Fury from the Deep episode 4 discussion:
P: I like how the story has changed and that we’ve now gotten to the point where everybody is fatigued and it’s showing up all over.
H: I actually enjoyed this episode the most out of all of the ones of this story so far.
K: I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been so frustrated with the recon.
H: Really? Why.
K: Well, for example, the scene where the Van Luteyans goes down the shaft there is, and checked the clock, 25 full seconds of the same slide with nothing but music. No description, no subtitles, no dialog. Nothing. That was probably the worst of it, but it was very typically throughout the episode. There were only two, maybe three scenes where subtitles described what was going on. I found that frustrating.
H: I didn’t think it needed the subtitles. I could pretty much follow it. And there probably wasn’t a lot they could use. I actually liked the bit that you were talking about. I enjoyed the fact that they switched to him with the lit flashlight the moment the soundtrack played the click of him turning it on.
K: But that was after 25 seconds of nothing.
R: I think it’s a fair criticism.
H: I think it was a fair criticism, but I didn’t have a problem with it.
P: Well, at least they provided an elevator scene for us. But I agree that parts of the recon were missing content. I did notice that there were very few subtitles compared to previous recons.
R: Yeah. Usually they manage to insert some sort of narrative description that make it flow a little better.
H: I thought that that might have interfered with the buildup to the censor cut. I actually found the reliance on the soundtrack to build up a lot of cool tension and atmosphere. And, again, your mileage may vary.
R: “Van Luteyans carefully steps off the elevator platform. He peers around in the darkness.”
H: But the point is you didn’t need that, and a trend in recons has been to get away from lots and lots of captions are unnecessary and some people find them very distracting. And, in fact, people in our group have complained that they’ve used too many in the past.
K: More like too fast, so you can’t read them.
Cz: Zoom!
P: The argument that they’re getting away from doing too many captions doesn’t hold water with me because the previous episodes had considerably more captions and suddenly we have none.
K: I only noticed captions 3 times in this episode.
R: I have to say, I felt the same way.
H: I didn’t feel that the captions were required. I understood everything that was going on and I enjoyed this one more than the other episodes of this story.
R: You’re welcome to your opinion. This wasn’t about narrative clarity, it was about action and pacing. 25 seconds of a still photo with music is still just 25 seconds of a still photo.
K: My point is that while to story in this episode was interesting and compelling to me, I felt that the recon was seriously lacking. This story, in my opinion, is one of the weaker recons that we’ve seen as part of The Project.
H: Amusingly this is one of the newest recons that we’ve seen. The next recon is one of the better ones, and even newer.
K: Well, that’s good to hear.
H: Let’s get away from the recon, because we’re not going to agree on this, because I thought this recon was great.
R: Regardless of the issues I took with it, I did actually enjoy this episode.
K: I agree. I liked the episode. I loved Victoria’s frustration of their situation and never experiencing peace and quiet.
R: Safety. Security.
P: “Every time we go anywhere something awful happens.”
H: Also remember that last story when Travers points out, when Victoria is freaking out when both the Doctor and Jamie are gone that “those two are all the family that she has.” So when the Doctor and Jamie go down in the elevator it sort of… emphasizes her point.
P: Obviously Jamie sees that, for what he says “If anything happened I don’t think I’d forgive myself.”
H: And yet he doesn’t get her feelings at all.
P: He doesn’t understand her.
H: That’s what I meant. But I loved the Jamie / Victoria relationship. From the beginning Jamie has felt intensely protective of her, and it’s definitely become way more than just feeling protective.
P: She said “Oh, I didn’t know you cared.”
H: Yeah, that was a cute joke.
R: Yeah, I do kind of wonder if she’s going to be on board the TARDIS when it leaves at the end of the story.
P: Yeah. Also this children’s show just features what we’d consider flashy women’s photos.
H: Yes!
A: Don’t forget our screen is bigger and better resolution than what it would have been seen on in the 60’s.
Cz: I noticed the boobies and I was confused.
H: I think they would have been visible. It does add a certain amount of…
P: It put us in the environment.
A: Culturally speaking too stuff like that might not have been that big of a deal. The World’s Fair in 1939 had a big strip tease exhibition. We’ve been going backwards with that kind of “nudity is evil” ever since.
K: There’s the page 3 thing.
H: You’ve guys know the page 3 thing, right?
<several head shakes>
H: In certain tabloids on page 3 there would be pictures of scantily clad or mostly naked women. You’d get your boobies. But I don’t know when that started.
K: Point is – boobies in the U.K. not as big of a deal as boobies in the U.S.
R: They have plenty of other things to be embarrassed about.
<distracted by Katy Manning and a Dalek. Look it up. Or better, don’t. Definitely NSFW.>
R: I was kind of amused by the soundtrack during the Dutchman in the Ditch scene.
K: I was too.
R: I was like “how deep is he? End of the piano keyboard deep! Dun dun dun dun dun duuuunnnnn dunnnnnnn.” It wasn’t bad, but it was definitely entertaining in it’s simplicity.
H: I do like my Dudley Simpson. I’m pretty sure he did the soundtrack – it certainly sounds like him.
P: I found like “I believe Robson is being controlled by the force of this weed” to have modern parallelisms to Washington State’s marijuana laws.
K: Okay.
H: That was a very silly point. Which I think you meant it to be.
R: Pass the Doritos.
A: You mean pass the crisps.
H: I think they have Doritos.
R: To our British audience members – what do you eat in the U. K. when you are stoned? Signed – the TARDIS Project crew.
H: Papadums.
K: So… final thoughts?
Cz: I thought the foam pit of bubbles looked really fun to play in. I mean die in. Whatever. Just fun.
H: Okay.
R: Now I’m picturing Von Luteyans saying “he he, I have a bubble beard!” and then splash splash *drowning noises*
H: Okay.
A: I did enjoy the story. I didn’t really notice the lack of subtitles. Or the 25 second screen shot. That’s it.
P: I thought the way that Oak and Quill ignored the light for the elevator to come up was very spooky. It hit the mark. It showed how much we trust other people sometimes. The new “Miss Jones” brought a needed helicopter and new perspective. I also enjoyed the zombie-esque video phone scene from the remaining rig where the man is surrounded and overtaken. I would have liked to have seen that piece of film.
K: Given the other censor clips I’m surprised we didn’t.
H: I bet they would have had to have cut too much out, since it was on a little monitor in the rest of the scene. Or it may not have been as scary as we think it was.
K: Has anyone actually been confirmed dead, or are they just being turned into foam monster weed people?
P: No. They need their hands and legs. Also nobody mentioned the last line “it’s begun, the battle of the giants.”
R: Yeah. I don’t know who the second giant it.
H: Presumably it’s between man and the weeds.
R: And here in Washington state it’s been lost. The weed has won.
H: Do you have anything else?
P: Adding on to an earlier point, I really like Oak and Quill. They’re quietly stealing the show for me.
H: Ronelyn?
R: “There was an impeller who swallowed a guy. I don’t know why it swallowed a guy. Perhaps he’ll die…
“There was an impeller who swallowed a Doc. Swallowed a Doc? Down the like rock. It swallowed the Doctor to rescue the guy. I don’t know why it swallowed the guy. Perhaps he’ll die…
“There was an impeller that swallowed a Scott…
H: <laughter>
R: “Swallowed a Scott? And boy was he hot! It swallowed the Scott to watch out for the Doctor . It swallowed the Doctor to rescue the guy. I don’t know why it swallowed the guy. Perhaps he’ll die…”
K: Is there more?
R: <shakes head> It didn’t swallow anything else.
H: Technically it didn’t swallow the Doctor or Jamie either.
R: Oh wait!
“There was an impeller that swallowed a weed…” ah… ah… “It killed the guy!”
K: Yeah. He’s dead, of course.
R: I think for the sake of the safety of our audience I should quit now while I’m behind.
K: So… we have a smaller group today – so not a lot of comments…
R: <interrupts> “There was an impeller who swallowed some gas.”
H: I don’t like where this one is going.
R: “I’m sure it’ll pass.”
H: Yup. Confirmed.
K: Anyway. My turn. Blah blah blah meh recon. Blah blah blah good story though. I continue to love Croup and Vandemeer… sorry Oak and Quill.
R: Great names.
K: There seems to be maybe some foreshadowing with Victoria. And her secret.
<laughter>
R: Jamie’s the one that wears the skirt.
K: I loved “he’ll sleep through a bomb going off.” Makes me wonder if that’s foreshadowing too. This is a story that I think would actually flow better as a full piece that broken up week by week like we’ve been watching it. We’ve observed that, for the most part, the stories pace better week to week, but I think this one is an exception. Maybe it’s the quality of the recon – I don’t know. Hopefully we will have a chance to find out someday.
H: Well this episode gives me a better idea of why I liked the story when I first saw it a few years ago.
P: Boobies?
A: <laughs>
H: No. I really did enjoy this episode more than the others so far.
R: Agreed.
H: And I’m looking forward to next week, when I will have more to say.
