MR 131: Klein's Story and Survival of the Fittest (spoilers)
Oct 8, 2021 0:37:13 GMT
ljwilson and tuigirl like this
Post by Kestrel on Oct 8, 2021 0:37:13 GMT
It's a bit unclear to me how paired these two stories are (it seems that, back when they originally released, it was possible for some people to get Survival of the Fittest but not Klein's Story) but considering that they're bundled together for the MR release, I'm just making the one thread for both stories. Lemme know if you think it'd make more sense to split them up.
Anyway, MR131 follows up immediately after the inaugural story in the Klein Trilogy, MR130: A Thousand Tiny Wings, and builds off that momentum beautifully. Trilogies can be tricky and it would be surprising to see a weak link here in the middle act--but instead, each new story seems better than the last. All in all this trilogy (consisting of somewhere between 3 to 5 stories, because this is Big Finish and nothing is ever organized simply) is one hell of a ride.
My thoughts on Klein's Story:
My thoughts on Survival of the Fittest:
That just about covers everything, I think. In some ways Survival of the Fittest skews very close to "generic Doctor Who SF adventure" territory, but the inverted premise and sheer fun of our angry little fascy companion wind up imbuing the whole affair with a lot of charm. It's one of those stories--and this is really the highest praise I can afford to give an audio drama--where I'd frequently pause the playback and skip backwards 30-60 seconds to relisten to a scene, just because the storytelling was that engaging and I'd want to be certain not to missing anything, no matter how minor.
So... such are my thoughts. How 'bout y'all? Have any of you given MR131 a listen recently? Or remember it well enough to weigh in here? If so, what do you think of this one?
Anyway, MR131 follows up immediately after the inaugural story in the Klein Trilogy, MR130: A Thousand Tiny Wings, and builds off that momentum beautifully. Trilogies can be tricky and it would be surprising to see a weak link here in the middle act--but instead, each new story seems better than the last. All in all this trilogy (consisting of somewhere between 3 to 5 stories, because this is Big Finish and nothing is ever organized simply) is one hell of a ride.
My thoughts on Klein's Story:
- I've gotta admit, I'm a real sucker for these alternate-history "what if the Allies lost WWII" stories. They're definitely (very much) overdone and pretty intrinsically campy, but I still like them.
- On which note I'm definitely curious on how German politics would have developed in the wake of an Axis victory. Especially considering how increasingly unhinged Adolf got in his later months and years. I can't imagine the succession would have been pleasant. Nor do I imagine that the first Führer would ever have died of natural causes. There's a lot of story there, which is only ever hinted at
- Which, I mean, yeah--it is only a thirty-minute mini-episode. But there's meat enough here, I think, to easily fill out a whole release. Not that I'm complaining... Big a finish is really, really good at crafting tight standalone stories inside 30 minutes. It's just... indicative that Big Finish at this time was practically bursting at the seams with creativity. They had so many different ideas that they could go through 'em at a lightning pace and quickly move on to the next.
- Also, how cool is it that this micro-sized episode is technically a stealth multi-Doctor story? Sure, 7 and 8 don't actually meet, but it's deeply cool to have both !cCoy and McGann in the same story!
- Quote of the episode: "My body want stolen: it got up and walked away. Literally a new man."
- Love how this AU 7th Doctor's regeneration into the 8th Doctor followed a similar sequence to the "canon" regeneration scene depicted in the TV movie. Which also raises an interesting question: to what extent are the Doctors' incarnations predetermined? Can McCoy's Doctor only ever transform into McGann's Doctor?
- I love the implication here that the 7th Doctor is familiar with the 8th Doctor's appearance. It lends credence to the fan theory that the 7th Doctor was fairly aware of his future timeline--for example, using his knowledge of the impending Time War to insert Ace in Gallifrey. But this depiction is at odds with the 8th Doctor's general ignorance of the future, especially in the first half of his stories. If and when Big Finish ever gets around to releasing that much-anticipated 7th Doctor regeneration boxset, I'd love for them to really lean into that theory, even if doing so requires yet more trauma for the 8th Doctor in order for that foreknowledge to be erased.
My thoughts on Survival of the Fittest:
- Kinda weird how Klein's Story picks up immediately where A Thousand Tiny Wings left off, yet Survival of the Fittest jumps ahead, skipping over several implied adventures in time and space with Klein as companion. This is very much trimmed fat--skipping these stories keeps the trilogy laser-focused and lean, and I really appreciate it. But at the same time I can't help but wish we'd gotten to see a few of those adventures--a four-way split (4x 30-minute short stories) would've been fantastic.
- Because--and I cannot stress this enough--Klein is a really, really fun companion. Her whole dynamic with the Doctor is marvelously unique--she's an acerbic, antagonistic Force in the TARDIS. And, for,the bulk of this,story, neither enemy nor ally.
- Of course, the Doctor's wisdom in trying to "redeem" Klein seems misguided--despite the popularity of the argument, racism isn't born out of ignorance--but it's very much the kind of thing (rooted in desperate sentimentality) that the 7th Doctor would do.
- And speaking of Klein being a refreshingly unique companion here, it was great fun to see her meet up with the human "miners" and immediately assume command of the situation, barking orders left and right. If only other companions could be equally assertive when circumstances call for it.
- I really love this story, especially how it inverts the typical formula. Typically in a story like this, the TARDIS crew would meet the humans first, then discover the "threatening" aliens, and then the fact that they're sentient would be revealed relatively late into the episode as a twist. So it's very refreshing to see this story move down the same, well-trod path, but in the exact opposite direction.
- Bug aliens are really fun! Always, always, right? The pheromone communication thing was also pretty interesting, though it seemed like the story couldn't quite make up its mind on how the TARDIS translation effect works: sometimes it's implies to be simply telepathic projection, but at other times it's implied that the humans--while the TARDIS is present, at least--are exuding the requisite odors.
- And wow, this one really ends on a great cliffhanger. Sadly I can't say that the following story really does the cliffhanger justice... it would've been very interesting to see what the a doctor did next, stranded on the outskirts of the galaxy, who-knows-when, with nothing but the clothes on his back.
That just about covers everything, I think. In some ways Survival of the Fittest skews very close to "generic Doctor Who SF adventure" territory, but the inverted premise and sheer fun of our angry little fascy companion wind up imbuing the whole affair with a lot of charm. It's one of those stories--and this is really the highest praise I can afford to give an audio drama--where I'd frequently pause the playback and skip backwards 30-60 seconds to relisten to a scene, just because the storytelling was that engaging and I'd want to be certain not to missing anything, no matter how minor.
So... such are my thoughts. How 'bout y'all? Have any of you given MR131 a listen recently? Or remember it well enough to weigh in here? If so, what do you think of this one?
