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TheSameIdiot said:
I liked Comer as the Doctor, but I felt like the show had fallen off. It became a chore to watch.

The Tenant seasons were my favorites. I think Moffat is too far up his own ass. That said, some of his stand-alone episodes are the best Who episodes out there. The God Complex is a favorite of mine.
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100%.

I love both Capaldi and Comer as actors, and think they both make great Doctors. But fuuuuck--me I was so sick of Moffat's writing by the end of Capaldi and it felt like the show had the good idea for Jodie to play the Doctor, but no idea what to do with her. Even Matt Smith's run gets tedious towards the end.

But Doctor Dances/Empty Child is still a top tier two-parter.
 
JakeEkiss said:
100%.

I love both Capaldi and Comer as actors, and think they both make great Doctors. But fuuuuck--me I was so sick of Moffat's writing by the end of Capaldi and it felt like the show had the good idea for Jodie to play the Doctor, but no idea what to do with her. Even Matt Smith's run gets tedious towards the end.

But Doctor Dances/Empty Child is still a top tier two-parter.
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I feel the same way. I love the Russell T. Davies camp. I have fond memories of even the cringiest RTD episodes for that reason. While Moffat succeeded in making a serious sci-fi show of a man flying through space in a police box, the episodes that don't work really don't work.

It was basically straight downhill from the last third of the Matt Smith run. Like Sherlock, it was too much Moffat. To no fault of Capaldi's own, I disliked his run as Doctor. He was too angry. The episodes were samey. By the time Comer came around, the show felt like it had run its course.

FWIW, I think that's okay. Star Trek goes through the same cycles. Reboot it in 15 years and it'll feel new again.
 
Jodie WHITTAKER...

I always felt Moffat was trying to do something in his episodes and seasons and I'd rather see someone swing big and maybe have some strikeouts than the Davies mode of going for over-the-top emotion in stories that don't hold together. I can't think of a single Davies season ender that really pulled things together well - his stuff was way more allegory and science-fantasy, while Moffat I think was more sci-fi grounded. I felt the second Davies era (Tennant/Gatwa) picked up on his worst qualities for long season arcs. (My suspicion is something went off the rails behind the scenes with the last minute switch in companions in the most recent season...)

I do think the show had started to slip during Capaldi's run as noted - he was a bit too angry (I think given his past British roles, this was maybe more expected and therefore accepted in the UK), and I think all writers and long running shows run out of (great) ideas...
 
fac said:
Jodie WHITTAKER...
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Whoops. That and mispelling Tennant are why I always Google whatever I'm talking about to make sure I've got it right. The one time I ignore it, and...
fac said:
I always felt Moffat was trying to do something in his episodes and seasons and I'd rather see someone swing big and maybe have some strikeouts than the Davies mode of going for over-the-top emotion in stories that don't hold together.
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That's fair.
fac said:
I can't think of a single Davies season ender that really pulled things together well - his stuff was way more allegory and science-fantasy, while Moffat I think was more sci-fi grounded. I felt the second Davies era (Tennant/Gatwa) picked up on his worst qualities for long season arcs.
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This is where I disagree. The companions are one of the biggest reasons I felt the show went downhill. I didn't find a single one compelling after Jenna Coleman left. Even Clara was a bit of an outlier. I didn't like Amy or Rory, either. Moffat is disinterested in that type of character building and emotional storytelling.
 
TheSameIdiot said:
Moffat is disinterested in that type of character building and emotional storytelling.
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I think one of my main issues with Moffat is that once I realized he's always angling for that moment where the hero can monologue sadly and or smugly about grand things I also realized that characters around the hero only do things to maneuver them into place for those speeches.

That works a few times. And in any individual instance you can justify it. But once it's happened a couple dozen times you start to get a little weary of it.
 
Actually, here's one for the Moffat crowd, how many of you folks watched Jekyll? I sort of expect it didn't age well, but I had a good time with that one.
 
Apparently a whole season of Rick and Morty dropped without my knowing?

I guess I gotta catch up, even though I've lost some interest because of the long gaps between seasons.
 
I liked the Amy and Rory characters, and Clara held the show together for me as I got used to Capaldi. I never felt there was much chemistry with Bill. I think they had decent story arcs and the characters were consistent.

But I think Moffat was more old school, in that the companions were not "equals" to the Doctor but were used as plot and narrative devices to propel the Doctor' story. One issue with the Whittaker and Gatwa years is that the companions solved too much, figured too much out. Davies did a bit too much of that with Rose and Martha as well. I think the companions are like the Doctor's emotional support humans or pets in some ways...its also why I wasn't a fan of the Doctor crushing on any of them.
 
fac said:
its also why I wasn't a fan of the Doctor crushing on any of them.
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I will say, it deeply undercuts the idea of the Doctor as a weird, ageless, time-traveling alien when he starts to get the hots for his mayfly companions, and I never really dug it. I get it. When you start casting 5 alarm smoke shows like Tennant next to 5 alarm smoke shows like Billie Piper there's a tendency to make the pretty people smooch, but that bit never worked on me. I loved those seasons, but I think making the Doctor have sexuality that way overall wasn't good for the character (I do realize it didn't exactly start there, the chemistry between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward is hard to miss given they were banging off camera, and they had McGann kiss his companion in the one outing they had).
 
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Watched through the first season of Dexter. I really liked the characters, and the mystery was compelling, but the moment the killer was introduced it was so obvious that HE was the killer, and prior to that I fairly easily guessed what his true identity would be revealed as. Great time, but don't really feel the need to watch the rest.

Moving onto watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel though... I saw the original movie on TV with my dad as a kid and rewatched it a few days ago, but past that, my knowledge of it was always just watching Bones with my parents and them always going "Hey, it's Angel!" any time Booth was on screen. A few episodes into Buffy though, and it's pretty fun. I liked the movie a bit, but the show's atmosphere skewing more towards something like Lost Boys + low budget horror is very appreciated.
 
Finally got caught up on Alien Earth. Very much enjoying it, despite sci-fi being one of my least favorite genres.

docsilence said:
The eyeball thing has become my favorite character in the whole series.
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Hard agree on this. So unsettling.
The infected sheep gives Black Phillip a run for his money for creepy animals. (I totally want an eyeball sheep figure now btw).

Also, loving Timothy Olyphant as Kirsch. He and Babou Ceesay as Kumi are killing it. Looking forward to them squaring off in the endgame.
 
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Alien: Earth still hasn't grabbed me like it has most folks, but I will say that as long as we aren't on the Maginot I'm not annoyed at it. It's nice spending time in the universe. Eagerly awaiting Kavalier's gruesome demise. Of course, the Eyeball is the break out star. Eyeball monster for president.
 
Ru1977 said:
I haven't started Alien: Earth yet, and may never since we're gonna cancel Hulu and Disney.
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I'd already set to cancel my sub as I don't keep D+ on unless there's a show I'm aching for, but yeah, who knows if I'll bother to bring it back. I've got it through the first week of October so I'll burn through the last of stuff I hadn't watched and was considering.
 
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