The Reel Rejects - DOCTOR WHO 14x3 Breakdown & Review

Episode Date: May 18, 2024

THE BEST OF THE NEW SERIES SO FAR?! Doctor Who Series 14 Episode 3 Full Reaction Watch Along:  https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects Save Money & Cancel Unwanted Subscriptions By Going To https://...rocketmoney.com/rejects  Now that we've seen Space Babies & The Devil's Chord it's onto a brand new adventure with The Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) & Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) as they stumble into the midst of an intergalactic warzone & an unexpected bottle episode as the doctor accidentally treads upon a futuristic landmine. Ex-Who Showrunner Steven Moffat returns to the writer's chair for the Third Episode of Russel T. Davies' Disney Plus run of the Timelord's saga.    Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Music Used In Manscaped Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Make your next vacation unforgettable. On Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Star of the Seas. It's everything you've loved about every family vacation you've ever been on, with mind-flowing thrills at the largest water park at sea, seven onboard pools for every level of chill, more than 40 ways to dine and drink, and even more to enjoy, at our award-winning private island, perfect day at Cocoa. This is the new Star of the Seas.
Starting point is 00:00:27 Click or tap the banner to find out more. Introducing the new Volvo XC90 with seven-seat versatility, Google built-in, and advanced safety features for all your precious cargo. The new Volvo XC90, designed for life. Visit volvocars.com slash us to learn more. At Sierra, discover great deals on top brand workout gear, like high-quality walking shoes, which might lead to another discovery. 40,000 steps, baby.
Starting point is 00:00:55 Who's on top now, Karen? You've taken the office step challenge, a step too far. Don't worry, though. Sierra also has yoga gear. It might be a good place to find your zen. Discover top brands at unexpectedly low prices. Sierra, let's get moving. This week's video is sponsored by Rocket Money, a personal finance app that I've been using for about a year and a half now before we ever partnered up with them. After the reaction, I'll tell you why I love them so much and what they are. All on tease. Let's do it. Damn, these last two episodes, feel nothing like Space Babies.
Starting point is 00:01:36 As true. The show sucks now. I hate both of these episodes. Bring back the silly, I say. This needed more farting. And that was an amazing bottle episode, for sure. And a way to deconstruct what the bottle is. I think midnight might still be my all-time favorite episode.
Starting point is 00:01:57 That is an all-al-timer. However, you know, like what they've done here, I think is really cool because they kept it, you know, a game of, it's like the end of Prisoner of Ascomaband and everyone just keeps coming in, just topping, you know, and it's like a play this scene. But they still managed to do it where it felt very sci-fi heavy the entire time. And this is one of those demonstrations to me of when sci-fi can be really cool allegories for commentary on society, right? You know, a lot of times, there's so many deaths. Deaths have been, there's many deaths and casualties in the name of religious wars for faith in something that is not tangible here. It's just for a belief system. And then, of course, the commentary on, you know, arms dealing as well. The business of war. The business of war, the ugliness of all this is very profitable.
Starting point is 00:02:53 And I think to focus it in on just these human experience. is the most powerful way you can actually do it while just making it a really strong competitive. Because that's all kind of like a backdrop. You know, all that is very much laced into, you know, this wonderful recipe of an episode.
Starting point is 00:03:16 But it's more about the immediacy of the stress of the situation and just, you know, having to survive as well. And then wrap it, and I love the wrap up that it was by the end of it. It's like while there's been a lot of these like bullshit wars fought, It's also saying, you know, not all versions of faith is bad.
Starting point is 00:03:35 You know, I've had this conversation kind of with a lot of people. Like I personally don't subscribe to any particular religion. However, there's plenty of stories I've seen about people involving faith that have brought me to tears that really moved me. And there's definitely people I know in real life who have faith, and I encourage them to maintain that because I see the kind of individual they are. And I loved, like, the ending moments here, especially when he's talked about, like, my dad's just dead, but having the faith that she can still be with him one day. I think that's really beautiful. And that's a great thing that, you know, latch on to instead of yelling at the kid being like, no, it's not true. And you carry that person's memory and you end in this iteration of reality.
Starting point is 00:04:16 You also have a fragment of them. Yeah. It's, I think there's also that. It's just the person's not gone because there are people who love them that can carry that on. too which is sort of like a more tangible version of that kind of faith well it's saying too about the thing that you leave behind is love and that love is what is that thing the keanu reeves said on stephen colbert just remember that right now oh what happens when we die yeah what happens when we die is the ones the ones who love us will miss us yeah and so that love that stays
Starting point is 00:04:51 around is with the individuals you leave behind yeah and to see that closing moment there was great. I think it's really cool to do an episode that has such a bleakness around it and to do this commentary in a way that just keeps you focus on the survival mechanism. And I think I like this game of just characters coming in. And the performance by Shrutigawa here was so strong. You know, because you have to represent like the physical struggle, the weight of this entire time. And simultaneously the it's like pure doctor to me where it's problem solving all the way till the very end to the last second countdown like this felt like so doctor who to me yeah and you know it helps like stephen moffitt's here uh writing this one did he write midnight who is that russell
Starting point is 00:05:44 d david i would be curious i mean i know they were probably collaborating a lot during that era and that was that was moffett was the showrunner then right i don't yeah i don't recall i don't i forget I feel like they would have at least both been on the team at that moment in time. Anyway, he's an amazing writer. And so to have this episode, I think he's the first one in this season that it's like it says he's the head writer of. That was amazing, man. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:14 And the way it grows from, you know, I like that they've been kind of throwing us these little curve balls or at least as of especially the previous episode. And now this one's starting off in another kind of doctor who mo. like, oh, okay, now we're going to do a futuristic space war story, which is another lane that Dr. Who occupies. And, like, when you're in town first meeting the daughter and everything, I was like, oh, we are doing a Star Wars this week. Because, you know, certainly some of the production values reminded me of that and some of the garb and everything. But, but yeah, starting off in like, okay, this is going to be a big epic, like space war and then transitioning into, no, this is just laying a couple key pieces down so that then we can start what begins as a
Starting point is 00:06:55 very immediate situation of just how do we not blow up the doctor and then zooming further and further out into yeah the complex circumstances and I liked that this mingled you know commentary that you know reflects heavily on history up till now but also speculation on how you know the current advancements and especially I yeah AI and algorithms will intermingle with that because I mean the Anglican Marines it just reminded me of like It's the Crusades again, you know, like the church is conquesting the world and, you know, certainly many, not perhaps every war, but many wars, you know, you can argue are conjured out of some sort of either, you know, nebulous boogeyman that is being sold to get conscripts and stuff or some kind of, yeah, precious resource we got to go in mine and whatever. And the more automated things become like, yeah, it is a future fantasy in a lot of ways. But at the same time, like, this. This was one of those future theoretical episodes where, yeah, the satire is clear, but also, you know, you can imagine how any number of the right few algorithms and systems put in place could create a future like this, you know, especially the bigger corporations and the war machines, so to speak, becomes. Well, a big part of the advancement of AI is the consistent fear of how human beings are no longer a necessary resource.
Starting point is 00:08:25 that they're very much expendable. Sure. So to start off on this, no. I just think it was actually really smartly written, too. Yeah. To set us up in the, where you don't even know what's up with the doctor, who are we exactly following here at the very beginning. Like, I was actually really invested in that when John was about to die from the ambulance.
Starting point is 00:08:45 I was really hooked into what was happening. I wasn't even thinking about where it was like the doctor and Ruby and how we're going to tie into that, as opposed to just starting off the doctor going to this planet and stepping on the landmine instead showing us. Because I feel like a lot of other Doctor Who episodes in the past would actually do that. They'd start off where they arrive on the planet and then he steps on the landmine and you're unveiling and learning the information. But to clue in the audience take you away from the doctor and Ruby's perspective, start off here as a bit of a prologue for the journey they're about to enter into actually makes the stakes feel that
Starting point is 00:09:19 much more present. Yeah. Because now you have an illustration of what you can latch on to. I think it's really smart writing versus what a lot of other doctor who episodes have definitely done in the past. Well, yeah. I'm sorry. Well, no, because yeah, you arrive in that conflict. It's like you arrive when you're like, oh, you're late. This guy just died. Yeah. And then, you know, instead of, yeah, breezing into it, like having fun. And then, oh, shit, the landmine, it's sort of like, oh, damn, we as the audience are already kind of bummed, I think, or dismayed that they show up, again, unawares. And then this happened. Yeah. Like that dual layer of conflict only we know about. and then the immediate conflict that's setting in on the doctor.
Starting point is 00:09:56 Yeah, showing you what happens when you step on this, that it's like immediate, it's not like a landmine where you take your foot. Like they establish the rules of the landmine pretty fast. They, it's once you step on it, you panic, everything goes off. Then you get killed and versus, you know, step on it. Then most movies, like, okay, I just got to remain here. And I got to find a way to get all this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got to balance, counterbalance.
Starting point is 00:10:16 Yeah, I got to shift the way to put some else on top of it. Yeah, I thought that was, I thought it was just really, that was, to me, I was really impressed with how they introduced that. Yeah. And the commentary, too, of course, with, like, there's so much happening here with the commentary of how AI is, is threatening in that way. Like, the whole thing would not even, there's less empathy, you know, as time will move on. There's less care for human beings. They literally like, ah, it's four weeks.
Starting point is 00:10:44 It's not enough time for you to heal. You're not really necessary. I'm going to kill you now, you know. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, blindness being a fatal disease. just because we decided it so or it doesn't match our bottom line. Doesn't match our bottom line. It doesn't fit within our time frame.
Starting point is 00:11:01 You're now expendable. I think this was a fascinating episode. I mean, devil's cord is more like my jam. But I love the hell out of this one a lot. I thought this was an amazing episode. It felt very, this felt like more Doctor Who to me than the other ones actually. Sure. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:11:21 In the quintessential binding of those elements. Oh, yeah, here's a multifaceted sort of commentary. What is this on a screwtrak? I am curious about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because normally that's how it's scrooge. I feel like we just got him out. I didn't even acknowledge it.
Starting point is 00:11:34 I feel like there's just like an unspoken thing where we all go. I guess that would just solve the episode right away now, wouldn't it? So I guess we let it go. But it is, it does create a question of did he just not have it on him? He seems to typically have it on him. And I don't remember him losing it definitively last time. Well, they said what I love about what they've been doing with Ruby is, She often asks a lot of questions the audience might ask.
Starting point is 00:11:57 And to me, I felt like that was one moment, unless John and I are here completely forgetting something. Feel free to correct us in the comments. I'm like, why didn't anyone bother to like bring that up? Yeah. Or like send Ruby to get my sonic screw chiro. I left it in the TARDIS or something. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:12:16 Or if it's in my pocket, can I just get to it without shifting too much weight? Yeah. And you would imagine the doctor would be able to do that. And that is at least a pretty noticeable detail that I am curious as to what choice. I can't imagine they just forgot about it in the writing stage. So it's maybe the one thing about the episode that I'm like, ah, maybe a beat just to pay that off. Because this too felt like it had substantial time to do what it wanted to do.
Starting point is 00:12:45 And it felt like, I remember especially watching Space Babies being like, there are a lot of threads of interesting potential commentary, but mostly this is about the adventure and it's about the dynamic between. doctor and ruby whereas here like yeah you have a pretty rich you know sort of subtext that you can project on to that they're not fully only focusing on even though it's such a huge part of the episode uh but yeah you have again a conscientious bottle and even moments that initially feel like they're a bit abrupt like when the other guy dies the guy who's in love with mundy dies um at first i was like wow that was pretty quick but then the reveal of like well the ambulances are gathering
Starting point is 00:13:23 and they're revolting now because they're trying to protect themselves sort of helped finesse that for me even. So it felt like, you know, the amount of time they had here was kind of just right and it was able to do... The only other thing I would complain about
Starting point is 00:13:36 is the daughter, not to shade the actress necessarily, but the way she was written was... I felt like they wrote a much younger character and cast an actress who was a bit too old to convince me that she would just ignore everything
Starting point is 00:13:49 and watch these pictures on this hologram and not... you know, be a little bit more aware of the environment. Oh, yeah, that's a definite flaw. But she comes across precocious until that moment. Yeah, and then it's just like, how old are you supposed to be? Yeah. But other than that, yeah, it seems like what it wanted to achieve and the emotional
Starting point is 00:14:10 flavors it wanted to encompass, you know, allowed for breathing room, but also for a tight pace for a lot of tension. And the performances, especially in Chutti Gatwa, like was like the amount You know, you're shooting this inevitably over several days, and his performance in particular has to be so gradual and so mounting and so consistent with itself and like the tear drops at certain times that would come out. Like the, he really embodied so much here and, you know, just the, again, the sort of direct railing on the whole thoughts and prayers motif and the thoughts and prayers motif not only is a bumper sticker for. for complacency, but a bumper sticker for like pretending to be benevolent when you're actively being malevolent, you know, and it did it in a way that's obvious, but it didn't to me feel as sort of in your face as some of those things can feel in Doctor Who sometimes when they're going for like a conscious message or whatever. Yeah. But yeah, and good production of it like this is
Starting point is 00:15:20 the show that I feel like too. Even when you can tell it's kind of volume-y, I think that's actually okay. It's like it doesn't bother me here as much as it does in a Star Wars or something because there's always been a charming amount of seams that you can kind of tell are there. And like the effects by comparison to anything that have come before look beautiful and are lovely. And I love that they took the time to be like, you've never seen sunrise on another planet. Disney. Yeah. But it is, but it does have like some Disney production values, but I actually don't. It's not bothering me. As long as it's not affecting the story, I'm cool with it. Yeah, absolutely. And I think the last bit of messaging that it seemed to be doing in a very apparent way
Starting point is 00:16:02 was in order to solve the day, it wasn't about getting an AI to comply. It was about finding the humanity. Yeah. And the humanity is what helped save the day at the end of it all. It was the act of love that saved it all. And that preservation of human. humanity is very important. It's kind of crazy to know that Stephen Moffey used chat to E.E.T. to write this episode. Yeah, that's true. It's true. They just brought him into touch up the script. It's a while this part. Yeah, yeah. You know, they just prompted a lot of good prompts, you know, that's all you need. I mean, technically the doctor used AI to solve a situation. He gave it the right prompt. You don't know if his soul's actually in there. Maybe it was just
Starting point is 00:16:41 a particularly good prompt. And those landmines are like, I kept thinking of the self-checkouts. like Ralph's. Sure. It's like I move like a bag of chips and they're like, whoa, whoa, you're stealing right. Light scratch. Yeah, if you stand here, we'll just blow up the register in five minutes so that we don't lose a cheese block or something like that or any food that's too light for the sensor to understand.
Starting point is 00:17:13 Yeah, that was amazing. Great. I thought that was great. That's terrific. We pointed out a couple of things we had issues. with. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:17:23 There were some things. We never got to see Posh Graham's tattoo. We don't need to. And, uh, and, you know, love guy was cool. He was all right. I didn't care that he died after he shot Ruby. No, I, I at least came around to like, ah, damn, I'm actually annoyed at you to, to then being like, oh, well, this is sad.
Starting point is 00:17:44 I feel for him. I completely understand why he shot Ruby at the same time. I understand. I have a side here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I, I, I, I, I managed to draw the different power dynamics in a way that once they shifted to their story perspective for that brief moment, I was like, oh, okay. I, yeah, I feel, I feel for you. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:04 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, good shit. I just, I, I, I think that was actually a missing beat was that that was never acknowledged to him that, uh, you know, like, no, it wasn't, she wasn't trying to shoot me, you know. They sort of do, but I guess it does get a little lost. I kept getting chocked up to, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter now.
Starting point is 00:18:24 Yeah. Which is true. It doesn't matter now. Yeah. Done is done and we're screwed. He just died confused. Yeah. Yeah, he did.
Starting point is 00:18:33 I feel like that's kind of tragic, yeah. He just died. I don't know what's exactly happening right now. I just confess my love. I'm not even sure if I should have shot that lady. And oh, I'm dead. This dude just convinced me that maybe all of them been fighting here for is pointless. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:46 Poor guy. And when did he record his? thingy because uh because the dad recorded his moment before death and it sounds like you can record it just in case so i guess he just did this a long time the dad never did yeah yeah okay that makes sense i guess that's what i would do yeah if i love somebody that much um damn and no mudmon that's fun tease i like that they teased us with monsters that we didn't need to actually even have and the ambulances are like different doleks yeah well i mean would shooty It's the one little lick I want to get in here just for my own sick, is the way his performance builds throughout of, I love a performance when someone is in a panic or stress, and they're doing everything they can to not project that.
Starting point is 00:19:41 Yes. Because it immediately creates a multitude of emotions that is going on with the character. Like my favorite, I think my favorite DeCaprio performance, it's not exactly this, something like this, like it's the departed of someone who's just a hyperparanoid and on edge, but has to try to keep his cool the whole time. And you watch with the doctor here of just everything just keeps getting worse and he cannot move from this situation and he has to control himself. And I thought shoot he got just embodied that so well. that when he's, like, getting mad at Mundy for the faith war and everything like that, it's like in a different set of circumstances, he might not be such an aggressive ass about it. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:31 But due to the rush, due to the fact Ruby's now dying, due to everything that's happening, he's going to be a little bit pushy about this. You're the first manager I've been able to speak to on the matter. Yeah. The first human face I can put to this. Reject Nation, when I heard that this company wanted to partner up with us yet again, I was so enthusiastic about it. Reason being, I had already been using their product for well over a year by the point we first ever collaborated with them.
Starting point is 00:21:03 So the fact that we get to have this ongoing partnership just makes me a happy camper. And that is, of course, for the app, Rocket Money. Now, if you guys don't know what Rocket Money is, don't worry, I got you covered. I'll tell you about them in just a little bit. But before that, I wanted to share with you guys why I love this app so much. It's actually a very personal reason. You see, like many of you guys, I too grew up in a home where money did not come easily, needless to say. The predominant conversation in my family household was undoubtedly about financial struggle, financial worry. And that does a number on you. So it certainly seeped into my adulthood when I was trying to learn how to become financially independent. And to this day, as someone who talks a lot about working as mental health, who's proudly going to therapy. No matter how much lack we might have in money one day or how much success we might have in money sometimes, I still have to have this ongoing conversation about my relationship with money. I'm half
Starting point is 00:21:57 Filipino, so my mom's always talking to me about taxes to this day. I think, though, it does start with how you manage the finances you currently have. See, before I ever acquired any type of reasonable living money, I heard someone speak about how you have to learn what to do with a dollar now. essentially the talk was about don't wait until you have like a bunch of money and then start figuring out what to do with it afterwards like you got a bunch of toys to play with if you want to acquire more in life you have to first figure out what you're going to do with what you currently have and that's why i love this app it's applicable for any financial stage you are at in life come to think about it it would have been very beneficial for me when i was in a real struggle boat years ago so in summary
Starting point is 00:22:38 as someone who is constantly having an ongoing working relationship with how to handle money Rocket Money has helped make that relationship a lot healthier in my life. So what are they if you don't know what they are? What they are is a personal finance app that simplifies managing money by canceling unnecessary subscriptions, lowering your bills, and crafting a budget that fits your specific lifestyle. I'm telling you, Reject Nation, there's no greater feeling than when you look at the following month and you see that, oh my God, I have saved money. I've spent less and progress equals happiness.
Starting point is 00:23:09 The best part is rocket money does a lot of the heavy lifting by analyzing your spending, then customizes notifications to stay within your budget goals. It's not just about saving money. It's about actively seeing and feeling your financial progress. And one of my favorite qualities about their service, too, is when it comes to monthly subscriptions. We've been blessed to be able to expand the team and hire more people, but with that in mind, that also comes with a lot more expenses.
Starting point is 00:23:32 So as this business has been growing, having to track exuber an amount more has been just as important. So now I have to track a lot of these business expenses. Then I got to track my own personal finances. So in general, it's already been helping out a lot with that. But as you want to make things more efficient, you often find yourself signing up for a lot of apps for free trials that you quickly forget about. Next thing you know, you're paying a hefty fine for it. I'm sure, even if you don't have a YouTube channel, there's some way you can relate with that. You see, because they track your monthly subscriptions and they make it super easy to cancel the ones you do not use. A couple of clicks and you're putting money back into your pocket. So if you're
Starting point is 00:24:06 like me, have you found hidden subscriptions or pay for services that you totally forgot about. Rocket money was a lifesaver in uncovering those and even negotiated some of my bills to about, like I'd say, down by 20%. So if you want to join me on this journey of consistently taking care of your finances, do not want to start later. The best time is to start right now. So please do yourself a favor. Check out Rocket Money and see how much you too can be saving. That way you can stop wasting money on things you don't use. Believe me, when it came to my accountant and tax season, that was a really big note. Visit rocketmoney.com slash rejects. They've helped me, and I'm confident they'll do the same for you. That's rocket money.com slash rejects. Your wallet will thank you.
Starting point is 00:24:48 Because Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of $500 million and canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's features. So a great way to support your lifestyle and a great way to support the channel is by going and downloading the Rocket Money app yourself. And if it does help you, please go ahead, draw me a message. I'd love to hear if there's some way by just conveying this message, it has helped you out too. Thank you, Reject Nation. I loved how his performance started off as like, it's okay, I got to be Zen.
Starting point is 00:25:20 And he's like slowly losing that Zen over time. Yeah. Or he just has to become the intense doctor who takes control to find the solution. Yeah. And it's a performance where it's so out of his control and he's trying to gain control the entire time. It's such a limitation. I thought it was a very, this out of, I would say devil's cord is my favorite episode so far of Shuti Gatwa. I would say this is my favorite performance of Shuti Gatwa, though, out of all the devil, out of all the Doctor Who episodes that
Starting point is 00:25:50 he's been in, though. Agree. Yeah. Easily, yeah. But guys, what did you think about this episode? Is it too woke? Well, it's just going to remain too woke as long as the doctor is black and queer. It's just a fact of life now. The thing about the YouTube algorithm now is that there's so many people who, and I don't know if this happens for you guys, but on our end, God, it's just, it's, it's, it's kind of like nonstop. I get this mixture on our end of a lot of positive endorsing Dr. Who stuff, and then I get the complete, you know, railing into Dr. Who. on any given day doctor who is completely like has no one watching it and is about to fail like catastrophically or it's terrific and it's the best thing yeah yeah yeah and i i i sometimes i know some some of those you just never really see about the thing i find interesting about it
Starting point is 00:26:49 is it's like the same there's the same kind of channels who will be like uh marvel's dead marvels too woke or whatever but then when a marvel's a hit you never hear them talk about it right Sure. Or then they'll say it's a hip because it wasn't woke or something. Some bullshit. Or they'll just still complain that it's dying. They'll find something, right? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:27:07 And I think we never, and I think Doctor Who is in that same camp now. I know it's been on that trajectory ever since Jody Whitaker. Because the second you cast a woman to be the doctor, you just kind of expect that to pop off. For a bunch of people to start caring so they can be mad about that. Yeah, it's, it's,
Starting point is 00:27:26 but obvious, Like, I was here and I obviously wasn't a big fan. I'm a big fan of Doctor Who, but I wasn't a big fan of Space Babies. And I can look at that episode and go, I don't really like this episode. And here's why. Versus some of these other, the reason why I bring up some of these other channels, why they annoy me so much is because they're just looking for what can we say to shit on this? And, yeah, because you can't, I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:27:57 You can't watch an episode like this. You could probably bitch about whatever you want. Honestly, I could expect those channels to be like, oh, ratings suck, visual effects, or whatever the hell they want to say, right? The commentary, poking, you're taking jabs, whatever the hell you want to say. But I'm like, will they acknowledge
Starting point is 00:28:16 how great of a performance shoot he got what I gave though? Because it is, to me, it's almost undeniable of how great of a performance he gave here. No, it can't be good because it's too woke. Well, you can't say it's good because it's the one of people are watching me here for. Yeah. It's fucking great. I can't give credit to the face of why this is woke and going broke.
Starting point is 00:28:37 It's just not doable. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I think a lot of... I watch it all now. I just watch it all. I watch the hate videos. I watch the love videos.
Starting point is 00:28:47 Well, I feel like a lot of the hate videos, too, just amount to this thing is failing because me and people who think this way don't like it is ultimately the message I frequently get. Kind of, yeah. Because then you can pick out any detail and be like, that's bad, that's bad, that's bad. And everyone agrees. And, you know, everyone is an arbitrary figure. But my favorite channel to watch a Doctor Who has been Who culture. They're amazing. They're their celebration at Doctor Who. I love their. I tend to watch a video. There's like at least once or twice a week. They're amazing. If you haven't seen their breakdowns, I'm looking for their breakdown for this episode too. They're a fantastic. classic channel. I kind of just like preview whether the haters are saying, I just don't spend my time with it. It just becomes like this becomes repetitive talking boys after a certain point. Yeah. And again, Doctor Who is a is a is a character, is a story, is a franchise that that embodies to me. If ever I could imagine a fandom
Starting point is 00:29:47 that shows its love, sometimes with tough love and criticism, it's like there's a markedly different flavor of that. It's weird. It's like there are so many people completely about a doctor who i get the sense wouldn't have cared before and it's not like doctor who is an uncomplainable thing there are lots of things people or types of things people don't like or don't think are good about classic eras new eras whatever else uh and so it's yeah like there's one corner of vitriol that's just kind of committed to to that which is just the antith is the antithesis of doctor who to me is that kind of thinking and because of the kind of thinking of doctor who i i i sometimes i like to sometimes check out the complete opposite opinion yeah because i'm like let me try
Starting point is 00:30:32 to understand what they're saying and let me test my not like hey are they right should i change yeah and let me let me let me you know i i i'm always the kind of individual who wants to hear whatever someone is speaking authentically even if it's a completely different point of view for me i want to i just want to at least hear it and be receptive and open-minded to it then once in a while you come across these, and you're like, yeah, I kind of see what's going on now. Yeah, I get what perspective you're coming from and you're not actually trying to engage with the show to make your point. And to be fair, I understand that the doctor who has made a lot, like it's a major swing and a major difference for decades to go from a man to then going to a
Starting point is 00:31:15 woman. It is a major swing at the end of the day. And that's, and I can understand how some people, when they see the writing combined with that change, where you see, especially with that era of how that writing was for that, of the shift in there, I can get on board with at least understanding why people started falling off of Doctor Who, because some of those episodes for us were not easy to sit through just because of the writing and nothing to do with Jody Whitaker itself.
Starting point is 00:31:46 And we were excited about Jody Whitaker. And then, you know, coming through here, you get kind of a different flavor, Even the tenant episodes didn't exactly play out how I thought they would play out when you hear Russell T. Davies is coming. I really enjoyed the hell out of them. But they were so different. And often when you go for something so different, even though I feel like there's plenty there that still feels like Doctor Who, but when you go for something so different at the same time, of course, there's going to be people who just hate change or if they become a little bit more upfront with commentating on things that you hear people commentating about today. Then, of course, they're going to rile it up because we're all living this Twitter world where we get riled up about shit that doesn't really affect us most of the time. Or people get riled up about the, like, yeah, it's like I can understand if you're upset about it changed to canon, like the whole thing about the doctor's origin that they introduced with
Starting point is 00:32:39 Jody Whitaker and the lost child and all that stuff. Like I get if you're not about that choice or, yeah, some kind of, any element that suggests to me that you took the episode in and had your issues. I'm like, that's fine. You know, that's part of, I think, just the up and down of watching Doctor Who for so long. And part of the price that comes with the amount of swings the show is able to take. And, yeah, there are certain things where it's like, you know, the concept of the doctor as a character, to me, leaves the door wide open to have anybody be the doctor. Because, of course, because why not?
Starting point is 00:33:13 She's not even a human being. Exactly. Not a human being. And, you know, constantly changing form and regeneration. Like, it's not that big of a step to be like, woman or non-white. dude but yeah you build that up over so much like like that's on the side of things where I personally can't really understand a certain like I can amount understanding need to acclimate but I can't really understand that's a much better way to put it I would understand yeah
Starting point is 00:33:38 it's a much better way to put it instead of just being like I'm not about this like because it's just in the DNA of the character I even get like by comparison someone goes Peter Parker is so established as this one kind of guy like I don't think I think it really matters what race Peter Parker is, but Peter Parker has been white for so long, I get it. But the doctor, yeah, the whole point baked into the character is this person changes. Yeah. And so like, yeah, there's, I think, a difference between needing to acclimate. And maybe you don't ultimately click with it one way or another.
Starting point is 00:34:12 But yeah, there's a certain level of surface rejection that always suggests like acclimation was never on your mind to begin with. And that's unfortunate because, yeah, watching these episodes here, like I would agree, Space Babies, while charming in certain ways is certainly. not in my, you know, uh, you know, a greater Doctor Who episodes, but, you know, it's hard to look at something like these and, and deny the quality that's at work there. Yeah. I don't like, you know, when studios do obvious pandering as well, when it's so obvious what they're doing. Yeah, disingenuousness sucks. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I hate it. I hate it. And it tend to pick up on a lack of sincerity. I hate it. And I think sometimes when they make certain casting choices, they'll immediately, people will immediately assume
Starting point is 00:34:58 that this is all it's going to be is a bunch of diversity pandering and if you don't give the show a chance it's like if someone if you go oh they made the doctor a woman right you might go oh they're just doing this for the pandering or whatever
Starting point is 00:35:15 put a chicken and make her gay maybe you have that thought but if you check out the episodes and it's like is the episodes really about that are the episodes is the show really about that You got to go find out, is the actual context truly about that? The doctor is now a black guy. Is it really about him being black?
Starting point is 00:35:36 It's all black issues now. It's only black lives matter. And that's to summarize, I wasn't prepared to talk about this. So I know I've been like zigzagging like a mofo here. That's my essence, though, what I'm speaking about is some people have this preconceived notion and they just run with that preconceived notion instead of going to check it out for what it is.
Starting point is 00:36:00 There have been a lot of people who don't like the fact that they Kashutti Gatwa, right? It's been a big thing. He's had to acknowledge it himself. And then you go watch and I'm like, there's nothing here about him like being a black guy.
Starting point is 00:36:11 No, he's a timeless alien who exists in multiformes and he carries the spirit, just as Jody Whitaker did, carry the spirit and essence of who we know this character to be the whimsy, the brilliance, the cantankerousness in different shades and levels. But, but again, I feel like they are still on fire in terms of casting these roles,
Starting point is 00:36:34 no matter how the episodes pan out or the major swings at certain arcs pan out. And that's what bothers me when I hear like, oh, yeah, Dr. Woke. It's like, okay, if it's an episode about some issue, I understand that dog whistle. But if it's just like, again, there's a certain amount of it that, yeah, just because this doctor looks the way that they do, you know, and we know this about them. You know, it is woke or whatever you want to label it as. And, yeah, he's just acting. He's just doing the adventure, being the character.
Starting point is 00:37:03 And yeah, it's never in your face about what kind of casting choice he is. He's just doing the role. And then all that being said, if you don't like the writing, if you don't like the direction, if you don't like the acting, I just go, okay, I respect that. Like that, I just go. You're right. Okay. All right. Absolutely. I'm sure some people hate my favorite episodes and love ones I think are pretty bad. Yeah, absolutely. That's the part I'm talking about. It's like if you don't like it, if you're a Doctor Who fan, you're like, I just really don't like the way the writing has been this season. So I just can't continue it. Then cool. You know, let's leave it at that. Check in later. That's a great thing about Doctor Who. You can always just check in later. It's just this other side that. I was like, God, these. I feel like there's. You know, and I'm being really personal about it.
Starting point is 00:37:56 It's that there's been so much investment in this show on our end. My life, you know, and it is painful when you see that the thing that it garners the most attention generally for it are the ones who just isolate things to cause so much slander around Doctor. To make a device of culture war. And I'm like, ah, it just, it doesn't. upset me. It does. I know I ought to not be upset by it, but it does. It's, it's upsetting when I'm like, man, it's, there's, the show is so much not about that. Yeah. And you're not giving it a chance. And it's always, even in the things they're mad about, if they're like, oh, they're doing woke politics or, or trying to promote this thing, even if that's it. I'm like, well, the intention
Starting point is 00:38:46 behind that is that really even a bad thing if they're doing? You know, obviously, like I said, I hate disingenuous. I hate when things are not sincere where you can feel like business placating, diversity pandering, whatever the hell, right? I'm not a fan of that either. At the same time, when you look at the actual writing of what they are intending to say, is it really
Starting point is 00:39:06 that bad what they're trying to say? And it's really out of line with what they've been saying for so long, at least about, you know, populism and humanity and all sorts of other things. They're always saying, be equal, be nicer to the planet, be nicer to people. Don't just judge other
Starting point is 00:39:22 species and try to exterminate them immediately. Every point don't come back to the same shit. Individuals matter, small acts of rebellion and or love matter. It's the same shit that Doctor is insane the entire time, you know, people
Starting point is 00:39:38 are equal, be nice, and you know, to be kind to the world. Yeah. It's the same shit. Kindness. That's all they're saying. Intelligence, cleverness. Whatever messaging you're mad about, I'm like,
Starting point is 00:39:49 it's really just another version of You knew has already been saying since the freaking Eccleston days. And I can't speak to the classic who, but I'm assuming the classic who as well. But to the Ackleson, then, like, yeah, it's the same freaking message. They've always been saying. And it's just, it's weird because to Doctor Who has crested so heavily into the mainstream. But this is like a handful of a decade or more ago, this was a show for nerds and theater kids. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:40:18 And sci-fi heads. And, yeah, so, like, half the conversation that has arisen as of Whitaker and now, especially as of Nchutti Gatwa, like, is very much like, are you new? Where have you been? Like, are you just upset that now you're aware of a new kind of media that sort of borders on the thing you hate? Yeah. And if those hater people are watching this video, I'm like, you're at the wrong channel, man. Yeah. But thank you for the watch time. Thanks for making it this far. Yeah, appreciate you. We clearly not part of that side of the internet for this show. We'll just, yeah, we'll just complain when it doesn't actually land in the writing is lackluster or something like that. But I don't know, too, I feel like I appreciate a show like this.
Starting point is 00:41:03 It's always swinging because sometimes they miss, but sometimes they hit. Yeah. And it's kind of rare now that you get something that's allowed to swing and that's kind of part of what we love about it. Yeah. All right. We're done. We did it. Lex, listen, Lex, you are the most valuable person here at the Patreon.
Starting point is 00:41:30 You want to know why? Yeah, I want to know why. Because each one of you is individually the most valuable person of the Patreon. Sounds like a cop out. You cop out. But listen up, because it gets better. I'm never going to cop out on this one. Because you're the best out of all the best ones.
Starting point is 00:41:48 And that's a hard job to do. other people to do. Because Lex is here to uplift the rest of, the patrons, the least of us and the most of us. Lex, you know, it's got to be a fight to the death. There's got to be one patron left at the end of this and my money's on you. So I'm just letting you know that now, all right? When we break that whole cue.
Starting point is 00:42:12 That makes Lex the best. Dude, Lex is dedicated. Lex has a broad taste, which means that Lex probably. can adapt to many different situations. I'm sure there's other people who are listening to this right now, their Patreon, who's like, well, I'm on that. Lex is mononymous, which is special. Explain that in simple terms.
Starting point is 00:42:30 It just means you go by one name. Okay. And it's like nice and succinct. You know, you could put that on a building and add corp at the end. Got it. And that's all you need. She has mono. Got it.
Starting point is 00:42:41 Yes, you've got mono, and we hope you get better. And don't be sharing sodas with people because that's how you get mono. And that's why you are isolated here from the rest of the patrons, mostly because we don't want them to catch Mono. Got it. That's what's, yeah. So, you know, I just want to make you feel better about having Mono by, you know, embellishing your greatness. Right. Okay.
Starting point is 00:43:05 You know, by, but, but, you know, honestly, just, you know, take some time, get better, and let us know when you are so that we can let you back in to the greater group. Cool. I think you really solidify by Lex is the best. The best. Yeah, no, no. If you don't understand how many layers deep this was, then that's just on you. You don't even know, all right?
Starting point is 00:43:30 That's how great you are, is you can't even acknowledge your own greatness. Right. Because you stifled that so that other people don't feel intimidated by your greatness. And that's an act of greatness in and of itself that is impossible to ignore. So you're failing.
Starting point is 00:43:46 but in the greatest of ways. You know what I mean? Yeah. That's what they teach us in improv. Fail, big. Happy shout-out. Happy shout-out, Lex. We love you.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.