Well, it’s from the same guy who wrote “Kill the Moon,” so you know scientific plausibility is not high on his list of priorities! I did like the notion that the end of the world will come about as a result of tiny, human mistakes, but I agree that the lab as presented to us seems so unbelievable that it’s hard to take seriously.
On a large-scale plot note, was this really the whole reason for the Doctor’s blindness? Just so that he could be put in a situation where escaping depended on him seeing? There’s a lot you could do with a blind hero, even if it’s only temporary, and I don’t think this plotline really did it justice. It’s also rather hard to believe that he managed to fool everybody, even in scenes where Nardole was blatantly telling him things that were right in front of him.
A reasonable question is, after the Doctor inevitably defeats the Corpse Monks, will they let him keep his restored sight? Another question is, why did Bill think they could heal the Doctor’s eyes in the first place? The only thing they had been shown to do was create really good computer simulations, and disintegrate people. How does that translate into giving sight to the blind?
Did I miss something from the very end of the last episode?
Last week, when I was attempting to set the recording, I noticed this episode ran just a bit longer than the usual allotted hour (the onscreen guide indicated it ran for about an hour and five minutes). When I watched it, the recording rather abruptly ended on a scene that was clearly a cliff-hanger, but didn’t include credits. The show also just kind of stopped, no fade out or ‘scream’ effect.
The last things to happen that I saw were: 1) Bill giving consent to the monks, 2) the Doctor regaining his eyesight and escaping the lab, and 3) Bill cringing as the pyramid began filling with bright light…I felt like it missed something, like one last final reveal that was just about to be happen before the final fade out. Did my recording get cut short?
My iPhone has a touchy screen, but you can also snap a photo by pushing one of the real buttons on the side.
Also, he couldn’t have shown the photo to Erica, because she’d broken her glasses at the beginning of the episode and couldn’t get close enough to him to see the numbers.
Same with my phone, but I still need to see the screen to send or display that photo. Well, I probably could display it (I know roughly where that icon is), but not reliably.
As for Erica, since she walked out of the house with the glasses in her bag, I’d think they were reading glasses, not distance (myopia) glasses.
See now that had pretty much just as much stupid but it was good! Missy … and Nardole … and “fake news” … and dodges a remaining season being stuck in a Moffat-hole.
That actually managed to salvage most of the awfulness of the previous episode and the pointlessness of the one before that, even if it did draw heavily on The Last of the Time Lords and Turn Left for its plot cues. And Pearl Mackie totally fucking carried it, ably supported by Matt Lucas.
And here I was hoping that would actually be the episode where we’d be rid of Bill. Half a season and I’m sick of her already. Doesn’t help that I can barely decipher what she is saying most of the time.
Really? I thought she did more actual acting in 5 minutes than Jenna Coleman managed in about four seasons. She completely sold her confrontation with the Doctor, going from delight to disbelief to bafflement and then anger. I mean, it was a bit undercut by the fact that it was all a ploy by the Doctor, but by God Pearl Mackie sold it.
I love Bill already (I also loved Clara, and don’t see why so many people hated her so). But then, I like most of the companions in NuWho, with the exception of pouty, annoying Amy. Couldn’t stand her.
Also - did I miss an explanation of why they couldn’t have just killed the monk in the chair to stop the broadcast? “He’s fighting me!” “Try hitting him with a brick. He’s just sitting there.”
So the Monks were basically the reverse Silence. People remember them when they weren’t really there vs. people not remembering them when they are there.
As I understand it, the memory-reversal process would take too long if Team Who were to simply kill the monk(s). Recovery would happen much, much quicker if monk’s brainwashing thoughts were replaced by the Dr’s thoughts, or by the thoughts of the clown who first surrendered the Earth to the Monks.
I was really shocked when he started regenerating - I’m not quite ready to say goodbye this Doctor quite yet. (I know it’s coming, but I’d like at least one more hour.)
I did like the notion that the end of the world will come about as a result of tiny, human mistakes, but I agree that the lab as presented to us seems so unbelievable that it’s hard to take seriously.