james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2013-04-07 12:05 am

The Rings of Akhaten

Basically

One part Linn Minmei and one part Sheridan berating the Shadows and the Vorlons.
murphys_lawyer: The avatar for Mozilla Firefox (Default)

[personal profile] murphys_lawyer 2013-04-07 10:16 am (UTC)(link)
It was a weak story, and I found it painful to see Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman acting their socks off to wring every little piece out of it to turn it into something entertaining. However, when they did - the handing over of the leaf, for example - it was quite charming.

I'm sure at least some of it will turn out to be Deeply Significant when we come to the 50th anniversary episode in November, but being mindful of the future should not be at the expense of the moment. The scriptwriters should be mindful of the living Force audience.

[identity profile] daveon.livejournal.com 2013-04-07 06:34 am (UTC)(link)
Meh... yeah, you nailed it.

Meh again.

[identity profile] kithrup.livejournal.com 2013-04-07 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Even for Dr Who, I thought it was rather incoherent.

And meh.

[identity profile] daveon.livejournal.com 2013-04-07 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I've higher hopes for next week.

[identity profile] owlmirror36.livejournal.com 2013-04-07 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
One part H. P. Lovecraft. Although I suppose one could argue that B5 was influenced by HPL, so there's that.

There have been a couple of SF works I can recall that posited that [spoilers] fgnef ner npghny fncvrag ragvgvrf.

[identity profile] bruce munro (from livejournal.com) 2013-04-07 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Which ROT is that? :)

[identity profile] ravenskyewalker.livejournal.com 2013-04-07 02:19 pm (UTC)(link)
That's exactly on-target, but I liked it, anyway. Silly me. ;-)

[identity profile] james-nicoll.livejournal.com 2013-04-07 02:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Suddenly I have a vision of a series about a travelling diplomatic vocalist, whose job it is to go from one hot spot to another, singing them into peace.

[identity profile] bunsen-h.livejournal.com 2013-04-07 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Make it a ventriloquist; his/her survival chances will improve.

I have occasionally wondered if the Enterprise and the TARDIS are Murphotropic or Murphogenic. Clearly there is a powerful Murphon field at work.

[identity profile] izeinwinter.livejournal.com 2013-04-07 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Nah. The tardis is a very powerful AI operating outside linear time, and has a very.. creative... way of following instructions about where and when to go. Doctor wants to visit a scenic tourist hotspot? Sure. Going to land on the day the beaches are being invaded by the creatures of the black lagoon. This was made explicit in the one episode where the tardis acquired an avatar, and she proceeded to explain that she stole him, and that they go where he needs to go, not where he wants to go. In this case, I am thinking Sexy took one look at the leaf that was used to spawn this instance of the girl that does not stay dead and went "Ohh, I know just when that is going to come in real handy!"
Edited 2013-04-07 17:42 (UTC)

[identity profile] bunsen-h.livejournal.com 2013-04-07 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
You're referring to Neil Gaiman's episode, "The Doctor's Wife", I think.

[identity profile] bwross.livejournal.com 2013-04-07 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
If only... Minmei had better songs, and B5 had better written diatribes.

[identity profile] lostwanderfound.livejournal.com 2013-04-08 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
I originally misread that as "Sheldon berating the Shadows and the Vorlons...".

[identity profile] mmcirvin.livejournal.com 2013-04-08 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
The mix of vivid scene-setting, sentimental nonsense and leisurely, flimsy plotting reminded me very much of the Russell T. Davies era. Given the different general problems of the Moffat Doctor Who, I suppose this isn't a bad thing to have once in a while.

[identity profile] mmcirvin.livejournal.com 2013-04-08 03:58 pm (UTC)(link)
...Reading elsewhere, I've noticed that this episode seems to have gotten a lot of criticism from the people who actually like Moffat's run on the show, and presumably haven't been participating in all the prominent Moffat-bashing of the past couple of years.

[identity profile] mmcirvin.livejournal.com 2013-04-08 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
The Old God reminded me of Sinistar.