"The Crimson Horror!"

[eve11]

I loved this one. Creepy, weird, strange, but also funny and a bit crack, with a stellar guest cast and some imaginative storytelling. Very much a gothic horror story, like the kind of thing you expect to unearth in the witch doctor's pawn shop or in the taxidermist's basement. It had a bit of the Sign of Four feeling to it, but instead of deconstructing the mystery of the paralyzing poison, well, it turned out to be essentially a "magic" thing, from the dawn of time. "Prehistoric leech venom".

I love the coroner guy who coins the name, and the speech that Mrs. Gillyflower gives from the pulpit; you can really see her as a crusading madwoman. I thought the actress was fantastic, both her and the daughter. I guess that Diana Rigg is famous for something else? Avengers? And It's a mother/daughter real life team that play mother/daughter in the show, right? well done, both.

The mill that is nothing but an empty room with huge victrolas making mill noises. (Also an aside, the Doctor's northern accent which--I think--is a bit rubbish, and "Didn't you hear? There's trouble at the mill.") Jenny being all adventurous. The woman in line who swoons for a guinea! Loved that bit! And I know I am going backward here, but you get the idea.

So, anyway, yes, there was something rather "Night Thoughts" about the episode in that respect. It made me think of why we think dolls are creepy. Monsters and dolls, dolls and monsters. People preserved in glass jars with bellows pumps in the background... it hits all the right buttons for me, I guess. Surreal, like the taxidermies in Year of the Pig. Like Alice in Wonderland (the Czech version that sallymn pointed out to me).

I think Ada was the most fascinating character. She was so messed up, so broken, and it wasn't her fault but holy hell, that scene where she's locking the Doctor up and there's nothing he can do about it... he can't talk to her and she can't see him... that was truly a body-horror kind of moment, no matter how much Ada doesn't know what she's doing. And later, he forgives her despite her flaws. And she's so wrecked, so wretched, and then the switch is flipped and she just goes after her mother (OH those Victorian insults! There is no way I would be eloquent enough to come up with "Perfidious Hag!" if I was in Ada's situation).

A few nitpicks: how did Ada get the Doctor up the steps? Why is there a jail cell room at the mill? How did she keep the Doctor a secret after the other guy burst through and died? Why did they not just go right after Mrs. Gillyflower after she took Ada hostage, aside from lame plot point? How did they not all burn to death when the rocket shot past?

There was a bit of sidelining of too many characters toward the end, and "Mrs. G" went juuuust a bit too over the top at the end, I think, but it was still enjoyable. I didn't get the Tom-Tom joke until it was mentioned elsewhere; I think Garmin is the bigger one in the states these days. And Strax finally gets to shoot at people. And Vastra and Jenny are awesome. Especially Jenny! She slaps the Doctor, ha! He totally deserved it.

Shallow note: I did like the Doctor's outfit when he finally got to change into it. Also, "Gillyflower Town! You can have roller coasters!"

Next week, we move from the Crimson Horror to Nightmare in Silver. And it looks like something out of a Bradbury story, goodness. Here's hoping Gaiman comes through again.

Comments

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

OMG. THIS REVIEW. AND I LOVE DIANA RIGG. AND I LOVED THIS EPPIE. AND THE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED BY FANDOM (as they do it best!)

Think that was Ada's cell for a while. Think she needed teaching now and again...*cringes* As for the others, I think the Doctor wanted to see Ada before they went to confront her mother...be able to talk to her - and that rocket smacked of superior tech from the get go, so maybe the burners weren't...i dunno...as hot?

*Headdesk*

THIS EPPIE WAS BRILLIANT THOUGH AND I AM AFRAID CAUSE THEY WILL ONLY GET MORE BRILLIANT THEN IT WILL BE THE END OF THE SEASON.

I want it. Yet I don't! Yet I DO!!

*Cries*

[doctorpancakes.livejournal.com]

Yes. Good. I liked this episode. Ada was a fantastic, compelling character, superbly performed. The creepy bits were creepy, the pretty period costumes were pretty, yeah. Though somebody observed after the last Gatiss-penned ep that he has a tendency to sideline the companions, and I did feel that Clara wasn't used to full effect here, which was a disappointment because she's faboo.

[eve11]

Yeah, Clara didn't do much here. But the Doctor didn't do much either. Anytime he tried to control things, either Ada or Mrs. G basically sent his plans down the tubes, or he had to be rescued by Jenny and/or Vastra and Strax. Lots of reacting from the main cast in this one, esp. toward the end. But I still really loved it.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

She definitely is!! I think everyone's half afraid to touch her though, because she is suppose to remain a mystery and Whovians are scary with how much they can glean from the tiniest line...

[eve11]

Think that was Ada's cell for a while.

Oh, you may be right, there.

I wonder what was lie and what was truth, with her. In the pulpit Mrs. Gillyflower said that Ada had been blinded in a rage by her father, which Ada seems to corroborate, so did that happen before Mrs. G experimented on her? So the experiments didn't cause Ada's blindness, but rather her blindness was taken advantage of for the experiments, I suppose? The poor girl. I'm glad she got some of her own back.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Poor Ada...*Cuddles her*

Hmmm...may be her father blinded her and she was then used for experiments. Or maybe it was so long ago, she can't (or refuses to) remember and she let Momma fill her head with bullshit because that was all she had left. Poor thing. I'm rather glad she got an opportunity to fight back and take a little venegance. And I hope she went far. She more than earned the right to try!

[lyricwrites.livejournal.com]

My interpretation was that she didn't remember exactly what happened. Possibly Mrs. Gillyflower drugged her to unconsciousness before beginning the experiments (just in case the situation wasn't horrific enough). So Mrs. Gillyflower could have told her whatever she wanted and blamed any discrepancies on hysteria. When someone like that keeps drumming a story into your head, you have a tendency to believe it . . .

*shudders slightly* Best monster of the series so far, IMO. Mr. Sweet himself doesn't begin to compare.

[femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com]

Think that was Ada's cell for a while. Think she needed teaching now and again...*cringes* As for the others, I think the Doctor wanted to see Ada before they went to confront her mother...be able to talk to her...

OMG no! Thanks for that image! Poor Ada!

I want to protect her so badly (DAMMIT RACHAEL STIRLING MUST YOU BE SO CHARMING?) and I may have kinda been growling at the TV screen...

[lordshiva.livejournal.com]

I still don't get the Tom Tom joke. I mean. Is there more to the joke than Tom-Tom? Is it a cultural reference thing?

[eve11]

It's a dated joke, he's the Victorian version of the Tom-Tom GPS/sat-nav that people get for their cars so they don't get lost. There used to be commercials where people would ask the Tom-Tom where they should go. But I think their market share is way down from Garmin these days, and things like the general iPhone apps and stuff.

[lostrack621.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I totally missed the Tom-Tom joke first time around. Occasionally there will be Amazon Deal of the Day for Tom Tom GPS in the US, but I believe that Garmin is top-selling (cheaper, more accurate, more bells).

I'm considering this ep to be sort of the "Doctor Lite" episode that we had in the past, although not exactly as hands-off as in Blink, say.

[clocketpatch]

So that's what that was about. I didn't get that joke either and was very much scratching my head about this random street urchin coming out of nowhere and giving directions in a stilted monotone.

I thought he was one of the villains, lol!

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, the Avengers. I adored that show when I was growing up.

Liked this episode very much as well. :)

[eve11]

Well regardless of her prior work, I really think she was brilliant in this episode. "Do you know what these are?.... The wrong hands!" But yeah, all of her scenes were fantastic, especially the pulpit scene and also, oddly enough, the dinner table scene, standing out for me.

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, the dining room scene was beautifully done. Made me meep! :)

[last01standing.livejournal.com]

Definitely my favorite from the current series so far.

The side characters have been wonderful so far this series. I keep really wanting the Doctor to take someone else with him. This episode it was Ada, last time it was the notacyborg...

[eve11]

Definitely my favorite from the current series so far.

Mine too I think. With 'Hide' a close second.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I totally didn't know that the actress who plays Ada is actually Diang Rigg's daughter in real life. Cool. And I didn't get the Tom-Tom joke either. I guessed it was a GPS thing from the way the boy spoke, but his name flew right over my head. But hey, I'm in Canada, so most of the British references fly over my head.

How did they not all burn to death when the rocket shot past?

Yes! I thought this, too. Okay, sure, it's not exactly a modern day rocket, but there's still flames spewing from the back. At the very least, they could have looked singed. Oh well. It was still a fun ep. :-)

[eve11]

Yeah, and I think also the spot where Mrs. Gillyflower fell would have been *extremely* hot. Ah well, it's like that scene over the lava pit from the Temple of Doom, when Indy is trying to rescue stephen spielberg's wife. Totally unrealistic. Heh, Red Leech Venom from the Dawn of Time notwithstanding, even!

Also, ROCKETS! in Victorian Yorkshire! Yes, okay, they did mention Mrs. G was a chemist and mechanical engineer... which was actually fantastically awesome. I think that women megalomaniacs get a bit of a free pass in fiction, or at least in television. Good to see evil villainess-es along with the evil villains every once in a while.

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

You can get TomTom GPS systems in Future Shop... (http://www.futureshop.ca/Search/SearchResults.aspx?path=ca77b9b4beca91fe414314b86bb581f8en20&q=tom%2520tom&sp=FS_en-CA_Site-WideSP&Facet=cFSMCCPCatalogenCADepartments%2523%2523-1%2523%2523-1%257e%257eq746f6d20746f6d%257e%257encFSMCCPCatalogenCAgpscarmarine%2523%25231%2523%2523b&viewall=true)

[femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com]

I love this review! (That... is all I have to say here.)

Oh, and Ada might be showing up in my fics later... if I ever finish this one.

[eve11]

Thanks!

And yes, Ada definitely needs some fic! :D

[femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com]

Your welcome!

She really does (and she's pretty much perfect for where I want to leave Lydia eventually so... yay!?)

[femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com]

So I just posted Ada!Fic on who_at_50 (and my own journal)

[clocketpatch]

Surreal and body horror and creepy. I really enjoyed it too. Seeing Vatstra and Jenny (and Straxx) again was great. I'm really enjoying them as Eleven's current dysfunctional pseudo!family.

Also, while Eleven and Clara were rather sidelined, I very much enjoyed this as an episode where various strong women got stuff done. Not all of them were the good guys, and most of them were very broken human beings (or Earth Reptiles), but none of them just sat around waiting to be rescued (well, aside from Clara, but she didn't have a lot of choice in the matter).