The Rings of the Cold War Taxi Driver of Akhaten

It's another mixed up title made out of other titles. That must mean there are reviews ahead. That must also mean that there's a spoiler warning a comin' too...

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen the most recent episodes of Supernatural and Doctor Who, please leave the blog and come back later. The following reviews contain spoilers for "The Rings of Akhaten," "Cold War," and "Taxi Driver."

Doctor Who - "The Rings of Akhaten" - Review

While I was watching the episode, I liked it. I was rather shocked by the planet becoming the Great Pumpkin's evil twin, but I liked the rest. I thought it was a nice change to have just a small portion of the universe in trouble instead of the entire universe. I thought the main thrust of the story, Merry Gejelh (that is some funky spelling there), was cute and another nice change from adults running around with their hands in the air. The story was not as dark as some of the previous ones, which also made a nice change.

I also quite liked the backstory we got on Clara's parents. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Also painted a picture of The Doctor as a stalker, but there you go.

I would say more, but I don't really want to pick apart this episode. I liked it. I probably won't be watching it again soon, though. It was nice, simple, romp.

Doctor Who - "Cold War" - Review

I loved this episode. Loved it, loved it, loved it. The story was well put-together, the scares were fun, and the character development was wonderful. I thought Clara's reactions to things were very realistic, even if she was a tad over-eager in parts. My favorite bit was when she discovered the TARDIS Translation Matrix... which they actually called the correct thing this time. I'm pretty sure it was called a Translation Circuit last time... or else I'm getting it mixed up with the Chameleon Circuit...

Anyway... I really enjoyed getting to properly see an Ice Warrior for the first time. I'd seen bits of some of the Classic Who episodes they appeared in, but I'm not sure I fully appreciated them then. I thought Skaldak was pretty brilliant. I thought it was clever how he used his armor as a misdirection, though I'm unsure why it opened when Clara touched it... also, Skaldak was kind of impatient when he sent out his distress beacon. I know there wouldn't have been much of a story if he hadn't been impatient, but still.

I was fairly sure some of the older Whovians were going to get upset about a) Skaldak coming out of his armor and b) seeing an Ice Warrior without the armor. I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to my podcasts and found they were actually quite positive about it. I'm very happy about that.

I've already see "Cold War" twice and I might revisit it again in the near future. Meantime, I can't wait for this weekend and the next episode.

Supernatrual - "Taxi Driver" - Review

Funny story, when Dean said he buried Benny, I heard "married." Man, that was a weird couple of seconds while I was reeling in shock. Luckily, the next thing out of Dean's mouth was "but I didn't burn his bones." Gah! My brain is weird.

Anyway, nothing new was really set up or revealed here. We got some more of Kevin freaking out. He's now apparently cracked, as evidenced by the lack of glass on the floor. We got to see Benny again and witness his parting... twice. We got Bobby back for a bit, which was sort of fun. I enjoyed that he clocked Sam first thing, even if he did think Sam was a demon.

Of course last on my list is talking about Crowley and Naomi. Crowley's his usual awesomely evil self. His motives are at least crystal clear. Naomi, on the other hand, is a bureaucrat who doesn't like to be called a bureaucrat. I still don't like her at all. I'm glad Dean didn't fall for her BS and he doesn't even know about her "Danger Room" of Dean corpses. Also, doing one good thing for someone doesn't automatically mean you can be trusted. If anything, it means you can't, especially if you've been shifty for all the time they've known you.

I especially enjoyed the scene with Crowley and Naomi together. There's gotta be some interesting history there. Mark Shepard and Amanda Tapping have such great chemistry on screen, it makes me want to ship Crowley and Naomi... ya know, if I were to ship anyone.

Overall, I liked the episode. It's nice to have actual plot rather than filler for once.

Housekeeping

Apparently, Neopets previewed something from the Obelisk opening that said "SOON" on it. Not sure what's going on there, but I'll keep you posted.

Tomorrow... I don't know. I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Love ya, Jessie.