S12 E6 Praxeus

[Nyder]

What did you think of it?

[ninjaconor]

I liked it. Chris Chibnall really can't resist a PSA, can he? This one was delivered with a little more finesse than Orphan 55 though. The story was good. Nothing stood out as particularly amazing and there was nothing new on the overall story-arc, but the mystery was really interesting and the payoff was satisfying. I thought the effects used for the Praxeus infection were fantastic. Character-development-wise, I like that they've given Yaz a bit of a reckless streak. I hope it continues through future episodes.

[markrand]

I'll DVR it tonight and watch it either Monday or Tuesday.

[markrand]

It was OK, but confusing.

[scottbarratt1989]

I must admit, it felt a little "so what?" after E5. With hardly any mention to the reveals of last week, it just left me wanting more.

More frustration than suspense.

[Stormcrow]

The Praxeus effect triggered my trypophobia, so this episode was very unpleasant to me.

Okay story, but it moved too fast. There was only one scene where we got a moment to reflect on anything, the scene between Graham and Jake.

And it was far too obvious a PSA. Chibnall, have you no subtlety?

This was yet another episode where I concluded that there is no way I can show this to my kids. Doctor Who has too much adult horror now.

[imajica]

Well, the family didn't rate it anywhere near as high as last week's. It was alright, I guess. But the animatronic crow? The BBC have such fantastic animatronics on their "Spy in the Wild" programme, couldn't spare a bird or 3 for this?

[generalrose]

I legitimately just disliked this episode.


Pacing was all over the place, editing/continuity was horrendous (pay attention to who's holding the astronaut during the Hong Kong escape), the virus doesn't make sense (bird scratches = infected, but breathing in those exploding humans does nothing?), Vlogger starts flirting with Ryan immediately after accusing him of murdering her ambigious-potentially-romantic-parter, ejecting the cure into the atmosphere is terribly bad psuedo-science, Ryan and Graham don't know what a pathogen is? Any shot that featured the CGI birds was terrible (Hitchcock did better Bird attacks nearly 60 years ago).

The biggest offender though is this season's lack of the ability to "SHOW, DON'T TELL." That's rule #1 of creative writing. Chibnall needs to quite with the pointless exposition. Talking about the plastic in the ocean in the most condescending way possible is not the best way to go about it. An establishing shot of all the plastic floating in the ocean would have been so much more effective.

But hey, Yaz finally has a character trait. Suicidally depressed is better then her just being a manakin.

[Eryx]

I thought it was good but like so many since Capaldi's first season, it had the potential to be so much more if it was handled by someone better. They are so generic that they could be in any science fiction TV series. They lack that something to make them feel like an episode of Doctor Who.

Praxeus had the potential to be a good horror story but instead quickly turned into a rant on plastic pollution and environmental issues. If I want that I'll tune into the news. I watched hoping those ideas where a good basis for something taken into the dark side. Ultimately that didn't happen.

Sometimes I think the problem with modern Who is that it lacks the five or six part stories where the tension crept up each week until the finale. If Praxeus had that format, it could well have been so much better.

[olegrand]

Feb 5, 2020 22:04:10 GMT Eryx said:

I thought it was good but like so many since Capaldi's first season, it had the potential to be so much more if it was handled by someone better. They are so generic that they could be in any science fiction TV series. They lack that something to make them feel like an episode of Doctor Who.

Praxeus had the potential to be a good horror story but instead quickly turned into a rant on plastic pollution and environmental issues. If I want that I'll tune into the news. I watched hoping those ideas where a good basis for something taken into the dark side. Ultimately that didn't happen.

Yes, exactly. generalrose also nails it down when pointing out the "show not tell" problem: this episode just felt like a gigantic lecturing session hastily dressed as an action story...

Feb 5, 2020 22:04:10 GMT Eryx said:

Sometimes I think the problem with modern Who is that it lacks the five or six part stories where the tension crept up each week until the finale. If Praxeus had that format, it could well have been so much better.

Here I beg to differ. It's not a question of time or format - just a question of pacing and, well, writing and editing. Just re-watch any episode from the RTD era: the comparison is, well, absolutely merciless.

[Eryx]

Feb 6, 2020 7:55:23 GMT olegrand said:

Feb 5, 2020 22:04:10 GMT Eryx said:

Sometimes I think the problem with modern Who is that it lacks the five or six part stories where the tension crept up each week until the finale. If Praxeus had that format, it could well have been so much better.

Here I beg to differ. It's not a question of time or format - just a question of pacing and, well, writing and editing. Just re-watch any episode from the RTD era: the comparison is, well, absolutely merciless.

I think we are actually in agreement here. Pacing is exactly the issue and I feel that it has gotten worse after Capaldi's first season.

[senko]

So my thoughts.

On the one hand for a change we're not being rushed along to the big story reveals I've mentioned in my comments on the other episodes. On the other hand we get an environemntal preaching episode that rushes its own story. Chibnal really needs to understand some people are fine with a slightly slower plot that gives us time to absorb or think about what we've seen. Plus not being lectured like children "A pathogen is X, microplastics are Y, Pollution is Z." Heh honestly today I wouldn't even lecture a kid like that.

On another hand . . . paw the episode did leave me with many questions and a few complaints.
1) Why did yaz wait till they were all the way back to Tardis before mentioning the device she saw, mention it at the time and the Doctor can wave her magic wand over it to divine its purpose. At least she could read the data on it I was starting to think the TARDIS translation circuits had gone the way of its security systems with the many aliens we don't understand this season.
2) I found Aramu to be rather arrogrant. First assuming her youtube channel is seen and admired by all to the point she asks what's the matter with someone who doesn't know it. Then inviting herself along to VLOG two guy's honeymoon, this is what's known as a THIRD WHEEL.
3) You appear in a blue lit tunnel with apparent bone structure and identify it as an active volcano. How, Why?
4) There seem to be a lot more "time lord" looking races around these days.
5) How does crushing the praxeus world and an airborne virus actually cure the bacteria left there?

6) If she can materialize the ship round Jake in the millisecond before the ship breaks up how can she not drop Ryan, Yaz and Graham back at the time she collected them from.

7) I notice the Doctor didn't wipe Adam, Jake and Amaru's memories of her like she has been doing to bunch of other people this season. If your going to do these things at least keep it consistent.

Overall it was an ok episode but I think Jodie Whitaker is being rather let down by this seasons episodes unfortuantely. They either seem to be rushing along to try and get to a story they want to tell more than the stuff they're skipping by or they're heavy handed environmental preaching.