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

[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.

[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.

[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'.

[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.

[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.

[thanatos-kalos.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if I saw the Shelter, I must admit. We analysed 'Monsters...' in an English class in my high school, and it was really interesting looking at the whole McCarthyist aspect-- this was before the current paranoia had hit the US.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Here's the Wikipedia link: it's about people trying to force their way into the single shelter when they think the Bomb has dropped. So more about hysteria than about paranoia, but still with the theme of 'strip away comforts and can we remain civilized'.

Sad how these McCarthyite critiques are so contemporary again.

[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.

[thanatos-kalos.livejournal.com]

Ah...I saw the Simpsons ep that incorporated this. And yeah, that's another theme I'm very interested in; moral idealism vs pragmatism, and the cost it can take.

Sad how these McCarthyite critiques are so contemporary again.

yeah. *sigh*

[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!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

moral idealism vs pragmatism, and the cost it can take

Wow, you'll love Blake's 7, if you haven't already seen it!

[thanatos-kalos.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it, yet. It's on my list, once I've caught up on DW. There are a couple I need to see/hear for the conference especially.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[sensiblecat.livejournal.com]

But one of the other things I really liked was that the Doctor wasn't blameless, either. He's so deeply identified with his role as saviour and natural leader of any group under pressure that he forgets that rests on something rather tenuous; the willingness of a group to accept his authority. They didn't; he'd not been open with them (he lied to them as readily as the rest of the staff, until Dee Dee pointed out his mistake about the engines), he adopted a "never apologise, never explain" policy and he did numerous little things which, though trivial in themselves, were set up to alienate the rest of them. For example, he unilaterally deprived them all of their in-trip entertainment because it irritated him. Whilst I'd have every sympathy with that, it does demonstrate his arrogance and unwillingness to conform, and that seeded his later difficulties.

Of course, the right companion could have helped him out there - anyone would have been good but, for once, I felt Martha would have been particularly helpful.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

You're totally right (the very best stories on NuWho always contain a critique of the Doctor as ultimate authority). It's really interesting that you mention Martha in this context: it was Martha rather than Donna whom I imagined saying that line in my previous comment. (Possibly as a result of her persuasiveness in 'Gridlock' and, of course, 'The Last of the Time Lords').

[altariel.livejournal.com]

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

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Not an easy watch, definitely.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

(Edited for wrong icon again!)

Today is mostly filing and cleaning (I'm hosting my reading group tomorrow). And we have one episode of Survivors to finish. However, Tuesday might well see me settled down with a whole bunch of romcoms.

I was tickled by Phil Collinson (sp?) saying in the Confidential that he hoped people were surprised by the end - the nameless hostess sacrificing herself. (I really liked the point about no-one knowing her name - they can't even give thanks to her memory by name.) Er no, we've seen enough of New Who to know that that's exactly what people do do, even if, as in this episode, it's prefaced by a lot of people giving in to their fears and being unable to act against the mob rule. I did sympathise with Dee Dee and Jethro being unable to take the initiative, especially Dee Dee who was working out what was going on.

[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.