Oh, I’m such a spud. Every time I hear (or think of) the episode name, I get Michael Jackson (back when he was still an African-American male) in my head going “It’s after midnight– SQUEAK!” You’d think I’d be cooler and be repeating some obscure Babylon 5 reference. (Well, obscure only ’cause I haven’t seen the series since it went off the air, although apparently I am about to be dragged into rewatching it with my daughter, as we’ve finished going through Monty Python’s Flying Circus and she wanted something more science-fictiony as the next choice. I tried to persuade her toward Star Trek: The Next Generation, but she’s proving to be her father’s daughter as well as her mother’s.)
I feel badly– I really do– that “Thriller” keeps popping into my head every time I think of the episode, because, really, it was a much better episode than that. Allons-y!
What an amazing episode! So much to like about it. I found it seriously gripping– so much that I was really surprised when the wrap-up started. I thought for sure that the Air Lock Moment happened only 20 minutes into the story, not some 40 minutes! Oh, it was brilliant! The range of the Doctor’s emotions– from giddy to concern to panic to resignation– staggered me. I quite liked that the Humans were being Humanly– not at all living up to the more noble aspects of our race, no siree bob baby. And the entity– for once no special effects, just sounds and actions and Twilight Zone creepiness. It was– dare I say it?– Moffatian in its writing and execution. That the tale came from RTD himself pleased me no end. When he’s good, he’s brilliant, and when he’s off his feed he’s all adipose and farting Slitheen and Doctor-the-house-elf.
Although it was only a minor blip in the overall plot, I was completely loving Donna. Again. Really, she’s the only New Series companion with the guts to tell the Doctor to piss off over minor stuff. You know that Rose, and Martha, too, would have stuck to him like glue, were he wanting to go on a three four hour tour to some place that didn’t particularly interest them. But Donna…. Donna is all about being Spa!Donna, perfectly willing to have the Doctor go off on his magical mystery tour because she’s confident enough that he will come back for her after he’s done.
Ah, but it wouldn’t be one of my reviews if I didn’t find anything to nitpick, would it? There’s just a few things that irritated me… two small, one big. Obviously, I was annoyed (but resigned) to the Emo!Bint herself popping up on a video screen behind the Doctor. *sigh* I also didn’t find quite believable the Flight Attendant’s sudden swing from “let’s throw them both out the airlock” to throwing herself out the airlock with Sky!Entity. Sure, there was a line or two before hand signalling the switch, but it came off as pretty hasty and not quite believable.
My main beef, though, is this: why is it always the woman that makes the Noble (no reference to Donna, hopefully) Sacrifice? Seriously. I can only think of one male who made that Noble (no relation to Donna) Sacrifice– yanno, getting oneself killed off in order to preserve the Doctor’s lily white arse. Since Luke Rattigan was allegedly American, though, I hardly suppose he counts! (I don’t think you can count Morvin Van Hoff, as he really went along to be with his wife, rather than because of any desire to see the Doctor live. And, yeah, technically the Real Pete Tyler sacrificed himself, but as he was supposed to have died in the first place, it hardly counts, does it?) And how many females have willingly died for the Doctor? Oh, how about 9? (Two of them unsucessfully, though, so I’m not sure they count.) (Oh, allright: Jabe, Gwyneth, Carthica, Nancy (unsucessful), Rose (unsucessful), McDonnell, Astrid, River Song, the Flight Attendant.)
(And, say, wasn’t the Flight Attendant’s demise an awful like McDonnell’s? Gosh, let’s reuse all the good ideas, ‘kay?)
Most male deaths, on the other hand, seem to be because they’re in league with the baddies or they’re hapless victims. Go ahead and correct me if I’m wrong, I have no fear. And I would be really happy to be proven otherwise, although it’s a moot point now with a Change in Guard imminent and all that.
So, right, now that I’ve had my say on “Midnight,” I suppose I might as well face the inevitable, and deal with “Turn Left.” *sigh* Must remember to upload my “Emo Bint” icon to this blog….
Posted by JennAK in Ongoing Storm
