Doctor Who “The Woman Who Lived” Recap

906_21631“The Woman Who Lived” is somewhat of a conclusion to “The Girl Who Died.”

It was a pretty decent episode. Not bad. It was nice to see The Doctor on his own for this episode, I always like those one off episodes.

I am also thoroughly impressed by their cat makeup. Let’s all appreciate the hard work those make-up artists go through to provide us with great cat-like characters. *moment of silence*

This episode we find the sadness that comes with living for eternity. Ashlidr has lived a great deal since we last saw her. She writes in numerous diaries counting the many lives she has led. We discover she will no longer have babies, for the lost of these children is too great to bear.

She begs the Doctor to become a companion. He declines saying the two cannot spend eternity together, harsh bro.

Wednesday Episode E18

Music is going in a new direction this week (but of course). More of an updated scene selection, because why not?

I never really appreciated Brendon Urie until recently revisiting Panic! At the Disco music. One: Great vocal range. Two: Look at his facial expression. Three: Look at Brendon. Song is super catchy.

Whooo can deny their love for Fall Out Boy?

I really don’t understand why I find these guys catchy.

Doctor Who “The Girl Who Died” Recap

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Let’s all appreciate that we had a Ten flashback. Doctor Who writers finally explained why Twelve’s face looks like the Caecilius’ from “The Fires of Pompeii.” I thought it was a nice touch to explain the resemblance, and work it into this week’s episode, and the importance behind it. It was the only scene in the episode that I truly appreciated.

Clara and the Doctor find themselves captured by Vikings. The Doctor thinks he’ll be clever when he pretends to be Odin, when from the sky the “real” Odin shows up. This Odin takes the best Viking warriors for himself. Turns out this “Odin” is the ruler of the Mire, and feeds off of Testosterone.

What you think is a one-off story, is actually part of a *gasp* two-parter. This is my only critique of Series Nine, as so far all the episodes have been two parters.

Then again, nice to see Maisie Williams.

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Warning: This review will most definitely contain spoilers.

Damn. This episode was full of unraveling. DID NOT SEE that one coming at all. Elliot has a sister? And Darlene is this said sister? WHAT? Now this makes the beginning of the episode clear. Of course Angela and Darlene know each other, because they would have been childhood friends as well.

Now I think Elliot’s father – previously known as Mr. Robot now known as Elliot’s father – is still dead I reckon. Because Angela explained that they only knew each other out of support from losing their parents. Sooooo Elliot’s father must still be a figment of his imagination. I guess we’ll know for sure in the final two episodes, but I just can’t see him being alive.

In regards to Tyrell and his wife, boy are they something else, eh? Tyrell’s wife is super sly and I think even more psychotic than Tyrell. Possibly endangering the life of your unborn baby JUST TO protect Tyrell from the detectives? Man. That’s intense.

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*cringes*

Dean Koontz “Odd Interlude”

Oh20151024_104219 (2) wow. I love that feeling when a book is so good that you read at any moment you can. This is Odd Interlude. A short side-adventure, but wow, what a ride.

The chronological order for this book fits between Odd Apocalypse and Deeply Odd. Odd Thomas and his new companion Annamaria find themselves drawn to Harmony Corner where something is not right.

I loved how this book included a new perspective, that from Jolie. It was a nice inclusion and her account of the events flowed nicely with Odd Thomas.

It is now upsetting that only one book remains in this series. I’m suspecting Odd Thomas will die, as the title of the book is Saint Odd. We shall see, I guess.

 

Wednesday Listens E17

Choosing the live version to a) showcase his talent LIVE in ONE TAKE, layering his voice. b) beautiful face. c) appreciate all that is Matt Corby. So glad to see him back after so many years.
This is the song I need in my life right now. Corby describes it:
“It’s a song about being able to appreciate where you are, being mindful, and thinking that maybe you don’t need much to depend on or define yourself by, you just need to enjoy the fact that we all get to share this single lifetime together”

Lyrics are on the same path, and ooops another beard. Not sure how I came across this number last year, pretty sure it was on an 8tracks playlist and it’s stuck ever since.

When that beat starts though.

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mrrobotviewsourceThis episode made me angry, in a good way. It means that the characters are not one-dimensional. Rather, the characters are so well thought-out and constructed, that they piss you off. Namely the characters of Colby and Tyrell.

someone just punch this face
tyrell what have you done.

This episode focuses on Angela working on getting Terry Colby to admit he knew about the toxic levels. She offers him a deal, she will take responsibility for the AllSafe hack if he goes on trial. Of course this deal is not in favour for Angel. It will cost her her job at AllSafe, and will damage the reputation of AllSafe in the process. It is clear however, that she realizes this deal may just get Colby to talk.

Further into the episode, Tyrell continues to spiral out of control. His wife is some kind of evil genius, and encourages his strange antics. NEVERTHELESS Tyrell, you are in major trouble after that accidental choking situation. How the hell are you going to cover this one up?

Meanwhile, Elliot returns to his therapist at the end of the episode. He says he has been lying to her the whole time. That he hasn’t been taken his medication, and uses his time to hack peoples’ lives. He then proceeds to tell Krista all of her darkest secrets he knows about from hacking, this of course scares her.

He’s lonely, and losing Shayla hasn’t helped. It’s also upsetting that her death is to the cause of Elliot. He asked if her dealer had Suboxone available. She told him she knew a guy that was “supposed to be an effing psychopath, but if [Elliot] wants, [she] would call him. [Elliot] might be worth a psychopath”  /awkward.

Doctor Who “Before the Flood” Recap

904_31405Finally got around to watching the conclusion to “Under the Lake,” which left viewers wondering how the Doctor was going to save himself from becoming a ghost, and stopping the remaining crew members from being killed off. Although some of the solutions were a bit reaching, the episode was well-scripted and Bennett’s character deserves props for TWO amazing speeches. First, by facing the Doctor after SPOILER not saving O’Donnell’s character. Second speech was telling Lunn to declare his love for Cass *cuteness overload*.

904_41941Will you translate something to Cass for me? Tell her that you’re in love with her and you always have been. Tell her there’s no point in wasting time, ‘cause things happen and then it’s too late. Tell her I wish someone had given me that advice.”

It was a good episode in a long time. I have enjoyed Toby Whithouse’s writing for these two episodes. The Fisher King’s monster was a good inclusion, the “Bootstrap Paradox” backed up the episode, and the characters had depth.

The Bootstrap Paradox is a casual loop in time-travel. A past event features a future event, but it is only after seeing it in the past that you know you can do it in the future. As I saw from someone on Tumblr, they used the example of The Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry Potter was able to project the patronus to save Sirius and himself, because he saw it done in the past. Get it? (Although the person left out that he thought it was his dad bla bla bla but it still works).

 

Jeremy Scahill “Dirty Wars”

The full title of Jeremy Scahill’s book is “Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield.”

20150815_192222Professor J! I finally read this book you gave us for AN350 Terrorism & Violence. Please be proud of me even though I will never see you again.. Two months and one week later, it’s finished. I’m done! By no means is this an indication to the level of excitement for this book. Rather, life is busy and there a few moments someone can read for solid amounts of time. Add in density, small-font, and lots of information to process.

Nevertheless, Dirty Wars is an eye-opening book that makes you take another look at the American Government. This book reflects the belief that the American Government is acting like God in their occupation in the Middle East. Scahill explains the secrets and lack of transparency the Government operates under, and provides justification as to why American occupancy has done more harm than good.

Scahill wraps up the book in a single sentence: “The question all Americans must ask themselves lingers painfully: How does a war like this ever end?”

 

 

For those that would rather not read the god-like persona of the American Government, Jeremy Scahill’s has a documentary under the same name. Forewarning, the documentary does contain violent and graphic scenes, predominately featuring the horrors with Abu Ghraib.

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