WATCH ALONG | DOCTOR WHO | 9x6 | The Woman Who Lived
Added 2023-07-14 17:56:29 +0000 UTCA Few Notes:
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Comments
I do not rewatch this second part as despite some lovely character moments it falls flat for me. Maisie does and PC do a great job with the mediocre writing. I was very surprised at the end when you said this story is your favourite of the series so far. I enjoy the first part but feels weak compared to the stellar writing of the rest of the series for me. There is a book about about some of Ashildr’s adventures between the two stories called Lengends of Ashildr which is very enjoyable.
Carys Barnes
2023-07-21 00:03:13 +0000 UTCI remember being hyped about the creature design in the trailer, and then it just... didn't live up to my expectations.
Steve Combs
2023-07-20 13:44:54 +0000 UTCI usually don't like this episode, but for some reason I really resonated with it on this watch through. One thing I'll say is that Masie Williams plays "old" really well. I always say that Matt Smith is believable as a 1000 year old human, but Maisy is only 18 (she turned 18 on set) and is so believable as an 800 year old human. I don't think Ashildr/Me has selective memory, but I think it's just that the human brain only has capacity to remember so much. I'm only 41 but I find more and more gaps from my teens and 20's than I had at 31. So I can't imagine what it would be like after 800 years. I really wish that this episode wasn't shown back to back with the previous episode. I think it would hit harder if they were separated. I'd even go as far to say that they could have been in different seasons and had a huge impact, much like River Song did. Oh, and when you mention about her forgetting people but remembering the Doctor, she did say at the start "how can you forget the person who saved your life?" Then, regarding Clara she said "oh I never forget someone's weaknesses" (or something like that). I do agree that she has purposefully chosen to forget her father and the village. It probably hurt too much.
SeeJay
2023-07-15 06:07:36 +0000 UTCYeah this is the only episode in series 9 that I really dislike. It feels slow and honestly a bit boring to me. The only part of this episode that I like is the ending with The Doctor and Clara. That hug never fails to put a smile on my face. 😍 But apart from that, this isn't an episode I often rewatch. I usually write a lot after each episode but I can't think of anything else, says it all really. 😬
Siobhan Linehan
2023-07-15 04:35:57 +0000 UTCIt's not really a two-parter at all, but more like a single-episode story with an immediate sequel -- which could, in fact, have functioned equally well had it been placed later in the series rather than appearing straight after "The Girl Who Died". Unlike proper two-parters, the two episodes are by very different writers; this one is by Catherine Tregenna, who had not previously written for the show (although she had written four episodes of Torchwood quite a few years before). For me it's like Richard Curtis in Series 5's "Vincent and the Doctor": she handles the character-based core of the story superbly, but adds a "monster" element to it that feels forced and uninteresting. Both the Krafayis (a.k.a. Space Turkey) in "Vincent" and Leandro the Space Lion here just get in the way of the real stories being told. The direction of the final battle scene certainly doesn't do it any favours (a few squibs going off, with a bunch of extras aimlessly running around), but the way Leandro (honestly, could there be a more obvious name for a lion-man?) randomly exits in a puff of CGI after the story has no more use for him is a big let-down. Historical trivia: Tregenna makes a gratuitous factual blunder when she has Ashildr claim she "helped end the Hundred Years War" by taking part in the Battle of Agincourt. In fact, the war would drag on for over 35 more years after Agincourt. It's a nice coincidence, though, that this episode was first shown on October 24, 2015 -- the eve of that battle's 600th anniversary.
Steven Cooper
2023-07-15 02:30:33 +0000 UTCThe idea of exploring the concept of giving someone immortality was a good one, but I found the actual story was a little disappointing. It would have been more interesting to explore Me's integration of her life as an immortal, rather than the silly-ish story that they gave us. Still enjoyable and Maisie was fantastic in these stories.
Dyrla
2023-07-14 21:37:59 +0000 UTCI absolutely believe that if this had been a slower-paced, focused-in episode on ashildr and the doctor and the ethics of making someone immortal/what immortality does to a person/why they can't travel together WITHOUT all the fire-breathing lion stuff, it would've been a much better story.
Otso Casey-Stewart
2023-07-14 21:01:21 +0000 UTCAh yes.. this is why I skip this 2 parter on the rewatch. I was pleasantly surprised but the first ep but this one was so clunky and weirdly paced. There were some good moments, maisie's still an amazing actress and I love watching the doctor deal with consequences. I loooved the "oh god I care" moment that Ashildr had. But, yeah, overall very meh. It ended well, at least.
Otso Casey-Stewart
2023-07-14 20:57:46 +0000 UTC
