I think the best I can say is that I actually didn’t dislike Peter Capaldi’s Doctor in most of that episode.
That’s an improvement, I guess.
It certainly didn’t feel like it was really shot in America, the way some of the Smith eps were.
What was with the sheriff’s (cop’s? sheriff cop’s?) uniform? Why did she have a Mexican flag on her chest? Having a flag at all was weird, but one for another country?!?! Whether she was supposed to be a cop or a sheriff, you’d think the wardrobe department could have google imaged up a picture and seen how wrong that was.
Or was that supposed to be a clue that she was a Blorgon*? If so, bravo.
*-I know, I don’t care, I’m calling them Blorgons, if you don’t like it call Constable Reggie.
I still miss the old UNIT. They weren’t afraid to shoot back, at least.
Yeah, but a couple Land Rovers and red berets and a Lethbridge Stewart did my soul some good.
I love the GRIN that Sergeant Benton has on his face when he gets to use a bazooka; now there’s a man who is happy in his work. They need the mighty Sergeant Benton to whip them into shape. Bring back Benton!
And also, the whole business with the guitar? It’s not working. I know they’re going for a Keith Richards vibe, but it comes across more like someone’s dad fooling around in the garage.
Well, hard to duplicate Monument Valley, Utah… actually filming in the US makes it easier to get that “American feel”. Still, a lot of “American” westerns were filmed in Spain or its territories. For that matter, they re-used an old western set in Spain for “A Town Called Mercy”.
If you’re referring to the tri-color over her name tag that’s not a Mexican flag. Sort of an import lack there is the eagle wrestling with a rattlesnake on top of a cactus. You could just as easily, and somewhat more plausibly, argue it’s an Italian flag. So maybe it’s not a flag at all?
Chicago cops have the Chicago city flag on their uniforms, is that odd? For that matter, the police officer in this episode has New Mexico flags or badges incorporating it on her sleeves.
I think they’re trying to make use of Capaldi’s musical skills, actually.
I imagine that none of that is actually in the script, and Peter Capaldi just brings his guitar to the set and bribes the crew to film him playing it on set and sneak the scenes into the final product.
So was I just not paying attention, or was that episode terribly confusing? How many small towns with zygonized population were there exactly? There was Truth or Consequences, which the brigadier’s daughter for some reason went to all by herself, and then that city the UNIT people first tried to bomb, then hilariously ineffectually invaded. Were those actuall the same? Also, was that supposed to be somewhere in some fictual -stan country?
Mabe I stayed up too late yesterday…
Yes, that’s what I think, as well. Once was kinda neat, but they’ve shoehorned it into every episode since then, and it just feels terribly forced.
I am retroactively offended on behalf of Harry Sullivan for the suggestion that he invented an anti-Zygon nerve gas.
Harry Sullivan is an imbecile! But he’s not a war criminal.
At least this alien menace is not immune to bullets.
When I spotted the seal for the sheriff’s department on the wall of an office that Kate entered through a door marked “Police”, I immediately thought, “Here’s a writer who learned all he knows about the American West from reruns of Gunsmoke and Bonanza.” Sheriffs and police are both law enforcement agencies, but they’re not the same thing. And the deputy/officer’s American accent slipped a bit.
On the other hand, the drone pilot’s accent sounded authentic enough. But then, she only had a few lines.
nm
I was so positive Jac was going to turn out to be the Zygon. And where the hell is Kate’s “sister”? I hope she’s part of the resolution, somehow.
Yes. I wasn’t going to complain, because I’m not a big music fan, and figured it was just me being casually annoyed at this part. But if others agree, I’m vindicated! VINDICATED, I SAY!
I know it’s hard to tell with him, but has the Doctor been literally bipolar since regenerating? If he were human I’d say he was going through a manic phase this series, building for a big crash.
The resolution has to involve the box Osgood showed at the start and has to include some play on Schroedinger’s cat in which the state of an individual is neither/both Zygon and human … which Osgood has already been playing with.
And the Arc Word this season is “hybrid”.
FUN FACT: Struan Roger, who played Clayton in “The Woman Who Lived” also provided the voice for The Face of Boe in “New Earth” and “Gridlock”.