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The Satan Pit
I enjoyed The Satan Pit, though not quite as much as The Impossible Planet, but then I often think that the resolution doesn't match the build-up of mystery and anticipation. This happened a lot with Star Trek, and also with the whole Vorlon and Shadow thing in Babylon 5.
This is still the best story in this season so far however, genuinely creepy like The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. The station crew's characters were well-rounded and sympathetic so that I liked them and wanted them to live. The soldier's death was sad and brave, Ida was the curious scientist till what I thought was the end, Danny was lovely, and Zak became a real commander.
Toby had to be cast for his smile. [shiver]
Rose was magnificent. As I've said before, I like Rose when she isn't treating the universe and the people she meets as there for her entertainment. She was brave and resourceful, I loved how she rallied the crew and got rid of the beast, and I can understand her feelings for the Doctor. He's a powerful, ancient, and fascinating alien, and he's treating her as an equal.
However I don't understand his feelings for her. OK, he's the last of his people and his loneliness may have caused him to bond a little too obsessively to the first human he got since, but to make her the most important thing in the universe is just going too far.
Scientific nit-pick: the beast/Toby shouldn't have fallen faster into the black hole than the ship. [Edit:] OK, he would keep moving away from the ship at a small but constant speed. So I'm tired. It's 1am and I'm off to bed. :-P
But hey, another good ep with great music and SFX, and it wasn't on Earth. Keep it up!
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Agreed.
I like Rose when she isn't treating the universe and the people she meets as there for her entertainment.
Yes, absolutely. When she can stop thinking about herself, she's really got what it takes -- she shone here because... you don't have to do everything to help save the day; simply keeping people on track to do what they can do that nobody else can do, that is a good skill to have.
the beast/Toby shouldn't have fallen faster into the black hole than the ship
Er, um, he was accellerated by the air escaping? Though that whole sequence had much problems with it. Apart from being cool-looking Action, of course.
Toby had to be cast for his smile.
That plus looking like an Innocent when he wasn't smiling.
The station crew's characters were well-rounded and sympathetic so that I liked them and wanted them to live.
Agreed. Kudos to the writer, director, casting director and the actors.
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Yeah, he'd continue to move away from the ship, I suppose. Eh, it's almost 1am and I should be in bed; will be soon.
that whole sequence had much problems with it.
Yes, I agree with your post about a bolt-gun being able to take out a window on a spaceship. :-P
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I liked the panicked bicker/banter in the maintenance shafts, and each of the characters, and was glad that several survived.
And throughout, I kept thinking, whoever chained the creature had done everything in its power to give clear warning to stay away, and yet here are the explorers seeking it out. It occurred to me that it would have been sensible to just drop the asteroid into the black hole at the time, if that was an effective means of destroying it.
I liked the way Ida and the Doctor compared that human drive for discovery.
When the Doctor said Rose wasn't a victim, I thought of Idiot's Lantern, where she did proactively try to discover the problem, and was made a victim.
It makes me wonder if the Doctor isn't being set up for a heavy blow with Rose's loss.
The presence of the Tardis was not a surprise, though, because the Doctor and Rose were able to communicate with the station crew throughout, and given how far in the future they were, I misdoubt they had a common dialect.
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And when you put that Only Caring For Rose bit against his lovely discussion with Ida... it does seem like RTD's done the ship pastede on yay thing again.
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Yes, killing the beast outright in the black hole would be much more sensible. James Bond syndrome. :-P
It makes me wonder if the Doctor isn't being set up for a heavy blow with Rose's loss.
There are rumours that Piper may be going so I wouldn't be surprised.
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I just don't think a two hour tv series, has the scope to carry a story about defeating Satan. I thought the black hole was great, the cast were all excellent, and the ood were creepy. I would have been happier if they had stuck with an ood revolution, or some such, because I was underwhelmed by the resolution.
But I was pleased they finally got off earth and back to space. And I agree about Rose's ability to motivate the crew during a crisis.
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I hope for more off-world stories, but I won't hold my breath.