Post by Whovitt on Feb 2, 2021 0:06:13 GMT
I find myself a disappointed with this release. I try not to prejudge anything before hearing it, so coming out disappointed always makes things seem a little worse.
Slight Glimpses of Tomorrow felt like it wanted to tell a story but didn't actually have one to tell, so jumped along a planet's timeline and didn't really do much else. River turning up after Rachel ran away "because she was needed" also makes absolutely no sense, and the "just accept it" thing is something I refuse to do. If a writer isn't prepared to explain how characters do the impossible, I feel no obligation to buy into the story.
A Brave New World was supposed to show just how much Rachel has developed as a character. The thing is, if they were trying to sell that she's become more human then the characterisation would really have benefitted from her becoming more natural, not staying as the very stilted performance we've had from the beginning. The story was telling me she had grown as a person, but there was nothing to really show it for me. By the end it kind of felt like the actress was really insecure and wasn't sure how to portray that the character had changed.
As a semi-two-parter, the authors of these two episodes really should have compared notes. In Slight Glimpses, River rescues this species from extinction, yet in Brave New World she suddenly plays the "I'm not allowed to interfere" card. I'm sorry, but you really can't have it both ways in a situation like this. It is 100% her fault that BNW even happened, so there's no excuse for refusing to change events beyond that point.
I thought A Forever Home became good by the end, if a little generic, but the first twenty minutes or so destroyed any goodwill I might have had for it. It was not-funny comedy for the sake of not-funny comedy. You could remove pretty much all of it and not really affect the actual plot of the story. If you've got that much padding tacked on to the front of the story, maybe it's time to reconsider how you're telling it. I'm sure it was enjoyable for some people, but I was cringing for every second of it.
Queen of the Mechonoids would therefore seem to be my favourite of the set, but I'm not sure that's the case. Like the last story, it took ages for the plot to actually kick in, and the script seemed the think the listener was totally clueless. It was so frustratingly obvious that River had contrived the whole thing that I was just bored of it all by the time Anya finally worked it out. We also never get the explanation for why River had such a personal vendetta against Henic (unless I missed it), so her determination to bring him to justice felt a little unearned. I found the battle between the two factions of Mechonoids difficult to follow too, so I felt a serious wave of relief when the closing theme kicked in.
I'll admit that this is a really abstract criticism/observation, but Mark Seven comes across as quite personable in this, so why does he look like he's trying to stare us to death on the Dalek Universe covers? He's supposed to look and act like a human, so my only visual representation of him seems really at odds with that. Like I say though, really strange criticism and not one I expect anyone else will have even thought about...
So yeah, wasn't a fan of this release at all. I think I need to find the time to comment on the releases I do enjoy more often, because I'm starting to realise I come across a quite a downer about BF in general. I find it easier to express what doesn't work as opposed to what does work for me in a story though, so when something disappoints it's much easier to explain why.
Slight Glimpses of Tomorrow felt like it wanted to tell a story but didn't actually have one to tell, so jumped along a planet's timeline and didn't really do much else. River turning up after Rachel ran away "because she was needed" also makes absolutely no sense, and the "just accept it" thing is something I refuse to do. If a writer isn't prepared to explain how characters do the impossible, I feel no obligation to buy into the story.
A Brave New World was supposed to show just how much Rachel has developed as a character. The thing is, if they were trying to sell that she's become more human then the characterisation would really have benefitted from her becoming more natural, not staying as the very stilted performance we've had from the beginning. The story was telling me she had grown as a person, but there was nothing to really show it for me. By the end it kind of felt like the actress was really insecure and wasn't sure how to portray that the character had changed.
As a semi-two-parter, the authors of these two episodes really should have compared notes. In Slight Glimpses, River rescues this species from extinction, yet in Brave New World she suddenly plays the "I'm not allowed to interfere" card. I'm sorry, but you really can't have it both ways in a situation like this. It is 100% her fault that BNW even happened, so there's no excuse for refusing to change events beyond that point.
I thought A Forever Home became good by the end, if a little generic, but the first twenty minutes or so destroyed any goodwill I might have had for it. It was not-funny comedy for the sake of not-funny comedy. You could remove pretty much all of it and not really affect the actual plot of the story. If you've got that much padding tacked on to the front of the story, maybe it's time to reconsider how you're telling it. I'm sure it was enjoyable for some people, but I was cringing for every second of it.
Queen of the Mechonoids would therefore seem to be my favourite of the set, but I'm not sure that's the case. Like the last story, it took ages for the plot to actually kick in, and the script seemed the think the listener was totally clueless. It was so frustratingly obvious that River had contrived the whole thing that I was just bored of it all by the time Anya finally worked it out. We also never get the explanation for why River had such a personal vendetta against Henic (unless I missed it), so her determination to bring him to justice felt a little unearned. I found the battle between the two factions of Mechonoids difficult to follow too, so I felt a serious wave of relief when the closing theme kicked in.
I'll admit that this is a really abstract criticism/observation, but Mark Seven comes across as quite personable in this, so why does he look like he's trying to stare us to death on the Dalek Universe covers? He's supposed to look and act like a human, so my only visual representation of him seems really at odds with that. Like I say though, really strange criticism and not one I expect anyone else will have even thought about...
So yeah, wasn't a fan of this release at all. I think I need to find the time to comment on the releases I do enjoy more often, because I'm starting to realise I come across a quite a downer about BF in general. I find it easier to express what doesn't work as opposed to what does work for me in a story though, so when something disappoints it's much easier to explain why.