"The system isn't the problem," I actually want to throw up hearing the Doctor say that. I physically am cringing. Imagine hearing Smoky the bear start talking about how Forest Fires aren't anyones fault, and leaving campfires going and throwing cigarette butts into the woods is actually okay.
The Doctor, a character well known for challenging the systems that oppress people and actively strives for a better world for all people regardless of societal norms and standards, openly defending an oppressive and exploitative system that’s ruined the lives of many. Just breaks my heart, this just ain’t the same doctor we all know and love 💀
According to the writer, "the systems" were meant to be automation. ...That was not how it came off. I also find it hilarious that an equally supported message you can take from this episode is "when you're fighting for worker's rights, violence is very effective. Don't unionise, don't go on strike, learn how to make bombs."
@@Talisguy even if automation was what was being referred to, those systems clearly have flaws that need to be patched, thus being at least part of the problem
@@TalisguyThe AI was called "The System" and was referred to as such throughout the episode. Sometimes people need to rewatch an episode to fully understand it, especially a multilayered episode with nuance like "Kerblam!". That's perfectly fine, but it can lead to misconceptions, and this episode is a key example of that, but it certainly isn't the first. Misremembering episodes can also contribute to this.
absolutely. it's the most Moffat episode to ever Moffat against the most chibnall episode to ever chibnall and Moffat blew it out the park it was brilliant
Can yall stop talking about kerblam when yall don't even understand it nor what capitalism is. Yall will praise anything that isn't kerblam wjen those 2 episodes did a bad job at it
@@kuggacouragegx6093 Ok there Adam Smith Jr, pls enlighten us with the genius of Kerblam that you have grasped and while you are at it, also tell us about this mystical insight into capitalism that only you have access to while everyone else choses to live in the shadow of ignorance.
"I'm the Doctor. I will do everything in my power to save all of your lives, and when I do you will spend the rest of them wondering who I was and why I helped you." Moffat was committed to making sure Capaldi would stick with us.
I think it's interesting that the only thing wrong with kerblam is the doctor. The company is crab and abuses labor, someone, while not entirely morally sound, tries to make a stand, the system tries to save itself; all this while the doctor is advocating eradication of the labor force, getting excited about the headquarters, and punishing the guy who wanted to stop the system he'd been born into, forced to deal with, and threatened by many times. The part where the system *kills his girlfriend* is framed as his fault.
I never want to watch Kerblam. I have never fully watched it. I usually fall asleep and wake up during 13's run. I don't know what's worse about 13.... how they wrote her handling racism in the Rosa Parks story, or how she handles the situation in kerblam. From what you have told me, the villain of Kerblam sounds like the doctor.
Not even his girlfriend, she was more like a distant crush. Doesn't change that it was the only positive connection he made there and the system destroyed out of a twisted sense of justice.
The Doctor had dealings with Villengard before. The 9th Doctor took credit for destroying their weapons factory, though it wasn't clear whether it was done by him or by an earlier incarnation (I understand there's a comic that attributes this act to the War Doctor, though I haven't read it myself). I assume that, from a linear point of view, this took place *after* the events of Boom, though from the Doctor's PoV it obviously happened earlier
The 9th destroyed the factory that made the ray guns, though I suppose we could just rewatch Captain Jacks first episode to learn when he's from, and watch boom again to learn when they are, and thus just math it from there. But also, it would have had to be an earlier incarnation of the doctor, before 9, that destroys the Villengard factory. Cuz once War regenerates into 9, he lands in Biritan 2005 and eventually meets Rose Tyler and then he finally sees his reflection at her flat and is making comments about his appearance. We all knew from 2005 that 9 was fresh off that regeneration energy.
What really irks me about the Kerblam episode is how performative it sounds when the manager says "propose being a people lead company", like she just straight up leaves actual change up to the people benefiting more in keeping things as they are
Let me defend kerblam for a moment. Lets say an extremist was treatening to put bombs in random amazon packages to make a point about amazon woukd you think that was a good thing? I think the episode is a great concept executed very poorly
@@jplegend98I don’t think it’s doing anything special. There are loads of stories where the villain was driven to extremism by a real life societal issue. And the laziest way to end a story like that is to use the villain’s actions as an excuse to not say anything meaningful about the societal issue. Kerblam is basically saying that while the real life exploitation in Amazon warehouses is bad, it would be worse if one of the employees tried to kill millions of innocent people with exploding bubble wrap. And like, yeah no shit that would be worse Like, you could do what X-Men does, where the heroes are fighting for the same thing Magneto is, and are occasionally forced to admit he has a point even though he’s still clearly a villain. Or you can do what Breaking Bad did, and just not have the cost of cancer treatment in the US factor into Walt’s motives at all, so the story has no reason to discuss it
@@mredbadgerOr, and that's what I took from the episode, you can try to unionize and actually talk with people in your same situation, instead of using them because you know better (like Charlie did to his colleagues). Not mentioning no upper board manager appeared in the episode, just worker (because, yes, the two PR executives in the episode are not part of the board - like everyone that had experience in a company knows, PR executives are just workers with a better suit and the disgraceful job of trying to mediate between the board and the rest of the workers).
@@UomodAltriTempiThe only argument the episode puts forward is that it would be very bad if someone killed lots of people with exploding bubble wrap Like, yes, unionizing would be better. So would doing nothing and letting the warehouses continue to exploit its workforce. The episode itself doesn’t have much of a preference
@@mredbadger It seem odd to say this given how many people are complaining about current Who being too message-focused, but Kerblam! is a great example of what happens when you give no thought to the wider message your story is telling. Absent the unfortunate (and I believe entirely accidental) messaging Kerblam! was one of the better stories of that season, but I'd argue it stands as proof that writers do need pay attention to theme and message.
finally someone who recognizes the greatness of oxygen. probably the only nuwho episode that does the "capitalistic horror" trope almost perfectly. except maybe the revolutions resolution, that could have been finetuned a little but otherwise perfect
"The systems aren't the problem. How people use and exploit the system, that's the problem." 🤮🤮🤮 It's not only groan-worthy, it's also factually inaccurate. I also like that at the end of Oxygen, the Doctor says "So far as I remember, there's a successful rebellion six months later, corporate dominance in space is history, and that about wraps it for capitalism," and Bill replies "Yay!" An anti-capitalist revolution is canonical in the Whoniverse timeline and it's treated as a good thing. 😊
@@madnightguard6296Are you implying that laws and regulations are automatically socialist features? That’s moronic. You can have laws and regulations under any system, including capitalism.
@@madnightguard6296 What are you on about? Capitalism is a system, and it relies on laws and regulations to enforce private property. How is _"capitalist nation"_ an oxymoron? Is capitalism a form of anarchy to you? Because if so, you have such a personal definition of capitalism that it's bizarre for you to come in and correct people with your ridiculous definition that isn't what anyone else is talking about.
I originally made a Kablam vs Boom video I had just seen Boom and thought it was incredible now I've re-watched Oxygen and I think Boom is decent great story for the most part but the ending is a bit of a ex machina with the AI much prefer Oxygen and its ending. Of particular relevance in this comparison is the fact that in Kablam the individuals killed are all the low level workers and the people who take action for change is management but in Oxygen some of the low level workers survived and they are the ones who will be fighting for change. The people who's friends and loved ones died are the ones who seek change not those relatively unaffected by the issues. Also if Charlie had tested the explosives on the robots not people and he planned on blowing up the kablam base I imagine him an 12 would have gotten along well.
I personally prefer Boom overall but Oxygen does have a better ending. Boom and Oxygen are both great for sure and Kerblam is… well one of the worst thirteen episodes which unfortunately says a lot.
Disagree that Boom resolution is Deus ex Machina, I think it is pretty central to the themes of the episode and was set up from the very first scene. Though Oxygen's resolution is better overall
@@jameskilgour387 yeah, if anything Bill's suit not killing her because it didn't have enough power is more deus-ex machina than whatever happened in Boom that being said, I still think the AI concluding that killing the Doctor would be worse in terms of profit (since it would destroy half the planet) and disabling the landmine would be a better ending, but then you have the problem of Ruby still being dead. also it's an awkward coincidence that both episodes had the companion being fake killed
You felt more sadness for that than for the fact she got killed? She was written as innocent and happy to be enslaved only so that we would feel something when she died I felt nothing. She wasn't a real human, she was a tool for the plot.
@@pascalsimioli6777 So while you felt nothing for her at all, you're chastising me for feeling sad that her optimism was returned with a hallow empty promise of a gift?
@@pascalsimioli6777 In fact, you just gaslit me into thinking I said that. I didn't even say I was "more" sad about it than her being killed, I just said it made me sad that the box was empty.
while it was horrible kira's death was intentional and deliberately done. it was the system trying to show what his actions would feel like - what it feels like to witness a loved one die to his bubblewrap bomb in real time. the whole point of nothing being in the box was so that she would have no choice but to impulsively pop the bubble wrap and he could only watch.
Doctor: "It's not the giant monster that's eating people that's the problem. It's the people that TOLD the giant monster to eat people that are the problem!" Giant Monster: "Yeah! I totally wouldn't be doing this on my own." Companion: "...wouldn't you?" Giant Monster: "I fully would." Companion: "And if we put someone else in charge they'd tell you to-" Giant Monster: "Eat people, I'm a giant monster, I was genetically engineered by very bad people to eat people."
The problem with Kerblam was that the Doctor let the guy die and that "resolution" was to give the jobs back to humans (not even mentioning the fact that the company is closed for a month but the workers only get 2 weeks of holiday). Why not change the system? But other than that, it's unfair to compare it to Oxygen and Boom I think because the point is different.
Oxygen is the best of these IMO, it's the most grounded episode and feels like something that could actually be real as well as working as a good metaphor for current systems. Kerblam was all over the place and could have had a much stronger message that's more realistic than "people not robots". Boom is the second best, it does a good job with the critical message but it is a bit over-the-top and exaggerated... granted plenty of people are so dense that if the words "captialism is bad" aren't spoken the message would go right over their head, ala the number of people who watched Dot and Bubble and failed to get the very clear message of "these people are hella racist"
I really hate how it does feel like the writers do believe the Kerblam bs when in reality the issue with systems like that is that they have exploits that can be abused like that. And 9 times out of 10 they exist because it's also the people above that exploit them.
Simple rule of life: anything that can be exploited, will be Not by the majority of people, most people are decent. But the few willing to exploit destroy it for everyone else. So for a systhem to be working, it has to allow no exploits at all or be designed to work despite people exploiting where they can. We haven't found any sythem yet that works well long term, but to say a systhem works despite it failing to exploits is ridiculous.
Oxygen is so good at toeing the line. Like New New Who or whatever sometimes switches so quick between serious lecturing and wacky lol random humor. Obviously Kablam sucks at everything. But Oxygen will lines like "we're fighting the suits" not only fits naturalistically but gives a little fun wink.
@@LibertyBridgeProductions oxygen was more subtle, it was just normal horror then at the end you find out it’s all about the corpo. That’s good storytelling. Everyone in that story was acting as intelligent beings, doing their best work. Not bad commentary on religious faith and soldiers so incompetent that they bring children on battlefields and fight mud and dust.
While I'm not a fan of this episode or season, I think the intended distinction between Kerblam and the other examples is a thinking, empathizing intelligence. The AI in the suits and the AI in the ambulance were both cold, unthinking algorithms designed by companies to maximize profit at the expense of human life. The AI in Kerblam recognized it was being used to harm millions and reached out for help to prevent this. When it killed, it did so for emotional reasons, intending (at least according to the Doctor) to show the killer how it feels to invoke empathy. (not a fan of how accepting Doc is with this death tho) What I've always loved about the Doctor when I first began watching as a child is that there was a fairness in their kindness - they didn't assume an alien was a monster, they saw beauty and sought understanding in creatures most would fear or hate or write off. They gave chances, they listened. It feels entirely in character for the Doctor to dislike programs and algorithms designed to be used against people, while at the same time being compassionate or trying to understand a truly sentient Artificial intelligence. That said, we don’t actually have any evidence that the Kerblam AI wasn’t just a tool. The aspect of trying to protect the lives of its customers could really just come down to protecting customers, protecting the money and maximizing the profits. The fact that it had no issue murdering an innocent to make a point doesn’t help. And I feel like the Doctor should have had an issue with that.
...and of course, the average viewer isn't watching Doctor Who for nuance. The broad strokes this ep painted on the surface was 'heyy wait maybe Amazon's ACTUALLY the good guys!" and that feels pretty ick
I always find it impossible to see 13 on the same level as any other doctor, her whole outlook on things makes her act like a totally different character than every other doctor. And you can say “oh she’s regenerated of course she’s not going to be exactly the same as her previous regenerations”, but this isn’t just a different regeneration, this is like a completely separate character who’s core beliefs have been drastically altered due to the difference in writing team. Imagine how other doctors would respond to seeing an oppressive capitalist corporation colonising a natural planet for monetary gain and exploiting its workers in crappy work environments and terrible wages.
@@ladrok97 fr like even when the Doctor is even slightly moral she goes and does something even more morally questionable. Oh we can’t kill the giant spiders with guns! Let’s just… lock them in a room and let them each slowly starve to death… effectively killing them?? It makes no sense.
I put it in a big bag under my desk so I can reuse it to send people presents, so I'd be fine, accept for the bit where I discover I've accidentally sent a bomb to my mum.
I think that if *Kablam* wasn't written by a typewriter monkey with a very superficial social understanding, a case could be made that 10% of the workforce being human does not equate to humans having dignified jobs, and how corporations will always find ways to squeeze the most money from society while paying as little as possible to their workers. But this would be asking too much from a bunch of crumpled words.
@@afgor1088 if you’re making a piece of entertainment it is, quality and factual integrity goes without saying, but if you’re trying to make media intended to entertain people and can’t keep your politics in your pants, it’s vital to be subtle, because an episode where the characters make talking points then wink at the screen isn’t fun to watch regardless if you agree with what’s being piped out or not.
@@bananatiergod subtlety is a standard in any good story. A film that pauses the plot to explain the message of the story every five minutes is a bad film, and that’s what oxygen does. Imagine if every character in the giver randomly said “oh boy if only we weren’t living in a security state that controls our lives, I guess giving up our rights and what makes us human for the sake of safety isn’t a good idea after all” Telling your audience what you want them to take away from your work doesn’t keep them interested.
Boom is such a haphazard mess that it has the Doctor give a smiling approval to a young girl about her lack of concern over her dead father, which is also a similar view the Villengard Corporation has. It runs in place saying nothing. At least Kerblam! royally fucked up its ending given the premise setup it did
Showrunner approves the script. Showrunner is the editor. Showrunner can do whatever he wants to the script, just look at Nightmare in Silver being mutilated by Moffat's Moffatisms. It's Chibnall's fault for not doing his damn job.
Oxygen is an episode that hits harder now for me as I hope to take up VFX and animation and game design in the future, but as AI becomes more popular to corporations and lazy individuals, that hope becomes less likely to happen, unless I choose a more indie route.
Hated Kerblam, thought it was going to be a story about disillusionment, but NOPE, speech goes COMPLETELY off topic! That being said, I still like the 13th Doctor era as a whole. I used to like Oxygen, but that was when I was a cynical prick who thought misery in fiction equalled quality(you know, typical viewer of youtube reviewer stuff), and I don't think I've watched it since, so opinion pending. Boom. It's a heavy episode in a season of consecutive heavy episodes. I don't remember how I reacted when I watched it, but I feel emotionally drained thinking about it.
As much as I hate everything this show has done over the last 5 years, there was one clear exception: Moffat's episode Boom, which was very good and reminded me of a old programme called Doctor Who, anyone remember that?
@@Ted_CurtisHe is ironic about the fact that there have been no normal episodes of Dr Who for 5 years since Moffat left, which is an actual truth. Boom is a very good episode, but the rest of them that i watched from season 14 is just meh. Even in special, the first episode of which is a deadly cringe, and the third, in my opinion, Toymaker loses too quickly. The second episode of the special is the best, straight from the old RTD times.
Peter Capaldi is brilliant. The show was weaker around him, but his acting and the writing of his dialogue was often brilliant. Kerblam shows how weaker and virtue signalling the show gotten, rather than genuine, actual critiques. Gatwa is brilliant here as well, I feel bad for Jodie because she's a decent actor, but I think the script, direction, etc just was done poorly for her.
yo that kerblam episode is getting worse and worse the more I see bits of it just finished the last Capaldi season but if I have to watch this for 3 seasons I'm just gonna skip it
With a heavy heart I can say: just do it. Skip right to 14th Doctor, the one good episode from Whitaker's run introduced the worst finale ever so even that is not worth it.
But please watch final episode (special?) of Jodie. This 90 minutes is so beatifully random (I saw 0 episodes of season 12 and 13). Also I recommend watching spider episodes (archanoids in UK) - it's perfect comedy with interesting twist of Doctor being bad guy (ofc unintended twist)
Anyone else feel like RTD doesn’t know how to end episodes properly? I feel like all of his recent episodes have started with a very good concept, then completely nosedived by the last 10 minutes.
No. And Boom is a Moffat episode, not an RTD one. Perhaps 73 Yards wraps up way too quick, but the ending of Dot and Bubble is easily the best thing about it.
His resolutions can be comparatively much weaker, the setups sometimes are TOO strong in relation to how he ends episodes, it feels like he writes himself into a corner with some banging setups
I think it's more an inherent weakness of the 45 minute episode format. For me, if they're going to get it wrong I'd rather have a story that's trying to do too much and falls down in some areas than have a story which isn't enough to fill the time.
@@matthewlacey4198 I'm not sure there is an optimal length. In some ways the classic series did this better - by having multiple-part stories with shorter episodes you had a bit more flexibility (in theory you can choose the right number of episodes based on the story - didn't work like that back then of course as the impression I get is that they decided on the number of episodes before they wrote the stories. The result was most often ending up with lots of filler rather than rushed endings.)
@@somerandomyoutubeaccount5895 Sadly yes. And I know you're going to cast me into some categorical version of "biased hater" so I can already feel the judgment coming. But there is no plot. And I can prove it with just 1 question. Why did the first scene happen?
@hirudinaria I see where you are coming from, but the first scene is just to build sympathy so we feel at least something when that character dies, and what follows sets up the idea of the AI ambulance and the mine. Even if it wasn't needed, or some dislike that scene, it wasn't useless
Just wanna ask, how is the new Doctor doing for ya'll? I saw the the David Tennant specials that introduced him, and to me, Doctor Who as show in general feels like a Sci-fi movie that resolves everything too quickly and makes up sci-fi mumbo jumbo terms on the spot. Of course the specials are the only episodes I've seen outside of clips and shorts. Also, the Doc is pretty obviously gay coded, so I don't know if that harshes anything to anyone.
Communists are illiterate. And I don't just mean economically, they're just very literally, in general, illiterate. They have no idea what "capitalism" even actually means. Think any market is a "Free market" and so on and so on. Their ignorance to something even as basic and simple as meaning as a word is boundless, that's why they end up being communists.
Wouldn’t call Boom an episode that ‘fixes’ Kerblam. In terms of 13 being a borderline shrill for Kerblam and 15 being against Villangard; yes Boom is better. But the themes of Boom are so confused and conflicted, they contradict the Doctor’s values in a different way to Kerblam when it comes to the theme of ‘faith’ which is rly odd. Since a lot of Moffat’s who episodes needs a character to have an insane amount of blind faith to succeed (Amy needs to littetally have faith to bring the Doctor back from being erased from existence for example) Also when 15 explains that the landline has lights because of ‘capitalism’ - the reason he gives means almost nothing. Well. Either that or I didn’t understand it, which is always a possibility. Genuinely adding this bit too my comment in the hope that someone will explain that line to me 😂
shiny bright lights = more people will buy it. In the same way that brighter colours and easy-to-read fonts on packaging is better for business, on something like a landmine, flashing lights is an eye-catching way to stand out from other competitors in the industry. Think of those light-up shoes that kids wear that sparkle every time you step on them? It’s the same idea.
The idea is that the bright lights etc make the landmines look more advanced or technological. It's the idea that the people buying these products are buying them off a show-room floor because of how cool or flashy they look rather than how functional they actually are. Think about people buying stuff like the Tesla cybertruck because it looks advanced and futuristic even though in practice it's a pretty terrible product. There's a disconnect between the actual war and the market/finance that surrounds it.
"Also when 15 explains that the landline has lights because of ‘capitalism’ - the reason he gives means almost nothing" Look on German Puma IFV. It's the same thing (just infantry fighting vehicle instead of mine) - overpcied and overenginered thing because back then everyone in Europe belieaved there will not be more war in Europe, so you can buy/sell/produce shiny things. It's too costly and too advanced for IFV, but not enough armoured to do anything reasonable vs tanks. Plot of "shiny thing" is maybe dumb, but still belieaveable. And this mine is overengineered anyway, why you need to do "change body into detonator", when throwing normal explosives in there would do the same for cheaper? So adding lights to something which already is overpriced isn't bad design/bad thing.
So you guys hate the Doctor when they defend capitalism? Kerblam was literally made for some of you and yet you reject it so hard. Boom was wank and the anti-capitalism message in it was utterly stupid and unbelievable. Why would any group, country or planet purchase weaponry that does more harm to you own soldiers than anything else? This episode imagines Villengard as the only manufacturer of weapons and that there isn't any better competition that would sell you arms without killing your own men. This isn't purely capitalism that is criticised. This is a monopoly, and it's a company that shouldn't exist. Surely competition could do something similar to Villengard without slaughtering the buyers own men - or there could even be laws to prevent that kind of thing happening. Are we to imagine that somehow this was so profitable that they cannot have any competition? And surely what of the soldiers, the officers and the entire population they are fighting for? Surely they witness people not being saved because it costs too much, or the higher ups understand the product they are using - why would any side in a war that want to win the war use a product that keeps the war going? Villengards products only work for themselves so it's unbelievable how and why anyone uses them - it cannot be fair, it cannot be simply capitalism at work. The company is obviously up to no good and so a catch all critique of capitalism doesn't really work here, at all. Would have made more sense if Villengard just sold a product that allowed the user, in this case the leaders of the military, to designate their OWN acceptable levels of losses and costs of saving lives. In fact, the episode hints this might have once been the case within the script but it seems it got waived to the side to make a jab at capitalism as a whole. It's such a surface level critique it's basically a waste of time. Any one who thinks it's worthwhile is revealing they understand so little of how the world actually works.
These were all fairly poorly written episodes but boy did Boom suck. An Episode where he stands on a magic landmine for a whole episode, cries a lot, other people run around in an active minefield, he cries a lot, they do some bullshit "that's my Dad!" with a translucent blue hologram, he cries a lot, and then deus ex machina for no reason. People said that Episode was good but it's legit one of the worst Who episodes in the history of the entirety of the franchise. Nothing happened, he cried, ass pull, the end.
If you sum up ANY episode with such bad faith and cynicism, of course it's going to sound bad. Is Heaven Sent just the Doctor doing a monologue while slowly breaking a wall? If you think so, I genuinely wonder what you find interesting in watching any series or movie.
“The systems aren’t the problem.” My sister in SPACETIME, the system in question is “either starve yourself efficiently enough or you don’t get to see your family this year.”
Exactly even without the killer AI being used by corrupt people, other workers were still being exploited under the system and it’s crazy to me how nobody ever truly points that out in the episode. Complete mishandling of this sort of subject and sends the totally incorrect message 💀
@@Shuffles_Art I love how the writers phrase it. "iT wAs tRYiNg tO sHoW yOu wHaT iT fEeLs LiKe" THAT'S REVENGE. You are having THE DOCTOR justify the REVENGE KILLING of an innocent person!
@@RealCoolstriker64 ugh ikr?? Like even if that was its reasoning, the doctor would never see that as any sort of excuse to literally kill an innocent human being. Every other doctor always has some sort of message against enacting revenge on someone even your greatest enemies. Christopher Eccleston and Tom Baker both had huge moments where they contemplated wiping out the entire Dalek race just to get revenge on what they did to the time lords, but he decides against it because it’s not the doctor’s place to decide who lives and who dies
@@RealCoolstriker64 the person she's talking to is literally a terrorist and is the one killing people in the episode. But no, the Doctor is bad for not being on his side lol you communists are so blinded by your ideology
@@somerandomyoutubeaccount5895 So Kerblam pointing out that humans can be evil too is contradictory to Capitalism is evil?? 😄😄 As for Boom, it doesn't even entertain the idea that the capitalists are intelligent and money minded, contrary to Oxygen that relied on the profitable acumen of the industry
@@hirudinaria Kerblam villainises attempts to fight against an oppressive system and glorifies the oppressive system remaining in place, it doesn't "point out that humans can be evil too" (??) Have you even watched Boom? Multiple times the Doctor references how the Villengard are some of the biggest moneymakers in the galaxy and have made war into an insanely lucrative business - sounds like "entertaining the idea of capitalists being intelligent and money-minded" to me
So in Kerblam, The Doctor says that the system is not the problem, then kills a worker who rebelled agaisnt an unfair system, then had a little chat with upper management who promised to do good things. I am very glad I didn't went past the second episode. Jodie deserved better writing...
and worst part is it was back to back with bad writing (Except demons of Punjab, which I heard was decent) Spiders of uk: " No Trump, we should let the big spider die in agony rather than kill it with a gun. Guns are bad" The Tsuranga Conundrum: It takes the Doctor almost 30mins to realize that the thing that looks like a baby... is a baby. Then they kill it.
I find it interesting that all 3 are different discussions. Oxygen is about the devaluing of human life inside of a capitalistic infrastructure. Kerblam thinks its about human corruption in capitalism, but really actually makes a better case against the necessity of employment and money in an automated world and the general populations corrupt manipulation by marketing. While boom is about the effects of capitalism incentivizing and worsen the world of combat. They all 3 are about capitalism, but don't necessarily contradict or support each other in context because they each reframe the discussion about a specific issue inside capitalism. Only when you take too many steps back does it look like they are in contrast or support as you see capitalism portrayed on 1 side of the discussion.
Ironically I think that scene was actually one of her best performances in her tenure. In the later seasons, she just sort of phone it in. In this scene, she's actually conflicted and empathetic; in later seasons, she's just preachy and one-dimensional in her performance
But Kerblam isn't episode showing why 13 is worst Doctor. This episode was solid in general. Other interesting episode was with small Puting (whatever name) on medicial station, just... it looks like screenwriter forget to write second part of the episode and they rewrote script on last minute. Oh and "it takes you away" was also interesting. Far worse was Rosa (Villain's actions are either 100% delusional or black Americans are stupid, you can't have it other way around. Space alien from thousands of years in future would care about 50/100 years of civil rights delay?? Plus it showed Rosa like person who did this whole thing on accident), Grandmother of Jaz episode (HOW YOU CAN MISS BULLET WOUND? Can you stop being prejudice of aliens for few seconds at least Doctor?) and spiders (not only they had "evil Trump", they also had conclusion of "merciful killing bad, starvation good")
What I find interesting in these comments is people saying Oxygen is by far superior (which I agree) but then also Boom being considered the best of the new series and people still think the new series is the best who we've ever had.
The Doctor needs an entire series where they lead a socialist revolution and bring down intergalactic capitalism. It would be a natural role for an anti-authoritarian character 😊
kerblam litterally tries to argue that the system that killed an innocent to prove a point isnt the problem, its the system, and then proceeds to hand the burden of fixing it to people who really dont have a reason to do so.
Also the doctor let's the guy die in Kerblam. Srsly She kills a Tardis, let's spiders asphyxiate to their death and reveals the master to Nazis. Like hell man, 13 was full psycho doctor.If even half of her actions were called out, they could have done a nice 7th doctor like thing with her
some flaws are just noticeable, and some are easy to overlook. To me, Rogue added a romantic partner for the doctor that developed far too quickly for rogue to have any attachment to the doctor. I just don't trust that Rogue was willing to sacrifice what he had for a man he met, what? 3 hours ago at the very most? flaws, primarily in the case of shows like doctor who, break the illusion. they take you back to the fact that you're watching a tv show from the bbc on disney plus, and nothing else. as the other commenters stated, kerblam holds an impressive logical oversight in it's resolution that makes it difficult for a casual watcher to engage in. You may enjoy the episode, and there's no shame in that, but ignoring and pretending like flaws are always insignificant is a tad silly.
Why are they so obsessed with going after capitalism but when was the last time they had a commentary on communism or socialism. Or doesn't that fit the agenda
"The system isn't the problem," I actually want to throw up hearing the Doctor say that. I physically am cringing. Imagine hearing Smoky the bear start talking about how Forest Fires aren't anyones fault, and leaving campfires going and throwing cigarette butts into the woods is actually okay.
The Doctor, a character well known for challenging the systems that oppress people and actively strives for a better world for all people regardless of societal norms and standards, openly defending an oppressive and exploitative system that’s ruined the lives of many. Just breaks my heart, this just ain’t the same doctor we all know and love 💀
According to the writer, "the systems" were meant to be automation.
...That was not how it came off.
I also find it hilarious that an equally supported message you can take from this episode is "when you're fighting for worker's rights, violence is very effective. Don't unionise, don't go on strike, learn how to make bombs."
@@Talisguy even if automation was what was being referred to, those systems clearly have flaws that need to be patched, thus being at least part of the problem
Which one is that- the Chibnall or RTD episode?
@@TalisguyThe AI was called "The System" and was referred to as such throughout the episode. Sometimes people need to rewatch an episode to fully understand it, especially a multilayered episode with nuance like "Kerblam!". That's perfectly fine, but it can lead to misconceptions, and this episode is a key example of that, but it certainly isn't the first. Misremembering episodes can also contribute to this.
i cant help but think that Boom is Steven Moffat’s direct response to Kerblam, even down to the name being so similar.
absolutely. it's the most Moffat episode to ever Moffat against the most chibnall episode to ever chibnall and Moffat blew it out the park it was brilliant
Can yall stop talking about kerblam when yall don't even understand it nor what capitalism is. Yall will praise anything that isn't kerblam wjen those 2 episodes did a bad job at it
@@justanormalhumanbeing1903no it isn't stupid, u need to stfu and stop reaching
@@kuggacouragegx6093 your comment genuinely reads like a 3rd grader wrote it.
@@kuggacouragegx6093 Ok there Adam Smith Jr, pls enlighten us with the genius of Kerblam that you have grasped and while you are at it, also tell us about this mystical insight into capitalism that only you have access to while everyone else choses to live in the shadow of ignorance.
"We're fighting the suits" is such a good line
Jodie's chance as the doctor really was mistreated by Chibnall
frr she was a great doctor but the writers ruin her when it come to capitalism.
"I'm the Doctor. I will do everything in my power to save all of your lives, and when I do you will spend the rest of them wondering who I was and why I helped you."
Moffat was committed to making sure Capaldi would stick with us.
I think it's interesting that the only thing wrong with kerblam is the doctor. The company is crab and abuses labor, someone, while not entirely morally sound, tries to make a stand, the system tries to save itself; all this while the doctor is advocating eradication of the labor force, getting excited about the headquarters, and punishing the guy who wanted to stop the system he'd been born into, forced to deal with, and threatened by many times. The part where the system *kills his girlfriend* is framed as his fault.
Yea, chibnall was pretty close to something good, all the proper beats were there it was just executed poorly.
I never want to watch Kerblam. I have never fully watched it. I usually fall asleep and wake up during 13's run.
I don't know what's worse about 13.... how they wrote her handling racism in the Rosa Parks story, or how she handles the situation in kerblam.
From what you have told me, the villain of Kerblam sounds like the doctor.
Not even his girlfriend, she was more like a distant crush. Doesn't change that it was the only positive connection he made there and the system destroyed out of a twisted sense of justice.
"(groans) capitalism" is a wild line and i love it
Lol same. It's hilarious.
same energy as "capitalism in space."
The Doctor had dealings with Villengard before. The 9th Doctor took credit for destroying their weapons factory, though it wasn't clear whether it was done by him or by an earlier incarnation (I understand there's a comic that attributes this act to the War Doctor, though I haven't read it myself). I assume that, from a linear point of view, this took place *after* the events of Boom, though from the Doctor's PoV it obviously happened earlier
The 9th destroyed the factory that made the ray guns, though I suppose we could just rewatch Captain Jacks first episode to learn when he's from, and watch boom again to learn when they are, and thus just math it from there.
But also, it would have had to be an earlier incarnation of the doctor, before 9, that destroys the Villengard factory. Cuz once War regenerates into 9, he lands in Biritan 2005 and eventually meets Rose Tyler and then he finally sees his reflection at her flat and is making comments about his appearance.
We all knew from 2005 that 9 was fresh off that regeneration energy.
Capaldi also went to a Villrngard factory in his final episode
@@Reginald425
Yeah, to meet Rusty, IIRC. The factory was in ruins by then
What really irks me about the Kerblam episode is how performative it sounds when the manager says "propose being a people lead company", like she just straight up leaves actual change up to the people benefiting more in keeping things as they are
Let me defend kerblam for a moment. Lets say an extremist was treatening to put bombs in random amazon packages to make a point about amazon woukd you think that was a good thing? I think the episode is a great concept executed very poorly
@@jplegend98I don’t think it’s doing anything special. There are loads of stories where the villain was driven to extremism by a real life societal issue. And the laziest way to end a story like that is to use the villain’s actions as an excuse to not say anything meaningful about the societal issue.
Kerblam is basically saying that while the real life exploitation in Amazon warehouses is bad, it would be worse if one of the employees tried to kill millions of innocent people with exploding bubble wrap. And like, yeah no shit that would be worse
Like, you could do what X-Men does, where the heroes are fighting for the same thing Magneto is, and are occasionally forced to admit he has a point even though he’s still clearly a villain. Or you can do what Breaking Bad did, and just not have the cost of cancer treatment in the US factor into Walt’s motives at all, so the story has no reason to discuss it
@@mredbadgerOr, and that's what I took from the episode, you can try to unionize and actually talk with people in your same situation, instead of using them because you know better (like Charlie did to his colleagues).
Not mentioning no upper board manager appeared in the episode, just worker (because, yes, the two PR executives in the episode are not part of the board - like everyone that had experience in a company knows, PR executives are just workers with a better suit and the disgraceful job of trying to mediate between the board and the rest of the workers).
@@UomodAltriTempiThe only argument the episode puts forward is that it would be very bad if someone killed lots of people with exploding bubble wrap
Like, yes, unionizing would be better. So would doing nothing and letting the warehouses continue to exploit its workforce. The episode itself doesn’t have much of a preference
@@mredbadger It seem odd to say this given how many people are complaining about current Who being too message-focused, but Kerblam! is a great example of what happens when you give no thought to the wider message your story is telling. Absent the unfortunate (and I believe entirely accidental) messaging Kerblam! was one of the better stories of that season, but I'd argue it stands as proof that writers do need pay attention to theme and message.
finally someone who recognizes the greatness of oxygen. probably the only nuwho episode that does the "capitalistic horror" trope almost perfectly. except maybe the revolutions resolution, that could have been finetuned a little but otherwise perfect
Yeah, the ending there is completely unrealistic, but I like it as a nice fantasy lol
Oxygen>Boom>>>>>Kerblam
I feel like oxygen>>Boom
@@carlll7596 isnt that what they said
@@curse7622 im saying its better than just one >
oxygen >>>>>>>>>>>boom>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>kerblam
Facts
"The systems aren't the problem. How people use and exploit the system, that's the problem." 🤮🤮🤮
It's not only groan-worthy, it's also factually inaccurate.
I also like that at the end of Oxygen, the Doctor says "So far as I remember, there's a successful rebellion six months later, corporate dominance in space is history, and that about wraps it for capitalism," and Bill replies "Yay!" An anti-capitalist revolution is canonical in the Whoniverse timeline and it's treated as a good thing. 😊
Capitalism isn't a system. Laws and regulations are brought up in Kerblam. The very idea of a "capitalist nation" is an oxymoron.
@@madnightguard6296Are you implying that laws and regulations are automatically socialist features? That’s moronic. You can have laws and regulations under any system, including capitalism.
@@madnightguard6296 What are you on about? Capitalism is a system, and it relies on laws and regulations to enforce private property.
How is _"capitalist nation"_ an oxymoron? Is capitalism a form of anarchy to you? Because if so, you have such a personal definition of capitalism that it's bizarre for you to come in and correct people with your ridiculous definition that isn't what anyone else is talking about.
Yes
That statement is actually very true. Sorry your ideology doesn't allow you to see that.
I originally made a Kablam vs Boom video I had just seen Boom and thought it was incredible now I've re-watched Oxygen and I think Boom is decent great story for the most part but the ending is a bit of a ex machina with the AI much prefer Oxygen and its ending.
Of particular relevance in this comparison is the fact that in Kablam the individuals killed are all the low level workers and the people who take action for change is management but in Oxygen some of the low level workers survived and they are the ones who will be fighting for change. The people who's friends and loved ones died are the ones who seek change not those relatively unaffected by the issues.
Also if Charlie had tested the explosives on the robots not people and he planned on blowing up the kablam base I imagine him an 12 would have gotten along well.
Boom very much reminds me of the "Love is not an emotion, love is a promise!" line from Capaldi's first season finale
I personally prefer Boom overall but Oxygen does have a better ending. Boom and Oxygen are both great for sure and Kerblam is… well one of the worst thirteen episodes which unfortunately says a lot.
Disagree that Boom resolution is Deus ex Machina, I think it is pretty central to the themes of the episode and was set up from the very first scene. Though Oxygen's resolution is better overall
Would you consider doing another one of these with The Sun Makers added in?
@@jameskilgour387 yeah, if anything Bill's suit not killing her because it didn't have enough power is more deus-ex machina than whatever happened in Boom
that being said, I still think the AI concluding that killing the Doctor would be worse in terms of profit (since it would destroy half the planet) and disabling the landmine would be a better ending, but then you have the problem of Ruby still being dead.
also it's an awkward coincidence that both episodes had the companion being fake killed
Real talk. Did anyone else feel genuine sadness for Kira when she opened that empty box?
She was so excited and then, nah...
Put SOMETHING in it!
You felt more sadness for that than for the fact she got killed? She was written as innocent and happy to be enslaved only so that we would feel something when she died
I felt nothing. She wasn't a real human, she was a tool for the plot.
@@pascalsimioli6777 So while you felt nothing for her at all, you're chastising me for feeling sad that her optimism was returned with a hallow empty promise of a gift?
@@pascalsimioli6777 In fact, you just gaslit me into thinking I said that.
I didn't even say I was "more" sad about it than her being killed, I just said it made me sad that the box was empty.
while it was horrible kira's death was intentional and deliberately done. it was the system trying to show what his actions would feel like - what it feels like to witness a loved one die to his bubblewrap bomb in real time. the whole point of nothing being in the box was so that she would have no choice but to impulsively pop the bubble wrap and he could only watch.
Doctor: "It's not the giant monster that's eating people that's the problem. It's the people that TOLD the giant monster to eat people that are the problem!"
Giant Monster: "Yeah! I totally wouldn't be doing this on my own."
Companion: "...wouldn't you?"
Giant Monster: "I fully would."
Companion: "And if we put someone else in charge they'd tell you to-"
Giant Monster: "Eat people, I'm a giant monster, I was genetically engineered by very bad people to eat people."
The problem with Kerblam was that the Doctor let the guy die and that "resolution" was to give the jobs back to humans (not even mentioning the fact that the company is closed for a month but the workers only get 2 weeks of holiday). Why not change the system?
But other than that, it's unfair to compare it to Oxygen and Boom I think because the point is different.
Oxygen is the best of these IMO, it's the most grounded episode and feels like something that could actually be real as well as working as a good metaphor for current systems. Kerblam was all over the place and could have had a much stronger message that's more realistic than "people not robots". Boom is the second best, it does a good job with the critical message but it is a bit over-the-top and exaggerated... granted plenty of people are so dense that if the words "captialism is bad" aren't spoken the message would go right over their head, ala the number of people who watched Dot and Bubble and failed to get the very clear message of "these people are hella racist"
I really hate how it does feel like the writers do believe the Kerblam bs when in reality the issue with systems like that is that they have exploits that can be abused like that. And 9 times out of 10 they exist because it's also the people above that exploit them.
It's such a weird line. "The system isn't the problem, the way it's used is". Like obviously the system is the problem if it can be used for evil?
Simple rule of life: anything that can be exploited, will be
Not by the majority of people, most people are decent. But the few willing to exploit destroy it for everyone else.
So for a systhem to be working, it has to allow no exploits at all or be designed to work despite people exploiting where they can.
We haven't found any sythem yet that works well long term, but to say a systhem works despite it failing to exploits is ridiculous.
Oxygen is so good at toeing the line. Like New New Who or whatever sometimes switches so quick between serious lecturing and wacky lol random humor. Obviously Kablam sucks at everything. But Oxygen will lines like "we're fighting the suits" not only fits naturalistically but gives a little fun wink.
I never caught the pun there! Jamie Mathieson is still my favorite doctor who writer.
I think Kerblam is awful.
Boom and Oxygen are kinda equal tbh. Both great
Thin ice would best if we were counting that 😂
Boom is mediocre… Oxygen is far better. They aren’t equals
@@alphamineron idk I haven’t seen oxygen in ages but these clips r pretty equal. Oxygen probs I slightly prefer but Boons got some awesome moments.
@@LibertyBridgeProductions oxygen was more subtle, it was just normal horror then at the end you find out it’s all about the corpo. That’s good storytelling. Everyone in that story was acting as intelligent beings, doing their best work. Not bad commentary on religious faith and soldiers so incompetent that they bring children on battlefields and fight mud and dust.
@@alphamineron Oxygen wasn't more subtle. Neither of those episodes were subtle.
@@alphamineron Of course they aren't equals, one has Capaldi, the other doesn't.
While I'm not a fan of this episode or season, I think the intended distinction between Kerblam and the other examples is a thinking, empathizing intelligence. The AI in the suits and the AI in the ambulance were both cold, unthinking algorithms designed by companies to maximize profit at the expense of human life.
The AI in Kerblam recognized it was being used to harm millions and reached out for help to prevent this. When it killed, it did so for emotional reasons, intending (at least according to the Doctor) to show the killer how it feels to invoke empathy. (not a fan of how accepting Doc is with this death tho)
What I've always loved about the Doctor when I first began watching as a child is that there was a fairness in their kindness - they didn't assume an alien was a monster, they saw beauty and sought understanding in creatures most would fear or hate or write off. They gave chances, they listened.
It feels entirely in character for the Doctor to dislike programs and algorithms designed to be used against people, while at the same time being compassionate or trying to understand a truly sentient Artificial intelligence.
That said, we don’t actually have any evidence that the Kerblam AI wasn’t just a tool. The aspect of trying to protect the lives of its customers could really just come down to protecting customers, protecting the money and maximizing the profits. The fact that it had no issue murdering an innocent to make a point doesn’t help. And I feel like the Doctor should have had an issue with that.
...and of course, the average viewer isn't watching Doctor Who for nuance. The broad strokes this ep painted on the surface was 'heyy wait maybe Amazon's ACTUALLY the good guys!" and that feels pretty ick
oxygen was just so matter-of-fact, kerblam was bootlicking, and boom made me cry
I always find it impossible to see 13 on the same level as any other doctor, her whole outlook on things makes her act like a totally different character than every other doctor. And you can say “oh she’s regenerated of course she’s not going to be exactly the same as her previous regenerations”, but this isn’t just a different regeneration, this is like a completely separate character who’s core beliefs have been drastically altered due to the difference in writing team. Imagine how other doctors would respond to seeing an oppressive capitalist corporation colonising a natural planet for monetary gain and exploiting its workers in crappy work environments and terrible wages.
Best episode showing it is "mega spieder, Trump bad". In there Docotors only solution was... starvation, like it would help somehow?
@@ladrok97 fr like even when the Doctor is even slightly moral she goes and does something even more morally questionable. Oh we can’t kill the giant spiders with guns! Let’s just… lock them in a room and let them each slowly starve to death… effectively killing them?? It makes no sense.
"what everyone does with bubble wrap" I'm safe because I don't do that.
I put it in a big bag under my desk so I can reuse it to send people presents, so I'd be fine, accept for the bit where I discover I've accidentally sent a bomb to my mum.
@@wendyheatherwood I think the news would get out by then
The thing that sucks about Kerblam! is that the design of those robots is SOO good, too bad they were so wasted
I think that if *Kablam* wasn't written by a typewriter monkey with a very superficial social understanding, a case could be made that 10% of the workforce being human does not equate to humans having dignified jobs, and how corporations will always find ways to squeeze the most money from society while paying as little as possible to their workers. But this would be asking too much from a bunch of crumpled words.
I love the fact that all the Capitalism episodes have just a one word title. It satisfies me in a way I never knew I needed.
I dont know why but i thought this was going to be about the audio syncing of the title sequences
You should have included 11s living flesh
"the system aren't the problem, it's how people exploit those systems"
You mean the system that was specifically designed to be exploited this way?
Not liking a system doesn't give you the right to send bombs to innocent people
Wasn't Valenguard the same company that provided Captain Jack's squareness gun?
I hear there's a banana grove there now
@@andco53 bananas are good.
peter capaldi was amazing.
Subtlety is the most important thing about political entertainment media, these episodes are a perfect example of what happens when you forget that.
that is not the most important thing...
@@afgor1088 if you’re making a piece of entertainment it is, quality and factual integrity goes without saying, but if you’re trying to make media intended to entertain people and can’t keep your politics in your pants, it’s vital to be subtle, because an episode where the characters make talking points then wink at the screen isn’t fun to watch regardless if you agree with what’s being piped out or not.
If you're expecting subtlety in a show like Doctor Who, I'm afraid you're in the wrong place 😂
@@bananatiergod subtlety is a standard in any good story. A film that pauses the plot to explain the message of the story every five minutes is a bad film, and that’s what oxygen does.
Imagine if every character in the giver randomly said “oh boy if only we weren’t living in a security state that controls our lives, I guess giving up our rights and what makes us human for the sake of safety isn’t a good idea after all”
Telling your audience what you want them to take away from your work doesn’t keep them interested.
Boom is such a haphazard mess that it has the Doctor give a smiling approval to a young girl about her lack of concern over her dead father, which is also a similar view the Villengard Corporation has. It runs in place saying nothing. At least Kerblam! royally fucked up its ending given the premise setup it did
12: the problem is capitalism
13: the problem is those damn unions >:c and people exploiting the system!!!!
15: the problem is capitalism
Loved peter capaldi and mat lucas in their final series
PSA: CHIBNALL DID NOT WRITE KERBLAM. IT WAS A GUEST WRITER. BLAME PETE MCTIGHE.
Showrunner approves the script. Showrunner is the editor. Showrunner can do whatever he wants to the script, just look at Nightmare in Silver being mutilated by Moffat's Moffatisms. It's Chibnall's fault for not doing his damn job.
I appreciate that even though even though you’re not conparing Thin Ice, you include that monolouge
Oxygen is an episode that hits harder now for me as I hope to take up VFX and animation and game design in the future, but as AI becomes more popular to corporations and lazy individuals, that hope becomes less likely to happen, unless I choose a more indie route.
Hated Kerblam, thought it was going to be a story about disillusionment, but NOPE, speech goes COMPLETELY off topic! That being said, I still like the 13th Doctor era as a whole.
I used to like Oxygen, but that was when I was a cynical prick who thought misery in fiction equalled quality(you know, typical viewer of youtube reviewer stuff), and I don't think I've watched it since, so opinion pending.
Boom. It's a heavy episode in a season of consecutive heavy episodes. I don't remember how I reacted when I watched it, but I feel emotionally drained thinking about it.
I still don’t love Moffat’s writing, but at least it ain’t THAT.
We can even add Inferno and Caves of Androzani to the mix
this is why I didn't like kerblam
btw, you should compare these 3 to 10's "rise of the cyberman"
Oxygen is my favorite one of these, and its depiction of capitalism chilled me the most.
Thank you for this. So much, you made my day!
Capaldi is so GOATed
I like oxygen
Companies* is the plural form of company. “Company’s” means “belonging to the company”
get a life.
As much as I hate everything this show has done over the last 5 years, there was one clear exception: Moffat's episode Boom, which was very good and reminded me of a old programme called Doctor Who, anyone remember that?
Ah yes I remember the good old days back when Boom released last month, fellow person who has definitely watched the show
@@Ted_CurtisHe is ironic about the fact that there have been no normal episodes of Dr Who for 5 years since Moffat left, which is an actual truth. Boom is a very good episode, but the rest of them that i watched from season 14 is just meh. Even in special, the first episode of which is a deadly cringe, and the third, in my opinion, Toymaker loses too quickly. The second episode of the special is the best, straight from the old RTD times.
@@FakeCMD28 Rogue felt like the most traditional Doctor Who episode we've had in a while. These week's episode was also classic Doctor Who
@@Ted_Curtis Ah yes that classic Who tradition of the Doctor getting sexual with men! Just like the good old days! :D
@Ted_Curtis
Rogue was a trash episode.
id have loved to see a comparison to the sunmakers too
Can't believe how woke Chibnell's era was, thank goodness for saviour of the West Steven Moffatt and his pro-capitalist writing
what...?
@@amiccus_ Steven Moffatt, bastion of the West against the woke mob. The only show runner to keep politics out of Doctor Who, unlike Chris Chinballs
@@amiccus_ Satire probably
@@idle_speculation it is, though I get that it's hard to distinguish between some of the lobotomites which actually post this nonsense
I'm miss it when doctor who actually was doctor who. To me doctor who died the day Peter Capaldi left.
12 anyday
The difference is 13 was fully pro-capitalism
Peter Capaldi is brilliant. The show was weaker around him, but his acting and the writing of his dialogue was often brilliant. Kerblam shows how weaker and virtue signalling the show gotten, rather than genuine, actual critiques. Gatwa is brilliant here as well, I feel bad for Jodie because she's a decent actor, but I think the script, direction, etc just was done poorly for her.
12th and 15th: I hate AI and how its being used to harm people
13th: Why do people work here? Just have the AI do everything.
Thanks Chibnall
Do you reckon it was deliberately called "Boom" in order to ensure peie compared it to "Kerblam!"?
yo that kerblam episode is getting worse and worse the more I see bits of it
just finished the last Capaldi season but if I have to watch this for 3 seasons I'm just gonna skip it
With a heavy heart I can say: just do it. Skip right to 14th Doctor, the one good episode from Whitaker's run introduced the worst finale ever so even that is not worth it.
@@Adrianovaz2007 the haunting one yeah?
@@Carmel3141 yeah that's the one.
But please watch final episode (special?) of Jodie. This 90 minutes is so beatifully random (I saw 0 episodes of season 12 and 13). Also I recommend watching spider episodes (archanoids in UK) - it's perfect comedy with interesting twist of Doctor being bad guy (ofc unintended twist)
@@ladrok97 the spiders one is probably the worst of her run, the only one I can think that could be even worse is Orphan 55
Companies not companys.
based
Based 13
Oxygen is so good
I wonder if Kerblam's novelization was any better
Me too. Too bad I'll never have time to read a Kerslam novel.
It's KERblam. It's RIGHT THERE in the thumbnail & @ 0:07
Kerblam was not really good, but Oxygon and Bam were really great.
Kerblam would be the worst episode of Modern Who if not for Kill The Moon.
KTM was the absolute worst
Anyone else feel like RTD doesn’t know how to end episodes properly? I feel like all of his recent episodes have started with a very good concept, then completely nosedived by the last 10 minutes.
No. And Boom is a Moffat episode, not an RTD one. Perhaps 73 Yards wraps up way too quick, but the ending of Dot and Bubble is easily the best thing about it.
His resolutions can be comparatively much weaker, the setups sometimes are TOO strong in relation to how he ends episodes, it feels like he writes himself into a corner with some banging setups
I think it's more an inherent weakness of the 45 minute episode format. For me, if they're going to get it wrong I'd rather have a story that's trying to do too much and falls down in some areas than have a story which isn't enough to fill the time.
@@chrispalmer7893 what episode length would be optimal, do you think? An hour?
@@matthewlacey4198 I'm not sure there is an optimal length. In some ways the classic series did this better - by having multiple-part stories with shorter episodes you had a bit more flexibility (in theory you can choose the right number of episodes based on the story - didn't work like that back then of course as the impression I get is that they decided on the number of episodes before they wrote the stories. The result was most often ending up with lots of filler rather than rushed endings.)
Oxygen is everything Boom wishes it could be 😂😂
Boom is an alright episode for the majority of the plot, a somewhat lackluster ending but there are good scenes in the episode.
@@somerandomyoutubeaccount5895 What plot?? The absolute nonsense of people believing anything without question like they expect their audience to?? 😏😏
@@hirudinaria the plot of the episode? Have you seen the episode?
@@somerandomyoutubeaccount5895 Sadly yes. And I know you're going to cast me into some categorical version of "biased hater" so I can already feel the judgment coming. But there is no plot.
And I can prove it with just 1 question. Why did the first scene happen?
@hirudinaria I see where you are coming from, but the first scene is just to build sympathy so we feel at least something when that character dies, and what follows sets up the idea of the AI ambulance and the mine. Even if it wasn't needed, or some dislike that scene, it wasn't useless
Just wanna ask, how is the new Doctor doing for ya'll?
I saw the the David Tennant specials that introduced him, and to me, Doctor Who as show in general feels like a Sci-fi movie that resolves everything too quickly and makes up sci-fi mumbo jumbo terms on the spot.
Of course the specials are the only episodes I've seen outside of clips and shorts.
Also, the Doc is pretty obviously gay coded, so I don't know if that harshes anything to anyone.
I wish leftist writers actually knew what capitalism is.
Communists are illiterate. And I don't just mean economically, they're just very literally, in general, illiterate. They have no idea what "capitalism" even actually means. Think any market is a "Free market" and so on and so on. Their ignorance to something even as basic and simple as meaning as a word is boundless, that's why they end up being communists.
Do you?
Wouldn’t call Boom an episode that ‘fixes’ Kerblam. In terms of 13 being a borderline shrill for Kerblam and 15 being against Villangard; yes Boom is better. But the themes of Boom are so confused and conflicted, they contradict the Doctor’s values in a different way to Kerblam when it comes to the theme of ‘faith’ which is rly odd. Since a lot of Moffat’s who episodes needs a character to have an insane amount of blind faith to succeed (Amy needs to littetally have faith to bring the Doctor back from being erased from existence for example)
Also when 15 explains that the landline has lights because of ‘capitalism’ - the reason he gives means almost nothing. Well. Either that or I didn’t understand it, which is always a possibility. Genuinely adding this bit too my comment in the hope that someone will explain that line to me 😂
shiny bright lights = more people will buy it. In the same way that brighter colours and easy-to-read fonts on packaging is better for business, on something like a landmine, flashing lights is an eye-catching way to stand out from other competitors in the industry. Think of those light-up shoes that kids wear that sparkle every time you step on them? It’s the same idea.
The idea is that the bright lights etc make the landmines look more advanced or technological. It's the idea that the people buying these products are buying them off a show-room floor because of how cool or flashy they look rather than how functional they actually are. Think about people buying stuff like the Tesla cybertruck because it looks advanced and futuristic even though in practice it's a pretty terrible product. There's a disconnect between the actual war and the market/finance that surrounds it.
"Also when 15 explains that the landline has lights because of ‘capitalism’ - the reason he gives means almost nothing"
Look on German Puma IFV. It's the same thing (just infantry fighting vehicle instead of mine) - overpcied and overenginered thing because back then everyone in Europe belieaved there will not be more war in Europe, so you can buy/sell/produce shiny things. It's too costly and too advanced for IFV, but not enough armoured to do anything reasonable vs tanks.
Plot of "shiny thing" is maybe dumb, but still belieaveable. And this mine is overengineered anyway, why you need to do "change body into detonator", when throwing normal explosives in there would do the same for cheaper? So adding lights to something which already is overpriced isn't bad design/bad thing.
So you guys hate the Doctor when they defend capitalism?
Kerblam was literally made for some of you and yet you reject it so hard.
Boom was wank and the anti-capitalism message in it was utterly stupid and unbelievable. Why would any group, country or planet purchase weaponry that does more harm to you own soldiers than anything else? This episode imagines Villengard as the only manufacturer of weapons and that there isn't any better competition that would sell you arms without killing your own men. This isn't purely capitalism that is criticised. This is a monopoly, and it's a company that shouldn't exist. Surely competition could do something similar to Villengard without slaughtering the buyers own men - or there could even be laws to prevent that kind of thing happening.
Are we to imagine that somehow this was so profitable that they cannot have any competition?
And surely what of the soldiers, the officers and the entire population they are fighting for? Surely they witness people not being saved because it costs too much, or the higher ups understand the product they are using - why would any side in a war that want to win the war use a product that keeps the war going? Villengards products only work for themselves so it's unbelievable how and why anyone uses them - it cannot be fair, it cannot be simply capitalism at work. The company is obviously up to no good and so a catch all critique of capitalism doesn't really work here, at all.
Would have made more sense if Villengard just sold a product that allowed the user, in this case the leaders of the military, to designate their OWN acceptable levels of losses and costs of saving lives. In fact, the episode hints this might have once been the case within the script but it seems it got waived to the side to make a jab at capitalism as a whole.
It's such a surface level critique it's basically a waste of time. Any one who thinks it's worthwhile is revealing they understand so little of how the world actually works.
no one will ever read the gibberish you just wasted your time spewing.
cry harder and get a life.
lmao get bent
Only one doctor present.
Clearly your talking about Jodie.
@@somerandomyoutubeaccount5895misstipped Peter Capaldi
@@somerandomyoutubeaccount5895 she’s the timeless child.
Yes, we know you are talking about the kerblam man
Yep because they're all the same person
These were all fairly poorly written episodes but boy did Boom suck.
An Episode where he stands on a magic landmine for a whole episode, cries a lot, other people run around in an active minefield, he cries a lot, they do some bullshit "that's my Dad!" with a translucent blue hologram, he cries a lot, and then deus ex machina for no reason.
People said that Episode was good but it's legit one of the worst Who episodes in the history of the entirety of the franchise. Nothing happened, he cried, ass pull, the end.
you think oxygen was poorly written?
>Thinks Oxygen is poorly written, in the same league as Kerblam
Entire opinion discarded.
have you ever heard of dialogue?
If you sum up ANY episode with such bad faith and cynicism, of course it's going to sound bad. Is Heaven Sent just the Doctor doing a monologue while slowly breaking a wall? If you think so, I genuinely wonder what you find interesting in watching any series or movie.
Imagine being this miserable, lmao
No, but when you think about it
Corporate greed is kinda good
Why do you say that?
?
Brain dead take
im pretty sure this is a joke
-Chris Chibnall
“The systems aren’t the problem.”
My sister in SPACETIME, the system in question is “either starve yourself efficiently enough or you don’t get to see your family this year.”
Exactly even without the killer AI being used by corrupt people, other workers were still being exploited under the system and it’s crazy to me how nobody ever truly points that out in the episode. Complete mishandling of this sort of subject and sends the totally incorrect message 💀
@@Shuffles_Art I love how the writers phrase it. "iT wAs tRYiNg tO sHoW yOu wHaT iT fEeLs LiKe" THAT'S REVENGE. You are having THE DOCTOR justify the REVENGE KILLING of an innocent person!
@@RealCoolstriker64 ugh ikr?? Like even if that was its reasoning, the doctor would never see that as any sort of excuse to literally kill an innocent human being. Every other doctor always has some sort of message against enacting revenge on someone even your greatest enemies. Christopher Eccleston and Tom Baker both had huge moments where they contemplated wiping out the entire Dalek race just to get revenge on what they did to the time lords, but he decides against it because it’s not the doctor’s place to decide who lives and who dies
Damn, imagine the Doctor having a problem with terrorism. Unthinkable.
@@RealCoolstriker64 the person she's talking to is literally a terrorist and is the one killing people in the episode. But no, the Doctor is bad for not being on his side lol you communists are so blinded by your ideology
The fact that the episode co-funded by Disney is a better anti-capitalist message than the one overseen by Chibs is wild.
No it isnt
Wildly incorrect 🤣🤣
Amazon funds some of the most anti-capitalist media of the day, namely The Boys, Fallout, and Upload
@@kuggacouragegx6093 how so
Chibnall doesn't understand the apeal of Dr Who.
In other words, Moffat gets it. Chibs is contradictory
Chibnal just doesn’t know how to write Doctor Who in all honesty. He has rare moments but it’s *very* few and far between 😭
@Shuffles_Art yeah lol he just can't get the v i b e Doctor Who has!
The politics of Kablam are so awful, I'm really glad they fixed that in Boom
By not addressing it? Or by completely butchering it? 😮😮
@@hirudinaria by writing the message in a way where it doesn’t feel contradictory to what the moral’s of previous eras were.
@@somerandomyoutubeaccount5895 So Kerblam pointing out that humans can be evil too is contradictory to Capitalism is evil?? 😄😄
As for Boom, it doesn't even entertain the idea that the capitalists are intelligent and money minded, contrary to Oxygen that relied on the profitable acumen of the industry
@@hirudinaria Kerblam villainises attempts to fight against an oppressive system and glorifies the oppressive system remaining in place, it doesn't "point out that humans can be evil too" (??)
Have you even watched Boom? Multiple times the Doctor references how the Villengard are some of the biggest moneymakers in the galaxy and have made war into an insanely lucrative business - sounds like "entertaining the idea of capitalists being intelligent and money-minded" to me
Seriously. Who would have thought that Doctor Who would become a shill for Amazon.
Wait so 13 straight up murdered that guy right?
there was no reason to make the robots blow themselves up
she just strait up killed that guy
only guns bad, explosive bubble wrap is fine
No she tried to save him.
So in Kerblam, The Doctor says that the system is not the problem, then kills a worker who rebelled agaisnt an unfair system, then had a little chat with upper management who promised to do good things.
I am very glad I didn't went past the second episode. Jodie deserved better writing...
and worst part is it was back to back with bad writing (Except demons of Punjab, which I heard was decent)
Spiders of uk: " No Trump, we should let the big spider die in agony rather than kill it with a gun. Guns are bad"
The Tsuranga Conundrum:
It takes the Doctor almost 30mins to realize that the thing that looks like a baby... is a baby. Then they kill it.
He wasn't just a worker who "rebelled against an unfair system"; he was a terrorist sending bombs to unsuspecting innocent people.
@@UberDr009 They do not kill the Pting, they feed it energy. The thing lives in space.
Oxygen is by far the best
i would love for jodie to come back for 1 episode but under rtd
specifically the joyful pre-flux version
maybe after graham and ryan left, bc we know they did some stuff during that time before the events of the flux
I find it interesting that all 3 are different discussions.
Oxygen is about the devaluing of human life inside of a capitalistic infrastructure.
Kerblam thinks its about human corruption in capitalism, but really actually makes a better case against the necessity of employment and money in an automated world and the general populations corrupt manipulation by marketing.
While boom is about the effects of capitalism incentivizing and worsen the world of combat.
They all 3 are about capitalism, but don't necessarily contradict or support each other in context because they each reframe the discussion about a specific issue inside capitalism. Only when you take too many steps back does it look like they are in contrast or support as you see capitalism portrayed on 1 side of the discussion.
Kerblam was the worst of it. It started ok but the twist in the end was "actually the system is ok, the problem is a few people".
I wish boom was slightly better written cause I do really enjoy the setup but if gets so dragged down by the random side characters
jodie would run out of breath midway through oxygen
And people don’t understand why 13 is the worst Doctor
Ironically I think that scene was actually one of her best performances in her tenure. In the later seasons, she just sort of phone it in. In this scene, she's actually conflicted and empathetic; in later seasons, she's just preachy and one-dimensional in her performance
But Kerblam isn't episode showing why 13 is worst Doctor. This episode was solid in general. Other interesting episode was with small Puting (whatever name) on medicial station, just... it looks like screenwriter forget to write second part of the episode and they rewrote script on last minute. Oh and "it takes you away" was also interesting.
Far worse was Rosa (Villain's actions are either 100% delusional or black Americans are stupid, you can't have it other way around. Space alien from thousands of years in future would care about 50/100 years of civil rights delay?? Plus it showed Rosa like person who did this whole thing on accident), Grandmother of Jaz episode (HOW YOU CAN MISS BULLET WOUND? Can you stop being prejudice of aliens for few seconds at least Doctor?) and spiders (not only they had "evil Trump", they also had conclusion of "merciful killing bad, starvation good")
What I find interesting in these comments is people saying Oxygen is by far superior (which I agree) but then also Boom being considered the best of the new series and people still think the new series is the best who we've ever had.
Lol that moment 15 just pushes Ruby back down
The Doctor needs an entire series where they lead a socialist revolution and bring down intergalactic capitalism. It would be a natural role for an anti-authoritarian character 😊
I disagree, I think all 3 episodes are very good, each in their own way. We should stop looking for flaws to be angry at and enjoy the show.
kerblam litterally tries to argue that the system that killed an innocent to prove a point isnt the problem, its the system, and then proceeds to hand the burden of fixing it to people who really dont have a reason to do so.
Also the doctor let's the guy die in Kerblam.
Srsly
She kills a Tardis, let's spiders asphyxiate to their death and reveals the master to Nazis.
Like hell man, 13 was full psycho doctor.If even half of her actions were called out, they could have done a nice 7th doctor like thing with her
some flaws are just noticeable, and some are easy to overlook. To me, Rogue added a romantic partner for the doctor that developed far too quickly for rogue to have any attachment to the doctor. I just don't trust that Rogue was willing to sacrifice what he had for a man he met, what? 3 hours ago at the very most?
flaws, primarily in the case of shows like doctor who, break the illusion. they take you back to the fact that you're watching a tv show from the bbc on disney plus, and nothing else.
as the other commenters stated, kerblam holds an impressive logical oversight in it's resolution that makes it difficult for a casual watcher to engage in.
You may enjoy the episode, and there's no shame in that, but ignoring and pretending like flaws are always insignificant is a tad silly.
@@b550manI mean, that’s a common Doctor Who thing. Hell, Davros called Ten out for it in Journey’s End
All terrible
Why are they so obsessed with going after capitalism but when was the last time they had a commentary on communism or socialism. Or doesn't that fit the agenda
You’re describing Kerblam
@@mredbadger kerblam was about capitalism, they all were. The writers for that episode seemed to confuse their anti capitalist message though?
@@Faulty720you got an episode with a pro-capitalism message and you’re pretending it was an accident
@@mredbadger I don't think that's what they were going for.
The main character explicitly says the systems are fine before killing the extremist. Isn’t that what you wanted?