Christina Watches: Gilmore Girls S01 E4

This week on the Gilmore Girls watch, we're up to The Deer Hunter.

In this episode, Rory gets a D on her first big paper, so she and Lorelai stay up studying for a week to prepare her for her big Shakespeare test.

Unfortunately, they both sleep in on the day of the test, and Rory gets hit by a deer while driving Lorelai's car on the way to school. That makes her too late to take the test. Yes, you heard that right. She gets hit by a deer.

She argues with her teacher, and when he doesn't allow her to join her classmates in taking the test, she loses it. She (finally!) calls out both Paris and Tristan, and she's sent to the office.

Lorelai is called, and when she arrives and learns that Rory wasn't allowed to take the test, SHE loses it on both Mr. Medina, and the headmaster, Mr. Charleston. Mr. Charleston sends the women home with orders to give serious thought about whether or not Rory belongs at Chilton.

Rory and Lorelai have a heart to heart, and Rory chooses to stay at the prep school. She knows that once she catches up with the other students, she'll start to shine again.

Meanwhile, Sookie is having her own issues. The inn's restaurant gets a great review in a local magazine, but Sookie focuses on the fact that the reviewer called her risotto, "fine". Just fine won't do for her.
Sookie does some sleuthing and figures out that the reviewer had paired the wrong wine with the risotto. 
Sookie finds the reviewers address, goes to his house, and in a very weird scene, makes the reviewer eat her newly prepared risotto with the proper glass of wine. 
It's a weird scene because Sookie never once looks at the reviewer--she actually keeps her back to the guy the whole time she's talking to him, and stares off at nothing. Because of this, we also never get to see his face.
I don't know if this was because he's going to be someone important in the future and we need to be surprised about that, or if it was just an oddly (and stupidly, imo) written scene.

There's also some obvious chemistry between Lorelai and Mr. Medina, and I'm going to guess they start dating, making things awkward for Rory. 

So, another mostly boring episode. And this time, I didn't even get enough Michel to make it worthwhile.
Come on, Gilmore Girls! You're killin' me here! Please, please, get better!

Christina Watches: Gilmore Girls S01 E3

Welcome back to my "Gilmore Girls" watch! This time it's Kill Me Now. 

In this episode, Rory has to choose a sport to play at school, and so she goes golfing with her grandfather to learn the game.
Along the way they bond, and they actually have a great time together.

Lorelai, on the other hand, is planning a huge double-twin wedding at the inn, and when she hears that Rory and Richard actually had fun together, she gets jealous and petty. She starts a fight with Rory about boob sizes, which, of course, is resolved before the episode ends.

Michel is his usual grumpy self, and I actually laughed out loud three or four times during this episode because of him. He gets some awesome lines.

Sookie is another great background player, and her banter with Jackson is adorable and amusing.

In the end, everyone learnt a valuable lesson, and I've learnt that the show is slowly improving and finding it's stride. 

However, I still feel like I'm waiting for something to happen....anything, really. I'm not yet emotionally invested, and that's very important for me when it comes to TV shows.
I'm also not yet in love with the main characters. I hope something happens soon to fix that.
I know, I know, it's only episode 3...but if I compare this to other shows I love, like Grey's Anatomy, Veronica Mars, or Friday Night Lights, by now I was already completely hooked and invested in the show.

Will that happen soon with Gilmore Girls? I truly hope so. I want to feel the way you all did when you watched it for the first time!

Until next time!

Christina Watches: Gilmore Girls S01 E2

Welcome to episode 2 of my "Gilmore Girls" watch, The Lorelais' First Day At Chilton!

In this episode, Lorelai oversleeps on Rory's first day at her new school, which sets off a bad day domino effect.

Because she's slept in, she can't make it to the dry cleaners first to pick up her nice clothes. She has to resort to wearing a "Daisy Duke" outfit to meet the headmaster at Chilton. Great first impression!

To make things worse, Emily, who is apparently a good friend of the new headmaster's, has also decided to lend her support to Rory by showing up at Chilton. Lorelai is not only horribly dressed, but more nervous and awkward than usual. 

Once she's actually able to get to class, Rory notices that she's already made an enemy. Paris, the current smarty-pants "it" girl was able to steal Rory's school file. After reading that Rory is smart, motivated, and possibly after a job with the school paper--Paris's territory--jealousy rears its ugly head.
And to make things even worse, Rory accidentally ruins Paris's history project when she knocks it out of Paris's arms.

The boys of Chilton don't seem to be much better. The rich hottie, Tristan (played by current hottie, Chad Michael Murray!), weirdly insists on calling Rory, "Mary", which Lorelai later explains is because of Rory's "virginal" demeanor.

Lorelai herself isn't having the greatest day. Emily calls her numerous times, telling Lorelai she'd like to buy Rory's school clothes, a school parking spot...a car...
While she means well, Lorelai finally blows up at her. She wants to do it all herself, and she doesn't need her parents help, thank you very much!

We also get to know a teeny bit more about our background players:
Michel is as French and sassy as ever.
Sookie is as endearing as she is a death trap.
Lane desperately wants to be a normal kid, but her very overprotective mother constantly gets in the way.
Miss Patty, the chain-smoking dance teacher seems to be a town staple.
Drella, the slightly-rude harpist that Lorelai hired to play in the lobby of the inn.
Babette, the hillybilly neighbour (played by legend, Sally Struthers!).
And in some possible foreshadowing, Luke comes across as a wee bit jealous when one of the Chilton dads asks Lorelai out. Surprisingly, considering how promiscuously she comes across, Lorelai declines the offer. She's more worried about Rory's rep than in her own. I feel like this will be a trend throughout the show. 

While the second episode was better, it's still a very slow-moving show. Literally EVERYONE is full of sass, and that gets on my nerves. One or two characters, okay. Everyone? Just stop.

But I can tell that it's still trying to find its feet, and it has huge potential, so I'll keep watching. 

Can someone who's seen the series please let me know how soon it gets GOOD? ;)

See y'all next time!

Christina Watches: Gilmore Girls S01 E1

Hello, and welcome to what I hope will be a new series of posts here on Just A Girl Geek!

Many moons ago, I put up a poll and some of you voted for the next teen show you wanted me to watch, and blog about, from the beginning.
Well, with many apologies, I threw that poll out the window. Now, I may go back one day and blog about the show you all chose....but today is not that day.

Yesterday, huge news hit the interwebs when it was announced that Netflix would be reviving Gilmore Girls. I've been meaning to watch the show forever, and this feels like a great opportunity to finally write about a show from the very beginning.

Please understand that I don't have a timeline here. I may go weeks between posts about Gilmore Girls. Life happens. I know you all understand. But I do hope you'll stay with me as I watch, write, laugh and yeah, definitely cry over Rory, Lorelai, and the seven seasons of their lives.

So, let's begin with the pilot!

In episode 1, we're obviously introduced to the cast of many characters. There's Lorelai, the fun, beautiful, young, open and moderately successful mom. Lorelai runs an inn.
Rory, the 16 year old daughter of Lorelai.
Sookie, the incredibly clumsy cook that works at the inn.
Lane, Rory's best friend.
Michel, the French, and absolutely hilarious desk clerk that works for Lorelai.
Luke, the health nut who owns the diner Lorelai and Rory frequent.
Dean, the hot boy that crushes on Rory.
And Emily and Richard, Lorelai's rich, and estranged, parents.

Of course, I may have some of these characters wrong. I've only watched one episode, and I'm guessing what most of their roles are.

So! In episode one, Rory is accepted into a very expensive prep school, and Lorelai has to ask her parents for help with the tuition.
Her parents agrees to pay, on one condition: they must be a bigger part of their daughter, and their granddaughters, lives.

It's explained that Lorelai had Rory very young, at age 16, and a mysterious baby daddy named Christopher is somehow still in the picture.
Lorelai's parents were none too pleased when she didn't marry Christopher, and this, along with the teenage pregnancy, is what caused the rift between them.

Meanwhile, Rory, at first very excited to have gotten into Chilton Prep school, meets a new boy at her soon-to-be old school and has second thoughts about leaving.

By the end, Rory realizes the sacrifices Lorelai has has to make to send her to the prep school, and she agrees to go.

My first impressions of Gilmore Girls is that it's a very dated show. There are tons of late '90s/early 2000s pop culture mentions, and the music is also classic.
I absolutely love Michel, and I hope he sticks around for the duration.
Jared Padalecki is absolutely adorable as Dean--and it's so hilarious that his character is named Dean.
I've already fallen in love with Lorelai--I can relate to her on so many levels that it's kinda spooky.
I like Rory as well, but I feel like it's going to take me a few more episodes to get to know who she is and why I need to love her.To be honest, if I didn't know from friends and reviews and Emmy nods that Gilmore Girls is a great, must-see show, I don't think I would have continued past the pilot.

But most shows have a rough first season. Buffy comes to mind, as does Supernatural. And so I'll stick with it, and I hope you do too.

See you all next time!

Doctor Who: The Girl Who Died

So we’ve all been waiting MONTHS for this episode, right?! I mean, MAISIE WILLIAMS is guest starring! I just hope we haven’t worked it up to be bigger than it is.

Well, let’s see!

Clara is floating in space (wearing Ten’s spacesuit, I might add!), with a space-spider crawling up her leg.

The Doctor is under attack on the TARDIS.

He figures out where Clara is and materializes around her, just in the nick of time…oops, but out of the frying pan and into the fire!

When he they land, they’re surrounded by Vikings who draw their swords and break the sonic sunglasses!

Queue the opening credits…which aren’t nearly as rocking as they were last week!

A Viking village; The hero Vikings return, with a chained Doctor and Clara in tow. But the Doctor has a plan, as he keeps telling Clara….Riiiiiight.

Maisie Williams greets the heroes as they return. She’d had a nightmare that they’d all died. But yay, they’re all okay. A Viking gives her half of the broken sonic sunglasses.

The Doctor stares at her. Does he know her? He says he doesn’t but….Hmm…

The Doctor breaks out of the chains and tries to scare the primitive Vikings with a deep voice and a yoyo. He says he’s Odin…Um, and then Odin appears in the sky, so….whoops.

Odin sends huge mechanical welder-type dudes down to take the strongest Vikings to Valhalla.

Clara gets to Ashildr (Maisie William’s character) and tells her how to open her chains with the sonic sunglasses. The welders see the technology being used and take both Clara and Ashildr.

Valhalla is apparently a metal room, and if you try to leave it, you get vaporized. So, yay?

They have no choice but to leave when the walls of the room start to get smaller and push them into the corridor where the vaporizer is.

The Vikings are all vaporized, but Clara and Ashildr get through the door on the other end. Odin arrives and asks about the sonic sunglasses.

Clara realizes that Odin hasn’t killed them because he’s worried about their advanced tech, and he may not win the fight against their people if he starts one.

Odin then drinks a yummy juice of testosterone from the warriors he just killed. Mmmm…testosterone…

Clara almost has him talked out of fighting, but Ashildr’s anger gets in the way as she challenges him to war for what he’s done to her people. D’oh!

They make a date to have a nice war the next day, and then he changes his face to…something we don’t get to see. Yet!

The Doctor is reading his diary as Odin sends Clara and Ashildr back to the village. Um what is that diary?!? Since when is that a thing?!

He’s read in his diary that the race is a deadly race called the Mire.

The Doctor tries to convince the rest of the village to flee, but they decide to stay and fight. Of course.

A baby starts to cry, and the Doctor translates. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. Wonderful writing by Matheson and Moffat so far.

The Doctor leaves. He won’t help them fight a war. The earth is safe, humanity isn’t in danger. It’s just one village….and this is sounding awfully familiar. Just one village. Just one person…Like Pompeii? Like Donna asking to save just one? Whoa…

The Doctor tries to explain to Clara that if he saves this one village, the Mire will return like ripples in a pond.

The baby starts crying again, and Clara makes him translate. He does, and again it’s heartbreaking. The baby says something about fire and water…Again, I’m reminded of Pompeii. Is this purposeful??

The Doctor has decided to stay. Clara knows before he says so because the baby stops crying. Babies can sense danger, and I suppose there’s less danger now that he’s staying to help.

The Doctor begins to train them in sword fighting—and he gives them new names!

He trains them with wooden swords, and then gives them real swords…which starts a domino effect when one of them faints and a horse starts a fire in the village. It’s a really hilariously written scene.

Clara and the Doctor have a long chat. He seems tired of always having to watch out for her. She’s tired of him never having a plan until he’s almost killed. So…they’re kind of at a stalemate, then.

The Doctor enters Ashildr’s tent, where she’s fighting a wooden puppet. They talk, and she tells him she knows they’re all going to die.

The Doctor tells her she should leave, and in a very touching scene, she explains that, although she knows she’s different…although everyone there knows she’s different from them, she’s loved. It’s her place in the world. For her, leaving would be death itself.

Her father enters and promises to keep her safe. Through the window, they all see Lofty taking his baby to the boat house.

Something about that gives the Doctor his epitome! Fire in the water! I have no idea what it means yet, but his excitement is always so contagious!

The Doctor calls Clara and explains his plan, which involves the electric eels that the village has in the boat house…Yeah, I don’t get it either. Let’s watch as they prepare the plan!

Okay, that was fun! But now, WAR!

Odin and his ten welders arrive on the planet, where a merry party has begun! Lofty is playing the ring toss, and he tosses a ring at one of the mechanical welders. After the welder grabs the ring, we see that it’s attached to a copper wire (where did they get copper wire?!), which is attached to the eel barrels. The welders are electrocuted, while others are broken apart by very strong magnets! 

WAUGH, THEY’RE NOT MECHANICAL AT ALL, THEY’RE UGLY CREEPY ALIENS FULL OF TEETH-FACES!

The Doctor has gotten his hands on one of the welder helmets, and it’s Ashildr’s time to shine!

She puts the helmet on, and a huge snake enters the party! It’s HUGE and ANGRY!

The welders all retreat and teleport away, leaving Odin by himself. The snake turns into one of Ashildr’s wooden puppets—I guess she was able to project what she wanted them to see into their minds with the helmet?

Clara has recorded everything on her phone, and the Doctor threatens to send it out into the universe, destroying the Mire’s reputation. I mean, no one would really be afraid of them if they’re shown running from wooden dragons and fishermen, right?

The Doctor teleports Odin back to his ship, which leaves with its tail between its legs. But not before promising that “we haven’t seen the last of him”, or some such.

Ashildr’s father goes to celebrate with the girl, but she doesn’t respond from beneath the helmet. They pull it off the girl, and find that she’s dead.

Her heart failed, and the Doctor realizes that it’s his fault. He plugged her into the helmet and “used her up like a battery”.

Clara tries to console him, but he’s sick of losing people. And then…something happens.

Flashbacks to the first time he saw his new face.  Reflections in the water. “Who frowned me this face?” What is happening? Why do I have goosebumps?! WHY AM I ALMOST CRYING?!

He knows why he chose his face! HE KNOWS!

OKAY, WAIT. WAIT. I CAN’T SEE. I CAN’T SEE THROUGH MY TEARS TO EVEN WRITE. I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING. I’M LITERALLY SOBBING. UGLY TEARS. YOU GUYS, HALP ME. I CAN’T.

POMPEII. DONNA. MY BELOVED DONNA. I KNEW IT. I SAW IT DIDN’T I?! DIDN’T I SAY IT UP THERE?! POMPEII!!!!! HIS FACE! TEN! AHHHHHHHHHH MY HEART!!!!!

I’M SORRY I’M SCREAMING. I CAN’T SEEM TO STOP. I STILL CAN’T SEE VERY WELL THROUGH THESE TEARS.

His face. He chose the face he did…the face of Caecilius to REMIND HIM that HE’S THE GOD DAMN DOCTOR, AND HE SAVES PEOPLE. Like Donna had to remind him so long ago! MY SWEET, SWEET DONNA.

YOU GUYS THIS EPISODE! AND IT’S NOT DONE YET!

The Doctor runs to where Ashildr is lying. He takes a medical kit from the Mire helmet and reprograms it. It dissolves into Ashildr’s forehead, and starts to repair her. She wakes! She’s alive!

But, ohhhhh….he’s made her immortal. Oh my god. He gives a second medical kit to her father to give to, “Whoever she wants”. Which means “to whomever she can stand being with for eternity”. 

Oh, this is going to come back to haunt him forever. And it’s wonderful! I can see her being an enemy way down the line, right? Like, ten thousand years from now, when she’s half-insane from losing everyone she loves over and over and over...Er, is that dark? Yeah, that’s dark. Funny, how my mind works…heh…Um…

As Clara and the Doctor get back to the TARDIS, he explains to Clara what he’s done to Ashildr.  He was angry, emotional. He wonders he he’s made a terrible mistake.

And, oh my god. There’s more. THERE’S MORE. He explains that now, in a way, because of the alien tech inside of her, Ashildr is now, A HYBRID.   A HYBRID, YOU GUYS! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS!?!?!?

Okay, okay! Let’s go back to Davros. Remember? What did he say? Something about a prophesy on Gallifrey? A prophesy about a HYBRID RACE?!?!?!?!?!!? YOU GUYS! WE THOUGHT THAT MEANT A DALEK/TIMELORD HYBRID!

Did the Doctor just make the prophesy come true?! A human/Mire hybrid instead?!

AND THAT ENDING!!! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU SHE GOES EVIL!  Look at her poor face. Look at how it goes from happy, to curious, to sad, to EVIL, as the world revolves and eventually explodes around her. I LOVE THIS!

Guys, this season is so far blowing it out of the park! The last three episodes have been great!

Okay, I remembered this time. Here are my favourite lines:

• The Doctor: “I’m not actually police, that’s just what it says on the box.”
• 
  
• The Doctor: “No, no, not Vikings! I’m not in the mood for Vikings!”
• 
  
• The Doctor: “People talk about premonition as if it’s something strange; it’s not. It’s just remembering in the wrong direction.”
• 
  
• The Doctor: “When I say jump, you say ‘How high?”. Unless it’s across a gap of some kind, which of course means you jump horizontally.”
• 
  
• The Doctor: “Why has Lofty stolen a baby?!”
• 
  
• Clara: “What’s happened?! Have you trapped your finger in something again?”
• 
  
• Donna: “Just someone. Not the whole town. Just save someone.”
• 
  
• The Doctor: “I’M THE DOCTOR, AND I SAVE PEOPLE. AND IF ANYONE HAPPENS TO BE LISTENING, ANYONE WITH ANY KIND OF A PROBLEM WITH THAT, TO HELL WITH YOU!”

Go watch the next time trailer, and I’ll see you next time!

Doctor Who: Before the Flood

HI OKAY FORGET THE SMALL TALK THE DOCTOR IS A GHOST AND WE NEED TO FIND OUT HOW THAT HAPPENED AND HOW HE GETS FIXED! HERE WE GO! (If you have no idea wtf I’m talking about, please read my previous Doctor Who recap)

We open with the Doctor breaking the fourth wall and telling us a story about Beethoven: Imagine a time traveller was a huge fan of Beethoven, and had gone back to visit the musician. But when he goes back, he realizes that Beethoven has never been born. So the time traveller publishes all of Beethoven’s music himself. So who really created the music? Hmm..…and then we go right into a rocking-awesome opening credits!

…I have no idea what that has to do with the Doctor being a ghost, but it was pretty damn awesome!

The Doctor, O’Donnell and Bennett have landed in 1980. As O’Donnell summarizes, pre-Harold Saxon, pre-Minister of War…Minister of War? The Doctor begins to ask, but thinks better of it. He’ll find out soon enough. And I hope we do, too!

The trio comes across the alien craft. It’s wide open, and the alien is still inside. The Doctor tells the others that the craft is actually a hearse. The suspension chamber is still on the craft, as is the power cell. And there’s no writing on the wall.

Up runs black-eyed dude, but he’s alive, with no black eyes. Now he’s like a little moleman! And he’s a funeral director. He’s come to earth to bury the alien on the craft, who he calls the Fisher King.

Back to the future (Ha! See what I did there?!), Clara, Cass and Lunn watch the ghost-Doctor through the glass. Cass realizes that the ghost-Doctor is saying something different than the other ghosts. He’s repeating all of their names, over and over. Moran, Pritchard, Prentiss, O’Donnell, Clara… (NOT Lunn! Interesting!)… But who’s Prentiss? That’s not a name we know yet!

Clara’s phone rings, and it’s the Doctor, calling from the future. Clara tells him that he’s a ghost outside the base. The Doctor realizes that he has to die. Fixed point, I guess? I’m not 100% sure why, really. But okay. He has to die.

Clara argues. He’s given her “something else to be”, and he can’t die and take that away. He says there are rules and he can’t change them (since when?!). He tells Clara he’ll do what he can.

In the past, Moleman enters the ship. The Fisher King is gone, and the writing is on the wall! A shadow appears, and we cut to the Doctor, Bennett and O’Donnell on the TARDIS.

The Doctor is still talking to Clara. She notices that the ghost-Doctor’s coat is torn on the shoulder, and she also tells him that what the ghost-Doctor is saying is different. The Doctor explains that Prentiss is Moleman. Then ghost-Doctor walks through the wall and into the base!

Ghost-Doctor goes to the panel and opens the safe room, letting out the other ghosts. The Doctor wants to talk to ghost-him. He tries, and the ghost-Doctor’s message changes. He now says, “The chamber will open tonight.”

The Doctor tells Clara to get into the safe room, to not let the phone out of her sight. It won’t work in the faraday cage, so she’s to leave it outside and go out to answer it if it rings. The Doctor needs to know exactly what his ghost is doing at all times.

The Doctor, Bennett and O’Donnell leave the TARDIS, only to find Moleman dead in the alien craft, and the writing on the wall. The Fisher King did it himself. He took the suspension chamber into the church.

Suddenly, there’s a loud roar! The trio runs back for the TARDIS, but they’re cut off! They get split up and hide. The Fisher King is HUGE! I mean, MASSIVE! It finds O’Donnell, and she dies in Bennett’s arms.

Bennett questions the Doctor about the list. Who’s next? Ghost-Doctor has been repeating the names in order of their deaths…and CLARA is next! AHHHH!

Clara watches out the window at the phone. O’Donnell’s ghost pops up in front of her, just outside the faraday cage. O’Donnell takes Clara’s phone and walks off.

The Doctor and Bennett are back on the TARDIS, and the Doctor plans to break the rules. He’s going back to the base to save Clara, and to not die. But the TARDIS has other ideas. The cloister bell sounds, and they land right back in 1980--only now they’re 30 minutes backwards! He’s locked in his own time stream! The TARDIS won’t let him leave, and now they have to wait until time catches up with them. Seeing both Doctors in the same timeline reminds me of “Father’s Day”. God, that was a heartbreaking episode. Uh, sorry. I wandered a bit there…

Bennett wants to save Prentiss and O’Donnell, but the Doctor won’t allow it.

On the base, Clara is doing her own deducing. She realizes that the ghosts won’t hurt Lunn because he’s never seen the words on the craft. He should be safe to go get the phone.  Cass argues against it, but Lunn agrees to go.

On Earth, Bennett tries to run out to save O’Donnell, but the Doctor stops him. They wrestle briefly, and the Doctor’s coat is ripped. He sends Bennett back to the TARDIS, and he goes by himself to face the Fisher King.

The Doctor goes into the church, and, of course, into the creepy church basement. The suspension chamber is open. The Doctor speaks to someone in the dark. He tells the Fisher King, I guess?  what he’s seen in the future. Death, ghosts. The Fisher King wants the ghosts. He wants many ghosts; enough to make an armada and wake him from his sleep.

On the base, the suspension chamber lights up, and begins to beep.

Lunn is in a corridor, and the ghosts find him. They surround him, but don’t attack. Clara was right. They aren’t interested in him.

On earth, the Doctor questions the Fisher King; what will happen when his people arrive?

The Fisher King will drain the oceans and put the human in chains.

The Doctor tells the Fisher King that the earth is protected. By him!

The reply? “Yes. One man, lost in time.” Well when you put it that way….gulp.

On the base, Lunn grabs the phone, but the ghosts lock him in, away from the others.

The Fisher King finally shows himself, and he’s huge, but also UGLY! BLECH.

On earth, Cass and Clara decide to go find Lunn. They get separated when Cass decides to go off on her own.

Moran stalks Cass, dragging an axe behind him. It’s creepy as hell, because she can’t hear the sound of it dragging along the floor!

The Doctor and the Fisher King bicker a bit, until the Doctor gives one of his speeches and tells the Fisher King how horrible he is and that, “this is where your story ends.”

And on the base, the suspension chamber does more beeping and lighting.

THIS IS INTENSE, YOU GUYS! The damn axe dragging, and then silence when Cass is shown, and then noise again with the axe and Moran…I CAN’T HANDLE THIS.

BUT OH MY GOD SHE KNEELS AND FEELS THE VIBRATION IN THE FLOOR WITH HER HAND. AND SHE DUCKS OUT OF THE WAY JUST IN TIME! YOU GO, CASS!

Cass runs, and finds Clara!

Um, and then confusion? The Doctor can’t be killed and used as a beacon because he “got rid of the words”? No one will die; no one is coming to save the Fisher King. Wut?

Clara and Cass get to Lunn, but it’s a trap. The ghosts come through the walls. The trio runs back to the faraday cage.

On Earth, OH MY GOD THE DOCTOR LIES YOU GUYS! I FORGOT! I NEED TO NOT FORGET THAT! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

The Doctor LIED to the Fisher King! Of course the words are still there! Of course he still has them in his mind! And the Doctor has also taken the power cell! HE EXPLODES THE DAMN DAM! THE DOCTOR DID IT ALL ALONG! OH MY GOD!

The TARDIS starts to leave with Bennett inside! It's going back to the future! (HA, I did it again!)

The dam is bursting! Water is flooding the base! The water hits the Fisher King full force! He's dead! The flood has taken him!

In the future, Clara, Lunn and Cass run into the room where the suspension chamber is! The ghosts are upon them! The chamber opens! OUT POPS THE DOCTOR!  HE WAS IN THE SUSPENSION CHAMBER!

They all run into the computer room! The Doctor inserts his sonic glasses into the computer! The Fisher King is roaring! The ghosts leave and walk away, answering the Fisher King’s call! They go into the faraday cage, and it’s the ghost-Doctor roaring! He called the ghosts away! The Doctor locks the ghosts in the faraday cage!

…omg, I can’t breathe. This is insane.

With everyone now safe, and Clara wearing the sonic sunglasses, the Doctor explains that his ghost was a hologram beamed through the sonic glasses. He uses the glasses to erase the words from Clara and Cass.

Bennett watches the ghosts in the cage and asks what will happen to them. The Doctor explains that UNIT will take them away in the cage and destroy the alien craft.

Bennett makes Lunn tell Cass how he feels about her. It’s too late for him and O’Donnell, and he doesn’t want Lunn to suffer the same fate. D’aww.

Lunn does it, and Cass kisses him. D’AWW!

Back on the TARDIS, the Doctor explains how he told himself to do all the things he did; get into the chamber, protect Clara…but omg it’s so complicated and confusing.

AND WE’RE BACK TO BEETHOVEN OH MY GAWD WHITHOUSE, YOU BLOODY GENIUS! WHO CREATED BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH? WHEN DID THE DOCTOR FIRST HAVE THE IDEAS TO PLANT THE WORDS HIS GHOSTS SAID?!

…and then that little knowing smirk and shrug to the camera! HA!

Okay, you guys, I LOVED the second part of this two-parter! The first part was good, but this was a really good episode! Great writing, great story, not too many huge plot-holes! We may almost be back on track here!

Um, so I forgot to do my favourite lines. SORRY, I WAS A LITTLE BUSY WITH THE WHOLE GHOST-DOCTOR THING!

I’ll remember next time. See you soon!

Doctor Who: Under the Lake

Okay guys, we’re going to try something different from here on out. If you’ve followed the other shows I’ve recapped, you may be familiar with my saying that they’re more of a reaction, less a recap. I usually like to write as I watch, which often leads to the use of ALL CAPS as I scream at the show I’m writing about, a few light (or not so light) cursing, and tons of ???’s and !!!’s.

With Doctor Who, I do things differently. I watch the show once with no interruptions, and take it all in. Then I watch it again, and I write my recap during that second watch. I do things this way with Doctor Who because it’s such a meaty and often confusing show, I don’t want to miss anything. I want to make sure I catch every word so you all don’t miss anything either.

Sadly, because there’s so much great TV to watch these days, and so little time for me to watch it, I’m gonna switch things up. My Doctor Who recaps are now going to be reactions. I promise to TRY not to miss anything, but if I do, please forgive me. And keep an eye on this post throughout the week, as edits may occur as I think of more theories and post them, or realize something important I missed.

Okay, here we go with Under The Lake!

We open about a hundred years in the future, on an underwater base. I love the diversity of the cast this week, and having the show’s first deaf guest star is a really fantastic addition. Well done, Mr. Whithouse! (he’s the writer of this episode, and a fan favourite. Yay)

So, on the underwater base, they discover a craft of some sort. How it was missed before is mystifying to them all. Oh! Creepy black-eyes dude is seen reflected in some glass! Okay, this is getting interesting…

On the strange craft they discover strange writing. One of them mentions that the material used has never before been seen on earth. So…aliens?

Suddenly the weird ghost-guy appears and attacks one of the crew. There’s an explosion, and another of the crew members dies in the blast. The rest are able to get away from the fire. Once they’re all safe behind a closed door, they turn to see the ghost of their former crew member…and the creepy guy with the black eyes! We cut to the opening credits as the ghosts loom over the surviving crew members.

Three days later, the TARDIS appears on the abandoned underwater base. The Doctor is speaking to her—the TARDIS, I mean. Apparently she’s not happy, and he’s trying to figure out why.  Clara wants to go back to the fun exploring, but the TARDIS isn’t having it. She’s brought them here for a reason…

As they explore, the Doctor and Clara discover  signs of a recent struggle in the mess hall, but no bodies. They explore further, and come across the ghosts of the black-eyed guy and the crew member, Moran.

The ghosts come very close and examine Clara and the Doctor, but they don’t seem to mean any harm. The Doctor smirks gleefully, as the game is afoot!

The ghosts wander down the corridor, and the Doctor and Clara follow. They enter the room that holds the strange alien craft, and the ghosts have disappeared. They explore the small craft. The Doctor sees the alien writing, but he can’t read it because the TARDIS hasn’t translated it. Curiouser and curiouser…

The ghosts reappear and seem to be speaking, but no words can be heard. This is some creepy sh!t right here!

The ghosts suddenly go on the attack, walking through walls and floors to get to Clara and the Doctor! Their lips continue to move, but still no sound is heard.

As they run, they find the rest of the crew held up in a secure room. The Doctor and Clara gladly join them and introduce themselves. The Doctor uses his psychic paper, and the crew realizes he’s from UNIT (hahaha!), and apparently so are they!

The Doctor tries to listen to Cass as she signs, but he can’t. The TARDIS still isn’t translating!

The crew explains about the weird alien ship, about Moran dying. The Doctor explains that the black-eyed guy is from the planet Tivoli(?), but they’re not usually a violent people.

The crew explains that the ghosts can’t get into the safe room where they’re held up. They go on to tell the Doctor and Clara that the base used to be a military training base, but years and years ago a nearby dam burst and flooded the whole thing. There’s also apparently a massive oil reservoir underneath it.

The lights change and the base automatically switches from night to day mode. Being so far underwater, the daylight is simulated. Oddly enough, the ghosts only come out at night.

The crew gives the Doctor and Clara the low-down on the base and situation, and the Doctor eloquently sums things up, “So we’re fighting an unknown homicidal force that has taken the form of your commanding officer and a cowardly alien, underwater, in a nuclear reactor.” Yup, sounds about right!

The Doctor realizes that the alien ship must have the answers, and he examines it. He notices that some things have been removed…namely a suspension chamber and a power cell.

Lunn tries to join the others on the craft, but Cass won’t allow it, saying it “isn’t safe”. This is the second time she’s said this to him. Hmm…

The Doctor sums up what he knows about Moran and the black-eyed guy and realizes they’re ghosts! And he’s pretty stinkin’ excited about that!

And then Clara whispers something about “cards” to the Doctor. She rifles through some cue cards from his pocket and chooses the appropriate one. The Doctor reads the card and gives a grave speech about being sorry for their loss and doing and he can to help solve the mystery. It’s pretty damn hilarious. I love that Clara has put cue cards in his pocket so he can actually pretend he has a heart! Hahaha! Also, y’all should make sure to pause and read all of the cards. They’re damn funny.

The Doctor gives a speech about how cool it is that people are now able to come back from the grave, and he has a ton of questions he’d like to ask them. This all seems a bit heartless, considering that Clara only lost Danny a few months ago…I mean, I’m assuming months because she’s not much older…I suppose it could be years. But still…

Oh! Suddenly, the base goes into night mode too early, and the TARDIS sounds her cloister bell! The Doctor and Clara enter the TARDIS, and she’s all moody and full of steam. She apparently wants to leave…so the Doctor put her handbrake on. That makes everything okay again.

Clara wants to go back out to the adventure, and the Doctor stops her to give a speech about not going native, and there can only be one him, blah blah. He then says that he felt he had to say something because he has duty of care, and he’d like to stop now. I mean, at least he’s trying to have a heart, right?

And then poor Pritchard is caught and drowned by the ghosts.

Everyone on the base is separated as some try to grab supplies, and others try to figure out how to get back into day mode. Why haven’t they just been trying to figure that out every day? Just keep the base on day mode all the time? Err, suspension of belief. Right. Sorry.

Clara and Lunn see Pritchard, who had been missing up until that point. He’s standing with his back to them…and then they see his body float by outside. Uhoh, ghost! Pritchard-Ghost grabs a metal chair—the Doctor has noticed that they can only move metal objects—and goes in for the attack.

Luckily, O’Donnell gets the day mode turned back on and the ghost disappears. See my rant about day mode above. 

The crew gathers, and Cass wants to abandon the base. The ghosts are learning to use it against them—turning day mode off and opening hatches. The Doctor, of course, wants to stay.

O’Donnell calls for help, but topside has already sent a rescue sub. Someone else has already called them! It had to have been the ghosts!

The Doctor makes them call back the sub and puts the base under quarantine. No one is going anywhere!

The Doctor makes O’Donnell put the base back into night mode Clara and Lunn try to lead the ghosts to the point the Doctor has given them, but the ghosts unexpectedly separate when Clara and Lunn do! Clara gets safe, but Lunn is cornered! BUT HE HAS NEVER SEEN THE WRITING ON THE ALIEN CRAFT! CASS KEPT HIM SAFE! WHOA!

The Doctor leads the ghosts into the safe room using a hologram of Clara as bait. The ghosts are trapped in the safe room.

The Doctor enters the room so Cass can get a better look at the ghosts through his sonic sunglasses camera-thing. He wants her to read their lips. She does, and the ghosts are saying, “The dark, the sword, forsaken, temple.” The Doctor is confused, and then he calls for a map. He works out that they’re giving him coordinates. The ghosts are trying to beam out coordinates and more ghosts means more beaming.

The Doctor also figures out that the coordinates go to the former base’s church, but he doesn’t know why the ghosts are beaming them out. He convinces everyone to stay and help him solve the mystery.

They use a sub controlled by virtual reality to find the church, and figure out why the coordinates lead there. They find the suspended animation chamber from the alien craft… And this was my face:

via GIPHY

Okay, and then I got a little lost. I’ma try to explain this as best I can…

The chamber is locked, and the Doctor goes back to the writing in the craft. He realizes the writing is the coordinates, and that none of them were surprised when they heard the coordinates because they’d already seen them when they looked at the writing. Got that? Okay, good.  Me neither. ;)

Okay, so the words get stuck in your brain after you see them, and they stay there, even after death. The ghosts beam out the coordinates while the pilot/weird alien/whatever? Sleeps in the animation chamber and waits for its friends to come rescue it.

Suddenly, the ghosts tamper with the computer and start to flood the base! Everyone needs to get to the TARDIS, and they have 30 seconds to do so! A flood door comes down, and Clara and the Doctor are separated! Clara, Lunn and Cass are safe where they are, and the Doctor tells them through the com that he’s going to bring the TARDIS back to when the alien craft landed, so that he can understand what happened and why it’s happening.

The Doctor and two crew members leave in the TARDIS, as Clara, Lunn and Cass look at something out the window of the base….It’s a new ghost. IT’S THE EFFING DOCTOR HE’S A GHOST OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDD WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

HFGFKGFYAUGFJHEHFGUKGLGRLGHFFGRGBVJKMN CLIFFHANGER!!

Guys, GUYS! STAY CALM! I’ma get on watching Before the Flood ASAP because now I’m DYING.

Oh, right. My favourite lines. Here they are!

The Doctor: “So who’s in charge now? I need to know who to ignore.”

The Doctor: “Anything else I should know? Anyone got a peanut allergy or something?”

The Doctor: “Yes, well, there was no such thing as socks, or smart phones, and badgers until there suddenly were.”

The Doctor: “Well I don’t know, but I’m pretty certain it’s not so they can all form a boy band.”

The Doctor: “Clara, why don’t I have a radio in the TARDIS?”
Clara: “You took it apart and used the pieces to make a clockwork squirrel.”

Okay, be back as soon as I can with my next reaction post!