7 was still airing, Kirsti convinced me to power through season 1, with the expectation that it would get way better. And so I did (except I skipped episode 3. It's the only episode I've never seen.) and I fell in love.
Kirsti: I find it really interesting that so many people have skipped episode 3 of season 1.
I started watching Doctor Who and quit after 1.5 episodes because it was boring me to tears. At some time while season 7 was still airing, Kirsti convinced me to power through season 1, with the expectation that it would get way better. And so I did (except I skipped episode 3. It's the only episode I've never seen.) and I fell in love.
Kirsti: I find it really interesting that so many people have skipped episode 3 of season 1.