Star Trek: Discovery season 2 – a history of Spock’s smiles
We put that ‘smile’ from Ethan Peck’s Spock in Star Trek: Discovery season 2 in the context of this character’s canon history.
If you haven’t heard, Spock smiles in the latest trailer for Star Trek: Discovery season 2. Star Trek has a long, proud tradition of Spock smiling, and we’re glad to see that Disco will be continuing it with their interpretation of a younger Spock, played by Ethan Peck.
Where does this smile fit into the history of Spock contorting his face to express a positive emotional response? What could it mean for Star Trek: Discovery season 2 and this new incarnation of Spock? Don’t worry, friends. We’re about to break it down for you.
A history of Spock’s smiles
While there can sometimes be an idea in Star Trek fandom that Spock never smiles, this is not the case. This character, while typically very reserved in his emotional expression, smiles more in The Original Series then you might think. Here are some examples of Spock smiling…
“The Cage”/”The Menagerie”
Reason for smiling: Singing flower.
Kind of smile: Relieved.
Spock first smiled in “The Cage,” the original pilot for Star Trek: The Original Series. Many changes were made between the production of this pilot and the production of “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” the pilot that would eventually be shown, but TOS uses much of “The Cage”‘s footage for its season 1 two-parter “The Menagerie.”
The in-universe explanation for Spock’s smile here, per the screenplay for “The Menagerie,” is that Spock was relieved that the source of the musical, flute-like sounds they were hearing was a plant and nothing sinister. But, let’s be real, he was also probably super delighted at finding some native flora to gush over. Spock is a total nerd like that. This may be the purest Spock smile.
Leonard Nimoy gave some behind-the-scenes insight into this moment with this tweet…
Often asked: Why did Spock smile and limp in the first ST pilot? Answer:Was told to smile by the director/ to limp by Gene Roddenberry. LLAP
— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) July 14, 2012
“Where No Man Has Gone Before”
Reason for smiling: He thinks he’s about to checkmate Kirk in three-dimensional chess. (He’s not.)
Kind of smile: Smug.
Spock loves his games of three-dimensional chess, and prides himself on his logical gameplay. This is why he is so happy when he seems to be beating Kirk when they play in “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” and so grumpy when Kirk makes an “illogical” move that totally throws him off his game.
“Amok Time”
Reason for smiling: Discovering that Kirk is not dead.
Kind of smile: Overjoyed/relieved.
This is no mere smile. Spock basically jumps for joy when he finds out that he did not, in fact, kill Captain Kirk during his Pon Farr. “Jim!” he exclaims, before reigning his emotions in a bit. “I am… pleased to see you again, Captain. You seem… uninjured.”
McCoy looks on, smirking. It’s too late, Spock. He saw it.
“This Side of Paradise”
Reason for smiling: Spores.
Kind of smile: Drug-induced.
This episode gets Spock smiles bonus points because he not only smiles, he straight-up laughs.
When the crew of the Enterprise lands on Omicron Ceti III to investigate what happened to a Federation colony, they find the colonists alive and very well. Their happiness is the result of an indigenous spore that put those infected into a state of peace and euphoria, and also make them unwilling to leave the planet.
The result? A very happy Spock, who falls in love with a botanist named Leila, climbs trees, and generally shirks all of his duties in favour of fun. Frankly, it’s pretty delightful to watch.
“Return to Tomorrow”
Reason for smiling: Body inhabited by telepathic alien.
Kind of smile: Not real Spock smile.
In my opinion, this one really shouldn’t count as a Spock smile because Spock’s body is inhabited by this telepathic alien name Henoch. Thusly, this is really Henoch smiling, not Spock. It’s nice to see Leonard Nimoy get some facial exercises in, though.
“Plato’s Stepchildren”
Reason for smiling: Forced to by telekinetic aliens.
Kind of smile: Not real Spock smile.
In this episode, the crew of the Enterprise meets a bunch of telekinetic aliens who are obsessed with classic Greek society. In an attempt to get McCoy to stay on the planet as their physician, the Platonians, as they have named themselves, use their powers to make Kirk, Spock, and other members of the crew do things.
For Spock, these things include laughing and crying. The Platonians coercion of the crew members is disturbing to watch. This Spock “smile” definitely doesn’t count.
“All Our Yesterdays”
Reason for smiling: Telepathically-influenced by contemporary barbaric Vulcans.
Kind of smile: Love-y.
In “All Our Yesterdays,” Spock travels back 5,000 years on the planet Sarpeidon to a time before Vulcans had learned to master their emotions. Telepathically-influenced by the barbaric Vulcans of the time, Spock becomes a much more outwardly emotional version of himself, falling in love with a woman named Zarabeth, attacking McCoy in anger, and, yes, dear reader, smiling.
Conclusion: Spock smiles.
The above examples are from from the only examples of Spock smiling in The Original Series, as noted in a genius, no doubt time-consuming fan edit of Spock smiling across TOS and into the films. As you’ll see, it was not uncommon for Nimoy to imbue his performance as Spock with the hint of a smile, or even something more, when the context called for it.
What does this mean for Star Trek: Discovery season 2?
Well, for one thing, it means that Discovery may be lightening things up more in season 2. It also tells us even more about Peck’s interpretation of this iconic character.
One of the things I really liked about this smile from Peck’s Spock is that it is very reminiscent of a Nimoy smile in its subtley. Though Nimoy sometimes went for a more pronounced smile, most notably in the “Amok Time” smile noted above, most of his smiles were glimmers of amusement or affection that only play as smiles in the context of this outwardly stoic character.
Peck’s Spock’s smile in the trailer is the kind eye-twinkling we saw all of the time in TOS Spock.
Another important canon context for Spock’s smile in Star Trek: Discovery season 2 is the acknowledgment that Vulcans are meant to gain additional emotional control as they age.
The Spock we will meet in Disco season 2 is younger than any of the Spock’s we’ve met before in this timeline, aside from Spock in “The Cage”/”Menagerie” and the Spock in The Animated Series‘ “Yesteryear.” If Disco wanted to go in this direction, it would make sense that Spock would be slightly less controlled in his emotions than the Spock we know and love from TOS.
Star Trek: Discovery season 2 will be streaming on Netflix UK from 18th January.
Geeks Vs Loneliness: Just be
Jane Roberts
Dec 14, 2018
In which it might be nice to step back from silly season and take a moment to just be
Hello, and welcome to Geeks Vs Loneliness, our quiet spot of the internet where this week it might…
The ABC Murders: what to expect from John Malkovich’s Poirot
John Malkovich stars as Agatha Christie’s most famous creation in this new BBC adaptation. We interviewed the cast and creative team…
Sarah Phelps’ adaptations of Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries have become a welcome fixture in the festive TV schedules. These new versions of Christie’s complex tales of death and deceit – approved by her estate – have offered fresh angles on familiar stories, confirming that the legendary author’s writing retains its power to surprise as well as to entertain.
2015’s And Then There Were None presented us with a powerful reworking of that chilling narrative, taking Christie’s novel as its starting point before pulling the rug out from under us in a stunning psychological twist to its infamous ending. The following year, The Witness For The Prosecution brought a melancholy glamour to one of Christie’s most successful short stories, while last year’s delayed Ordeal By Innocence plunged us into an intricate family drama. The BBC plans to broadcast six further adaptations of Christie’s work in the years to come. We can expect all-star casts, precise period detail, and timeless moral issues rich in contemporary resonance in each one. This Christmas, we’ll be watching perhaps the most exciting new retelling so far.
The name Hercule Poirot immediately conjures the unforgettable image of David Suchet, who, between 1989 and 2013, embodied the Belgian detective in ITV’s adaptations of every one of the 70 novels and short stories in which the character appeared. Peter Ustinov, Albert Finney, and Kenneth Branagh have also put their own stamp on Christie’s unforgettable creation. The BBC’s new version of The ABC Murders will allow John Malkovich to leave his own impression on a fascinating figure we think we know inside out. With an impressive cast including Andrew Buchan, Tara Fitzgerald, Rupert Grint, and Shirley Henderson, this production looks set to be one of the highlights of the year.
Putting an innovative spin on a character as beloved – and distinctive – as Poirot was a huge challenge. For director Alex Gabassi, Malkovich’s imposing, distinctive physicality was an asset in sparking off ideas. “When I saw John, and I saw that he was tall, I thought, well, that’s it – we’re going to be playing on this beautiful, tall, masculine figure. Even when he’s just standing there, there’s a sense of power in this man: there’s not only intelligence, but there’s also this presence.” Gabassi enthuses about the collaborative process behind the creation of Malkovich’s Poirot, one fraught with challenges as he and the actor pondered how best to make their vision of the Belgian sleuth come alive on screen.
One of this adaptation’s most shocking developments has already been spoiled by the advance publicity. If you didn’t spot it in the image above, brace yourself now. Yes, Poirot’s fabled moustache is no more, supplanted by a moustache-goatee combo. “I wanted to get rid of that discussion about moustaches,” laughs Gabassi. “Move on, you know? John wanted that, too.” Stripping away the trappings of Poirots past was a crucial element in uncovering the source material. Still more controversial will be Malkovich’s decision to give Poirot an English accent, an intriguing creative choice that will instantly set his incarnation of the character apart from earlier portrayals.
Costume designer Lindsay Pugh worked hard on the visual elements that went into defining this new portrayal. “We know Poirot very well. He started off as a written word, then Ustinov came along, and then David Suchet. That’s informed our opinion of him, but still, we have our own image of Poirot in our mind’s eye. I wanted him to be the pencil that draws a line between the many places we visit in The ABC Murders: very straight and very strict and very monochrome, and just sort of anonymous. He’s not flamboyant, as he’s sometimes been portrayed. He’s precise, but he’s precise in mind, so there isn’t very much flourish to him at all.”
For Gabassi, the cultural baggage is a little lighter than it is for many British viewers. “I’ve never seen a David Suchet Poirot. I’m Brazilian, and it never came to Brazil. I just remember seeing Peter Ustinov and Albert Finney. I didn’t see the film (2017’s Murder On The Orient Express) but I saw Kenneth (Branagh). Kenneth had this huge moustache, and that was emblematic of the accumulation of baggage around this character over the years! We’re trying to do something original, but at the same time, we’re betting on the fact that people will bring some things with them from those other portrayals.” Gabassi’s full of praise for the ‘character-driven’ moments inserted by Phelps, which, in his view, add further depth to Christie’s typically sophisticated plotting.
The Poirot we meet in The ABC Murders is still trading on his past glories, but his fortunes are fading. Gabassi wanted the surroundings to reflect this. “When we look back at the 1930s, we usually look back at Art Deco. The trains are all clean, everything’s very nice. I wanted it to look dirty.” Pugh appreciated the challenge of conveying the class stratification of 1930s British society through costume as Christie’s story jumps from one destination to another. ‘We go from really high class to really low class and everything in between – different parts of the country, different industries, and different demographics.’
The supporting characters have undergone transformations of their own in Phelps’ adaptation. Rupert Grint plays Inspector Crome, a young detective thrust into the spotlight as he deals with a string of high-profile murders. “I think he was originally an older man, but it’s an interesting dynamic to have this younger character working with Poirot.” The two men’s relationship begins under inauspicious circumstances. “Poirot betrays a good friend of Crome’s, Inspector Japp (Kevin McNally). It’s quite a cold and frosty introduction.” Over the course of the three episodes, the frost gradually thaws. “Crome’s from a new generation, quite insecure in his role and desperate to prove himself, and he often comes to quite wild conclusions. Poirot becomes a sort of mentor to him.” In the absence of Poirot’s loyal companion, Hastings – cut from the narrative due to the need to streamline Christie’s complex experiments in point of view, which work brilliantly on the page but less so on the screen – Crome provides the isolated genius with a much-needed sounding board.
The Belgian supersleuth might have been denuded of his own facial topiary, but Grint’s ensured that this production’s far from a moustache-free zone. He’s justifiably proud of his period-appropriate effort, which only serves to strengthen the impression of Crome as an up-and-coming man keen to present a mature face both to his colleagues and to a demanding public. Grint’s endearingly candid about the shock of adjusting to his heavy costume, drawing wryly self-deprecating comparisons to Bugsy Malone and its child stars swamped by layers of oversized clothing.
His co-star Eamon Farren, who plays the mysterious, troubled Cust, is a convert to Thirties garb. “The coats I can do without, but the fashion in general is super nice!” The Australian actor’s thrilled to be involved in British television, having been given a thorough grounding in the classics by his Irish family (“The Bill was our babysitter”). Anya Chalotra – cast as the tough, good-hearted Lily, whose ‘beautiful’ connection with Cust is a ray of hope in a life suffused with darkness – shares Farren’s enthusiasm for Christie’s work. “I’ve watched all of them! My favourite was And Then There Were None. I’ve read the novel, too, which is probably why I loved it so much.”
Grint’s been struck by the relevance of the world depicted in The ABC Murders to present-day concerns, with its backdrop of refugee crises and political unrest. ‘There’s the BUF movement (British Union of Fascists). It’s not directly focused on in the story, but you can really feel the sense among people of the hostility towards immigrants and foreigners. There’s a weird kind of symmetry with today’s world.’
Producer Farah Abushwesha echoes this sentiment, summing up the timeless appeal of Christie’s story while highlighting its parallels in modern society. “This holy grail of the Agatha Christie stories – there’s something that is so quintessentially British. We take it, we sweep it up, and we see a vulnerability and a heart to it, and we see these people in the aftermath of murder and death and loss, added to the simple fact of being an outsider in another country. You feel it sometimes with a script. There are certain projects that have a magic to them, and you just want to unleash that.”
Dark, distinctive, and decidedly modern in flavour. Christie – never the biggest Poirot fan, ironically enough – would have approved.
The ABC Murders will air over three consecutive nights at 9pm on BBC One, starting on Boxing Day.
The Den Of Geek Christmas 2018 UK TV and radio guide
Louisa Mellor
Dec 14, 2018
We’ve taken a Biro to this year’s Christmas and New Year TV and radio schedules to pick our festive highlights…
As anyone trying to flog jasmine incense sticks or ‘wellness’ tea made …
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse – Doctor Strange was in first draft
Doctor Strange was originally set to have a cameo in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse had a little extra magic at one point.
It’s been revealed that Doctor Strange was to have popped up at the end of story, potentially making room for some sequel involvement. The film’s producers, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, have mentioned that the cameo was only touted in the first stages of writing, though, and plans didn’t go any further than that. We’ll have to comfort ourselves with the pair’s Infinity War scenes for now.
“The first draft ended with [Strange],” Lord told our US chums. “It ended with him saying, ‘Okay, I have some things to tell you.’ It was the first draft, like three years ago. It ended with Doctor Strange. Literally, the last frame was Doctor Strange, going, ‘Hello.’”
As our friends at Flickering Myth point out, this wouldn’t have been the first reference to the Sorcerer Supreme to make it into a Spider-Man film. That honour goes to Sam Raimi’s 2004 classic, Spider-Man 2:
Why isn’t J.K. Simmons in everything?
The Kitchen movie releases first pic
Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss are three women you don’t want to mess with in Warner Bros’ The Kitchen.
Andrea Berloff’s The Kitchen is one of our most highly anticipated films in 2019. Based on the phenomenal Vertigo comic book series by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle, it’s been pitched as a female Goodfellas, with the story revolving around three mob wives who take over their imprisoned husbands’ organised crime business in the 1970s. Widows was so good, honestly. Keep these films coming, Hollywood.
To the official synopsis-mobile!
“The Kitchen stars Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip) and Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) as three 1978 Hell’s Kitchen housewives whose mobster husbands are sent to prison by the FBI. Left with little but a sharp ax to grind, the ladies take the Irish mafia’s matters into their own hands — proving unexpectedly adept at everything from running the rackets to taking out the competition… literally.”
Here’s your first look…
The Kitchen also stars Domhnall Gleeson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), James Badge Dale (Only The Brave), Common (Selma), Bill Camp (The Night Of) and Annabella Sciorra (Daredevil).
It’ll be released on 20th September, 2019.
Doctor Who: revisiting Steven Moffat’s Christmas specials
Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi starred in four Doctor Who Christmas specials each. We revisit Steven Moffat’s festive scripts…
Read Mark’s retrospective on Russell T. Davies’ Christmas Doctor Who specials here.
Steven Moffat’s first Christmassy contribution to Doctor Who comes near the end of his second episode, The Doctor Dances, when Rose Tyler compares a jolly Doctor to Santa Claus. “Who says I’m not, red bicycle when you were 12?” comes the cheeky reply.
Comparisons between the Doctor and Father Christmas go all the way back to Moffat’s Comic Relief sketch The Curse Of Fatal Death and continue all the way throughout his tenure as head writer and executive producer, particularly in his seasonal specials. Having inherited the tradition, he upheld it very well.
Like Russell T. Davies before him, Moffat didn’t treat the Christmas special as a trifle or a passing fancy, but as a proper episode of Doctor Who. With his take on the show, that means complex and compelling (and sometimes even smart-alecky) plots that were occasionally criticised for being a bit involved for viewers after Christmas dinner and a drink or two.
But if you’ve ever enjoyed Moffat’s fast-paced take, these episodes will reward a rewatch, especially with no new edition forthcoming this December 25th. It’s worth noting at this juncture that he agreed to write last year’s Christmas special, expressly so the show could keep its coveted Christmas Day timeslot. With that in mind, it’s a real shame that Chris Chibnall has moved the special to New Year’s Day.
That said, there have been a lot of Doctor Who festive specials already. Seeing as how Moffat wrote the majority of them, the second part of our Christmassy feature is an eight-course retrospective of the writer’s Yuletide offerings, which starred Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. Without any further ado, let’s tuck in and reminisce over the good, the less good, and all that fan service…
A Christmas Carol (2010)
As with our feature on the Christmassy episodes of the RTD era, we begin with Charles Dickens. Taking a few timey-wimey liberties with the greatest Christmas story ever told, Smith’s Doctor creates ghosts in the past, present, and future for the Scrooge-like miser Kazran Sardick, who stands in the way of salvation for the newlywed Amy and Rory’s honeymoon cruise.
Played at various points in his life by Michael Gambon, Laurence Belcher, and Danny Horn, Kazran is the reason why the episode works. In almost every iteration, A Christmas Carol is a story that’s more about redemption than it is about time travel. More than any of the obligatory genre antics with the crashing spaceship and the time-travelling shenanigans, it’s the reluctant companion’s soul that is at stake.
Despite its typically complex structure, it’s really a straightforward, crowd-pleasing sort of episode. To see it perfectly summed up, look at the beautifully observed moment when Smith attempts a bit of technobabble about why the sky sharks are so soothed by Katherine Jenkins’ Abigail singing to them and gets told to shut up by everybody around him, from young Kazran to the microscopic organisms in the air. Representing Doctor Who at its most delightful, this is often indistinguishable from magic.
Better watch out: As well as the obvious literary source, Moffat loosely adapts his own Doctor Who short story, Continuity Errors. The story follows the Seventh Doctor as he goes back in time and subtly changes a librarian’s entire life in order to change her mind about lending him a book that will save the universe. The TV version has got more flying sharks in it.
The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe (2011)
By some quirk of its staggered scheduling, series seven technically has three Christmas specials rather than the usual one. For many viewers, The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe is the weakest of the three. It has the bones of a story about children being evacuated to the countryside during World War II and crossing the threshold of an otherworldly realm, but unlike the previous year’s offering, the C.S. Lewis-inspired title has as much to do with the pun-spiration behind it as Arachnids In The UK had to do with the Sex Pistols.
Starting with Smith doing his Moonraker thing off an exploding spaceship and the airborne disappearance of Reg Arwell echoing the classic opening of A Matter Of Life And Death, it’s more of a patchwork of ostensibly Christmassy bits. The portrayal of Claire Skinner’s Madge Arwell provides a timely celebration of mums, given the previous series’ appalling treatment of Amy’s pregnancy, but the story itself doesn’t feel especially… well, special.
The scatter-brained main story means that the highlight of the episode is the final scene outside the Ponds’ house, which serves as an epilogue to both the episode and series sux. In an episode that’s decidedly companion-lite, it’s properly heart-warming to see that particular TARDIS team reunited for Christmas dinner, even if it all ends a bit tragically, five or six episodes later.
Better watch out: The main thrust of the episode is an environmental story, with the magical alien forest under threat by the actions of industrial bastards from Androzani Major. The planet was previously mentioned in the Fifth Doctor’s final story, The Caves Of Androzani, a story in which almost every character died. This episode has a happier ending.
The Snowmen (2012)
Alternative title: Mister Doctor, You Can Still Save Her. We Gave You All The Clues.
Short of a very brief Christmassy interlude in Chibnall’s The Power Of Three, which saw the Doctor living with his companions for a whole year, the next festively-themed episode followed a mid-series finale. But Amy and Rory are gone for good this time, and the Doctor has spent 200 years with his head in the clouds when Victorian barmaid Clara arrives to shake him out of his reverie.
The Snowmen is close to approximating the title of another festive classic, but the only real allusion to the animated classic is when the ice governess attempts walking in the air with Clara in tow. Instead, it’s the first story in the Hammer-style Victorian horror locale that would recur in The Crimson Horror and Deep Breath, with Madame Vastra the Silurian, her wife Jenny, and their butler Strax the Sontaran helping the Doctor to fend off another returning alien.
In her second, most Cockney incarnation, Jenna Coleman is allowed to shine without being shrouded in the mystery about her character. With her death and the reintroduction of the Great Intelligence, (now played by the twice-not-really-a-Doctor Doctor, Richard E. Grant) the episode is a stealth setup for the second half of series seven, which doubled as the 50th-anniversary run.
Better watch out: There was some excellent supplementary content for this one on the official Doctor Who website, including Strax’s rendition of certain popular Christmas carols. Our favourite is “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose, giving him a distinct tactical disadvantage, as it allowed me to punch him in the dark!”
The Time Of The Doctor (2013)
Closing the ‘Of The Doctor’ trilogy, this is an episode which feels somewhat overburdened with fan service. In all the legends of Trenzalore, we never heard that it was all going to end in a town called Christmas. With returning monsters galore and a lot of exposition about truth fields and pocket universes, this is a far, far more convoluted successor to Davies’ precedent-setting seasonal regeneration story, The End Of Time.
Moffat has since admitted that he considered leaving with Smith, but after his unenjoyable experience of wrangling the 50th anniversary season, he was persuaded to stick around for another series and end on a high. Unfortunately, Smith didn’t want to do a fourth series and so the planned culmination of the Eleventh Doctor’s long-running arc fell upon a single episode.
It doesn’t work because it’s hard to feel the stakes. It’s halfway over before we even find out that the Doctor has run out of regenerations and with a limited amount of screen time left, the weight of that is conveyed through old age make-up rather than character development. Despite the title, time is the one thing this episode doesn’t have enough of, and of all the Christmas specials, this is the one that’s most difficult to sit through with the relatives you’ve persuaded to let you have the telly.
Better watch out: In the moving final reunion of the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond, both Smith and Gillan are wearing wigs. At the time of production, both had shaved their heads for roles in Ryan Gosling’s Lost River and Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, respectively. Goodnight, wiggedy man!
Last Christmas (2014)
Bringing back a tradition from the Davies era, the Series 8 finale, Death In Heaven, featured a mid-credits scene introducing Nick Frost as Father Christmas. One of the spookier Christmas outings, Last Christmas is also staged as an epilogue to the most recent series, as the Doctor and Clara are mysteriously thrown together again in a battle with the crab-like Kantrofarri in a research station at the North Pole.
It’s surprising that we haven’t had more out-and-out Christmas horror stories from Doctor Who’s seasonal episodes thus far, but Last Christmas is the closest thing (John Carpenter’s The Thing, specifically) we’ve had. Leavening the mood, Frost lives up to his spectacularly Christmassy name as a gregarious Santa, whose existence is left nicely ambiguous by the time the credits roll.
At the time it was originally written, this was supposed to be Coleman’s final episode, but she changed her mind about quitting after the first script readthrough. The Peter Pan-inspired feint where the Doctor returns too late and finds her elderly and infirm would have been a really moving exit for Clara, but it turned out to be only her antepenultimate exit overall. On its own merits, it leaves us on a welcome warm note in an effective and entertainingly chilling adventure.
Better watch out: It’s since been confirmed that Middlesbrough-born Faye Marsay’s character Shona McCullough was being lined up to take over from Coleman as the new companion before the ending was changed. As a son of the Boro, I’m allowed to say that time and space probably wasn’t ready for a Teessider anyway.
The Husbands Of River Song (2015)
The Husbands Of River Song is the best River Song episode. Maybe it’s not the best episode with River in it, but as a send-off for Alex Kingston’s spoilerific spouse, it’s unimprovable. It makes the best of revelations in The Time Of The Doctor by having River be absolutely certain that even if it crossed her mind, there are no more Doctors that she doesn’t know about. For one night only, the Doctor is ahead of her.
Given a romantic comedy story to act in, Capaldi’s doing stuff that we never see him do elsewhere in his run. The actor rightly ruled out any romances with his young companions, but there’s a willingness to laugh again in Twelve’s reunion with River that’s absolutely joyous. Plus, from the chuckles of Capaldi getting to do his “bigger on the inside” reaction (the same beat wouldn’t really have fit in The Fires Of Pompeii now, would it?) to the hilarity of casting Greg Davies as a right royal bonehead, it’s a really funny one.
All the way through, River is her usual flirty and dangerous self, but in a welcome role reversal, Kingston is magnificent. The joke of her not recognising the Doctor is almost stretched too far at the point when the pay-off lands. From the moment in which she admits that she never believed the Doctor loved her back, to the final reveal of the Singing Towers of Darillium, Kingston is magnificent. In addition to the “new hair and new suit” that River describes to the Tenth Doctor in Silence In The Library, we realise that everything about this is new to her, and it’s new to us too.
The result is a gorgeous sci-fi farce, with a seasonally appropriate panto villain. Come to think of it, the Shoal of the Winter Harmony have odd heads too, and the gruesome physiology of it all leads to some really creative twists. Overall, it’s one of Moffat’s funniest scripts, but the heart of it absolutely shines through. Like the plot McGuffin embedded in King Hydroflax’s enormous head, this special is a real gem.
Better watch out: “And they both lived happily ever after.” This was originally intended to be the showrunner’s final script for the series. After it became clear that Broadchurch would make incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall unavailable until this year, Moffat agreed to write another series in the interim, starting with the following year’s Christmas special. This would have been a lovely note to go out on, but it does leave you wanting more…
The Return Of Doctor Mysterio (2016)
At last, a Christmassy Ghost story! With no series in between, The Return Of Doctor Mysterio is the second Christmas special in a row. Strangely, when binging the Capaldi era, it makes this one feels like the second part of a two-parter. Aside from bringing back Matt Lucas’ Nardole and the Shoal of the Winter Harmony from the last episode, it makes the time between episodes into part of the narrative. It’s a year later for us and 24 years on Darillium for the Doctor.
In the main plot, it feels like a departure for Doctor Who to do an episode about another superhero, because the Doctor himself is portrayed more and more like a superhero in the new series. As you’d expect, the episode takes an off-kilter approach to Grant, a devoted child-minder who also happens to use his Superman-powerset to moonlight as a masked hero called the Ghost.
Evidently, the part of Richard Donner’s Superman best remembered is the playful banter, which is the most memorable aspect of this one. First and foremost, it’s a comic book quip-fest that finds the marvel in its characters, rather than in the Marvel of it all. On top of that, the decision to reconfigure Nardole as a companion in the style of K9 – a big, daft valet for the Doctor to shout at while secretly enjoying his company – is a masterstroke that continued to pay off through series 10.
Better watch out: In terms of comic book influences, the Harmony Shoal lads have obviously been watching the Watchmen, partly lifting Ozymandias’ scheme of destroying New York in order to unite the world. It’s unclear if the final tease about them infiltrating UNIT was an unfulfilled plan for series 10 or just an open ending, but thus far, we’ve heard no more from the Kinder egg-heads.
Twice Upon A Time (2017)
Technically, all regeneration episodes are multi-Doctor stories. But with David Bradley playing the First Doctor, Moffat gets to finish on an idea that encompasses the hopes and fears of all the years, with the original incarnation and the current one having a heart-to-heart as they face their respective final curtains. Swept up in the slipstream of a decidedly not-evil plan, the Doctors come together to reflect on expanse between them.
In vast contrast to Smith’s finale, Twice Upon A Time has more time for such reflection. The Doctor is already dead by the end of The Doctor Falls, which means this is a regeneration episode in the most literal sense. It’s about the regeneration itself, and it’s different from any other episode of its kind. For instance, the Tenth Doctor doesn’t want to go, but Twelve doesn’t want to stay, and even in accepting his future, there’s a lovely counterpoint to that reluctance in his final words.
Rusty the Dalek, the Brigadier’s father, and the spectre of Bill Potts reach out from the show’s past to make this less than standalone, to say nothing of the First Doctor’s over-egged chauvinism. Somehow, it still doesn’t detract from a low-stakes swansong that gives us time to realise how much we’ll miss this Doctor, leaving it for the next incarnation to immediately land herself in mortal danger.
Given his tendency towards circular time travel stories and setpieces, it’s fitting that Moffat ends his run of Christmas specials in the fashion that it began – with a heartfelt consideration of the past, the present, and what’s yet to come…
Better watch out: Whether you loved this episode or not, Paul Cornell’s excellent Target novelisation from earlier this year is required reading. In the time-honoured style of Target books, Cornell adds more detail than the episode has time for, including a passage that explains how exactly the TARDIS finally persuades the Doctor that “one more lifetime won’t kill anyone”. Such details are too lovely to spoil here, but it’s an essential companion to the most unique of the new series’ regeneration stories.
Riverdale season 3 episode 8 review: yet more gleeful absurdity
Outbreak, Riverdale’s midseason finale is characteristically bonkers stuff. Spoilers ahead in our review…
This review contains spoilers.
3.8 Outbreak
“May God have mercy on our souls.”
“Not God, Governor, the King.”
And so we arrive at Riverdale‘s mid-season finale, and I for one am still catching my breath. And holding my sides from laughing at how absolutely silly this series has become – in the best possible way. I am genuinely not sure of exactly how I am feeling about this game-changing instalment at this point, but let’s work through it together, shall we? What I can say with some definitive clarity is that this was one hugely entertaining episode that gave viewers some big answers while setting up the second half of the season.
Let’s start things off with Jughead and Archie. Arriving at Gladys Jones’ garage/chop shop/orphange/whatever, the pals get another harsh lesson in how far Hiram’s reach extends when Penny Peabody arrives to collect the bounty on Archie’s head. Fortunately, Jug’s kick-ass little sister Jellybean – she prefers J.B., thank you very much – won’t have anyone threatening her crush, so she knocks Penny out with the aid of her trusty slingshot. (Because this is Riverdale, and kids in this show’s anarchronistic universe clearly still use slingshots, duh).
Gladys learns that the bounty Lodge has put on Archie extends to anyone who helps him as well. Although we don’t know hardly anything about her character yet, it seems a safe bet that she cares about her boy as she calls F.P. to get him when Jug insists on returning to Riverdale to bring down Hiram once and for all. It would be interesting to know what Jughead’s plan here is exactly, as everytime he has confronted Mr Lodge in the past it has resulted in nothing but grandstanding on his part.
Mrs Jones made another call too, to Fred Andrews. The ever-honourable Fred shows up to take Archie to the Canadian border, where he can start his new life, hopefully out of Hiram’s reach.
At this point, can we all just take a second to contemplate Archie’s career prospects North of the Border? Given his experiences working for Fred, construction would be his best bet. But Archie being Archie, deep down I know he’d either give his music another go or, most likely, find work as a chiselled but not so bright escort.
That said, the scene between Archie and Fred is touching. And when Fred gives Vegas to Archie to keep him company on the road? I was crying more than watching one of those Sarah McLachlan SPCA ads. Where will Archie go next? And how many episodes until he his path leads him back home? With Archie heading to Canada, F.P., Jughead, and Fred all head back home. Although they have no idea what awaits them upon their return…
Back in Riverdale, Betty is still captive at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. I have been vocal about not being a fan of how the show imprisoned yet another character here, but at least this ep shook things up a bit by taking the unexpected route of having Betty and Ethel work together to escape. Shannon Purser hasn’t been properly utilised on the series to date, with the characterisation of Ethel being all over the place. Now off Fizzle Rocks and seemingly well-adjusted, she and Betty put their heads together to set in motion a cheer-worthy plan – all hail the Gryphon Queen! – to get the brainwashed patients to freedom. I genuinely hope that now this friendship between the pair has been established, that it gets further developed in the backend of this season.
Their plan is a huge success, albeit one a bit too late. Which brings us back to the main narrative thrust of this episode: Hiram’s plan for Riverdale.
Essentially, he wants to turn the town into Hill Valley from the dark alternate timeline from Back to the Future, Part II. In his brave new order, Riverdale will be full of Fizzle Rocks and Penelope Blossom prostituting herself and costumed gang members and generally all sorts of ridiculousness that will make life there like The Purge, minus the wanton killing.
Do I even have to mention that this plan makes not one iota of sense? How exactly does Hiram plan on keeping the townsfolk from rising up against him? Why would he and Hermione want to be stuck in the hellscape that a town quarantined from the outside world surely will become? Will this series of events turn Veronica’s hellscape into the sort of bizarre cabaret glimpsed at in Escape From New York‘s Everyone’s Coming to New York song and dance sequence?
As the episode ends, the show has everything turned upside down. It is a daring move in a season whose waters have already been muddied with several potential shark-jumping moments. But this raises a bigger question: How much is too much for Riverdale? Are we at the breaking point for what the show’s largely tween-driven viewership will put up with? These are all rhetorical questions, because from this writer’s perspective what the series does best is over-the-top storytelling.
This midseason finale furthered the gleeful absurdity that has been the season’s calling card. While I’m personally tired of seeing Hiram’s constant success as I watch this show to escape from the real-life facepalm that is an unqualified businessman holding a position of power, I can at least appreciate how Riverdale has turned him into a Machivellian villian. Watching tonight I found myself utterly charmed by how unafraid the series is with bear-hugging ridiculous plot points. With the town now cut off from the outside world, we are at peak Riverdale. And it’s a beautiful thing.
Read Chris’ review of the previous episode, The Man In Black, here.
Vikings season 5 episode 13 review: dark family politics
In A New God, Vikings gets religion as Ivar proclaims himself a deity while Ubbe and Torvi accept Alfred’s offer to become Christians.
This review contains spoilers.
5.13 A New God
“We are all at the mercy of circumstances beyond our control.”
It’s time for something momentous to happen on Vikings, and this week’s episode carefully arranges its character pieces, setting into motion potential game-changing scenarios in Wessex, Kattegat, and Iceland. And in the aftermath of last week’s brutal murders of Cuthred and Margrethe, A New God presents one ruler making the best of a difficult situation while another begins a further descent into darkness.
Scandinavian kings did not retain power by being perceived as weak, and though his father Ragnar could be excruciatingly ruthless, Ivar the Boneless begins his reign taking fear and intimidation to another level. With his new bride channelling her inner Yoko Ono, Ivar begins to free himself and Kattegat of the threat King Harald’s presence poses makes perfect sense. However, Ivar may not understand the depth of the betrayal Harald feels, a feeling that could lead to his undoing.
It’s been fascinating to watch Harald lie low, biding his time until he has the strength to claim what he sees as his due, and when he arrives in York and meets Ivar’s proxy, his initial announcement clearly states his intention. “Don’t expect to be in charge much longer.” Contrasted against a man now convinced he’s a god, Harald finds himself in an interesting position. Even though he’s grounded in the real world, the possibility that this could all be a trap should be considered. In Harald, Ivar now faces a worthy adversary.
From the start, Harald’s made no effort to hide his ambitions, but convincing Jarl Olavsonn to abandon Ivar and join his rebellion works because of Harald’s understated, behind-the-scenes approach. Jarl yields to Harald’s desire to be named king of York, but even though he agrees to join him on an eventual raid against Ivar and Kattegat, there’s a hint that maybe he’s not totally on board with this tactical approach. For all of his restraint during this long con, Harald’s willingness to gamble that others see Ivar for what he really is, could ironically become his undoing, which is what makes this arc so compelling.
Nevertheless, Ivar the Boneless is the star of this show, and it’s his merciless act against Margrethe that allows Marco Ilsø (Hvitserk) the space to do some of his finest acting as the Lothbrok brother caught in the middle of two worlds. Though he claims merely to like her, Margrethe’s death has left Hvitserk so despondent that we can’t be certain he actually understands the ramifications of challenging Ivar in his present state. Still, Ilsø’s emotional response to his brother’s acts is even more moving since we understand how this is likely to play out.
Ivar believes he can do no wrong, and his warped discourse that begins by wondering why the gods initially cursed him with his affliction and ends with a declaration that “Ivar the Boneless is a god,” reveals that the man who has lived his life on the edge now places one foot precariously into the void. It’s difficult to get a read on how the people react to Freydis’ claim that she carries “his divine child,” but Alex Høgh’s dynamic portrayal of Kattegat’s new king dominates not only the scene but the episode as well. Ivar’s capacity for cruelty has never been in doubt, but a sense of pride in the Lothbrok family history and obligation to follow in his father’s footsteps has generally guided his actions. No longer.
While pomp and circumstance have traditionally been part of the royal Kattegat experience, and Ragnar and Lagertha certainly had their moments, Ivar’s new mindset motivates him to go to the extreme. Whether he’s truly willing to offer up his brother as a sacrifice to the gods adds a compelling twist to the Lothbrok saga, but the fact that Hvitserk has been Ivar’s champion since they were children should count for something. We need only go back to the last time one of Ivar’s brothers taunted and challenged him to determine whether or not there’s any merit to this present threat. But when we really look at this highly revelatory scene, it contains all the markings of a Stalinesque response to perceived threats, viable or not. Dark times loom for the people of Kattegat.
Through five-plus seasons, Vikings has presented countless images of terrifying acts generated from all angles, but the “Hail the god Ivar” procession through the streets of Kattegat may be the most frightening scene yet. We don’t know whether Ivar or Freydis makes the decision to carry out this ostentatious display of power and might, but Hvitserk’s observation that Ivar’s people don’t love him becomes readily apparent and stands as a precursor to the episode’s startling conclusion.
A New God reaches its crescendo as Ivar and Freydis ride through the streets, wearing ornate crowns, frightening in their own right, their faces painted white and adorned with blood red streaks leaving the stunned bystanders unsure of what it is they’re witnessing. “Bring on the sacrifice!” Ivar commands, and a chained and hooded man is brought forth. Is the king is willing to commit fratricide to make his point?
As the tales in Kattegat and Wessex gather momentum, Floki’s Icelandic experience is running on fumes, and it appears the writers are at a loss as to how to gracefully exit this aspect of the story, one that has become Vikings’ awkward step-child. The three principals, Floki (Gustaf Skårsgard), Eyvind (Kris Holden-Ried), and Kjetill Flatnose (Adam Copeland) flounder through no fault of their own as the struggle to survive in this barren wasteland coincides with Hirst’s struggle to find anything meaningful to do with this group. Thorunn has disappeared and has likely been abducted, but at this point, I just don’t care anymore.
Nevertheless, as Floki’s candle burns down, King Alfred faces challenges from all sides. It’s convenient to attribute his support of Heahmund and his actions against Cuthred to simple self-interest, and while that’s certainly true to an extent, the harsh reality of the political situation really leaves him no other reasonable option. Watching Alfred grow into the capable monarch he’s destined to become has been fascinating, but when he angrily confronts the former bishop about Cuthred’s murder, the ever resourceful Heahmund takes control of the scene and the king. “I felt I had no choice but to act to save both your crown and your life,” Heahmund tells Alfred, aware that the king will now have a difficult time condemning his act.
It goes without saying that the perfectly cast Heahmund (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) puts his own interests ahead of the church and the king, but Judith and Alfred understand that having him as an ally benefits both them and the country. Aethelred, however, presents an interesting dilemma since he can’t help but resent that Alfred is king instead of him, and his stance that Heahmund should be punished for Cuthred’s murder is not easily dismissed. It’s a complex situation that leads to a touching scene as Alfred asks his grandfather King Ecbert for guidance regarding his doubts and decisions, not the least of which is his impending marriage to Elsewith.
But what makes the Wessex storyline so compelling is the role into which Lagertha, Bjorn and the other Viking exiles have been thrust. When Heahmund is initially thrown into prison for killing Cuthred, Lagertha’s seething anger can barely be contained when she visits him there. “I’m trying to do what’s best for us and for Wessex,” he tells her, but she’s painfully away that their survival in England is tenuous at best. Alfred understands that he may never convince Bjorn to even attempt to truly assimilate into English culture and mores, but in Ubbe, he sees some of what his grandfather saw in Ragnar. Ubbe and Torvi understand the long term importance of renouncing their religion and publicly embracing Christianity.
Ubbe and Torvi’s baptism into the Christian faith marks the first step toward reconciliation, and the fact that they understand the significance of their sacrifice makes this scene even more poignant. Wearing all white, the two renounce their pagan beliefs as a conflicted Lagertha watches from the side, aware that a similar decision on her part could make her life with Heahmund so much easier. Alfred is spot on when he says that this act “marks the beginning of something important.”
There are times, however, when I feel I’m watching a Norwegian soap opera as the lust-centred intrigue begins to rival the political. While Ubbe and Torvi work to make their stay in England more acceptable, Bjorn’s affair with Alfred’s fiance can only make the young king’s life more difficult. For a man who pretends he doesn’t care about such things, Bjorn certainly looks the part of a jilted lover as he stands off to the side during Alfred and Elsewith’s wedding. And as if things aren’t becoming complicated enough, a young man claiming to be his half-brother Magnus approaches Bjorn with this revelation. We’ve heard the whispers about Ragnar’s love-child before, so this doesn’t come as a complete shock. That Magnus immediately points out that Alfred doesn’t have the Vikings’ best interests at heart does not go unnoticed by Bjorn, so for all its soapy feel, it’s a situation worth keeping an eye on.
And finally, there’s Aethelred and his role in the conspiracy to overthrow his brother. He’s not wrong in siding with the clerics who feel that the king should stay out of the church’s business and that Heahmund should be punished, but is he willing to go as far as Ivar to wear the crown? Is he willing to go as far as Freydis who brazenly watches as her assassin murders the true father of the child she claims is Ivar’s and now heir to the throne?
Despite the feeling that Floki’s Icelandic adventure has narratively run its course, the political and familial intrigues manage to keep the Vikings saga reasonably fresh as new characters enter the picture and minor figures step into the light. A New God embraces Ivar’s desire to surpass his father and place himself on a divine pedestal, and the Norse exiles’ dogged determination to forge new lives and new relationships as they pay a steep religious price. We now wait to see the extent to which brothers, wives, and girlfriends will go to seize or hold onto power.
Read Dave’s review of the previous episode, Murder Most Foul, here.
Supernatural: major character returning for 300th episode
Kayti Burt
Dec 13, 2018
Get the tissues ready, people.
Supernatural’s 300th episode is almost upon us! (I know, I know. The show doesn’t look a day over 200 episodes!) What’s in store for the celebratory landma…