#and that's not the episode in s5 i'm talking about but they consider having sex and talk about it so still bringing that one up

[maddy-ferguson]

Ngl, I really think that these bylers that are crying 24/7 about "purity culture" or whatever, are playing dumb when they start with their "but Nancy and Steve were 16 and 17 in that scene of s1!!!1" like... We got introduced to these characters at that age and the people playing them were already adults. So yeah, sorry but I think it's easy to see why most viewers would be uncomfortable with a more sexual scene of Mike and Will and it's not automatically homophobia, I think that would be the case with any of the kids since we got introduced to these characters when they were 12 and the actors were babies as well. We literally saw those kids grow. And I'm not saying byler should only get to peck or hold hands, It'd be cool if they have their epic kiss or whatever, but Will hasn't even had his first kiss yet and some of these people are already talking about sex scenes, like... Be for real 😭

funny you should say that...because i've used the nancy was 15-16 in season one argument (last tag) before while also saying that i understand why people find the sex part of their sexualities uncomfortable to discuss. and i wanna reiterate that, again, i totally understand that people feel like they've seen them grow up etc etc and that they still think of the actors themselves as children even thought they're not anymore.

i don't think it's all homophobia because like you said, people would probably feel the same about lucas and max and discussions of sex (i don't know if anyone is discussing that because there's much less discourse to have there and you can't argue that people are homophobic if they disagree with you) but i don't think it would be justified either. the "but we knew the characters when they were little" argument makes me think me of an ancient disney channel/abc show that old people and girl meets world fans who watched it for the first time in the 2010s will know, boy meets world (1993-2000). classic comic of age show, look at these kids. and eric in the back (he's fifteen).

they're eleven at the start of the show and then, what happens in any coming of age story happens, you guessed it...

they grow up. this is them in the later seasons, when the main characters are still in high school i think. they grow up, they talk about sex and about having sex at prom in season five and then they don't have sex right away because they figure it's not the right time yet or something like that, and then they have sex later and get married, the details don't matter. but my point is, who watches a show for five seasons, over years and years and gets upset at the main characters having sex because "this is crazy they used to be children"? isn't that the point of coming of age stories that cover multiple years or that focus on the latter years of adolescence, that they're not children forever and that at one point the characters "come of age" which usually includes their first sexual experiences?

i don't think the having sex part is particularly important in stranger things but also it doesn't have to be for it to be portrayed (see jonathan and nancy), teenagers have sex, it's just the way the world works. i'm not advocating for sex scenes of any kind especially because stranger things isn't a show that features a lot of sex in general, the only "explicit" sex scene being nancy and steve in season one with cuts to barb dying, but i genuinely don't think the duffers would have any qualms about portraying teenage sexuality in general with the party. if they did, they wouldn't have included erica threatening lucas to tell dustin what she found under his bed (it wasn't the communist manifesto) and they wouldn't have had max looking at a shirtless steve for an amount of time that's supposed to make the audience laugh. it's been 7 years. if they do a time jump, the babies will be about 17, played by actors who will all be around 20, the age natalia was when filming season one. the characters are teenagers, babies grow up. it happens to the best of us. i get why people would find it uncomfortable and maybe i would find it uncomfortable too but i wouldn't be scandalized. the duffers had no problem having a child actor portray everything will goes through in seasons one and especially two, i really feel like sex is fine and...not traumatizing or hard to watch compared to every single thing will's gone through lol. and again, i'm not even expecting them to have sex lmao, but i wouldn't cry myself to sleep if they revealed that everyone in the party actually knows what sex is.

last question: do we have any indication that jonathan had talked to more than one other girl (the girl at the halloween party being the one girl i'm counting for him) before he got together with nancy. i'm just asking because of your last sentence, because if we don't he should have slowed down also😭

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

No okay bcuz actually I DO want to explain my thoughts from this post here because I love analyzing things and I think talking abt Vox's relationships thru the lens of "this is just like Buffy fr fr" could be fun :)

FIRST OFF: VoxVal as Spike & Drusilla. I do not know their ship name and tbh I'm probably never gonna talk about them again so whooooo cares. To state the obvious, in this situation Vox is Spike and Val is Dru. Now, it's been awhile since I've watched Buffy, but from what I remember, Spike & Drusilla really are THE toxic villain couple, in that they're both like. Not very good to or for eachother, all things considered, but goddamnit they love eachother SO MUCH- which really is the generous interpretation of Staticmoth. I'm not gonna go super in depth into the fucking. Is Staticmoth abusive debate rn. Because I have one million other posts that make my stance on that pretty clear I think. But the uh... nicer interpretation of their relationship is very much Spike & Drusilla I think. Like right down to the headcannon of Vox liking how Val's shit eyesight & temper tantrums makes him kind of dependent on him. Again, could be misremembering, but based off of how Spike was w/ Dru while she was weakened(and based off of how he rebounded w/ Harmony of all people 💀), I get the distinct vibe that, despite his frustrations, Spike did like having somebody relying on him the way Dru(and later Harmony) did. Vox def seems like the type of guy that would get a kick out of feeling Needed and Relied On(why else would he literally route the entire Pride rings power grid through himself-), and Valentino is. Well. Valentino. I'm not gonna go over their interaction before Stayed Gone because it makes me ~genuinely uncomfortable~ for reasons I have, once again, gone into in depth before, but suffice it to say that it's definitely in character for Vox to be into Val relying on him like that. Oh also, like somebody pointed out in the reblogs on the original post, the reason Spike & Dru broke up from s3 all the way to their reunion in s5 is that she cheated on him and that's. Yeah that sounds about right.

And second, the Staticradio twins: Spuffy and Spangel. Why the fuck did I call them the Staticradio twins? I don't know I'm tired as shit and just used most of my brain power on the VoxVal segment now get off my back- anyways, these two are actually pretty easy to explain so I'll just get right into it! Most of the similarities between Staticradio and Spuffy can really be summed up in the song Reat In Peace from Buffy's musical episode. One-sided, obsessive crush on someone who you know deep down will probably never reciprocate. You want them to just leave you the fuck alone and stay gone(hahahahahahahahah), but they just. Aren't. Like even the bits about being a dead guy without a heart beat are spot on because Vox is a motherfuckin DEMON who is a ROBOT!!!!!!! Also the Alastor Body Pillow fanon(which IS fanon. It is. I'm sorry to say but that wasn't a thing on the Instagrams y'all-) does line up with the uh. The Buffy sex bot- it does line up with the Buffy sex bot. Anyways moving on to the Spangel section-

"You were my sire man!" - Spike, to Angel, in his introduction episode. I don't remember if this was retconned in season 5(or 6?) to be Dru siring Spike? It might've been. But for the sake of this post lets pretend it wasn't. Angel was basically Spike's mentor for a lot of their time together pre-show. They ran around in their weird little vampire polycule causing problems for everyone and life was good! Then Angel got cursed. Bro got a soul and then ran away for years without a word to anyone. Then, cut to current day, and Spike is hyped to see him right up to the point he realizes Angel has Changed. And from that point onward to two are RIVALS!!!!! Narrative foils, even. And while it isn't exactly the same as Alastor and Vox's history, it's pretty damn similar right!? Al was(presumably) Vox's friend and mentor for YEARS, like to the point of being comfortable taking a picture with him. Then something happens between them, causing a rivalry to form. Throw somewhere in the mix Al's deal & him fucking off for 7 years... it's like the same pieces being put together in a new way to make a different puzzle. Is Rosie Darla in this analogy? Unclear. Val is still Dru though. Do y'all get where I'm coming from? It's far, FAR from the same thing, like there are so many fucking differences and that's just going off of the stuff we DO know(I want to know more god I can't wait for season 2-), but the dynamics ARE similar. They're narrative foils with a deep history w/ eachother where they were probably-definitely friends, something caused them to become RIVALS, and also one of them is cursed and dissappeared for several years-

Whoo boy this got kinda incoherent- Anyways, that brings me to my brand new fun and interesting point: Vox and Spike are kinda similar characters. They're both antagonists who wanna be Big Tough Scary guys so bad, and like. They are. They are big tough AND scary. Sometimes. But for the vast majority of their screen time, their emotions, capacity for love(no matter how twisted their version of love is), and the consequences of that love going wrong continually get the better of them and cause them to look to us, the audience, like silly pathetic wet cats we found on the side of the road. Then they get Weird about it(Vox's "rivalry" w/ Angel and the. Buffy sex bot.) and we remember oh yeah this guy is EVIL! They also both wear long jackets and are bisexual :)

[variousqueerthings]

I didn't take notes during this episode, foolishly

it's Mummy On The Orient Express, and Clara is leaving... after one last hurrah! and there's a Mummy!

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 9/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 7/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 8/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 8/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 3/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 6/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 6/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 5/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 5/10

FULL RATING: 67/100 (if I can count….)

okay okay, we're a little higher, although as mentioned about this era, it feels a little more complicated to rate with this system than s5-7

OBJECTIFICATION: considering Clara's wearing a flapper dress, it's remarkably, refreshingly free from "sexy" commentary

we do forever have Clara's suit in Time Heist to compare to...

PLOT-POINT: this episode is about Clara figuring out her Stuff around the Doctor and yeah, "I'm fully addicted to the power of travelling the universe and affecting events and will allow other facets of my life to be shit in service of this" feels like a strong Character Moment

Clara is giving me a bit of Rose Tyler energy in this idea (not in personality as such but... some things for sure), but I'm going to wait until I've seen it all to get more into that

of course, the actual way the Doctor treats her in this episode isn't... great... but that, I think, is part of it. the Doctor continues to get away with this behaviour, because the upsides still outweigh the downsides

COMPLEXITY: I'm keeping this for now, because I cannot remember if the train computer mastermind Gus comes back to this or is relevant... as it stands it's reeelatively simple on the whole, but with some curveballs in relation to why it matters that they study the Mummy, which we still don't know

I will allow this, it's giving a little teaser for something in the future, potentially.... technically the Mummy going after the weakest first is kind of silly, surely a soldier would be going for the strongest first? or am I showing a lack of understanding in good tactics... eh, I'll allow it

the ending wraps up kind of abruptly though, we're told what happens rather than shown

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: Clara is now going to keep hold of her incompatible parts of life with an iron fist, and keep travelling with the Doctor

there's another mystery with who Gus is and why they gathered people to study the Mummy

the Doctor was respectful to a soldier + there's another one onboard in the main cast, so that tendril is still with us

COMPANIONS MATTER: Clara doesn't actually... do much. which undermines part of the Thing around the power that comes with travelling. M*ffat-era once again is really really weak in giving the companion just... Things To Do in the episode plot, beyond having emotions about things

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: Ohhhhhhhh the Doctor. is still a dick. there's a speech at the end of this, where the Doctor explains that sometimes there are no good decisions (which is oddly echoing what Science Lady from last episode said in order to justify killing the moon, which the Doctor didn't agree with, so...???) and so he needed to be pragmatic about the situation

but does that explain the sheer dickishness with which the Doctor treats people with a minute to live, who know they're going to die, who are scared?

does it engage with this line, explaining why the Doctor is cold and rude to people who have just seen aforementioned death, and wonder if they could be next?: People with guns to their heads can’t mourn

does it give a good excuse for the Doctor calling everyone around him "idiots" for not knowing what's going on?

now, this is presumably a part of the ongoing exploration of this Doctor's abrasive nature, but I do keep going back to Time Heist, which had the Doctor be abrasive without being cruel. this Doctor is often incredibly cruel, for no reason

character regression continues

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: there's a few little callbacks, nothing special in one way or another

“SEXINESS”: I will say this season seems to be blissfully free of this post-Deep Breath!

INTERNAL WORLD: yeah, I won't think too deeply about this, because it would break immersion a tad. the idea of this train in space. the way it works. the reason it's there. the recreation of a British era of colonialist and classist ideals. the fact that most of the guests turn out to be holograms and nobody onboard realised this. how big is this train? are there other guests elsewhere? why these scientists? what do those characters bring to the table a single time in the episode? why was that woman on there with her grandmother? etcetc. stretched a bit thin for The Bit

POLITICS: aforementioned Orient Express In Space concepts are a bit unthought-out. it's not egregious, it's just there. more soldiers

I'm noticing soldiers, because it wants me to notice soldiers, but what is it telling me about soldiers? on the whole? I'd love it if there was more... Substance in the soldiers being shown. the concept about soldiering

FULL RATING: 67/100 (if I can count….)

I would appreciate it if eventually the soldier Stuff pays off, both narratively and politically, but I'm not convinced M*ffat has enough of a political opinion on the military

would appreciate it if the Doctor's dickishness pays off/is explored, but oh boy are they running with this for over half a season!

Clara's trajectory is quite interesting

hope the little teasers pay off also

[zalrb]

Unbelievably random sorry, but I'm rewatching Gilmore Girls, and love Rory/Logan (Logan's actor portrayed a charm I somehow fall for when I'd usually, and irl, HATE a Logan). I've NEVER compared to DE but S5 LR remind me of your breakdowns of how TVD ignored what DE were meant to be and failed at the "badboy bettering for the goodgirl who's challenged/adventurous with him". So ik you stopped watching, but wondered if you'd agree (and if so breakdown/compare how) LR actually do this well!?

Haha I mentioned in my GG boyfriend breakdown that Logan is difficult for me because he’s too similar to guys I knew in university and I just do not like his character but I’ve been thinking about this and I’ve been thinking about season 5 and there is one major distinction between Logan and Damon, which informs the difference between Rogan and Delena and that is:

Logan (and the show) doesn’t rely on Rory to rehabilitate bad behaviour or be his moral compass. Logan is -- in my view -- pompous and obnoxious but he isn’t a fundamentally terrible person who puts the responsibility of trying to be a better person on Rory so he’s not having conversations like this

that aren’t even earned due to actions like this

which has been a pattern of behaviour for seasons

what he’s doing is striving to be in a committed relationship for the first time and doing all of the things that come with being in a relationship because he really likes (and then loves) Rory so it starts like this

and it moves to this

and it’s a learning curve but we actively see him try

including taking things seriously

that he originally didn’t 

because it meant a lot to Rory.

I still think it’s pretty fucked up that he let Rory walk into a room full of women he’d had sex without giving her any warning, especially considering when she confronts him about it he’s like oh yeah they do stuff like this because they like the drama - so then PREPARE her?

but barring what I would find acceptable and what I would do in the situation, he does try to get back with her in earnest, explains his reasoning in earnest 

and there is never the impression that a miscommunication like that will happen again.

In relation, Rory has her boundaries

and she has her lines

which actually pushed the relationship forward and got Logan to react to her differently; he becomes more attentive after she refuses to leave with him while also respecting her boundary at saying no to leaving and as we seen the “I’m a girlfriend girl” conversation leads to

Nothing actually pushes the DE relationship forward, so for instance, Elena can say something like this

and Damon can say something like this

but nothing comes from that conversation, their relationship doesn’t actually change, the way they [don’t] communicate with each other doesn’t change

which is why the same conversations keep happening

season 3

season 4

season 5

In terms of challenging, I know Matt said that Logan pushed Rory to have new adventures in her life and I mean, I probably don’t think it’s as deep as what he intended the quote to be but I do think that it’s true, like when she says that she’s never been bored with him, I believe it because I saw it, I don’t particularly care for the things they do together but I did see how he brought a different dynamic to Rory

and how that created a response in her

and how it’s a particularly Logan/Rogan dynamic

like she isn’t doing this with Jess and she isn’t doing this with Dean, this is their thing. Not so much with Damon and Elena. When they talk about “adventure” I’m like, why?

Why is this

more adventurous than this 

or this

Why is this

more adventurous than this?

What I will say is that Logan treated Rory like a grownup? I know that’s super weird to say but I was going through these tags and I saw this

and I was like but it’s not Logan’s responsibility to make Rory go back to Yale and it was immature of Rory to blame him for her decision (but I have always said it could be argued that Rory bases her decisions on the opinions of men) he mentions that he doesn’t think she’ll last a month without Yale 

but he isn’t going to babysit her because she’s a grownass adult just like I think in season 7 they get into an argument and I don’t think I necessarily agreed with  Logan’s side but I did agree with him calling out Rory’s privilege when he tells her she isn’t exactly paying rent because Rory (and oftentimes the show) forgets her own privilege.

And that’s something that Damon is meant to do but in reality, which I’ve said before, Damon only pushes Elena when it comes to how she deals with him

stating that she has more in common with Katherine than her looks because she essentially said, “yeah I haven’t forgiven you for killing my brother” isn’t challenging her because a) Elena didn’t even manipulate Damon in that episode b) even if she did, he killed her brother after trying to force himself on her c) Katherine didn’t actually manipulate Damon either, she had been very upfront about what she wanted and how she saw him. 

So basically, like everything else, there’s a sense of Logan and Rory’s relationship being earned more than Delena’s.

[starship-imzadi]

S5 E12 Violations

This opening immediately brings to mind the "repressed memories" craze in psychology in the 1980's and 1990's. The "fad" has since become regarded as incredibly harmful and dangerous as human memory can be quite malleable and undependable. A lot of people were treated to believe they had repressed memories of horrible abuse and sexual trauma in their childhoods, made horrible accusations, for events that never actually happened. Not only do these fabrication create real trauma and ruin relationships, they also delegitimize the actual trauma and abuse others have suffered and very much remembered from their childhoods.

Now, that isn't quite applicable to this episode, but this episode has some heavy moments and perhaps the worst abuse, out of all the abuse, Troi suffers through the series, and I want to address it the best I can.

"father, you know you're not supposed to probe someone's memory unless they've given you permission."

A.k.a. you have to get consent

"you are right, but sometimes with a beautiful woman I cannot help myself."

Red flag?! But not the red flag we're looking for. (Still: not appropriate) Beverly's laugh doesn't seem like acceptance to me, rather it's the socially acceptable way for women to cope with remarks that certain men think are flattering but are actually creepy. In a post #metoo world my hope is that as a society this is understood better than when this episode aired. I'm sure for many women it's just as evident as it ever was.

To be clear, this memory reading isn't sexual. What it is, is intimate. For whatever reason no other type of telepathy in Star Trek is depicted as a high form of intimacy, except for the now forgotten telepathic link that Troi and Riker have (which was formed because of the closeness of their relationship). But, to have access to someone's mind would be an incredible vulnerability, the sharing of one's mind a great intimacy, and the invasion of one's mind a great violation. A strong analogy for these is sexuality.

I want to make this distinction because there are violations and intimacies that are not sexual, and I think allowing for a broader analogy makes this a stronger story.

This conversation between Geordi and Data about memory feels like exposition to explain the concept to the audience. But, it seems to misrepresent some of the finer points, like how human recall and triggering recall actually works, how neurological structure and age factors in, how trauma effects memory, or in fact how humans encode specific memory or general concepts (like remembering the layout of your childhood home.)

"perhaps you would like to resurrect solve memories"

Is Beverly flirting with Picard? Or just teasing him

This scene with Troi brushing her hair and drinking hot chocolate is.... incredibly frustrating. Because of the "on again off again" or complete neglect of the story between Troi and Riker's relationship. Why have we never seen this part of their relationship before? Where does it fit it? I've seen people question at which point the memory becomes manipulated, wondering if Riker would ever force himself on Troi...which I would categorically say: no he would not.

"imzadi we can't, not when we're serving on the same ship"

"have you stopped thinking about us, just answer that" "I can't stop thinking about you"

They're clearly on the Enterprise, and Riker has a beard, and it could feasibly be somewhere in the past three and a half seasons. As the audience we are not privy to the original memory free of Jev's manipulations.

"Do you know what she was doing when this happened?" Riker's voice is so gentle.

Beverly's little smile as she walks in and sees Riker talking to Troi is exactly how I feel. "I miss you. Please don't stay away too long." Is so sweet and a bit heartbreaking.

Now, we see an apparent memory of Riker's. Troi's memory seemed to be hazy and pink like an old romance filter might be in black and white, but Riker's memory is distorted and stretched, and both have distorted and slowed audio. By contrast, Keiko's memory had no visual or audio distortion at all. Riker's apparent memory is feasible like Troi's.

Troi's assault is what almost everyone focuses on, because the "violation" of the episode is seen as an analogy to rape and because this element is inexplicably used again in the film Nemesis. However, I would like to point out that the two memories shown up until this point are both memories of vulnerability. The memory with Troi isn't just about sex, it's about the intimacy she has with Riker, a relationship they both want but don't feel like they're allowed to have. Riker's memory is of vulnerability of those under his command, as he has to actively make a choice that will kill a crew member to save the rest of the ship. His crew is ultimately his responsibility, their lives are in his hands, and he has to carry the responsibility of their deaths under his command.

Now we see Beverly's apparent memory. Her's is also a clear instance of vulnerability: seeing her dead husband's body. This memory is most likely of the three we see to have some reality to it. We do know that her husband died and Picard was the one to tell her and Wesley of his death. (It's mentioned in the pilot episode and in "The Bonding")

Rethinking the search parameters is incredibly clever on Geordi's part and he deserves more credit for it. It's almost... intellectually refreshing to see rather than a simple solution, and I applaud the writer who wrote this bit.

If Riker wasn't still in a coma he would be right by Troi's side.

"I'm remembering something from a few years ago" so, it is a memory, they're all actual memories, up until a point. "It's not Will, sombody's taken his place." when the person in her memory is hurting her the face isn't initially shown, we can't see who it is. But, before when the memory was safe and positive, we could see Will's face.

(the background soundtrack is a little too much and the whole sequence of Troi in pain makes me really uncomfortable.) And Worf and Picard.... don't react except Picard, very conservatively, places a comforting hand on her shoulder. Which fits with his decorum and all things considered is really, really sweet.

"A perverse source of pleasure perhaps. A need to exercise control over another." Even though Troi's memory was romantic or sexual in nature and through Jev's manipulation has the strongest direct parallel to literal sexual assault, rape is ultimately about power, the assertion of power, domination without consent. It is in direct opposition to intimacy, sexual or non sexual. intimacy is vulnerability plus trust and safety, regardless of what that vulnerability is.

I just realized the Ullian coats remind me of paper snow flakes.

I've seen some people confused that after everything that has happened why Jev would jeopardize himself by going to Troi. He seems to honestly like Troi, in whatever way he can, but at the same time is not in control of his impulses and desires, and whatever he likes about her is warped into his sick desire to overpower her. It's fantastic to see Troi fight back; Jev talks about how fragile she is, and it's important that we see that she is in fact NOT how he sees her.

"this form of rape" here is the first time the word is specifically used BUT I want to reiterate that Troi, Riker, and Beverly have all been subjected to this trauma.

It's good, and nice to know, that they will be getting counseling and help to process through what has happened. It's not always but on occasion TNG acknowledges that its characters have suffered with potential long term ramifications.

[variousqueerthings]

MORE GUILT!!!!

Let's Kill Hitler (the episode not the imperative). this episode has a couple of things I really like, and a lot of things I don't

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 3/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored): 2/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 6/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 5/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 2/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 7/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 8/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 3/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 3/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 4/10

FULL RATING: 43/100 (if I can count….)

yikes, well, one point more than the previous episode

OBJECTIFICATION: there's this whole bit where River regenerates into the body we know and she goes on a whole BIT about her body and how hot she is (and makes a Mrs Robinson reference -- the second we've had of her in this show), and see it's not objectification, because River is just sexually confident that she's so sexy!

and then we continue to see this sexually liberated River be hot in various scenes. on and on and oooooooooooon, but it's in a craaaazy way because they establish she's craaaazy (more on that below) but also craaaazy hot

and also she goes to weigh herself as one of the first things in that regeneration, because she is A Wooman, and women care about their weight first and foremost

one thing I'm not sure if to put here or somewhere else, so it goes here: kid!Amy has a line about how she's "basically a boy" because kid!Amy is not like other girls, you see. she's kind of a tomboy is the suggestion. and of course the best thing about girls who aren't like other girls, is when they grow up to be super fucking banging models, but still One Of The Guys... it was a comment that annoyed me, considering Amy's characterisation. just let her be a girlygirl, she is as an adult! she is very much like girls, she likes being a girl! "not like the other girls" is either "I'm sexist because I want boys to like me," OR "I'm about 10 years off from a diagnosis and/or lesbianism and/or a new gender"

we also get another casually sexist moment of the Doctor asking Rory for permission (again!!!) to hug Amy, just to say hello??? where did this come from??? it did not exist this season until these two episodes! it's bad characterisation!

PLOT-POINT: Mels... Melody... wooow.... get it..... so Mels is someone Amy grew up with, except we've never heard anything about her before. in fact, something this episode does is highlight that Amy's life doesn't matter to this story. Amy's parents allegedly came back, but they exist even less than before, because at least before there was actually a plot reason why she didn't ever mention or care about them, Amy's aunt? doesn't exist? Leadworth? not a real place

we see Amy's school-life now and her bestie Mel, who wasn't there in s5 at all, and didn't come to the wedding because she "hates weddings" and it's really just to make the plot happen, because I'm not convinced M*ffat had any idea who Mels was until he started writing this episode

how does Amy feel about having spent all her youth with this person? well, we don't really know because it was covered in a montage. how does she feel about the child she bore without knowing, the child that was taken from her, suddenly being her old (new) best friend of ever? Idk, it's not important I suppose

Amy's whole everything is just about what the plot needs it to be, and none of it affects her. she just pivots as a character to become someone slightly different than we've known her to be until now, because now the plot has decided to be something different

but River! River also doesn't make sense, she's just vibing with whatever is required for her, and it's because she's a psyyyychopaaaath so she's craaaaaazy and can pivot whenever she wants! that's what crazy people do

I also note some things about how the Doctor continues to affect this family, it's so messed up but it's just how it is. I'm sure there's good fanfic out there exploring it

COMPLEXITY: it's soooort of complex but also not. the plot about the tiny people in robots travelling time to exact vengeance on criminals is quite nice, but then it's on top of the River thing happening as well, and River is a war criminal because she... kills the Doctor in the future. and that part is... ehhh, doesn't make sense

because the other plot is that this religious order (the Silence, we met them in the beginning of the season) "bred the perfect psychopath" or something, to kill the Doctor and it's kind of going "trust me, this is a perfectly reasonable plot, don't even think about how stupid it is"

it's basically a continuation of the Pandorica plot, where they tried to put the Doctor in space prison and didn't just idk... kill him then, and undermines the whole idea of that plot, because River could just shoot him and that was fine, and even this time around didn't have a great deal of trouble and only didn't kill him because she chose not to

the Doctor is not that hard to kill!!! yes, the Doctor is hard to kill, but not so hard that we need a three season conspiracy arc that's just about the Doctor being the biggest most interesting person that stays alive not because the narrative needs to continue, but because of... idk... being cool I guess

would've been fine with a plot about the little guys in the big robots (I wonder if they'll come back............................................)

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: River becomes our first moment of being River, confirming that this is definitely not a chronological non-linear set of meetings, but it never could have been anyway

River can regenerate because she was conceived in the Tardis and so she is basically a Timelord, and then she uses her regenerations to unkill the Doctor, and also kisses him with her first "hello sweetie"

Amy and Rory... are chill with her being their adult daughter, because secretly growing up with your abducted kid who was "raaaised to kill the Doctor (sigh)" is the same as raising your kid

it's really... more about the Doctor... than about Amy and Rory (shocker)

there's a Question of some kind, (let's hope it's not something stupid like "Doctor Wh-" siiiiiiigh)

THERE IS A BIT THOUGH! WHICH I MENTION IN "PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO" POINT where the Doctor sort of acknowledges the issues with his presence in Amy's life starting waaay back when she was a kid! talk more about it below, it is my favourite scene of the episode

Amy hasn't figured out that River Is Going To Kill The Doctor because she's kind of dense when the plot needs her to be

COMPANIONS MATTER: they do not! this is about their kid and they do not!

I will note three Moments of mattering

. Amy asks the Doctor what to do and he tells her to figure it out and she comes up wtih a plan in a snap second -- this is notable because she barely ever gets to do that in the show

. Amy gets the robot to show River that she is, in fact, River, prompting River to save the Doctor's life

. Rory punches Hitler and then nervously stutters "shut up, Hitler," and I acknowledge that did make me laugh

GODLIKE” DOCTOR: the Doctor also just hangs around this episode. he is pretty sure of River saving him I suppose, so yay for that?

oh and there's this stupid bit that is so very Sherlock of the Doctor and River "outsmarting" each other, which also belongs in the annoying sexiness category

there's a scene that I mention in the next point that's pretty neat though!

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: HIGH POINTS! the past exists! best scene oooof the episode!

the Doctor is dying and asks the Tardis to give him a visual interface

The Doctor: Give me someone I like [Rose appears], (sarcastically) thanks, give me guilt. [Martha appears] Also guilt. [Donna appears] MORE GUILT!  Come on there must be someone in the Universe I haven’t screwed up yet! [Kid!Amy appears]

this also doubles as a moment where the Doctor acknowledges that his effect in Amy's life has been... less than great..... that perhaps Amy was not better off for meeting him.... Iiinteresting...

“SEXINESS”: Mels entire Thing is being sexy, but in this unhinged way, and then it gets muuuuch much worse with River, because River (as seen explored below in "politics") is Cu-RAAAAZY you see, so she can be so sexy and changeable and fucked up but in a sexy way, because she's a woman (wait this is also sexism, up in the objectification box with you!)

the Doctor says all of this basically

it's so prevalent throughout, because River is so prevalent throughout. and then she does the thing mentioned in the first point of admiring how hot she is, her breasts, curves, etcetcetc. sigh

because... she's.... a woman

also right at the beginning Mels is like "you didn't mention he was hot," and the Doctor all offended goes "you didn't mention I was hot!?" whatever

and when River is being all I'm sexy and matuuuure now, she presses herself up against the Doctor without his consent, and then when she runs off to... weigh... herself...... he covers his dick. S I G H

INTERNAL WORLD: I mean, it's Nazi Germany, but it does a shitty job, see below

POLITICS: we're in subjective land again, but I am... veeeeery tired of the way Hitler and Nazi Germany come up again and again in stuff like this

a lot of the time people do this for Flavour, rather than because there's anything important to say here and it's uncomfortable to me, this thing of writing Nazis for Spice

and of course it's also done to do a wee bit of Old Blighty Gee Whizz propaganda, because it's the Nazis, the ultimate bad guy, a good opportunity to let everyone know how much better the British are than the Nazis! it's just not good writing in my opinion, it's a simplistic depiction, it's dull, and it's politically a bit suspect

and for the next part: SHE'S A! PSYCHOPATH! I GET IT! YOU'VE SAID IT A MILLION TIMES IN THE SCENE!

River: I’m a psychopath, I’m not rude Amy: You are not a psychopath. Why would she be a psychopath? River: I was trained and conditioned for one purpose. I was born to kill the Doctor The Doctor: This is what they were building. My bespoke psychopath River: I’m all yours sweetie [kisses the Doctor]

firstly, takes "psychopath" away from M*ffat and puts it on the shelf next to "sociopath."

secondly, ooooh all the fucking. it's fine if she does all this boundary-crossing sexual shit to the Doctor because the Doctor is a bloke, and secretly all blokes like it

FULL RATING: 43/100 (if I can count….)

So the good is these couple of tidbits that give us something to work with, and also give a bit of emotional continuity (for the Doctor, not for Amy...)

while the bad is like. the setting. the characterisation. the emotional depth. the dialogue

on the upside, the next episode wasn't written by M*ffat

[variousqueerthings]

Vampires of Venice!

I mentioned in my last ranking that it's nice to see in s5 that deaths matter, and in this one it's very very clear. The Doctor is kind of pitying of the Saturnyne, until it turns out that the leader of them killed a girl. That's very Doctor... it makes me tempted to add another rating (Doctor Who Ethos) but I think it'll get a bit messy if I do, so we'll stick with what we've got

I also think I should have added the word "agency" to one of these -- agency perhaps to one of the sexism points, because I think there's a bit of that as an issue in this episode. so "agency" as part of sexism criteria, either in terms of how they're perceived or how they affect the plot)

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 6/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or her emotional interiority isn't given agency): 5/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 6/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 5/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 7/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 7/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 7/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 7/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 7/10

FULL RATING: 64/100 (if I can count….)

considering these rating's you'd think this was the strongest episode of the season, and it really isn't lol. it's a very silly episode, which is actually quite welcome, I think there should be silly episodes that aren't masterpieces. I do think the scores reflect that there's nothing ground-breaking happening in this episode, but nothing terrible either

that being said, I do not like what it says about Amy's and Rory's relationship and I don't know how that reflects in these particular kinds of ratings. I know that later on in the show they sort of sort it out and become ride-or-die, but at this point to get to that point... well, the show has some serious heavy lifting to do, and I'm not convinced it actually does it, rather than just dramatically alters the way it writes them at some point. we'll see

SO ONWARDS

OBJECTIFICATION: Amy is in her um. fourth? miniskirt. that's what she does, she wears miniskirts. at this point, one might be tempted to say, well lots of classic companions wore miniskirts, but the important thing there is... well, that was based in sexism too

also I threw off a whole point for this line from the Doctor: “blimey fish from space have never been so… buxom”

however considering there's a bunch of sexy vampire women in this, they're not actually objectified by the camera

PLOT-POINT: Rory tells the Doctor off for making people dangerous, because Amy doesn't understand this: “you know what’s dangerous about you, it’s not that you make people take risks, it’s that you make them want to impress you”

and so the Doctor later on yells at Amy to make her go back to the Tardis, in order to appease Rory: “we don’t discuss this. I tell you to do something Amy, and you do it” (imagine this being yelled)

and Amy is never a part of this discussion, either during or after. she just bounces onwards. She also goes from literally pretending that Rory is her brother and not her fiance, to making out with him, because now he's being manly and stuff I guess... so like, is the reason she's not so into Rory to begin with because he's not heroic enough? It's hinted at, but not really explored as something that is kind of an emotionally immature thing to do... it's one of those particular Moffatisms, where a woman is callous and sexually impetuous, which makes her a. hot b. in control of her own sexuality which is another way of being hot. this bit at the end:

Amy: “hey look at this, got my spaceship, got my boys, my work here is done!” Rory: “we are not her boys!” The Doctor: “yeah we are” Rory: “yeah we are”

the Doctor and Amy don't know each other very long, and Rory has been strung along For Years, while waiting for the Doctor and then graciously offered that he could come with them, after Rory was convinced that was it for them

COMPLEXITY: It's not a complicated plot and it doesn't need to be. Fish vampires. Good Old Doctor Who

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: So this whole plot is ostensibly to make Amy and Rory figure out their relationship, but it doesn't really manage it in my opinion. It does some things, but Rory doesn't really have much say over their relationship, he's just waiting for the yo-yo of her emotions to spring back

anyway, this could be figured out later on in the show through a long exploration of what their relationship means, but as an opening to that exploration, mainly Amy is kind of terrible to him

as for Plot, well... the cracks! and the Silence! and also there's some great back and forth between the Doctor and Helen McCrory, which reminds me of the Doctor and Anthony Head back in School Reunion

COMPANIONS MATTER: Amy does some good work infiltrating and letting in the Doctor and Rory, but then in the latter half not so much. mainly running after the Doctor who's solving the case

and of course there's Rory being mainly there to be laughed at... oh that "yours is bigger than mine" joke. nah nah nah, none of that

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: The A-plot is mainly the Doctor doing Doctor things. It's not beyond what we've seen in other Doctor Who, it's just that neither Amy nor Rory do much on the whooole

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: Not much one way or another, so I guess that makes it Fine

“SEXINESS”: there's not too much of this, but there is that final line, and the general vibe of that uncomfortable callousness, where Amy calls and Rory comes running

INTERNAL WORLD-BUILDING: I mean, it's fantasy Venice with Fish Vampires. One thing it does do is set itself as strangely believing in the plague at the time when the plague was no longer happening, which is a nice little flourish

POLITICS: Nothing mostly, but there is that aforementioned "Amy doesn't get a choice" thing

FULL RATING: 64/100 (if I can count….)

So this is an Episode. Nothing special on the whole, except Helen McCrory Kiiillls it and there's some lowkey incestuousness going on with those Fish Vampires

it's lowest points come in its averageness on the whole, but Mostly the mix of Amy not having emotional agency coupled with her being emotionally immature towards Rory in regards to their relationship

it's high points are that it's not super offensive on the whole