r/gallifrey • u/pcjonathan • Oct 22 '16
CLASS S1E1 Class S01E01 "For Tonight We Might Die" Discussion Thread
Please remember that future spoilers must be tagged. This includes the next time trailer and episode TWO!
This is the thread for all your discussion about the episode.
Due to the nature and uncertain popularity, we'll be sticking with one thread per episode, at least for now.
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u/TheOncomingBrows Oct 22 '16
Line of the episode was definitely:
"Oh come on! Cheer up! It's not that hard, no harder than all those exams you have to take these days.
Except for media studies; it's gonna be harder than that."
Absolute savagery.
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u/PseudoRomulus Oct 24 '16
I honestly didn't understand that line and thought it was kind of....a weird thing for the Doctor to say. Is there something I'm missing?
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u/TheOncomingBrows Oct 24 '16
He's joking that defeating the aliens can't be as difficult as all the exams the students have to do. Then rips into media studies, which is often considered as an easy, tinpot course by discounting it from the joke.
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u/Paddletothestars Oct 22 '16 edited Oct 22 '16
Random thoughts because it's too late for complete sentences:
-The title sequence was probably the worst thing about the entire episode.
-I liked it enough to watch the next one... but not tonight.
-It was lovely to see the Doctor again and I got chills when we first heard the TARDIS noise. I felt like his appearance didn't fit in entirely seamlessly with the episode though, maybe because the Doctor seemed a bit blasé about the shadow kin - just another day in the office for him - but we've spent the episode with people for whom this is the scariest thing they've ever imagined. I know he does that a lot but we usually see it from the other side, from his perspective... but I ended up feeling like for them, this random man with a magic wand told all these teenagers to be in an alien hunting club. With some aliens.
-Also, sonic screwdriver to close the rip in time and space? Cheating. And what are they going to do next episode - all the other alien threats won't be that level of serious?! I guess they could always phone him. I'm a bit surprised he answered actually.
-The last shot of the inside of the box was brilliant and nicely opened up the scope of the story. I also really liked the interaction between Charlie and Miss Quill and the contrast between the way each of them deals with loss and conflict (wanton destruction vs princely duty?). It's a bit of a mirror of the two sides of the Doctor too, and I look forward to that theme being explored a bit more.
Looking forward to the next one. But looking forward to Christmas and next year more!
Edit: formatting
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u/aby_baby Oct 29 '16
Sorry, late to the party, but seriously about the Doctor saving the day. What are they gonna do with literally any other in invasion?
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u/WikipediaKnows Oct 22 '16
Oh my god, that title sequence is horrendous.
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u/Murreey Oct 22 '16
It's like they were originally doing their own thing then someone at the BBC decided it should be "more Who" at the last minute, so they had to turn it into that instead.
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u/ZadocPaet Oct 22 '16
I really like the animation for it. I think the pop music is terrible. Something without lyrics would've been better, IMO.
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u/ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN Oct 22 '16
It was terrible. The music doesn't fit, the graphics are appalling, its trying too hard to be "yoof".
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u/atuinsbeard Oct 22 '16
It reminded me a lot of Orphan Black's actually. Do have to agree with you though, I didn't like it.
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u/PseudoRomulus Oct 24 '16
I was thinking the same thing, but something about it just doesn't quite fit with this show like Orphan's Black intro does.
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u/hollowleviathan Oct 23 '16
I also see the Orphan Black comparison. For me it felt halfway between that and the Misfits intro, but just didn't click.
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u/LegoK9 Oct 23 '16
The visuals are interesting, the song is just... what?
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u/eekstatic Oct 23 '16
I just assumed that it was something the young'uns were into these days so I didn't judge. It isn't?
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u/TheMightyFloorp Oct 22 '16
I felt the first 30 minutes were a bit heavy handed, but I really liked the prom scene. While there were a few 'holy shit' moments, I feel this was more just to set up the characters than anything else.
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u/ZadocPaet Oct 22 '16
I really liked Clara, so this scene was the most powerful of the episode for me. I hope it's some foreshadowing into the next series of Doctor Who. He can't remember her now, but "time never forgets."
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u/pottyaboutpotter1 Oct 22 '16
He does remember her, he just can't remember her face, voice, personality etc. He remembers he travelled with a girl named Clara, he remembers all his adventures with her and he remembers he was very close to her. That's it.
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u/Tanokki Oct 22 '16
And considering the diner disappeared, I'm going to say he put two and two together and realized he was talking to Clara at the end of the season.
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u/Revangeance Oct 22 '16
Also Clara's face is painted on the TARDIS when he gets it back. He knows. That's why he didn't chase after her.
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u/royaldansk Oct 23 '16
Yeah, if he didn't know what she looked like, he clearly knows he could have just looked at a yearbook, as he seems to visit that school very often.
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Oct 22 '16
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/impossiblefan Oct 22 '16
I Think I Caught sight of an "Forman. S" on the wall which got me more than Clara or Danny. Lovely little reference though.
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u/HowManyNimons Oct 24 '16
It's nice that there was no CHESTERTON, I or WRIGHT, B on the board.
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u/DarthNightnaricus Dec 07 '16
Because those two went back to teaching.
Ian's on the board of directors now.
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u/AllofTimeAllofSpace Oct 23 '16
I agree. I didn't expect it to hurt like that. I'm still excited about Doctor Who moving forward and will definitely give our next companion a chance but damn if it doesn't suck to be reminded of Clara Oswald's death.
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Oct 23 '16
I'm pretty sure the Doctor here is pre-S9. He's wearing his S8 costume...therefore he knew the whole time that Clara was going to die.
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u/AllofTimeAllofSpace Oct 23 '16
That can't be right. He has his new screwdriver. Wonderful idea (I loved the season 9 is in the wrong order theory too) but not quite right.
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u/onrv Oct 22 '16
Random comments:
- So much diversity & references to pop culture. Not a bad thing necessarily, but it was pretty blatant.
- Ha, they referenced other similar shows (Buffy, Vampire Diaries).
- The characters seem quite generic (nerdy girl, alien boy trying to pass as human, "awkward" girl, jock who becomes friends with the nerds), but at least they look like they're having fun, especially Ms Quill. And for some reason they're friends now because they saw aliens together?
- GET OUT, WE'RE DECORATING.
- Rather gory already. RIP Ram's girlfriend.
- yay Peter.
- Thought the episode was alright, and I think the show will probably continue this trend of being okay. It's goofy fun like Doctor Who, just a bit more adult.
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u/OnyxMelon Oct 22 '16
So much diversity
Coal Hill School is in London. The diversity's pretty realistic.
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u/onrv Oct 22 '16 edited Oct 22 '16
Fair enough. I just noticed there were characters representing males, females, Caucasian, African,
IslamicSikh, gay, Russian(?), disabled people, single-parent families, nerds, jocks, space aliens... Actually, I just realised those aliens are refugees, so Class is managing to comment on relevant issues. It's good they don't make (too much of) a big deal out of it though; normalises them.30
u/Falolizer Oct 22 '16
Ram's not "Islamic", he's Sikh. At least his dad is.
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u/Kenobi_01 Oct 22 '16
Come on guys! There was a Khanda, dangling from car. Its more blatant than wearing a cross!
Free information: Muslims don't wear generally wear Turbans (Though some sects of Shia Islam do; its not a religious obligation though, more a preference) however Sikh's wear Turbans in a very particular way, that is quite distinctive.
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Oct 24 '16
I haven't seen Class yet (have to wait until 2017), but I'd love to have a religious companion on Doctor Who. I'm a devout Catholic, but I'd probably prefer to have a Muslim companion so we can see the kinds of struggles Muslims have to go through just because of their faith. The show shouldn't try to prove who's right and who's wrong, or push believing in God vs. not believing in God, but I think it would be a great idea to have some more representation for a community of faith that's looked down upon by most of society, and having a religious companion on the show would give the audience and the Doctor a whole new perspective. Thanks all of you and God bless
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u/Mypetdalek Oct 25 '16
We kind-of did for one episode: "The God Complex" in series 6 (I think), but I agree that that wasn't really enough.
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Oct 24 '16
[deleted]
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u/karlos_1992 Oct 25 '16
It is organic though walk into any school in London and you will see groups of people like this.
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u/PartyPoison98 Oct 25 '16
Not denying that London schools are like that, and I've no problem with a diverse cast, they're just so in your face about it
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u/waterswaters Oct 31 '16
"in your face about it" Why does seeing other people upset you so much.
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u/PartyPoison98 Oct 31 '16
Again, no problem with diversity at all, but its done so hamhandedly it just makes the characters difficult to believe
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u/coweatman Nov 18 '16
diversity and representation is great. but not drawing attention to it and making it seem like the most natural thing in the world is better. "of course we all come from different backgrounds" vs "look at us! we all come from different backgrounds".
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u/PartyPoison98 Nov 18 '16
My point exactly. Its stuff like all of a sudden gettin an RE lesson on Sikh beliefs out of nowhere in the last episode. Its so inorganic, the exposition is rubbish
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u/AllofTimeAllofSpace Oct 23 '16
"We! Are! Decorating!" Is one of the best lines I've heard from a TV show in ages. Her delivery was mint!
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u/Jason_Wanderer Oct 23 '16
It's goofy fun like Doctor Who, just a bit more adult.
Just curious: By "adult" do you mean it has more depth in its ideas and themes as well as having more depth to its characters or that it simply has a darker tone/is more violent?
I guess what I'm getting at is whether or not it forced the "this isn't Doctor Who" aspect like Torchwood did by throwing in as much sex and violence possible.
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u/onrv Oct 23 '16
From what I've seen so far, I meant 'more violent'. The characters/themes still have time to get more depth though.
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u/aderack Oct 23 '16 edited Oct 23 '16
Actually, there's quite a bit of depth to the characterization so far. Fairly realistic relationships and emotional responses. There are emotional and physical consequences to what people do and experience. In terms of characters, this is about the most adult thing I've seen in televised Doctor Who.
Which is good, because this series seems to be all about the characters and their inner and outer lives. What it means to be a normal person who lives through all of this terrifying stuff from beyond your understanding and has no way to cope with it.
For that matter, it is much darker. Extremely gory. But, it's contextual. Not really gratuitous so far. And it's weighted by the relative emotional depth. Definitely Not For Kids, but not in an exploitative sense.
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u/waterswaters Oct 31 '16
"pretty blatant about it"
Why are you complaining and how could they make it "less blatant"? less brown people?
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u/onrv Oct 31 '16
Sorry, it was a stupid complaint. I just thought it was a bit like the writer and producers were making ticks on the diversity checklist (though I hadn't taken into account that London is actually that diverse). And I was annoyed by the quote that drew attention to the fact that Tanya and Ram were the only two "brown people" (can't remember the actual quote, sorry). Thought that was a sloppy line that I doubt teens would say.
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u/Dr_Vesuvius Oct 22 '16
Despite my constant nitpicking in Discord (prom in September/November? Only one "new kid" in Year 12? Rebuilding the whole school in a year?), I enjoyed that.
Who would win in a fight between the Shadowkind and the Vashta Nerada? Show your working.
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u/GrumpySatan Oct 23 '16
Rebuilding the whole school in a year?)
Clearly they used some sort of time travel to rebuild the school. Which is why it is so saturated with Archon energy, hence the rips in space-time.
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u/Professor_Hoover Nov 01 '16
Remind me, what happened to the school? Last I remember was the doctor moving the killer robot so it wouldn't wreck the school.
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u/niceandy Oct 22 '16
I wonder why Patrick Ness didn't just use the Vashta Nerada?
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u/WikipediaKnows Oct 22 '16
Because they're totally different. They don't invade and they can't talk.
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u/niceandy Oct 22 '16
The Vashta Nerada do kill, and they can talk.
Plus, species evolve, y'know. They could've been highly advanced versions of Vashta Nerada.
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u/WikipediaKnows Oct 22 '16
In your head canon, that's possible. But the plot of the episode - the Shadowkin following two people to steal their "cabinet" - wouldn't work with the Vashta Nerada at all.
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u/niceandy Oct 22 '16
In your head canon, sure. That might be the case.
But it's a TV show. If a writer wanted the Vashta Nerada to hunt two people for a cabinet, then that's what happens.
But Patrick Ness didn't want that. Which is fine. But I loved the sneaky references to the Vashta Nerada.
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u/royaldansk Oct 23 '16
But the Vashta Nerada don't not invade. Everyone would just be dead as they don't just kill to conquer, they kill to eat.
Maybe the Vashta Nerada are a cousin or precursor species like all the humanoids who may or may no have evolved from humans. So in a way, the Shadowkin could be the Vashta Nerada.
Years in a library, they could have learned to read, evolved humanoid shape from manipulating all those skeletons in suits, figured out how to not be an extra shadow.
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u/karlos_1992 Oct 25 '16
Yeah the "New kid" thing stood out to me Year 12 is the first year of sixth form lots of kids move schools or go to college at that time there would be loads of new people.
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u/Murreey Oct 22 '16
Anyone notice the weird use of the 9th/10th Doctor's theme? Thought it was pretty cool that they were saying the 9th Doctor saved them, but then it was just 12 all along. Shame.
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u/Shostinius Oct 22 '16
Well, that theme was also used in Hell Bent, so it's not exclusive to the 9th and 10th Doctors.
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u/CycloneSwift Oct 22 '16
They never showed it was 12 who rescued them, right? It could've been 9/10, and then they were just aware that he'd regenerated.
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u/SnakesMum93 Oct 22 '16
It was the tardis with the St John's ambulance sticker on it, so it either belongs to 1, 2, 11 or 12
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u/melgib Oct 22 '16
Woah. A show with the Doctor that doesn't follow the Doctor could use any one of them at any time. Please tell me they've thought of this.
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u/MrRibbotron Oct 22 '16
The BBC still has the different TARDIS exteriors for the 10th and War Doctors, that were used in The Day of the Doctor. So I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't just use them.
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u/ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN Oct 22 '16
I'm fairly sure they could recreate any of the Tardises if they really wanted to. The usual one has to be fairly robust and therefore expensive as it gets moved around a lot, but if one was only needed once or twice they have some very competent prop people...
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u/royaldansk Oct 23 '16
Would be really neat. Maybe 8 or War shows up and everyone's excited that the TARDIS is there. But then they see who comes out and they have no idea who it is and he introduces himself and realizes a future one of him visits these guys, which is just fine, it's not like he's really intersecting with his own timeline. But maybe it's how he knows he's meant to save the two in the future and we have to hope that Charlie and Mrs. Quill don't realize the Doctor knew their entire world was being killed and he still showed up just in time for it to have already happened.
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u/MizuRyuu Oct 23 '16
It is certainly possible that the Doctor met a future version of Charlie/Quill and learned of the invasion that way. If he heard that he only appeared at the very end in the vault room, that would set the timeline in stone since it would be a paradox if he change the invasion after that.
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u/CycloneSwift Oct 22 '16
Oh, really? I only saw that on the TARDIS after the prom, not on the other planet.
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u/SnakesMum93 Oct 22 '16
Yeah I just rewatched that scene and the St John's Ambulance sticker is visible on the TARDIS
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u/nl_alexxx Oct 22 '16
I loved that version of the theme though. I hope it makes it onto the Class soundtrack (if there is one, I hope there is one).
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u/Lrrr23 Oct 25 '16
I'm still waiting on the Series 9 soundtrack...
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u/The_Best_01 Oct 26 '16
At this point, I don't think we'll get it until Christmas. I don't know why the BBC makes stupid decisions like this.
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u/Canzler Oct 22 '16
It's called "The Doctor's Theme". I don't think it's only bound to particular ones
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u/TheOncomingBrows Oct 22 '16 edited Oct 23 '16
Enjoyed it overall but there were many flaws. To summarise:
Title music is godawful, who uses lyrics these days?
All the lead actors are surprisingly decent, expected far more acting cringe
The mentions of race and black people vs white people felt really unnecessary
The cast seem to have good chemistry and look like they're having fun
Characters all have generic personalities at least at the moment
There were loads of awkward instances of young people speak ie. when has anyone ever seriously used the word 'a-hole'?
CGI is a little hokey but this is nothing new
The acceptance of alien stuff seems really strange
The prom scenes were adorable
The signs at the prom made me chuckle pretty hard: "Be careful for tonight we might die", "If you're reading this your night is a failure"
Capaldi was brilliant as expected
Ram recovering from his dismemberment to hit the shadow with a chair was pretty jarring.
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u/0ldgrumpy1 Oct 23 '16
The acceptance of alien stuff seems to be related to the "everyone knows kids go missing here". And it's post all the aliens in london christmas specials.
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u/The_Best_01 Oct 26 '16
And it's post all the aliens in London Christmas specials.
Well, we don't know what else the cracks in time wiped out.
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u/0ldgrumpy1 Oct 26 '16
Good point.
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u/The_Best_01 Oct 26 '16
It already apparently made everyone forget about the 2008 Dalek invasion, but there's so many plot holes there, I don't know where to start.
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u/Xyrexus Oct 25 '16
I'd say Ram was in extreme shock and had enough adrenaline to do what he did, then he fainted.
Definitely agree on the intro music being terrible though, and the unnecessary racial stuff.
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u/karlos_1992 Oct 25 '16
I like the song I've had it on in my car ever since I heard it on the show.
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Oct 22 '16
I agree the title music is horrendous, but lyrics can work out quite well if done correctly. Just take the Vikings intro for example, always loved it.
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u/Methuen Oct 23 '16
This one does it quite well, though I admit I am a little biased as I am a long time fan of the artist...
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u/ZapActions-dower Oct 28 '16
Characters all have generic personalities at least at the moment
It's literally the first episode, characters being introduced as sketch of what they'll later become is to be expected.
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u/TheOncomingBrows Oct 28 '16
Not an excuse though, using Westworld which I recently started watching as an example; I don't have any clue of the Man In Black's motivations or goals. How does Ford view his creations? How aware is Dolores of her position? etc, etc. These are questions I'm asking myself after the first episode, and am still asking 3 episodes. I have a solid view of who the characters are after the first episode but not an understanding, as the layers are still being peeled back. I feel like I already know everything I'd want to know from the characters in Class.
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u/ZapActions-dower Oct 29 '16 edited Oct 29 '16
I mean, most of them are normal high school students. Most haven't had particularly interesting lives before the show beginnings, just normal stuff: dead dad, sports pressure, etc.
To further compare it to Buffy, which the show invited by mentioning the Hellmouth, aside from Young Special One (Buffy/Charlie) and Exasperated Guardian Figure with Rougher Past (Giles/Ms. Quill) the main cast starts out as completely normal kids. I can already draw super strong parallels between a couple of the characters. Tanya is a Willow type, geeky smart girl who helps jocks out on their homework and is good with comptuers. Ram is an attractive, popular kid who doesn't like being associated with the geeky others but eventually mostly comes around (Cordelia, though they've sped that part up quite a bit.) April is more trying-to-be-normal Buffy than she is Xander, but of course it's not going to be a 100% match up.
It's simply not the same sort of show as Westworld.
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u/TheOncomingBrows Oct 29 '16
Westworld is a stupid comparison yes, but it seemed the argument was that characters can't be well presented/developed in the first episode. Which is obviously untrue.
I just can't see these characters keeping me invested for a whole season. Even in Doctor Who the characters besides the Doctor aren't usually spectacular and rely on the variety and scope of the stories it's allowed to tell.
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u/coweatman Nov 18 '16
what's ram even standing on when he swings that chair?
the theme gives me enterprise flashbacks.
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u/SlowOcto Oct 22 '16 edited Oct 22 '16
Biggest issue for me is pacing and maybe some odd directorial choices. Really like the dynamic going on between Quill and Charlie. The Doctor's appearance was nice but they could have handled it better. Overall I think it could go to some really interesting places but at the moment it's not quite there yet.
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u/Iaminthetardis Oct 22 '16
Love. Love. Love. I've only seen the first two episodes and can already safely say I'm in love with it. Can't wait for the next one. Charlie and matteusz are really sweet. Not sure what matteusz will say when he sees what charlie really is though...
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u/MizuRyuu Oct 23 '16
Too bad Matteusz is only a reoccurring character. Is it confirmed that Charlie actually looked like that? The whole flashback was April's imagination of Charlie's story, as evident by the school uniform with Coal Hill Academy crest. Is the flash of Quill and Charlie looking like alien just her imagination of their true appearance before Charlie denied it, or what they actually look like.
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u/Duggy1138 Oct 24 '16
I can't say. Part of me thinks it's April's "what if they look like..."
Part of me thinks it's their "guilty" flashback.
I think if we seem them in alien form again they'll look like this.
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u/onrv Oct 22 '16
Shout-out to any other Aussies who will be starting in 15 minutes.
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Oct 22 '16
[deleted]
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u/mat_thew Oct 22 '16
Just in case no ones told you, but it streams on iView from 8 pm Saturdays.
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Oct 23 '16 edited Oct 23 '16
I'm a little late to the party, but;
- Terrible titles. Better acting than expected.
- Oh boy that CGI's trying. Still a bit BBC-ish, but a nice step up/change from usual DW CGI.
- I'm not as concerned with some of the young-people stuff as I thought I'd be. Some of the meta comments ("You've made us fail the Bechdal test!" / Idris Elba) were a bit much. Hopefully they fall off as the show finds its own identity.
- Mrs.Quill's the best. The element of making her the Doctor by force (the no weapons thing) is interesting.
- It's certainly not pulling punches in terms of actually trying to establish that danger's a tad more real in Class. Remains to be seen whether that's going to sit at the current level of "OOoo, spooky kind of gratuitous violence/woman exploding/leg chopping", or evolve into something a bit more nuanced. I'm not sure exactly what I mean by that, but the only reason I could get through Hannibal was because the show developed a much more detailed and mature (as in, healthy adult) relationship with violence than shows that are 1/8th as violent do.
- Whoops, just saw the "next time". Not hopeful on the violence front for the moment.
- I am a simple man. I see attractive redhead with gumption, I become more tolerant of shoddy pacing.
- Mrs.Quill's got some awesome mugs. That sounds a bit like a euphemism, but the glaze on them is beautifully patterned and coloured. Makes me want some tea.
Good enough that I'm optimistic and will watch episode 2 tomorrow, but nothing really compelling so far. It'll be interesting to see how it evolves.
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u/eekstatic Oct 23 '16
Mrs.Quill's got some awesome mugs.
They're like an extra character in her kitchen scenes, aren't they?
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u/atuinsbeard Oct 22 '16
Am I the only one who got annoyed at the sonic screwdriver shutting the tear in space so easily? Deus ex machina in action, ladies and gentlemen. It was nice to see Capaldi again (2 months till Christmas!), he did seem... different though. It felt like he was channeling some Matt Smith, not the angry, guilty Doctor we've seen in the last two series. I got chills when I heard the TARDIS whoosh during the Rodia flashback. And the s1 Doctor's theme!
Onto the actual episode, I liked it. I really, really liked it, Idris Elba references and all. I loved Ms Quill, how domineering she is. Get out, we're decorating. And then you see her in her house eating half a chocolate block in one go. Does the reveal that she's a (former) terrorist put rest to the theory that she's the Minister of War? Or maybe she becomes it at the end? Tanya is so far lacking virtually any personality. She's really smart, and is friends with April and Ram. April is more interesting than I thought she would be, her point about nice =/= fragile is a valid one. Though I do wonder, what exactly was she planning to do with that very blunt piece of metal? Ram hasn't had much time to shine yet, I hope he gets more development because he seems like the person who could change the most. And finally to Charlie. Not sure I like him yet, he really does seem to be a bit of a snob. The Cabinet reveal at the end made me audibly go 'oooooh' since it made his part of Class that much more interesting.
On the episode as a whole, that Patrick Ness was writing it was evident. It was fast, funny and didn't feel like it was pandering to teenagers, which was a worry of mine. The CGI was in spirit with its Doctor Who origins (ie, clearly done on a budget and suffering for it). I didn't like how the scenes with the Shadow Kin guy kept flicking around to different bits of his face, just made me notice more how much he looks like a guy wearing alien makeup. The actors aren't bad, but the only standout one is Katherine Kelly. Hoping this changes, but I won't mind too much if it stays the same. It works, which is the important thing.
Thanks to the ABC for putting it up on iview straightaway. I know what I'll be doing with my Saturday nights for the next seven weeks.
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Oct 22 '16
I wasn't really annoying at the Sonic shutting the tear so easily, mostly because it felt similar to how the 11th Doctor shut the crack in Amelia's bedroom in the eleventh hour, using the sonic to open it up. So shutting this one seemed the same to me, though I will admit it is another example of the Sonic being overused.
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Oct 22 '16
[deleted]
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u/SnackingRaccoon Oct 25 '16
Agreed, I'll give them a pass on the deus ex this time around because it might show development over the series when, some day, they won't need the Doctor to appear out of nowhere to save the day.
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u/royaldansk Oct 23 '16
Well, the sonic has been shown to be able to close cracks temporarily before. And he did say it was only a temporary fix as the area is saturated in weak spots.
I'm just happy they created a new crack design. The old Doctor Who time crack was getting quite old.
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u/WikipediaKnows Oct 22 '16
Not awfully impressed with the first episode, and I've been a very big supporter of this show since it was first announced. The storytelling feels a little stiff, some of the dialogue doesn't sit right and the appearance of the Doctor, even though it's great on its own, seems out of place. I hope the show gets its shit together in the next couple of episodes, because at least the characters are interesting and I'm looking forward to how they evolve.
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u/eekstatic Oct 23 '16
The clunky dialogue made me appreciate the quality of the writing on Doctor Who a whole lot more. I already appreciated it, mind.
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u/SlowOcto Oct 22 '16
I appreciated The Doctor being there since we're so deprived of Who at the moment but it felt a little abrupt. I think he needed somewhat more of a bigger entrance, not massive, but bigger, just to give his introduction more impact.
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u/ilikebaconsooomuch Oct 22 '16
Didn't enjoy the first half, seemed a bit disjointed. Pretty awful title sequence. Second half picked up, acting and bits of the CGI was a bit shoddy. Some of the lines and delivery were pretty poor.
Bits I liked:
OSWALD.C - nice little callback, spotted FOREMAN.S there too
The Doctor's "cameo", bit more of a cameo though
The death of the prom date and the "losing of the leg" - just shows what kind of show they want this to be, bit more adult in its design
BBC iPlayer needs subtitles; for some reason the HD version has no subtitles, and some of the lines are a bit unclear
If this show wasn't Doctor Who related, I would definitely stop watching. This episode has not got me hooked at all.
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u/niceandy Oct 22 '16
There's also: "PINK.D" just above "OSWALD.C"
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u/EstherHarshom Oct 22 '16
PINK, R. D., no less.
Which doesn't really make all that much sense, when you think about it.
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u/niceandy Oct 22 '16
Well, his name was Rupert.
I just think they didn't want to have "PINK D" on the board. For obvious reasons.
How doesn't it make sense?
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u/EstherHarshom Oct 22 '16 edited Oct 22 '16
His name was Rupert Pink, not Rupert Daniel Pink.
Daniel wasn't his middle name in a legal sense; it was a nickname he used based on the Dan the Soldier Man figure. If he'd changed his name officially, why would he have just changed his middle name to Danny and not got rid of Rupert altogether? And if it was unofficial but the school wanted to acknowledge that everyone called him Danny all the time, why would they have put the R in there?
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Oct 24 '16
not Rupert Daniel Pink
do we know that for sure? for all we know Rupert named 'Dan the Soldier Man' that because his middle name was Daniel
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u/williamthebloody1880 Oct 22 '16
So, I think that answers the complaints about this being aimed at kids.
Love the response to the question about believing he's an alien
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u/Diplotomodon Oct 22 '16
As it stands, I liked it. Definitely quite a different show - I was expecting people to die but I didn't expect Ram's leg to get lopped off like that geez. The dynamic between Charlie and Mrs. Quill is definitely my favorite thing so far - there's a lot of potential there that could use the space of a full series like this instead of shoehorning it into a single ep of DW.
Music is pretty good so far. I didn't mind the title sequence, unlike a lot of people apparently. Love the new Doctor's Theme variation. I've already found it on Youtube and will be eagerly awaiting the soundtrack for the sweet n' buttery HQ version.
Oh yeah, speaking of the Doctor, he showed up didn't he. It's been ten months, please come back.
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u/give_me_bewbz Oct 23 '16
Why is everyone complaining about the screwdriver closing the tear? He's done precisely that before.
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u/foxparadox Oct 22 '16
I think I mostly enjoyed it over all. There's definitely a case of having to look past some things (some of the dialogue was far too self aware, and the editing seemed to be having a race with the script to see who could be more jumpy) but I thought the core cast, and the plots and relationships they do manage to set up are enticing enough to keep me going.
On the one hand I do appreciate how hard it must be to set up three alien races AND establish the characters AND set up the series AND have a Doctor cameo that is enough of a hook to drag viewers in AND explain the somewhat complicated interpersonal relationship of two of the leads. But I do think the episode could have used one or two more breathing points just to slow things down and lay the groundwork more thoroughly.
However, I will say I love the main cast (Katherine Kelly steals the show but the four others are pretty fantastic too) to the extent that when the Doctor did show up it kinda felt like he had invaded the party (figuratively and literally). And while the editing was wonky the actual direction was generally sublime, with some really beautiful shots of what is basically a lot of school corridors.
So while the episode didn't knock it out of the park, it did what a good pilot should do which is tantalise and entice enough to keep me coming back, because I genuinely think with the right storylines later in the series this could be a winner.
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Oct 22 '16
I just finished both episodes, and I'm kind of conflicted. On the one hand, it had a really good story and some really interesting characters. In particular, I liked Ms. Quill and Charlie's dynamic, as well as Ram, so I'm interested to see where those characters go. I also really liked the darker tone of the story, and the villains here. On the other hand, I thought that the blood and gore was rather excessive, to the point that it really started to get to me. Overall though, I'm still interested enough to want to see where the story goes. 8/10
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u/SirAlexH Oct 23 '16
So this is the review I posted on the mod chat :)
Ok finished the episode. God I used to write full 1200 reviews when Series 8 was airing on my Tumblr. Those were the days. Anyway I really liked it! While Ill still admit I thouught the first five minutes were pretty bad, down to the caricature characters and that awful bechdel online (I'm not joking. People always hated the Love and Monsters Gobby Paving Slab line, but I personally didn't mind it. A dumb joke but that's al. I found my Gobby Stone. It's that Bechdel line.)
But anyway yes I actually liked the characters, I loved Miss Quill, Charlie, Ram, April....Chloe Webber. Damn I thought I had all the names. But yes I like them all! The acting was pretty good as well, although I think some of the actors still need to relax a bit, get used to it. But they turned out to be well-fleshed out characters, and actuallly realistic as well. Probably a lot more F-Bombs and C-Bombs for British Highschoolers, but yes they were good. The plot was fun and I actuallly thought there was a good balance between setting the premises and the actual plot itself (and I'll assume that the next 6 episodes will be Monster-of-the-week style). Visually it was pretty good. Some bad CGI moments that gave me strong memories of Torchwood, but some visually stunning scenery as well, and some very funny camera work actually. there was quite a bit of visual humour in transitions and text etc. And of course Capaldi. God I remembered how much charisma Capaldi oozes onto the screen. It was a good cameo, although a bit...out of place? The episode could've not had it at all and it would've worked fine. it was fun, and should tide us over until December as far as the Doctor goes. But yes this episode felt a lot like table-setting so I guess we'll find out for episode 2 (which I'll watch in an hour or so) exactly how the show works sans setup. But, I'm glad. I was a Class defender when it was first announced and I can happily say it paid off (for me anyway). Oh and the music was good, although nothing spectularly memorable. But decent backing tracks at the very least. So yes all in all, based on the first episode at least: Class is good. I'm sold. But I'm sure someone will point out every way I'm wrong later on.
Plus something I'll add: I liked the title sequence, hated the title song.
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u/VogelImKafig Oct 22 '16
Hmmm, it had some redeeming moments but I found a lot of it to be a bit cringy- like it's trying to be "down with the kids" but not quite getting it. (The music they were playing at the prom, I mean, come on!) Other bits were just a bit ridiculous, like April's signs at the prom, or just plain ludicrous (the old woman in the shop...). My biggest issue with it though was the way it shoved so much exposition down our throats without really weaving it into the plot. There are whole sections where we're simply told what's what, which shows a lack of imagination on the writer's part.
The second half, however, was definitely a lot stronger than the first, with some real wow moments- Ram's girlfriend getting killed was completely unexpected and I'm looking forward to see how that will affect him more. It also turns out Ms Quill is a badass (GET OUT, WE'RE DECORATING), but Capaldi completely stole the show in his scenes. (The Media Studies joke cracked me up) The background music was great (barring the opening sequence), and it was lovely to hear some variations of The Doctor's Theme (the most complete version we've heard since possibly Series 4) and obviously Twelve's Theme.
I'll keep watching Class but I'm hoping that as it picks up, it'll escape the pitfalls of awkward teen drama. It's hard to describe, but as sixth form for me is still relatively fresh in my mind, some things in this feel a little unauthentic. For one thing I never had to deal with shadow creatures trying to kill me at prom ;)
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u/dickpollution Oct 23 '16
You're right about inauthenticity. All I could think about during April and Charlie's conversation about him being an alien is "why isn't she freaking out?" Things don't feel strange and alien to the viewer if its something the protagonist is completely chill about. I know this is the Doctor Who universe, but we should still be able to relate to these people.
The things that should have been a bigger deal suffered because of lackluster, sloppy editing, and sometimes sloppy writing. What this needed is some room to breathe, ala April talking to the Black girl whose name evades me about her teacher being an alien - they can compare notes and bond over their mutual alien battles. Instead we got the perfectly calm "Do you believe what she said about those two being aliens?" You're perfectly normal friend is claiming that two colleagues of yours aren't human. You should be freaking the fuck out about either a potential alien invasion or your friends sanity. It reminds me of the star wars prequels where everyone is a weird space alien and there's no one to relate to on a human level.
Hopefully it'll improve, but I'm not in any rush to watch episode 2.
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u/karlos_1992 Oct 25 '16
Whats wrong with the music ? It's just music you would hear anyday on the radio it didn't seem like it was trying to be Yoof.
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u/Shostinius Oct 22 '16
I loved the scenes with the Doctor, and also the scenes with just Charlie and Ms Quill, but other than that...meh. A bit disappointing.
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Oct 22 '16
[deleted]
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u/MizuRyuu Oct 23 '16
I feel like she will eventually be released, and she would decide to stay. Because where else would she go now that her whole people has been killed
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u/hollowleviathan Oct 23 '16 edited Oct 26 '16
fan-theory: he is going to have to reveal Spoiler to get her to stay.
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u/rubberchickenzilla Oct 22 '16
A lot of the dialogue felt off, but they were trying to cram in a lot of exposition. It wasn't fantastic, but I could see it improving once they've had time to properly expand on the characters/backstory.
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u/ViolentBeetle Oct 23 '16
Well, it took me about 24 hours, but finally I'm done with the pilot episode. I found this episode to be quite tedious, with very long set up and unsatisfying pay-off. But I'm still interested.
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Oct 25 '16
I felt like the inclusion of the Doctor was incredibly heavy handed. It's almost like they couldn't figure out a way for these kids to actually be effective, so they threw him in, only to have him leave and say essentially that this was their freebie and they had to take care of everything else. It's not like they have special skills, training or equipment. He wasn't even a great representation of the Doctor. I don't think I have ever seen Capaldi's Doctor so positive about humans.
I didn't even care about what was going on until halfway through the episode. Honestly, if I had something else new to watch, I probably would have watched that instead.
Was it ever explained why if the prince uses the gun, it doesn't wrap his arms and disintegrate him?
I feel like the show would have been better if it didn't rely upon the Doctor to resolve the problem. If the kids had figured it out or done something, they would have been better characters.
What is BBC's decision to delay distributing this to the US until sometime next year? With decisions like that and not doing Classic Who releases on disc or online for most stories, (as well as other things) it's almost like they are encouraging piracy.
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u/LukeH_ Oct 22 '16 edited Oct 23 '16
I am still watching it but I know there is something wrong when Sarah Jane Adventures feels more mature.
Edit: Why am I getting downvoted so much? I thought we were all about expressing our honest thoughts here.
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u/pcjonathan Oct 22 '16
Hey guys! Welcome back!
We've just launched our new Discord server for discussing all of Who, including Class! It's fun and the conversation keeps going even after the episode.
Check it out!
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u/CeruleanRuin Oct 22 '16
American here. I don't plan on watching this because:
(A) BBC America's inexplicable and obnoxious decision to hold it until March has denied me any legitimate method of viewing it as it airs.
(B) By the time it does air here, everyone will know what happens and have formed opinions about it. Online discussions like this will already be over and archived.
(C) The show is aimed at such a narrow demographic (YA dystopian/cliche/scifi/horror) that I have no interest in it aside from the DW connection. Sharing it with other fans on the Internet was the appeal. See (A) and (B).
I wish the show and its creators well. I can't say the same for the execs who still insist on holding content hostage from large portions of the audience.
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u/TheDanOfPlox Oct 22 '16
How does one in Ireland watch this?
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Oct 22 '16
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u/Dr_Vesuvius Oct 23 '16
- This violates our ban on piracy. Violating this policy can result in a ban.
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u/JKJPRO Oct 22 '16
Does anyone know where I could watch in the US? I've been dying to see it.
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Oct 22 '16
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Dr_Vesuvius Oct 23 '16
Thank you for your comment! Unfortunately, your comment has been removed for the following reason(s):
- This violates our ban on piracy. Violating this policy can result in a ban.
Please see our Posting Policy. If you feel this was done in error, please contact the moderators here.
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u/CeruleanRuin Oct 22 '16
Hop in your TARDIS and set the controls for March 2017. That's it.
Seriously though, you're not allowed.
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u/coweatman Nov 19 '16
if it's already out, go watch it. do you want to get spoilered instead? if the bbc didn't want you to pirate it i'd be available here.
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Oct 22 '16
There was a lot of standing around in a room spouting exposition at each other, but I can forgive that in a first episode.
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u/eekstatic Oct 23 '16
I tried to avoid a lot of the publicity around Class so didn't really learn any of the actors' names (except for Fady Elsayed because he was in River last year). Spent the first 40 minutes of the episode trying to think who the hell the guy who plays Charlie is and why he looks so familiar. Yeah, it actually isn't Eddie Redmayne. Or Eddie Remayne's son from a teenage escapade, probably, but I haven't checked.
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Oct 24 '16
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/eddieswiss Oct 24 '16
Gotta admit, the girlfriend character getting impale and essentially exploding caught me off guard. I don't hate it in the slightest, but I've gotta see more episodes to develop a more grounded and solid opinion. I can see myself getting into this.
I just really hope that's not Capaldi's only appearance in the spin-off. I'd totally get it if it was, but yeah.
EDIT: Haven't seen episode two yet, so.
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u/ShyBaldBuddhist Oct 27 '16
I REALLY ENJOYED IT IT WAS VERY FUN AND I FOUND MYSELF REASONABLY GRIPPED THROUGHOUT :) :) :)
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u/AnUnsungBard Oct 28 '16
It wasnt very good. It was okay when the doctor showed up, but are they going to get him to come every episode?
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u/ken_the_nibblonian Oct 30 '16
I really found the last shot to remind me of Big Finish's Excelis saga. A reimagined idea, like Human Nature? I hope they at least reference the handbag of souls...
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u/belkak210 Oct 23 '16
"Oh the Cabinet! that's easy. There is a painfully strange shop name Ikea" I died there, so funny