Mercy is the mark of a great man. Guess I'm just a good man. Well, I'm all right.

Mal ,'Shindig'


Boxed Set, Vol. V: Just a Hint of Denial and a Dash of Retcon  

A topic for the discussion of Doctor Who, Arrow, and The Flash. Beware possible invasions of iZombie, Sleepy Hollow, or pretty much any other "genre" (read: sci fi, superhero, or fantasy) show that captures our fancy. Expect adult content and discussion of the Big Gay Sex.

Marvel superheroes are discussed over at the MCU thread.

Whitefont all unaired in the U.S. ep discussion, identifying it as such, and including the show and ep title in blackfont.

Blackfont is allowed after the show has aired on the east coast.

This is NOT a general TV discussion thread.


Polter-Cow - Nov 17, 2009 9:50:29 pm PST #10912 of 30001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

What happened after hottie blonde V girl walked through the silver door smiling smugly?

She tells Anna that Erica's son is the one, and they should use him. Anna tells her she's proud of her, to which she replies, "Thank you, mother." Dun dun DUN!!!

I just watched "Living in Harmony." Ahahahaha what the fuck??


Typo Boy - Nov 17, 2009 10:09:21 pm PST #10913 of 30001
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.

The original (1960's) "Living in Harmony"? Yeah, if that is WTF wait until you see the series end.


Jessica - Nov 18, 2009 4:00:53 am PST #10914 of 30001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Yeah, if that is WTF wait until you see the series end.

Because Fall Out just clears everything right up?


Polter-Cow - Nov 18, 2009 5:47:04 am PST #10915 of 30001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

I think he meant that it is even more WTF than randomly turning your show into a Western for an episode.


Jessica - Nov 18, 2009 6:02:29 am PST #10916 of 30001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

AH! I missed the word "wait" in there.


Frankenbuddha - Nov 18, 2009 6:04:05 am PST #10917 of 30001
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"

I think he meant that it is even more WTF than randomly turning your show into a Western for an episode.

Well, you've also got The Girl Who was Death coming up, which also begins in a completely random place. I think that one at least has the usual credits, though.

MacGoohan had always wanted to do a Western, and they had a 17 episode allotment to fill. This is the part of the season where they started scrambling for story ideas.


§ ita § - Nov 18, 2009 6:14:44 am PST #10918 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

So the Vs have been around for 20 years, huh?

I think I need to see a little more ground gained by the resistance--I was glad the fifth column was duping Wash, because the Vs were seeming too impregnable, and that takes away from my enjoyment of the story. I also didn't know where they could go with Erika being revealed to them so soon. So this makes more sense.

The son is still a waste of bandwidth. I'd be surprised if whatever nefarious plan they have in wait for him can change that.

Only one episode left until they rework it.


Nora Deirdre - Nov 18, 2009 6:27:27 am PST #10919 of 30001
I’m responsible for my own happiness? I can’t even be responsible for my own breakfast! (Bojack Horseman)

Okay, how did Erica know the combination to that room?? I mean, she is clearly awesome in many ways, but there has to be a reason.

There was an establishing shot of her watching a V enter the code with a minimum of stealth.


Polter-Cow - Nov 18, 2009 6:29:14 am PST #10920 of 30001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

I think that one at least has the usual credits, though.

The fake credits were hysterical.

It took me ten or fifteen minutes to realize that it was bizarre that everyone had American accents.

There was an establishing shot of her watching a V enter the code with a minimum of stealth.

I figured it was something like that, but I missed it. Thanks.


Shir - Nov 18, 2009 6:52:17 am PST #10921 of 30001
"And that's why God Almighty gave us fire insurance and the public defender".

This is the theory of DW and its theme which I promised to translate yesterday. I'm spoiler-fonting it, just in case - though it was published over 6 months ago, and based on a known fanon theory (so he says - I'm a new fan).

The theory in Hebrew, along the audio files, can be found here: [link]

I'm also sorry, but I didn't have the time to check my translation and to proofread it: I'm sure there are mistakes, but I'm so dead tired.

Anyway, here goes:

Perhaps one of the only moves that has been done in the new series, and the only one that made the Master's return worthy, was the addition of the bassline of the series into the show itself. As you probably remember, the Master complained that he keeps hearing in his head, since childhood, some kind of drums - four quick beatings, ta ta ta tam, ta ta ta tam, ta ta ta tam. He also used this rhythm in order to penetrate his subconscious messages into the heads of the UK citizens so he'll get elected as the PM.

All sorts of explanations to this can be given in the Dr. Who universe, even if you ignore the true reason ("it's cool"). The Master started hearing these drums after he looked into the vortex, maybe that's where they're from? Maybe it's the rhythm of time itself? This would explain the existence of the rhythm in the theme music of the show.

Another explanation, far more interesting, is that the Master has always been there in the background, not just a nemesis who keeps running into the Doctor the whole time, but that they're connected somehow, in more of an essential way. The other warnings that the Doctor received that "his song will come to end soon", first from the Ood, and now from the passenger with the prophetic powers, suggesting this way.

The theme music of the show was innovative at its time. Today, when electronic music is everywhere it's hard to understand it, but back then, the composer who worked in the BBC radiophonic workshop had to built the instruments that made this unforgettable tune on her own.

If we'll ignore the background noises, they're two elements to the tune: the threatening bass beats, and the grating, mysterious whistle that's playing on them. The combination between these too elements creates one of the most affective themes I know to the series that later been known as the one who's been watched from behind the couch.

(audio file - the first Doctor's theme)

Over the three next Doctors no major changes have been made - only prolonged the end so it'll fit the animation of the more recent seasons.

(audio file - the fourth Doctor's theme)

Only from the fifth Doctor and so on, major changes were done to the theme. The original taping has been abandoned, the instruments were replaced, a loud, irritating effect was added to the beginning, And the seven Doctor got something very 80's to it.

(audio file - Fifth)
(audio file - Six)
(audio file - Seven)

We'll ignore the Eighth (that was a TV movie anyway, so it doesn't have a theme like the others). The Ninth (and the Tenth, who share the same theme as much as I can tell) Doctor, returned to the sources, but added some wind instruments and over dramatic violins to the classic theme.

(audio file - the new theme)

So what will happen when "the Doctor's song will end"? Will the theme will change, for the first time in the series history with the move to the 11th Doctor? And what's the connection between the 4 knocks of the Master and the Doctor? Will it be discovered that the shadow of the Master was after the Doctor from the beginning of his travels in time and (continued...)