Midnight

[altariel]

Some of you might remember a charming little news story from 2006 when two passengers were removed from a plane because some of the other passengers thought they talked a bit funny. Some of which seemed to make its way into 'Midnight' last night. Well done, Rusty, and I'm glad one of your more pointed pieces of social commentary went out the day you got your OBE.

Opinion is divided in the Altariel household over this episode, although not over its quality. mraltariel was concerned that it contained too much adult reality for a seven-year-old audience: too many adults behaving so frighteningly that even the teenage character, Jethro, struggled to make emotional sense of what was going on.

mraltariel also doesn't like watching people bicker, but I watch Blake's 7 so no complaints from me. But (great big fangirl that I am) the really interesting bits of the story were happening in the gaps: what does Jethro think of his parents now that he's had confirmation of their narrow-minded bigotry (and, indeed, what happens to his rebellious streak, which notably failed when the crunch came); what does Dee Dee make of her idolized professor after he has fallen back on aggression and bullying to silence her (a story close to my heart); and, of course, what exactly did they all say to the Doctor during that twenty minute wait for rescue? And what do they say to themselves, in the midnight hour?

I know many wouldn't agree, but I love Rusty's storytelling. I think he's endlessly inventive, and always sharp but forgiving about people. Even though (as communicator pointed out) 'Midnight' was just the Elevator Episode, it was clever and it bit hard. I'll miss Rusty when he's gone. Hope he knocks out the occasional 'Gridlock' to keep me happy.

Comments

[thanatos-kalos.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. I love social commentary when done well, and the mob mentality/paranoia thing is one of my biggest fears, having watched from the inside as it took over the US. Scapegoating the Other and letting fears run riot-- that's humanity in a nutshell sometimes... *sigh*

If you've ever seen or read 'The Monsters are Due on Maple Street' it's the same idea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monsters_Are_Due_on_Maple_Street

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I must have seen that episode of The Twilight Zone, but it's ages since I've seen them (twenty years?). It reminded me of another TZ paranoia episode, 'The Shelter'.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone of them spoke to the Doctor for those twenty minutes beyond his question for the hostess' name; they proably weren't able to, emotionally.

Great, great episode.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I thought last night that there probably was a terrible, awful silence; rewatching this morning, I noticed Val made an attempt to justify herself to the Doctor ("I said it was her"), and I wondered if anyone else had the nerve. I think you're probably right, though.

Really brilliant episode.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Do you think that the way they behaved was indicative of how they really were (as in professor Hobbes) - nasty and brutish? or was it the influence of the demon? BTW I think the episode should have been called 'Leviathan'.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

*slaps forehead over Hobbes* I was thinking of the other name for the Devil.

I think that the behaviour isn't how they really were, but was caused by a lack of some element in the group symbolized by Donna's absence.

If Donna had been there then, before the accident happened, she would have been kind to people in some sort of way (as she was with Miss Evangelista in 'Silence in the Library') and then when disaster struck, she would have been in the companion's mediating role: "I know you're afraid, but the Doctor's not your enemy and you need to listen to him." And everyone would have trusted her, and there would have been no story (!).

Several of the characters try to make up for this lack but are prevented in some way (Jethro's better instincts waver, Dee Dee is undermined).

Keep your allies around seems to be the moral. Or don't go on package holidays by yourself.

ETA: It's horrible to think how close they all are to killing something ancient and unique (the Doctor), and how the ones who want to prevent it aren't able. Great stuff, pitiless.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I thought it was very good episode too, although, for me, I found I really needed the scene at the end where the Doctor and Donna re-unite and she hugs him and listens to him.

I was very much wanting Dee Dee to punch out the professor, whether literally or metaphorically. I hope she goes on to be a great academic success, and equally well known for her mechanical hobbies as well.

We also watched this episode after watching the Survivors S1 episode 'Law and Order' for the first time, and the combination of those two was a bit too much for one evening.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Yes, I really needed that scene with Donna too: he's safely home.

Oh lord, imagine watching it after 'Law and Order'! You need to put on a romcom today. Legally Blonde can save you!

[matildabj.livejournal.com]

a charming little news story from 2006 when two passengers were removed from a plane because some of the other passengers thought they talked a bit funny.

I thought of that incident, too. While I liked this episode less than others this series, I think it will grow on me with a second viewing. Especially after reading reviews like yours!

I'm actually not feeling 'eew' about next week, either, amazingly. Maybe because there's a kick-arse Rose and no Doctor for her to make cow-eyes at. But I still don't entirely trust Rusty.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I was worried it wouldn't stand up to a second viewing, because I'd found the pace so exciting, and second time round you know what's coming. But that didn't matter, it still moved really quickly, and I picked up some lines I'd missed first time round (Sky has a line which implies she has a guilty conscience over her break-up, and thinks her ex is coming to get her). Good stuff!

[klose.livejournal.com]

Ah, I remember that incident now that you mention it - I found myself reminded of a CSI episode we had to watch for English class years ago (!), where the team had to figure out why a man died on a flight (he was ill, his fellow passengers got frightened and killed him).

The episode was immensely frightening on many levels - beyond just the serious creepiness of being stranded in the middle of nowhere and something unknown thumping about outside the ship, and then of course that horrible uncertainty of the mimic-Skye sequence... I could absolutely believe the progressive reactions of the characters, but it's never easy to be confronted with the fact that human beings are completely capable of being utterly ruthless and self-serving in the 'right' situation.

The ending left me a bit restless - but I suppose the fact that neither we nor the characters really know what happened - leaves me more unhinged by the episode than if we had an explanation.

/ramble

[kerravonsen]

a CSI episode we had to watch for English class years ago (!), where the team had to figure out why a man died on a flight (he was ill, his fellow passengers got frightened and killed him).

Oh yes, I was reminded of that too, though I couldn't remember where I'd seen it. CSI. Right.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I had that restless feeling at the end too, I think because of all those gaps I was talking about. This is usually the point where I start looking for fanfiction...

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

I too thought it was an excellent episode, the best that Rusty has done. I think that his writing has improved a lot over the course of the four seasons.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

'Love and Monsters' remains my favourite Rusty story, and I also very much like 'Gridlock' and 'Utopia'.

[kerravonsen]

I found it riveting while I was watching it, and disquieting and depressing afterwards. I don't think I could bear to re-watch it.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Not an easy watch, definitely.

[paranoidangel]

I thought those gaps were interesting too. The episode didn't need to explain what the monster was because it was just a means to an end - to discover what these people will do in such a situation and how they handle it. Which is to say, badly.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I didn't mind not having the monster explained either: as you say, it was a catalyst for the action.

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

It reminded me of when I used to have to go to meetings of the Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Resident's Association.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It's a jungle out there.

[jthijsen.livejournal.com]

I agree with everyone about the episode being great for all the reasons mentioned above. However, someone should slap RTD on the wrist sharpishly for letting the Doctor say that peanuts are nuts. Because they really aren't and the Doctor would bloody well know that.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oops! Perhaps the Doctor couldn't resist the gag.

[manna]

Midnight was awesome.

Although it made a rather unfortunate contrast, putting it on right after the Library two-parter, since this managed to be actually scary in a way that the nano-piranhas totally failed to be, for me. Mind you, I didn't like Gridlock, for exactly the same reason, which was that the writer came up with a neat idea but didn't bother creating any internal logic so it made sense. I can't ever forgive that kind of laziness in script-writing.

Still, I spent most of the Confidential really wishing that RTD wasn't leaving, and that if he was leaving, Steven Moffat wasn't replacing him.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

You know, I didn't go for the Library two-parter all that much either: it felt too much like a rehash of Moffat's previous stories. Faceless scary monster - check. Repeated catchphrase - check. Girlfriend of the week - check. Doctor's face in fireplace/TV - check.) I'm hoping he's saving all his new ideas for when he's running the show.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'd be interested to know what children made of it. The fifty-year-olds I watched with were bored (I asked them which episodes they had liked, and after some thought he said the Agatha Christie one was quite fun); I don't know that I'd put it down as a favourite, but I thought it worth doing, and well done, with the proviso about whether many children would have got it.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

And there was an alien planet too! (Although admittedly we didn't see much of it.)