NuWho Review: Series 2 Episode 5 “Rise of the Cybermen”

By: Tom MacRae

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet watched this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

        The episode begins with John Lumic. A man whose acting contains more wood than a park bench, twitching and fidgeting all over the place as he huffs and puffs out his lines. He’s extremely annoying to the point where one hopes that he will be the pre-credits victim of a hidden attack. But, sadly, he was not....



Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- Poor Mickey! I was hopeful, after last week, that things would be shaping up for the relationship between The Doctor, Rose, and he, but ‘twould seem that it were not to be. He’s always going to be stuck as the third wheel odd man out, but the TARDIS duo don’t seem to be making any effort to help ease him into their travels. To be frank, they’re as juvenile and mean in this little scene as they were for the duration of Tooth and Claw. The Doctor is acting like a real stinker and poor Mickey is doubtlessly wondering why he ever offered to come along in the first place. 

- And Rose...Rose has lost any of the friendly teasing she had in School Reunion or the camaraderie and compassion displayed in The Girl in the Fireplace and is back to her usual catty, self-absorbed self. It’s a shame; those last two episodes had almost caused me to rethink my position on Rose Tyler. 

- It is such a relief when the TARDIS goes haywire and sparks start shooting from the console. At least we lose the jocular lovebirds once the peril returns. The poor Doctor looks so sad as he mournfully inspects his dead TARDIS. He just sounds so heartbroken and pitiful that one cannot help but feel compassion for the Time Lord who just lost his oldest and most faithful companion.

- The parallel universe is pretty cool also. And I actually like the fact that it looks just like our world, albeit with a few minor changes. True the zeppelins are a little odd, but that fact only helps to reinforce the idea that we have indeed entered another dimension. Points go to Mickey for being the one to notice and to explain the concept to us (because no one watching Doctor Who has ever heard of parallel universes before).  

- Okay...so I know that this is the land of television where coincidences and chance meetings are perfectly normal and amazingly frequent, but really; what is the likelihood of the TARDIS landing right next to one of Pete Tyler’s nauseatingly orange posters?  

- And then Rose had to be dumb enough to keep looking at it, despite all of The Doctor’s warnings. I can cut her some slack in Father’s Day because it would have been horrible to just stand by and watch him die, but here Pete Tyler isn’t really her father. For all she knows the man already has a Rose whom he loves and dotes on. Doesn’t she know anything about parallel universe travelling and how awkward (and dangerous) it is to bump into your alternate self? And even if she didn’t exist there, what makes her think that talking to her dad would be helpful to her or him? She couldn’t tell him who she was and he’ll doubtlessly think she’s either a stalker or a madwoman so it will just be emotional pain that she foolishly inflicted on herself. Come on, Rose, use your brain! While it is always promoted to 'follow your heart', sometimes the heart can be misleading so one must use one's head.

- Jackie really is awful in this universe, isn’t she? Gosh! It’s like all of the flaws of her alternate self are exaggerated and all of the good things (like her love for her daughter) are missing, making for a character about as likable as a pair of scissors on the sofa! You feel no sympathy with her and that makes her an extremely hard character to identify with. 

- It’s an interesting concept that here (being childless by choice and the wife of a millionaire) Jackie didn’t have her character shaped by the trials that she went though back in Rose’s world (losing her husband, raising a daughter on her own with limited funds, losing said daughter for a year, etc.) and the Jackie that we are seeing is not pleasant at all. Camille Coduri does a beautiful job of incorporating subtle differences between the two Jackies (who are very similar, but invoke very different responses from me). 

- I am never wearing a Bluetooth headset, nor will I ever don a pair of earphones again without feeling a bit hesitant! 

- Why do people in these sorts of episodes always have computers that respond to voice commands? Whatever happened to pressing ENTER or using a mouse? It must be nice to just be able to say ‘Please pull up my report and edit it’ and have the computer jump to it.

- And The Doctor is back in put-down Mickey mode this episode. For some reason it just sounds more mean-spirited and inappropriate here than it did in Boom Town or in School Reunion (my guess is that, while in those episodes the insults were actually witty here they just sound petty and hurtful). There is no sign of the team that we saw in School Reunion or the friends from The Girl in the Fireplace and that fact saddens me. 

- At least Mickey manages to get a jab of his own in here and there:

     [The Doctor kicks the console]

     Mickey: “Did that help?”

     Doctor: “Yes.”

     Mickey: “Did that hurt?”

     Doctor: “Yes.”            

     Mickey’s dry humour – gotta love it!

- Whoa, whoa...why is there a Torchwood in the parallel universe? I mean, I understand the need to get the arc word in there somewhere, but if there is no Rose Tyler in this world there would be no Torchwood because if The Doctor (assuming the parallel world has one) had never met Rose he probably wouldn’t have been on his way to that particular concert which left him stranded in the moors of Scotland with a werewolf and Queen Victoria. No Tooth & Claw, no Torchwood.

- The idea of Lumic’s goons picking up hapless homeless men for experiments is actually quite cold. Though I would like to know what punk-band-boy (I think his name is Jake) was doing hanging around the burn barrel like that. 

- Speaking of the burn barrel…why is there a Lumic emblem spray-painted on the rusting metal? It probably shouldn't bother me, but once I noticed it was oddly there, that was all I could think about.

- Doctor Who is turning me into the biggest softie ever! Here, as The Doctor is lovingly tending to the TARDIS and recharges her final power cell by giving up some of his own life, I found myself with the largest, soppiest grin on my face ever.

- This moment where The Doctor is alone in the dying TARDIS with Mickey working to save his beloved ship by giving her ten years of his life easily is my favorite part of this episode because of its sheer simplistic beauty.

- With that thought in mind, let’s get back to the episode. The Doctor and Mickey go to tell Rose about the good news that the TARDIS now has power and will be ready to fly in twenty-four hours only to find that she has directly ignored all orders and looked her father up on the internet.

- Here is where I take issue with Miss Rose Tyler. While I understand where she’s coming from, I still think she was acting quite rashly and stupidly. The Doctor told her not to even look. Of course it would be hard to not investigate her parents, but didn’t she realize that that knowledge would make it twice as hard to stay away from them? They’re very unlikely to accept her as their daughter from another universe and even less likely to then let her go again if (through some cosmic abnormality) they did accept her in the first place. She should have learned by now that The Doctor usually knows best and that you should take his advice whenever trapped in a paradox or a parallel universe. 

- I’m also a little bit disappointed in Mickey who, rather than backing The Doctor up, said that since they had twenty-four hours he could do anything he liked (giving Rose the excuse and opportunity to go and try to see her parallel parents). 

- Hang on...Mickey was brought up by his Gran? Uh, I distinctly remember Rose saying in, well, Rose that she didn't know how she'd have to tell Mickey's mother that he might be dead. 

- It also bugs me that Rose, despite her practically useless realization about how she used Mickey in Boom Town, suddenly has a crisis of conscience as she realizes just how much she takes her ex-boyfriend/friend/current boyfriend/I-don't-know-what's-going-on for granted. Too bad it won't do much for her behavior towards him.  

- One thing that sticks with me the most when I watch this episode is the music. I love Murray Gold’s Cybermen theme!

– So the Cybus earbuds have gone to slightly alarming fashion statements to hideous items of complete creepiness! I’m not sure what is more alarming, the statue-like people all standing frozen while stuff is uploaded into their heads or the way they all start laughing at once when they hear the generated joke. 

- I was more intrigued by Mickey’s meeting with his Gran than Rose’s meeting Pete simply because we’ve seen the latter before. Even the rather weak gag where Mickey’s Gran called him ‘Rickey’ doesn’t really ruin the poignancy of the scene for me. This is one moment where Noel Clark really shines and I really felt the connection to his grandmother, even with the short amount of time they shared on screen together. Mickey needs more scenes like this – moments when he’s just being genuine and not grimacing or practicing his pratfalls. Of course about that time ex punk-boy-band member, Jake, comes to snatch ‘Rickey’ away in his TARDIS blue van, but the moment was still sweet while it lasted.

- And was that a veiled reference to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang I heard? 

- Between the opening quite-visible silhouette to the (admittedly alarming) scene with Jackie’s earbuds, we all know where this is going and so all of the secretive build-up gets quite annoying by the time one is about halfway through the episode. And while it is quite shocking that the Cybus fellow drowns out the screams of the test subjects with that Godawful song ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, by this point we all pretty much know what is going on and are just waiting for the reveal.

- May I just say right now that I find it hilarious that The Doctor uses the psychic paper to get them into Jackie’s party as part of the catering staff? It’s not only Rose’s incredulous expression (and the reference to their knighting in Tooth & Claw) that I find so enjoyable but The Doctor’s observation that the best way to find out what’s really going on is through the gossip in the kitchen. It makes me wonder what other events he might have served drinks at while gathering information on his intergalactic adventures.

- I think Rose’s talk with her father is very well done, though it does pale in comparison to the heart-strings-tugging conversations and emotions of Father’s Day…and I should probably stop comparing the two before I end up hating this episode. 

- Then comes my hands-down favorite part of this episode: Rose talking with alternate!Jackie. There is a scene that is so packed with tense emotions and unexpected twists that I could easily watch it for the duration of this episode. No really! I could do without the I-Just-Swallowed-A-Porcupine-Fish John Lumic and the I-Am-A-Skinny-Porcupine-Fish Jake & Co. and just spend the entire time with Jackie and Rose (with a bit of The Doctor hacking the Tyler’s computer thrown in for variety). While it doesn’t carry quite the weight of Father’s Day (this is the last time, I swear!) it still is strong enough to carry its own weight. 

- Part of the reason I am such a big fan of this scene is the unexpected, jarring ending. Rose and Jackie are talking amiably, seeming to get on just as well as Rose and Pete did (and better, I would hazard, than Rose and nonalternate!Jackie) when Jackie suddenly realizes that she is confiding her deepest fears and secrets to a total stranger. But rather than taking it quietly like Pete did, Jackie gets to her feet and unleashes a wave of anger on poor Rose before stalking off back into the party. The performances of Coduri and Piper are spot on and none of the emotion seems forced or contrived. 

- After that there’s not much to tell other than the fact that we finally get the reveal of the Cybermen and then the weakest cliffhanger in NuWho thus far.

- Sorry, MacRae, but that’s the facts. Aliens of London had a better cliffhanger than Rise of the Cybermen. 

- The cinematography for these scenes is interesting, particularly the part where the Cybermen (quite literally) crash the Tyler’s party. I love the way they are shot with an upwards angle, giving the illusion that they are actually a lot bigger and more intimidating than they otherwise would appear. 

            As always, I can’t really give a proper rating to this story until I review part two – but I always give a rating to the story and set-up of part one. For Rise of the Cybermen there were some odd moments and pacing and I think that they dragged out the reveal waaaay too long, but the story had a lot of good mystery and character development (particularly for Mickey) and the idea of the parallel universe, while not original, was handled beautifully. I give this episode a 3/5 and look forward to watching part two.

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?

Sherlock Review: Series 1 Episode 3 "The Great Game"

By: Mark Gatiss

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet watched this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

            At the end of the last episode, The Blind Banker, there was a lone scene that dealt with the end of General Shan. I didn’t like it. It felt tacked on and pointless and only rounded out the Return of the King ending that the episode had (an ending that was rather less bittersweet and heart wrenching than RotK). It neither fitted the episode nor helped to tie up loose ends. Well, let’s see if Mark Gatiss does the elusive Moriarty better justice in The Great Game.


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- He begins the episode well enough. The opening scene takes place in Minsk, Belarus where Sherlock is conducting an interview with a grammatically challenged murderer. I’m not surprised he refused to take the case, despite his obvious boredom. Even I could tell that the guy was lying (or delusional) and I don’t doubt that between Berwick’s grammar and truly atrocious vocabulary he might have made Sherlock a murderer before the case was finished. It is rather cold the way the consulting detective brushes off the other man’s fears, though.

Berwick: “You’ve got to help me, Mr. Holmes. Everyone says you’re the best. Without you…I’ll get hung for this.”

Sherlock: “No, no, no, Mr. Berwick, not at all. Hanged, yes.”

- Directly after the credits we find that Sherlock has a rather unique and slightly violent method of dealing with his all-consuming boredom. Rather than shooting up with a 7% solution of drugs (like the original Holmes would have done) Sherlock lounges around 221B in his pyjamas and dressing gown, shooting Watson’s gun at a hideous spray-painted smiley face on the wall. While not perhaps the most orthodox of entertainments, this activity choice is rather amusing – almost as funny as John’s reaction to the severed head in the fridge. Apparently Sherlock has sunk to such depths that he has decided to take his own measurements concerning the coagulation rate of human saliva post mortem, much to John’s chagrin. It is to the good doctor’s credit that he managed not to let loose that curse he cut off whenever he opened the fridge and came face-to-face with somebody’s grisly head. He seems to take it in stride (more or less) and one gets the impression that pieces of cadaver in the cupboards and refrigerator/freezer might not be as rare as Watson would prefer them to be. Living with Sherlock Holmes belongs in a reality show called Nightmare Flatmate or something like that.

- John Watson and Mrs. Hudson deserve the Saints of the Year award, just for putting up with Sherlock's shenanigans!

- Sherlock and John then proceed to have a little domestic argument (it begins as banter, but only escalates) concerning John’s blog. 

- Much of Sherlock’s scorn seems to come from the fact that John romanticizes the cases (his words, not mine) and that the good doctor observed this fact: “Sherlock sees right through everyone and everything in seconds. What's incredible, though, is how spectacularly ignorant he is about some things.”  

- Throughout the ensuing argument, it is revealed that Sherlock doesn’t know (or care) that the earth revolves around the sun. This revelation has drawn scorn from several reviewers who scoff that a man of science like Sherlock Holmes could not conceivably in this day in age get away with believing that the sun revolves around the earth. I protest.

- That assumption is a completely illogical leap to make since it is never stated in the episode (or on any of the corresponding websites) that Sherlock believes the sun orbits the earth. In fact he himself says in a burst of irritation that it simply doesn’t matter to him whether the earth goes around the sun or around the moon or “…round and round the garden like a teddy bear!” because that is a fixed state that can never be altered by anything he or his clients or the criminals he chase could ever do. So no, he doesn’t necessarily believe the outdated notion that the sun goes around the earth. He just doesn’t think about any of those theories at all, not wanting to waste space in his hard drive. 

- Sherlock is such a sulky child when bored! Thank goodness he has Mrs. Hudson who clearly both cares for and somewhat understands her eccentric tenant. She is a gem among landladies! After John storms out to get some air, she comes bustling into the flat with some groceries and does her best to bolster Sherlock up with the bracing hope that something will turn up like “…a nice murder – that’ll cheer you up.” The wonderful lady then proceeds to take him to task for the way he defaced her wall (I’d hate to tell her, but the horrid wallpaper already did a fine job of that) and threatens to put it on his rent. Sherlock gives a cheeky grin to the offending graffiti, just as a nearby explosion blows out all of the flat’s windows and the camera fades to black, leaving us wondering what on earth is going on.

- The next morning poor John is left with a stiff neck from a night spent on Sarah’s sofa – a problem he does his best to nobly play down in favour of some good-natured flirting. I have to say, I really love the Sarah/John relationship. They were a cute couple and clearly had some chemistry. She also was probably the only woman John has dated so far that actually was able to manage Sherlock Holmes. I really wish she had stuck around for Series 2 because I always want to see more of Sarah.

- Watson clearly had the right idea when he decided to hide out from Sherlock the Grouch at Sarah’s. If I had a flatmate like Holmes I would need to get away too.

- His face, though, when he sees the news report about the explosion in Baker Street is priceless (and not in a funny or ironic kind of way). You can just see him mentally connecting the words ‘massive explosion’ to ‘bored Sherlock’ and envisioning his mad scientist of a flatmate attempting to stave off boredom by making nitroglycerine in the kitchen and it all going horribly wrong. So he grabs his coat, shouts a good-bye to Sarah, and hightails it back to 221B where he finds explosive material in a rather different form than the one he had been envisioning.

- Apparently Mycroft has decided that this is a fine occasion on which to schedule a visit to his little brother so when John returns to the flat he walks in on a brotherly conversation containing enough tension to be sliced with that sword from The Blind Banker. The Holmes brothers are always fun to watch (I’m always waiting for them to break out into a violin bow vs. brolly duel) and their equally sharp intellects and tongues make for some rather acidic dialogue. The casual way they try to one-up each other in the deduction department is quite humorous and is, one could hazard, just the Holmes family version of affection. I love the fact that the brothers can tell where John was sleeping with just one brief glance and his exasperation at being caught between the two Holmes’ is something that we will get to see throughout this episode.

- And we finally get to see Sherlock play the violin (although, I’m not sure ‘playing’ is the correct term; more like ‘torturing’) as he serenades Mycroft’s leave-taking with a stunning piece I have dubbed ‘Ode to a Dying Cat’. 

- That scene gives us a fine example of Martin Freeman’s incredible ability to say more with facial expressions than actual lines. I am in continuous awe of this bloke, I really am. The show would not be half so awesome without the wry humour of Doctor Watson.

- Sherlock clearly is in a better mood than the last night because, after an encouraging call from DI Lestrade, he takes off for Scotland Yard, even engaging in such sentimentality as to tell Watson that: “I’d be lost without my blogger.” 

- I have to say that I find the beginning of the first case quite creepy. Not only did someone break into the basement flat that is 221C right under the nose of Sherlock Holmes, but also they did it without damaging the door. Mrs. Hudson has the only key and so that implies that the burglar either broke into her flat first or was somehow able to get into 221C without the key. I’m not sure which concept is scarier.

- Then there’s the fact that the bomber somehow knows the exact moment when Sherlock finds the shoes. Did he hack into CCTV? Does that pink phone have some sort of tracking device in it? How did he do that? It is extremely alarming and doesn’t get any less unsettling the more one thinks about it. 

- The effect of a crying woman being strapped into a bomb vest and forced to read out her own death sentence is quite dark and chilling. In fact, that is what this entire episode does. It sets its villain up by means of reputation and results-of-crimes alone. And it is brilliant!

- Sherlock takes the trainers to the lab at Saint Bart’s and plants himself in front of the microscope to analyse the mud left on the soles. 

- There is just so much to talk about with this first case; Sherlock crushing Molly’s heart, Sherlock asking John for help with the trainers and then shooting him down, and yet another amazing deduction scene that is not only amazing but delves into the nebulous back story of Sherlock’s childhood. John does an excellent job with deducing the trainers, but he’s no Sherlock Holmes. After commenting on the fact that the original owner of the shoes was a child with big feet and eczema, Sherlock has one of his light bulb moments and realizes that the shoes must have belonged to a boy named Carl Powers. Carl was the first case Sherlock ever got seriously interested in. This both makes the case more personal and tells us a little bit more about Sherlock’s character which has, so far, been shrouded in quite a bit of mystery.

- Sherlock is so engrossed in the case that he sends John to collect information from Mycroft about the case his brother had been bugging him about via texts. He even calls John “his best man” and, coming from Sherlock Holmes, that is a HUGE compliment! 

- So Sherlock solves the case (Carl Powers was poisoned by clostridium botulinum that someone put in his eczema medicine) and immediately receives a call from the poor hostage. Everyone breaths a big sigh of relief as the first case is down. 

- One of the ambitious things about The Great Game lies in its intricacy. While Mycroft’s case of the Bruce-Partington Plans is a thread that runs throughout, as is the identity of the mysterious bomber, Sherlock and John must solve five separate cases throughout the episode: four to stop hostages from being blown up and one to keep Mycroft off their backs. This was a move that could have gone so, so wrong. And while the action does have a tendency to lag in places and at times the deductions are either slightly improbable or extremely obvious, the episode as a whole works so well that all of these minor nitpicks can be forgiven in favor of the whole.

- So the second case involves an abandoned car near the docks. Sherlock goes in investigate and finds that there is a pint of blood from the missing driver (a banker named Ian Monkford) and sets about finding information by talking to Ian’s wife. Of course Sherlock solves this case ridiculously fast, helped along with a clue from the bomber: “Janus Cars: the clue’s in the name.”

- Sherlock and John take a moment to hastily eat some breakfast (Well, John does. Sherlock just kind of sits there and broods.) before another call from the bomber comes in. John actually gets to contribute something that Sherlock can’t scoff at this time. The picture from the bomber is of a popular, recently deceased makeover television persona named Connie Prince. Sherlock has no idea who she is, but John has watched a lot of 'crap telly' with Mrs. Hudson and triumphantly finds the correct channel to show the program to his clueless flatmate. And true to form, as soon as Sherlock sees Connie Prince, his phone rings again. 

- They go to the morgue to check out Connie’s body and Lestrade finally confronts Sherlock about what all of these cases are about. Sherlock’s replies are less than comforting:

- Sherlock hangs out at home with Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson to check out fan sites while he sends John over to Connie’s house to investigate her brother. There John finds a furless cat that is almost as creepy as the houseboy and Kenny Prince. I really hate this part of the episode. Not only is it strange and the slowest part of the entire adventure, but we get to see poor Watson have the rug pulled out from under his feet again. I get that Sherlock Holmes is supposed to be the genius and the (anti?) hero of this series, but why did you have to undercut all of John’s work like that? It only makes it worse that Sherlock has known the answer for hours and just left the old woman hostage to suffer because he had other things to work on. That is beyond disassociated, that’s just cruel.

- To be fair, there is a type of twisted logic to what Sherlock does. The last time he solved a case quickly (the Carl Powers case was solved in nine of the given twelve hours) the bomber cut the time by one further hour for the next case (giving them eight hours for the Monkford case). And Sherlock doesn’t get away with his flippant attitude this time. He solves the case and calls the old woman who cries out for help before starting to describe the bomber. Unfortunately the sniper has not left yet and sets off her vest of semtex with a single shot. Sherlock hears the whole thing over the phone and has a minor panic moment as he desperately calls out to the old woman. Maybe he doesn’t show it the way most people would, but you can see it in his face as he sinks back into the chair in defeat. Later, back at the flat, Sherlock is back to his analytical self, which prompts John to rant on about Sherlock’s apparent lack of care and Sherlock gives this iconic answer: “Don’t make people into heroes, John. Heroes don’t exist and if they did I wouldn’t be one of them.”

- Any further argument is cut off by another message from the bomber, which leads them to a body lying on the bank of the Thames. What follows is the most amazing deduction sequence of the entire first series as Sherlock deduces from an almost stripped corpse that the lost Vermeer painting that’s been all over the news is a fake. He tells us who the dead man is (Alex Woodbridge, a security guard at a gallery) and who killed him (an assassin called The Golem) and deduces from all of these facts (gathered from things like foot calluses and sodden ticket stubs) that the painting is a fake. He then leaves to find The Golem, wondering why the bomber hasn’t called him yet with another stolen voice. I love it that the pattern was broken in this way as it only increases how brilliant and unpredictable (insane, really) this criminal is. 

- Watson finishes with Alex Woodbridge’s flatmate decides to humour Mycroft by talking to Westy’s fiancée. Westy was the man who ‘stole’ the Bruce-Partington Plans and then ended up with a smashed in head at Battersea Station. 

- Following that we are reunited with Sherlock (who has changed costume yet again) introduced to the Homeless Network (modern day Irregulars) and chase The Golem to a planetarium where he assassinates a professor who is extremely likable, despite her only having about 1.5 minutes of screen time. And then comes the infamous planetarium fight scene – the single strangest sequence to come out out Sherlock (and they’ve done The Hounds of Baskerville!) About the only thing the seizure-inducing sequence gives us is an amusing silhouette of Sherlock in boxing pose as he confronts The Golem.

- I guess it was necessary for Sherlock to be in the planetarium so that he could hear about supernovae…but I still burst out into hysterical laughter while watching it, rather than being worried for Sherlock who is being choked for the fourth time in half so many episodes.

- Anyways, The Golem gets away. Sherlock and John pick up Lestrade and head to the gallery to confront Ms. Wenceslas. Sherlock phones the bomber with the pink phone and announces that the Vermeer is a fake, but receives no answer. Finally he says that fine, he’ll prove it if only the bomber will give him time. 

- The next reveal just kicked me in the gut. We hear a child’s voice say “Ten…” and continue to count down as Sherlock desperately searches the painting and his memory for the solution. The revelation that the victim this time is a child is made twice as effective by the fact that we never actually see him and the tension is unbelievable as the kid continues to count down towards his own destruction. 

- They interrogate Wenceslas and she tells the entire plan, including the name of her sponsor: Moriarty. 

- While this is going on, Watson heads for Battersea Station where he examines the track where Westy was found. It would seem that Sherlock has succeeded in making the Science of Deduction rub off on John as the good doctor makes an excellent analysis of the crime scene. In fact, this excellence is confirmed by Sherlock Holmes himself who has somehow been following Watson ever since the case started. And that just doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t make sense that Sherlock has been tracking Watson like this because he simply didn’t have time (and was completely focused on the schemes of the bomber). Thank goodness this moment doesn’t last long because we are soon distracted by Sherlock’s declaration that they (he and Watson) have some burglary to do. Am I the only one who finds it amusing that Sherlock possesses a pair of lock-picks?

- Then we get to hear that Mycroft ‘threatened’ Sherlock with a knighthood…again.

- John and Sherlock share some friendly banter (their relationship is hands-down the best part about this show) before John leaves for Sarah’s and Sherlock actually agrees to pick up some milk. That should have been John’s first clue that something was up for no sooner is he out the door than Sherlock is whipping out his laptop and arranging a rendezvous with the mysterious bomber.

         

- It is midnight. Sherlock enters the pool and brandishes the memory stick while giving a speech about how the whole set up has just been a clever distraction and calling for the bomber to reveal himself. A door creaks open and the mastermind enters the pool. I wasn’t ready for this, I really wasn’t.

- John’s appearance here is a lovely red herring that, despite my knowledge of Doyle canon, actually threw me for a loop the first time I saw it. I was so sure that Watson wasn’t evil, but one never knows when it comes to television/film adaptations. 

- Then we get the reveal of the true man behind all of the crimes. All this time it was really the guy from IT who is really Jim (James) Moriarty, the Consulting Criminal to Sherlock’s Consulting Detective. Fun little references to Jim’ll Fix It aside, I really have to talk about Moriarty here. Many reviewers and fans have said that they just couldn’t get into Moriarty in this first meaning, finding him a bit silly and not menacing. Well – the first time I watched it, I had the exact same reaction. He was a lot of fun to watch, but I never actually felt threatened by him. That all changed the second time I watched the episode because I really stopped and paid attention to Moriarty. You know what? He’s terrifying now. His nonchalant attitude, rather than making him bland and ruining the tension, simply shows just how in control of the situation he is. The strange voices and cringing gestures reveal a man who is enjoying playing with the minds and safety of Sherlock and John. He is so flippant about the whole affair simply because he enjoys being bad and because he knows that he is the one who calls the shots here, quite literally. He is an utter psychopath, but he is also terrifyingly smart. 

- Moriarty soon saunters off, letting off one more sing-songy goodbye as he breezes out of the door. Sherlock waits a moment to make sure he’s actually gone before he drops the gun and rushes over to John – frantically tearing the semtex vest off of the bewildered Doctor and flinging it as far away as possible. John’s ‘bad’ leg gives out on him then and he sinks to the floor to take some bracing breaths while Sherlock, snatching up the gun and checking the door, proceeds to babble about how what John offered to do (give his life for Sherlock) “…was…um, er…good” all the while scratching his head with a loaded handgun. 

- One must hope that John usually keeps his arms within a locked safe. While Sherlock is pacing and trying to come to terms with this new concept of sentiment (he knows what Moriarty meant about his heart) John seeks to lighten the emotional moment by cracking a joke about darkened swimming pools and people gossiping.

- But this sweet moment doesn’t last because Moriarty isn’t finished with our heroes yet. Before John can get to his feet, there are a myriad of sniper laser pointers dancing all over his and Sherlock’s chests. Moriarty mocks them about how he’s sooo changeable and how he just can’t let them continue. “I would try to convince you but…everything I have to say has already crossed your mind.” Sherlock exchanges a look with John before training the Browning on the vest of semtex, and then the credits roll leaving us in a state of nail-chewing suspense that we have to wait until the next series to have resolved.

           So what do I think about The Great Game as an episode? I personally prefer it to The Blind Banker, but don’t quite enjoy it as much as A Study in Pink – but that’s just personal preference. I’m not here to talk so much about my likes and dislikes but as how a story worked as a whole. And, I have to say that The Great Game is excellent. It is tension-filled and, for the most part, quite fast-paced as we race towards the reveal of Moriarty. The episode does slow down in a couple of places for exposition (and that odd Sherlock-as-a-security-guard scene) but those thankfully don’t last long. . The performances were solid and the cases/deductions were sheer brilliance. I rate The Great Game as an 4/5 and say that it served as a wonderful finale to an amazing series!

 

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?

Merlin Review: Series 1 Episode 1 "The Dragon's Call"

By: Julian Jones

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet watched this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

For the sake of these reviews (and my own personal sanity) I am going to endeavour to ignore the gaping historical inaccuracies that run rampant throughout the series and simply focus my scorn or praise on the stories in and of themselves. Part of Merlin’s bizarre and inexplicable charm lies in those anachronisms, along with the often-cheesy dialogue and slavish devotion to status quo. Fans such as myself bemoan the lack of pay-off, ruthlessly pick apart the plot holes and campy-ness, but then turn around and watch the series all over again. There’s probably a long and complicated medical term for such a pitiable condition, but I’ve yet to come across it.

So our episode opens with the sound of seagulls, whimsical music, and a cryptic and slightly mythical sounding monologue delivered by John Hurt. Even though the laws of logic manage to get a bit skewed within the first few lines of the script, it is still a fine beginning that will get you into the fantasy mood. Hurt goes on and on about destinies and legends while our resident attractive, dweeby hero strolls his way down the path to Camelot. Or, as the script puts it: "...a young man who will, in time, father a legend. His name? Merlin." Remember those last three words, as they're highly important and you're not likely to hear them again...

Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- Oh just lovely, that: an execution and lengthy speech by King Uther Pendragon himself. What a fine, friendly introduction to the great city of Camelot! The King is standing on a balcony, overlooking what I’m assuming is the castle courtyard, and waxing poetic about the crimes of some poor bugger named Thomas James Collins.

-  "...been judged guilty of conspiring to use enchantments and magic.” Hate to tell you, your Royal Pompousness, but those are the same thing. Hasn’t he ever heard of the Oxford Dictionary?

- Also, does he seriously give a long-winded speech like that for every execution? Or did Merlin just catch him on a gabby day?

- On a bright note, I feel that the whole sequence of execution (from the editing to the music) nicely builds and builds and gets the point across while still keeping to its PG rating. Of course Uther proves what a jerk he is by joyously announcing a festival, not thirty seconds after poor Thomas was decapitated. Sheesh, I know he’s supposed to be a heartless tyrant, but could he at least show some respect for the dead? 

- “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son!” That sounds vaguely Biblical there, Mary Collins. 

- While her speech is great, I’m not completely convinced by the prosthetics she has to wear. Usually such things hold up well enough in half-light, but the brightness of the courtyard means that we can see the rubbery quality of the fake skin. 

- I have to say, I find the whole 'eyes flash gold' thingy rather interesting. It is an interesting choice to show when someone is casting a spell (since they don't have wands to swish and flick), though I am glad that in later episodes the strange camera zoom-in will be abolished for the more classy 'momentary-widening-of-the-eyes'. I should also like to know if Merlin actually stopped time there or just levitated Gaius a bit Oh, and Merlin is also an idiot. He had just come from an execution, so why did he use magic again? True, if he hadn’t we would have lost Gaius (And then who would provide the exposition or mispronounce ‘sorcery’?) but it just goes to show how inexperienced and unthinking our young hero is. 

- No wonder Gaius was in a grumpy mood. From the look of that bed Merlin chose for him, falling on it would be barely softer than the floor. That’s probably why he missed the fact that it was indeed Wednesday...his brains were rattled by the jolt. 

- After finally figuring out who the heck Merlin is, Gaius sends the young boy up to his spare room where it magically becomes late evening, with candles lit and everything and sits down to read the letter from Merlin’s mother while the young man in question gazes out in wonder at the cityscape of Camelot.

- Take note of the full moon. You will see it many more times hanging over Camelot as the series progresses. Thank goodness there was never a werewolf story, seeing as how I don’t really think the Albion moon ever waxes or wanes.

- While his new ward is basking in the moonlight, Gaius has finally found his spectacles and sits himself down to read the letter from Merlin’s mother. I just love Hunith. There is something very warm and friendly about her, despite the fact that she gets not one word of dialogue, having to make do with a voice-over. 

- When I first watched this episode I pegged right away who Morgana was. I've seen enough adaptations and read enough lore to be able to figure that out. Still...her introduction, courtesy of Uther, was actually quite subtle and established her character right off the bat. It was an excellent example of 'show, don't tell'.

Then the episode cuts to the Forbidden Forest and the flimsy gauze tent belonging to Camelot’s finest singer: Lady Helen of Mora. (I’m assuming that Mora is a city in Camelot, though it’s never really specified if ‘Camelot’ stands for the city, the country, or both).

- The lady in question is sitting inside her bower, dreamily braiding her hair and humming a rather hypnotic little ditty. But her reverie is broken when – Oh horrors! – a stick cracks somewhere out the woods. Cue Camelot’s guards demonstrating the fact that they are bigger idiots than Merlin could ever dream of being! Don’t they know that no one who truly means ill will ever answer to one of those ‘who’s there?’ demands? 

- Sure enough, while they were gallivanting around in the trees, the evil witch from earlier enters the brightly lit tent and viciously murders Lady Helen through the use of a voodoo doll and Parseltongue. What did Mary Collins do with the body? I mean, she now looks like Lady Helen (though a rather cheap looking age-reversal sequence) so what did she do with the real Lady Helen’s cold, still corpse?

- All is hunky-dory the next morning in Camelot as Gaius serves Merlin what appears to be an attempt at oatmeal for breakfast, sidling up to the table to devise a test for Merlin’s mysterious powers. C’mon! Could you be any more obvious, Gaius? It’s a good thing that Merlin was so wrapped up in his breakfast or else he would have seen through your little scheme with the water barrel quite quickly. 

- That moment where the water froze in midair was pretty cool, though. I wish all of the magic on the show looked that good. But the moment was just that: a moment, as Merlin loses focus and the bucket spills its contents all over Gaius’ floor. To his credit, Merlin does run and fetch the mop for the old man. 

- Quick question: how did Merlin know where to take those medicines Gaius fobbed off on him? It’s not like the old man gave out directions or anything. He just handed the sorcerer a sandwich and warned him again about the dangers of using magic (a speech that will become his MO).

- Ah yes, the Once and Future King, unite-er of Albion and torturer of menservants. What a charming figure he cuts with the tousled blond hair and overblown swagger. We are also given more evidence that Merlin’s a complete idiot. How did he not notice the rather interesting armor strapped over Arthur’s expensive shirt? This scene did provide us with the beginning of the infamous Merlin-Arthur banter, though (a.k.a the single best thing about this show!)

- On a side-note, Arthur's manservant is a dead ringer for Edmund Pevensie from Narnia...

- Apparently all of the guards in Camelot are deaf and mute as Gaius seems to have no scruples about scolding his ward in front of them. True he wasn’t as obvious as he will become later on, but it was still pretty conspicuous.

- Merlin ends up in the stocks. Get used to this folks, it happens a lot this particular series and is always played for laughs. Trust him to make that particular punishment into more a game, though. 

- Guinevere! I remember how excited I was to see this iconic character appear, and how delighted I was with the way she was portrayed. Unlike the flawless paragon of virtue she will become later on, Gwen actually had credible personality this series. She is awkward and sweet and quick to second-guess herself. She is not a highborn lady of sophistication, but a maid to the Lady Morgana who clearly has the beginnings of a crush on Merlin (kudos to the writers for turning the expectations of the viewers completely on their heads…more so even than with the whole Arthur affair).  Her relationship with Merlin is so cute as they banter and flirt. There is definitely a connection there and it is actually heart-warming to see.

- Whatever happened to Merlin’s magic being so powerful and instinctual? Back here in the good-old days he could scarcely control his outbursts that just happened whenever he was having a bad day. The boy was practically bursting with magic and promise. All of that all went out the window in Series 2, though, and I really miss it. It would not have been bad writing to have him be ‘all powerful’, simply because he has other character flaws such as clumsiness or occasional idiocy that make up for it by hampering him in his endeavors. I miss the ‘freezing time’ and ‘moving objects via mind’ acts he used to pull. Even though they frustrate Gaius enough that he sends the hapless Merlin to deliver a potion to the recently arrived Lady Helen.

- Merlin, Merlin, Merlin...you should know better than to snoop into a lady’s belongings! And why did Mary Collins just leave her voodoo doll lying around like that? She was clearly intelligent…what possessed her to make such a colossal blunder in the midst of magic-hating, superstition-suspicious, big-mouthed Camelotians. (Is that even the proper term?) 

- Merlin goes on a walk to clear his head  after his encounter with Collins and comes across his least person in the world just right then: Arthur Pendragon. The two of them exchange some extremely funny verbal barbs (with Merlin getting the best line): “Look, I’ve already told you that you were an ass, I just didn’t realize you were a royal one.” 

- The mace fight (backed with Pirates of the Caribbean-channeling music), is one of the highlights of the episode. Sure it’s corny and a bit awkwardly shot at times, but it is amusing to see Arthur (and Merlin) make utter fools of themselves just for the sake of a little testosterone-fuelled conflict. Klutzy Merlin actually manages to get the upper hand for a while, thanks to a bit of sneakily used magic, but allows himself to be distracted by Gaius’ eyebrow and then beaten by Arthur’s broom. 

- The chemistry between Morgan and Wilson is very good during the scene where Gaius patches Merlin up as Merlin half-jokingly asks if he is a monster and Gaius quickly moves to disabuse him of that notion. In fact, the chemistry between all of the lead characters in this show is just about perfect. The casting is wonderful and the relationships written quite well. 

- All of the double-talk between Helen and Uther during the dinner scene is actually quite fun to watch. It is so cleverly written (and delivered by Myles) that if we didn’t know about Mary Collins and if there wasn’t ominous music playing, we’d never know that it was a villainous conversation. Usually Merlin villains tend to be of the boo-hiss, how-can-you-possibly-not-deduce-that-they-are-EVIL?!??! variety; so it is nice to see that here, in the pilot of all things, we have a nicely understated bad girl. 

- Myles is clearly having a wonderful time with the role and it is a shame she wasn’t given more screen time. But, of course, they had to deal with the disembodied voice Merlin has been hearing ever since he arrived in Camelot.

- I love the way Merlin takes the time to pull the blanket up over Gaius before going to investigate that voice. And call me petty, but I burst into giggles at the realization that Gaius’ blanket is about two feet shorter than he is. 

- But my laughter stopped once Merlin reached the dungeons/catacombs/stock castle basement set. Camelot’s guards are absolute idiots! Honestly, they go to investigate a pair of Leap Frog-playing dice with all of the dignity befitting a five-month-old duck. How is Camelot still standing again? I mean – the knights are all redcloaks and the guards are idiots. Explain to me why this city hasn’t yet fallen?

- The painful incompetence is played for comedy later in the series (once the writers realised just what they had done) but here it just makes one want to yank out one’s hair and scream in frustration. Just something you should know right now: the guards are plot devices, not people. Let’s call them Red Jerkins, considering how many of them dies or disappears every week. But here they do neither; following the dancing dice so that Merlin can conveniently slip around them and nick a torch before descending into the bowels of the castle.

- When I first heard the dragon calling (and yes, I did deduce that it was a dragon. Come on – the episode is even titled as such!) I thought that the plot was going to go a completely different way and include the White Dragon vs. Red Dragon battle. It was a bit of a disappointment that he was just there to speak in cryptic riddles and nag Merlin about destinies. This line lifted my spirits considerably, though:

- And while the dragon might be an obvious green-screen CGI effect, it doesn’t look all that bad. Part of this is because of Colin Morgan’s performance and part of it is because of the surprisingly subtle animation that makes use of facial expressions rather than over-the-top gestures. John Hurt’s voice doesn’t hurt anything either.

- The next morning we are treated to the sight of Merlin’s abysmal grasp at housekeeping when Gaius comes to wake him up. That crowing rooster sounded awfully close. Does Gaius keep one in his room or something? Is that what the rabbit mask on his desk is for? And does Merlin seriously believe that the whole dragon affair was really just a bad dream, or is that just another witty quip?

- Ah, the good old days where Morgana was still good. Back when she still had character beyond ‘Bellatrix’s slightly saner clone’. I miss her, I really do. I liked her introduction because it was nicely understated. As soon as I saw the dark-haired girl sadly watching the execution of poor Thomas from the palace, I had placed my money on her being Morgana Le Fay.  

- “The more brutal you are the more enemies you will create.” Was that a nice bit of foreshadowing there, perhaps? Certainly it was a nice little tidbit for fans of the traditional legends. Morgana doesn’t get much more to do this episode, sadly, but that’s okay because the emphasis is where it should be: Merlin and Arthur’s meeting and the villainous Mary Collins/Lady Helen.

- That unnamed serving girl’s death is effective only because of the comment about her fiancé. If not for our knowledge about the unnamed man who will mourn her she would have just been another one of the red shirt deaths that the series accumulates over the years. It certainly gives Lady Helen more credibility as a villain (with two deaths now to her name and this second one rather coldly pointless, even though the serving girl finally spotted the treacherous reflection). But even as it does wonders for her reputation, it also puts a strike against her. Lady Helen, you really should have disposed of the body better.

- “Who’d want to marry Arthur?” Ha! That’s either a clever pun or an incredibly stupid stab at referencing the legends. For now, I’m going with the former simply because my shallow mind enjoyed the humour of Guinevere making such an ironic statement.

- And then we get one of my favorite villain songs, courtesy of Lady Helen. It’s beautiful, haunting, and Eve Myles’ performance manages to carry the concept even through some of the more over-dramatic moments (cobwebs, really? Getting a bit carried away, are we, Mary?) Looks like Merlin’s large ears are actually good for something...my money is on them acting as a bit of a filter against the enchantment, but maybe I’m just reading into it too much. At any rate, he managed to avoid slipping off to dreamland long enough to notice the problem and cover said appendages. He even dropped a chandelier on the witch.

- The boys share a moment of mutual horror and disgust at the ‘reward’ Uther grants Merlin: a job as Arthur’s personal manservant.

How does The Dragon’s Call work over all? Well, as a pilot it did its job admirably. It wasn’t quite in the realms of spectacular (A Study in Pink still holds that slot in my mind) but neither did it quite reach the levels of mind-numbing yawnfest that some pilots fall into  The plot was solid enough and set up future events nicely. The characters were great and the relationships were stellar, even at this early stage. I rate this episode as a 4/5. Great fun and definitely worth more than one watch!

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?