Kyle Robert Shultz's Blog, page 3
February 24, 2020
Doctor Who S12E9: Ascension of the Cybermen Review
This review isn't going to be quite as in-depth as my previous Doctor Who Series 12 posts, mainly because there are so many unanswered questions about certain elements of this story that I can't yet say how I feel about them. However, in lieu of waiting for Part 2 of the series finale and reviewing both episodes at once, I'll just discuss the things I'm able to share my thoughts on this week and leave the rest for later.
The Quick and Spoiler-Free Verdict[image error]
“Ascension of the Cybermen” seems to...
February 20, 2020
Fantasy Month 2020: The Laws of World-Building and How to Break Them
Are you ready to build some worlds? And then sMAsH ThEM iNto SCReAmING sHaRDs oF unREleNtING cHaOS?
[image error]Of course you are. That's the whole point of being a writer, isn't it? Am I right?Well, am I?
Okay, just me then. Fine.
February is Fantasy Month, a blogging event started by the marvelous Jenelle Schmidt. One of the topics on the list for the event this year was world-building, and instead of delving into a specific aspect of this theme, I decided to take a step back and talk about the balance...
February 18, 2020
Fantasy Month 2020 Blog Tag: Fantasy Creatures
[image error]Did you know February was Fantasy Month? You didn't? Yes, you should be overwhelmed with guilt right now. I don't even feel sorry for you.
I'll be doing a couple of posts to celebrate this blogging event, and I'm kicking off the festivities today with this blog tag from Jenelle Schmidt (who started the event in the first place). I was tagged to do this by J.L. Mbewe. First off, here are The Rules:
Thank the blogger who tagged you.Thank you, Jennette! And also Jenelle, for inviting me to take...
February 17, 2020
Doctor Who S12E8: The Haunting of Villa Diodati Review
[image error]The worst thing about this episode is that it didn't happen two years ago.
On the bright side, that's the only genuinely “bad” thing about “The Haunting of Villa Diodati”, in my opinion. I consider this to be the best episode of Doctor Who since the Steven Moffat days, and an absolute triumph for Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. Now more than ever, I simply can't agree with people who insist that the current iteration of the show is terrible and that both Chibnall and Whittaker need...
February 10, 2020
Doctor Who S12E7: Can You Hear Me? Review
[image error]“Can You Hear Me?” is apparently the first Doctor Who episode in history to have a question mark in the title. Fitting, given that I had a very hard time deciding how I actually felt about it.
In the end, I must admit that I found this episode to be a narrative mess. However, I want to acknowledge the fact that it tries to do something worthwhile, even if it doesn't fully succeed in the end. Mental health is a subject ripe for examination in a sci-fi concept…so long as it's done right. From...
February 3, 2020
Doctor Who S12E6: Praxeus Review
[image error]My take on this episode may surprise you.
I'll start by saying that I really wish that we could have gotten “Praxeus” in place of “Orphan 55”. If “Orphan 55” had to happen at all, it would have been better for fans to have seen “Praxeus” first as evidence that Series 12 can do better “message” stories than Series 11. But there's more to it than that. In my review of “Orphan 55”, I said that that episode had failed to prove that Series 12 could manage great stand-alone stories outside of big...
January 29, 2020
Who Is the Fugitive?
Okay people, let's get serious. It's time to finally figure out what the heck was going on in “Fugitive of the Judoon”. Have you recovered from the latest Doctor Who episode yet? Neither have I.
Oh, and SPOILERS from here on out, obviously.
[image error]The Fugitive Doctor, as I like to call her, is arguably the biggest question mark among the many in Doctor Who Series 12. How can she exist? When does she exist? And what does her existence mean for both the past and the future of Doctor Who?
Well, if...
January 28, 2020
Space For All: Thoughts on the Current State of Doctor Who (and its Fanbase)
My intention had been to write a post today about the various theories on the big reveal in “Fugitive of the Judoon”, Episode 5 of Doctor Who Series 12, but I've decided it will be better to do this one first. Before we begin, SPOILER WARNING: I'm about to dive into all the events of the most recent episodes, so don't read on unless you're caught up or you don't care about spoilers.
In the most recent episode, showrunner Chris Chibnall took the bold step of revealing a new–and possibly old,...
January 27, 2020
Doctor Who S12E5: Fugitive of the Judoon Review
[image error]I honestly don't know where to begin in writing this review. Far from being another monster-of-the-week episode of Doctor Who, “Fugitive of the Judoon” instead subverted practically every expectation I had. Over and over again as I watched it, I found myself saying, “Nahhh, they're not going to dothat,are they…oh my gosh, they actually did it.”
Now, big twists alone do not automatically make for a good episode of Doctor Who. But the more I ruminate on the events of “Fugitive”, the more I feel...
January 23, 2020
Who Is the Timeless Child?
Bad Wolf. Torchwood. Harold Saxon. “There is something on your back.” “The Pandorica will open.” “Silence will fall.” “Run, you clever boy, and remember.” The Promised Land. The Hybrid. The Vault.
The first ten series of Doctor Who each had a mystery to solve, summed up by a particular phrase or name. And now, in keeping with the tradition, we've got a new one. The Timeless Child.
Except that the tradition was sort of broken, because Series 11 just mentioned the Timeless Child without...
