The other thing that signalled the racism early on was that the doctor's window had warnings but ruby's didn't, even though they were both calling in from the outside.
@@delicitymd6670 I don't think that's what it was, because the next time we see The Doctor, he doesn't have that warning. The first time he hacked through he was recognised as unsolicited - he learned from that and the next time he hacked in he got Ruby to talk and take a different approach and override the unsolicited warning.
@@delicitymd6670we already have one, TikTok bumps people on ur fyp based on an algorithm of “attractiveness” which was created entirely based on only East Asian and white participants, with East Asian features (thin, round faced, soft features, pale) “ranking” “most attractive”. Even on insta I get way more white creators recommended to me than POC on the whole, and it’s not an echo chamber based on my likes, I try to follow a wide array of voices from diff backgrounds.
@@paulholloway7666 possibly, but this AI would learn from the humans that created it and if it constantly gets racist information, it would become racist itself
If you've ever tried to walk after being in a virtual reality headset for an extended period of time, it is pretty disorientating. It also makes sense because the bubbles are always rotating, so their perception of forward would be skewed without the arrows.
Yes! At first I was confused then the realization that she wasn’t used to walking in a still environment. Like trying to walk forward after spinning around.
8:08 The episode (or at least part of it) was filmed on swansea university's bay campus. My sister is currently studying there and has shown me pictures from when they were filming last year
Make the most of those because it probably won't happen again until they revive Doctor Who (maybe) when your Grandkids go to Swansea. It won't last past whatever they've already filmed.
@@johnbayles1426 why do people feel like they have to go around to every positive comment and drown it in toxic negativity? If you have nothing constructive to say, piss off.
5:50 - Regarding her inability to walk without the Bubble up: As a person losing vision (and talking with fully blind people), I can let you know that a sudden loss of your "navigational tools" can suddenly make itVERY difficult to know how to get around. It is very easy to get quickly overwhelmed and even lose your balance. Orientation and Mobility is more than just muscle memory and her walking into that pole three times triggered a BIG memory for me, as did the repeated clipping of the corner of her desk.
my first reaction was " what the hell?" and I didnt think it worked until I thought about it a bit and came to the same thought. I thought about heli pilots who crash in fog casue they cant see and they have to trust their instruments and they end up panicked. So you are spot on.
100% agree. She clearly uses the arrow to balance herself, so walking without it is like walking with her eyes close. Yes, she can see the world, but she doesn't know how to use that information to balance herself. A bit goofy, but makes sense..
This is where my mind went to. She's literally never had to rely on her internal spatial reasoning, or at very least not for a long, long time, so it wasn't so much that she didn't know how to walk but rather she couldn't judge how close things were or exactly how to navigate around things. I mean she didn't even know whether she needed to pee without checking because her mind was so disconnected from her body. It does come back to her relatively fast, which again would make sense if it's something she once did but hasn't in a long time.
Also depending on how old she is, she hasn’t had to walk without it for years. I imagine when you first have to learn to walk in the bubble you struggle with that too.
There was also low-level ageism. Lindey said that only young people between 17 to 23 (ish) were sent there. Ricky was the only person on her list at 28 yo. How did he last so long? Were they eaten if they aged out?
Watching, I noticed they were white, but after I had the thought that there was a disproportionate amount of blonde hair, blue-eyed characters. Or so it felt. Especially as the blonde and blue didn't feel natural. Though I then thought that could have just been the oversaturated pastel palatte creating that uncanny feeling.
I felt the uncanny valley effect with everyone of them. and the main blond girl looked kinda similar to Bryce Dallas Howard in the black mirror episode? anyone else get that??
@CyberSlammer2024 Partly that this wasn't just the main characters but the whole city. Also, the focus on church on Ruby Road was a family, including blood relations. And are you calling the goblins (the bulk of the characters in the episode) of African ethnicity? There were other ethnicities in the human characters. Many white characters with speaking parts. Were the black characters making repeated mocronaggressions based on Ruby's whiteness? This is a silly statement that disregards all context for the discussions at hand.
@@carpevinum8645 of course the goblins aren't of African descent they weren't even humanoid what a stupid thing to say lol. My point was in church there were all main black characters. I don't care doesn't bother me. In this story there was literally zero context where all the black people of this society had gone. Were they ever in the society what had they done where were they. People are usually racist or homophobic because of something that learnt or something that's happened to them or something they haven't dealt with. None of this was challenged or dealt with in this tedious childish script. As others have said elsewhere there were the bones of a good story that we're just written by a hack who's lost his writing skills. It's about time Doctor Who was handed over to good script writers.
@@CyberSlammer2024personally I think its just cause he's out of practice the episodes quality will probably eventually go up as he gets used to the pacing and stuff
I'm a POC and i didnt notice the whole society was white. It just didn't really stand out, which is interesting. a lot of TV and Film just have all white casts so you tend to just settle into it. however, if the whole society was black everyone would certainly have noticed... makes you think about representation and the normalization of a lack of it.
of course, because black percentage in the world is %15, that's what people are used to seeing in normal world. if %15 became %100 of course people would notice, but not the other way around. just because how ratios work, not beause of racism
It was more "in your bubble" versus "social media is the villain", but Social Media was treated as a "false" problem that just allowed the exacerbation of the issue. Echo chambers if you will. I think it's also better that they did a racism episode before going into any historical periods, making it not just a "historical' problem. I believe that it makes perfect sense (as stated by The Doctor) that the AI created the slugs to kill these idiots. I mean, think about it, what better way than to use the way they have abused the AI's system, than as the method of their death. If the dots had just shut down the bubbles and started attacking, people would KNOW what was happening, but letting them just walk into the slugs? The AI pulled true malicious compliance right there. However, it only took direct action when the slugs couldn't approach, much like a Karen sick of waiting for the cops (yes I did just call cops slugs here, personal reasons). I didn't notice that all the characters were White other than the Doctor, just as I wouldn't notice if all of the characters were Black other than Ruby. That said, I read a comment by a Black American who said that they noticed it, but thought it was just bad casting. They realized the racism with the microaggressions against The Doctor.
I think Davies anticipated that a lot of white people would not pick up on the micro aggressions, and this was kind of the point. They struggled to see beyond the bubble. For me this is what makes this such a clever episode.
regarding Ruby recognizing Susan Twist's characters, I don't think Ruby remembers her from 73 Yards, I think she remembers her as the woman from The Church on Ruby Road who went "can you play Gaudete?" and "give it some welly"
@@heavysetmedia1904 I think it's likely she is "the oldest one" / "the one who waits" with speculation going anywhere from The Meddling Monk, to Sutekh, to even the TARDIS itself, the last one being in regards to her playing a woman called Susan Triad in the finale which S. Triad is an anagram for TARDIS. Even heard speculation she could be the Black Guardian or Fenric. All that said, it would be really funny if she was just a woman who just has a bunch of look alikes throughout time and space, but I really doubt that's it. I assume we'll get more insight on Mrs. Flood too soon.
Oh the S Triad being TARDIS is interesting. I don't chase down theory vids so hadn't heard that one. My one thought about "the one who waits" was death waits for no man? Idunno. It'd be pretty out of nowhere but RTD definitely isn't against out of nowhere reveals.
@@burgunbeerd I don't watch too many either but I do see the general speculation on Twitter. Personally the funniest thing that could happen would be Susan Twist just has look a likes for some reason, the one who waits is someone random and because reasons the titular Empire of Death in the finale is the Daleks because reasons. For what I'm rooting for is some sort of Sutekh or Fenric return.
I completely missed the race thing and thought it was a class thing, so when I saw people mention it and thought back it made me feel like an idiot for not realizing it. The writing is so well done, because it can even make viewers realize that they may be a part of the problem by just not realizing something or calling it out. My mind completely skipped over that because I'm so used to class issues, but I've never really had first hand experience with racism. The commentary in this episode was amazing, and I'm so glad that Doctor Who is back and good again after so long. Messages like these make these episodes far more memorable.
Had to subscribe to take you to 1,000. Really enjoyed the conversation. This was my favorite episode of all of them ever. It was heartbreaking and a masterpiece!
Yes, definitely the best episode of this season by a mile even though I liked Boom. It felt very season 24 especially Paradise Towers with bright overtones and a hidden darkness in there society hidden underneath.
I’m torn, I liked some bits but I wish it was toned down a bit. I didn’t catch the racism at all. And retroactively that kind of makes me like the episode more. Right now I like boom the most, then this, then 73 yards
I noticed that she was a bit off with the dr but tbh I read it as he was a man, or he was older. Once they said the 18 to 30 I basically went oh year He's physically over 30 that'll be it, and put it aside. Tbh the race thing just felt unreal. Maybe that was the point? Like you don't care he's an alien etc that's the thing you're caught up on? I kinda feel like the dr displayed that too, as in he's frustrated he can't help because these people are so bigoted, but again it felt like they were just too stupid to realise he wanted to help him. Of course all of this goes back to "being in your bubble" but, yeah, the realisation it was a race thing took me right out. I actually said aloud "what, they're space racists?" And had to go online to see if that was actually it because it seemed so... wtf really?? Again maybe that was the point lol
i didn't even clock the them being in the same room thing but there were some other lines i noticed like her saying she thought the doctor was just someone else who looked the same (it was well placed because it could just be "oh shes stupid so thinks he could just look like someone else") and also she says he will be punished rather then they will and seems to revel in it before just a minute later saying "i was so right to hate you". episodes tackling racism for me usually can be a bit messy but the fact they didn't let thing be overt until the end made it work will in my opinion.
My favorite episode has been the Devil’s Chord but I liked this one. Great chat. I subbed for you. I’m sure as the algorithm brings you forward, your channel will grow.
I'm not white, and i'm also someone whose ever cared about feeling representation in media, or rather i'm still able to relate to characters regardless of race, sexuality, gender, etc. I'm kind of surprised seeing so many people not get the racism until the end. After the first scene i pointed out to my friend that everyones white, and when the doctor came up on her feed and she blocked him i made the joke that it was because he wasn't white. Mind you, after that initial part i did kind of forget about it and when it came to her asking if the doctor and ruby were in the same room i also wasn't thinking that it was due to race but just social proximity.
Honestly it’s a good episode, and does that good Sci-Fi stuff of making me question everything around me after watching it, and the twist at the end does recontextualises some minor things in the story. But I have to say, it’s another episode this season that makes me question why and how, and not in the good way. A lot of the problems I have stems from me stepping back and asking “ok… but why?”. (Maybe there were amazing answers and I’m just stupid.£ Like, why can’t the Doctor and Ruby Tardis in? Why are they choosing to go with the dot and bubble when they could just Vorp in and stop the slugs themselves. Why is the home-world just gone? Like the slugs got to them too but it really doesn’t have any impact outside of “oh, they are just alone.” I think what annoys me most is why didn’t the dot and bubble just kill the residents with just the dot flying through their heads. It’s not like that would be slower or worse than SLUGS. The episode works if you don’t think about it from a narrative POV, but I do like the themes and acting, especially Ncuti at the end.
That's one way of looking at it! I like to go with it was sh*t. Certainly my way is saying it a lot simpler. Not as sh*t as the 3 that came before it but still a t*rd. That's only an opinion but I'm amazed at people that can still watch this. ;O)
It's because Russell T Davies has a good idea and then just writes the script from that good idea without going back and double and triple checking whether it actually makes sense. There is no character building everything is literally black and white. It definitely is aimed at a childish Disney audience. You can see from all the reviews people are desperate to try and flesh out the story and make sense of it essentially doing the job that Russell T Davies didn't do
I think the idea that the doctor and ruby cant tardis in is more to service the message rather than the plot, which isn’t an inherently bad thing; It’s meant to emphasise how they are so safe from outside forces that they can’t even fathom something being wrong. And the final point you mention, well AI’s are created by humans themselves, and we see that this isn’t the only area in which the AI is, so it makes sense that the AI would secretly kill rather than go all out because it could be shut down and prevented if it’s too obvious.
If the only part of the episode you didn't like was Lindy being unable to walk, you should check out the psychology/visual perception experiments where people are made to wear goggles with distorting prisms/lenses in them. At first, they're completely screwed when it comes to basic navigation and coordination, but then get used to it and can function normally. Then, when the goggles come off, the impaired navigation returns until the eyes and brain readjust to the normal world again. Given that these people spend most of their day immersed in their bubbles, the disorienting effect must be even more extreme.
I thought the end was good in the sense that it addressed how the doctor will have a different experience in his new skin. Its interesting to think about how the doctor might have to adjust to how he interacts with ppl.
I think the problem with walking without it is the bubble constantly turns their brains have got used to the constant turning in front of them so it compensates, like when you walk next to a river and see the river moving out the corner of your eye you get that sense of movement
Lindy Pepper-Bean was more proactive in this episode then Ruby has been this whole season (excluding her short stint in politics, which technically hasn't even happened in her current timeline)
I am a black man with a white wife and my older kids watched this and picked up on the lack of any non blonde haired blue eyed people 3 minutes into it.
Didn't like it at all. At the end, it was "Oh, no, it's a man of a different color! We can't go with HIM!". Just another bad episode. But if you guys like it, that's fine. We all have our different ideas. It is better than Space Babies and The Devils Chord, I'll give you that.
@@jvblhc unfortunately in retrospect it's probably not one I'll rewatch more than once because it lives and dies by that final reveal. It was fun to go back and see the subtle things we didn't catch the first time but yeah
I understand the Doctor's tears all so well. You can help but they will not give you a chance to do so. Many years ago, I worked in Tech support. The most frustrating part we had some clients that had an issue listening to a Black woman giving them direction. Majority of the time, it would be middle-aged white males. Everyone was trained and certified, but that was meaningless to them. Even after I resolved the issue, they would not thank me and would be dismissive and say comments hinting it will come back after they hang up.
Incredible analysis. I thought I picked up on just about everything, but I completely forgot about the part where she pointed out they were in the same room. Previously I thought the episode was targeting a mix of classicm and racism (and intersectionality) since she was also pretty dismissive of Ruby, but now I'm thinking I might agree that it's a bit more focused on the racial component, since one reason they might not like Ruby is because she's been "contaminated" by blackness. On that note, I actually thought the "voodoo" comment was more subtle than the "contamination" one. Either way, I enjoyed the subtlety of both. I'm not sure I agree with you about the other episodes since I've really enjoyed this season, but I absolutely agree that this one was exceptional. It seems a lot of people didn't fully grasp what it was doing, but it certainly has more depth than the others even if the spectacle of it is less engaging
I think im one of the few that loved the satnav shit. I have horrible item and bodily permanence. If satnav didnt exist id be constantly lost in a fit devolving into panic attacks. And i know i would cause im old and thats what happened
I really hate this doctors big reveal moments, so much time is wasted by him saying no. Like this and boom are driving me insane. Just spill the beans I don’t need 2 mins of pointless dialogue
Exactly the doctor sits around doing nothing for most of these episodes now and then rants raves or cries. I just can't believe people enjoyed this episode I hated it and couldn't wait for it to end
I think the racism went unnoticed because we expect it to be more overt. "We" being those of us who don't really personally experience it much. Which in practice is more the microaggression kind. P!us the pastels kind of blinded me.
I think the racism plot was very well seeded but felt rushed at the end. There was all this great world building but they didn't flesh out why the wealthy upper class brats' culture are space-racist. I think with a line or two added it to flesh out how their culture became like that could felt more earnt rather than 'they're space racists, just trust me'. For example if it was a planet where it's males only or females only, you'd likely get an explanation how society got to that state. But as with all Who it can be forgiven for the rushed resolutions as 45mins is a tight window to wrap everything up.
Totally agree with you, there was no backstory or explanation of where the planet was/what era or any historical context. This awful main character may have not liked people with black skin, because dor example maybe a couple of decades ago all of the black people of that society went on a rampage and killed loads of people. We don't know, it was never explained. As you say it was just 'oh she is a racist accept my word'.
@CyberSlammer2024 could've had a black person be a tyrant or something and then have a white person rise up and they are ALSO a tyrant but like with a hatred for anything "different" like gay people and ofc black people cause propaganda
Can I ask why no one is taking notice that the doctor couldn't penetrate the security of the dome , who created it? And I think the recurring woman will be the Rani as the situation is like a evil science experiment which is the MO of the Rani
1 min in... "It's the black mirror episode". "It's a commentary on Tiktok". Yeah these guys categorically missed the whole point. Which is the whole point, as RTD explained after the episode, if you see it the way they did, you might have some questioning to do about yourself and your biases. This episode is about racism, bigotry and how far people will go (death) to protect their little hateed bubble.
Thought this was the worst episode of the season based on the fact the ending is just performative activism, you can’t generalise an entire group of people while trying to make a point about racism
You should also (I'm sorry) have asked along with whether we picked up on there being only white people (yes, I did) whether we are white or black, etc. White, in my case, but most of the people I've seen who can't see the racism even after the episode is done are white. Only a couple of people who've identified themselves as black have left comments that they didn't notice. How much of this is down to people still mostly being white on television (not originally noticing), I'm not sure. It seemed pretty standout to me for _Doctor Who_ currently. Maybe it was just having a whole wall of them, though.
It was elements of racism along with the whole thing of being friends online but not in person; but remember she betrayed the other male, Ricky, who saved her. So racism/sexism… it was a form of “You’re fine, you’re not” It’s also got elements of not looking beyond your “bubble” it does layer a lot.
Best episode of the series. I actually missed the racism and think it's partly because I was expecting a social media commentary and therefore assumed they didn't trust the doctor because he wasn't in their social media bubble. Also I'm so used to racism either not being an issue at all or lacking any subtly in tv that my brain didn't recognise when it was shown in a realistic way for once. Made me think about how tv needs to follow suit! Also, i initially wanted this episode to be a two parter. It seemed to end so abruptly and I wanted to find more about who sent the slugs and where the people in the boat were going. They couldn't just go in a boat and die? It must be a set up for part two. After reflection that was kind of the point. I was supposed to feel frustrated that it ended so badly and abruply purely because of the prejudice of the characters. After a rocky first few episodes I'm starting to look forward to doctor who which is something I haven't been able to say for years.
I'm sorry, for me that was a nothing ending. Okay, the spoiled kids are classist and racist to the point, that they don't take a chance for rescue. So what? They were jerks in more obvious ways the whole time.Befire the last scene it was an episode about social media abuse and some disaster, which will probably be explained in one sentence in the season finale to tie the season together. Movies that lead you to believe that they are about one thing and are really about another? M. Night Shamalyan's Signs comes to mind, where the alien invasion is just a plot device for the real story, about restoring Mel Gibson's character's faith. I was disappointed by that twist the first time I watched the movie, but liked it better in re-runs with the right expectations and seeing that it is about that the whole time. I don't see that happening re-watching this Doctor Who episode.
The episode is average but I still hate the Doctor saying Babes! And crying yet again. He’s supposed to be an alien and not react in such a human way. Where’s the resilience that he used to have?
ehh, i see it similar to how me, a british person has spent and picked up so much from the internet my accent and language doesn't come off as british anymore. adaptation.
I hated Space Babies, but I think it's all connected. The Space Babies, the capitalist war planet, and this feels like there's something going on. Especially when Lindy describes death and heaven. I forgot what she said exactly, but it reminded me of what the little girl in the capitalist war planet said about her dead father. I think this is all going to come back to bite the Doctor in the ass. He shouldn't have saved them. I also think those little pricks will live. Notice how they one blonde guy was like, "Yeah we're going to go tame the land and conquer". They have colonizer mentality.
The 'racism' was dealt with in a really absurd and inorganic way, as if it was just tacked on at the end and wasn't earned. It's like they wanted to tackle racist issues but couldn't figure out how to make it convincing.
@@michaelfinlay6341 Hardly a searing indictment of racist issues though is it? They did a better job with the Jodie Whitaker Rosa Parkes episode, which actually had some discussion on the topic instead of racism is stupid, which is lame.
Racist phrases and actions were said and done throughout the episode, but they are so diluted in the script that almost no one noticed, but at the end you rewatch the episode and notice the true intentions, like the girl not wanting to speak directly to the Doctor but just answering Ruby.
It's possible that by "hiding" the white supremacy it's meant to cause us to realize that most racism in the real world is not overt. It's subtle and hidden and our privileged causes us to miss the signs. It made me uncomfortable that I didn't see it. No black people in the bubble. The only one that shows up she blocks instantly. When it's discovered that the acceptable white girl trying to help her is in the same room as the black guy and he will be disciplined and she can't wait for that. It's all there.
I kinda liked this episode, but it was, once again, half a story that kinda dragged. The main character being unable to function in the real world was a good idea, but when they took it to the point where she walked into a lamp post then it stopped being funny, or even making sense, especially after she had already said that they only work for 2 hours a day and party the rest of the time. The dots becoming sentient and unaliving the Finetimers was taken right from the silly universe of Douglas Adams. Also, if the Doctor cries one more time then I'm going to stop watching it forever.
I wasn’t so sure the twist worked around racism, as this was not really seeded at all imo (the only thing I can think may have related is she blocked the doctor but not Ruby). How I interpreted the ending until watching the unleashed was a class divide. The elite children don’t want to be associated with other non-elites, kind of thing. This would have tied to the fact only rich children went there and why the death by dot was covered up a little more I think 🤷🏻♂️ I did like the episode overall, but I think the above and the unanswered questions capped it at a 7/10 from me
Well yes I'm ashamed to admit I missed the racist thing when Lindy asked "are you two in the same room together" I actually thought she was just being dumb and dense as bricks...
There is so much wrong with this story. Firstly the pacing was off and it just dragged. Secondly as others have said there was no building of the society or the history of the planet we know nothing about it. In order to be racist there must be black people so where are they otherwise if everybody is white she can't be racist because she wouldn't recognise a black person and hate them from nowhere. It was very childish and felt it was written for 5 year olds. The main thing I noticed is that the majority of fans are spending all their time fleshing out the story meaning and backstory of this script. Russell T Davies should have done that. Just look at snake dance for a well-built society and backstory. I think fans are just desperate for Doctor Who to succeed and wants the story to be better than what it was hence they are spending their time creating all this extra stuff out of it which wasn't really there.
The last five minutes is where it gets interesting but then it just ends? The rest of it for me is just too much like black mirror and it doesn’t explain the homeworld or where the creatures came from or when the AI went evil, what they were going into? Just yet again felt like it needed a two parter to explore how awful this society is and therefore maybe a society the doctor chooses not to save? Anytime in this series you think the episode is good you watch any other episode from the original RTD era and realise it’s weak as fuck
Thank God for somebody else says exactly what I'm saying. I couldn't agree with you more there is absolutely no backstory to win or where this is or how the society properly evolved. There is literally zero context why this awful main character hates black people or dislikes them. It therefore assumes there must be black people in society so where are they and what happened to them and what makes her hate them so much?? Did they all get club together and do something 50 generations ago meaning the society's split like the kaleds and thals. All the fans seem to be doing is filling in the gaps that Russell T Davies should have had in the script. This was a average first draught that was never finished in my opinion a bit like 73 yards. So much was wrong with it and the pacing was dreadful. They showed us the stupid girl walking into something four times. We get you stupid you don't need to keep telling us!!
I'm sorry, I don't know how anyone could like this episode. What if we made the main character (and all side characters) of the episode annoying and shallow? Just really unlikable. Then, make them so incompetent they can't even walk, the literal babies from space were more independent. What exciting content, watching an actor pretend to struggle to walk around stationary slugs. Then what if we layered a very heavy handed commentary over the whole thing, so that we could pretend our terrible episode was making some kind of important point? And a smug point at that, saying how much better the writers are than the youth these days. This may be the episode that makes me give up on the new Doctor Who.
I for one really enjoyed this episode. The reason why most of the citizens of FineTime act the way they do is because they’ve been so absorbed into their bubble as prejudicial, spoiled, rich kids. They’ve basically lost the ability to function on their own unless they are in their bubble being assisted. I found it great
I usually hate the line "that's the point" but I think it does kinda work here. Like Joker in Joker is the main character and he's not what you'd call likeable but that was on purpose. Here its the subversion of expecting a character in your fun show to get a redemption despite the fact they suck but then you find out they reaallllly suck. And I guess you can say the social media commentary was heavy handed but as I say in the video I feel like it was to veil the real commentary which was much more sleight of hand
@@linkjourney422 I'm not saying there isn't the bones of a good episode in there. I actually think you could make a REALLY good episode about relying on technology to much like that. I just feel it failed in the execution. For instance, instead of creating slugs to kill everybody, the program could have simply exploited the trust and reliance everyone has on it, and make them walk into traffic or other dangerous situations. This is much better writing because it stops the AI from doing something unnecessary, it gives the writers a chance to be creative and craft scenarios with more suspense, and the actual thing that is killing them is their decision to blindly trust and follow the orders of AI.
@@TheVofR but that's what happens, the AI exploits the reliance everyone has on it. There's no traffic to kill them, FineTime a perfect world with no hazards whatsoever, that's why they NEEDED to create the slugs. Unless you, I don't know, would have preffered if they fell from the windows in their apartments (which would be very silly). The AI kills in alphabetical order because it is a machine, it has a pattern, it has to follow a logic, it can't kill randomly because it wasn't designed to be random.
I really didn't like the racism part tbh. Sure, it was kinda "fun" to look back on it and have it enforce how unlikeable the characters in this episode are but to me it felt kinda shallow and almost thrown in. I'd rather they had reserved the whole "wow the doctor is black, let's have some commentary on that" for a different episode so thay they could explore it a whole lot more, especially if it was a travel back in time episode. We saw that with Martha slightly and I enjoyed that (though wish they were more daring).
Totally agree. Plus we don't know anything about this society and where the black people from this society have gone? For all we know all of the black people from that society where and whenever it is may have been absolute bastards and gone around killing all the grandparents. There may be a good reason why she doesn't like people with the dark skin who knows we don't have any background to anything
best episode. lol. I agree...however the bar was as low as you can get. this is like spit shining a turd. its looks good. but at its heart its still a turd. Ill be honest. I totally missed the racist aspect. I for sure saw class divide. but I agree with you about the racism. I see that now too. keep it up!
The other thing that signalled the racism early on was that the doctor's window had warnings but ruby's didn't, even though they were both calling in from the outside.
That’s wild I ain’t even think about that. They got an AI got a code to scan for skin color
OH YEAAHHHHH
@@delicitymd6670 I don't think that's what it was, because the next time we see The Doctor, he doesn't have that warning. The first time he hacked through he was recognised as unsolicited - he learned from that and the next time he hacked in he got Ruby to talk and take a different approach and override the unsolicited warning.
@@delicitymd6670we already have one, TikTok bumps people on ur fyp based on an algorithm of “attractiveness” which was created entirely based on only East Asian and white participants, with East Asian features (thin, round faced, soft features, pale) “ranking” “most attractive”. Even on insta I get way more white creators recommended to me than POC on the whole, and it’s not an echo chamber based on my likes, I try to follow a wide array of voices from diff backgrounds.
@@paulholloway7666 possibly, but this AI would learn from the humans that created it and if it constantly gets racist information, it would become racist itself
If you've ever tried to walk after being in a virtual reality headset for an extended period of time, it is pretty disorientating. It also makes sense because the bubbles are always rotating, so their perception of forward would be skewed without the arrows.
Yes! At first I was confused then the realization that she wasn’t used to walking in a still environment. Like trying to walk forward after spinning around.
8:08 The episode (or at least part of it) was filmed on swansea university's bay campus. My sister is currently studying there and has shown me pictures from when they were filming last year
Make the most of those because it probably won't happen again until they revive Doctor Who (maybe) when your Grandkids go to Swansea.
It won't last past whatever they've already filmed.
@@johnbayles1426 why do people feel like they have to go around to every positive comment and drown it in toxic negativity? If you have nothing constructive to say, piss off.
Lucky lady! (I've been to Wales and loved it there) (Only really been to Cardiff though...)
5:50 - Regarding her inability to walk without the Bubble up: As a person losing vision (and talking with fully blind people), I can let you know that a sudden loss of your "navigational tools" can suddenly make itVERY difficult to know how to get around. It is very easy to get quickly overwhelmed and even lose your balance. Orientation and Mobility is more than just muscle memory and her walking into that pole three times triggered a BIG memory for me, as did the repeated clipping of the corner of her desk.
my first reaction was " what the hell?" and I didnt think it worked until I thought about it a bit and came to the same thought. I thought about heli pilots who crash in fog casue they cant see and they have to trust their instruments and they end up panicked. So you are spot on.
100% agree. She clearly uses the arrow to balance herself, so walking without it is like walking with her eyes close. Yes, she can see the world, but she doesn't know how to use that information to balance herself. A bit goofy, but makes sense..
This is where my mind went to. She's literally never had to rely on her internal spatial reasoning, or at very least not for a long, long time, so it wasn't so much that she didn't know how to walk but rather she couldn't judge how close things were or exactly how to navigate around things. I mean she didn't even know whether she needed to pee without checking because her mind was so disconnected from her body. It does come back to her relatively fast, which again would make sense if it's something she once did but hasn't in a long time.
Also depending on how old she is, she hasn’t had to walk without it for years. I imagine when you first have to learn to walk in the bubble you struggle with that too.
All of those 'people' chose the bubble, though.
There was also low-level ageism. Lindey said that only young people between 17 to 23 (ish) were sent there. Ricky was the only person on her list at 28 yo. How did he last so long? Were they eaten if they aged out?
I believe it was 17-27. And I’m assuming at 27 they have to leave and go back to their home world?
I definitely wasn't expecting a period of self reflection at 10am on a Saturday after my fun Scifi show!
Watching, I noticed they were white, but after I had the thought that there was a disproportionate amount of blonde hair, blue-eyed characters. Or so it felt. Especially as the blonde and blue didn't feel natural. Though I then thought that could have just been the oversaturated pastel palatte creating that uncanny feeling.
I felt the uncanny valley effect with everyone of them. and the main blond girl looked kinda similar to Bryce Dallas Howard in the black mirror episode? anyone else get that??
And why is that any different to noticing that in church on ruby Road virtually all of the main characters were black?
Literally just ruby wasn't.
@CyberSlammer2024
Partly that this wasn't just the main characters but the whole city. Also, the focus on church on Ruby Road was a family, including blood relations. And are you calling the goblins (the bulk of the characters in the episode) of African ethnicity? There were other ethnicities in the human characters. Many white characters with speaking parts. Were the black characters making repeated mocronaggressions based on Ruby's whiteness?
This is a silly statement that disregards all context for the discussions at hand.
@@carpevinum8645 of course the goblins aren't of African descent they weren't even humanoid what a stupid thing to say lol.
My point was in church there were all main black characters. I don't care doesn't bother me.
In this story there was literally zero context where all the black people of this society had gone. Were they ever in the society what had they done where were they.
People are usually racist or homophobic because of something that learnt or something that's happened to them or something they haven't dealt with.
None of this was challenged or dealt with in this tedious childish script.
As others have said elsewhere there were the bones of a good story that we're just written by a hack who's lost his writing skills. It's about time Doctor Who was handed over to good script writers.
@@CyberSlammer2024personally I think its just cause he's out of practice the episodes quality will probably eventually go up as he gets used to the pacing and stuff
I'm a POC and i didnt notice the whole society was white. It just didn't really stand out, which is interesting. a lot of TV and Film just have all white casts so you tend to just settle into it. however, if the whole society was black everyone would certainly have noticed... makes you think about representation and the normalization of a lack of it.
of course, because black percentage in the world is %15, that's what people are used to seeing in normal world.
if %15 became %100 of course people would notice, but not the other way around. just because how ratios work, not beause of racism
@@bahadirozer only 9% of the world is white people.
@@bahadirozer 9% of the world is white
It was more "in your bubble" versus "social media is the villain", but Social Media was treated as a "false" problem that just allowed the exacerbation of the issue. Echo chambers if you will.
I think it's also better that they did a racism episode before going into any historical periods, making it not just a "historical' problem.
I believe that it makes perfect sense (as stated by The Doctor) that the AI created the slugs to kill these idiots. I mean, think about it, what better way than to use the way they have abused the AI's system, than as the method of their death. If the dots had just shut down the bubbles and started attacking, people would KNOW what was happening, but letting them just walk into the slugs? The AI pulled true malicious compliance right there. However, it only took direct action when the slugs couldn't approach, much like a Karen sick of waiting for the cops (yes I did just call cops slugs here, personal reasons).
I didn't notice that all the characters were White other than the Doctor, just as I wouldn't notice if all of the characters were Black other than Ruby. That said, I read a comment by a Black American who said that they noticed it, but thought it was just bad casting. They realized the racism with the microaggressions against The Doctor.
"The shield so so high he can't get in", boy isn't that just another metaphor.
I think Davies anticipated that a lot of white people would not pick up on the micro aggressions, and this was kind of the point. They struggled to see beyond the bubble. For me this is what makes this such a clever episode.
regarding Ruby recognizing Susan Twist's characters, I don't think Ruby remembers her from 73 Yards, I think she remembers her as the woman from The Church on Ruby Road who went "can you play Gaudete?" and "give it some welly"
think she could be "the one that waits"?? and what was all the interpretive dance about in 73 yards? questions!!!!
@@heavysetmedia1904 I think it's likely she is "the oldest one" / "the one who waits" with speculation going anywhere from The Meddling Monk, to Sutekh, to even the TARDIS itself, the last one being in regards to her playing a woman called Susan Triad in the finale which S. Triad is an anagram for TARDIS. Even heard speculation she could be the Black Guardian or Fenric. All that said, it would be really funny if she was just a woman who just has a bunch of look alikes throughout time and space, but I really doubt that's it. I assume we'll get more insight on Mrs. Flood too soon.
@@NaldragVG and these little thru lines in these stories keep me coming back casue I know they usually payoff.
Oh the S Triad being TARDIS is interesting. I don't chase down theory vids so hadn't heard that one. My one thought about "the one who waits" was death waits for no man? Idunno. It'd be pretty out of nowhere but RTD definitely isn't against out of nowhere reveals.
@@burgunbeerd I don't watch too many either but I do see the general speculation on Twitter. Personally the funniest thing that could happen would be Susan Twist just has look a likes for some reason, the one who waits is someone random and because reasons the titular Empire of Death in the finale is the Daleks because reasons. For what I'm rooting for is some sort of Sutekh or Fenric return.
Did anyone notice that Lindy says, "Mummy" the same way the space babies do? I got the feeling that the babies were related to the Finetimers.
I completely missed the race thing and thought it was a class thing, so when I saw people mention it and thought back it made me feel like an idiot for not realizing it. The writing is so well done, because it can even make viewers realize that they may be a part of the problem by just not realizing something or calling it out. My mind completely skipped over that because I'm so used to class issues, but I've never really had first hand experience with racism. The commentary in this episode was amazing, and I'm so glad that Doctor Who is back and good again after so long. Messages like these make these episodes far more memorable.
Had to subscribe to take you to 1,000. Really enjoyed the conversation. This was my favorite episode of all of them ever. It was heartbreaking and a masterpiece!
Enjoyed the conversation. Subscribed!
Yes, definitely the best episode of this season by a mile even though I liked Boom. It felt very season 24 especially Paradise Towers with bright overtones and a hidden darkness in there society hidden underneath.
What does it say about the audience if they're identifying with slug creatures and rooting for the death of an entire generation of people?
I’m torn, I liked some bits but I wish it was toned down a bit. I didn’t catch the racism at all. And retroactively that kind of makes me like the episode more.
Right now I like boom the most, then this, then 73 yards
I noticed that she was a bit off with the dr but tbh I read it as he was a man, or he was older. Once they said the 18 to 30 I basically went oh year He's physically over 30 that'll be it, and put it aside. Tbh the race thing just felt unreal. Maybe that was the point? Like you don't care he's an alien etc that's the thing you're caught up on? I kinda feel like the dr displayed that too, as in he's frustrated he can't help because these people are so bigoted, but again it felt like they were just too stupid to realise he wanted to help him. Of course all of this goes back to "being in your bubble" but, yeah, the realisation it was a race thing took me right out. I actually said aloud "what, they're space racists?" And had to go online to see if that was actually it because it seemed so... wtf really?? Again maybe that was the point lol
Woah how do you guys have less than 1 million subs
I really enjoyed this episode. It was cleverly written with good plot twists.
i didn't even clock the them being in the same room thing but there were some other lines i noticed like her saying she thought the doctor was just someone else who looked the same (it was well placed because it could just be "oh shes stupid so thinks he could just look like someone else") and also she says he will be punished rather then they will and seems to revel in it before just a minute later saying "i was so right to hate you". episodes tackling racism for me usually can be a bit messy but the fact they didn't let thing be overt until the end made it work will in my opinion.
Blonde eyed, blue haired Ruby is going to haunt my dreams.
My favorite episode has been the Devil’s Chord but I liked this one. Great chat. I subbed for you. I’m sure as the algorithm brings you forward, your channel will grow.
My take was they are a new kind of space racist. DALEKS exterminate, Cybermen assimilate, and these ones segregate.
It's just a re-hash of Eloi and Morlocks - but making the slugs actual Morlocks would have opened a whole new can of worms.
Build high for happiness!
I missed that bit about the "cleansing"! **SHIT**
I'm not white, and i'm also someone whose ever cared about feeling representation in media, or rather i'm still able to relate to characters regardless of race, sexuality, gender, etc. I'm kind of surprised seeing so many people not get the racism until the end. After the first scene i pointed out to my friend that everyones white, and when the doctor came up on her feed and she blocked him i made the joke that it was because he wasn't white. Mind you, after that initial part i did kind of forget about it and when it came to her asking if the doctor and ruby were in the same room i also wasn't thinking that it was due to race but just social proximity.
Honestly it’s a good episode, and does that good Sci-Fi stuff of making me question everything around me after watching it, and the twist at the end does recontextualises some minor things in the story. But I have to say, it’s another episode this season that makes me question why and how, and not in the good way. A lot of the problems I have stems from me stepping back and asking “ok… but why?”. (Maybe there were amazing answers and I’m just stupid.£
Like, why can’t the Doctor and Ruby Tardis in? Why are they choosing to go with the dot and bubble when they could just Vorp in and stop the slugs themselves. Why is the home-world just gone? Like the slugs got to them too but it really doesn’t have any impact outside of “oh, they are just alone.”
I think what annoys me most is why didn’t the dot and bubble just kill the residents with just the dot flying through their heads. It’s not like that would be slower or worse than SLUGS. The episode works if you don’t think about it from a narrative POV, but I do like the themes and acting, especially Ncuti at the end.
That's one way of looking at it! I like to go with it was sh*t. Certainly my way is saying it a lot simpler. Not as sh*t as the 3 that came before it but still a t*rd. That's only an opinion but I'm amazed at people that can still watch this.
;O)
It's because Russell T Davies has a good idea and then just writes the script from that good idea without going back and double and triple checking whether it actually makes sense.
There is no character building everything is literally black and white.
It definitely is aimed at a childish Disney audience.
You can see from all the reviews people are desperate to try and flesh out the story and make sense of it essentially doing the job that Russell T Davies didn't do
I think the idea that the doctor and ruby cant tardis in is more to service the message rather than the plot, which isn’t an inherently bad thing; It’s meant to emphasise how they are so safe from outside forces that they can’t even fathom something being wrong. And the final point you mention, well AI’s are created by humans themselves, and we see that this isn’t the only area in which the AI is, so it makes sense that the AI would secretly kill rather than go all out because it could be shut down and prevented if it’s too obvious.
Someone’s two hour job may have to shut the system down if there was dot problem. So creates they would never see until it’s too late.
UNIT is able to keep the Tardis out of the Black Archive. And sometimes the Tardis just won't land somewhere because it doesn't want to.
If the only part of the episode you didn't like was Lindy being unable to walk, you should check out the psychology/visual perception experiments where people are made to wear goggles with distorting prisms/lenses in them. At first, they're completely screwed when it comes to basic navigation and coordination, but then get used to it and can function normally. Then, when the goggles come off, the impaired navigation returns until the eyes and brain readjust to the normal world again.
Given that these people spend most of their day immersed in their bubbles, the disorienting effect must be even more extreme.
Gothic Paul _seemed_ okay. I have to think Ricky had some not-lovely parts of his personality too.
I thought the end was good in the sense that it addressed how the doctor will have a different experience in his new skin. Its interesting to think about how the doctor might have to adjust to how he interacts with ppl.
I think the problem with walking without it is the bubble constantly turns their brains have got used to the constant turning in front of them so it compensates, like when you walk next to a river and see the river moving out the corner of your eye you get that sense of movement
Lindy Pepper-Bean was more proactive in this episode then Ruby has been this whole season (excluding her short stint in politics, which technically hasn't even happened in her current timeline)
It's sadly true! She sucks but she got from A to B better than Ruby has. Ofcourse minus her little political Coup
I am a black man with a white wife and my older kids watched this and picked up on the lack of any non blonde haired blue eyed people 3 minutes into it.
A sleeper pilot -- that has secret fourth _Sherlock_ episode vibes, guys.
Didn't like it at all. At the end, it was "Oh, no, it's a man of a different color! We can't go with HIM!". Just another bad episode. But if you guys like it, that's fine. We all have our different ideas. It is better than Space Babies and The Devils Chord, I'll give you that.
@@jvblhc unfortunately in retrospect it's probably not one I'll rewatch more than once because it lives and dies by that final reveal. It was fun to go back and see the subtle things we didn't catch the first time but yeah
I understand the Doctor's tears all so well. You can help but they will not give you a chance to do so. Many years ago, I worked in Tech support. The most frustrating part we had some clients that had an issue listening to a Black woman giving them direction. Majority of the time, it would be middle-aged white males. Everyone was trained and certified, but that was meaningless to them. Even after I resolved the issue, they would not thank me and would be dismissive and say comments hinting it will come back after they hang up.
"Monsters, Monsters Everywhere" was one title considered.
It's more about echo chambers, I think, than social media itself. The social media is a red herring.
It was called the Great Abrogation
Incredible analysis. I thought I picked up on just about everything, but I completely forgot about the part where she pointed out they were in the same room. Previously I thought the episode was targeting a mix of classicm and racism (and intersectionality) since she was also pretty dismissive of Ruby, but now I'm thinking I might agree that it's a bit more focused on the racial component, since one reason they might not like Ruby is because she's been "contaminated" by blackness.
On that note, I actually thought the "voodoo" comment was more subtle than the "contamination" one. Either way, I enjoyed the subtlety of both.
I'm not sure I agree with you about the other episodes since I've really enjoyed this season, but I absolutely agree that this one was exceptional. It seems a lot of people didn't fully grasp what it was doing, but it certainly has more depth than the others even if the spectacle of it is less engaging
I think Millie filmed _73 Yards_ at the same time most of this was filmed.
I'm not sure how many people would have described. Ricky's death as funny...
I think im one of the few that loved the satnav shit. I have horrible item and bodily permanence. If satnav didnt exist id be constantly lost in a fit devolving into panic attacks. And i know i would cause im old and thats what happened
I really hate this doctors big reveal moments, so much time is wasted by him saying no. Like this and boom are driving me insane. Just spill the beans I don’t need 2 mins of pointless dialogue
Exactly the doctor sits around doing nothing for most of these episodes now and then rants raves or cries.
I just can't believe people enjoyed this episode I hated it and couldn't wait for it to end
@@CyberSlammer2024 from what i heard it was made so the actor can be on stage of the other films he was in
@@DaburuTori yes two of the episodes he was elsewhere filming other stuff why didn't they just wait until he was available?
I think the racism went unnoticed because we expect it to be more overt.
"We" being those of us who don't really personally experience it much. Which in practice is more the microaggression kind.
P!us the pastels kind of blinded me.
I didn't notice everyone was white and I am not white
I'm sorry, calling the fans 'racist' isnt gonna cut it RTD!!!
I think the racism plot was very well seeded but felt rushed at the end. There was all this great world building but they didn't flesh out why the wealthy upper class brats' culture are space-racist. I think with a line or two added it to flesh out how their culture became like that could felt more earnt rather than 'they're space racists, just trust me'. For example if it was a planet where it's males only or females only, you'd likely get an explanation how society got to that state. But as with all Who it can be forgiven for the rushed resolutions as 45mins is a tight window to wrap everything up.
Totally agree with you, there was no backstory or explanation of where the planet was/what era or any historical context.
This awful main character may have not liked people with black skin, because dor example maybe a couple of decades ago all of the black people of that society went on a rampage and killed loads of people. We don't know, it was never explained. As you say it was just 'oh she is a racist accept my word'.
@CyberSlammer2024 could've had a black person be a tyrant or something and then have a white person rise up and they are ALSO a tyrant but like with a hatred for anything "different" like gay people and ofc black people cause propaganda
@CyberSlammer2024 Bruh, what?
@@CyberSlammer2024Are you under the impression that racists hate based on experience?
They hate them for the exact same reason the Daleks hate every else. Because they're different.
Can I ask why no one is taking notice that the doctor couldn't penetrate the security of the dome , who created it? And I think the recurring woman will be the Rani as the situation is like a evil science experiment which is the MO of the Rani
1 min in...
"It's the black mirror episode". "It's a commentary on Tiktok".
Yeah these guys categorically missed the whole point.
Which is the whole point, as RTD explained after the episode, if you see it the way they did, you might have some questioning to do about yourself and your biases.
This episode is about racism, bigotry and how far people will go (death) to protect their little hateed bubble.
Maybe try watching for more than a minute? Just like the episode itself takes more than a minute to get to that point.
Thought this was the worst episode of the season based on the fact the ending is just performative activism, you can’t generalise an entire group of people while trying to make a point about racism
You should also (I'm sorry) have asked along with whether we picked up on there being only white people (yes, I did) whether we are white or black, etc. White, in my case, but most of the people I've seen who can't see the racism even after the episode is done are white. Only a couple of people who've identified themselves as black have left comments that they didn't notice. How much of this is down to people still mostly being white on television (not originally noticing), I'm not sure. It seemed pretty standout to me for _Doctor Who_ currently. Maybe it was just having a whole wall of them, though.
"He just fucked around and you fell for it." Alrighty mate I'm gonna have to give this channel a pass.
I stand by my 73 Yards opinion!
@@burgunbeerdth-cam.com/video/CXArovLJ60A/w-d-xo.htmlsi=sexmQMU6OWNW4JRB
😂😉
This actress reminds me of Catherine Tate, at least as presented in this episode. And the character is like what if Donna were irredeemably awful.
This was originally meant for the 2010 run of Doctor Who?!!!
It was elements of racism along with the whole thing of being friends online but not in person; but remember she betrayed the other male, Ricky, who saved her.
So racism/sexism… it was a form of “You’re fine, you’re not”
It’s also got elements of not looking beyond your “bubble” it does layer a lot.
Best episode of the series. I actually missed the racism and think it's partly because I was expecting a social media commentary and therefore assumed they didn't trust the doctor because he wasn't in their social media bubble. Also I'm so used to racism either not being an issue at all or lacking any subtly in tv that my brain didn't recognise when it was shown in a realistic way for once. Made me think about how tv needs to follow suit!
Also, i initially wanted this episode to be a two parter. It seemed to end so abruptly and I wanted to find more about who sent the slugs and where the people in the boat were going. They couldn't just go in a boat and die? It must be a set up for part two. After reflection that was kind of the point. I was supposed to feel frustrated that it ended so badly and abruply purely because of the prejudice of the characters. After a rocky first few episodes I'm starting to look forward to doctor who which is something I haven't been able to say for years.
I'm sorry, for me that was a nothing ending. Okay, the spoiled kids are classist and racist to the point, that they don't take a chance for rescue. So what? They were jerks in more obvious ways the whole time.Befire the last scene it was an episode about social media abuse and some disaster, which will probably be explained in one sentence in the season finale to tie the season together.
Movies that lead you to believe that they are about one thing and are really about another? M. Night Shamalyan's Signs comes to mind, where the alien invasion is just a plot device for the real story, about restoring Mel Gibson's character's faith. I was disappointed by that twist the first time I watched the movie, but liked it better in re-runs with the right expectations and seeing that it is about that the whole time. I don't see that happening re-watching this Doctor Who episode.
There’s something definitely very strange about that Ricky September guy😂
Great vid lads
Very good podcast!
Also at 20:10 I swear Millie Gibson is trying SO hard to to stay in character
heres a little tickle to the algo
13:36
You could say it was....
...barely an inconvenience.
Oh really?
The episode is average but I still hate the Doctor saying Babes! And crying yet again. He’s supposed to be an alien and not react in such a human way. Where’s the resilience that he used to have?
ehh, i see it similar to how me, a british person has spent and picked up so much from the internet my accent and language doesn't come off as british anymore. adaptation.
@@yoshistarhunter But he is alien. It makes him seem weak and not at all alien. Even the companion is more resilient.
@@PaulRichards-vz4pl you are an alien to aliens. What is the excuse that you have?
I’d assume it’s since 14 completed his “therapy” so to speak ,now the dr doesn’t have the defences he’s used all those years
@@IcyHotCos So he’s not the Doctor anymore just a spoiled version.
Still early in Ncuti's run.. but he's beginning to feel doctor-ish now..
it was depressing it left a bad taste that doctor was mosly passive and powerless. the emotional core was off.
I hated Space Babies, but I think it's all connected. The Space Babies, the capitalist war planet, and this feels like there's something going on. Especially when Lindy describes death and heaven. I forgot what she said exactly, but it reminded me of what the little girl in the capitalist war planet said about her dead father. I think this is all going to come back to bite the Doctor in the ass. He shouldn't have saved them. I also think those little pricks will live. Notice how they one blonde guy was like, "Yeah we're going to go tame the land and conquer". They have colonizer mentality.
The 'racism' was dealt with in a really absurd and inorganic way, as if it was just tacked on at the end and wasn't earned. It's like they wanted to tackle racist issues but couldn't figure out how to make it convincing.
The characters deliberately chose to be stupid, of course they were going to be racist.
@@michaelfinlay6341 Hardly a searing indictment of racist issues though is it? They did a better job with the Jodie Whitaker Rosa Parkes episode, which actually had some discussion on the topic instead of racism is stupid, which is lame.
Racist phrases and actions were said and done throughout the episode, but they are so diluted in the script that almost no one noticed, but at the end you rewatch the episode and notice the true intentions, like the girl not wanting to speak directly to the Doctor but just answering Ruby.
It's possible that by "hiding" the white supremacy it's meant to cause us to realize that most racism in the real world is not overt. It's subtle and hidden and our privileged causes us to miss the signs. It made me uncomfortable that I didn't see it. No black people in the bubble. The only one that shows up she blocks instantly. When it's discovered that the acceptable white girl trying to help her is in the same room as the black guy and he will be disciplined and she can't wait for that. It's all there.
The first time I saw Ricky September I assumed he was Latino. Because he reminded me of Ricky Martin.
Great video!
liking the videos.
I kinda liked this episode, but it was, once again, half a story that kinda dragged. The main character being unable to function in the real world was a good idea, but when they took it to the point where she walked into a lamp post then it stopped being funny, or even making sense, especially after she had already said that they only work for 2 hours a day and party the rest of the time.
The dots becoming sentient and unaliving the Finetimers was taken right from the silly universe of Douglas Adams. Also, if the Doctor cries one more time then I'm going to stop watching it forever.
I wasn’t so sure the twist worked around racism, as this was not really seeded at all imo (the only thing I can think may have related is she blocked the doctor but not Ruby). How I interpreted the ending until watching the unleashed was a class divide. The elite children don’t want to be associated with other non-elites, kind of thing. This would have tied to the fact only rich children went there and why the death by dot was covered up a little more I think 🤷🏻♂️ I did like the episode overall, but I think the above and the unanswered questions capped it at a 7/10 from me
Watch it again and you’ll see it
You two should review some classic new who series
That's a fantastic idea! Maybe put our favourite episodes under some scrutiny haha. Though, the term "classic new who" is weird but fitting
@@burgunbeerd i know it made me feel old typing it!
Well yes I'm ashamed to admit I missed the racist thing when Lindy asked "are you two in the same room together" I actually thought she was just being dumb and dense as bricks...
There is so much wrong with this story. Firstly the pacing was off and it just dragged.
Secondly as others have said there was no building of the society or the history of the planet we know nothing about it. In order to be racist there must be black people so where are they otherwise if everybody is white she can't be racist because she wouldn't recognise a black person and hate them from nowhere.
It was very childish and felt it was written for 5 year olds.
The main thing I noticed is that the majority of fans are spending all their time fleshing out the story meaning and backstory of this script.
Russell T Davies should have done that.
Just look at snake dance for a well-built society and backstory.
I think fans are just desperate for Doctor Who to succeed and wants the story to be better than what it was hence they are spending their time creating all this extra stuff out of it which wasn't really there.
Dr.Who is a fashion show. This garbage show is trying too hard to be special 😪 😂😮😂😊
thanks for spoiling the episode with the thumbnail 🙏
It's good not to notice race. It was a good episode as it wasn't too overt.
Good videos.
Bros wife runs his life.
If you subscribe I'll be allowed to go outside
The last five minutes is where it gets interesting but then it just ends? The rest of it for me is just too much like black mirror and it doesn’t explain the homeworld or where the creatures came from or when the AI went evil, what they were going into? Just yet again felt like it needed a two parter to explore how awful this society is and therefore maybe a society the doctor chooses not to save? Anytime in this series you think the episode is good you watch any other episode from the original RTD era and realise it’s weak as fuck
Thank God for somebody else says exactly what I'm saying.
I couldn't agree with you more there is absolutely no backstory to win or where this is or how the society properly evolved.
There is literally zero context why this awful main character hates black people or dislikes them.
It therefore assumes there must be black people in society so where are they and what happened to them and what makes her hate them so much??
Did they all get club together and do something 50 generations ago meaning the society's split like the kaleds and thals.
All the fans seem to be doing is filling in the gaps that Russell T Davies should have had in the script. This was a average first draught that was never finished in my opinion a bit like 73 yards.
So much was wrong with it and the pacing was dreadful.
They showed us the stupid girl walking into something four times.
We get you stupid you don't need to keep telling us!!
I'm sorry, I don't know how anyone could like this episode.
What if we made the main character (and all side characters) of the episode annoying and shallow? Just really unlikable. Then, make them so incompetent they can't even walk, the literal babies from space were more independent. What exciting content, watching an actor pretend to struggle to walk around stationary slugs. Then what if we layered a very heavy handed commentary over the whole thing, so that we could pretend our terrible episode was making some kind of important point? And a smug point at that, saying how much better the writers are than the youth these days. This may be the episode that makes me give up on the new Doctor Who.
I for one really enjoyed this episode. The reason why most of the citizens of FineTime act the way they do is because they’ve been so absorbed into their bubble as prejudicial, spoiled, rich kids. They’ve basically lost the ability to function on their own unless they are in their bubble being assisted. I found it great
I usually hate the line "that's the point" but I think it does kinda work here. Like Joker in Joker is the main character and he's not what you'd call likeable but that was on purpose. Here its the subversion of expecting a character in your fun show to get a redemption despite the fact they suck but then you find out they reaallllly suck. And I guess you can say the social media commentary was heavy handed but as I say in the video I feel like it was to veil the real commentary which was much more sleight of hand
@@linkjourney422 I'm not saying there isn't the bones of a good episode in there. I actually think you could make a REALLY good episode about relying on technology to much like that. I just feel it failed in the execution.
For instance, instead of creating slugs to kill everybody, the program could have simply exploited the trust and reliance everyone has on it, and make them walk into traffic or other dangerous situations. This is much better writing because it stops the AI from doing something unnecessary, it gives the writers a chance to be creative and craft scenarios with more suspense, and the actual thing that is killing them is their decision to blindly trust and follow the orders of AI.
@@TheVofR but that's what happens, the AI exploits the reliance everyone has on it. There's no traffic to kill them, FineTime a perfect world with no hazards whatsoever, that's why they NEEDED to create the slugs. Unless you, I don't know, would have preffered if they fell from the windows in their apartments (which would be very silly).
The AI kills in alphabetical order because it is a machine, it has a pattern, it has to follow a logic, it can't kill randomly because it wasn't designed to be random.
@@palcor
We watched Lindy's Dot kill Ricky in an instant, though. So they didn't need the slugs
I really didn't like the racism part tbh. Sure, it was kinda "fun" to look back on it and have it enforce how unlikeable the characters in this episode are but to me it felt kinda shallow and almost thrown in.
I'd rather they had reserved the whole "wow the doctor is black, let's have some commentary on that" for a different episode so thay they could explore it a whole lot more, especially if it was a travel back in time episode. We saw that with Martha slightly and I enjoyed that (though wish they were more daring).
Totally agree. Plus we don't know anything about this society and where the black people from this society have gone? For all we know all of the black people from that society where and whenever it is may have been absolute bastards and gone around killing all the grandparents.
There may be a good reason why she doesn't like people with the dark skin who knows we don't have any background to anything
The point of setting this episode in the future was to say,”Racism is not an issue of the past.”
Would RTD and BBC have a catatonic stroke visiting eastern Europe or asian country?
People emphasizing with the slugs are phychos
Everyone possesses basic spatial awareness at birth, she should have been able to walk around a lamppost and a couple of giant slugs.
#BadBarbie
Trash. It was pure trash
best episode. lol. I agree...however the bar was as low as you can get. this is like spit shining a turd. its looks good. but at its heart its still a turd. Ill be honest. I totally missed the racist aspect. I for sure saw class divide. but I agree with you about the racism. I see that now too. keep it up!
I missed the racism thing at first, too, which is exactly why this episode is important, so we can reflect on our own perceptions.
Classism and racism aren't wholly independent of each other either.
@@carpevinum8645 I agree. to a point. for sure.