I have a weird relationship to Who, Star Trek, and a lot of other genre shows that tend to have monster of the week structures because I do rather love them, but the stories frequently do nothing for me. I think that separation allows me to more or less ignore the stories and thus enjoy the characters more? Whereas something like Battlestar the characters and storylines are so enmeshed. It's all one weighty block and you have to take it all or none. I've never read fic for BSG because it feels like the show leaves no room for it (I'm sure others would disagree, based on the existence of BSG fic, but in my brain it just doesn't work that way, it's not that kind of show).
But, yeah, I'm not here to be preached at by these kinds of shows on the week by week level. If the broader series-wide themes don't appeal to me, I won't watch, but story by story I only really care insofar as it affects the characters I care about. Debating the intricacies of was X action the right one to do in the situation of the week I couldn't care less about.
My problems with this episode weren't thematic in nature. I just had difficulties with the plot structure and felt there wasn't enough focus on the characters. I liked last week's a bit better in that regard. Last week's was far more straight-forward so it did give the characters more room to breathe. I think last week's was probably the strongest episode of the season so far. This one I liked because it was attempting a far more complicated structure than anything else this year. Even if it screwed it up, my brain perked up and went 'oh yay, something is happening (finally)!'
Agreed. At the end of the day, it's subjective. I can't say I'm that engaged with Who either...but then I haven't been engaged since Doctor Song was killed off. I'm trying to like Jodi Whittaker's Who, but...wildly ambivalent. I've come to love the Capaldi years deeply, but it was work. I was definitely half checked-out for two years. I knew this season was going to be a let-down from Moffat, but I guess I was hoping it would be more fun than this is and that I'd be more engaged with the characters. Chibbs has always pretty reliably delivered on both of those fronts, and it's just confusing and frustrating that it's not happening here.
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Date: 24 Nov 2018 01:46 pm (UTC)But, yeah, I'm not here to be preached at by these kinds of shows on the week by week level. If the broader series-wide themes don't appeal to me, I won't watch, but story by story I only really care insofar as it affects the characters I care about. Debating the intricacies of was X action the right one to do in the situation of the week I couldn't care less about.
My problems with this episode weren't thematic in nature. I just had difficulties with the plot structure and felt there wasn't enough focus on the characters. I liked last week's a bit better in that regard.
Last week's was far more straight-forward so it did give the characters more room to breathe. I think last week's was probably the strongest episode of the season so far. This one I liked because it was attempting a far more complicated structure than anything else this year. Even if it screwed it up, my brain perked up and went 'oh yay, something is happening (finally)!'
Agreed. At the end of the day, it's subjective. I can't say I'm that engaged with Who either...but then I haven't been engaged since Doctor Song was killed off. I'm trying to like Jodi Whittaker's Who, but...wildly ambivalent.
I've come to love the Capaldi years deeply, but it was work. I was definitely half checked-out for two years. I knew this season was going to be a let-down from Moffat, but I guess I was hoping it would be more fun than this is and that I'd be more engaged with the characters. Chibbs has always pretty reliably delivered on both of those fronts, and it's just confusing and frustrating that it's not happening here.