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ladyofleithian...and it was amazing! :D Loved it. :)
I will admit this episode is just one of those episodes I immediately fell in love with, just because it had a lot of things that pushed my buttons. Alternate universes? Check. Well-Intentioned Extremists of sorts? Check. Great characters? Check. Wit? Check. And so on and so forth. Tom MacRae is already very good, but I really feel like "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel" (the second part I'll be reviewing when I get to watching it) is extremely underrated. It has its faults, yes (such as Lumic getting occasionally hammy to the point I'm wondering how the hell no one caught on. I mean, maybe it's the earpieces, but really, if I heard from my boss -- in Pete Tyler's case -- about something that placed the brain in a suit of armor, I believe the proper reaction would be to *run the fuck away*), but it's very enjoyable. Lumic's Chewing the Scenery can get a bit detrimental, but it's also a lot of fun to watch. Plus, very chilling. I know my mom actually had nightmares about the Clockwork Robots from THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE (and I don't blame her), but at least the robots in question were just following programming -- no less disturbing, but at least understandable. Lumic, on the other hand...there's something about human cruelty that's always really disturbing. And Lumic -- he has his reasons, but that makes him all the scarier. Basically, he's close to dying, and that combined with a desire to sort of improve the world in a way...yeah. And it really explains a lot about these Cybermen; I know someone who thought that the new Cybermen weren't scary like the old Cybermen and having your brain cut out and put in a suit of armor wasn't that terrifying (yeah, call me squeamish, but the idea of sharp objects, mind control, etc...that's terrifying), but for me, it is. Because these Cybermen...kind of like the old Cybermen, they don't believe they're doing evil. They believe, almost like the Borg from STAR TREK, that they're doing this for your own good. That and they're literally very orders-driven, which I think can best be summed up by this exchange from "Doomsday":
CYBERLEADER: I ordered surrender.
THE DOCTOR: They're not taking orders! Don't you understand? You're in their homes, you've got their children! Of course they're gonna fight!
TV Tropes actually lists this as Evil Cannot Comprehend Good, but I think it's more complicated than that. Because the Cybermen...they genuinely believe that somehow, ending up as a brain in a suit of armor is a better life. No classism, racism, sexism, etc. -- just pure equality. God knows how many people, working for just one purpose: to add others into the group. No backstabbing, no betrayals, no verbal abuse, no secrets. Just billions of people-machines working for a better world. But if nothing else, there are too many horrible things to experience during it -- stripped down and put inside a suit of armor, losing all sense of self and identity, experiencing horrible pain when you become aware of what's happening, etc. -- no future is ever worth that amount of suffering. And people don't consent to the process either; they're mind-controlled and marched like lambs to the slaughter, or tricked into it like Mr. Crane and those homeless people wanting food (which adds a new layer of ickiness to Crane and Lumic's deeds). So it's just a matter of the process being forced upon them. And Crane drowning out the screams of those being converted with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" -- first, I'm never looking at that song the same way again. Second, it really speaks to Crane's twisted mentality -- he doesn't even seem to feel guilty about it; he just goes all, "I'm drowning out the screams; they're too loud" in a more...almost annoyed way, really. I think the best word for Crane is possibly a sociopath, channeling his urges into Lumic's mad plan. And I loved the president's tearful reaction at seeing what happened to the Cybermen, made worse considering they themselves view it as a sort of enlightenment. I think it's because if they really knew what happened...well, see also "The Age of Steel".
On the more heroic front, I loved Rose and the Doctor sharing a funny story before they crash-landed in Pete's World, I loved Rose's talk with her parallel dad and mum (although it went south in the latter case. I know my mom really hated parallel!Jackie after that, and while I don't hate parallel!Jackie per se...yeah. Really a Kick the Dog moment for her, poor Rose. :( I think the Cybermen showing up was a good way to get distracted, really), and Mickey meeting his parallel Gran (;.;). And Jake and co. were great. :) And Rose the dog was adorable -- also a CMOF with the Doctor's reaction. And I loved the epic cliffhanger near the end. Honestly, holy shit. 0.0. And I loved how there was a bit of social commentary, in a way, about the easy downloading aspect of mass media, advances in science (combined with "do the ends justify the means"), etc. Honestly, it was just a great episode all around. Seriously. :)
So overall? Loved it. Definitely recommend. :)
I will admit this episode is just one of those episodes I immediately fell in love with, just because it had a lot of things that pushed my buttons. Alternate universes? Check. Well-Intentioned Extremists of sorts? Check. Great characters? Check. Wit? Check. And so on and so forth. Tom MacRae is already very good, but I really feel like "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel" (the second part I'll be reviewing when I get to watching it) is extremely underrated. It has its faults, yes (such as Lumic getting occasionally hammy to the point I'm wondering how the hell no one caught on. I mean, maybe it's the earpieces, but really, if I heard from my boss -- in Pete Tyler's case -- about something that placed the brain in a suit of armor, I believe the proper reaction would be to *run the fuck away*), but it's very enjoyable. Lumic's Chewing the Scenery can get a bit detrimental, but it's also a lot of fun to watch. Plus, very chilling. I know my mom actually had nightmares about the Clockwork Robots from THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE (and I don't blame her), but at least the robots in question were just following programming -- no less disturbing, but at least understandable. Lumic, on the other hand...there's something about human cruelty that's always really disturbing. And Lumic -- he has his reasons, but that makes him all the scarier. Basically, he's close to dying, and that combined with a desire to sort of improve the world in a way...yeah. And it really explains a lot about these Cybermen; I know someone who thought that the new Cybermen weren't scary like the old Cybermen and having your brain cut out and put in a suit of armor wasn't that terrifying (yeah, call me squeamish, but the idea of sharp objects, mind control, etc...that's terrifying), but for me, it is. Because these Cybermen...kind of like the old Cybermen, they don't believe they're doing evil. They believe, almost like the Borg from STAR TREK, that they're doing this for your own good. That and they're literally very orders-driven, which I think can best be summed up by this exchange from "Doomsday":
CYBERLEADER: I ordered surrender.
THE DOCTOR: They're not taking orders! Don't you understand? You're in their homes, you've got their children! Of course they're gonna fight!
TV Tropes actually lists this as Evil Cannot Comprehend Good, but I think it's more complicated than that. Because the Cybermen...they genuinely believe that somehow, ending up as a brain in a suit of armor is a better life. No classism, racism, sexism, etc. -- just pure equality. God knows how many people, working for just one purpose: to add others into the group. No backstabbing, no betrayals, no verbal abuse, no secrets. Just billions of people-machines working for a better world. But if nothing else, there are too many horrible things to experience during it -- stripped down and put inside a suit of armor, losing all sense of self and identity, experiencing horrible pain when you become aware of what's happening, etc. -- no future is ever worth that amount of suffering. And people don't consent to the process either; they're mind-controlled and marched like lambs to the slaughter, or tricked into it like Mr. Crane and those homeless people wanting food (which adds a new layer of ickiness to Crane and Lumic's deeds). So it's just a matter of the process being forced upon them. And Crane drowning out the screams of those being converted with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" -- first, I'm never looking at that song the same way again. Second, it really speaks to Crane's twisted mentality -- he doesn't even seem to feel guilty about it; he just goes all, "I'm drowning out the screams; they're too loud" in a more...almost annoyed way, really. I think the best word for Crane is possibly a sociopath, channeling his urges into Lumic's mad plan. And I loved the president's tearful reaction at seeing what happened to the Cybermen, made worse considering they themselves view it as a sort of enlightenment. I think it's because if they really knew what happened...well, see also "The Age of Steel".
On the more heroic front, I loved Rose and the Doctor sharing a funny story before they crash-landed in Pete's World, I loved Rose's talk with her parallel dad and mum (although it went south in the latter case. I know my mom really hated parallel!Jackie after that, and while I don't hate parallel!Jackie per se...yeah. Really a Kick the Dog moment for her, poor Rose. :( I think the Cybermen showing up was a good way to get distracted, really), and Mickey meeting his parallel Gran (;.;). And Jake and co. were great. :) And Rose the dog was adorable -- also a CMOF with the Doctor's reaction. And I loved the epic cliffhanger near the end. Honestly, holy shit. 0.0. And I loved how there was a bit of social commentary, in a way, about the easy downloading aspect of mass media, advances in science (combined with "do the ends justify the means"), etc. Honestly, it was just a great episode all around. Seriously. :)
So overall? Loved it. Definitely recommend. :)
