I'm surprised I don't remember much about this episode from my first watch because it was really good. Firstly I loved the setting and these one off characters. We only just meet this expedition crew but they feel so lived in and well rounded from jump with their dynamics and personalities. The mystery is also perfectly paced. We slowly get to know the crew and their mission as things begin to go wrong bit by bit. That tension and drip feed of catastrophe really makes this episode edge of your seat thrilling. Not to mention i also love the production design of this episode. The Ood obviously are an iconic doctor who alien with the orb things and their tentacle mouths. but I also just love the mining station. Its grutty and worn through. You can tell this station has weathered severe beatings adding to the ominous "something's about to go wrong" feeling of the whole episode.
The Doctor and Rose are solid here if you really love than Tenrose dynamic (there's even talk about them buying a house together, how domestic). I do think their cavalier attitude to travelling is starting to wear on me a bit. Especially with Rose. This series has seemed to strip away her genuine awe at her adventures and its replaced with an almost smug casual disregard that isn't as fun for me to watch. The Doctor does it too (and it honestly feels like Rose is just mimicking the Doctor there) but that I can accept more because he's a centuries old time traveller who has seen a lot.
Beyond this her cavalier attitude bled into the raising of the stakes of the plot. Rose was eerily nonplussed about her ride home being destroyed. She barely emote at the idea that she'll never see her mother again calming stating that "everybody leaves home sometime". It's so strange how disconnected Rose is from any aspect of her life that doesn't tie into the Doctor the more the series goes on.
Review by TshepisoBlockedParent2023-10-11T02:19:03Z
I'm surprised I don't remember much about this episode from my first watch because it was really good. Firstly I loved the setting and these one off characters. We only just meet this expedition crew but they feel so lived in and well rounded from jump with their dynamics and personalities. The mystery is also perfectly paced. We slowly get to know the crew and their mission as things begin to go wrong bit by bit. That tension and drip feed of catastrophe really makes this episode edge of your seat thrilling. Not to mention i also love the production design of this episode. The Ood obviously are an iconic doctor who alien with the orb things and their tentacle mouths. but I also just love the mining station. Its grutty and worn through. You can tell this station has weathered severe beatings adding to the ominous "something's about to go wrong" feeling of the whole episode.
The Doctor and Rose are solid here if you really love than Tenrose dynamic (there's even talk about them buying a house together, how domestic). I do think their cavalier attitude to travelling is starting to wear on me a bit. Especially with Rose. This series has seemed to strip away her genuine awe at her adventures and its replaced with an almost smug casual disregard that isn't as fun for me to watch. The Doctor does it too (and it honestly feels like Rose is just mimicking the Doctor there) but that I can accept more because he's a centuries old time traveller who has seen a lot.
Beyond this her cavalier attitude bled into the raising of the stakes of the plot. Rose was eerily nonplussed about her ride home being destroyed. She barely emote at the idea that she'll never see her mother again calming stating that "everybody leaves home sometime". It's so strange how disconnected Rose is from any aspect of her life that doesn't tie into the Doctor the more the series goes on.