Doctor Who: Series 11, Episode 8 – “The Witchfinders” (2018)

Another good historical episode.  While I think “Rosa” and “The Demons of the Punjab” are stronger overall, this one has a fabulously-foppish Alan Cumming, which can’t be discounted under any circumstances.

When the Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, and Graham arrive in a small English village in the early 17^th century, they find it in the throes of a witchhunt.  The Doctor tries to take over the situation, but none other than King James I shows up, and he’s out to uncover every instrument of Satan.  Of course, our heroes realize that this threat, whatever it might be, is extraterrestrial rather than supernatural, and they do their best to investigate despite the presence of the incredibly superstitious/untrusting king.

First off:  Alan Cumming as King James I.  Yes.  He’s preening and dandified, arrogant and lethal, ignorant and searching.  He does a nice job of being antagonistic without being an outright villain; a one-on-one between him and the Doctor is the best scene of the episode.  While I think the show is a bit too winking with his sexuality, it’s not bad, and Ryan reacts reasonably well to a 17^th-century king flirting with him.

I like the way the alien plot/mystery rolls out – we figure out pieces of the puzzle along the way, with new wrinkles being added as we go.  The story also throws in some good historical bits, such as a ducking stool for “testing” witches and the theme of witchhunts being sustained by people turning on one another for fear of having the finger pointed at them.

It’s a bit hit-or-miss with the companions.  Yaz gets to bond a little with a scared villager, Graham does his best filling in as “Witchfinder General” when King James decides the Doctor isn’t able to fill that role (more on that in a sec,) and they all find the odd clue that helps contribute to solving the mystery.  On the whole, though, they feel sort of unfocused.  The Doctor doesn’t interact a whole lot with any of them here, and there is sort of a sense of them doing busy work while the Doctor handles much of the heavy lifting.

The season so far has hinted at sexism as a concept, but this is the first time it’s really gotten in the Doctor’s way:  in addition to the king declaring her the witchfinder’s “assistant,” he’s obnoxiously patronizing and, in the middle of a 17^th-century witchhunt, it’s only a matter of time before the Doctor is declared a witch.  It makes sense that this would be an issue, but I have a couple of quibbles here.  First, it seems disingenuous that this is the Doctor’s first major personal encounter with sexism/people disregarding her because of her gender.  I know the 17^th century was a real bad time to be a woman, but it’s not like the present is sexism-free.  Second, while the Doctor is of course annoyed and angry at her treatment here, I wish she didn’t seem surprised.  As a person who’s been traveling in time quite literally for centuries, the Doctor has undoubtedly witnessed sexism countless times, and to have her be so taken aback to experience it now makes it seem like the previous male Doctors didn’t take much notice of it because it didn’t affect them.  Come on, Doctor – don’t be that guy.

Apart from that annoyance, though, the Doctor is pretty great here.  Besides the aforementioned tête-á-tête with King James, she a) warns against interfering in history then promptly attempts to save a life, b) reassures frightened people in a situation brimming with paranoia, c) name-drops Houdini, and d) tries to interrogate sentient mud(?)  All in a day’s work!

Relationship Spotlight: Kara Zor-El & Alex Danvers (Supergirl)

I love a good familial relationship, and the Danvers sisters have quite a good one.  It has complexity and conflict, but it’s also absolutely loving and comes from a continual place of support for and belief in one another.  This one gets extra points for showing such deep ties between adoptive sisters, which doesn’t always get its due in the media (some Kara-Alex-related spoilers.)

Kara has friends, she has mentors, and she’s had love interests, but from Day One, it’s always been her and Alex.  It began in a pretty unhealthy way, with Alex taught to sublimate her needs for the sake of her alien adopted sister’s.  Kara’s childhood and Alex’s teen years were frequently about considering Kara’s feelings as someone who’d lost her home and family, helping Kara understand her powers while keeping them hidden, teaching Kara how to navigate “normal” human life, and making Kara feel welcomed and loved in the Danvers family.  All of this is important, obviously, but a lot of it came at the expense of Alex’s emotional well-being rather than alongside it.  It’s a pattern that continues to crop up today, with Alex blaming herself whenever she “lets” anything bad happen to Kara, and Kara not even realizing when she makes things all about herself without considering what Alex might need.

But they’re working on it.  The series begins with them starting to really get to know each other.  When Kara first reveals herself to the world, Alex is immediately there to scold her for being reckless and indiscreet, even though it was seeing Alex in danger that made Kara step up.  However, just as Alex needs to get used to the idea that her “baby” sister believes herself to have the great responsibility that comes with great power, Kara needs to meet the Alex she’s never seen, the badass DEO agent who fights alien threats and works to keep National City safe behind the scenes while Kara flies through the sky with a red cape.  More revelations.  Kara isn’t incapable – she’s hugely powerful and has an enormous drive to do good – but there’s a lot she doesn’t know, and Alex’s experience and expertise is instrumental in helping Kara hone her raw abilities into talents.

Working side by side at the DEO, they’ve grown together so much.  They look out for each other in the field (sometimes to the other’s “I can take care of myself!” exasperation,) and they make each other better, both as fighters and as investigators/agents (and now, in Alex’s case, as director.)  Kara’s sunny impulsiveness is balanced out by Alex’s cynical practicality, and each brings their own strengths to the table.  They can clash hard, but when they do, it’s usually because one thinks the other is endangering themselves by going about things the wrong way, and when they make up, it’s with mutual, heartfelt understanding.

Alex’s relationship with Maggie also changed her relationship with Kara in some interesting ways.  It shook up their patterns quite a bit, as Kara had to learn to be proactive in recognizing when Alex needs support – Alex doesn’t often put herself in a position to be vulnerable in front of people she cares about, and Kara got used to not having to look for it.  Additionally, while Kara will likely always be Alex’s number-one person, Alex getting together with Maggie was the first time Kara had any serious rival for Alex’s attention, and both struggled a little bit with figuring out where the balances lies in Alex’s life between her sister and her girlfriend. 

Relationships have come and gone on both sides – James, Maggie, Mon-El.  Dynamics have changed, with Alex now wrestling with the responsibility that comes with being DEO director and knowing that her decisions could risk her sister’s life.  But at the end of the day, no matter what’s happened, what journey either character has been on, and what’s passed between them, it comes down to two sisters sitting on a couch, eating takeout in their bare feet as they offer one another advice, support, commiseration, or whatever else they might need.  Danvers sisters forever!

A Little TLC(w): Tom, Dick, and Hairy (1993)

This feels like a fairly typical guy-focused buddy/romantic comedy, but although most of its beats are pretty obvious and some of the humor gets overly bro-y, I do enjoy it.  The characters, while familiar archetypes, are entertaining and have good chemistry among one another.

A trio of roommates navigate the highs and lows of the dating scene.  There’s Tom, a sentimental, mostly-responsible guy with a long-term girlfriend he may be marrying, more than any other reason, because it’s less work than not marrying her.  Dick is a laidback womanizer who has a standing arrangement with a sex buddy to be his “midnight call” on any night when he can’t secure another girl.  The third roommate, alternately called both Hairy and Giorgio, is as over-eager as he is awkward, desperate for any girl who’s willing to give him a change – if only he could find one.

It’s a very trite story and set-up.  A shallow fiancée, an escort with a heart of gold, a hard-up geek, a guy having the hots for his best friend’s sister – it’s a regular sex-comedy bingo.  As usual, I’m annoyed by cheating being sold as romantic (it’s fine if someone else is the one for you, but not if you keep stringing along the one you’re with now,) and no one sees anything off about the great lengths Tom goes to to “protect” his sister from Dick, at odds with how approving he is of all of Dick’s other conquests.

But despite the predictability and the annoying/sexist tropes, I enjoy it for what it is.  The three guys may be well-worn types, but each plays his part well, and their friendship feels authentic.  What’s more, even though there’s a fair amount of sexism in the guys’ attitudes and behavior, most of the main female characters are given some agency and allowed to be interesting individually and supportive of one another.

The other Tony Leung, Tony Leung Ka-fai, is in this movie, playing Dick.  He’s the only other cast member I’m familiar with, but pretty much everybody does a nice job.  I especially enjoy Ann Bridgewater as Cat and Athena Chu as Tom’s sister Pearl.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai, meanwhile, plays Tom.  Although all three guys are funny, Tom is more of the straight-man role, the “regular guy” who offsets the comparative broadness of his two friends.  Tom is mostly decent and frequently well-intentioned, but his fatal flaw is a tendency to just go along with things.  Sometimes, this means tacitly enabling bad behavior, and at others, it means staying in the wrong situation because he doesn’t want to take the risk he’d require to change his circumstance.

Certainly, not the most complex role out there, but I still like it.  Tom is sort of a grounding presence at the center of the film, and even as you urge him to step up, it’s because you want to see him coming through for himself.  Oh, and in the second half of the movie, a song performed (I’m pretty sure) by both Tony Leungs serves as the soundtrack for a party scene.  I know that Tony Leung Chiu-wai, at different times, has been a recording artist in Hong Kong, but it’s not too often that I get the chance to actually hear him sing.

Recommend?

In General – I might.  It’s not the best, but it’s an amusing way to spend an hour-and-a-half.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – Maybe.  Leung is a big enough star and has played enough major roles that I can afford to be choosy, but I don’t always need to be.  This is a nice romantic-lead comedy performance.

Warnings

Sexual content (including some homophobic humor and a few fantasy scenes of the guys in bald caps “playing” their own penises,) language, a little violence, and drinking/smoking.