Review "The Zygon Invasion" & "The Zygon Inversion"

Finally getting caught up with Series 9 and have just finished watching, "The Zygon Invasion" & "The Zygon Inversion". I picked the perfect time to watch these 2 episodes, because it was alarming the similarity between these  2 episodes and what is going on in real life with ISIS and the Paris attacks. If I had watched these when they first came out, this review would totally be different. This review is not going to be like my normal reviews, instead I want to show you the similarities between these Dr Who episodes and our real world crisis.

I try not to be political at all on this page. I have seen politics ruin long time friendships on Facebook and other platforms. With that being said, I apologize in advance if this seems political, but after watching these 2 Zygon episodes, I couldn't get this out of my head. I want you to look at all the Zygons as Muslims here on Earth and the rebel faction of Zygons as ISIS (or radical/extremist Muslims).

Review "The Girl who Died" & "The Woman who Lived"

After two pretty good serials and with the much hyped appearance of Maisie Williams to Dr Who, I expected a pretty good serial. I couldn't have been more wrong. This was "Bad", not historically bad, but bad none the less.

I can't even really discuss the actually villains, because they were never really explored as characters. I can't even remember their names at all, it was that underdeveloped. I know the point of both episodes was to show Lady Me, or whatever she calls , but it would have been nice to know a little bit about the villains. Then again, it didn't really think there was much to these villains. One of them looked like a space pirate and the other looked like the beast from "Beauty and the Beast".

"Return to Awesome" ~ Connection Conjecture

Let me just say thank you--this is the season I have been waiting for!  We are tying up loose ends, we have a real story arc and we don't have a romance between a thousands of years old man and a twenty something girl. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The first few stories have many underlying concepts running through throughout them which will hopefully coalesce into a grand Christmas special. First is the concept of immortality. Davros wanted it so much that he canned his entire civilization so they could live forever. Next we have the ghosts, which are left at the end of the story as lost souls trapped forever. Of course, we get the immortal Viking demonstrating the loneliness of living forever. Will the Zygon invasion end up with Osgood or Clara in a sort of immortal state? Could be.


The next idea we see is introduced by Davros as a mysterious hybrid. I can only assume every story will include one in some shape or form up to the end--Ashilda, Captain Jack,  Osgood...I think we all know who the ultimate hybrid is though and she is waiting at the end of the season.

I have enjoyed the flashbacks as they have been fixing so many of the complaints I made about last season. We return to Pompeii to explain the face. We return to Mars (not in true flashback, but under the lake was very similar to "Waters of Mars") to see his attitude change about rules. We return to the 3 doctors to see the beginnings of the Zygon invasion. I can only hope this continues, as it shows how interconnected the Who world can be at it's best.

While we are on the subject of the best of writing, let's address last season, which I really didn't like at all. Through most of it, the Doctor was written as a supporting player, begging for Clara's affection. Whether putting down her boyfriend or just trying to impress her constantly, he came off as an ex-boyfriend who had been dumped into the friend zone, being kept around in case the new boy didn't work out. This season there is no doubt that he is the lead. In fact, I would argue that the roles have been reversed, and that he is now a sort of a "booty call" for Clara (not in the true sense of course). Many times it has already gotten to the point that he has told her to leave him alone, basically.

In closing, here's where I hope the season is going. We will continue to see red herrings brought in to divert from River. At some Point, the good captain will return an we will find out he has been keeping an eye on the girl that can't die (casting the "voice of Bo" as her caretaker can't be an accident). We will finally get a huge season ender when the Doctor gives River his sonic in the last scene to mirror the first scene of the season when he gave one to Davros. Zygon Clara becomes the girl in the library to protect river and we have a beautiful end to both of their stories.

Review, "Under the Lake" & "Before the Flood"

It seems like Series 9, is the series of two part stories. No complaints here. So Steven Moffat has brought us Dr Who meets the Abyss adding to that we have ghosts. Interesting pairing choice, not totally insane. In this case it actually works our pretty well.

Watching "Under the Lake", I was really impressed with the creepiness of the episode. I mean the ghosts are really creepy with their eye all blacked out. You know this is 2 episodes in a row now that I have been creeped out over eyeballs. You had the the hand mines with their eyeballs on their hands and now these ghosts with no eyes. With that being said, this first episode is a great mixture of what makes Dr Who great. You have a fantastic mystery, paranormal activity, science fiction and it's all mixed under a lake.

Review "The Magician's Apprentice" & "The Witch's Familiar"

Series 9 of Dr Who has started and has started out with a two-part story featuring the return of some familiar faces. Missy, the Daleks, Davros and even the planet Skaro has returned to open up series 9. These episodes seemed to me to be a gift for classic Who fans. Classic Who fans, like myself, love Davros and dream of going back to Skaro, the home planet of the Daleks.

First off, I usually don't go into much detail about what happened during the episode in my reviews. I figure you can watch it for yourself. Secondly, since this is a two part story, I wanted to wait to see both of them to review it has a complete story. With that being said, here's what i thought while watching these episodes.

Dr Who Series 9 Trailer Analysis ~ Connection Conjecture

As many of you know from reading previous posts, I was not a fan of last season. I love Twelve--he may be my favorite, replacing 9, but feel the story arc for the season was way too much "jilted ex,  jealous of new boyfriend and girlfriend keeping both around just in case" and not enough fun. I watch Dr Who for adventure, not because it's a soap opera. Also, the vast majority of episodes were on or near Earth (or a copy of an Earth train)-not the Who we are used to. That being said, let's hope that keeping Clara around is a way to clean up some messes in story lines she has left. 

We have hope in next season. I've watched the trailer and definitely feel like we may be heading back to Whoville. In general, the feel I get from it is of more fun. They seem to be letting 12 be himself-which I think will be a bit of a Colin Baker "I don't care" attitude. I see more new aliens, more new landscapes (ie, not London) and a new sonic. All of these give me hope. 

J.K. Woodward Interview

We were lucky enough to sit down with comic book artist, J.K. Woodward at Awesome Con 2015. Mr Woodward was on the artist on Assimilation 2, which saw the worlds of Dr Who and Star Trek collide. Big thanks for J.K. for doing the interview. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his website.