Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Capt. Mike Yates (Doctor Who)

Even though the Three era gave us three main UNIT guys, Capt. Yates is the only one who tends to get framed in a more traditional “soldier/action” manner.  While the Brigadier and Benton both have their badass moments, the Brigadier is often in more of a supervisory position, and Benton, well, bless him, he tries.  Yates, though, is the one who gets the “derring do” role the most often, and so, as per my custom with the more action-oriented companions, I’ve looked through the assorted “Yates shoots at bad guys” scenes to find moments that have a little more individuality (spoilers.)

Tracking the Thunderbolt (Series 8, Episode 8 – “The Mind of Evil:  Episode 4”)

Yates is heading a team moving the deadly Thunderbolt missile to a secure location when their convoy is hijacked by the Master’s goons.  After radioing the Brigadier and taking fire from the baddies, Yates steals a motorcycle and tails them.  While it’s true that he gets captured for his efforts (more on that below,) it’s not until after he finds out where they stash the missile.

Escaping Captivity (Series 8, Episode 9 – “The Mind of Evil:  “Episode 5”)

Yates already gets points for keeping cool under pressure when captured by the baddies, showing the Master a resolute stiff upper lip.  But he also manages to get himself out of his predicament; after sawing through his bindings, he lulls a guard into a false sense of security by pretending to be asleep, then clobbers the guard when he gets too close and steals his gun.  All in a day’s work at UNIT!

Covering for the Doctor (Series 10, Episode 24 – “The Green Death:  Episode 4”)

This is a tiny moment, but I like it all the same.  Yates is working undercover at Global Chemicals, and the Doctor sneaks in for a quick look-around.  When Yates discovers the Doctor – disguised as a cleaning woman – he handily loses the security guard who’s accompanying him, waiting until the elevator doors are already closing on the guard before he (Yates) pops back out, inventing a reason he has to run back to his office.  It’s a nifty little trick, and then Yates gives the Doctor the dirt he needs (after ribbing him for the disguise, of course.)

Returning to Global Chemicals (Series 10, 26 – “The Green Death:  Episode 6”)

When Global Chemicals discovers that Yates is really a UNIT agent, they hypnotize him and send him to kill the Doctor.  Luckily, the Doctor is able to break through the conditioning with a Metebelis crystal, restoring Yates’s mind to him.  What’s noteworthy here is that, after what he’s been through, Yates goes back to Global Chemicals on the Doctor’s instruction, using the crystal to de-condition Mr. James and figure out what the B.O.S.S.’s evil plan is.  We learn later in the series what an effect this whole experience has on Yates, so his ability in that moment to buckle down and return to the belly of the beast is admirable.

Protecting Tommy (Series 11, Episode 26 – “Planet of the Spiders:  Episode 6”)

There’s that Metebilis crystal again, causing trouble this time!  The men at the meditation center are desperate to get it back, and they’ve pooled their psychic energy, heightened by the Metebilis spiders, to blast Tommy with psychic shocks.  He’s buckling under the onslaught when Yates rushes in, taking the blast himself to protect Tommy.  After everything that went down in “Invasion of the Dinosaurs,” it’s good to see Yates working to better himself, and risking his life to save someone else is very in line with the old Yates.

News Satire Roundup: June 23rd-June 27th

Sunday, June 23 – Good opening on U.S. tensions with Iran and Trump’s decision not to go ahead with the strike.  I loved John’s analogy that this was a display of some garbage reasoning that surprisingly turned out well, and we shouldn’t rest easy that we’d get the same happy result next time.  Really interesting main story on Mt. Everest.  John looked at the danger of climbing the mountain, particularly due to overcrowding.  I liked the notes on how opportunities to climb Everest are now more a matter of money than training/skill, which contributes to the danger (not with inexperienced climbers endangering both themselves and others.)  And he did a great job highlighting how much more danger the sherpas go through to get these people to the summit.  (Also, the bit about the “fecal time bomb” of human waste sliding down the gradually-warming mountain was gross, but I loved John’s suggestion that all babies wear onesies with that slogan.)

Sunday, May 12 – I somehow missed the first episode in this latest block, on the Amazon Rainforest.  The details here were sobering, especially the statistics on how much of the forest has been deforested and what percentage of the world’s CO2 emissions it absorbs – we don’t have rainforest to spare!  Naturally, talking about Brazil meant talking about President Bolsonaro and all his terribleness (plus golden shower tweets!) – his attitudes towards the environment and Brazil’s indigenous peoples were predictably gross, but I enjoyed Hasan’s interview with an indigenous activist.  Additionally, the show discussed midterms in the Philippines (speaking of terrible leaders, President Duterte!)  Specifically, we looked at Duterte-backed senate candidates.  When one candidate was referred to as “the architect of the drug war,” I liked Hasan’s translation of “the Frank Lloyd Wright of killing everyone, everywhere, all the time.”

Monday, June 24 – Opening blurbs on the BET Awards (loved the bit about someone waking from a coma being told that Trump is president and Billy Ray Cyrus got a standing ovation at the BETs,) Democratic candidates campaigning in South Carolina, and the horrific conditions for children detained at the border (I laughed at the joke on Somali pirates not wanting it to get out that they treat their hostages better than the DHS treats asylum seekers.)  More on Iran, looking at Trump’s last-minute pivot on the strike.  Fun bit about Mike Pence supporting the strike and the president’s decision against it – as Trevor said, who’d have expected Mike Pence to “swing both ways”?  Awful story on a study of police officers’ social media, which found overtly-racist posts in almost ¼ of cops’ feeds.  The “it’s a good day for a choke hold” was especially terrible.  I enjoyed the guest, Teen Vogue’s Elaine Welteroth, who seems like a force to be reckoned with.

Tuesday, June 25 – It was an Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That day, covering Bernie Sanders’s plan to forgive all student loans, schools named for Robert E. Lee looking for other famous Lees to be named after, the administration delaying the “Tubman 20” (which Trevor said sounded like “the weight you put on in your first year of freedom,” ha!) and the showdown in Oregon’s Congress over climate change (with a lawmaker threatening to shoot police before being forced to do his job.)  We also covered the latest sexual assault allegation against Trump.  After discussing Trump’s loathsome “she’s not my type” rebuttal, Trevor had some excellent remarks on Trump’s ability to avoid any Me-Too-era reckoning.  Jaboukie had a good piece on civics education in the U.S. – I loved one of the students he interviewed telling him, “You smell old.”  Guest Olivia Munn talked about her new show and debated preferred superpowers with Trevor.

Wednesday, June 26 – Live show for the first round of Democratic debates.  Trevor covered plenty of takeaways:  Elizabeth Warren not coming to play, Cory Booker’s alarmed reaction to Beto O’Rourke busting out the Spanish, John Delaney scoring some points but people still not knowing who he is (I loved Trevor’s suggestion that he say his name DJ-Khaled-style whenever he got an applause line,) Bill de Blasio trying to fight his way through the pack, and Lester Holt resorting to asking the candidates for a show of hands on certain questions.  The correspondents did a fun sketch telling the story of the “crack team” given the impossible task of holding 20 candidates on a debate stage – I loved that Desi was randomly an explosives expert.  The guest was FiveThirtyEight’s Perry Bacon Jr., breaking down the debate and looking at who came away with a bit more momentum than they previously had.

Thursday, June 27 – Debate part 2. We started with outside reactions, including Trump’s one-word take:  “BORING!”  (I loved the joke that asking Trump about normal politicians is like asking heroin about coffee.)  After a crack about Michael Bennet being pleasantly surprised just to be asked a question, Trevor looked at how the debate began “civilly” then made its way to shouting matches (fun Bernie Sanders jokes here) and people coming for Joe Biden.  Like Trevor, I enjoyed Kamala Harris’s mano a mano with Biden and loved the observation that he was so shook he “cut himself off” in his next response.  Ronny had a field piece looking for people who could name every candidate (spoiler alert:  he didn’t find any.)  I especially liked Tim Ryan thinking he did well after only naming five.  Howard Dean was the guest, looking at the crowded field and how he sees it narrowing over the next year.

A Little TLC(w): Tokyo Raiders (2000, PG-13)

Full disclosure:  I pretty much loved this movie.  Is it high art?  No, but it’s a damn good time, with an engaging cast and wonderfully-entertaining action sequences.

When her fiancé is a no-show at the altar, Macy heads to Tokyo in the hopes of finding him.  She’s followed there by Yung, the interior decorator who insists on collecting the fee her beau owes him, but once they arrive in Japan, it’s immediately clear that there’s more going on here than a delayed flight or a groom with cold feet.  Bad guys who work for worse guys are also on the hunt for the missing Takahashi, and Macy and Yung additionally catch the attention of Mr. Lin, a Chinese private eye working in Tokyo who’s been on the case.

I’ll concede that it’s not a perfect film.  There are cheesy moments here and there, and some of the twists are plainly there to disguise the overall thinness of the plot, which at times feels merely like a means of getting from one action set piece to another.  All that said, it is a perfectly-serviceable action mystery with comic flourishes.  It clips along at a good pace and always entertains, even if it doesn’t always hold together as a tight narrative.

Some good performances here.  I’m not familiar with either Kelly Chen or Ekin Cheng, who play Macy and Yung, but they’re both very likable.  Together with Tony Leung Chiu-wai’s Lin, they make for an engaging trio.  I know this is a film that, since its release has spawned two sequels, and I don’t know if either is any good, but I’m still looking forward to seeing them based on the chemistry generated by this cast.

But far and away, Mr. Lin is my favorite thing about this movie.  He’s mysterious, suave, magnetic, and just the right amount of ridiculous – there are some great bits, especially in his action scenes, that neatly balance on the right side of goofy without veering into cheesy.  The “but can they trust him really?!” signs are practically flashing in neon, but that’s okay.  Mr. Lin pulls people in, throwing them offguard and leaving them unsure what to make of him even as they’re getting into a car with him.  There’s even something fun about how he uses his terrible Japanese to his professional advantage:  he gets the juiciest, most secret cases because people assume no one’s talking to the Chinese P.I. who barely speaks Japanese.

Leung is fantastic in this role.  I can’t quite describe the overall effect of his performance here.  Lin is super capable and frequently unflappable in the seemingly most-hopeless situations, but at the same time, there’s just the slightest air that he’s making it all up as he goes along and is flying by the seat of his pants.  I don’t know what it is, but I love it and I’m excited to see more of this character.

Recommend?

In General – I would.  Great action, really entertaining, and a good jumping-off point for this franchise.  I hope the other two movies are this much fun.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – Definitely.  While this character is pretty well designed to make audiences enjoy him, Leung plays it for all he’s worth.  He’s like a charisma bomb wrapped in an investigator package and pulling off some audacious action scenes.

Warnings

Violence, brief sexual content, language, and drinking/smoking.