Doctor Who 10.7 "The Pyramid At the End of the World" Review

                                              
This episode alternates between Previously and Now as Bill (Pearl Mackie) goes on another date with Penny (Ronke Adekoleujo) talking about her lecturer and his dreams.  How he's an alien, a space alien and also tells her about the Pope in her flat.  Which they find hilarious, until this time she gets a visit from the UN Secretary General (Togo Igawa) who wants to see the President of the World.  Who just happens to be the Doctor (Peter Capaldi).  He plays guitar, as we get another narration from him about the end of the world.  He's double locked the TARDIS so she can't get in but tells him the UN is here.  He's told about Turmezistan and how there's a giant pyramid there that wasn't there before.  The region being bordered by the three biggest armies of the world.  The Doctor flies there in the plane, with the TARDIS within the plane.

When they they arrive he goes towards the pyramid and it opens with a Monk coming out.  Telling them the earth is doomed and humanity will destroy itself.  As the clocks on their phones reset to 11.57 all around the world.  The Doctor mentioning it's the Doomsday clock and somewhere a disaster will lead to the earth being destroyed.  Yes, but not on his watch.  Oh sorry did that sound like an unintentional pun there?!  They come up with a strategy and the Doctor agrees with the Chinese that they need to demonstrate a show of strength and unity, to avoid World War Three.  Yeah it's the Doctor he doesn't approve such action, but says this time they must since the Monks are not here peacefully.  Each time he tries to tell her about what's wrong with him, they're interrupted.  As Bill asks Nardole (Matt Lucas)but Nardole tells her to speak with him which the Doctor surmizes as much.  As the plane flies in and they're ready to bomb the pyramid, there's a beam of light that shines into the sky and the Monks take over the plane.  Landing it safely and releasing the pilot and crew. As with the other crew.  The Russian saying they tried that action before when they sent in a submarine.

Whilst all this is happening, in the UK, a woman, Erica (Rachel Denning) has her glasses broken after she leaves her bag in the door to pry it open and a man shuts it.  She's a scientist and heads to work with a fellow scientist, Douglas (Tony Gardener) who is too tired to do much work.  She tells him to go home but he can't leave here.  They're developing some sort of a bio-organic enzyme.  As she suits up and tells him to do the readings cos her reading glasses are broken.  Well that was a mistake as we'll see later.  As well as human error.

As they enter the pyramid to find out the Monk's intentions the Doctor knows that they've been watching them for an eternity practically and are also watching that particular lab.  The Monks show them a strand of time a year into the future, where they see destruction of the earth and all of humanity has been wiped out.  They tell them humanity ended itself in this way.  Which comes as a shock to everyone, but the Doctor is still holding onto the strand.  As he would!

They want them to consent, to power consent and invite them in.  So that they can help them avoid this catastrophe as they've been doing so for years.  With power comes consent and with consent comes love.  They must show the Monks their love.  The Secretary General is afraid and he gives them his consent.  However the Monk notices it's not consent or love but he's consenting out of fear and destroys him.  The Doctor takes them back out and tells them there must be some event somewhere they've got to find and stop it from taking place.  Putting secret documents onto the Net and tells them to Google.  However not everyone's willing to do this and the American, Col BRabbit (Eben Young) says he's ready to surrender to them, as is the Chinese, Xiaolian (Daphne Cheung.) Including the Russian, Ilya (Andrew Bryon).  Even after the Doctor tells them it's a bad thing.  In the lab, after they spray the plants, they all die.  Douglas grabs a sample as they exit the chamber. Analysis shows an increase in bacteria which has destroyed the plants.  It will be released into the air when the cycle for venting (as I call it) comes round.  Douglas falls to the floor and is disintegrated.

They go to the pyramid again and the Doctor tells Bill to go with them to watch them.  A bit of a bad idea cos what's she really going to do, when you know she's going to eb the only one left.  As he tells Nardole to hack the feed and stop the Monks from watching the labs, which he narrowed down to 48.  Adding that when the camera in one of the labs comes back online, that's the lab they've been watching.  As they arrive in the TARDIS, he tells Nardole to leave since he won't be able to take the release of the bacteria.  The TARDIS isn't able to leave and Nardole is affected by the vapour.

As the others surrender, they are all destroyed and Bill is left.  But she refuses to consent since she's a nobody.  The Doctor calling himself handsome, intelligent and clever finds the way to destroy bacteria is to burn it and so sets about doing this.  Adding Erica may even ask him out after this.  He's going to blow up the lab before the bacteria can be released into the air.  However he finds he can't get out of the airlock chamber (Crystal Maze anyone?? ha) and needs to override it with a code. Which is a combination and he can't see to enter it.  Nardole is out cold and Bill can't help him.  He tells her to leave the pyramid and in the process has to tell her he's blind since Chasm Forge and she goes back to save the Doctor from dying.  She asks if the Monks can restore his sight and he says yes, so she gives her consent after making an executive decision.  Of course she was going to do this and she also has love for the Doctor in her heart, so the Monk makes him see again, as she saves him.

Next week's episode looks more exciting than this one.  Couldn't help thinking it's been done before.  As Missy finally gets in on some action and the Doctor turns evil-ish.  The Monks demanding love, but why, saying how "fear is inefficient, we must be loved."  Also what is the link they told Bill about when she agreed to giving her consent.  Consent they require before they can conquer the human race.  Obviously she wasn't going to be destroyed.  But it wasn't really love for the Monks, it was more for the Doctor, in my opinion.

This ep also has the title of the 2005 episode The End of the World contained within it.  The Doctor's role as President goes back to 2014 and UNIT needed a President of the Earth for such emergencies and the Doctor was the only one who could do this.  Having also saved Earth on some many occasions.  The Doctor also telling Bill that he's meditating, which past Doctors have done on numerous occasions too.  Pyramids also feature heavily in Doctor Who, ranging from the episode with River, The Wedding of River Song which contained Area 52 within it.  In The Dalek's Master Plan, the Doctor went up against the Monk at the Pyramid in Giza.  Funny part was Bill saying they probably need to be invited in like vampires.  But the Doctor dismisses that idea since he's already dealt with vampires before, in State of Decay.

Once Upon A Time 6.21/22 "The Final Battle" Parts 1&2 Review

                                             
The beginning opens with a father running to save his daughter and telling her to take the book and run...

The Black Fairy's curse struck and Once turned back the clock to the beginning, all the way to season 1 for the most part and did a doubletake on the Evil Queen's curse!!  People were in Storybrooke (some of them) and could recall nothing of their past except that Fiona/The Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) was now Madam Mayor taking over from Regina.  Also as Regina (Lana Parilla) did she locked people up in the hospital.  This time, Emma (Jennifer Morrison) cos she believed in fairytales and fantasies and was loony!  But hey last time I looked, what you believe in didn't make you a crackpot.  To the point where Henry (Jared S Gilmore) remembers everything and visits Emma there. Only once again she doesn't want to believe in the book or fairytales and is having trouble remembering anything too.  Especially since all she can do now is paint a swan!!  Much the same as the early episodes and Henry trying to convince her about the real stories in the book and who she really is, i.e the Saviour, he had much the same bad luck in trying his best again this time round.

Fiona now taking over Regina's role as said and even telling everyone she's his mother, as Regina is/was.  Henry tells Emma not to do anything Fiona tells her to do but that's easier said that done. Emma was nothing more than a shell of her former self and once again just gives up one everything too easily.  I mean later she said she doesn't want to return to the hospital after Henry breaks her out, but she wasn't even trying to get out, even swallowing the pill Fiona convinces her to take.  As well as Henry trying to show her the new page with the runes.  You wouldn't blame Henry if he just gave up!

It appears she has even got Rumples (Robert Carlyle) round her little finger with everyone calling her Madam Mayor including Rumples and Gideon (Giles Matthey).  Who's bitter cos Belle (Emilie de Ravin) is meant to have just left them, you know the story, went to the store one day and never came back.  Though Rumples tries to convince him that she loves him and wouldn't just do that by showing him the book, 'Her Handsome Hero' and reading the inscription.  But Gideon doesn't want to believe either, content in fixing watches, as Fiona gives him one to fix as well.  But you know there's always something more going on with Rumples, as last time he was one of the people who recalled everything and still had his memories intact.  SO if we're going on the basis of the first curse, then Rumples still remembers everything.

The others, Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) Charming (Josh Dallas) Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) and Regina all find themselves in the Enchanted Forest.  Reggie dressed as the Evil Queen in her 'rock' outfit from the musical ep.  Hook wants to find Emma and Henry's not here either.  Regina saying they've got to owe it to the Black Fairy as she took them back to he Charming's wedding day and where they got married.  There's no way to get out and Zelena (Rebecca Mader) turns up with the Mad Hatter's hat.  Regina commenting it was 'destroyed'.  Well at least she got to use her favourite word again in the season finale.  Zelena tells her he was a hatter, he'd have more than one.  However they can't create a portal to Storybrooke and as she pulls away the curtain, she find there's nothing behind the curtain, Oz is all gone.  All of the worlds are being destroyed as Jasmine (Karen David) and Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz) also find they got out before Agrabah vanished too.

Regina thinks she can find a way back with a spell but finds most of her ingredients are missing and someone's been stealing them.  Only it's her other half, the Evil Queen who's here with Robin.  She had to turn up here cos everyone thought she was really her and so she and Robin turned to a life of good and stole from the rich to give to the poor.  Together they think they can muster something. After Regina refuses to listen to Hook and his idea.  Charming follows him as he climbs the beanstalk cos he's his son-in-law now and can't let him go alone.  He recalls Hook, the pirate tried to kill Emma and Snow and that was back then.  He's changed now and he didn't even realize he and Emma would have any sort of a story together, or were even destined to be together with a happy ending.  He retrieves the magic bean but as they descend the beanstalk, the stalk shakes since the giant was awakened.

Back at the castle, they find that everything is being engulfed and Regina says it's cos Emma's losing hope and the Black Fairy is making her forget everything.   Back in Storybrooke, she convinces Emma to return to Boston where she was happy and takes the book from Henry.  After Henry rescues Emma, he takes her to the rooftop where they were married and tells her to meet him back here as he'll help her escape.  Unfortunately Henry goes back for the book, where the Black Fairy is waiting for him and she pushes him down the stairs with her magic.  Henry in hospital with a broken arm, she again convinces Emma to burn the book since it's the right thing to do.  As she does, the book opens on a picture of Hook.  Emma packs to leave and Henry can't make her stay.

Hook falls off the beanstalk, as does Charming and as he gets back to the castle, he finds the bean is no longer magical but shrivelled up, again cos of Emma's actions.  Snow returns to find Charming and does so, cos they always s find each other and uses true love's kiss to revive him with flashes to when he did the same for her.  The Evil Queen tries to help them and Regina doesn't want her to be left behind cos she'll be killed.

The Black Fairy returns to the store for her wand telling Gideon that Rumples doesn't know but she still has Gideon's heart.  He has to do everything she tells him and he finds the wand, which will help her in translating the runes Henry drew.  Rumples is shown photos of Belle travelling around the world cos that's what she always wanted to do.  Also proving he was right about his mother all along. As he returns to the shop, she realizes he does remember after all and after finding Belle who was hiding out in a house where the Black Fairy was keeping her.  Using a spell to follow her favourite book there.  The Black Fairy thinks he will choose her over Belle and she tells him she's sent Gideon to kill Emma since it's not a battle over light vs darkness, but light versus light.  Also saying she can reverse everything and help him get Bae back, bringing him back from the dead.  But Rumples isn't falling for it, as he kills her.  Belle walking in to see what he's done.  They must find his heart so that he doesn't kill Emma, he's going to save his son once again.  Emma having returned from Boston after seeing the book Henry left for her.  Henry also knowing Rumples remembers everything as he's been whipping up spells and he asks for two things from him, cos he's also his grandpa, walking away with the sword.

Rumples finds his heart but is met by the Crocodile Rumples and says that he can go travelling the world and have power and then destroy the world later on as well, but he's not convinced.  He  has Gideon's heart and he wants to do the right thing.  As Gideon and Emma fight, and the others return and Regina convinces Emma that she has a third choice.  That when they fought over Henry when she first arrived here, they came up with a compromise, they could both be his mother.  She also says that in the final battle she loses either way, since either way light will end. Emma throws the sword down and Gideon kills her.  With lots of light around, Rumples finds his heart is shrivelled and tells Belle he made the right choice but it didn't help.  Henry kisses Emma and wakes her up again with true love's kiss no doubt.  As Rumples and Belle hear a baby crying.  It's Gideon so they can spend their time with him all over again as they should have done.  As Belle tells him it's not the end but a very happy beginning.

                                    

With all the lands replaced including Agrabah, Wonderland.  Everyone gets their new beginning and Snow says it was always about hope and now they'll get to find what happens next.  Meeting at Granny's (Beverley Elliott) for dinner.  Grumpy (Lee Arenberg) Sneezy (Gabe Khouth) and Sleepy (Faustino Di Bauda)  give Regina a new sign on the door reading 'Regina Mills Queen.'
The girl from the beginning rides on the train in Boston and ends up at her 'father's house since Tiger Lily (Sara Tomko) told her she'll reunite with him one day and she doesn't know what will happen then. The door is opened but he doesn't know her.  Only he does really, she tells him he's Henry (Andrew J West) her father.  She's Lucy Mills (Alison Fernandez). As we return to the beginning again when Henry tried to convince Emma of her destiny and who she actually was! Coming round full circle in what was to be the series finale in season 6, but fear not, Once returns for a season 7 as we all know by now, but without at least half of the cast.  As we're probably now going to get 'Henry's Story.'  I thought the girl was Baby Robin for some reason!  But then that wouldn't have been her father, who was Robin.

Doctor Who 10.6 "Extremis" Review

                                      
A fitting picture as Peter gave an interview not too long ago about how the Doctor could defeat the current President!!

This ep opens again with a narration, this time about death.  Timely obviously since the blindness and the regeneration foreshadowing, mentioned here again.  As the man, Rafando (Ivanno Jerimiah) who was also kind of priest-like (okay more from an ep of Stargate SG-1) on another planet asks the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) to kill another Time Lord, as only a Time Lord can do this.  At first glance it appears the Doctor is the one being sentenced to be executed.  This being Missy (Michelle Gomez) as we know.  Before proceedings begin, the Doctor returns back to the present day where he gets a visit from the Cardinal (Joseph Long) telling him about the Veritas book, which when read, leads the reader to commit suicide.  As well as a visit from the Pope.  With Nardole (Matt Lucas) having to act as his eyes.  The Cardinal reminds the Doctor about Pope Benedict IX in 1045 and the Doctor adding he couldn't help it, he was lured by her castanets!  [Ohh Doctor Who and an innuendo.]

Bill (Pearl Mackie) goes on a date with Penny (Ronke Adekoluejo) and brings her round to her flat, saying she moved out but it didn't work out.  Her mother thinks she's got a man in the bathroom but is fine when she finds out it's a woman.  Penny is nervous and Bill reassures her this isn't really anything yet.  Until she hears the TARDIS in her bedroom, saying it's the pipes.  However the Pope pops out and there are other priests in her room.  Bill tells the Doctor he can't do this and Penny runs away.  Nardole programmes the TARDIS to the Vatican library and the Pope wants him to help with the Veritas and to read it.  However that's a problem cos he's blind.

The Cardinal telling them to follow him since they'll get lost in the vastness of it all.  Then they see a blue light and the Cardinal says there's no door there, just a wall.  The Doctor having to 'see' through his shades but can only see rudimentary read outs of what's ahead and also the read outs of the people.  With Nardole having to guide him and tell him what's happening since the Doctor doesn't want anyone to know and especially not Bill, since she'll worry about him and he doesn't want anyone to worry about him, only about themselves.  Nardole adding, if she finds out then it'll make his blindness real.  Funny he should refer to real as they're in a world of games which aren't real, as we'll find out.

The Cardinal vanishes into the wall removed by some shadowy creature.  As the others find a priest in the cage.  One of the lost translators who has a gun and has shot the lock off.  He says he 'sent it' and runs away with the gun.  Inside is a laptop and it has wifi, of course it does, the Doctor adds this is a library.  The chair also ash restraints and the Doctor tells them to check on the priest as a gunshot is heard.  Nardole saying he's dead anyway, as the Doctor's glasses read he's terminated.  He reassures them he won't read the book without them here.  The Doctor plugs a device onto his head which he hopes will help him see for a little while and the strange creature approaches him.  As the Doctor tries to readjust his sight and gather his bearings.  He asks the creature, thinking it's the Cardinal to strap him into the chair.  But the creature is revealed as being some sort of mummified zombie-ish alien and takes the book.  However the Doctor has his trusty Sonic and runs away with the laptop, which has a copy of the Veritas.  He opens it and the text reads ;"The Shadow Test."

Nardole and Bill find themselves in the Pentagon and leave when asked if they have clearance. They're in a place with light portals and Nardole sticks his head into another one, walking through it. This leads them to 'CERN' where the scientists who received the email are in the canteen, having their last booze up before they explode.  Nardole tells Bill to look under the table and finds explosives under all of them.  The scientist asks them to think of  a number and they both end up thinking of the same random numbers.  Finally running away before the explosion.  Nardole says the portals are projections and they're in some sort of a computer game and aren't real.  Like Grand Theft Auto.  He puts his hand behind the projector and vanishes.  Mentioning he's some sort of a hologram as in Star Trek.  (That reference gain.)

The Doctor is meant to kill Missy and at the last minute is approached by a hooded figure who tells him about hope and being a witness.  It's Nardole who has River's journal and has been instructed to kick his arse if need be.  Missy begs for her life as she's his friend and she will change.  She will give up all hope and not bear witness.  The Doctor electrocutes her.  However she's revealed not to be dead, merely sleeping.  The Doctor asks Rafando to look up how many fatalities he's had and the computer keeps searching.  They all run away and the Doctor tells them he didn't kill her as she's his friend.  In the present day, the Doctor tells Missy he needs her now.

Bill finds the Doctor in the oval office with the President dead after taking pills.  Now that was a deft allusion if ever there was one to the current one, okay tongue-in-cheek.  But gosh darn it, if it's all a game, then that President wasn't real!  He tells her this isn't real and explains how the numbers are generated on the computer with everyone coming up with the same numbers, only a computer can't do that.  She says this is real and she's real, she's really here and she can feel it.  The Doctor explaining by reference to SuperMario just giving up playing the game by deleting himself.  Bill disappears in the same way Nardole did.  The Doctor being approached by the alien.  The Doctor being told he's not real, but he says he is.  Recalling Missy's words of 'no hope and no witness...'  The Doctor tells the alien they're all shadows and practising their end game which is to take over the world (isn't it always.) But he has everything on his glasses including the book, which he sends via e-mail to his glasses and his future self so he can warn himself of what's happening.  He finds himself back at the vault and needing Missy.

The Doctor borrowing his eyesight from the future even if he doesn't know the consequences of doing so, like dying within the next 20 minutes, being blind still or anything, was to move us and as said especially since the episode was mentioning death quite a bit, including that of Missy.  As well as the Doctor urging Bill to call Penny now and she says he's out of her league.  However he replies she's not and to do it.  Knowing what will occur.  It was almost like the end of time.  The Doctor also not having to read the book as he could listen to the audio on the computer.  Does this mean it doesn't and won't have the same effect of the Doctor wanting, needing, well having to kill himself as he hasn't actually 'read' it.  Also as he tells Bill those people didn't kill themselves but needed to escape.

Then there was Bill's reference to Harry Potter when she sees the size of the library and the Doctor mentioning religion. As well as getting to see that he made his promise to guard the vault for a thousand years.  Though who exactly wanted Missy dead isn't revealed at this stage.

With Nardole also telling him River had him followed from Mendorax Dellora, where the 2015 Christmas Special was set, The Husbands of River Song.

Most importantly perhaps was how the Doctor explains he may have also messed up his future regenerations, leaving us thinking...since "something is coming, something big and very bad."  Said creatures known as 'Monks'.  What else really considering we've had the Pope and the Vatican.  Well speaking of shadows, had pangs of Silence In the Library here and with River's journal floating around, which the Doctor now kept with him.  So if he wasn't real that journal wouldn't have been real either.  Silly Monks!  Didn't realize that.  More to come as this is meant to be a three-part story, taking us up to episode 8.

Doctor Who 10.5 "Oxygen" Review

                                       
Another ep about being stranded in space and poignant opening words from the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) about "Space: the final frontier, final because it wants to kill us, sometimes we forget that, start taking it all for granted, the suits, the ships, the little bubbles of safety as they protect us from the void but the void is always waiting..."  Not at all like Star Trek, I say sarcastically, ha, but he lectures on the dos and don'ts of what you should do in space, as he draws a nice neat-ish skull on the blackboard!  As if anyone but him is ever going to find themselves in space.  But also cos he misses travelling.  Perhaps one distress call he shouldn't have answered but of course as he said it's the distress call that shows how you react to it that shows your humanity.  Well I paraphrased it quite a bit.  This time Nardole (Matt Lucas) tags along cos he hasn't been doing much of anything lately, but also to remind the Doctor that he has to look after the vault since no one else can do it and he promised.  Telling him he took out the fluid link from the TARDIS, however he's got the real one, so they can still travel. Reminding us too that the Doctor lies.  Just incase you'd forgotten.

Another episode of course where they have to do a lot of running around on the space station outpost after everyone has been killed due to lack of oxygen in their suits and become walking zombies. Known as Chasm Forge, a copper mining community and as is explained by ?? they have a helluva lot of mining to do before they make any profit.  Which should've sent warning bells sounding since they wouldn't be making much money and having 40 people there too.  Thus a new commodity, oxygen.  The life force of most every living creature on the planet and most definitely in space.  Out of 40 people only 4 survived and he must find them since Bill (Pearl Mackie) and Nardole wanted to leave.  Don't know why they feared being there, Bill and Nardole that is, not like they haven't been through anything worse than this.  Though as a consequence of saving Bill, the Doctor suffers again. This time going blind, which he says is temporary.  As her suit malfunctions quite a lot.  Funny it should be hers and no one else's.

Some more references to discrimination and racism since the blue person, Dahh-Ren (Peter Caulfield) calls Bill a racist.  Her replying she's the one who goes through it.  Nardole adding "some of my best friends are blue-ish" in that typical 'I'm not a racist fashion, but I am really' people do!  As well as Abby (Mimi Ndiwini) being rather uppity and not letting the Doctor do what he has to without questioning him. He was there to rescue them after all.  Finding that the station is based on capitalism and money. Having to pay for the oxygen they use up.  Then having their suits depleted of oxygen.  As they run about from section to section, the Doctor demands to know what happened and needs a map of the station.  Obviously they would be chased by the suits, again for money.  Nardole saying he recognizes the voice of the Bill's suit as Emma, who is now Velma.

As the zombie chase ensues with the zombies after them to kill them, the Doctor realizes it wasn't about a hack or malfunction, the suits deliberately deprived the wearer of oxygen and the depleted oxygen was put back so that it could be sold off again.  And as each section they escape to is by the zombies, they enter the air hatch but they need proper helmets to withstand the pressure outside, as they'll be exposed to the vaccuum of space. Obviously Bill's helmet can't be placed on her head (why was Bill a target?  Just cos she got pot luck with that suit, the luck of the draw.  But she also flashes back to her mother's photo from last ep.)  As she can't move her arms.  The Doctor and Nardole tell her not to breathe deep as she'll explode her lungs and as she begins to pass out, she comes too and is okay.  Nardole telling her that the Doctor gave her his helmet, as he would and has suffered blindness as a consequence.

He has to struggle on as he always does and finally gets an idea, he plugs all five of them into the station supply, thus he explains they will die but it is better to die like this.  As he tells Bill he has to leave her stranded with the zombies since her suit won't let her move and cos of the gravity she can't be carried.  He tells them there's no rescue ship and the ship was dispatched before their distress call, which Ivan (Kieran Bew) confirms.  Thus effectively it's their replacements that are being sent out now.  More commodities for payment.  Actually they were seen as organic and their suits telling them to "please remain calm whilst your central nervous system is disabled."

The Doctor tells the zombies they can't kill them otherwise the whole station will explode and it will cost them more to lose the station than it will to keep them alive.  So the zombies give them their own oxygen and Bill didn't die really.  He soldiered on with "no TARDIS, Sonic screwdriver, ten minutes of oxygen left and now I'm blind."  The Sonic being bent out of shape when the zombie got hold of it and it clung to him.  And the TARDIS being on the other side of the airlock, as it would be.  He drops Abby and Ivan off at head office since they're going to complain.

He tells Nardole he can't see and the TARDIS couldn't fix his eyesight.  But what of his guarding the vault now.  (Yes sneak peak of Missy at the end!!)  As Nardole is worried whatever's in there will pick up on his disability.  Probably seeing (sorry) he's not strong enough to control it.  Does this signal the start of his regeneration since his eyes are damaged.  Or is it more a reflection on his inability to regenerate with his eyes not being restored.

Written by Jamie Mathieson, who also wrote the excellent eps, Mummy On The Orient Express, Flatline and The Girl Who Died.  But my fave one was the mummy ep and this was similar in many ways as the Mummy on the train.  As for the Star Trek references, there's also another cool part where the Doctor and Nardole speak of how the doors should sound when they open and Nardole refers to the "shuck, shuck" just like Enterprise!  But the Doctor prefers the 'whoosing'.   Nardole also admitting he does have a criminal past as he was on the run with his girlfriend, Emma and he got his 'new face' too.

Impressive speeches by the Doctor about "the end point of capitalism" and how this is it.  "A bottom line where a human life has no value at all.  We're fighting an algorithm, a spreadsheet...we're fighting the suits"  Since that was a not so subtle reference, well metaphor,  to corporations rather than the spacesuits.  He said similar last ep about humanity and seems to be quite a theme this series.

Next ep reminds me Silence In the lIbaray what with River's journal, Missy too and the vast amount of books in the Vatican.  How will the Doctor fare without his sight?

Once Upon A Time 6.20 "The Song In Your Heart" Review

                                                    
OUAT's musical episode and I have to say it was much better than I expected it to be, though some did leave a little to be desired with their singing,  (yes Emma and Reggie was a little 'deep' at times) but did an amiable job!  Infact Regina (Lana Parilla) kinda reminded me of Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd for some reason, but then I heard Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) sing and I thought he was more a Johnny sound alike for some reason, or perhaps it was just me (as always!  ha).  As Colin told TVLine, "just as the show takes those sort of characters that everybody knows and makes them fresh and new, in a sense that's what happened [with the music.]"

This one went back to the curse but also to Emma (Jennifer Morrison) when she was an orphan and her humming the Once tune, Emma's Theme,  into the recorder.  Okay don't want to boast here but knew that music and that tune would have an impact on her years later and as a piece of foreshadowing earlier on it did work, since it was always in her heart, hence the title.  So expected that would happen and the way Henry (Jared S Gilmore) kept looking at the tape recorder, and they kept showing it too.  Strange that Emma should bring it out now.  Also how the book depicted that page where the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) visited Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) and gave her the gift of song so she wouldn't be alone.

The songs going back to the time of the curse and how Snow and Charming just began singing one day after Snow wishing upon the star and finally thinking they had a way to defeat Regina: with a song.  Though she didn't like the singing aspect of it, Reggie as the Evil Queen did get fully into the musical swing of things.  Snow and Charming wanting passage to her castle and looking for Hook to do it.  Clearly he was still focused on getting revenge on the Crocodile (funny they didn't know that the crocodile was the Dark One until he said it.)  Still it was a fitting song of Revenge Is Gonna be Mine, cos that's what he had in his heart.  Then as Hook also confronts Rumples (Robert Carlyle) back in Storybrooke with the dreamshade and yet Rumple's still managed to bounce back and steal the curse remedy that Regina had concocted along with Zelena's (Rebecca Mader) help.  Thinking she can turn back time, it's always about time as the clock tower will strike 6 and the curse will be let loose as the final battle between Emma and the Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) will ensue.

Though once again the Black Fairy gets one over on Emma as she freezes all her loved ones and she tells her she's been listening to them on her magic ball.  Emma's powers once again being lost as her hand freezes and trembles again.  It takes Henry to convince her that she can do this, but she decides the Black Fairy wants her heart so she will give it to her and then Henry won't be alone and she will have saved everyone as the Saviour.  But as the Saviour that's not up to her, she has to do everything she can to save the world, (or just Storybrooke) but it doesn't mean easily giving in to self sacrifice. Of course spoilt sport Rumples didn't sing!  As did none of the other cast aside from the main characters.

Zelena had a catchy song as the Wicked Witch, you see "Wicked Always Wins!"  Hey I said wicked too and then she sang it.  Giving a spell to Regina that would make the singing stop. Which Regina uses on the Charming's when they come to confront her.  Expecting to have their way and win with love, which didn't quite go according to plan.

By now everyone knows by now that Rumples didn't deal with his mother cos he wants to keep his family together.  Also the page appearing for Henry out of nowhere really and he finds that Emma isn't alone and she can have her victory over the Black Fairy but she already takes her heart as Henry plays the tune for her and shows her the page.  Emma bursting into song and realizing they never left her and she always had her parents in her heart.  Thereby bringing them out of their frozen state as the Black Fairy vanishes, but not for long.

So it's a wedding in Storybrooke and Hook finally wore a decent tux instead of that old, white ugly thing!  And yet more singing, this part reminded me of Grease and Charming in his leather pants earlier on! ha.  But after the happy new beginning, all hell breaks loose with the curse finally being released and Emma says no matter where they end up they will be together one day.

                                         
See did this not remind you of Grease?!
Not a bad episode after all as I said and Regina even getting to sing "bitch" in her Love Doesn't Stand A Chance song, will have to listen to those again.  So with the season (or series) finale we have to see if the curse will be the end and if the Black Fairy be sent back to oblivion.  But not if Rumples has anything to do with it.  Also Belle didn't get a song and wasn't even in this ep!

Doctor Who 10.4 "Knock Knock" Review

                                            
Ye olde haunted house ep but not in the sense of ghosts, which made a change.  Though we did get the spooky sounds and creaky floorboards just what you'd expect in an old house.  Another one of those Doctor Who eps where you get the mass of potential Vics, like the hotel ep The God Complex, with Doctor Eleven (Matt Smith) and a few other eps too.  Bill (Pearl Mackie) decides she an d her five friends all need to move in somewhere and can't find a suitable house, until they chance upon one owned by a old codger who's willing to give them all a lease, subject to signing of course.  Which means not only signing away your life, well literally it did, but also everything you own, cos you won't be needing it!  Ha.  Of course Bill was right when she queried why it was being rented dirt cheap, always the case with such properties in real life too.  No it's true, you have to know what you're getting into cos there's not much you can do after you've bought it.

Bill waits for the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) to arrive in his TARDIS so she can move her things, well he can move them and also get a chance to suss something's not quite right with the tower or the house.  The tower being off limits.  Then the trees are moving but there's no winds so he's staying, as she has to introduce him as her grandfather, the Doctor.  But surely they all know him from the uni anyway.  Paul (Ben Presley) has got a bit of a thang for her and asks hr out to the freshers party in     the park, as well as helping her with the boxes.  Pavel's (Bart Suavek) locked himself away with his music, but he's already missing, the first Vic.

Everyone heard noises and some tiny footstep like sounds from the floor above Harry's (Colin Ryan) room.  That sound to me was like someone's false teeth chattering, seriously not insects at all or lice as the Doctor referred to them.  Of course they were wood lice of the alien variety, what else would you find in wood and the walls.  The Doctor's staying for Chinese too as he tries to eat a prawn cracker without too much noise. As the old codger landlord (David Suchet) turns up again with his tuning fork.  There's plenty of things need fixing and the  Doctor is right, so he says he'll get onto that as a landlord cos he can't have them moving out. They haven't noticed Pavel missing since they say he spends ages in his room trying to get used to it.

The house tries to shut them in as the others go to bed, Bill tells Paul that she's into girls and he's not really disappointed cos yeah he wasn't rejected for a fellow bloke!  Though Shireen's (Mandeep Dhillon) into him.  He makes sounds and then he vanished too when they knock on his door and there are knocks back (ha that could've been a pun, sorry!)  Then knocks are heard from all around them and as the doors close they try to find the way into the tower, which had to be behind a bookcase naturally.  Here they find abed and a musical box which Shireen opens, as well as the man's daughter, Eliza (Mariah Gale).

The Doctor and Harry try to stop Felicity (Alice Hewkin) from leaving but she manages to get out through the window only to be swallowed by the tree outside.  The Doctor then discovers the lice, which he thinks could be wood nymphs or triads as he calls them cos it's better than lice.  As the kitchen's infested with them, the Doctor and Harry escape through the lift or rather the dumb butler kinda lift, surprised that worked and is met with the Landlord again.  The Doctor talks about his daughter and how she couldn't be saved but he's a Doctor so he can help.  As Harry runs and is swallowed up in the stairs by the lice, okay alien triads!  Bill and Shireen meet Eliza and she's all wood, anyone think Pinocchio here?  They end up in the tower and the Doctor tells them the story of how he found the insects in the garden and bought them in to show his daughter, which helped her. Asking why a father would bring in insects to her when she was ill.  And what would he be doing pottering around in the garden, maybe some gardening.

The Doctor realizes she's not his daughter but he's her son, since he's older than her but is still younger.  Only a boy would bring in insects from outside to show his mother.  They made her wooden and also the vibrations from the music brings them out, as the Landlord does so now using his tuning fork.  The Doctor tells her she's the parent and she needs to control this now and she makes the insects disappear.  He tells her she needs to see the world outside, after all what's the use of surviving if hes' stuck inside.  Eliza tells him she has to make this right and this is their time to end this.  She brings the others back as they run out of the house and it destroys itself.

The Doctor gets back with takeout as Nardole (Matt Lucas) tells him he doesn't need to go off world since terr are plenty of threats and enemies here.  He tells him to have a break cos he's hungry and he wants to look after the vault now.  Which plays Beethoven's Fur Elise on the piano.  Nardole commenting he put a piano in there.  He tells whatever's inside the vault the story with plenty of death and it begins to play again, this time, Pop Goes the Weasel.  Still can't help but say it just looks like it's all be done before.  As for the 'knock, knock' jokes well, there was one funny bit when the Doctor says what?  Doctor What??  Ha.  Okay maybe it was just me then!

Clearly the Doctor will always be around to solve whatever mystery or event needs to be unfolded even if he drops massive hints for grandfather to leave, he thinks he's too old to be a grandfather, but of course we know that in his 'real' life he is one.  Also how  he needs to be here cos he helps earth as we know.  He also tells Bill about the Time Lords, that's his species and they have big collars.  Bill: "sounds posh, do you wear robes and big hats?"  Although Bill wasn't too curious to know more about them and what happened to them, if anything.  She'd rather just have this time to spend with her flat mates and herself.  Bill does mention the puddle again and the robots, as well as the big fish.

David Suchet was menacing and not a hint of Poirot anywhere (though the little grey cells must've been working overtime!  ha.  Bill is knocked for having Little Mix on her phone and the house was the same one from the ep Blink.  Let's not forget Bill muttering "Indiana Jones" when she was at the bookcase.  Also we got the Doctor's allusion to regenerating here, so that was a bit too timely a mention, saying, "sleep is for tortoises, unless we've regenerated or had a big lunch."  Which would've been a little cryptic for Bill.  But we knew what it meant and means for the future!  Funnily enough or not, the Doctor brings Mexican food back and not Chinese, so who has a penchant for Mexico, though we know the last series had a trip to New Mexico with UNIT and the Zygon
invasion, though Mexico isn't the same thing I know.  Also Rose (Billie Pipe) had a friend named Shireen too.

As for the Landlord saying who wouldn't try to save their mother, a reference to Bill and her own mother.  Sure there's some foreshadowing going on here and scope for an episode with her mother. The Landlord could've been a great spin-off series here with David Suchet in the title role, continuing his dastardly removal of humans! In a little Psycho-esque mode!

Once Upon A Time 6.19 "The Black Fairy" Review

                                     
At least this ep had quite a bit going on.  With Rumples  (Robert Carlyle) using dragon breath to awaken the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) since she's the one who knows where the rest of the wand is and the Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) getting agitated cos she knows her dark secret. Obviously we were going to find that out too since it wasn't conducive to have that drag out for weeks, especially nearing the end of the season.  So we get flashbacks to his mother, Fiona/Black Fairy, giving birth to Rumples and always singing a song to him, but not even naming him.  As the Blue Fairy and Tiger Lily (Sara Tomko) arrive, Tiger Lily being his fairy godmother and his protector since Rumples is the Saviour and destined to be a great hero! Of course Fiona wasn't too happy with this since she didn't want to lose him and they shouldn't have told her, with hindsight, cos she really lost the plot when she found this out and not in a good.  She reads all the magic and spells and wants to find the child with the crescent tat who will kill her son.

Tiger Lily tries to stop her since she's here to protect him, but Fiona tricks her into taking her wand and using her powers on herself to become a fairy too.  Yeah it wa s more important to become a fairy than a mother.  Travelling the land looking for the tattooed child born that winter, but not finding them. Also explaining why she kept stealing all the babies!  The Blue Fairy and Tiger Lily interfering again when she wants powers and has a spell to help him, but Tiger Lily finds it's a spell to cast a dark curse.  As they try to stop her, Tiger Lily also gives her the shears to sever her powers and stop this.  As the Blue Fairy arrives to stop her from crushing Tiger Lily's heart.  But Fiona takes the shears and removes Rumples' powers instead.  Knowing that's what she wanted all along.

As the Blue Fairy awakes she tells them wand is at the heart of Storybrooke, which was cryptic so leading the others to look for it.  However, Snow tries to strangle her, was going to say why is Snow's hand on her throat.  Turns out Snow is the Black Fairy and Charming was Gideon (Giles Matthey). So she searches for the wand too but why bother when it's just easier to come out and take the spoils after they've already been found.  Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) the real ones arrive at the clock tower cos it's the heart of town but don't find anything.  'ere Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) was desperate in getting answers from the Blue Fairy as to where the wand was, barely giving her time to  recover let alone open her eyes.  See the Black Fairy got that trick from Reggie about pretending to be someone else!

Regina (Lana Parilla) has Zelena (Rebecca Mader) staying with her now as she tries to assemble a flat pack cot for Robin.  She regrets not having any power and Regina tells he it'll take time to get used to it.  She didn't have any powers for 28 years during the time of the curse.  However she has an idea how she can help during the final battle.  Regina buys her a car so she can leave here when things go wrong and take Henry (Jared S Gilmore) with her.  So he can look after her!  Does Henry still need looking after though, he's old enough isn't he.

They realize the centre of the heart means something different for fairies and that it's at Granny's (Beverley Elliott) who isn't too happy with Regina messing up the lunchtime orders!  Hook and Charming find it under the jukebox and Regina takes it.  However the Black Fairy turns up again and Regina challenges her.  However she can't do much and is about to be taken care of until Zelena arrives and runs her over, making the Black Fairy vanish for now.  Appears it was easier to learn to drive for Zelena when aiming at something.

Rumples finds the way he can see where Gideon's heart is by using Morpheas' sleeping powder.  As he tells Belle (Emilie de Ravin) he must do this and asks if she trusts him.  He takes Gideon and Emma with him.  He tells her he couldn't have her killing the Black Fairy when he wasn't around until he finds his heart.  Ending up in the house where he was born.  Emma telling him she knows what it's like to be an orphan and have no one.  But he tells her it's not the same.  This isn't Gideon's dream but Rumples'.  She wasn't a good mother at all, she didn't even name him.  Seems Rumples doesn't have much of a track record when it comes to women, especially since Milah left him in the lurch too with their son!  He finds Gideon but it's Rumples' basket and Emma says he needs to find out for himself and to do it for Gideon.  Rumples finds out her secret, that he was the Saviour and she took his powers and made him a coward.  Emma tells him he must fight her and not her fight. Obviously it won't turn out that way.  He's not going to kill his mother no matter what he thinks of her.  Oh and as for his father, will he wasn't much of a father, makes you wonder why Fiona married him.  Again the same with Milah too cos Rumples wasn't much of a father, even though he tried to do the right thing by Bae.  Rumples' father being the one to name him, Rumpelstiltskin.

Heading back he's given the wand and he meets with the Black fairy but she convinces him otherwise.  He's not happy she took his powers cos she wanted powers for herself, of course it's the same with him, he could never give up his powers either.  So like mother like son.  Though he does get Gideon's heart back, which he did for him for once but then promptly lies to both Belle and Gideon!  Including the others, as he gives them a shrivelled black heart saying it's her's.  Snow now saying the wedding can go ahead.  How could Rumples not see she was still lying and manipulating him!

Oh no just thought the OUAT musical ep, it's not going to be the wedding?!!  Cos you know, the alternate dream reality ep where Emma was wondering around as a princess singing!
Hook wants Henry as the best man cos they've been through quite a lot.  As the Black Fairy prepares for the showdown and now has Rumpels on her side too.  Seems the meddling fairies had a lot to answer for with their interfering and blabbing!  I mean remember Sleeping Beauty, they couldn't save her either.  Although Cinderella go to go to the ball.  Let's not forget we haven't had Tiger Lily's story yet about how she arrived at Neverland!  Oh and it says plenty about why Rumples' father ended up as Peter Pan.  Thus maybe her story has something to do with him, seeing as the Lost Boys were after her too.  So Rumples could take care of his father, but couldn't take his mother's life!  Yet still lied to his family straight to their faces, so much for wanting to give his son a fresh start.

Ghost Adventures 14.6 "Exorcism in Erie" Commentary

A first for Ghost Adventures (GA) as it ventures into showing an exorcism in the show and it was much needed by the family and especially by Chris.  The last one they touched upon was return to Bobby Mackey's Music World, which was with Zak, but it wasn't filmed.  Which is why he said he understands what Chris was going through here.

At 27.33 the voice says, "who's they?"  Followed by:"three."  
Also there were three of them there at the time: Zak, Billy and Aaron.  Oh boy is my mind working overtime or what??  But could also be a reference to the Holy Trinity! More specifically in context as the next response that comes up is at 28.08 is "ghost".  Again perhaps in reference to the Holy Ghost?? Especially with the, "I'm bleeding" coming through next and the bloody handprint on the wall that wasn't there!  Especially also in reference to Jesus Christ and his bleeding. The stigmata.  Manipulation with the female voice! (Not being flippant but I would've taken a swab for analysis to see what that handprint consisted of.) As well as plenty of mockery!

Crazy energy and evil there in that moment! The hooves sound later on and the horns on the bedposts and they were hot as in hell burning hot!  The hooves though, making its presence known!  Followed by the black mass!

Wow remember Loftus Hall and how the devil came a-calling to that place with his hooves and everything else. Well this GA just brought it right home for real.

At 29.02 the voice says, "I am spirit" Not 'soul'!  It was a "strange voice" as Zak says and it sounds like it has an accent. 

Wasn't intending to write about this ep for various reasons, such as 'oh look am writing at Devil's Hour!'  No, seriously that was a strange one, in actually witnessing the exorcism and how it affected the family who finally got the help they needed for their son.  But more so I was fine watching it, then got chills for some reason and the room felt so cold and legs felt like jelly.  

That dark mist hovering which was only seen by Bill Chappell's Mag Cam or the naked eye, but the photo was validation that it was around.  As well as the Puck with "HourBishopUs."

Wonder why Jay got slapped like that, surely hope it wasn't his tattoos again, but it was manipulating as well as showing its presence towards all of them.  Billy felt anxiety with his increase in heart rate just as Jay did.  (Billy going through similar at King's Tavern.  Luckily this one wasn't as scary for him or as intense.)  Then Aaron falling to the floor like that as well, in the basement, whilst that dark mist was hovering above the stairs.

Seems the only one not affected was Zak, that we know of.  Though he did stand at the top of the stairs where Billy picked up that fluctuation on the EMF detector.  Now how many times did I warn Zak about standing at the top of the stairs!

The horse shoe ending up in the garage, almost like a slap in the face, no pun or insensitivity intended towards Jay and his slap, but it was like those Ouija board's people try to destroy or throw out and they always end up fully intact and back in the house. Connotations towards horseshoe, bad luck but also in reference to hooves! Even the horse shoe was shaped like horns!

The part by the arrow above even looks like it has a goat-y type face on it!

As for the figure on the SLS camera in the bathroom, was that too trying to 'attack' Billy like it did with Jay when it slapped him.  Another figure that appears near, or on, Billy like the Silent Movie Theater ep.   Glad the family got the help they needed and were able to overcome this dark oppression.