Culture on My Mind – Narrative Diversions (Winter 2024 Edition)

April 5, 2024April 8, 2024 Michael Falkner1 Comment

Culture on My Mind
Narrative Diversions
(Winter 2024 Edition)
April 5, 2024

Narrative Diversions is a look at the various pop culture things I’ve been watching, reading, and playing over the last few months.

Movies

The Gray Man (2022) – PG-13 [Netflix]
I spent a lot more time on television and books this quarter. But, if shallow action flicks with a lot of twists are your thing, this will be right up your alley. The premise orbits around an agent named Six, an uber-skilled assassin for the CIA who ends up on the run after a mission goes a little caca. In response, the agency sends psychotic Captain America after him.

Every actor in this film, from Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans to Jessica Hanwick and Alfre Woodward, chews up every last bit of scenery. It is an orgy of action with predictable political thriller elements, but you can tell that the Russo brothers had a blast making it. Pop some corn, pour a drink, and invest an overly long two hours into not thinking about the details.

Television

Quantum Leap – Season 2 [NBC]
This season of the revival continues the spirit of its progenitor in a loose thirteen-episode arc focused on family and love. Unlike the near-uniformity of the original series, this series throws twists and turns to share up the status quo, including a version of The Time Traveler’s Wife and a fair amount of the “I Thought You Were Dead” trope. It also enables the entire cast to pursue their respective agencies through varying storylines that all come full circle in this show’s core message.

I’ll spoil a bit here: There is no Sam Beckett. And, you know, I’m okay with that. The final title card on the original series finale stated that Sam never returned home. While he left a family behind, he also carried a calling from a higher power – known in fan circles as GTFW: god, time, fate, whatever – and that mission became his purpose.

If the current production team chooses to put a bow on Sam’s story, that’s perfectly fine. I’d love to catch up with Donna Eleese and Sammy Jo Fuller. I’d love to see some kind of tie to the origins of Lothos and the “evil leapers”. I’d love to hear Ziggy speak again. I’d love to know what happened to the original PQL site at Stallions Gate.

But if none of that comes up in the future, I’m okay with that too. I’m happy to let this one stand on its merits, especially with that season finale.

EDIT: Within hours of publication, industry trades broke the news that this show is officially canceled. It’s not unexpected, but still disappointing.

The Floor – Season 1 [Fox]
Eighty-one contestants enter, each armed with their own categories of expertise. One by one, they play a game of trivia meets Risk until one is left standing on the Floor. Some flaws are obvious – in particular, the Randomizer is obviously geared toward emphasizing drama – but the gameplay is engaging and fun to play with at home.

The Irrational – Season 1 [NBC]
We were drawn to this one because of Jesse L. Martin, and while it is a typical procedural, it has a good hook with Alec Mercer’s use of behavioral science to solve crimes. The underlying story is also decent but by the numbers when all is told. The supporting cast is a treat and they evolve as the season progresses.

I liked this more than Lie to Me, which is now 15 years old.

Press Your Luck – Season 5 [ABC]
The original Press Your Luck aired from 1983 to 1986, but I caught it on Game Show Network in the mid-’90s. I fell in love with it but didn’t engage with the ensuing variations. When ABC resurrected the show in 2019, I was already invested. Adding Elizabeth Banks as the host was icing on the cake.

Much like Peter Tomarken’s enthusiasm in the original run, Elizabeth Banks obviously loves her job. She gets into the game and loves to see the contestants win. The additional bonus game that takes up the second half of the hour is a great addition.

This show is must watch television when a new season starts. My only complaint is that the seasons are too short.

FBI – Seasons 1-5 [CBS via Paramount+]
FBI: Most Wanted – Seasons 1-4 [CBS via Peacock]
FBI: International – Season 1 [CBS via Peacock]
Back to the procedurals, this Dick Wolf (of the perennial Law & Order juggernaut) franchise is generally episodic and came recommended. The drama is standard for Dick Wolf television, but these shows definitely lean more on the police work since lawyers aren’t involved. The draw for us is the characters, and FBI is much stronger than Most Wanted since the latter changes characters like dirty socks. Most Wanted is also a darker show, and it lost a bright light when Julian McMahon moved on. Dylan McDermott’s character is too erratic for my tastes, but the supporting characters (especially Hana) keep me around. International has a solid cast and a dog, but it’s also fairly dark when it comes to subject matter.

Watching these shows has been a task of its own: FBI is on Paramount+, but the spinoffs are on Peacock. We wouldn’t be able to watch the spinoffs if we didn’t have free access to Peacock through our cable provider. (There’s another discussion to be had about the future of television relying on the viewing public’s Google skills to figure out where to watch various episodes. No wonder piracy still exists…)

We’re interested enough to watch the new seasons as they premiere (which will all be on Paramount+, thankfully). We’re going to finish Season Two of FBI: International before jumping into the new episodes just so we’re up to date when the crossover episodes hit.

Found – Season 1 [NBC]
The premise drew me in, but I wasn’t sold until the end of the pilot episode. The main characters kept me engaged because they’re not monolithic. Each one is traumatized in some way and that diversity drives their interactions. Unfortunately, the season dragged in the second half as the drama surrounding Gabi’s secret started to smother the show.

Echo [Disney+]
I liked the character when she debuted in Hawkeye, and the evolution as she returned home was great. The respect paid to Native American traditions was nicely done, and I loved seeing how Alaqua Cox’s portrayal changed as her character grew. I’m looking forward to seeing where both of them go in the future.

For All Mankind – Season 4 [Apple TV+]
I was concerned about this season when it started because of how disjointed it was. By the time it concluded, the threads came together nicely. There’s not much more I can say without possible spoilers, so I’ll leave it with this: I look forward to news about Season Five.

The Crown – Seasons 5 & 6 [Netflix]
When Season Six debuted, I remembered that we never watched Season Five. Both of them are about the same standard set by Peter Morgan, but it was pretty obvious that he was having trouble with the final season since the events were more recent and didn’t have the deep historical analysis of those of fifty years and beyond. The story had a lot of time jumps after Lady Diana’s death, but the finale was amazing, especially in that final scene that alluded to the Queen’s death.

Halo – Season 1 [Paramount+]
My message to the Halo fanbois: I’m sure you own all the games. Probably multiple versions of them. The novels and comics too. If you want that story, go play your games and read your books!

In 2018, Showtime president Gary Levine announced that their version of Halo would be set in a parallel timeline and would draw from the Halo canon while working with Microsoft and 343 Industries to ensure authenticity. This Halo is not the version in the games.

I can understand being upset about a lack of faithful adaptation if the intent was to be faithful. The recent Dune movies come to mind with the significant continuity changes in Dune 2. But the intent with Halo was to tell a new story separate from the games. That’s what this show is, and no amount of kvetching in social media comments, bullying fans of the show, or harassing the show’s stars online will change that.

As far as the show is concerned, it is a slow burn focused more on the characters than on the bang-bang-shoot-em-up. I love that about this adaptation. The battles are nice, but it’s obvious that the showrunners know what they’re capable of. The fall of Reach, for example, is obviously a large chunk of the budget so it’s told in far less epic scope than the game/novel month-long siege.

I loved Season One and Season Two improved on it. I hope the show gets another run.

Books

Star Trek: Typhon Pact – Zero Sum Game – David Mack
Star Trek: Typhon Pact – Seize the Fire – Michael A. Martin
Star Trek: Typhon Pact – Rough Beasts of Empire – David R. George III
Star Trek: Typhon Pact – Paths of Disharmony – Dayton Ward
Star Trek: Typhon Pact – The Struggle Within – Christopher L. Bennett
Star Trek: Typhon Pact – Plagues of Night – David R. George III
Star Trek: Typhon Pact – Raise the Dawn – David R. George III
Star Trek: Typhon Pact – Brinkmanship – Una McCormack
The Typhon Pact series is a collection of hits and misses for me. It follows the Destiny trilogy (which I enjoyed) and A Singular Destiny (which I have not yet read). Basically, the Romulans, Breen, Tzenkethi, Gorn, Tholians, and Kinshaya combine forces in a fractured alliance. They stand together against the Federation and the Klingons, but they also have their own goals and motivations.

Zero Sum Game involves a covert mission to the Breen worlds after the Typhon Pact steals plans for a quantum slipstream drive. I loved exploring the Breen people (which smooths over some of the discrepancies in the species from the television series) and the story between Bashir and Sarina Douglas. The cat-and-mouse story on the USS Aventine was also fun. The downside was Section 31, a group that I have been tired of for a long, long time.

Seize the Fire took me back to the USS Titan and a tense story about the Gorn and the future of their species. It was very much a submarine story mixed with the “boldly go” mission of Star Trek, but it was here that I started to wonder about the cohesive nature of the Typhon Pact series. The two novels weren’t linked, and it felt like the series was going to tell stories like an extended anthology series.

Rough Beasts of Empire was hard to finish. Not only does it do a lot of time jumping, but the two storylines didn’t engage me. The first concerns Spock’s Reunification Movement and the cold war between the two Romulan governments in the aftermath of Star Trek: Nemesis. I like Spock, but the three-way political conflict felt like a whole lot of wheel-spinning that eventually tied into the Sisko story. That storyline pissed me off.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ended its run with Sisko joining the Prophets in the wormhole. He told Kasidy and Jake that he would return, which he did in Star Trek: Unity at about the same time his daughter Rebecca is born. And then he gets a message from the Prophets that his life with Kasidy will be nothing but strife, so he abandons them. That’s right, Captain Benjamin Sisko, the strong single father we grew to love over seven years of magnificent television gets tossed into the stereotype of black men being absentee fathers who are disengaged and irresponsible.

That is not the Benjamin Sisko I know. Benjamin Sisko would not abandon his family, even with the vague foretellings of the Prophets on his mind. Benjamin Sisko would work through adversity and build the best life possible with his loved ones. Benjamin Sisko promised to return to those he loved when his time with the Prophets was done.

I don’t buy the Sisko who ran off to hide on a starship without a word of explanation to his wife.

Anyway…

Paths of Disharmony was a far better story, this time bringing the internal Andorian conflict to a head as they try to resolve their reproductive crisis. The Typhon Pact was vindictive and the ending was heartbreaking, but the political story and action were engaging. This one kept me up late quite often.

I wasn’t really impressed with The Struggle Within. This was an ebook novella in the set and the majority of the conflict centers around the women of the Talarian Republic fighting for equality. That should have been a good story, but it focuses more on Beverly Crusher being taken hostage and only features a small influence from the Typhon Pact. The story should have been longer and more involved.

Plagues of Night finally ties all of the disparate novels together, but it comes across like a slide show of vignettes. This is where the primary weakness of the series is displayed: I feel like it would have worked better to tie all of these threads together over a cohesive serial, thereby showing us the overall growing threat to the Federation. Plagues of Night finally picks up when it runs out of “remember when” moments and unites the Federation and the Romulans in a peaceful experiment. Of course, it all goes sideways and ends in a most shocking and explosive cliffhanger.

Raise the Dawn represents the chaotic state of affairs after what would otherwise be a declaration of war. It’s like a “day after” of the 9/11 attacks, and that uncertainty on a galactic scale is fascinating. David R. George III also gains a little redemption for how Sisko was portrayed earlier in the series as the character threads get tied off.

I haven’t finished Brinkmanship yet; I crossed the 50% mark just as the quarter ended (hence, why the cover is grayed out in the cover gallery above). The story is kind of interesting but it’s leading me to the same question I’ve had since I started this eight-book series: What exactly is Star Trek: Typhon Pact trying to do? I’d like to know if this is just a set of stories strung together because of the circumstances, or is this set trying to accomplish something else? I feel like there won’t be a definitive conclusion – a solved problem, such as a peace treaty – when all is said and done.

Stage

Hamilton – Broadway in Atlanta
This is one of my favorites. We originally bought season tickets to the Fox Theater’s Broadway Across America tour to see it, and we see it every time it comes to town. This was our third live showing, and our fourth distinct showing if you count the Disney+ version. I always have a good time with it.

Beetlejuice – Broadway in Atlanta
I haven’t laughed this hard in a while. This musical takes all the good bits from the 1988 film and runs with them in an irreverent, often self-referential rollercoaster ride. I really appreciate how they beefed up Lydia’s role as a protagonist. It’s rude and crude: If that’s your cup of tea, find time to see this show.

Games

Super Mario Odyssey – Nintendo Switch
Super Mario Wonder – Nintendo Switch
The time I invested in video games as 2024 started was with my wife. She loves the Mario games and these two were time spent together having fun. They’re quite enjoyable.

I’ll get back to Tears of the Kingdom soon enough.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Timestamp #300: The Haunting of Villa Diodati

April 3, 2024July 22, 2024 Michael Falkner3 Comments

Enter Frankenstein’s monster.

The place and time are Lake Geneva, June 1816. As a thunderstorm crashes down upon the Swiss countryside, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (the future Mary Shelley, the mother of science fiction), Lord George Gordon Byron, Doctor John Polidori, and Claire Clairmont bemoan the abnormal summer weather and enjoy a horror story. As Lord Byron reaches the climax of his tale, the crowd jumps at a knocking on the door.

When the tense crowd opens the door, they find the Doctor, Graham, Yaz, and Ryan. Everyone screams!

The Doctor flounders with the soaked psychic paper and Graham stumbles with modern vernacular, so Ryan simply asks to come in. They are excited to see the creative minds at work, but instead, dance with them and are treated to gossip about Mary not being married despite taking the Shelley surname and Byron separating from his wife to elope with Mary’s stepsister Claire.

Graham ventures off to find a bathroom, the Doctor tries to convince Mary to write a horror story, and the maid Elise is haunted by flying vases and disembodied hands. Graham ends up walking in circles through the house as mysterious figures appear and disappear around him.

Yaz finds Claire trying to break into Byron’s room to find letters about his feelings for her. Yaz consoles her before spotting one of the mysterious figures. Meanwhile, Byron chats up “Mrs. Doctor” while deflecting questions about Shelley. They also talk about Byron’s daughter Ada and the “unrelentingly evil” vibe surrounding the house. While chatting with Ryan, Mary laments her poor writing talent.

Graham returns to the drawing room as Polidori challenges Ryan to a duel for a perceived offense. The conflict is interrupted by the disembodied hand. It chokes Ryan and is shot into dust by the butler Fletcher. The Doctor tastes the dust and places it around the fifteenth century. Byron shows the collected party his odd collection, including the remains of a fifteenth-century soldier.

The soldier is missing two hands.

Mary explains that when the weather got worse, Shelley started having visions of a figure floating over a lake. Yaz plans to visit Shelley in his chalet while Graham sees the mysterious woman and girl but dismisses them as Polidori snoozes.

Everyone finds themselves circling throughout the house. Mary attempts to find her son, but the house won’t let her. Elise finds baby William and spots lightning on the lake. Meanwhile, Polidori awakens and sleepwalks through a wall. The Doctor discounts a haunting because ghosts don’t exist, and she eventually deduces that a perception filter is at work. As everyone in the house slowly gathers together again, Mary finds a skull and a skeletal hand in William’s cot.

The group traps the animated skull and hand and then shares their findings. The Doctor finally realizes that 1816 was “the year without a summer” due to volcanic activity. She spots the glowing figure on the lake and determines it is a time traveler. The figure materializes in the hallway, and the Doctor immediately recognizes it as a lone cyberman. The Doctor warns everyone to stay put lest they be assimilated as Cybermen, then goes alone to confront it. She doesn’t want to lose anyone else to the mechanical menace.

The Cyberman kills Fletcher and tracks Elise due to William’s cries. The Cyberman seeks a “Guardian” and does not kill the baby. The Doctor finds it and questions the incomplete form, but the Cyberman cannot attack her due to depleted power cells. The Cyberman allows itself to be struck by lightning to recharge. It speaks of a Cyberium that has selected another host.

The rest of the group finds a supposedly vacant room, but it is covered in Shelley’s writing. In the cellar, Claire finds a man who mutters about keeping a Cyberman out. This man, Percy Bysshe Shelley, is the Guardian. The Doctor meets up with this group, finds baby William, and visits with Shelley. The Cyberman teleports to Shelly in search of the Cyberium, but Shelley somehow sends it away.

Through a psychic connection, the Doctor realizes that Shelley found a shimmering silver by the lake. It hid inside his body, cloaking his movements and altering everyone else’s perceptions. His mind is full of images, symbols, and numbers, and no amount of writing will remove them. The Doctor realizes that the Cyberium contains all future knowledge of the Cybermen and was sent back in time to change the future. It will burn Shelley’s mind if he keeps it.

Despite Jack’s warning, the Doctor convinces Shelley to stop fighting the Cyberman’s influence. Unfortunately, if she saves Shelley, the Cyberman will be able to raise an unstoppable army and kill billions. There is no right answer, and the Doctor is furious with the choice forced upon her.

The Cyberman arrives and demands that the Cyberium release Shelley. Mary confronts it and learns that it was a father once, a man named Ashad who was transformed in death (and killed his own children for joining the resistance against him). Using that story as inspiration, the Doctor shows Shelly a vision of his own death and forces the Cyberium from him.

Everyone is teleported back to the drawing room as the Cyberium chooses the Doctor. Ashad calls upon his ship and threatens to destroy the world, so the Doctor releases the Cyberium to Ashad’s control. The lone Cyberman vanishes and the thunderstorm disappears. The Doctor decides to travel into the future with Shelley’s scribblings to fight Ashad before he can destroy everything.

The next day, Claire berates Byron over his poor treatment of her and breaks up with him. Team TARDIS convinces Mary to keep writing and apologizes for giving Shelley a sneak peek of his death. Graham is confused by the ghosts (who weren’t ghosts) and the Doctor offers to send her companions home as she faces the Cybermen.

The companions refuse, and over a reading of Byron’s Darkness, the team sets course for destiny.

In a good suspense story featuring a possible inspiration for Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, we get a prelude for the most divisive story in modern Doctor Who history. The premise was sound with our traveling heroes on a quest to see the origins of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece, and it evolved into a fantastic mystery thriller that brought us back to basics with historical and problem-solving elements.

The centerpiece – the lone Cyberman from Jack’s warning – is itself an amalgam of modern Doctor Who history. The body is mostly from Nightmare in Silver with lower legs from Rise of the Cybermen and arms from World Enough and Time. The helmet is a new arrangement but is inspired by a design by assistant Matthew Savage. (A 2016 three-dimensional update was showcased on his Instagram profile last year.)

The drama of this episode, with a chance to permanently defeat a menacing enemy at the cost of the greater good, was tense. This is when Doctor Who‘s social messaging is on target, with subtle pokes that make the audience feel the choice rather than experiencing a bludgeon to the head.

And, as mentioned before, this is the last prologue before the Doctor Who universe changes once again. To call what’s coming divisive is an understatement.

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Ascension of the Cybermen and Doctor Who: The Timeless Children

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

Culture on My Mind – Dragon Con Report 2024 #2: Host Hotel Hunger Games

March 29, 2024April 11, 2024 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Culture on My Mind
Dragon Con Report 2024 #2: Host Hotel Hunger Games
March 29, 2024

One of the ways that I like to prep for Dragon Con is by listening to the Dragon Con Report podcast. Brought to you by the ESO Network, the podcast is a monthly discussion on all things Dragon Con that counts down to the big event over Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.

The show is hosted by Michael Gordon, Jennifer Schleusner, and Channing Sherman, and it delivers news, notes, tips, and tricks for newbies and veterans alike. The Dragon Con Newbies community has a great relationship with the show and the network.

The second show of the 2024 season talks about the wild world of getting a place to sleep at the con. Mike, Jen, and Channing talk with guest Russ Eff about policy changes, unexpected charges, and the rush (literal and figurative) in fighting for a hotel room.

The show can be found in video form on YouTube and in audio on the official website and wherever fine podcasts are fed. The Dragon Con Report channels can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. You can catch their shows live on those platforms or on demand on their website.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Culture on My Mind – Dragon Con Report 2024 #1: Top 12 Things We Would Never Change

March 22, 2024April 11, 2024 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Culture on My Mind
Dragon Con Report 2024 #1: Top 12 Things We Would Never Change
March 22, 2024

The first show of the 2024 season breaks the ice as Mike, Jen, and Channing discuss the latest news and list the things about the convention that should never change.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Timestamp #299: Can You Hear Me?

March 20, 2024July 22, 2024 Michael Falkner2 Comments

A voice in the darkness is not always a good sign.

In Aleppo, Syria, circa 1380, a young woman runs through the city. An older woman named Maryam lets Tahira seek refuge, chiding her for stealing as a misguided attempt to improve her mental health. Tahira fears things that will attack as she sleeps, and (sure enough) a creature grabs Maryam after nightfall. The large, hairy, and claw-handed creature doesn’t surprise Tahira.

In Sheffield, 2020, the Thirteenth Doctor delivers her team home. They agree to reconvene the next day, and as the companions leave, the TARDIS shorts out as a bald man briefly appears and then disappears. As Yaz, Ryan, and Graham catch up with their lives, the Doctor chases the phantom man to Aleppo.

She touches down in Bimaristan, one of the oldest hospitals in the world that focused on mental health. Disappointed that she won’t be sharing this adventure with her companions, the Doctor finds Tahira and the creature. The creature doesn’t register on the sonic screwdriver and runs away.

Back in 2020, the companions have strange encounters: Graham sees a white-haired woman in chains; Ryan’s friend Tibo describes recurring nightmares with a bald man, the same phantom who then kidnaps Tibo; and Yaz encounters the phantom after a dream.

The Doctor calms Tahira as she investigates the hospital. Tahira has been in the hospital for a few weeks, seeking safety as an orphan. The companions each call the Doctor and she takes Tahira to retrieve them. Along the way, she analyzes a hair she found in Aleppo and the TARDIS tells her that the hairs do not exist. She uses the telepathic circuits to take them to the woman Graham saw.

The TARDIS lands on a space station in the distant future, but the location is not what Graham saw. The station is in a geostationary orbit in an area that is no longer populated, and as the Doctor explores, the image Graham saw appears on a monitor. Two planets are colliding, stopped by a small geo orb with the woman inside.

Yaz finds an area covered in fingers sending signals to the woman in the geo orb. A quantum fluctuation lock keeps the woman trapped by changing combinations trillions of times a second. As the Doctor analyzes the technology, Tahira wanders off. She finds the bald man, several trapped people (including Tibo), and the creatures (which the man calls Chagaskas, conceived from the prisoner’s worst fears). When the companions arrive, the bald man uses his fingers to trap them inside dreams. Yaz dreams of Sonya on a deserted stretch of road, Ryan sees an elderly Tibo and the Dregs from Orphan 55, and Graham finds himself going through chemotherapy with his doctor, Grace, who asks why he didn’t save her.

The Doctor continues to work as the bald man approaches her. He calls himself Zellin, which the Doctor recognizes as a mythical name from another universe. As an eternal, Zellin has been playing games to amuse himself, even name-checking fellow Eternal The Toymaker in the process. An alarm sounds, indicating that the woman in the prison has been freed, but this is all part of the game. The woman is another eternal named Rakaya and has been playing the same game as Zellin. The game involves the two planets, their populations, and a gamble of which will be destroyed first in the ensuing carnage. The populations trapped Rakaya as they each faced their own demise.

The Doctor is trapped as the Eternals begin a siege against Earth. The Doctor dreams of the Master’s Timeless Child story, waking when she somehow summons her sonic screwdriver and frees herself, her companions, and the prisoners. The Doctor realizes that the Chagaskas are elements of Tahiri’s dreams and works on a plan to defeat the Eternals.

The Doctor’s team returns to Aleppo and summons the Eternals to join them. Using Zellin’s floating fingers and Rakaya’s quantum lock, she traps the Eternals in prison to live with nightmares for eternity. She then returns everyone to their proper places and times.

Tibo finally sleeps well and attends a group therapy session after learning about Ryan’s travels. Yaz reflects on a bet she made with a police officer named Anita – Yaz had planned to run away three years earlier, but Sonya called the police out of concern. Anita made a deal that if Yaz’s life improved in three years, Yaz would pay her 50p. Otherwise, if Anita was wrong, she’d pay Yaz £50 – and then meets with Anita to pay her end of the bargain.

Finally, Graham confides in the Doctor about his fear of cancer returning. The Doctor has no idea how to respond, but Graham is happy to have talked to someone about it. Meanwhile, Yaz and Ryan discuss their mutual concerns about their lives with the Doctor. They’re interrupted as the Doctor gets excited about Frankenstein and sets course for a new adventure.

The family grows closer by confronting their fears, and even though the Doctor couldn’t display her concern to the satisfaction of some fans, the team is stronger for it. I found her response genuine: The Doctor is a beacon of compassion and empathy, but remember that her immediate predecessor needed cue cards to navigate human emotions. Many of the Doctor’s previous incarnations were more in touch with their companions, but even the First Doctor faced his granddaughter’s future by locking her out and saying goodbye through the TARDIS.

The Doctor may be an alien, but this echoes how humans handle major diagnoses and death. Reactions aren’t uniform, but they include shock, disbelief, anxiety, sadness, and loss of control, all of which (and more) the Doctor is processing in the wake of the Master’s revelation about Gallifrey.

Another tick in the plus column for this episode is the story twist. The woman’s voice in the darkness is a common trope involving heroes riding to the rescue of a damsel in distress. It’s a form of the Chronic Hero Syndrome trope, where every wrong in the line of sight must be righted, and it’s used to great effect against the heroes in this story. The eternal villains give credit to the Celestial Toymaker and the Guardians (setting up their power for fans of the classic era), and are defeated by their own means like so many of the villains in Doctor Who.

That resolution felt a bit rushed (as most Chibnall era resolutions have) but the coda showcasing the fears and growth of each companion was a good reason to shortchange the heroic huzzah.

Finally, in a meta nod to the story’s title, I loved the Doctor talking to herself at length with no one around. Can you hear me?, indeed.

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Haunting of Villa Diodati

Culture on My Mind – The 2023 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar

March 15, 2024March 5, 2024 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Culture on My Mind
The 2023 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
March 15, 2024

It’s time to talk about the 2023 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar!

My family has been doing these LEGO advent calendars since 2015 and I chronicle the daily builds on Instagram. Each of the annual box sets has been spotlighted on this site. These boxes contain twenty-four unique small builds, many of which are abstract, along with exclusive mini-figures and whimsical winter-themed spins on Star Wars staples.

This box was inspired by The Bad Batch, the prequel films/The Clone Wars, and Return of the Jedi (celebrating its 40th anniversary). It also tied in some holiday cheer with the typical festive spin on fun builds. We got Omega on a sled, a Christmas pit droid, a reindeer Gonk droid, a festive Ewok, and even Emperor Palpatine in an ugly holiday sweater.

Overall, I really enjoyed the builds in this set. Of course, the Star Wars sets hardly ever disappoint, and the creativity is a joy. I adored the Endor sets, including the Ewok village and the shield generator complex.

Even the basic fillers like a B1 battle droid and a weapons rack didn’t distract. It doesn’t beat the 2022 calendar, but it was still fun. In the end, that’s what counts.

Our countdown this year was a little different since we had a lot of competing plans in early December. We got it done by doubling up each day leading to the new year instead of Christmas Eve.

Now, on to the countdown:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Timestamp #298: Praxeus

March 13, 2024July 22, 2024 Michael Falkner1 Comment

A lot of moving parts in a story where nothing is as it seems.

Picking up immediately after Fugitive of the Judoon, several plot threads are rapidly laid down.

A spacecraft plummets toward Earth. An astronaut named Adam Lang tries to salvage it, but his capsule begins to spin violently. On the planet below, a suspended police officer named Jake Willis tackles a shoplifter, but he’s scolded by his manager for his actions. Finally, in Peru, Gabriela Camara and Jamila Velez are disgusted by a river polluted by plastic waste. Later that night, Jamila is attacked by an unseen force.

Jake retires to a local bar and sees the news about Adam Lang’s crash. Jake is distraught, but his mood changes when he receives a text message from someone claiming to be Adam asking for help in Hong Kong. He tries to break into a warehouse and fails. Lucky for him, Yaz and Graham arrive with a set of skeleton keys. He questions Graham and Yaz, assuming they are from the European Space Agency, but Yaz explains they’re following some strange energy readings. They’re also being watched by a man in a hazmat suit.

Gabriela wakes up and searches for Jamila. When a bird falls from the sky, Ryan arrives and warns her away from it. Gabriela presses Ryan about her friend before introducing herself as a travel vlog influencer. She soon gets a message about an ambulance call-out a mile away.

In Madagascar, a lab worker named Aramu greets his co-worker Suki Cheng. They both rush to help the Doctor as the Time Lord rescues someone from the ocean. The stranded man is a member of the US Navy, a survivor of a recent submarine accident. The sailor is soon consumed by a rock-like substance and disintegrates. The two lab workers are very confused.

Ryan and Gabriela arrive at a deserted San Pedro hospital. Ryan finds another dead bird and Gabriela finds Jamila inside a quarantine area. Jamila is covered in the same stone substance, prompting Ryan to call the Doctor. The TARDIS arrives as Jamila disintegrates, leaving Gabriela upset as the Doctor realizes the severity of the situation.

Yaz and Graham track down the strange energy readings and find a room filled with alien consoles. Adam is strapped to a table, looking sick and still in his spacesuit. Yaz calls the Doctor as two figures in hazmat suits burst in and start shooting. Yaz distracts them with a control panel while Jake and Graham escape with Adam. Jake steals the rifles and shoots the attackers. The Doctor arrives and realizes the attackers and their weapons aren’t from Earth.

All of the players thus far board the TARDIS, but Yaz and Gabriela decide to stay behind and study the control device. The Doctor is hesitant but soon relents, sending the TARDIS on its way and examining Adam. She gets a call from Madagascar and returns to the beach. As the team heads for the lab, Graham learns that Adam and Jake are married but on a break. Meanwhile, the birds begin to swarm over the beach.

In Hong Kong, Yaz determines that the control panel is triangulating signals from two other places, including Madagascar. One of the hazmat aliens survived, and it stumbles into the room and teleports away. Yaz and Gabriela decide to follow, landing somewhere dark but safe amid equipment from the downed submarine

Ryan shows a dead bird to the Doctor and she asks him to dissect it. She asks Graham and Jake to give Adam an IV drip, then works with Suki to analyze Adam’s readings. The astronaut is infected with an alien pathogen and the Doctor has no idea how to stop it. Jake leaves and Graham tries to comfort him. Jake explains that he’s not good with emotions, commitment, or foreign travel, and knowing that his husband is an astronaut, he doesn’t believe that Adam could possibly love him.

Jake returns to Adam’s side as Suki analyzes Adam’s blood. Ryan finds that the bird is full of plastic, and the Doctor presumes that the alien pathogen attacked and metastasized the plastic. The Doctor rules out Auton interference before remembering that humans of the era always ingest microplastics. The pathogen has a buffet, but the Doctor notices that the bird’s natural enzymes are fighting the infection. Suki theorizes that she could make a countervirus.

The Doctor contacts Yaz and exchanges information. When she finds out that an alien signal is coming from Madagascar, she has an epiphany about Suki and learns that the infection is called Praxeus. Suki teleports away as the birds attack the lab. Everyone barely escapes with the samples and boards the TARDIS. Unfortunately, Aramu was previously attacked and unable to join them.

Adam volunteers for a clinical trial of the Doctor’s cure. The Doctor administers the antidote and programs the TARDIS to make more if it succeeds. She then leaves Adam and Jake in the TARDIS while the others search for Yaz and Gabriela. They discover they’re on an alien base under the Indian Ocean, centered under one of the world’s plastic pollution gyres. The birds are the infection vector and the travelers need to find Suki to stop them.

They find one of the aliens and suppose they’re also trying to find a cure. They soon find Suki, the last of her crew from a planet ruined by Praxeus. She traveled there to find a perfect lab and Earth fit the bill. The spacecraft was the source of the strange energy readings and the radiation that brought down Adam’s ship. The Doctor tries to help Suki but Praxeus overcomes the alien woman. Luckily, Jake and a cured Adam arrive with the antidote, and the team works together to distribute the cure with the alien shuttle’s organic engines. Everyone returns to the TARDIS as the shuttle takes off and floods the alien base, but Jake decides to stay behind when the shuttle’s autopilot fails.

The plan succeeds, but everyone thinks Jake has died after the shuttle disintegrates. The Doctor materializes the TARDIS around Jake at the last minute and the husbands kiss in gratitude.

Returning to the beach, Team TARDIS bids farewell to their new friends. They go their own ways, safe with the knowledge that no matter how far apart they are, the seven billion connected lives are safe.

This story has a lot of potential, but it gets bogged down with the varying plot threads, none of which gets enough room to breathe. It’s another example of a Chibnall-era story that would thrive as a two-parter with another editing pass.

The ecological message is definitely heavy-handed, but it doesn’t oppressively stifle the story like Orphan 55. We’ve had a preachy Doctor in the past, but this era’s interpretation lacks a degree of finesse.

Also missing in the finesse department is this story’s twist: I love adventures where there is no clear villain and the feint that portrays Suki as the villain is underwhelming because we learn that she’s a victim of Praxeus within minutes of her big reveal. With a little more subtlety, the twist could have been powerful on the level of other Doctor Who stories where the true villain is a force of nature instead of an army or single entity.

That said, I like the fast-moving mystery plot where the Doctor had to split her team to solve the puzzle. I also like the parallels between Praxeus and COVID-19, which was a full-blown pandemic when this episode aired.

Finally, I perked up when the Doctor mentioned the Autons. Their inclusion here would have made sense – we’ve only seen them in action three times in the franchise: Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons, and Rose – but, while creepy mannequins are fun additions to Doctor Who, it was a good move to not have a story about plastic pollution lean on them as villains.

This story settled out at a high 3, and as I’ve mentioned over the years, I tend to round up.

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Can You Hear Me?

Culture on My Mind – The Quest for Sunshine Preservation (Spring 2024 Edition)

March 11, 2024March 8, 2024 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Culture on My Mind
The Quest for Sunshine Preservation
(Spring 2024 Edition)
March 11, 2024

It’s that time once again.

Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks by one hour in warmer seasons to make darkness fall at a later clock time. It is utilized in several countries worldwide and the concept has caused controversy since the earliest proposals. To this day, it affects the sleep patterns and productivity of those who practice it.

Many countries and territories abolished the practice after years of practice. The European Union conducted a survey in 2018 and determined that 84 percent of respondents did not want to adjust clocks twice a year. The EU was supposed to stop daylight saving time in 2021 but later asked for a more detailed assessment first.

The United States cannot abolish daylight saving time without federal approval. The practice was established in 1918 with the Standard Time Act and modified in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act (which itself has been revised several times). The government has attempted to abolish routine time changes several times, most recently with the Sunshine Protection Act. The legislation has been introduced multiple times and has died before being passed each time.

For some DST humor, check out this 2024 video from Titan Caskets advocating for the end of the practice.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Culture on My Mind – The 2023 LEGO Avengers Advent Calendar

March 8, 2024March 5, 2024 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Culture on My Mind
The 2023 LEGO Avengers Advent Calendar
March 8, 2024

It’s time to talk about the 2022 LEGO Guardians of the Galaxy Advent Calendar!

Goodness… did Iron Man really come out that long ago?

This set continues the trend of building a scene or a world for the minifigures within, but it also dives a bit more into the building of abstract versions of ships and elements from the property like the Star Wars calendars.

This calendar was a rollercoaster ride. One day would be an up, but the next would be a down. For example, we got Doctor Strange one day, but the day before was just his cape. While I get what the design team was trying for, I struggle to see how this would be fun for a seven-year-old kid. All that excitement for a new LEGO build gets dashed by opening an accessory for a minifigure.

The other accessory choices were packed after the minifigs, but they were difficult to connect thematically. Spider-Man’s webs make sense, but a jet pack for Captain America? Or winter accessories for Okoye? It felt like the designers had some ideas they wanted to throw in, but they didn’t know exactly how to sell customers on a jet pack or an ice hockey set.

Loki’s throne and the bunny from Iron Man 3, though? Those worked, though I would have loved a Loki to sit on his throne, especially considering how Season Two of his show ended.

The minifigs were cool, but the box overall would get a C grade for execution. The design team needs more thought and inspiration to meet the levels set by the Star Wars calendars and the previous Marvel sets.

Our countdown this year was a little different since we had a lot of competing plans in early December. We got it done by doubling up each day leading to the new year instead of Christmas Eve.

Now, on to the countdown:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Timestamp #297: Fugitive of the Judoon

March 6, 2024July 22, 2024 Michael Falkner5 Comments

She’s the Doctor, but not the one you were expecting.

In Gloucester, 2020, Ruth Clayton awakens on her 44th birthday and makes breakfast. Her husband, Lee, heads out to buy a proper cake while Ruth asks the day to do its worst. She works as a professional tour guide, but business is slow. She later gets a coffee and the barista, Allan, shows her a dossier about her husband. Apparently, there’s something fishy about him.

Meanwhile, a Judoon spacecraft arrives in orbit and starts scanning the surface. At the same time, the TARDIS hurtles through the vortex as the Doctor tries to scan for the Master. The companions are concerned about her periods of deep thought and solitary explorations. Their discussion is interrupted by a Judoon signal that Earth has been isolated Earth due to a fugitive search.

The Judoon teleport enforcement patrols to the surface and begin scanning people. Ruth is scanned and cataloged, but her friend Marcia is vaporized for defying the patrols. The TARDIS arrives and the Doctor warns everyone (including Allan and Lee) to shelter in place. The team rushes out to face the threat, but Graham is teleported away. The Judoon find Allan’s dossier and execute the baker for touching one of the aliens.

The Judoon set their sights on Lee as the Doctor confronts the captain. Posing as an Imperial Regulator, she negotiates a stay to arbitrate a solution. While they work, Graham wakes up on the deck of a strange ship and meets Captain Jack Harkness. He mistakes the companion for the Doctor as he plants a kiss on Graham. The quantum scoop he used mistook Graham for the Doctor, but Jack has a message to relay: The future of the universe is at stake. Jack is also excited that the Doctor is now a woman.

The Doctor talks with Lee and Ruth, finding they’re both completely human. They find a box with an alien signature. Lee asks the Doctor to hand it over and offers everyone else a chance to escape. Yaz and Ryan stage a diversion and invite the Judoon captain inside before they are teleported away. Lee surrenders to the captain after sending a text message and the captain presents him to a new arrival named Commander Gat. The item in the box was a service medal from an intergalactic army, and Commander Gat fulfills her duty by executing Lee.

Jack mistakes Yaz for the Doctor, realizing too late that the Doctor is now traveling with three companions. The Judoon enforcement field is preventing accurate readings. When the ship’s systems begin to fight back against him, Jack tells the companions to warn the Doctor about a lone Cyberman before sending them home.

Ruth receives the text message – “Follow the light. Break the glass. Happy birthday” – and sees brief visions before the Judoon track her down. They identify Ruth as the fugitive and she spectacularly subdues the captain. She rips off the captain’s horn and the platoon teleports away. Ruth doesn’t understand how she was able to do what she did, but the Judoon have left the planet. Unfortunately, the change in tactics doesn’t bode well, especially after Ruth dishonored the captain. The Doctor offers to help her follow the activation message that Lee sent. It leads to a family lighthouse where Ruth claims to have grown up.

The Doctor and Ruth chat about her life as they travel. The lighthouse was left to her but she’s never wanted to return. Ruth has more visions as they pull up, and while Ruth gets a fire started, the Doctor investigates and searches for clues. Her search leads her to Ruth’s parents’ gravesite where a blank headstone marks the site.

Ruth finds a fire alarm marked “Break Glass” and does so, releasing a burst of regeneration energy. She changes clothes and finds a rifle while the Doctor digs up the gravesite and finds a TARDIS. Ruth arrives…

…and introduces herself as the Doctor.

The Fugitive Doctor teleports them into the TARDIS control room, a beautiful retro mix of modern and classic elements. The Thirteenth Doctor introduces herself in a struggle to catch up, and the Fugitive Doctor states that she is a past incarnation of the Thirteenth, but neither remembers the other. The Fugitive Doctor doesn’t recognize a sonic screwdriver but has access to the Chameleon Arch technology that shielded her.

The Judoon and Commander Gat tractor the TARDIS onto their orbiting ship. Gat confronts the Fugitive Doctor and disarms her. The Thirteenth Doctor steps in with a curve ball, introducing herself and causing discord with the Judoon. Gat reveals that she is also from Gallifrey and is shocked to find that their home has been destroyed. Gat doesn’t believe them and tries to kill the Doctors, but the Fugitive Doctor had previously sabotaged the rifle and it backfires. Gat is vaporized and the Judoon are forced to retreat as the ship enters intergalactic space.

The Fugitive Doctor takes the Thirteenth Doctor back to her TARDIS. Thirteen struggles to sort things out since she knows her own history, but the Fugitive Doctor is definitely from her past. She reunites with her companions and learns what Jack had to say.

The Doctor knows that something is coming for her and tells the companions that they have no idea who she is. They tell her that they know her now, the best person they know, and they’ll stand by her side no matter what trouble comes.

The balance of mystery and tension while wrinkling what we know about the Doctor’s history is fun. On the surface, the story is a pretty simple fugitive mystery racing alongside the defense of Earth against the overbearing Judoon. But then we get the twist, and if there’s one thing I love about Doctor Who, it’s how willing it is to rewrite its own continuity.

Doctor Who‘s continuity (and canon, for that matter) has never been consistent. In fact, it’s been pretty wibbly-wobbly depending on the story that writers and producers want to tell.

Note the distinction: Canon (in the non-religious sense) is the principle or behavior used as a guide, where continuity is the flow of all those trivia bits like the Doctor’s age. The Doctor Who canon began as a history show for children in a sci-fi wrapper, but it quickly evolved into something more.

Forty-four years before this story aired, The Brain of Morbius wrapped up with an explicit suggestion that the Doctor had incarnations before the First Doctor. According to then-showrunner Philip Hinchcliffe, the original intention was that the faces shown in that episode were meant to be pre-Hartnell incarnations, but fans of the time chose to ignore it.

Her reaction to the sonic screwdriver answers the question of where the Fugitive Doctor fits into the timeline. The First Doctor didn’t recognize such a device in the time around The Tenth Planet/Twice Upon a Time, but the Second Doctor used one in Fury From the Deep, The Dominators, and The War Games. The Third Doctor first used his own version in The Sea Devils without any hint of it being a strange device. We can also match that with the Third Doctor’s first appearance in Spearhead from Space, where he fell out of the TARDIS in the Second Doctor’s clothes.

Sure, the Time Lords could have orchestrated everything to place the Fugitive Doctor in the “Season 6b” space between Troughton’s and Pertwee’s incarnations, but Occam’s razor suggests otherwise.

It was good to see Jack Harkness again, particularly after how Torchwood concluded. I also love how the Doctor and the companions are starting to bond in the aftermath of Spyfall. The Doctor routinely visits the graveyard that is Gallifrey without her friends, and they’re helping her to heal from something they cannot comprehend.

I wonder if she ever tries to travel to a time before the Citadel and the Time Lords were destroyed.

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Praxeus

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