Doctor Who
Airdate: December 28, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Robert Holmes
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by David Maloney
The TARDIS arrives on an inhospitable and unwelcoming planet, but the Doctor sets off to explore undeterred. The travellers discover a large machine built into the side of a mountain. A door opens, and a young man in fine, ceremonial robes steps through and is quickly vaporized. Horrified, they continue exploring until they find a settlement of people called Gonds. A young woman dressed in similar robes is sent into the other side of the machine. Fearing the worst, the Doctor and his friends race back to rescue her from the same fate. The Gonds are appalled that their seemingly benevolent masters, the Krotons, have been systematically murdering their brightest students for centuries. When word spreads, several Gonds attack the machines in the Hall of Learning. Fearing reprisals, the Doctor implores them to stop. A metallic, snake like protuberance emerges from the machine and closes in on the Doctor...
This is the first story written by a man who would go on to become one of the most celebrated and influential writers in the history of "Doctor Who". Any fan's list of Top Ten Classic Series Stories is almost certain to include a few stories written by the legendary Robert Holmes. But it's not likely to contain this particular story. Still, it's interesting to look to this story for what it might show about the development of the show's greatest ever writer. While this particular story doesn't have the greatest reputation, the scripts do contain a number of interesting and fairly original ideas.
Robert Holmes had been submitting ideas for "Doctor Who" for some time by this point, but this is the first one to actually get made. He'll have another one later this season, and he'll be given the honor of kicking off the Pertwee era in Season Seven, introducing the Master in Season Eight, and introducing both the Sontarans and all-time most popular companion Sarah Jane Smith in Season Eleven. He'll go on to become script editor during Tom Baker's first few seasons, and he'll continue contributing scripts up until his death in the mid-1980s.
Notes
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
"To Live and Let Diorama"
Gilmore Girls
Airdate: April 19, 2005
Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Paterson, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale1
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop1
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann1
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Daniel Palladino
Directed by Jackson Douglas
This is the first of three episodes of this series to be directed by Jackson Douglas, who plays Jackson Belleville in the series. I always enjoy seeing actors try their hand at directing episodes of shows that they're in, probably because this used to happen a lot with "Star Trek: The Next Generation". I don't know why, I just get a kick out of an actor taking on a larger creative role in a show.
Anyway, this episode has a few good storylines running through it, and it ends with a really heartbreaking scene. First of all, Luke gets an interesting storyline that, at least so far, has absolutely nothing to do with Lorelai. This is significant. In the past, even when he's been dealing with his own stuff, it has usually been related to Lorelai in some way. His relationship with that lawyer he married and divorced off-camera was all about creating another obstacle between him and Lorelai. His storyline with his nephew Jess was indirectly tied to Lorelai (through Rory). Even that stuff with his dad's boat was only brought up because of how Lorelai would respond to it. But in this episode, we find out that he has always wanted to buy a particular house in Stars Hollow.
And the script actually underscores how this has nothing to do with Lorelai. He flat out lies to Lorelai about the nature of his interest in the Twickham house (whose owner, Old Man Twickham, has just died). Later, he confesses to Taylor that he wants to buy the house and start a family. Taylor prompts him with "You and Lorelai?" and he says "Me and someone." Of course, at some point, Lorelai will be pulled into this story, and that's only appropriate. But for now, this is specifically Luke's deal, and I like the fact that he has his own deal.
Then there's a cute story that ends up signaling a coming resolution to the Lorelai-Emily feud. Lorelai gives an interview about the inn, and caught up in the relaxed, conversational tone of the interview, tells some unflattering stories about her mother. Once she realizes that those anecdotes will be printed, she reluctantly asks the magazine to pull the story entirely rather than run it as is. I'm not sure I agree with her decision, since she's depriving the inn of valuable exposure and free advertising, and the inn is more than just her. But it's an interesting story to show that Lorelai, as angry as she is, will still stop short of publically humiliating Emily.
My favorite part of the episode involves Rory, Paris, and Lane commiserating over their flailing lovelives. Lane's story is actually really cute. She thinks Zack is up to something with the owner of the music store. It turns out he's just secretly playing banjo in a bluegrass band, and he's embarrassed about it. Paris's issue is vague and unimportant, but Rory is feeling neglected by Logan. In the last episode, Logan reacted jealously to Rory showing up at a party with another dude, so Rory thought things would be good. But he hasn't contacted her since. She spends most of the episode pretending she's not fazed, but ends the episode drunk and crying on the bathroom floor. It's heartbreaking.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
Airdate: April 19, 2005Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Paterson, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale1
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop1
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann1
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Daniel Palladino
Directed by Jackson Douglas
This is the first of three episodes of this series to be directed by Jackson Douglas, who plays Jackson Belleville in the series. I always enjoy seeing actors try their hand at directing episodes of shows that they're in, probably because this used to happen a lot with "Star Trek: The Next Generation". I don't know why, I just get a kick out of an actor taking on a larger creative role in a show.
Anyway, this episode has a few good storylines running through it, and it ends with a really heartbreaking scene. First of all, Luke gets an interesting storyline that, at least so far, has absolutely nothing to do with Lorelai. This is significant. In the past, even when he's been dealing with his own stuff, it has usually been related to Lorelai in some way. His relationship with that lawyer he married and divorced off-camera was all about creating another obstacle between him and Lorelai. His storyline with his nephew Jess was indirectly tied to Lorelai (through Rory). Even that stuff with his dad's boat was only brought up because of how Lorelai would respond to it. But in this episode, we find out that he has always wanted to buy a particular house in Stars Hollow.
And the script actually underscores how this has nothing to do with Lorelai. He flat out lies to Lorelai about the nature of his interest in the Twickham house (whose owner, Old Man Twickham, has just died). Later, he confesses to Taylor that he wants to buy the house and start a family. Taylor prompts him with "You and Lorelai?" and he says "Me and someone." Of course, at some point, Lorelai will be pulled into this story, and that's only appropriate. But for now, this is specifically Luke's deal, and I like the fact that he has his own deal.
Then there's a cute story that ends up signaling a coming resolution to the Lorelai-Emily feud. Lorelai gives an interview about the inn, and caught up in the relaxed, conversational tone of the interview, tells some unflattering stories about her mother. Once she realizes that those anecdotes will be printed, she reluctantly asks the magazine to pull the story entirely rather than run it as is. I'm not sure I agree with her decision, since she's depriving the inn of valuable exposure and free advertising, and the inn is more than just her. But it's an interesting story to show that Lorelai, as angry as she is, will still stop short of publically humiliating Emily.
My favorite part of the episode involves Rory, Paris, and Lane commiserating over their flailing lovelives. Lane's story is actually really cute. She thinks Zack is up to something with the owner of the music store. It turns out he's just secretly playing banjo in a bluegrass band, and he's embarrassed about it. Paris's issue is vague and unimportant, but Rory is feeling neglected by Logan. In the last episode, Logan reacted jealously to Rory showing up at a party with another dude, so Rory thought things would be good. But he hasn't contacted her since. She spends most of the episode pretending she's not fazed, but ends the episode drunk and crying on the bathroom floor. It's heartbreaking.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
"The Invasion - Episode Eight"
Doctor Who
Airdate: December 21, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
The Doctor tries to appeal to Vaughn's better nature, but Vaughn agrees to help stop the Cybermen purely for revenge alone. Taking the Prof. Watkins's machine, the two of them try to reach the radio transmitter that the Cybermen are using to deliver their bomb. With the invasion fleet knocked out, UNIT scrambles to aid the Doctor at IE headquarters. Meanwhile, Captain Turner manages to get the Russian launcher fitted with a warhead and launches it against the remaining Cyber-ship, but there's very little time left. Thanks to the intervention of the Brigadier, the bomb is stopped (but not before Vaughn is killed by the Cybermen). The Russian rocket is redirected in space and destroys the Cyber ship. The invasion is over. After Jamie recovers from his injuries and the Doctor finishes repairing the TARDIS circuits, the travellers leave their friends and return to the TARDIS.
To many people, "Doctor Who" is really all about stopping aliens from invading the Earth, but that's not really something that we've seen a lot of so far. This story is called "The Invasion", and not "Invasion of the Cybermen", because at this point, there hadn't been any other invasions. The closest comparator is "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", but that wasn't actually about the invasion, it was about the resistance movement that eventually overthrew the invading force some ten years later. These days, invasion attempts are far more common. It all started here.
And there are a couple of things worth noting. No one actually knows about the invasion except for the Doctor, his companions, and UNIT. The entire world was put to sleep. This was done for two reasons. Principally, it was about budget. The series just couldn't do justice to a real invasion, so they cut corners, and keeping the action focused on a relatively small cast is the way to do that, while suggesting (but never showing) the wider scope of the story. But it was also about maintaining the connection between "Doctor Who" reality and actual reality. This is something that the new series has lost. Because the new series has the technical capability (and budget) to depict an invasion more fully, they've created situations which aren't deniable. These days in "Doctor Who", everyone knows that aliens exist. In the classic series, the general public never knew what was really going on.
Despite this major difference in approach, this forty-year-old story continues to be influential. Not only did it serve as the blueprint for the massive change in format that we'll see with the introduction of Jon Pertwee, but it has had a significant influence on the new series as well. When the new series decided to re-imagine the origins of the Cybermen, they made explicit reference to this story, and even provided a human villain in the form of John Lumic who was not altogether different from Tobias Vaughn.
Notes
Airdate: December 21, 1968Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
The Doctor tries to appeal to Vaughn's better nature, but Vaughn agrees to help stop the Cybermen purely for revenge alone. Taking the Prof. Watkins's machine, the two of them try to reach the radio transmitter that the Cybermen are using to deliver their bomb. With the invasion fleet knocked out, UNIT scrambles to aid the Doctor at IE headquarters. Meanwhile, Captain Turner manages to get the Russian launcher fitted with a warhead and launches it against the remaining Cyber-ship, but there's very little time left. Thanks to the intervention of the Brigadier, the bomb is stopped (but not before Vaughn is killed by the Cybermen). The Russian rocket is redirected in space and destroys the Cyber ship. The invasion is over. After Jamie recovers from his injuries and the Doctor finishes repairing the TARDIS circuits, the travellers leave their friends and return to the TARDIS.
To many people, "Doctor Who" is really all about stopping aliens from invading the Earth, but that's not really something that we've seen a lot of so far. This story is called "The Invasion", and not "Invasion of the Cybermen", because at this point, there hadn't been any other invasions. The closest comparator is "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", but that wasn't actually about the invasion, it was about the resistance movement that eventually overthrew the invading force some ten years later. These days, invasion attempts are far more common. It all started here.
And there are a couple of things worth noting. No one actually knows about the invasion except for the Doctor, his companions, and UNIT. The entire world was put to sleep. This was done for two reasons. Principally, it was about budget. The series just couldn't do justice to a real invasion, so they cut corners, and keeping the action focused on a relatively small cast is the way to do that, while suggesting (but never showing) the wider scope of the story. But it was also about maintaining the connection between "Doctor Who" reality and actual reality. This is something that the new series has lost. Because the new series has the technical capability (and budget) to depict an invasion more fully, they've created situations which aren't deniable. These days in "Doctor Who", everyone knows that aliens exist. In the classic series, the general public never knew what was really going on.
Despite this major difference in approach, this forty-year-old story continues to be influential. Not only did it serve as the blueprint for the massive change in format that we'll see with the introduction of Jon Pertwee, but it has had a significant influence on the new series as well. When the new series decided to re-imagine the origins of the Cybermen, they made explicit reference to this story, and even provided a human villain in the form of John Lumic who was not altogether different from Tobias Vaughn.
Notes
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
"Pulp Friction"
Gilmore Girls
Airdate: March 8, 2005
Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena1, Yanic Truesdale
Liza Weil1, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by James Berg & Stan Zimmerman
Directed by Michael Zinberg
I don't actually have a great deal to say about this episode, so I'm going to do something a little different with this post. I'm going to give this post over entirely to a discussion of the character of Michel. He's definitely one of the most overlooked characters in the series. Of all of the characters who appear in the title sequence, he is easily the least well-developed. He also misses quite a few episodes. Frankly, at least so far (and we're well past the halfway point of the series), he doesn't have very much to do in this show.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. He's great value for taking an unnecessary scene of filler and turning it into something entertaining, funny, and memorable. So he gets a lot of entertainment mileage out of his very limited role, and that is largely down to the performance of Yanic Truesdale.
But my question is this: is Michel gay? Ultimately, the question cannot be answered. He fits a number of stereotypes like a glove. He's obsessed with his appearance, meticulous about his clothes, and extremely fastidious about his weight. He loves shopping, fine foods, and Celine Dion. But all of these are just stereotypes. It doesn't necessarily mean that he's gay. Or, at least, it wouldn't in real life. But this is fiction. Clearly, if the writers have given Michel these characteristics, they must know that many in the audience will conclude that he's gay. The odd thing is that this is never addressed at all. But all we can know for sure is what the show tells us, and it doesn't tell us the answer to this question. Not only is Michel never confirmed to be gay or straight, but the show seems to go out of its way to keep it ambiguous. And yet, the series also never makes an issue of this ambiguity. There's no teasing "Is he or isn't he?" about it.
It seems to me as though the show is bending over backwards to avoid establishing Michel's sexual preference one way or the other, and I just don't know why. Two possibilities occur to me. First, he is gay, and for whatever reason, the writers don't want that to be known2. Perhaps there was resistance from the network, or they feared a fan backlash or something. I don't know. Second, perhaps the whole point of the character is that he should have an indeterminate sexuality. I don't really know why this should be the case. But there must be a reason, because this insistence that his sexual preference must never be known seriously limits the character. For every single one of the characters in the opening credits each week, romance is crucial element of who they and how they function in this world, except Michel.
Not that it matters, honestly, except that I'm instinctively suspicious of any modern television series that doesn't have a gay character. And it definitely seems suspicious to me that the only character who isn't definitively heterosexual is also the only character who never gets have an onscreen romantic life. I certainly don't mean to impugn the intentions of the creative team, but this definitely gives the show a distinctly hetero-normative bias.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
2 This actually opens a can of worms that I don't particularly want to delve into. Briefly, it begs the question of how much control the writers of a text have over elements that don't actually appear in the text. It's like J.K. Rowling's outing of Albus Dumbledore. Nothing in the Harry Potter novels establishes definitively that Dumbledore is gay, but Rowling says he is. Are we, as readers, obligated to accept that as the truth, because J.K. Rowling said so? I think not. Once the text is released into the world, the author gives up any authority to control how it is read. Personally, I'm perfectly comfortable with Dumbledore being gay. It rings true for me, and I think it adds something valuable to the character, and particularly to the last book. But it isn't actually established in the book, which as far as I'm concerned, gives it the same status as a fan theory. Just that, in this case, the "fan" happens to be the author as well.
Notes
Airdate: March 8, 2005Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena1, Yanic Truesdale
Liza Weil1, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by James Berg & Stan Zimmerman
Directed by Michael Zinberg
I don't actually have a great deal to say about this episode, so I'm going to do something a little different with this post. I'm going to give this post over entirely to a discussion of the character of Michel. He's definitely one of the most overlooked characters in the series. Of all of the characters who appear in the title sequence, he is easily the least well-developed. He also misses quite a few episodes. Frankly, at least so far (and we're well past the halfway point of the series), he doesn't have very much to do in this show.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. He's great value for taking an unnecessary scene of filler and turning it into something entertaining, funny, and memorable. So he gets a lot of entertainment mileage out of his very limited role, and that is largely down to the performance of Yanic Truesdale.
But my question is this: is Michel gay? Ultimately, the question cannot be answered. He fits a number of stereotypes like a glove. He's obsessed with his appearance, meticulous about his clothes, and extremely fastidious about his weight. He loves shopping, fine foods, and Celine Dion. But all of these are just stereotypes. It doesn't necessarily mean that he's gay. Or, at least, it wouldn't in real life. But this is fiction. Clearly, if the writers have given Michel these characteristics, they must know that many in the audience will conclude that he's gay. The odd thing is that this is never addressed at all. But all we can know for sure is what the show tells us, and it doesn't tell us the answer to this question. Not only is Michel never confirmed to be gay or straight, but the show seems to go out of its way to keep it ambiguous. And yet, the series also never makes an issue of this ambiguity. There's no teasing "Is he or isn't he?" about it.
It seems to me as though the show is bending over backwards to avoid establishing Michel's sexual preference one way or the other, and I just don't know why. Two possibilities occur to me. First, he is gay, and for whatever reason, the writers don't want that to be known2. Perhaps there was resistance from the network, or they feared a fan backlash or something. I don't know. Second, perhaps the whole point of the character is that he should have an indeterminate sexuality. I don't really know why this should be the case. But there must be a reason, because this insistence that his sexual preference must never be known seriously limits the character. For every single one of the characters in the opening credits each week, romance is crucial element of who they and how they function in this world, except Michel.
Not that it matters, honestly, except that I'm instinctively suspicious of any modern television series that doesn't have a gay character. And it definitely seems suspicious to me that the only character who isn't definitively heterosexual is also the only character who never gets have an onscreen romantic life. I certainly don't mean to impugn the intentions of the creative team, but this definitely gives the show a distinctly hetero-normative bias.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
2 This actually opens a can of worms that I don't particularly want to delve into. Briefly, it begs the question of how much control the writers of a text have over elements that don't actually appear in the text. It's like J.K. Rowling's outing of Albus Dumbledore. Nothing in the Harry Potter novels establishes definitively that Dumbledore is gay, but Rowling says he is. Are we, as readers, obligated to accept that as the truth, because J.K. Rowling said so? I think not. Once the text is released into the world, the author gives up any authority to control how it is read. Personally, I'm perfectly comfortable with Dumbledore being gay. It rings true for me, and I think it adds something valuable to the character, and particularly to the last book. But it isn't actually established in the book, which as far as I'm concerned, gives it the same status as a fan theory. Just that, in this case, the "fan" happens to be the author as well.
Notes
"The Invasion - Episode Seven"
Doctor Who
Airdate: December 14, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
The Cybermen's hypnotic signal has rendered pretty much everyone in the world unconscious, except for the small contingent of UNIT troops the Doctor was able to protect. Vaughn sends Packer to retrieve Prof. Watkins, but UNIT fights them off. In the process, both Watkins and Jamie are shot, but not fatally. UNIT regroups to prepare for the arrival of the full invasion fleet. Zoe and the Brigadier travel to Henlow Downs to oversee a missile launch. Captain Turner heads to Russia hoping to adapt a planned moon launch to deliver a warhead. The Doctor returns to IE in an attempt to reason with Vaughn, or at least buy a little more time. With a little help from Zoe's mastery of mathematics, the anti-missile missiles take out the entire Cyber assault force in space. In Vaughn's office, the Cyber Co-Ordinator announces that their partnership with Vaughn is at an end, and that the Cybermen will prepare a "Cyber-megatron bomb" capable of destorying all life on Earth...
For fans of the Cybermen, this is really the episode we've been waiting for. As the invasion begins, we gets lots of lovely scenes of Cybermen marching around recognizeable London landmarks like St. Paul's Cathedral. This is very much a repeat of the successful formula used in "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". For the next several years, the juxtaposition of alien monsters with familiar elements of contemporary life will be pretty much what this show is all about. Based on a famous quote from Jon Pertwee, this approach has come to be known to fans as the "Yeti on a loo" model, because (according to Pertwee) it's scarier when alien monsters are seen in ordinary, mundane surroundings1.
Looking at the story as a whole, though, there's damn little of interest for the true Cybermen fan (of which I am one). I mean, the story is eight episodes long, and they don't even make their first appearance until the cliffhanger of Episode Four. But more than that, they aren't even the primary villain of the piece. They are absolutely playing second fiddle to Vaughn, who is the true focus of the story. Even in the final episode, when Vaughn starts working with the Doctor against the Cybermen, they still don't emerge as anything other than a vaguely defined obstacle. And that's a shame, because it's going to be a long while before we see them again.
1 The example that Pertwee actually used was "a Yeti on a loo in Tooting Bec". Tooting Bec is a neighborhood, as I understand it, in London. What a Yeti would be doing there, much less on a loo, I have no idea. The authors of the "About Time" series of reference books take great issue with Pertwee's theory, which is something we'll have a chance to discuss when we get into the Pertwee era. But since this story serves basically as a prototype for the Pertwee era, I figured it was worth mentioning now.
Notes
Airdate: December 14, 1968Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
The Cybermen's hypnotic signal has rendered pretty much everyone in the world unconscious, except for the small contingent of UNIT troops the Doctor was able to protect. Vaughn sends Packer to retrieve Prof. Watkins, but UNIT fights them off. In the process, both Watkins and Jamie are shot, but not fatally. UNIT regroups to prepare for the arrival of the full invasion fleet. Zoe and the Brigadier travel to Henlow Downs to oversee a missile launch. Captain Turner heads to Russia hoping to adapt a planned moon launch to deliver a warhead. The Doctor returns to IE in an attempt to reason with Vaughn, or at least buy a little more time. With a little help from Zoe's mastery of mathematics, the anti-missile missiles take out the entire Cyber assault force in space. In Vaughn's office, the Cyber Co-Ordinator announces that their partnership with Vaughn is at an end, and that the Cybermen will prepare a "Cyber-megatron bomb" capable of destorying all life on Earth...
For fans of the Cybermen, this is really the episode we've been waiting for. As the invasion begins, we gets lots of lovely scenes of Cybermen marching around recognizeable London landmarks like St. Paul's Cathedral. This is very much a repeat of the successful formula used in "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". For the next several years, the juxtaposition of alien monsters with familiar elements of contemporary life will be pretty much what this show is all about. Based on a famous quote from Jon Pertwee, this approach has come to be known to fans as the "Yeti on a loo" model, because (according to Pertwee) it's scarier when alien monsters are seen in ordinary, mundane surroundings1.
Looking at the story as a whole, though, there's damn little of interest for the true Cybermen fan (of which I am one). I mean, the story is eight episodes long, and they don't even make their first appearance until the cliffhanger of Episode Four. But more than that, they aren't even the primary villain of the piece. They are absolutely playing second fiddle to Vaughn, who is the true focus of the story. Even in the final episode, when Vaughn starts working with the Doctor against the Cybermen, they still don't emerge as anything other than a vaguely defined obstacle. And that's a shame, because it's going to be a long while before we see them again.
1 The example that Pertwee actually used was "a Yeti on a loo in Tooting Bec". Tooting Bec is a neighborhood, as I understand it, in London. What a Yeti would be doing there, much less on a loo, I have no idea. The authors of the "About Time" series of reference books take great issue with Pertwee's theory, which is something we'll have a chance to discuss when we get into the Pertwee era. But since this story serves basically as a prototype for the Pertwee era, I figured it was worth mentioning now.
Notes
Monday, December 21, 2009
"So... Good Talk"
Gilmore Girls
Airdate: March 1, 2005
Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale1
Liza Weil1, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Lisa Randolph
Directed by Jamie Babbit
Since the collapse of the Luke and Lorelai relationship, we've been waiting patiently for a confrontation between Lorelai and Emily. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen, but there's an upside. Instead of getting this satisfying yet predictable scene, the script focuses on Rory having a confrontation with Emily. This works brilliantly. It never occurred to Emily that Rory would react this way, and this really hurts Emily. It's also satisfyingly different. I mean, we've seen this sort of thing play out between Emily and Lorelai before, haven't we? Of course we have, so this is much more interesting.
Also interesting is that Lorelai doesn't hold a grudge against Richard. Their relationship is just fine, and to underscore the point, Richard helps Lorelai get a much better deal on an insurance policy for the inn. This leads Emily to freak out over Richard being the new "favorite", which is childish and funny, but it ultimately leads Emily to extend an olive branch to Luke in an effort to make amends.
But there's much more going on in this episode. It's actually kind of packed with stuff. Rory tells Lorelai about her relationship with Logan. The way she puts it, it sounds like a much more solid relationship than what actually exists. Also, Sookie tries to take Lorelai out for a night on the town to help her get over her post break-up depression. Then there's Luke, who's behaving like a mad man because he's having trouble dealing with his post break-up depression. This all ends up with a sudden reconciliation which ends the episode.
And then there's Lane. When Zach cooks a romantic dinner for her, he thinks they're going to have sex. He's a bit put-off when she blurts out that she can't have sex until she's married. I have mixed feelings about this development. On one hand, it works because it's a surprising reversal. Lane has always been portrayed as a rebel against her mother's strict rules. She has rebelled on food, clothes, music, and lots of general lifestyle issues (like being in a rock band and living in a grotty apartment with two boys). But when it comes to sex, she accepts her mother's rules. Ok, that's interesting, and it plays out very well.
What bugs me about it is that Lane isn't actually making a moral stand here. She doesn't actually think that there's anything morally wrong with pre-marital sex. Not only has she never given Rory a hard time about it, but even when she's discussing her own situation with Rory, she never gives any genuine reason why she thinks she should wait for marriage. The only explanation is that Mrs. Kim is "in her head". This isn't really a problem, except that I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity. I mean, pre-marital sex is a legitimate issue for a lot of people, and it would be nice to get into it in a more comprehensive way. It's perfectly legitimate for someone to wait if that's what they want, but there are pros and cons to that decision that deserve examination. Of course, it wouldn't be appropriate for this show to get into the religious underpinnings of Lane's decision, because religion has only ever been dealt with on a completely superficial level, and it would be odd to change that now.
But it's still nice that the show is finally taking Lane more seriously as a character. This storyline is an off-shoot of that, and a nice way of avoiding just repeating all of Rory's early boyfriend storylines with Lane instead. So it works.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
Airdate: March 1, 2005Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale1
Liza Weil1, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Lisa Randolph
Directed by Jamie Babbit
Since the collapse of the Luke and Lorelai relationship, we've been waiting patiently for a confrontation between Lorelai and Emily. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen, but there's an upside. Instead of getting this satisfying yet predictable scene, the script focuses on Rory having a confrontation with Emily. This works brilliantly. It never occurred to Emily that Rory would react this way, and this really hurts Emily. It's also satisfyingly different. I mean, we've seen this sort of thing play out between Emily and Lorelai before, haven't we? Of course we have, so this is much more interesting.
Also interesting is that Lorelai doesn't hold a grudge against Richard. Their relationship is just fine, and to underscore the point, Richard helps Lorelai get a much better deal on an insurance policy for the inn. This leads Emily to freak out over Richard being the new "favorite", which is childish and funny, but it ultimately leads Emily to extend an olive branch to Luke in an effort to make amends.
But there's much more going on in this episode. It's actually kind of packed with stuff. Rory tells Lorelai about her relationship with Logan. The way she puts it, it sounds like a much more solid relationship than what actually exists. Also, Sookie tries to take Lorelai out for a night on the town to help her get over her post break-up depression. Then there's Luke, who's behaving like a mad man because he's having trouble dealing with his post break-up depression. This all ends up with a sudden reconciliation which ends the episode.
And then there's Lane. When Zach cooks a romantic dinner for her, he thinks they're going to have sex. He's a bit put-off when she blurts out that she can't have sex until she's married. I have mixed feelings about this development. On one hand, it works because it's a surprising reversal. Lane has always been portrayed as a rebel against her mother's strict rules. She has rebelled on food, clothes, music, and lots of general lifestyle issues (like being in a rock band and living in a grotty apartment with two boys). But when it comes to sex, she accepts her mother's rules. Ok, that's interesting, and it plays out very well.
What bugs me about it is that Lane isn't actually making a moral stand here. She doesn't actually think that there's anything morally wrong with pre-marital sex. Not only has she never given Rory a hard time about it, but even when she's discussing her own situation with Rory, she never gives any genuine reason why she thinks she should wait for marriage. The only explanation is that Mrs. Kim is "in her head". This isn't really a problem, except that I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity. I mean, pre-marital sex is a legitimate issue for a lot of people, and it would be nice to get into it in a more comprehensive way. It's perfectly legitimate for someone to wait if that's what they want, but there are pros and cons to that decision that deserve examination. Of course, it wouldn't be appropriate for this show to get into the religious underpinnings of Lane's decision, because religion has only ever been dealt with on a completely superficial level, and it would be odd to change that now.
But it's still nice that the show is finally taking Lane more seriously as a character. This storyline is an off-shoot of that, and a nice way of avoiding just repeating all of Rory's early boyfriend storylines with Lane instead. So it works.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
"The Invasion - Episode Six"
Doctor Who
Airdate: December 7, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
Captain Turner and his men enter the sewers after Jamie, Zoe, and Isobel. They are attacked by the Cybermen, but the Cybermen are distracted by the rogue Cyberman, and in the confusion, the soldiers knock them out of action with several grenades. Back at Watkins's house, the Doctor is still trying to work out the purpose of a strange alien circuit in all IE equipment, but without much success. UNIT launches a successful raid to rescue Prof. Watkins, and back at his house, he helps the Doctor with his work. The Doctor realizes that the micro-monolithic circuits in all IE equipment will transmit a Cyberman hypnotic signal all over the world. The Doctor works out a way to block the signal on an individual basis, and protects the UNIT personnel. At dawn the next morning, the signal is transmitted and people across the world collapse into unconsciousness as Cybermen emerge from the sewers all over London. The invasion is underway...
The story really gets going into high gear with this episode, as the long-promised invasion finally begins. Of course, there's still some padding, and financial shortfalls required some unfortunate cutting of corners. The rescue of Prof. Watkins takes place entirely off-screen. It was supposed to be filmed, but it just wasn't possible. So there's some padding thrown in to make up the time, and Vaughn's scientist lackey Gregory tells us about the UNIT attack that we don't get to see. There's also some funny editing going on. One moment, Gregory is in Vaughn's office getting yelled out by Vaughn. Then, a moment later, he's running through the sewers getting gunned down by a couple of Cybermen.
Some of this padding works fairly well, like the scene where Vaughn demonstrates that his body has been augmented by the Cybermen. When Prof. Watkins vows to kill him, Vaughn gives Watkins a gun and allows himself to be shot at close range, just to give him a chance to use his villainous laugh. Yeah, it's cheesy, but it works. There's also a scene dedicated to furthering the growing romantic relationship between Isobel and Captain Turner. I appreciate this in that it gives these characters a chance to lament the deaths of unnamed UNIT extras, which is nice and won't happen very often in the future. But these characters aren't very interesting as a couple, so it really looks like nothing more than a cheap way to fill more time.
Notes
Airdate: December 7, 1968Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
Captain Turner and his men enter the sewers after Jamie, Zoe, and Isobel. They are attacked by the Cybermen, but the Cybermen are distracted by the rogue Cyberman, and in the confusion, the soldiers knock them out of action with several grenades. Back at Watkins's house, the Doctor is still trying to work out the purpose of a strange alien circuit in all IE equipment, but without much success. UNIT launches a successful raid to rescue Prof. Watkins, and back at his house, he helps the Doctor with his work. The Doctor realizes that the micro-monolithic circuits in all IE equipment will transmit a Cyberman hypnotic signal all over the world. The Doctor works out a way to block the signal on an individual basis, and protects the UNIT personnel. At dawn the next morning, the signal is transmitted and people across the world collapse into unconsciousness as Cybermen emerge from the sewers all over London. The invasion is underway...
The story really gets going into high gear with this episode, as the long-promised invasion finally begins. Of course, there's still some padding, and financial shortfalls required some unfortunate cutting of corners. The rescue of Prof. Watkins takes place entirely off-screen. It was supposed to be filmed, but it just wasn't possible. So there's some padding thrown in to make up the time, and Vaughn's scientist lackey Gregory tells us about the UNIT attack that we don't get to see. There's also some funny editing going on. One moment, Gregory is in Vaughn's office getting yelled out by Vaughn. Then, a moment later, he's running through the sewers getting gunned down by a couple of Cybermen.
Some of this padding works fairly well, like the scene where Vaughn demonstrates that his body has been augmented by the Cybermen. When Prof. Watkins vows to kill him, Vaughn gives Watkins a gun and allows himself to be shot at close range, just to give him a chance to use his villainous laugh. Yeah, it's cheesy, but it works. There's also a scene dedicated to furthering the growing romantic relationship between Isobel and Captain Turner. I appreciate this in that it gives these characters a chance to lament the deaths of unnamed UNIT extras, which is nice and won't happen very often in the future. But these characters aren't very interesting as a couple, so it really looks like nothing more than a cheap way to fill more time.
Notes
Friday, December 18, 2009
"Jews and Chinese Food"
Gilmore Girls
Airdate: February 22, 2005
Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena1, Yanic Truesdale
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop1
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann1
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Directed by Matthew Diamond
After the last two dynamite episodes, it's time for this series to cycle back down to cruising speed, and that's what we get. Of course, all of the same ongoing stories are still ongoing, particularly the Lorelai-Luke split up. But it's settled down a bit from the fever pitch of the previous two episodes.
What we get in this episode is what we usually get, a funny and lighthearted story that puts the right characters together in order to advance their story. This time, it's an elementary school production of "Fiddler on the Roof", starring Kirk as Tevya, because none of the elementary school kids can tackle the role. This is a perfect set-up, and it provides a steady stream of comedy throughout the episode. It seems that, prior to the big break-up, Lorelai volunteered to provide costumes and volunteered Luke to build sets. Luke agrees because he expects to see Lorelai, but she does all the costumes from home while she's redecorating the garage which no longer contains Luke's boat.
Clearly, we're heading toward a reconciliation. That much could not be more obvious, particuarly with a scene set to the song "Do You Love Me?" that features Lorelai and Luke each furtively looking at one another. But it doesn't actually happen yet, and for some reason, I appreciate that. I feel like it should be difficult, or else it cheapens the break-up. I also appreciate that the confrontation between Lorelai and Emily hasn't happened yet. I'm looking forward to it, but delaying it for a few episodes builds the tension nicely.
Anyway, this story is paired with a story involving Rory and her old Yale buddy Marty. This, I feel, was unnecessary. This story has basically already happened, but mainly though implication. It's been clear to the audience that Marty is in love with Rory, and it was clear to the audience that Marty had given up and was staying away from her. This wasn't, evidently, clear to Rory, who insists that they spend a day together watching Marx brothers movies. Logan interrupts, their plans get changed, and we have to sit through a truly humiliating night of Marty's life just to cover territory that doesn't even need to be covered. Maybe I'm just over-identifying with Marty here, but I would have been much happier if the show hadn't felt the need to put this front and center. Especially since Marty is so clearly the better guy.
Yeah, I'm definitely over-identifying with Marty.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
Airdate: February 22, 2005Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena1, Yanic Truesdale
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop1
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann1
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Directed by Matthew Diamond
After the last two dynamite episodes, it's time for this series to cycle back down to cruising speed, and that's what we get. Of course, all of the same ongoing stories are still ongoing, particularly the Lorelai-Luke split up. But it's settled down a bit from the fever pitch of the previous two episodes.
What we get in this episode is what we usually get, a funny and lighthearted story that puts the right characters together in order to advance their story. This time, it's an elementary school production of "Fiddler on the Roof", starring Kirk as Tevya, because none of the elementary school kids can tackle the role. This is a perfect set-up, and it provides a steady stream of comedy throughout the episode. It seems that, prior to the big break-up, Lorelai volunteered to provide costumes and volunteered Luke to build sets. Luke agrees because he expects to see Lorelai, but she does all the costumes from home while she's redecorating the garage which no longer contains Luke's boat.
Clearly, we're heading toward a reconciliation. That much could not be more obvious, particuarly with a scene set to the song "Do You Love Me?" that features Lorelai and Luke each furtively looking at one another. But it doesn't actually happen yet, and for some reason, I appreciate that. I feel like it should be difficult, or else it cheapens the break-up. I also appreciate that the confrontation between Lorelai and Emily hasn't happened yet. I'm looking forward to it, but delaying it for a few episodes builds the tension nicely.
Anyway, this story is paired with a story involving Rory and her old Yale buddy Marty. This, I feel, was unnecessary. This story has basically already happened, but mainly though implication. It's been clear to the audience that Marty is in love with Rory, and it was clear to the audience that Marty had given up and was staying away from her. This wasn't, evidently, clear to Rory, who insists that they spend a day together watching Marx brothers movies. Logan interrupts, their plans get changed, and we have to sit through a truly humiliating night of Marty's life just to cover territory that doesn't even need to be covered. Maybe I'm just over-identifying with Marty here, but I would have been much happier if the show hadn't felt the need to put this front and center. Especially since Marty is so clearly the better guy.
Yeah, I'm definitely over-identifying with Marty.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
"The Invasion - Episode Five"
Doctor Who
Airdate: November 30, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
With the Doctor's worst suspicions confirmed, he and Jamie go back to UNIT HQ to plan their next move. The Brigadier seeks authority from the civilian government to move against Vaughn, but his direct superior is under Vaughn's control and blocks his efforts. Vaughn convinces the Cybermen to advance their invasion plans, while he's still making sure his contingency plans are in order. He uses Prof. Watkins's machine to instill fear in one of the recently reactivated Cybermen. It storms off in a blind panic through the sewers beneath IE. Meanwhile, Isobel, Zoe, and Jamie enter the sewers, hoping to get photographic evidence of a hidden army of Cybermen in order to help the Brigadier. They discover the panicked Cyberman, but as they turn to run back out of the sewers, they realize that there are more Cybermen blocking their escape...
The story is not more than half over, and only have the Cybermen arrived. Even so, Vaughn is still very much the principle villain in all of this. The Cybermen, at this point, are still basically acting as his guards. They follow his orders and don't seem to be following their own plan. It's bad enough that what could have been an effective surprise reveal at the end of Episode Four was spoiled by publicity materials announcing the return of the Cybermen. The fact that the Cybermen themselves seem largely superfluous just makes it worse.
But worst of all is the painfully slow pace of all of this. After five episodes, there still isn't very much of a story. Sure, the Doctor and his friends have been running in and out of IE facilities, but very little solid progress has been made in the story. What keeps this moving is actually the performance of Kevin Stoney as Tobias Vaughn. He has a tremendous presence in front of the camera, and with each passing episode, his wildly emotional mood swings are getting more extreme and more entertaining.
Notes
Airdate: November 30, 1968Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
With the Doctor's worst suspicions confirmed, he and Jamie go back to UNIT HQ to plan their next move. The Brigadier seeks authority from the civilian government to move against Vaughn, but his direct superior is under Vaughn's control and blocks his efforts. Vaughn convinces the Cybermen to advance their invasion plans, while he's still making sure his contingency plans are in order. He uses Prof. Watkins's machine to instill fear in one of the recently reactivated Cybermen. It storms off in a blind panic through the sewers beneath IE. Meanwhile, Isobel, Zoe, and Jamie enter the sewers, hoping to get photographic evidence of a hidden army of Cybermen in order to help the Brigadier. They discover the panicked Cyberman, but as they turn to run back out of the sewers, they realize that there are more Cybermen blocking their escape...
The story is not more than half over, and only have the Cybermen arrived. Even so, Vaughn is still very much the principle villain in all of this. The Cybermen, at this point, are still basically acting as his guards. They follow his orders and don't seem to be following their own plan. It's bad enough that what could have been an effective surprise reveal at the end of Episode Four was spoiled by publicity materials announcing the return of the Cybermen. The fact that the Cybermen themselves seem largely superfluous just makes it worse.
But worst of all is the painfully slow pace of all of this. After five episodes, there still isn't very much of a story. Sure, the Doctor and his friends have been running in and out of IE facilities, but very little solid progress has been made in the story. What keeps this moving is actually the performance of Kevin Stoney as Tobias Vaughn. He has a tremendous presence in front of the camera, and with each passing episode, his wildly emotional mood swings are getting more extreme and more entertaining.
Notes
Thursday, December 17, 2009
"Say Something"
Gilmore Girls
Airdate: February 15, 2005
Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written and Directed by Daniel Palladino
I haven't ever really talked about it, but there's definitely something unique about how I approach this show compared to everything else I cover on this blog. I certainly relate to the characters differently in this one. I think it has something to do with the fact that, unlike most of the other shows that I've covered, the drama in this series isn't working itself out underneath another kind of story. I mean, "The West Wing" presents us with stories about politics, and through those stories, we have character drama. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" gives us stories about vampires and demons, and through those stories, we have character drama. "Doctor Who" gives us stories about space monsters.
Ok, so "Doctor Who" is a bad example, but you take my point. This show doesn't have a veneer of anything else laying on top of the drama1. It's just drama. I mean, okay, it's got what amount to sitcom-style plots in order to get across some humor, but it isn't even pretending to be about anything other than the lives of these people. So there's a direct, unfiltered aspect to the drama, and I think that changes my relationship to the characters.
Let's cut to the chase... I'm far more judgmental of these characters than I am of characters on most other shows. It has occurred to me that this might, on some level, reflect some kind of unexamined latent sexism on my part, and this idea disturbs me. So I will ignore it.
Anyway, back to the episode at hand. It's chiefly about the aftermath of yesterday's episode, but it covers a lot of ground. Luke is upset by the revelations concerning Christopher, but at first he says he just needs time to process. But when Lorelai starts to push, he snaps and breaks off the whole thing. Ok, now I could stop here and criticize Lorelai for not stepping back and giving Luke time, and I could criticize Luke for bailing on the love of his motherfucking life at the first sign of trouble, but I won't, because I get this. People fuck up, especially when such intense emotions are involved.
Then the episode switches over to Lorelai spiralling into a nightmare post break-up depression, and this was actually a little difficult for me to watch. She's just so pathetic. She's not just wallowing in her misery, which I can get behind, but she completely shuts down. It's just sort of shocking, because we've never seen anything this severe before. Rory wasn't nearly this bad the first time Dean dumped her. This is a dangerous move for the show, because Lorelai has always been depicted as strong and independent and self-sufficient, and she's none of those things here. Fortunately, the show keeps this on the proper course. For instance, the happy ending of the episode is not Lorelai and Luke deciding to stay together after all. That would have sent a horrible message and truly established Lorelai as ultimately man-dependent. Instead, the happy ending is Lorelai starting to cope. It's not a sign of weakness to be floored by a painful break-up, as long as you pick yourself back up. By the end of this episode, she's picking herself back up.
There's another thread in this episode concerning Rory and Logan, of course. This is sort of the opposite of what happens with Lorelai. Rory starts out very strong and self-possessed. She at last stands up to his bullshit and re-establishes her own status. But with just a few lines of silver-tongued sophistry, Logan completely unravels Rory's self-confidence and turns her right back into an adoring little puppy dog. Very disappointing.
Notes
Airdate: February 15, 2005Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written and Directed by Daniel Palladino
I haven't ever really talked about it, but there's definitely something unique about how I approach this show compared to everything else I cover on this blog. I certainly relate to the characters differently in this one. I think it has something to do with the fact that, unlike most of the other shows that I've covered, the drama in this series isn't working itself out underneath another kind of story. I mean, "The West Wing" presents us with stories about politics, and through those stories, we have character drama. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" gives us stories about vampires and demons, and through those stories, we have character drama. "Doctor Who" gives us stories about space monsters.
Ok, so "Doctor Who" is a bad example, but you take my point. This show doesn't have a veneer of anything else laying on top of the drama1. It's just drama. I mean, okay, it's got what amount to sitcom-style plots in order to get across some humor, but it isn't even pretending to be about anything other than the lives of these people. So there's a direct, unfiltered aspect to the drama, and I think that changes my relationship to the characters.
Let's cut to the chase... I'm far more judgmental of these characters than I am of characters on most other shows. It has occurred to me that this might, on some level, reflect some kind of unexamined latent sexism on my part, and this idea disturbs me. So I will ignore it.
Anyway, back to the episode at hand. It's chiefly about the aftermath of yesterday's episode, but it covers a lot of ground. Luke is upset by the revelations concerning Christopher, but at first he says he just needs time to process. But when Lorelai starts to push, he snaps and breaks off the whole thing. Ok, now I could stop here and criticize Lorelai for not stepping back and giving Luke time, and I could criticize Luke for bailing on the love of his motherfucking life at the first sign of trouble, but I won't, because I get this. People fuck up, especially when such intense emotions are involved.
Then the episode switches over to Lorelai spiralling into a nightmare post break-up depression, and this was actually a little difficult for me to watch. She's just so pathetic. She's not just wallowing in her misery, which I can get behind, but she completely shuts down. It's just sort of shocking, because we've never seen anything this severe before. Rory wasn't nearly this bad the first time Dean dumped her. This is a dangerous move for the show, because Lorelai has always been depicted as strong and independent and self-sufficient, and she's none of those things here. Fortunately, the show keeps this on the proper course. For instance, the happy ending of the episode is not Lorelai and Luke deciding to stay together after all. That would have sent a horrible message and truly established Lorelai as ultimately man-dependent. Instead, the happy ending is Lorelai starting to cope. It's not a sign of weakness to be floored by a painful break-up, as long as you pick yourself back up. By the end of this episode, she's picking herself back up.
There's another thread in this episode concerning Rory and Logan, of course. This is sort of the opposite of what happens with Lorelai. Rory starts out very strong and self-possessed. She at last stands up to his bullshit and re-establishes her own status. But with just a few lines of silver-tongued sophistry, Logan completely unravels Rory's self-confidence and turns her right back into an adoring little puppy dog. Very disappointing.
Notes
"The Invasion - Episode Four"
Doctor Who
Airdate: November 23, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
The guards depart, but before Jamie and the Doctor have the chance to investigate the crates more closely, they overhear that Zoe and Isobel are to be moved, and rush off to help them. The Doctor calls on UNIT for help. With the assistance of Captain Turner and the helicopter, Zoe and Isobel are rescued and everyone escapes back to UNIT HQ. The Doctor is convinced that this all has something to do with the spacecraft they spotted on the far side of the moon, and this fits in with a rash of UFO sightings over southeast England. The Doctor and Jamie infiltrate IE once again looking for more evidence. They discover a group of people hovering around some kind of device with leads attached to a sack-covered shape inside one of the crates. As they watch in horror, a Cyberman tears through the sack and emerges from the crate...
Fun fact: this episode aired on the fifth anniversary of the very first episode, "An Unearthly Child".
The "About Time" reference books by Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood (which are an awesome resource for this blog, as well as being fascinating in their own right) draw an interesting series of comparisons between this story and "The Daleks' Masterplan" from Season Three. Both are double-length epics featuring the show's signature alien monsters of the day, both were directed by Douglas Camfield, both feature Kevin Stoney as a human villain working with the aliens against Earth, and both feature Nicholas Courtney as a supporting character aiding the Doctor. These comparisons are somewhat superficial, but interesting nonetheless. These two stories, when compared directly in this way, highlight one of the major changes that "Doctor Who" had undergone by this point.
For instance, note that a "double-length" story in Season Three was twelve episodes long, while this one is only eight episodes long. A definite step in the right direction. However, even though "The Invasion" is shorter, "The Daleks' Masterplan" was able to justify its length much better by relying on the all-but-defunct serial approach. That story featured new characters, new subplots, and new locations every couple of episodes, which helped to keep it fresh and give it a sense of movement. This story doesn't have that. While "The Daleks' Masterplan" was a series of mostly standalone stories that fit together into a loosely connected epic (and was even able to incorporate a Christmas episode with no connection to the main story at all), "The Invasion" is a single story stretched out over eight weeks.
Incidentally, the reason why "The Invasion" is so long is that the production team was having a hell of a time getting workable scripts together for Season Six. One story that was in pretty good working order was this Cyberman story set on Earth by Kit Pedler. So Derrick Sherwin stepped down as Script Editor (replaced, temporarily, by Terrance Dicks... more on him later) and fleshed the story out into eight episodes. Basically the same thing will happen with the final story of this season.
Notes
Airdate: November 23, 1968Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
The guards depart, but before Jamie and the Doctor have the chance to investigate the crates more closely, they overhear that Zoe and Isobel are to be moved, and rush off to help them. The Doctor calls on UNIT for help. With the assistance of Captain Turner and the helicopter, Zoe and Isobel are rescued and everyone escapes back to UNIT HQ. The Doctor is convinced that this all has something to do with the spacecraft they spotted on the far side of the moon, and this fits in with a rash of UFO sightings over southeast England. The Doctor and Jamie infiltrate IE once again looking for more evidence. They discover a group of people hovering around some kind of device with leads attached to a sack-covered shape inside one of the crates. As they watch in horror, a Cyberman tears through the sack and emerges from the crate...
Fun fact: this episode aired on the fifth anniversary of the very first episode, "An Unearthly Child".
The "About Time" reference books by Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood (which are an awesome resource for this blog, as well as being fascinating in their own right) draw an interesting series of comparisons between this story and "The Daleks' Masterplan" from Season Three. Both are double-length epics featuring the show's signature alien monsters of the day, both were directed by Douglas Camfield, both feature Kevin Stoney as a human villain working with the aliens against Earth, and both feature Nicholas Courtney as a supporting character aiding the Doctor. These comparisons are somewhat superficial, but interesting nonetheless. These two stories, when compared directly in this way, highlight one of the major changes that "Doctor Who" had undergone by this point.
For instance, note that a "double-length" story in Season Three was twelve episodes long, while this one is only eight episodes long. A definite step in the right direction. However, even though "The Invasion" is shorter, "The Daleks' Masterplan" was able to justify its length much better by relying on the all-but-defunct serial approach. That story featured new characters, new subplots, and new locations every couple of episodes, which helped to keep it fresh and give it a sense of movement. This story doesn't have that. While "The Daleks' Masterplan" was a series of mostly standalone stories that fit together into a loosely connected epic (and was even able to incorporate a Christmas episode with no connection to the main story at all), "The Invasion" is a single story stretched out over eight weeks.
Incidentally, the reason why "The Invasion" is so long is that the production team was having a hell of a time getting workable scripts together for Season Six. One story that was in pretty good working order was this Cyberman story set on Earth by Kit Pedler. So Derrick Sherwin stepped down as Script Editor (replaced, temporarily, by Terrance Dicks... more on him later) and fleshed the story out into eight episodes. Basically the same thing will happen with the final story of this season.
Notes
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
"Wedding Bell Blues"
Gilmore Girls
Airdate: February 8, 2005
Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale1
Liza Weil1, Sean Gunn1 and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written and Directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino
This is the 100th episode of "Gilmore Girls". And, unlike yesterday's episode, this is a big one. The first clue is that it was written and directed by the series creator. But before we get to the major events, there is a lot of cheese to get through.
Maybe it's just me, but I've always thought that vow renewal ceremonies were tacky. If you're married already and you want to get married again for some bizarre reason, okay, that's fine. But to turn it into some enormous event and invite all sorts of people to witness it... it's just incredibly self-important, if you ask me. But I suppose you could make an argument that this is entirely in character for Emily and Richard. On the other hand, vow renewal ceremonies seem altogether too modern for them. Whatever. The wedding is just there as an excuse to assemble a wide array of characters together in order to carry the ball on a couple of different stories. And it works very well.
But there's a bit more cheese to get through. I can just about accept that Emily would choose Lorelai to be her Maid of Honor, but I cannot accept that Richard would choose Rory to be his Best Man. That is far too non-traditional for this staid couple. The sight of Rory wearing men's formal wear should have caused Emily to drop dead on the spot and immediately start turning over even before anyone has time to dig her a grave. But this doesn't matter. It's all in there for the cuteness.
So, everyone comes to the wedding. At least, everyone important (which, tellingly, doesn't include anyone from Stars Hollow except Luke). This gives the show the opportunity to bring to a head several storylines that have been percolating quietly for some time. Chief among these is the conflict between Luke and Christopher.
But before we get there, let's start with Rory and Logan. Of course Logan is at the wedding. And Rory takes the opportunity to make her feelings known. I both love and hate this situation. I love it because Rory is very direct and straightforward with him, and I respect that. When he claims that he's really not the boyfriend-type, Rory backpedals like crazy and insists she's not looking for anything serious, which is a straight up lie. But, I know where she's coming from. She's on the hook, and if she can't get what she wants, she'll take what she can get. So that's all good from the standpoint of compelling and relatable teen drama. On the other hand, Logan is a total player.
Anyway, after Lorelai walks in on Rory and Logan getting pretty frisky, Christopher and Luke try to one-up each other in terms of fatherly protectiveness of Rory. This is good stuff, because while Christopher is the father and Luke isn't (and that will never change), Luke is the one who has been a part of Rory's life consistently as she's grown up (and that won't change either). It's such a perfect point of conflict that it's amazing the show didn't bring us to this point before now. And this is really great stuff.
But the icing on the cake comes at the very end. Christopher reveals that Emily told him he still had a chance with Lorelai, and that's the only reason he came to the wedding at all. The very final scene of the episode is a lovely family photo with Richard, Emily, Lorelai and Rory. Lorelai leans in to her mother and says "You and me... we're done." And Emily shoots Lorelai a wonderful, heartbreaking look, as if she's horrified to realize that her plan could have gone quite as wrong as it did. And this is such a fantastic way to end an episode, but raising the stakes on everything else that's happened, and it makes the viewer that much more eager to see the next episode.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
Airdate: February 8, 2005Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale1
Liza Weil1, Sean Gunn1 and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written and Directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino
This is the 100th episode of "Gilmore Girls". And, unlike yesterday's episode, this is a big one. The first clue is that it was written and directed by the series creator. But before we get to the major events, there is a lot of cheese to get through.
Maybe it's just me, but I've always thought that vow renewal ceremonies were tacky. If you're married already and you want to get married again for some bizarre reason, okay, that's fine. But to turn it into some enormous event and invite all sorts of people to witness it... it's just incredibly self-important, if you ask me. But I suppose you could make an argument that this is entirely in character for Emily and Richard. On the other hand, vow renewal ceremonies seem altogether too modern for them. Whatever. The wedding is just there as an excuse to assemble a wide array of characters together in order to carry the ball on a couple of different stories. And it works very well.
But there's a bit more cheese to get through. I can just about accept that Emily would choose Lorelai to be her Maid of Honor, but I cannot accept that Richard would choose Rory to be his Best Man. That is far too non-traditional for this staid couple. The sight of Rory wearing men's formal wear should have caused Emily to drop dead on the spot and immediately start turning over even before anyone has time to dig her a grave. But this doesn't matter. It's all in there for the cuteness.
So, everyone comes to the wedding. At least, everyone important (which, tellingly, doesn't include anyone from Stars Hollow except Luke). This gives the show the opportunity to bring to a head several storylines that have been percolating quietly for some time. Chief among these is the conflict between Luke and Christopher.
But before we get there, let's start with Rory and Logan. Of course Logan is at the wedding. And Rory takes the opportunity to make her feelings known. I both love and hate this situation. I love it because Rory is very direct and straightforward with him, and I respect that. When he claims that he's really not the boyfriend-type, Rory backpedals like crazy and insists she's not looking for anything serious, which is a straight up lie. But, I know where she's coming from. She's on the hook, and if she can't get what she wants, she'll take what she can get. So that's all good from the standpoint of compelling and relatable teen drama. On the other hand, Logan is a total player.
Anyway, after Lorelai walks in on Rory and Logan getting pretty frisky, Christopher and Luke try to one-up each other in terms of fatherly protectiveness of Rory. This is good stuff, because while Christopher is the father and Luke isn't (and that will never change), Luke is the one who has been a part of Rory's life consistently as she's grown up (and that won't change either). It's such a perfect point of conflict that it's amazing the show didn't bring us to this point before now. And this is really great stuff.
But the icing on the cake comes at the very end. Christopher reveals that Emily told him he still had a chance with Lorelai, and that's the only reason he came to the wedding at all. The very final scene of the episode is a lovely family photo with Richard, Emily, Lorelai and Rory. Lorelai leans in to her mother and says "You and me... we're done." And Emily shoots Lorelai a wonderful, heartbreaking look, as if she's horrified to realize that her plan could have gone quite as wrong as it did. And this is such a fantastic way to end an episode, but raising the stakes on everything else that's happened, and it makes the viewer that much more eager to see the next episode.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
"The Invasion - Episode Three"
Doctor Who
Airdate: November 16, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines1
Written by Derrick Sherwin
Based on a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
Vaughn intercedes before Packer can do anything violent, and graciously allows the Doctor and Jamie to search for Zoe and Isobel among the packing crates. "Unfortunately", the train departs before they have a chance, and they all travel to the factory to continue. After threatening Isobel to keep Prof. Watkins in line, Vaughn allows him to meet the Doctor and Jamie (under hidden surveillance). Meanwhile, UNIT is keeping watch on the site via helicopter. Vaughn wants the TARDIS in exchange for Zoe's safety, but the Doctor and Jamie escape, jam the lift, and climb up to the roof. They continue to evade Packer and his guards, make their way into a warehouse, and hide in a couple of packing crates. Inside the crate with Jamie, something is moving...
In addition to providing a "gritty", contemporary story to placate Patrick Troughton, this story was also designed to be a test-run for where the show would be going in the next season. And that's why we have UNIT. The story was seen as a kind of sequel to "The Web of Fear". In fact, Prof. Travers and his daughter Anne were originally considered to reappear. This idea was shelved, possibly due to money (original characters are cheaper to cast, because you don't need a specific actor), plus the whole fiasco with "The Dominators" meant that the production team was no longer on great terms with Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, who created those characters. Of course, those considerations didn't stop them from bringing back Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier.
The introduction of UNIT is meant to serve a few different purposes. On one hand, it's there to give the Doctor a framework to operate within while on Earth. It also allows for an added action component, and a bit of spectacle. This episode makes extensive use of a helicopter, for instance, and we'll get a lot more of that tomorrow. So, in a sense, this story can be seen (and among fans, it certainly is seen) as a prototype for the Jon Pertwee era. Once the Pertwee era actually starts, though, UNIT will end up becoming a bit degraded. Here, it seems to be a large, well-funded, cutting-edge paramilitary organization with a secret HQ in a motherfucking airplane. Over the next few years, it will be reduced to a handful of guys stomping around nondescript offices waiting for the Doctor to tell them what to do.
1 Wendy Padbury took no part in this episode.
Notes
Airdate: November 16, 1968Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines1
Written by Derrick Sherwin
Based on a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
Vaughn intercedes before Packer can do anything violent, and graciously allows the Doctor and Jamie to search for Zoe and Isobel among the packing crates. "Unfortunately", the train departs before they have a chance, and they all travel to the factory to continue. After threatening Isobel to keep Prof. Watkins in line, Vaughn allows him to meet the Doctor and Jamie (under hidden surveillance). Meanwhile, UNIT is keeping watch on the site via helicopter. Vaughn wants the TARDIS in exchange for Zoe's safety, but the Doctor and Jamie escape, jam the lift, and climb up to the roof. They continue to evade Packer and his guards, make their way into a warehouse, and hide in a couple of packing crates. Inside the crate with Jamie, something is moving...
In addition to providing a "gritty", contemporary story to placate Patrick Troughton, this story was also designed to be a test-run for where the show would be going in the next season. And that's why we have UNIT. The story was seen as a kind of sequel to "The Web of Fear". In fact, Prof. Travers and his daughter Anne were originally considered to reappear. This idea was shelved, possibly due to money (original characters are cheaper to cast, because you don't need a specific actor), plus the whole fiasco with "The Dominators" meant that the production team was no longer on great terms with Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, who created those characters. Of course, those considerations didn't stop them from bringing back Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier.
The introduction of UNIT is meant to serve a few different purposes. On one hand, it's there to give the Doctor a framework to operate within while on Earth. It also allows for an added action component, and a bit of spectacle. This episode makes extensive use of a helicopter, for instance, and we'll get a lot more of that tomorrow. So, in a sense, this story can be seen (and among fans, it certainly is seen) as a prototype for the Jon Pertwee era. Once the Pertwee era actually starts, though, UNIT will end up becoming a bit degraded. Here, it seems to be a large, well-funded, cutting-edge paramilitary organization with a secret HQ in a motherfucking airplane. Over the next few years, it will be reduced to a handful of guys stomping around nondescript offices waiting for the Doctor to tell them what to do.
1 Wendy Padbury took no part in this episode.
Notes
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
"Come Home"
Gilmore Girls
Airdate: February 1, 2005
Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Jessica Queller
Directed by Kenny Ortega
I should have mentioned this before now, but I only just noticed. This entire storyline we've been seeing this season involving Lane and Zach has absolutely nothing to do with Rory or Lorelai. The last time Lane had a romantic interest, it was Dave, and Rory was involved at every turn. But with Rory off at college now, , it's pretty much impossible for the series to use Lane unless it gives her independent stories. And that's exactly what this is. It's actually kind of strange, and as far as I can tell, it's unique to Lane. Even Luke doesn't get to have independent stories like this, and neither does Sookie.
For instance, in this episode, Lorelai catches Sookie hanging out after hours at the inn watching "Dark Shadows". The story is about Sookie needing to have a little time for herself away from Jackson and little Davey, and that's fine. That's a good exploration of Sookie's character and situation. But it is only revealed through Lorelai. And that's how stories involving supporting character usually work. But Lane is different. She gets to carry her own stories through her own scenes, working directly on the audience without the intervening point-of-view of anyone named Gilmore. And it's a good story. In this episode, Zach and Mrs. Kim actually bond over their affection for Lane's glasses, which she has decided to ditch in favor of contacts. It's sweet.
But we also have an annoying story in this episode involving Emily and Richard. After the last episode, it looked like they were well on their way to reconciliation. But in this episode, Richard belatedly learns about Emily's recent date. So they start fighting again, and it's actually the fighting that sparks the reconciliation. Ok, this is textbook drama in the sense that it's built on surprising reversals and twists. But it actually says something rather disturbing about these two. They've been getting along really well lately, and it's clear to everyone that they make a great pair. But that isn't what leads to the reconciliation. It's a stupid fight. Oh well. It's actually a small point.
We also reach a turning point, of sorts, with Rory and Logan. It is now clear, possibly even to Rory, that Rory wants to pursue a relationship with Logan. He doesn't take the hint. Or, more likely, he deliberately misses the hint in order to enhance his own mystique, and Rory is a complete sucker for it. This bugs me. I mean, Rory pathetically fishes for an invite to a family dinner, goes ridiculously out of her way to help him with something he neither wants nor needs help with, and then walks off all pouty and depressed when it doesn't work. How pathetic!
Notes
Airdate: February 1, 2005Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Jessica Queller
Directed by Kenny Ortega
I should have mentioned this before now, but I only just noticed. This entire storyline we've been seeing this season involving Lane and Zach has absolutely nothing to do with Rory or Lorelai. The last time Lane had a romantic interest, it was Dave, and Rory was involved at every turn. But with Rory off at college now, , it's pretty much impossible for the series to use Lane unless it gives her independent stories. And that's exactly what this is. It's actually kind of strange, and as far as I can tell, it's unique to Lane. Even Luke doesn't get to have independent stories like this, and neither does Sookie.
For instance, in this episode, Lorelai catches Sookie hanging out after hours at the inn watching "Dark Shadows". The story is about Sookie needing to have a little time for herself away from Jackson and little Davey, and that's fine. That's a good exploration of Sookie's character and situation. But it is only revealed through Lorelai. And that's how stories involving supporting character usually work. But Lane is different. She gets to carry her own stories through her own scenes, working directly on the audience without the intervening point-of-view of anyone named Gilmore. And it's a good story. In this episode, Zach and Mrs. Kim actually bond over their affection for Lane's glasses, which she has decided to ditch in favor of contacts. It's sweet.
But we also have an annoying story in this episode involving Emily and Richard. After the last episode, it looked like they were well on their way to reconciliation. But in this episode, Richard belatedly learns about Emily's recent date. So they start fighting again, and it's actually the fighting that sparks the reconciliation. Ok, this is textbook drama in the sense that it's built on surprising reversals and twists. But it actually says something rather disturbing about these two. They've been getting along really well lately, and it's clear to everyone that they make a great pair. But that isn't what leads to the reconciliation. It's a stupid fight. Oh well. It's actually a small point.
We also reach a turning point, of sorts, with Rory and Logan. It is now clear, possibly even to Rory, that Rory wants to pursue a relationship with Logan. He doesn't take the hint. Or, more likely, he deliberately misses the hint in order to enhance his own mystique, and Rory is a complete sucker for it. This bugs me. I mean, Rory pathetically fishes for an invite to a family dinner, goes ridiculously out of her way to help him with something he neither wants nor needs help with, and then walks off all pouty and depressed when it doesn't work. How pathetic!
Notes
"The Invasion - Episode Two"
Doctor Who
Airdate: November 9, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
Jamie and the Doctor are being followed as they leave International Electromatics. They try to get away from their pursuers, but are eventually taken and driven directly into a large airplane. Inside, they meet their old friend Lethbridge-Stewart, now a Brigadier leading up the newly-formed United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. He tells them that there have been numerous disappearances connected to IE. Meanwhile, Zoe and Isobel go to IE looking for Jamie and the Doctor. Zoe talks the company's automated receptionist computer to death, and they are captured by Packer, Vaughn's chief henchman. Jamie and the Doctor return to IE after them, but are captured by Packer themselves...
There's no two ways around it. The introduction of UNIT is far and away the most important aspect of this story. Well, in retrospect, anyway. At the time, I imagine audiences were annoyed by the continued failure of the Cybermen to appear. Their involvement in this story was heavily advertised, but they don't actually appear until the cliffhanger to Episode Four. But most fans watching are already very familiar with UNIT before they ever see this story. That's certainly how it was for me.
The UNIT we see here is actually a lot more impressive than the UNIT we will see beginning in Season Seven. This story was meant to be the expensive showpiece story of the season, and they pulled out all the stops. In fact, this episode was expected to do a lot of work. For one thing, Patrick Troughton was beginning to get fed up with the series. He had several specific complaints. First of all, he complained about the long, relentless shooting schedules required to put out more than forty episodes a year. He also complained about the lack of "gritty", contemporary stories. This is a "gritty", contemporary story. Also, if you look at the dates carefully, you'll see that there was a substantial break between the end of "The Mind Robber" and the beginning of this story, though that wasn't related to Troughton's demands.
I mention Troughton's complaints not because I'm trying to make him look bad, but because they are actually a central factor shaping the direction "Doctor Who" will take, ironically, only after he's gone. Money was also a pretty big factor, but we'll have plenty of time to cover that.
Notes
Airdate: November 9, 1968Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
Jamie and the Doctor are being followed as they leave International Electromatics. They try to get away from their pursuers, but are eventually taken and driven directly into a large airplane. Inside, they meet their old friend Lethbridge-Stewart, now a Brigadier leading up the newly-formed United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. He tells them that there have been numerous disappearances connected to IE. Meanwhile, Zoe and Isobel go to IE looking for Jamie and the Doctor. Zoe talks the company's automated receptionist computer to death, and they are captured by Packer, Vaughn's chief henchman. Jamie and the Doctor return to IE after them, but are captured by Packer themselves...
There's no two ways around it. The introduction of UNIT is far and away the most important aspect of this story. Well, in retrospect, anyway. At the time, I imagine audiences were annoyed by the continued failure of the Cybermen to appear. Their involvement in this story was heavily advertised, but they don't actually appear until the cliffhanger to Episode Four. But most fans watching are already very familiar with UNIT before they ever see this story. That's certainly how it was for me.
The UNIT we see here is actually a lot more impressive than the UNIT we will see beginning in Season Seven. This story was meant to be the expensive showpiece story of the season, and they pulled out all the stops. In fact, this episode was expected to do a lot of work. For one thing, Patrick Troughton was beginning to get fed up with the series. He had several specific complaints. First of all, he complained about the long, relentless shooting schedules required to put out more than forty episodes a year. He also complained about the lack of "gritty", contemporary stories. This is a "gritty", contemporary story. Also, if you look at the dates carefully, you'll see that there was a substantial break between the end of "The Mind Robber" and the beginning of this story, though that wasn't related to Troughton's demands.
I mention Troughton's complaints not because I'm trying to make him look bad, but because they are actually a central factor shaping the direction "Doctor Who" will take, ironically, only after he's gone. Money was also a pretty big factor, but we'll have plenty of time to cover that.
Notes
Monday, December 14, 2009
"Women of Questionable Morals"
Gilmore Girls
Airdate: January 25, 2005
Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena1, Yanic Truesdale
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Daniel Palladino
Directed by Matthew Diamond
This is a bit of a lull episode, insofar as little of any great significance happens. And that's just fine. In any show, but particularly in a show like this, not every episode has to involve major life-changing events. Or even minor life-changing events. Obviously, the first job is to be entertaining, and with the large supporting cast of agreeable weirdos that this show has assembled, you can generate plenty of entertainment just walking in place, if the script is polished enough. This one is.
One story thread involves Lorelai's relationship with snow. In short, she loves it. Normally, this would annoy the piss out of me, because I hate snow. There's absolutely nothing good about it, as far as I'm concerned. Ok, it's pretty, if you're looking at through a window from within the confines of a nice, warm building. But otherwise, it's nothing but hassle. So Lorelai's deeply-held love of snow would normally annoy me. It doesn't, because the episode is actually all about how snow is annoying and frustrating every aspect of Lorelai's day. It's all redeemed at the end by Luke, of course, but I appreciated watching Lorelai struggle with snow for the bulk of the episode.
There's also a really cute story about a Stars Hollow re-enactment of a not-very-famous Revolutionary War battle that never actually happened. The story goes that a British general rode through the town on his way to rejoin his forces and launch a major battle when he was distracted by a prostitute. So, the town has decided that the prostitute's "bravery" saved the town, and they stage a re-enactment. The pay-off for this story is that the prostitute ends up being played by Kirk, hence the picture above. Ok, it's cheap and easy, but damn it, it works for me.
There are a couple of fairly important things happening. Emily and Richard start bonding over their efforts to locate the owners of a stray dog who appeared in their yard. We'll have time to deal with that later. The most important story involves Christopher trying, and failing, to mend fences with Rory. It turns out that his father, Strobe, has just died, which makes Rory feel guilty, and leads Lorelai to show up at his place with a bottle of booze. Nothing happens, but it's another indication that the Luke and Lorelai situation, which has been going pretty well so far, is in for trouble. Christopher is definitely not going anywhere.
So, a few stories move along a bit, but the most important thing is that the episode is an amusing piece of well-executed light entertainment. A lot of people, particularly hardcore sci-fi nerds like myself, disdain this sort of thing. It's not the sort of thing that can keep me amused for any length of time, but it can work once in a while. Not every episode has to be big.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
Airdate: January 25, 2005Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena1, Yanic Truesdale
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Daniel Palladino
Directed by Matthew Diamond
This is a bit of a lull episode, insofar as little of any great significance happens. And that's just fine. In any show, but particularly in a show like this, not every episode has to involve major life-changing events. Or even minor life-changing events. Obviously, the first job is to be entertaining, and with the large supporting cast of agreeable weirdos that this show has assembled, you can generate plenty of entertainment just walking in place, if the script is polished enough. This one is.
One story thread involves Lorelai's relationship with snow. In short, she loves it. Normally, this would annoy the piss out of me, because I hate snow. There's absolutely nothing good about it, as far as I'm concerned. Ok, it's pretty, if you're looking at through a window from within the confines of a nice, warm building. But otherwise, it's nothing but hassle. So Lorelai's deeply-held love of snow would normally annoy me. It doesn't, because the episode is actually all about how snow is annoying and frustrating every aspect of Lorelai's day. It's all redeemed at the end by Luke, of course, but I appreciated watching Lorelai struggle with snow for the bulk of the episode.
There's also a really cute story about a Stars Hollow re-enactment of a not-very-famous Revolutionary War battle that never actually happened. The story goes that a British general rode through the town on his way to rejoin his forces and launch a major battle when he was distracted by a prostitute. So, the town has decided that the prostitute's "bravery" saved the town, and they stage a re-enactment. The pay-off for this story is that the prostitute ends up being played by Kirk, hence the picture above. Ok, it's cheap and easy, but damn it, it works for me.
There are a couple of fairly important things happening. Emily and Richard start bonding over their efforts to locate the owners of a stray dog who appeared in their yard. We'll have time to deal with that later. The most important story involves Christopher trying, and failing, to mend fences with Rory. It turns out that his father, Strobe, has just died, which makes Rory feel guilty, and leads Lorelai to show up at his place with a bottle of booze. Nothing happens, but it's another indication that the Luke and Lorelai situation, which has been going pretty well so far, is in for trouble. Christopher is definitely not going anywhere.
So, a few stories move along a bit, but the most important thing is that the episode is an amusing piece of well-executed light entertainment. A lot of people, particularly hardcore sci-fi nerds like myself, disdain this sort of thing. It's not the sort of thing that can keep me amused for any length of time, but it can work once in a while. Not every episode has to be big.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
"The Invasion - Episode One"
Doctor Who
Airdate: November 2, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
The TARDIS is free from the Land of Fiction, and ends up hovering above the dark side of the moon, where an unknown force launches missiles at it. The TARDIS evades, and ends up on Earth. The travelers decide to hitchhike to London to look up Professor Travers, but they discover that something odd is going on with International Electromatics, a giant electronics company. In London, they discover that Travers is gone, but that his home is occupied by a young photographer, Isobel Watkins, whose scientist uncle is missing after taking a job with IE. The Doctor and Jamie go to look for him, and meet the enigmatic head of the company, Tobias Vaungh, who takes a strong interest in some faulty circuits from the TARDIS. Jamie and the Doctor depart with suspicions of their own. In Vaughn's office, a wall pulls away to reveal a secret chamber containing a Cyberman communications unit...
Whoa, did the TARDIS escape from the Land of Fiction only to end up in the Land of Cartoons? Well, no, but if you're interested in that sort of thing, may I suggest this? Anyway, this is the first of two missing episodes that have been reconstructed using animation. This was done on a trial basis for this story. For many reasons, "The Invasion" was the perfect test case. Six episodes exist, only two don't, so with just two animated episodes, you've suddenly got yourself a complete eight-part story ready to be sold in a two-disc special edition. Plus, it's got the Cybermen at their most iconic, and features the introduction of UNIT. More on that tomorrow.
With an eye toward animating additional missing episodes in the future, the cost of the animation was deliberately kept to a minimum. In just the two episodes we have, you can see them re-using the same poses and expressions over and over again. Actually, I think that's strangely in keeping with the series. I mean, it's classic "Doctor Who". It's supposed to look cheap. Unfortunately, it seems that it wasn't quite cheap enough, because there are sadly no plans to animate additional missing episodes, although there are some attractive candidates. Only one episode is missing from William Hartnell's last story, and there are only two episodes out of six missing from "The Reign of Terror", which ended the show's first season.
Nevertheless, I'm very grateful that this was attempted at all. Years back, "The Invasion" was released on VHS with a bit of linking narration done by Nicholas Courtney. It was awesome, because it was (most of) a Patrick Troughton Cyberman story that I had never seen before. But you were still watching an incomplete story. Now the story is complete, and the remaining episodes can be enjoyed more or less in their proper context.
Notes
Airdate: November 2, 1968Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Derrick Sherwin
From a Story by Kit Pedler
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield
The TARDIS is free from the Land of Fiction, and ends up hovering above the dark side of the moon, where an unknown force launches missiles at it. The TARDIS evades, and ends up on Earth. The travelers decide to hitchhike to London to look up Professor Travers, but they discover that something odd is going on with International Electromatics, a giant electronics company. In London, they discover that Travers is gone, but that his home is occupied by a young photographer, Isobel Watkins, whose scientist uncle is missing after taking a job with IE. The Doctor and Jamie go to look for him, and meet the enigmatic head of the company, Tobias Vaungh, who takes a strong interest in some faulty circuits from the TARDIS. Jamie and the Doctor depart with suspicions of their own. In Vaughn's office, a wall pulls away to reveal a secret chamber containing a Cyberman communications unit...
Whoa, did the TARDIS escape from the Land of Fiction only to end up in the Land of Cartoons? Well, no, but if you're interested in that sort of thing, may I suggest this? Anyway, this is the first of two missing episodes that have been reconstructed using animation. This was done on a trial basis for this story. For many reasons, "The Invasion" was the perfect test case. Six episodes exist, only two don't, so with just two animated episodes, you've suddenly got yourself a complete eight-part story ready to be sold in a two-disc special edition. Plus, it's got the Cybermen at their most iconic, and features the introduction of UNIT. More on that tomorrow.
With an eye toward animating additional missing episodes in the future, the cost of the animation was deliberately kept to a minimum. In just the two episodes we have, you can see them re-using the same poses and expressions over and over again. Actually, I think that's strangely in keeping with the series. I mean, it's classic "Doctor Who". It's supposed to look cheap. Unfortunately, it seems that it wasn't quite cheap enough, because there are sadly no plans to animate additional missing episodes, although there are some attractive candidates. Only one episode is missing from William Hartnell's last story, and there are only two episodes out of six missing from "The Reign of Terror", which ended the show's first season.
Nevertheless, I'm very grateful that this was attempted at all. Years back, "The Invasion" was released on VHS with a bit of linking narration done by Nicholas Courtney. It was awesome, because it was (most of) a Patrick Troughton Cyberman story that I had never seen before. But you were still watching an incomplete story. Now the story is complete, and the remaining episodes can be enjoyed more or less in their proper context.
Notes
Friday, December 11, 2009
"But Not as Cute as Pushkin"
Gilmore Girls
Airdate: November 30, 2004
Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena1, Yanic Truesdale1
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop1
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Directed by Michael Zinberg
As so often happens, this episode is basically split into two stories, one of them concerning Lorelai, one of the concerning Rory, and both of them concerning men. Also as so often happens, it's named for a random snippet of dialogue.
The first story involves Rory acting as guide and chaperon to a visiting student from her old high school, Chilton, at the request of Headmaster Chalmers. This situation is complicated by two factors. First, the girl from Chilton is not the mini-Rory that Rory is expecting, but is much more interested in the social possibilities of college than in the history of Yale. Second, Logan launches an ostentatious prank which fails to ingratiate him with Rory, but succeeds in its true object, to ingratiate him with the audience. I'm not saying that I like Logan. He's still altogether too impressed with himself for me. But he's got much higher entertainment value than Rory's previous boyfriends.
The other story looks like it's about Luke, but it really isn't. It's about how Lorelai disrespects Luke's personal boundaries, undermines his autonomy, and gets away with it because she's pretty. It turns out that Luke has a "dark day", one day each year when he completely disappears and doesn't speak to anyone. Everyone in Stars Hollow knows about it except Lorelai and Rory, which tells us something important (and highly unflattering) about them. Luke actually explains to Lorelai that his dark day is connected to the death of his dad, and this is actually a big offer of intimacy on Luke's part.
Lorelai responds by assuming that Luke doesn't really want to get rid of his dad's old boat, but that he's actually just being hasty due to grumpiness. So Lorelai overrules his stated desire to get rid of the boat, and secretly buys it and hides it (badly) in her garage. Luke finds out and gets pissed off, arguing that Lorelai has completely ignored his own stated wishes and substituted them with what she thinks his wishes ought to be. Later, he apologizes for this, but I can't fathom why, because he is absolutely correct.
I mean, it would be fine if Lorelai gently tried to talk him out of it. She could be right; maybe Luke will regret it one day. But she tried to gently talk him out of it, and he stayed firm. And he didn't seem totally irrational about it either. He considered the matter and calmly decided that he wanted to get rid of the boat. And she just swooped in and overruled him. Are we supposed to be supportive of this? Shouldn't it have ended with Lorelai apologizing to Luke, rather than Luke apologizing to Lorelai? Ok, to be fair, Lorelai did apologize, but Luke did too! And the episode ended with a scene designed to reassure us that Lorelai was right all along. Remember, ladies, deep down men want you to control us, and we'll eventually realize that you were right.
Ok, apart from justifying everything MosBen and Jason always argue about how this show completely emasculates Luke, it's actually a very enjoyable episode. The prank that Logan pulls on Rory is fantastic, there's a fantastic little sub-plot about Paris speed-dating and ending up with Doyle, and best of all, Rory makes a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" reference to Spike and Drusilla. Ok, my metric for judging television may be slightly idiosyncratic.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
Airdate: November 30, 2004Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel
Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena1, Yanic Truesdale1
Liza Weil, Sean Gunn and Kelly Bishop1
Special Appearance by Edward Herrmann
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producer Daniel Palladino
Written by Amy Sherman-Palladino
Directed by Michael Zinberg
As so often happens, this episode is basically split into two stories, one of them concerning Lorelai, one of the concerning Rory, and both of them concerning men. Also as so often happens, it's named for a random snippet of dialogue.
The first story involves Rory acting as guide and chaperon to a visiting student from her old high school, Chilton, at the request of Headmaster Chalmers. This situation is complicated by two factors. First, the girl from Chilton is not the mini-Rory that Rory is expecting, but is much more interested in the social possibilities of college than in the history of Yale. Second, Logan launches an ostentatious prank which fails to ingratiate him with Rory, but succeeds in its true object, to ingratiate him with the audience. I'm not saying that I like Logan. He's still altogether too impressed with himself for me. But he's got much higher entertainment value than Rory's previous boyfriends.
The other story looks like it's about Luke, but it really isn't. It's about how Lorelai disrespects Luke's personal boundaries, undermines his autonomy, and gets away with it because she's pretty. It turns out that Luke has a "dark day", one day each year when he completely disappears and doesn't speak to anyone. Everyone in Stars Hollow knows about it except Lorelai and Rory, which tells us something important (and highly unflattering) about them. Luke actually explains to Lorelai that his dark day is connected to the death of his dad, and this is actually a big offer of intimacy on Luke's part.
Lorelai responds by assuming that Luke doesn't really want to get rid of his dad's old boat, but that he's actually just being hasty due to grumpiness. So Lorelai overrules his stated desire to get rid of the boat, and secretly buys it and hides it (badly) in her garage. Luke finds out and gets pissed off, arguing that Lorelai has completely ignored his own stated wishes and substituted them with what she thinks his wishes ought to be. Later, he apologizes for this, but I can't fathom why, because he is absolutely correct.
I mean, it would be fine if Lorelai gently tried to talk him out of it. She could be right; maybe Luke will regret it one day. But she tried to gently talk him out of it, and he stayed firm. And he didn't seem totally irrational about it either. He considered the matter and calmly decided that he wanted to get rid of the boat. And she just swooped in and overruled him. Are we supposed to be supportive of this? Shouldn't it have ended with Lorelai apologizing to Luke, rather than Luke apologizing to Lorelai? Ok, to be fair, Lorelai did apologize, but Luke did too! And the episode ended with a scene designed to reassure us that Lorelai was right all along. Remember, ladies, deep down men want you to control us, and we'll eventually realize that you were right.
Ok, apart from justifying everything MosBen and Jason always argue about how this show completely emasculates Luke, it's actually a very enjoyable episode. The prank that Logan pulls on Rory is fantastic, there's a fantastic little sub-plot about Paris speed-dating and ending up with Doyle, and best of all, Rory makes a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" reference to Spike and Drusilla. Ok, my metric for judging television may be slightly idiosyncratic.
1 Credited, but does not appear.
Notes
"The Mind Robber - Episode 5"
Doctor Who
Airdate: October 12, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Peter Ling
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by David Maloney
Jamie and Zeo have been turned into fiction, and the Master explains that the Doctor can free them if he agrees to take his place. The Doctor refuses and escapes. The Master uses Jamie and Zoe to lure the Doctor into a fake TARDIS, and he finds himself connected into the Master Brain that controls the Land. He proceeds to engage in a battle of fiction against the Master. Each of them summons fictional characters to engage in a proxy battle. In the confusion, Jamie and Zoe escape from the book in which they were imprisoned, and proceed to sabotage the Master Brain, which explodes under the strain. The former Master of the Land of Fiction is returned to Earth, and the TARDIS reassembles itself around the Doctor and his friends.
At just a shade over eighteen minutes, this is the shortest episode of "Doctor Who" ever. Nevertheless, it still manages to provide an effective ending to the story. Except for one thing. The Master explains that, once the Doctor is installed in his place, the Master Brain will abduct all of the people of Earth, turn them into fiction, leaving the planet uninhabited by otherwise unharmed. So the whole thing turns out to be an elaborate plot to take over the Earth. For a story so creative and inventive, this is a painfully mundane motivation.
Also, don't be thrown by my references to "the Master". I remember being quite confused about this myself when I was a kid. This is nothing to do with the Doctor's Time Lord arch-nemesis. He won't be introduced until Season Eight. In this case, it's just a generic title for whoever is controlling the Land of Fiction. But I remember nearly falling out of my seat as a kid the first time Gulliver referenced "the Master". I'll admit to being more than a little disappointed when he was revealed to be just a little old Earth man.
Notes
Airdate: October 12, 1968Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Written by Peter Ling
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by David Maloney
Jamie and Zeo have been turned into fiction, and the Master explains that the Doctor can free them if he agrees to take his place. The Doctor refuses and escapes. The Master uses Jamie and Zoe to lure the Doctor into a fake TARDIS, and he finds himself connected into the Master Brain that controls the Land. He proceeds to engage in a battle of fiction against the Master. Each of them summons fictional characters to engage in a proxy battle. In the confusion, Jamie and Zoe escape from the book in which they were imprisoned, and proceed to sabotage the Master Brain, which explodes under the strain. The former Master of the Land of Fiction is returned to Earth, and the TARDIS reassembles itself around the Doctor and his friends.
At just a shade over eighteen minutes, this is the shortest episode of "Doctor Who" ever. Nevertheless, it still manages to provide an effective ending to the story. Except for one thing. The Master explains that, once the Doctor is installed in his place, the Master Brain will abduct all of the people of Earth, turn them into fiction, leaving the planet uninhabited by otherwise unharmed. So the whole thing turns out to be an elaborate plot to take over the Earth. For a story so creative and inventive, this is a painfully mundane motivation.
Also, don't be thrown by my references to "the Master". I remember being quite confused about this myself when I was a kid. This is nothing to do with the Doctor's Time Lord arch-nemesis. He won't be introduced until Season Eight. In this case, it's just a generic title for whoever is controlling the Land of Fiction. But I remember nearly falling out of my seat as a kid the first time Gulliver referenced "the Master". I'll admit to being more than a little disappointed when he was revealed to be just a little old Earth man.
Notes
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