New Who Review for "School Reunion"
Oct. 14th, 2006 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmakerAs I have stated before this is the gem of the season for me. It may be that I am an old Whovian who was brought up in the school of Tom Baker and Liz Sladen or that I still have a soft spot for that bloody tin dog or I have a thing for Evil Giles but this one rocked my world. No, it is not the perfect episode and there are plot holes you could drive a Mac Truck through (or a small hatchback compact car) but there is a love you can feel coming off the screen.
Seeing Liz Sladen again as Sarah Jane Smith was great. Having Rose see what happens to companions eventually is priceless. It sets up a number of dynamics that we have not seen before in Doctor Who. K-9 was icing on the cake. The villains were fun in their righteousness. They believed what they were doing was the best thing for the universe. I so want ASH to play the Master now. I loved the fact that it looked like he could un-hinge his jaw and swallow things whole.
Of course spoilers behind the cut and in the comments.
"Oh my g*d! I’m the tin dog!" and "Forget the shooty dog-thing." are among my favorite lines from this episode. There are a lot of quotable ones here. Mickey figuring out where he is in the gang was a great scene. The actor managed to act with a lump of metal and make it believable.
But the scene that just rocks my socks is when Sarah Jane finds the TARDIS and then the Doctor. From the lighting to the music (or lack there of) to the actors that scene plays so well. Sarah Jane’s gambit of emotions upon seeing the Doctor again are brilliantly played by Liz Sladen. Rose and Sarah Jane having a Monster Off to see who has been in more peril was hilarious. Then comparing notes on the Doctor to see if some of his habits go from regeneration to regeneration. Then the Doctor walks in as they laugh and point at him is the capper with his reaction.
ASH is wonderful. He plays villain very well. The alien way he held his body was magnificent. You watch him just walk and you know something very odd is going on. Then there was a scream which was augmented with SFX but the base weird sound came from Tony’s throat. His delivery of his argument to the Doctor about why what they were doing was best for everyone was brilliant.
I like that Kenny gave them the escape from being trapped. The kid was smart just not uber chip smart (Ariel now refused to eat the French fries in school after this episode) and any where else he would be the smartest kid in the school. And the kids at the end cheering Kenny for blowing up the school was fun.
But this episode is really about Sarah Jane and what happens after the Doctor leaves you with a head full of memories of what is and what could be. This episode gave the character a funny sort of closure to the events earlier in her life. She really couldn’t go forward without a proper good-bye and knowing that it was probably the last time she was going to see him which she is now OK with. It hit all the right notes with me.
I am grateful that this particular episode was produced.
Seeing Liz Sladen again as Sarah Jane Smith was great. Having Rose see what happens to companions eventually is priceless. It sets up a number of dynamics that we have not seen before in Doctor Who. K-9 was icing on the cake. The villains were fun in their righteousness. They believed what they were doing was the best thing for the universe. I so want ASH to play the Master now. I loved the fact that it looked like he could un-hinge his jaw and swallow things whole.
Of course spoilers behind the cut and in the comments.
"Oh my g*d! I’m the tin dog!" and "Forget the shooty dog-thing." are among my favorite lines from this episode. There are a lot of quotable ones here. Mickey figuring out where he is in the gang was a great scene. The actor managed to act with a lump of metal and make it believable.
But the scene that just rocks my socks is when Sarah Jane finds the TARDIS and then the Doctor. From the lighting to the music (or lack there of) to the actors that scene plays so well. Sarah Jane’s gambit of emotions upon seeing the Doctor again are brilliantly played by Liz Sladen. Rose and Sarah Jane having a Monster Off to see who has been in more peril was hilarious. Then comparing notes on the Doctor to see if some of his habits go from regeneration to regeneration. Then the Doctor walks in as they laugh and point at him is the capper with his reaction.
ASH is wonderful. He plays villain very well. The alien way he held his body was magnificent. You watch him just walk and you know something very odd is going on. Then there was a scream which was augmented with SFX but the base weird sound came from Tony’s throat. His delivery of his argument to the Doctor about why what they were doing was best for everyone was brilliant.
I like that Kenny gave them the escape from being trapped. The kid was smart just not uber chip smart (Ariel now refused to eat the French fries in school after this episode) and any where else he would be the smartest kid in the school. And the kids at the end cheering Kenny for blowing up the school was fun.
But this episode is really about Sarah Jane and what happens after the Doctor leaves you with a head full of memories of what is and what could be. This episode gave the character a funny sort of closure to the events earlier in her life. She really couldn’t go forward without a proper good-bye and knowing that it was probably the last time she was going to see him which she is now OK with. It hit all the right notes with me.
I am grateful that this particular episode was produced.
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-14 01:45 pm (UTC)Take a look (http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/09_september/14/sarah.shtml).
Note: The "CBBC" referred to is the BBC's childrens' brand.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-14 04:04 pm (UTC)We don't get BBC America on our cable and more is the pity that they don't plan on adding it when they up the number of channels.
Thanks for the heads up.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-14 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-14 03:43 pm (UTC)My favorite bit was the exchange with Mickey and K-9 in the car.
"We. Are in. A car."
LOL!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-14 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-14 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-14 08:47 pm (UTC)I haven't seen a lot of classic Who, but the whole former-companion dynamic worked so well I don't think it was necessary. And yay for evil Giles!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-16 04:54 pm (UTC)And Kath, I totally agree with you about ASH being the Master. After watching this episode several months ago we were all talking about that!