"Everyone who isn't an American, drop your gun!"
Well, that was… adequate, I suppose. Nothing seriously wrong with it but it didn't really sing. Mostly it was the formulaic plot and the tiresomely excessive focus on the ethics of Kahler-Jex at the expense of the fun, but there was a certain lack of sparkle.
On the other hand, a Doctor Who western is a cool idea, even if it was done better forty-six years ago. The location filming in Spain ensured that the whole thing looked great, and there were a pleasing number of tropes to go around, from the lynch mob at the town jail to the gunfight at noon. I especially liked the undertaker, who reminded me of Back to the Future III. Then again, this is a timey-wimey Western. It couldn't not remind me of Back to the Future III.
Interestingly, Amy and Rory disagree on whether the Doctor is right to crudely expel Jex from the town and send him to his death. Also interesting is that Amy notices a harder edge to the Doctor when he travels alone for too long. He may have regenerated since this was last an issue, but the Doctor still needs someone to stop him. And, right now, this is a problem, because he's gradually drifting away from Amy and Rory…
Ultimately the episode suffers because of the excessive hand-wringing over Jex. Yes, I know, we're meant to see a parallel between the two alien doctors, and the Doctor's crimes are arguably worse than Jex's. But vague parallels don't get us very far.
The cyborg is cool, I suppose, as is the ending, although the narration device seems a little forced and pointless, and there are enough set pieces to stop the episode from being overly bogged down. Still, meh. Hopefully there'll be more to talk about next week.
I have to agree completely, something was lacking this week. I must admit the quote you chose wasn't the best one this week, but alas, there is always next week.
ReplyDeleteThere was something of a relative dearth of quotes, this week! Sometimes I can get a bit desperate to fing something...!
ReplyDeleteKinda wished DW explored more Westerns historical figures, like Billy the Kid and Jesse James
ReplyDeleteSo do I. Much as I adore The Gunfighters, you can't really say it explores the actual historical figures as opposed to playing with the OK Corral myth and Western tropes!
DeleteI guess with it being a British show rather than American it tends to visit Victorian Britain rather than the Old West, but it would have been fun to have explored such people. I think it is a missed opportunity we never had an episode on Wild Bill Hickock, given the Eighth Doctor dressed liked him.
DeleteIn regards to Western figures, the outlaw Billy the Kid is one of those historical figures that is still more myth than fact, due to the countless portrayals of him on screen and TV, most of them being more fiction than following any aspects of the real man. Even the two Young Guns films took more dramatic license than necessary. However, I actually wonder if Val Kilmer's performance in 1989's "Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid" might be the most important Billy the Kid film of all. Even Western fans acknowledge it was made with respect to the Western genre. While receiving little general attention, the 1989 TV-movie Billy the Kid seems to have a cult following especially with those who study the historical Billy the Kid due to its comparative historical fidelity. Kilmer was praised for his portrayal based on his extensive work to not only physically resemble the real Billy the Kid as much as possible, but also to capture his personality as related in historical accounts. Interestingly, Julie Carmen, who co-stars along Kilmer in "Billy the Kid" was one of those who paid tribute to him on his death. Kilmer seems to deliver a more realistic portrayal of Billy compared to others before and after. Without giving away the obvious ending of the story, it is actually very sombre, compared to other BTK films/shows and I must say it hits very differently since Kilmer himself has passed away since.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHnK9z7j66s
The film is avaible on Youtube, albeit a recorded quality version recorded from TV in 1994, that shows the full film, though I should warn the sound may be a bit distorted.
Definitely watching and blogging this, probably next weekend. I'm a fan of Gore Vidal's novels and haven't seen this- thanks for making me aware of its existence!
ReplyDelete