a smattering of Old Who

[rivendellrose]

So, first off, watched part of "Mawdryn Undead" or something like that last night, and... somebody, please, tell me why people seem to think that Nyssa is smart? Is it because she knows big words and comes from an alien society? Or perhaps because she has that weird 'eyes-half-open' kind of look that makes her look bored all the time?

Because, well... Okay, spoiler!warning! First, they find some random guy all burned up on the floor of a transmat capsule, and Nyssa (and Teagan, I grant you, but Teagan isn't supposed to be a genius or anythinng) automatically assumes it's the Doctor even though it looks nothing like the Doctor even disregarding the fact that it looks like nothing more than a random bad extra covered in purplish-brown makeup - this guy has totally different hair, totally different facial structure, and, in fact, scraps of a completely different outfit. He looks nothing like the Doctor. He sounds nothing like the Doctor. And yet, Nyssa is completely convinced. ....Okay, so she's not good at recognizing people.

But THEN, she decides that obviously the best solution to a guy who's got what appear to be second-degree burns ALL OVER HIS BODY is to DRAG HIM all the way to the Tardis! And into the Tardis door! Along the floor! THE STUPID BURNS ALMOST AS MUCH AS WHATEVER BURNED THAT POOR GUY.

Good thing he's going to turn out to be the villain, apparently. Because if that really had been the Doctor? It probably would have been shock and opened wounds more than the failed transmat that would send him into regeneration.

Also, umm... why is the Brigadier living at a boys' school? I mean, okay, sure, they claim he retired and then... decided to switch careers randomly and teach maths. But... no, really, I don't have anything else to say about this, exactly, except that this is apparently the episode where we learn that the Brigadier has both Alzheimer's Disease and an unhealthy fondness for little boys. Or for twenty-something aliens pretending to be little boys. Or something like that. Can you tell I found this all a bit perplexing? No trouble following the actual plot, mind you, but... let's just say I don't consider it one of the more impressive old episodes I've seen, by a long stretch.

Turlough is cute. In fact, he's an adorable little lying bastard. But I don't get why he's willing to trust a guy who not only runs around shouting "IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS EVIL!!!!!", but is also... wearing a dead bird on his head. Oh, Guardians. You are so pathetic.

Is it just me, or does my Five icon sort of look like he's thinking "god, my friends suck"?

And now, I'm headed back to waiting in Dell's annoying Tech Support Chat queue, because they can't seem to figure out that "fan having problems and CAUSING COMPUTER TO RANDOMLY SHUT DOWN" does not mean "I'm a moron and can't figure out that fans make noise" when I send them a normal email. I swear to god, the next computer I get? Will not be a Dell. I don't know what it WILL be, but I'm sick to death of putting up with having to DREAD calling Tech Support because any call to them involves at least 20 minutes of being treated like an idiot before they realize that, oh, this one actually has a brain and a real problem.

Comments

[paranoidangel]

but I'm sick to death of putting up with having to DREAD calling Tech Support because any call to them involves at least 20 minutes of being treated like an idiot before they realize that, oh, this one actually has a brain and a real problem.

This is exactly why I'm never buying a Dell ever again. I only call their tech support as a last resort and if I followed their instructions exactly (although I'm usually three steps ahead of them on them) I would have made my computer worse.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm thinking next computer, not so much a Dell. Although, to be fair, I'm not sure anybody else has better tech support. The problems I have are usually of the "low-level tech support sucks ass" variety, rather than anything overtly bad about Dell itself.

...Unless it actually turns out they installed my computer's fan backwards or something, in which case I'm going to laugh forever, and then buy an IBM next time.

[paranoidangel]

Dell used to have really good tech support, a long time ago. At least in this country if you rang them you got the Irish, who you couldn't understand, but they knew what they were talking about. Now you get the Indian who can't understand you and haven't got a clue.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

When I first became a Dell customer, I got guys from Texas. Aside from getting called "hun" and "doll," it was fantastic - and honestly, they were cute. Once I got the guy I had today on the phone, though, he did definitely have an accent, but we had no trouble communicating. So I've got my fingers crossed that he'll be helpful when we talk again on Friday.

[ursula]

Last time I had a Dell problem, the solution was, "No, really, RUN THE HARDWARE DIAGNOSTICS YOURSELF. Even if it DOES take forever." If you can give them an error code they fix your problem instantly.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this one is probably going to end up the same way, but I'm not good at messing around in BIOS... so it'll be better if I go over it with somebody who is.

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

The Brigadier is teaching at a boy's school because they wanted to use Ian Chesterton but couldn't get William Russert to come back for it. And he doesn't have Alzheimer's, he's got PLOT-RELATED AMNESIA.

I'm a bit biased because Mawdryn is one of my favorite episodes. ;) And Nyssa is smarter in The Keeper of Traken, but I've never really warmed up to her.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

That makes so much more sense! I was so completely confused during the first few sections of the episode, trying to figure out why the heck they'd made such a weird choice for the Brig's character. That's too bad that they couldn't get Ian, he'd have been wonderful to see again!

It seems like a good episode so far, even with the weirdness. I looooove Turlough, the little spaz.

I always want to like Nyssa, in principle - the character sounds so interesting on paper, so I view her as the opposite of Teagan. I expected Teagan to grate horribly on me, but after a few episodes, I really came to love her. I'll check out "Keeper of Traken," though - if I remember correctly that's one of Ainley's episodes, and I adore him, so it'll be fun.

[livii.livejournal.com]

Aw, Mawydryn is one of my favourites! The bit with Nyssa and Tegan makes NO SENSE but it advances the plot, heh. And like was mentioned, the Brig was shoehorned in to what should have been Ian's role. I love both of 'em, so it works for me.

Turlough is the most gloriously unconvincing schoolboy EVAR. And the birds on the head thing is why I love the Black Guardian so much.

I guess I just really love the crack, hee.

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

The Black Guardian scares me a bit. With his fashion sense. AAAHHH.

Also, the guy who played Mawdryn, David Collings, played Silver in Sapphire and Steel. Which... I'm not sure what to make of that, except that he's fantastic at making every scene he's in in the latter somehow about the brief yet bitter affair that Steel and Silver had and their snippy, passive-agressive reaction to it. Hee hee hee.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

After the obviously terrifying fashion sense, the scariest thing about the Black Guardian, for me, is that I've always had an unshakable conviction that he and the White Guardian are actually the same person. I'm guessing this gets refuted at some point in canon, and that I must have got the idea by watching the Romana I arc out of order or something, but... I just can't stop thinking it!

Iiiinteresting. He seems like he would be a good actor if he weren't covered in ugly paint, and then later if he didn't have brains leaking out of his head. That makes it a bit tricky to pay attention to someone's acting, getting distracted by the pulsing brains...

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Now that I know the episode was written with Ian in mind, that makes a lot more sense. It's too bad he couldn't make it! I do very much like the Brig, but it's such a weird thing to add into his character profile.

I ♥ Turlough, the lying little sleaze. He's so fantastic! And the Black Guardian is so ludicrous.

I'm holding off final opinion until we finish the episode, but... I just couldn't resist poking a bit of fun at the opening of it. ;)