posted
This is the anti-"Victory of the Daleks". This is the anti-"Closing Time". The Cybermen are back, upgraded, and downright threatening. (And in some ways more Borg-ish than ever, but in a good way.) They're streamlined, and fast.
It's getting a little maddening as to how vague they've been lately as to which Cybermen have been appearing: Mondasian or Cybus? The dead Cybermen shells at the beginning of the episode were clearly Cybus, complete with the logo on their chests. But the Doctor makes reference to (and uses) the old weaknesses of the Mondasian Cybermen. Did they merge at some point, or what?
The initial mention of the missing Emperor just screamed "important plot point". Sure enough...
Matt Smith was great at portraying both the Doctor and "Mr. Clever".
And speaking of "Mr. Clever", he indicates he could reconstruct the Doctor using "the hole"...
All-in-all, this might be my favorite episode of the season so far, even edging out last week's.
Season finale next week! Geronimo!
-------------------- "Kirito? I killed a thing and now it says I have XPs! Is that bad? Am I dying?"
-Asuna, Episode 2, Sword Art Online Abridged
Registered: Mar 1999
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The dead Cybermen shells at the beginning of the episode were clearly Cybus, complete with the logo on their chests. But the Doctor makes reference to (and uses) the old weaknesses of the Mondasian Cybermen. Did they merge at some point, or what?
I'm pretty sure all appearances of the Cybus-type Cybermen in the Matt Smith era were *supposed* to be the Mondasians, but they didn't have the budget for different costumes until now. So this might be a way of rectifying the difference.
If anyone's interested, I wrote up an essay about the Cybermen's history in DW, in an attempt to make some sense of their appearances. It's not up to date with the Matt Smith episodes, however:
-------------------- "A film made in 2008 isn't going to look like a TV series from 1966 if it wants to make any money. As long as the characters act the same way, and the spirit of the story remains the same then it's "real" Star Trek. Everything else is window dressing." -StCoop
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Didn't they change the chest logo when we got to season 5, removing the "C" to show that they were supposed to be Mondosian Cyberman, and not Pete's World Cybermen?
(I do get why they aren't getting in to all that. Doctor Who has to straddle this big chasm with hard-core old school fans on one side, new series fans on the other, and casual viewers in the middle. Having a discussion about the different types wouldn't really help anyone, unless it was done in a very clever way.)
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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