Who Review: The Witch's Familiar
Sunday, 27 September 2015 01:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaffy_rSo. Bright Like the Sun; and Dark, and Kind
The first thing I thought was "Oh, my -elisi must be going mad with joy. What a feast for her."
Other things that occurred to me:
* Moffat's writing in this is some of the best he's done in years. Not a wasted word, not an excess phrase, nothing but strong and beautiful language. Whether it's the brutally witty discussions and poisonous badinage between Missy and Clara, or the communication between the Doctor and Davros, it is all completely top drawer from a technical point of view, and it has a sun's worth of life and heart from an artistic point of view.
* Moffat's universe is one based on kindness and mercy. His universe always, always yearns and tends toward life. But he's willing to explore the desire of life turned toxic. The sewer as graveyard? That's a brilliant explanation of at least part of why Daleks are impossible to stamp out. They think of death as the ultimate filth.
* That kindness and mercy - why do you think Darvros called the Doctor precious to all of the Daleks? Sure, it could be his regenerative energy, but I think it's more. What is the Doctor? He's the only creature in the universe that ever showed them any kindness and mercy; that's my guess, although Davros and the Daleks wouldn't recognize it. Then again, perhaps Davros did. Even though he meant it to be a trap, a betrayal, it's pretty clear that some of what he said, he meant.
* Moffat's universe is one that both acknowledges the erosion of time and the regenerative possibility of time's circularity. When I saw Clara strapped into that shell, I almost screamed.
* Moffatt wrote Missy right; she's murderous, witty, petty - what do you think she felt when she heard the Doctor threaten an entire world in an effort to bring him back his true friend? Not a canary in a coal mine, not a puppet - and not an operationally, psychopathically, unpredictably jealous brother/lover/enemy/lost soul. Why do you think she tried to trick the Doctor into killing Clara?
* Oh, the elegance of the language barrier that Clara had to deal with, and which limits Daleks so much.
* This episode showed how Moffat's cleverness can work when he does it right: the explanation of "exterminate," for instance.
* I'm sure I can think of all kinds of other things to say, but I may wait forelisi to say them better.
* This was brilliant.
The first thing I thought was "Oh, my -
elisi must be going mad with joy. What a feast for her."Other things that occurred to me:
* Moffat's writing in this is some of the best he's done in years. Not a wasted word, not an excess phrase, nothing but strong and beautiful language. Whether it's the brutally witty discussions and poisonous badinage between Missy and Clara, or the communication between the Doctor and Davros, it is all completely top drawer from a technical point of view, and it has a sun's worth of life and heart from an artistic point of view.
* Moffat's universe is one based on kindness and mercy. His universe always, always yearns and tends toward life. But he's willing to explore the desire of life turned toxic. The sewer as graveyard? That's a brilliant explanation of at least part of why Daleks are impossible to stamp out. They think of death as the ultimate filth.
* That kindness and mercy - why do you think Darvros called the Doctor precious to all of the Daleks? Sure, it could be his regenerative energy, but I think it's more. What is the Doctor? He's the only creature in the universe that ever showed them any kindness and mercy; that's my guess, although Davros and the Daleks wouldn't recognize it. Then again, perhaps Davros did. Even though he meant it to be a trap, a betrayal, it's pretty clear that some of what he said, he meant.
* Moffat's universe is one that both acknowledges the erosion of time and the regenerative possibility of time's circularity. When I saw Clara strapped into that shell, I almost screamed.
* Moffatt wrote Missy right; she's murderous, witty, petty - what do you think she felt when she heard the Doctor threaten an entire world in an effort to bring him back his true friend? Not a canary in a coal mine, not a puppet - and not an operationally, psychopathically, unpredictably jealous brother/lover/enemy/lost soul. Why do you think she tried to trick the Doctor into killing Clara?
* Oh, the elegance of the language barrier that Clara had to deal with, and which limits Daleks so much.
* This episode showed how Moffat's cleverness can work when he does it right: the explanation of "exterminate," for instance.
* I'm sure I can think of all kinds of other things to say, but I may wait for
elisi to say them better. * This was brilliant.
