S6E5: The Rebel Flesh

rmlextreme wrote:

This is taking our minds off the episode more endless Banter !!!!!!!!

If bantering were an Olympic event - then I would win GOLD!!

workstinx wrote:

As a UK forum member, I tend to get my fix of the excelent US TV via the Web.

Can my fellow US forum members answer why US TV takes so many breaks during their seasons? I know the Fall season usually starts late Aug/early Sept & takes a braek at Thanksgiving & Xmas/New Year. But after Jan, shows tend to be on for a week or 2 & then take a week off...back on & then back off again.......etc

Do these breaks not drive you up the wall?

A big reason for these breaks is the way American TV counts ratings...the months of November, February and May (and July, but it's much less important) are considered "sweeps" periods. This is when the ratings really matter, so networks run new episodes every week. Since most US shows now average 22 episodes a season, that leaves ten episodes to be spread out over the non-sweeps months...and about half of those will run in September/October, which leaves little new content for January, March and April.

Well, I have watched this episode 2-times. I fell asleep the first time, and the second just did not hold my attention. Not sure why.....

Ronpur,

Search your feelings Lord Vader (star wars Quote)

Cause it was as exciting as watching the ground crack ?????

Sure it had a few moments of ok stuff, but Its gonna be difficult to beat Episode 1 & 2 of this season.

This is gonna take the 5,000,000 plus viewers from the first episode and make the switch over to FOX news lol

Ronpur wrote:

Well, I have watched this episode 2-times. I fell asleep the first time, and the second just did not hold my attention. Not sure why.....

Same here - it just did not hold my attention, not like the Doctor's Wife episode. And considering it is a two-parter (yawn!)

Jany

Ronpur wrote:

Well, I have watched this episode 2-times. I fell asleep the first time, and the second just did not hold my attention. Not sure why.....

It's been like that all season so far for me.

I think the reason the majority found this somewhat 'boring' was because last week's episode was so epic we were then expecting something even better, but it did not even equally level with 'The Doctor's Wife'. At least for me, anyway.

I wish is were as simple as that, Scary. I really don't know why I haven't gotten more into this year. I'm not finding myself "looking forward to the next episode" like I used to.

SeaDevil wrote:

I wish is were as simple as that, Scary. I really don't know why I haven't gotten more into this year. I'm not finding myself "looking forward to the next episode" like I used to.

Probably because of Moffat's writing on a whole, really. Series 5 was dreadful, bar 'Vincent and The Doctor'. I can't even remember about 80% of the other episodes...

But I must admit, I have quite liked series 6. At least more than series 5! Not excited about next week's though.

Spoiler:

Scarywood wrote:

Spoiler:

Me, too!

Admittedly, I find it curious that folks were bored with this week's episode. Not because I find that reaction to be baffling, mind you -- it was a lot slower, at least at first -- but because I was more engaged by this episode than any of the others this series. I remember someone posting last week about really enjoying the stuff with Amy and Rory running through the corridors -- stuff that I found completely uninteresting -- and in general I'm bored by the abundance of chases in the 2005+ series. (I am also bored by car chases in films.) But just seeing the Doctor interact with the workers, talk about the nature of the flesh, and that thought-provoking exchange where the ganger worker pointed out that he has the same affection for the son back home -- that I found compelling.

In a way, though greatly condensed, this episode reminded me of the classic series -- particularly during the slow opening acts. I'd compare them to the first episode or so of a classic serial where a suspicious Doctor touches down and initially just gathers info and assesses the situation. I probably could've done with a whole episode of that... and was disappointed when they felt the need to break from it with lightning blasted Doctor (which also gave me flashbacks of that horrible Dalek 2-parter; at least there was no DNA transmission this time around) and Elastigirl punches.

this wasn't bad, and it wasn't great. i'm glad i'm not the first to mention how much this is like so many other stories (blade runner *best movie of all time*, the silurian two parter from last year, autons, etc). i think that's why some scifi fans weren't that excited, they've seen it before, a million times.

as far as the ganger doctor, i called that out first thing from the very first episode. i wouldn't be surprised if it's revealed that river song is actually a ganger of someone. hoping part 2 doesn't disapoint, as most have since series 5.

I really loved this episode until the cliffhanger. So expected and so boring. I hope that next week makes it worth it. I really hoped the clone of the Doctor that I knew was coming, was really just a ruse to make us think just that when really an entirely new creature was born, or more so the Master, Omega etc, someone worth it.

Theoretically, there isn't just one Time Lord now!

Who North America wrote:

Ronpur wrote:

Well, I have watched this episode 2-times. I fell asleep the first time, and the second just did not hold my attention. Not sure why.....

Same here - it just did not hold my attention, not like the Doctor's Wife episode. And considering it is a two-parter (yawn!)

Jany

yeah the show was nothing groundbreaking. it's stuff we've seen on who and other shows before but i found the episode very entertaining and suspenseful. and rory is turning out to be a really great companion, he really helps in a meaningful way without ever overshadowing the doctor. also it was a nice a change of pace to see amy feeling a little jealous instead of rory.

Scarywood wrote:

Theoretically, there isn't just one Time Lord now!

Nope. But considering the Gangers can assume any shape and form they so choose, theoretically, we've just witnessed the physical birth of the Valeyard/Dream Lord.

Or the guy in the Astronaut suit

I'm not sure if I liked this episode. There was nothing that stood out as terrible but it was just there.
It was interesting that it featured both Muse and Dusty Springfield as music licensing is expensive.
I really liked that it was set in an island monastery with a golden cockerel weathervane conduit. It really gave the show a gothic ambience that would've been lost had it been set in an industrial factory.
The acid suits were neat looking. It's a bit silly they don't have spares.
I really liked that Rory went out of his way to look out for Jenny. It was irritating that Gillan and Moffat seemed to dismiss the relationship during the commercials as overcompensation. It totally makes sense that Rory would want to counsel her since he used to be an Auton with human memories. It's also in keeping with the Doctor's plan to calm both factions.
I wish the crazy lady had electrocuted the human instead of a ganger for irony's sake.
I don't understand why they're harvesting acid or why they have to get it from this isolated spot.

terrasolo wrote:

I really loved this episode until the cliffhanger. So expected and so boring. I hope that next week makes it worth it. I really hoped the clone of the Doctor that I knew was coming, was really just a ruse to make us think just that when really an entirely new creature was born, or more so the Master, Omega etc, someone worth it.

The end was kind of boring because they had telegraphed the fact that it was a clone Doctor throughout the story. But I do think there's still more to the Flesh then we know...

I'd be funny if the flesh Doctor was exactly like the Doctor so that the two of them got on famously and diffused all potential conflict and menace that the cliffhanger is supposed to foreshadow.

SeaDevil wrote:

I wish is were as simple as that, Scary. I really don't know why I haven't gotten more into this year. I'm not finding myself "looking forward to the next episode" like I used to.

I gotta agree with you here. I basically watch the show out of habit more than looking forward to it (heck, I look forward to each episode of Eastenders more than this show). Don't even listen to the commentaries that are available for each episode when I did all the time in the past.

I'm not sure if it's because of all the changes (e.g., DT and RTD leaving) or the way the stories are unfolding. In either case, I basically just watch the show once and move on. In the past, I would have watched it two or three times before a new episode aired. I still have my favorites during the RTD era but the SM era are leaving me cold.

I've watched it three times now. I'd had higher hopes, particularly as Jennifer is played by one of the actresses from At Home with the Braithwaites. My older niece watched it once and isn't keen on the finale, and the little one got bored and walked off.

All three of us agree that while we like sonics, too, we are getting tired of them being used as magic-sonic-tricorders all too often. Ho hum, can't win 'em all.