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SpookyFrank said:
I liked how she got what was happening before the Doctor did. He might be a billion years old but he's not had a black face among humans for long. Ruby has had a black family all her life.
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I didn’t get the impression they’d have gone with Ruby any more readily.

Though to be fair the preponderance of white people in the bubble was a very clear indicator from the start that no lightness of touch was to be expected.
 
Main bits I couldn’t make sense of:

i) Why would slugs be eating people in alphabetical order of name? Is it just that someone had read the bit in H2G2 about Wowbagger The Infinitely Prolonged?

ii) Ricky September has edited his name in the systems. Is it implied that he has also been hacking the system to edit his age and avoid “going to the sky”, because there’s no fucking way that guy was 25.

iii) Whether these stories are ever going to come with any meaningful context. What was that “job” they were meant to be doing, and does it connect to anything whatsoever? It’s mentioned that previously they didn’t have to work. And who is actually maintaining the city? Who delivers all this pastel-shaded crap they are buying? Is it that the slugs are mounting some kind of workers’ rebellion? Are they going to turn out to be the good guys in some wider arc? Could it be a clue that they ate the vapid TikTokers’ parents first? And what is RTD’s problem with vapid TikTokers? Are they no longer a significant chunk of his target audience?

iv) How does someone who can’t walk learn how to run in a few seconds?

v) Is RTD such a monster that everyone is too scared to suggest improvements to his plots?
 
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SpookyFrank said:
That was fucking bleak.

Gatwa's performance in the final scene was spot on. The disbelief, horror, desperation and rage he goes through in barely a minute. Felt like a very human and real response to that level of insanity.
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He's a cracking actor.

They chose wisely.
 
8ball said:
Main bits I couldn’t make sense of:

i) Why would slugs be eating people in alphabetical order of name? Is it just that someone had read the bit in H2G2 about Wowbagger The Infinitely Prolonged?
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They were created by the Dot and Bubble AI that had clearly realised these people were all filth. Presumably as a machine it decided on the order to kill them through pure machine logic


8ball said:
iv) How does someone who can’t walk learn how to run in a few seconds?

v) Is RTD such a monster that everyone is too scared to suggest improvements to his plots?
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Well this is the issue. As a social commentary its fine, and i have no issue with Who containing. as it always has, social commentary. What I don't like is that lack of story in the meantime.

I just want some classic adventures like I used to enjoy and that isn't being delivered IMO.
 
8ball said:
Main bits I couldn’t make sense of:

i) Why would slugs be eating people in alphabetical order of name? Is it just that someone had read the bit in H2G2 about Wowbagger The Infinitely Prolonged?

ii) Ricky September has edited his name in the systems. Is it implied that he has also been hacking the system to edit his age and avoid “going to the sky”, because there’s no fucking way that guy was 25.

iii) Whether these stories are ever going to come with any meaningful context. What was that “job” they were meant to be doing, and does it connect to anything whatsoever? It’s mentioned that previously they didn’t have to work. And who is actually maintaining the city? Who delivers all this pastel-shaded crap they are buying? Is it that the slugs are mounting some kind of workers’ rebellion? Are they going to turn out to be the good guys in some wider arc? Could it be a clue that they ate the vapid TikTokers’ parents first? And what is RTD’s problem with vapid TikTokers? Are they no longer a significant chunk of his target audience?

iv) How does someone who can’t walk learn how to run in a few seconds?
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This bit...
8ball said:
v) Is RTD such a monster that everyone is too scared to suggest improvements to his plots?
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He must be, or someone would have mentioned by now that a script should contain more than bullet points.
 
Karl Masks said:
They were created by the Dot and Bubble AI that had clearly realised these people were all filth. Presumably as a machine it decided on the order to kill them through pure machine logic
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Yeah, I remember the Doctor saying about the Dot and Bubble AI, but he didn’t really sound like he believed it himself.
 
There's a bit of a theme about AI going on in this series so far, no?

Both the Doctor and Ruby recognised Ambulance AI/Hiker in Wales from previous episodes in this latest offering, so I think there is going to be a bit of a story arc that comes together later
 
Another episode with more unanswered questions.
So the AI could just shoot these people through the head who couldn't run away? Why bother making slugs? . . . bang, the are all dead in minutes.
If it really had to kill them in alphabetical order just because of machine logic then why would a name change make any difference? The name in the computer is the name. Why would an AI care about doing it in an exact order anyway?
The door code delay . . . Jeez, that's poor maguffin writing. . . .
And, were they racists or elitist? This came out of nowhere and wasn't clear enough(the kids were all smiles, and then it was "ewww" scowls), if you want to make a point 'make it', don't half arse it. It could have easily been seeded earier. Plus the doctor had been down there with them for some time, surely this had already come up? Surely he saw their plan? Why did the doctors rescue attempts stop at P? Why didn't he care about saving anyone else? (the doctor this series has been quite blase / cold about anyone's death that has not been followed in his direct plot line)
What's annoying is that everything could have been solved with a bit of script editing. These are not Whiticker stories that are just crap from the off, 30 assistants running about with nothing to do. They are unfinished stories, plot markers with holes Inbetween.
 
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It was an excellent episode. I do note concern that RTD is a bit "child in a sweet shop" with his scripts and production. I'm not getting John Nathan Turner vibes though. Not quite.
 
Best episode to date. Yes it had weaknesses but...

  • Even AI hates influencers.
  • AI has an ironic sense of humour. Yes it could of instantly shoot them but death by avoidable slug (just lower bubble and run) is deliciously ironic.
  • The smartest (and most successful guy) on the planet was the guy who didn't use social media for recreation. Learnt from the real world.
  • Influencer willing to throw another under the bus to save their own life (usually metaphorically but this time literally).
  • Influencers think they know better, believe themselves better, believe their own hype and go off to die in the wilds (as in they'd never survive in the real world with real jobs).
  • AI kills the homeworld too. Can't risk breeding any more influencers lol. Destroy the place responsible for creating them. They share the blame.

As someone else said. All very Black Mirror.
 
Where did Ricky September get books from? Why would there even be books there?

Anyway, I really don't mind the plot holes so much when the idea behind the episode is good. It was a bit heavy-handed with the racism angle but I think that's warranted considering the subject matter and the target audience. There will be people who watched right to the end of that without noticing that everyone in the bubble was white and blue-eyed. Those people would then be right there with the Doctor in that 'oh shit' moment of realisation.
 
Notice how the Doctor instantly got blocked so they had to send Ruby in.

The rich had the money to send their kids.
All the kids were white. Hmmmm.

Pretty reflective but no Kardashians. Oh god I would have loved them to have eaten all the Kardashians (K is before P).
 
ATOMIC SUPLEX said:
Another episode with more unanswered questions.
So the AI could just shoot these people through the head who couldn't run away? Why bother making slugs? . . . bang, the are all dead in minutes.
If it really had to kill them in alphabetical order just because of machine logic then why would a name change make any difference? The name in the computer is the name. Why would an AI care about doing it in an exact order anyway?
The door code delay . . . Jeez, that's poor maguffin writing. . . .
And, were they racists or elitist? This came out of nowhere and wasn't clear enough(the kids were all smiles, and then it was "ewww" scowls), if you want to make a point 'make it', don't half arse it. It could have easily been seeded earier. Plus the doctor had been down there with them for some time, surely this had already come up? Surely he saw their plan? Why did the doctors rescue attempts stop at P? Why didn't he care about saving anyone else? (the doctor this series has been quite blase / cold about anyone's death that has not been followed in his direct plot line)
What's annoying is that everything could have been solved with a bit of script editing. These are not Whiticker stories that are just crap from the off, 30 assistants running about with nothing to do. They are unfinished stories, plot markers with holes Inbetween.
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Maybe something is lurking in the background and quietly bumping off the script editors while everyone else is distracted.
 
I watched it again (I typically watch as it airs on Saturday night, then again on Sunday when N puts it on iPlayer) and I think some people are just taking it too literally.
Like why aren't the monsters that are eating people faster and more deadly? It's an allegory for the algorithms that gradually spew more and more right-leaning stuff at us as soundbites or short videos - anyone who has ever just clicked the automatically go to next recommended video on YouTube will know what I mean by that. The monsters aren't fast, they creep up slowly, you don't notice them, and you can avoid them by getting out of the bubble and thinking for yourself.
It seemed a bit overly-obvious as a message to me, but that was my only criticism. I'm very surprised that some apparently didn't read it the same way and thought the monsters should have been fast and scary.
I thought it was a good episode, and Gatwa's performance at the end was really moving.
 
No. I thought the monsters were pointless in the boundaries / rules set by the story. Just bad writing. If they wanted to make the slow moving slugs story an alogory then they should have made the world/episode lore fit rather than make no sense at all. It really wouldn't have been that hard. It's like nobody in the writing room is questioning this shit, shit that could be fixed with an afternoon's spitballin' across a table. It's criminal that these stories are being committed to film like this.
 
This is keeping me awake... If there is no ultimate story arc link between Ruby Sunday and Ricky September, I am going to be gravely disappointed.
 
Gromit said:
  • The smartest (and most successful guy) on the planet was the guy who didn't use social media for recreation. Learnt from the real world.
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I've only seen it once and hadn't caught on but I think he was the only one to respect the Doctor straight away.
SpookyFrank said:
Where did Ricky September get books from? Why would there even be books there?
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There was all sorts of stuff about from pre-bubble/finetime. He may also have had a space Kindle.
 
Understand this episode didn't feature the doctor a great deal due to Ncuti filming Sex Education (which was delayed or something). Pretty obvious that the Ricky character was a stand-in for the doctor and was probably written in last minute. But the name is intriguing, but suspect there are a lot of red herrings this season.
 
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