Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Dodo Chaplet (Doctor Who)

I’ll be honest:  Dodo is pretty far down on my companion list.  I mean, she’s no Adric, but she’s pretty far down there.  Still, these posts are about celebrating the best in a companion, and Dodo has her good moments just like the rest.  Here’s what I picked out for her.

Finding the Key (Series 3, Episode 32 – “The Celestial Toymaker:  The Dancing Floor”)

As one of the Toymaker’s series of games Dodo and Steven are forced to play in order to find the TARDIS, they need to find a key to make it to their next challenge.  With the Toymaker’s playthings providing their usual distractions, the companions think they’ve exhausted all the possible hiding places, when Dodo pulls out some outside-the-box thinking for the win, discovering the key inside the pie.

Playing the Last Game (Series 3, Episode 33 – “The Celestial Toymaker:  The Final Test”)

This one’s a tag-team with Steven, but it’s still a good moment.  The last game standing between our heroes and the TARDIS is a human board game, where each roll brings them that many squares closer to the prize (oh, and if they step off the squares, they’ll be electrocuted, so there’s that.)  Here, Cyril tries every dirty trick in the book to win the game for himself, but Dodo and Steven power through his machinations, evading his most dangerous trick of all and finally winning the game.

Maintaining Her Cover (Series 3, Episode 34 – “The Gunfighters:  A Holiday for the Doctor”)

This is a silly inclusion, but I’d say it’s reasonable.  It’s the Doctor who initially invents cover stories for Dodo and Steven in the Wild West, claiming they’re traveling entertainers.  In theory, it’s all well and good to pose as such, but when the saloon patrons are hard-up for diversion, it gets a lot less theoretical.  Points to Dodo for acquitting herself well as Steven’s pianist when they’re forced to perform at gunpoint – talk about stage fright!

Suspecting the Elders (Series 3, Episode 38 – “The Savages:  Episode 1”)

Dodo is the first one to twig that something is off with the Elders in this one.  While she and Steven are getting a tour of the city, she reads between the lines of the questions their guides can’t answer, the places they won’t show her.  First chance she gets, she sneaks off to do a little investigating for herself and finds out for sure that the Elders aren’t on the level…

Fighting Off the Scientists (Series 3, Episode 39 – “The Savages:  Episode 2”)

…Because they immediately capture her and try to suck the life force out of her (real nice, guys.)  But Dodo holds her own, fighting them off and then keeping them in line by threatening to smash the equipment in their lab.  Nice show of toughness, and it’s a smart way to keep them away from her until someone can come and help her.

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017, PG-13)

By all accounts, this film was a flop.  It didn’t recoup its budget at the box office, the reviews were middling, and plenty of people will characterize it as Denzel Washington doing good work in a bad movie.  But while this film doesn’t match up to some of the other Oscar movies I’ve seen this season, my opinion of it wasn’t that lackluster.

The titular Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a dedicated criminal defense lawyer with a background in civil rights.  His social skills leave a lot to be desired, but what he lacks in poise he makes up for in staggering knowledge and a fierce devotion to justice.  When the firm where he works has to close up shop due to his partner’s sudden health emergency, Roman is reluctantly snatched up by George, a suave legal shark who sees clients as easy cash grabs.  Roman struggles against the fast-moving current of amoral complacency at his new firm, but the harder he fights, the more he wonders if it’s really worth it.

I’ll cop that it’s not a great movie, and maybe it doesn’t quite accomplish what it sets out to do, but it’s an interesting movie that explores some worthwhile themes about the relationship between activism and law in social justice, the overuse of plea deals in the legal defense system, and the ethical hardship of pouring one’s life into a worthy goal that never seems to grow any closer.  The film sets up good questions, but the way it goes about examing them can sometimes feel too on-the-nose or surfacy.

We’re here because of Denzel Washington’s nominated lead-actor performance as Roman, so let’s get right to it.  Roman’s an intriguing character – he’s intelligent, principled, and can do tremendous work for his clients, but he often approaches matters both awkwardly and with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and in an environment where everyone is as slick as they are conniving, Roman’s blunt edges stick out sharply.  Washington really captures the discomfort that Roman brings to any room – it’s almost like anti-charisma, which, for a movie star of his renown, takes definite talent.

But while Washington is obviously the main attraction here, he’s not the only cast member of note.  Colin Farrell turns in a reliable performance as George – he’s good at playing charming but disingenuous, so that’s of course what we see when George enters the scene, although there winds up being more going on within that.  The film also features Carmen Ejogo, who brings nice presence to Maya, an activist Roman encounters.  Ejogo does a fine job with the role, but I also mention her because I know her best as Madam Picquery in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  Although she and Farrell only share one scene, the mini Fantastic Beasts reunion still makes me smile.

Warnings

Brief violence, language, drinking, and thematic elements.

News Satire Roundup: February 18th-February 22nd

Sunday, February 18 – And we’re back!  The new season began with the Florida shooting, as John looked at how the students there are trying to speak out against the usual “now’s not the time” / “this is not a gun issue” talking points.  He also covered a few international blurbs – Jacob Zuma’s ousting in South Africa, Australia’s homophobic “family values” deputy PM impregnating a former staffer, and Benjamin Netanyahu facing possible corruption charges – before moving onto the main story, Trump’s vs. the rest of the world.  John questioned what Trump thinks his foreign policy (“America First”) actually entails and looked at the dangerously-understaffed state department, the mockery Trump makes of the U.S., and the general havoc he wreaks internationally.  I loved John comparing foreign affairs to sex:  anyone who insistently shouts, “I always come first!” in every encounter will have a hard time finding partners.

Monday, February 19 – One more clip show before the return of new episodes.  This was a President’s Day special on Trump’s unpresidential ways.  There were a couple longer segments – Desi’s piece on how to interview Trump and part of the interview with Michael Wolff – but there was also a ton of short snippets arranged around particular themes.  “This is Not Normal” included everything from Trump waffling over denouncing Nazis after Charlottesville to his  “shithole countries” remark, while “Stable Genius” featured insults to Trump’s intelligence from a wide range of his own people and completing a “mental fitness” test that involved correctly identifying a rhino.  I liked the bumpers on either end of each segment contrasting Trump with past presidents – my favorite was the shots of Bush and Obama shaking hands with Angela Merkel, followed by a shot of Trump staring blankly ahead while she sits beside him.

Tuesday, February 20 – New episode!  After discussing the apparent KFC chicken-shortage in Britain (with Trump poised to offer the one type of international aid he can!), it was onto the Parkland shooting.  Trevor applauded the students for standing up against “now is not the time” and covered Fox News’s attempt to blame anyhing other than guns.  I loved his own contributions to the theories, especially his plan to simply get rid of the common denominator for all school shootings:  schools, obviously!  Roy came out to talk Black Panther, reveling in the joyous Black crowds who turned out for the movie with dancing and drums and pointing out that, in addition to the importance of the film, it’s also just a dope-ass movie.  The guest, Taylor Kitsch, talked about his role in the miniseries Waco and finding the motivations behind his character’s horrific actions.

Wednesday, February 21 – Quick blurb about a Russian curler getting caught doping – I loved Trevor’s impression of someone hyped up on steroids gently curling.  More on the Florida shooting, with some pro-gun folks accusing the protesting students of being actors or claiming far-left activists just planted ideas in their heads.  There was a great line about how these kids might not have a “PhD” in gun legislation, but surviving a mass shooting ought to confer an “honorary degree.”  There was also a segment on the students marching on the Florida state legislature, where Congress refused to even debate a bill banning assault weapons but passed one declaring porn “a public health risk;” Trevor’s contempt for these lawmakers was so satisfying.  I enjoyed the interview with Ludacris.  In talking about the new season of Fear Factor he’s hosting, he and Trevor discussed worst fears and why people continue to appear on the show.

Thursday, February 22 – Continuing with the Parkland shooting, we saw students taking Marco Rubio to task in a town hall – I loved Trevor’s comment about Rubio’s total inability to read the room in saying, “We’d have to ban all semi-automatic weapons!” like it’s a bad thing – and Trump suggesting arming teachers (and paying them extra for it!) during a White House listening session.  In the clip of a school practicing just that, I was shocked by the administrator shrugging off the possibility of a teacher accidentally shooting an innocent student instead of the shooter – “acceptable risks” and all.  Roy had a piece on Black innovators, honoring the creators of Jack Daniels, video game cartridges, and super soakers.  The guest was the wonderful Lupita Nyong’o.  During their mutual geek-out about Black Panther, she and Trevor took time out to discuss their big news:  she’s signed on to play his mom in the movie of Born a Crime.  Squee!