The Mad Genius of Steven Moffat - Review of "Listen"

Review/Recap of Doctor Who, Series 8 Episode 4: "Listen" - SPOILERS

I'm going to go somewhere... not exactly odd, but not necessarily expected in this case. It'll have a point in a minute, I promise.

In the first half of Season 3 of Once Upon a Time (spoilers, if you haven't seen it and care about such things) - there was a definite pattern to how the first seven or so episodes went. The short version is that Henry was kidnapped and taken to Neverland and the six main leads had to team up to rescue him (even had its own hashtag - #SaveHenry. Cute, ABC Marketing. Really cute). This was supposed to be something rather exciting and new and edge-of-your-seat awesome. Well... reality is a different story. Ever read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (or seen Part 1 of the movie?) Remember all those endless camping chapters? Yeah - it was about like that. There were random side quests and pointless angst that had me, at least, going WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GO SOMEWHERE WITH THIS??? It was somewhat painful to watch (read my secondary Twitter feed - @cj_tweets5; search #CJWatchesOUAT - for all that "joy." And then stick around for Season 3B because - AWESOME).

Except - for Episode 5. Now, this episode is helped by having flashbacks to Captain Hook's pre-pirating days, which was actually something brand new and exciting (rather than retreading the same old drama that they've covered for the past two seasons. YES, WE GET IT. RUMPLE AND HIS SON HAVE A VERY POOR RELATIONSHIP! THEY HAVE FOR CENTURIES! YOU CAN MOVE ON FROM THIS!) But also - the random side-quest of Hook and Prince Charming leaving the group to find this navigational thingy was not so side-questy as we thought. Because Charming had been poisoned in a fight with the Lost Boys and he was dying, but Hook knew a way to save him that Charming would never have agreed to unless Hook tricked him into going off on Heroic Side-Quest #589. That, coupled with the Hook backstory AND the lack of Rumple angst AND the inclusion of Queen Regina Finally Getting Crap Done, makes this episode one of my all-time favorites. Because the season had set me up to expect one thing, and it gave me something COMPLETELY Different. And I liked this version of COMPLETELY Different. It was clever and exciting and proved to me that this show still could bring me surprising happy endings and intriguing character moments and they need to do that more often (and I like Once's version of Captain Hook. Yes, please - I am here for that!)

How does this connect to "Listen"? Because this episode is a Steven Moffat episode. And we know - more or less - what to expect from a Steven Moffat episode. Especially one that was advertised as being Creepy As Hell. This was supposed to be in the vein of "Blink" or "The Empty Child" or "The Impossible Astronaut" or any of those other stories where Moffat makes ordinary things pants-wettingly-creepy.

And, strangely enough, it wasn't. Oh sure, it was scary enough - but no moreso than any other episode of Doctor Who. But, in a way, Moffat gave us a character study of the Doctor that we never knew we wanted. Without it actually being a character study. And without realizing that's what we were getting until the very end. Brief mention of the Time War (thank you Miss Oswald), brief landing on Gallifrey in the past (holy crap - not even going to ask how because I freaking don't care at this point), wrap it all together that the Doctor was suddenly obsessed with something from his childhood that was never even there to begin with. And you have a beautiful stand-alone episode of Doctor Who. Something that is going to be a touchstone for the rest of Peter Capaldi's run as the Doctor - especially as we play this long game of Finding Gallifrey.

And while we're exploring the Doctor's character without actually exploring the Doctor's character - how about some mad props for Clara and Danny Pink? First date - yeah, that kind of sucked. But thanks to the Doctor and all his timey-wimey business (except he probably doesn't call it that anymore - the War Doctor made him self-conscious about all that), they get a second and third go at first impressions. Meeting baby!Danny (sorry - Rupert Pink. Look, he's just going to be baby!Danny to me from now on. That's what I wrote in my notes) in the beginning and Clara creating an unintended family heirloom that their great-grandson takes to the end of the universe (kept waiting for Professor Yana to show up - no big deal that he didn't). I mean - there were a lot of great little tricks and misdirections, so you don't see the REAL story until the very ending. Bravo, Moffat.

(And here I realize just how small this cast was. It was just Capaldi, Coleman, and Samuel Anderson - who also played Orson Pink as well as his usual role of Danny Pink - and the kid who was baby!Danny. Nicely done, peeps).

Other Things I Liked -

- The cold open - When the Doctor's on top of the TARDIS, and then he's inside the console room but he isn't at the console. I love that he's walking around that top balcony/level/thing and you can see all around the console room. I continue to love the cozy library motif in the new console room - the chalkboard and the books and the warm lighting scheme. Oh my gosh - it's beautiful. If I had a TARDIS, that would be my console room. No question.

- We finally find out what that one seemingly button-free panel of the TARDIS console does. And this being Moffat, of course it would be something kind of gross. Of course.

- Danny Pink is awkwardly cute and that's endearing to me. More Danny, please!

- Clara's death was alluded to yet again in a Steven Moffat-penned episode (that makes twice this season). I fear for our Impossible Girl (but she has to survive in order to have great-grandchildren, right?)

- Psychic paper makes a return. And I liked the subdued way the Doctor pulled it out of his pocket. He didn't have to flourish or brandish it. Just... "here are my credentials - let's move on with our lives."

- The Doctor's "Dad Skills." Look, I'm a sucker for anytime the Doctor refers to being a parent in any way, shape, or form.

- The Doctor basically ordering Clara back to the TARDIS with a "Do as you're told" and then Clara rounding it back on him later. That's their relationship. I'm good with it.

- Orson Pink (which, I totally thought his name was "Awesome Pink" when they first said it - anyone else get that?) was wearing a suit from the Sanctuary Base clear back from "The Satan Pit." So - was Orson part of the Sanctuary Base at one time, or is this a case of the BBC only having one spacesuit in their costume department?

- The caretaker of the children's home looked very familiar to me, but I can't place the guy for the life of me. Feel like I should recognize the actor... hm... Anyway...

- I was amused at how bad the Doctor is at being a post-date sounding board for Clara. I probably shouldn't, but I haven't had a date in about two years, so I'm allowed to find these things funny.

- The Doctor's sometimes-glittery-sometimes-not sweater under his jacket. That's all.

This is definitely one that I'm going to rewatch just for the hell of it. I don't feel like I need to rewatch it to catch up on anything I missed on first viewing, but I certainly want to. It just left me with a great feeling afterward (that will certainly flee away once I foolishly wander onto Tumblr to get their reactions because - sexism? Eh, probably). I loved this unexpected path for Moffat to take. I loved this subtle exploration of the Doctor and Clara and Danny on an individual basis and also their relationships with one another (inasmuch as the Doctor and Danny know each other - but I have a feeling we'll get there). Do I need more of this? Well... probably not. But if it's as well done as "Listen," I won't complain that I got it.

And for all this talk of "Does Clara remember saving the Doctor in his timeline?" Well... I guess she's not done saving him yet.

While Greater Love Lies Further Deep

 

Librarian in the TARDIS, Review 11.1

Title: The Beast Below
Written by: Steven Moffat
Team TARDIS: Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond
Adversary: Hawthorne, The Smilers (is there really an adversary for this one? It’s sort of ambiguous)
Originally Aired: April 10, 2010
Number of Episodes: 1

Synopsis (from TARDIS Wikia) -
For Amy Pond's first trip in the TARDIS, the Eleventh Doctor brings his new companion to the 33rd century, where all of Britain's citizens live onboard Starship UK, searching for a new home amongst the stars as the Earth is being roasted by solar flares. However, the Doctor soon finds something amiss onboard the vessel. The citizens appear to fear "the smiling fellows in the booths" and ignore crying children. What is going on? What secrets does Starship UK hold at its depths, and who is hiding them? Soon, the Doctor is forced to make an impossible choice. No matter what he chooses, death is the only outcome.

My Review:
Everyone praises “The Eleventh Hour” as a fantastic piece of television. As well they should. Matt Smith’s first full episode as the Doctor is a roller coaster ride of timey-wimey adventure and mystery and quirkiness meant to show the audience that David Tennant and Russell T Davies may have moved on, but Doctor Who is still in excellent hands. Things may be different, but this amazing show that you fell in love with a month ago is still that same show and it’s going to take care of you through the good times and bad.

(Well, for me it was a month).

Series 5 was so very different in tone and pacing from what I’d come to expect from Doctor Who. But for this initial season under the guiding hand of Steven Moffat, a few bits of the formula carried over. The first episode was to introduce the new companion (and Doctor, in this case). The next two were a story set in the future and a story set in the past. Then a two-parter, then a couple of rompy one-offs, another two-parter, two more one-offs to ramp up to the two-part finale. That’s the big picture we’re dealing with here. Keeping that formula for Matt Smith’s first season was a great way to keep the fans comfortable while everything else around the show changed. And, to be honest, some of us newbies needed that time to process everything that had happened and get used to how Doctor Who handles change.

Going into Doctor Who, I knew that change was a huge part of the show and I accepted that - even celebrated it. Well, I knew it in theory, at least. But until I’d experienced it for myself, it was all nebulous and abstract. I didn't really get it. One of the very first things that I found very jarring, was the tone of the stories (considering how much I go on about story and plot, this should surprise precisely no one). Series 5 has often been called the “fairy-tale season.” The stories in this season certainly do have an ethereal quality to them in the settings and the music and the characters. “The Beast Below” is a wonderful example of how things had changed. Even the clues to the mysteries that set the story in motion - the water glasses, Liz X’s mask, learning the truth of Starship UK and then forgetting - these make for a tone that is so very different than anything RTD ever did, but that we got hints of in Moffat’s writing before he became showrunner. Now, I love love LOVE fairy-tales, but it wasn't something I’d encountered in Doctor Who to that point and to suddenly hit that tonal-shift nearly put me off the show entirely. And it took me a while to be okay with Matt as the Doctor.

But I will tell you precisely when I was totally on board with the Eleventh Doctor. And it wasn't in “The Eleventh Hour," like it was for a lot of other people. It was in “The Beast Below.”

It’s really down to Amy Pond. Isn't that what the companion does - helps the audience cope with change? And now that I think of it, the whole “getting us through regeneration” phase was turned around in this case. The Doctor met Amelia Pond as a seven-year-old girl, but then she changed (well, he was late) and he had to come to terms with the fact that the girl he was knew was different. In many ways, “The Eleventh Hour” is the Doctor meeting young Amelia Pond and coping with the fact that she becomes adult Amy Pond the same way the audience was coping with the fact that Matt Smith isn't David Tennant (and some of us got through it better than others).

The moment Matt Smith became the Doctor - for me - is at the end of this story. And it’s not so much what the Doctor does, because the Doctor’s mad as hell about the whole situation - that part actually kind of scared me. But then Amy turns it all around and shows that the Doctor isn't really this angry, ragey character. All because she manages to put two and two together and figure out what’s really going on with the star whale and the children. She gets Liz X to “abdicate,” thus freeing the star whale and dooming everybody onboard.

Except... nothing happens. Other than a few tremors that uncouple the main structure from the star whale, Starship UK flies on as it always has. Because, as Amy says (emphasis added) -

“The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it. That was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old and really kind and alone—your whole race dead, no future. What could you do then? If you were that old and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry.”

It is worth noting that, to this point (more or less), the Doctor’s been traveling by himself. This is the first story in a couple of years that wasn't introducing a new companion. This is the first story since 2008 that we've had a steady Team TARDIS. The Doctor’s been hopping around willy-nilly and - he’s probably forgotten how to be the Doctor. We’re often reminded (whether in so many words or just by his actions) that the Doctor needs somebody. And Amy Pond - without even meaning to - demonstrates this so beautifully, simply by acting on the things that she’s observed and putting it all together in a way only she can. She’s been building up all these hopes over the years about her “Raggedy Doctor” and she (thinks she) knows what he’d really be like. To her everlasting credit, when the Doctor demonstrates one moment of anger and weakness, Amy stands up and basically says “This is not you - this in not how you’re supposed to be” and she reminds him of who he really is.

(And I’m gonna get a little schmaltzy here for a minute, and I know that fanboys don't like to get schmaltz in their Doctor Who, but it's worth it to me and I'm going to write about it).

I've talked about how when I started watching Doctor Who, I was in a rather desperate place in my life. I didn't have anything to look forward to. No goals, nothing that was very important to me. I was just going through the motions and I didn't feel like I had anywhere to turn to. And then I discovered this nutty little British TV show with its wonderful time- traveling alien and his companions and the fantastic adventures and stories and it just set my imagination ablaze. Even now, when I get lost in those dark corners of my mind, I watch an episode or listen to a Big Finish audio or read a novel or scroll around Tumblr. And there are other shows I watch that help through the tough times, but Doctor Who was the first show that made me realize that this was something good in my life. That looking at these stories and characters and analyzing them was something my mind loved. Something that would pull me out of the bleakness and sadness I’d been pushed into - and that it wasn't something to be ashamed of or hide from the the people in my life who love and care for me but Just Don’t Get It. My stresses and heartaches would still be there when I came back out, sure, but when I had the stories to turn back to, I felt like I could deal with them better (and there really is nothing like the sheer silliness of “Doctor Who and the Pirates” when you don’t feel like there’s anything in your life to laugh about).

At this point in my Who experience, Amy’s words resonated with me. Compared to the Doctor, the oldest human would be considered a child. And, considering how high-and-mighty the ancient race of Time Lords is/was, the Doctor probably shouldn't take on human companions. He ought to be above associating with such lowly creatures. But he does. Why? To show off? Partially. To have a friend? That too. But who does he choose usually? There are so many different companions from so many different backgrounds and their reasons vary widely. And this may be a stretch in many cases - but somewhere along the line, most companions express a wish for something new and exciting. They were bored with normal life. So, they ran off with a strange alien to travel through time and space and have grand adventures. Even when the adventures over, their lives will never be the same. And honestly - neither will mine.

So, there you go. One little line at the end of, “The Beast Below” helped me realize the good things in my life. That, coupled with the “Pile of Good and Bad Things” scene from “Vincent and the Doctor” encapsulates Doctor Who for me. Why it’s so important to me and why I love it so very much. In reality, it has very little to do with science-fiction and alien planets and time-travel, even though I enjoy those things. To me, it’s about loving something simple and brilliant and finding the good in it, even amidst the bad that everyone else keeps pulling out of it to fling in your lap. And honestly, I get tired of picking out bad things and fighting over it. Sometimes, I just want things to work out perfectly and be good all the way around. And the Doctor - with consistent reminders from his companions* - does that quite well.  Which makes him (and his companions) the kind of characters I want to keep me company.

To end this review, here’s a video I made a while ago when I had video-making software that actually worked (don’t know what happened). It probably says much better in 3-and-a-half minutes what I've been trying to ramble on for five paragraphs about.


Doctor Who - My Pile of Good Things from Wildcat Media on Vimeo.

***
*Hold onto that “consistent reminders from his companions” thought for a future review - I’m going to come back to that).

***
PS - Liz X is an amazing character. Before I really got on board with the River Song storyline, Liz X was the one I wished could come back more often. I still harbor a long-shot hope that she’ll turn up for another cameo one day.

***
Next Time, on Librarian in the TARDIS -
Bonus Review #3 - “What’s so special about the 23rd of November 1963?” “As far as I know... nothing!”

Previously -
Review 10.3 - Family. It’s About Time.

See, I Told You So!

Remember back when everyone was in a blind panic over vague rumors that Doctor Who Series 7 would not air a full season in 2012?  I pointed out several reasons why this was not the great apocalyptic event that everyone was worried about.  Well the head cheese himself, Steven Moffat, has unconditionally debunked those rumors (and in glorious fashion, I might add).  And if you can't take the Moff's word for it, then I don't know who you can believe.

I love it when I'm right.

(Thanks to Planet Gallifrey for the link.  Full interview can be found here - I didn't see anything spoilery in the interview, in case you're worried about that).

I Can't Be the Only One Who's Thought of This

This sort of comes out of left field, but I thought with the news that Steven Moffat is going to give the Daleks a break (SWEET MOTHER OF RASSILON, THANK YOU!), I thought it would be fun to post this idea that I've had percolating in my brain for a while now.  Granted, it probably won't ever happen, but a fan can dream, right?

Dear Friends and Internet,

This is Steven Moffat, producer, showrunner and head writer of Doctor Who.

He has created many scary monsters for the show:

The Empty Child

The Weeping Angels

The Vashta Nerada

This is actually the result of someone running into Vashta Nerada.  Honestly, the only real picture of Vashta Nerada would be a weird-looking shadow. Great-Aunt Ethel casts those all the time and she hasn't eaten anyone... yet.

The Silents

It may be said that Moffat is the man responsible for so many people, heretofore possessing the ability to control their bladders, returning to their childhood habit of bed-wetting. Those who still have dry sheets have instead had their brains turned into pretzels by the Moff's insatiable "Timey-Wimey, Spacey-Wacey" storytelling techniques that - contrary to all pessimistic predictions - have NOT gotten old. Steven Moffat is also a longtime fan of the show and is very familiar with many elements of the show's past. He has taken great care to ensure the continued success of such a beloved and treasured enterprise, which the fans (by and large) love him for.

For all the scary monsters Moffat has added to the Whoniverse, there is one monster from Classic Who that I would love to see him tackle. Nothing has been said that would indicate this would ever actually happen, but merely my fan-wank brain coming up with crazy ideas.

Ladies, gentlemen and variations thereupon, I introduce - the Mara.

This is actually the Doctor's companion Tegan as possessed by the Mara.  She doesn't always look this scary

The Mara was first introduced in the Fifth Doctor story "Kinda" and later revisited in "Snakedance." It is represented by a snake and can possess anyone it comes in contact with - sometimes more than one person. The Mara is a crafty creature; he can hide in anyone and no one else would ever know. Even if someone has been freed of the Mara, it can stay with that person for a long time and become repossessed later. It gets its power from feeding on the fear and suffering of others.  And the Mara's laugh will send the strongest and most courageous person running for their teddy bear and crying for Mommy.

SPOILERS!

(Yes, I'm giving spoiler warnings for episodes that were broadcast almost 30 years ago. Deal with it).

The ending scene of "Snakedance" where the Doctor fights the Mara with just his mind is one of the most intense and fantastic scenes in Classic Who.  It's one that I find myself unable to turn away from because it is just so good.  In watching that ending scene with all it's back-and-forth between the Doctor and the Mara, quick editing, great acting, awesome sound and special effects and, of course, brilliant writing, I wondered why New Who hasn't brought the Mara back, even for one episode (or even a two-parter).

The short answer would be that Moffat and the rest of the production team probably have their own new ideas and would rather focus on those things instead of rehashing the past, which is a good thing. The Doctor probably shouldn't fight the same monsters over and over again (*cough* Daleks *cough,cough*). However, considering how well the Mara was done in Classic Who, it would be fun to see how it would look through the eyes of New Who.

And, honestly, who wouldn't think it appropriate that Steven Moffat put his own spin on an old creature known for feeding off fear?