"Can you Hear me" Review by Brice Baker

You know I needed a break from the Doctor, but don't fear, Brice Baker has picked up the slack and given us a review of "Can you Hear me":

Doctor Who began as a simple show meant to trick kids into learning a little bit of history, think about some science and ponder the technology to come. Over the next 60 years it has progressed to a thoughtfully written program with deep character development and wide ranging story arcs. Fast forward to this season and we have obvious foreshadowing, blatant pandering and no character growth. Maybe, just maybe "Can you hear me" will be the dartboard hit that gives us hope. 

"Praxeus" Review

It's official, I'm behind on reviews. I have been putting this review off for awhile, but I guess I gotta do it. "Paxeus". What can I say about "Praxeus"? I'm sorry to say it's not going to be very positive. I was hoping after we had a mildly decent episode in "Fugitive of the Judoon", that maybe the season was looking up. Man, was I wrong. I think "Praxeus" might have been the worst Dr Who episode since in returned to TV in 2005.

So the whole story is that people from another world infect our plastic so they might be able to come up with a cure for their own people. I'm a pretty good environmentalist . I think we are killing our planet and those people who think the world is not warming are complete idiots. With that being said, I don't want my favorite television show to smack me right in the face with it. Now, people will say "Well, Dr Who has always been show about activism" and that is partially true. The difference is that the show used to bring up social issues with a more subtle approach. Not being slammed right in the face with it. Even if you agree with the message (like I do), it's a total turnoff.

I can't even think of anything positive about this episode. The story doesn't make a lick of sense. The companions don't have much to do. Jodie Whittaker is still lousy. I guess the only positive from this episode was that it was not a two-part episode.

I'm keeping this short, because I never want to relive this episode again. I will give "Praxeus" a 0.5 Tardises out of 5. We can only go up from here. 

"Fugitive of the Judoon" Review

This past Saturday, "Fugitive of the Judoon" aired and after watching it, I still don't know what I think. I enjoyed certain things, certain things depressed me and other things made me think, "What if".  I'm sure you all have seen it, so I'm not going to tell you much about the story but instead just give you my thoughts. So let's try and dissect this pivotal episode of the series.

There was a lot that I enjoyed about this episode. This was probably the biggest part of any episode that the Judoon have had since they first premiered back in "Smith and Jones". The Judoon are one of the best new series creations that there are. I have been wanting to see them player a larger role since I first saw them many years ago. How could you not love a space police rhino? It was nice to see them play such a large role in this episode for at least the first half, then they were forgotten about.

"Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" Review

I know I'm a week behind, but I continue to trudge on through season 12. Today, I look at "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror". That's a mouth full. Why not just name it "Night of Terror"? Who knows. This is the  yearly historical episode of the season. Every season has to have one nowadays and this historical time has a lot of potential. We have Thomas Edison in one corner and Nikola Tesla in the other corner. So many possibilities. And......this was a snooze fest. We have a predictable plot where there is a power source that the Doctor is trying to track down, when she stumbles upon Mr. Tesla. The usual bad aliens show up and want something and threaten to destroy the Earth if they don't get it. Then the Doctor teams up with some locals to stop them and there you have it. A cookie cutter Dr Who episode.

"Orphan 55" Review

I didn’t know if I would make it, but I’m back for a 2^nd week of reviewing Season 12 of Dr Who. “Orphan 55” gives me a bunch mixed feelings. On one hand, the story is decent but on the other hand the execution of it was horrible. I honestly think this episode was a little better than “Spyfail”, but is this what Dr Who has become? A mediocre show that if not for its long rich history, I would have turned off a long time ago.

"Orphan 55" sees the Doctor and crew taking a vacation (does this ever work out for the Doctor and his/her companions?) to a relaxing spa that just so happens to have a slight problem of flesh eating creatures trying to break into it on a constant basis. The story premise itself was not bad per say, but this was so rushed and frantic that it took away from the story itself. There is no buildup of a threat, we are just thrown right into the threat right away. I know Dr Who is only an hour show, but maybe cut out some of those chase scenes and we might actually have a good episode here. Unfortunately, that's not what happens here. Instead it felt like as soon as they got off the Tardis, the crew are running for their lives or chasing after someone. Slow down!!!!

Spyfall Parts 1 & 2 Review

I'm back and better then ever. Last season, I didn't even review the finale because I just couldn't do it anymore. I watched it and actually kind of enjoyed it, but I couldn't write about Dr Who anymore. Season 11 was so bad, it just about killed my love for the show. Even people who love everything about the new Doctor and the show, admit that season 11 was a little lacking. "Lacking" is an understatement.

So after over a year and I am finally able to wash the taste of season 11 out of my mouth, I'm ready to give it another try with season 12. It's time to watch Spyfall .... and..... shoot me now. Spyfail, I mean Spyfall tries to combine Dr Who with James Bond and by "combining it",  I mean just give it a James Bond title and that's basically it. There is hardly anything even remotely resembling a James Bond movie in these episodes. There is some James Bond weapons that they don't even try and use until episode 2, but that's basically it.

Season Review by Brice Baker

I started writing these articles because of my love of how uniquely Doctor Who could connect storylines from episode to episode, season to season and decade to decade. I thought I’d use that to help explain a bit about this season. Bear with me—wibbly wobbly.

I had two problems with Peter Capaldi’s reign as the Doctor, Clara and his sudden fixation on getting to Gallifrey. I think I have finally wrapped my head around both of these in one neat bundle...by going back to his first appearance. In “The Day of the Doctor,” he saves the planet and all of the inhabitants by placing them in a picture, essentially a pocket universe. Due to the crossing of timelines, The Doctor couldn’t realize this until his 11th incarnation. Instead, the Timelords hid away and allowed him to believe he had destroyed them. Soon after that, they forced him into a sort of prison on the planet “Chistmas” as he simultaneously protected them from the hoards of evil monsters and prevented them from returning for hundreds of years. Once again, Clara saved his life and bargained for a new set of regenerations for him.

Fast forward to “Face the Raven,”and he can’t prevent the death of Clara after all of the times she has saved him. Not only could he not protect her, but her death was in a way at the hands of the Timelords. Realizing what was going on, when he was teleported in “Heaven Sent,” he used her memory to keep his sanity for over 4 billion years and formulated a way to save her and hold Rasillon accountable for her death.

The next season is spent, in large part, protecting Missy, whom he now understands more and sees as his last chance at a family. The Doctor also takes on Bill as a companion when he sees a spark in her, however we don’t know how many years he spent as a professor before he accepts her. We can assume it took him a very long time to trust himself again. Suddenly, yet another is taken from him by the very person he was sworn to protect. Yet another failure in his part.

We can finally understand his not wanting to regenerate again. The Good Doctor has failed a loved one again. He had always sworn to bring his companions back safely and now has had multiple losses. He is done, but in seeing his previous incarnation, he gains hope for trying again.

However, this hope includes a complete break from the past. New everything, with no direct connections to the past. And seeking a new family, not necessarily companions but a family the (s)he had lost so many times.