by Grace Crawford

Courtesy of Disney and ABC Domestic Television

Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And some stories then have an epilogue, followed by a sequel, followed by a third sequel that’s better than the second but not as good as the first but overall forms kind of a nice story, and then they ruin it by tacking on a fourth sequel several years later that only has a couple of the same characters, and then there’s a gritty reboot that doesn’t acknowledge the previous versions but still has some in-jokes that make all the nerds wet their pants, and the point is that not every story does, in fact, have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

You may not believe it from the mad ramblings I throw at you every week, but I’m a storyteller. I was trained to be one, or at least that’s what the degree I’ll be getting in five months will say. I know the best place for a story to begin, the kinds of twists and turns it needs to take along the way, and the ideal place for it to end while leaving the audience juuuuust satisfied enough to appreciate the story and juuuuust curious enough to write fanfiction about it. This is my territory. I know it well.

And yet I don’t understand season 2 of Once Upon A Time.

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by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×09: “Platonish”

Platonic, adj. “The state of a relationship between two people if there is absolutely no chance of them banging in the next twenty minutes.”

Some people seize the day, grab life by the horns, #YOLO, or whatever they call the desire to control their own lives, the course they take, and where they end up. Other people just wait for the universe to hand stuff to them. And those people, like the Washington Generals, always lose. Continue reading →

by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×08: “The Lighthouse”

by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×07: “No Questions Asked”

But that’s not the culture we live in. We have to know everything. We have to share everything. For some, it’s a compulsion. For others, it’s an obligation. But we ask, and we tell, and so there are no secrets between some people. That’s why you unfriend that girl you went to high school with when she posts another creepy photo of her baby in its altogether. That’s why people want to know the minutiae of celebrities’ lives.

We want to know. We don’t want to know. Outside of television, there’s no such thing as “no questions asked.” There will always be questions. We can just choose whether or not to answer them.

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by Grace Crawford

All Doctor Who images courtesy of the BBC.

So this is it. The end of my three-part series on Doctor Who. I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty pleased with myself, ‘cause normally I never get this far with long-term projects (and yes, with me, six weeks is a long time). Let’s jump right in, because there’s a fair amount to cover and I’m gonna wax all sentimental and crap at the end, probably.

The Premise

A long time ago, or possibly in the future, a Time Lord stole a box called a TARDIS and went on grand adventures through time and space (though he kept coming back to modern-day England, which prompts the question why don’t I live there). But travelling alone has a way of making him a little crazy, and ruthless, and incredibly lonely, so he picks up people off the streets of London (or Cardiff; the Doctor seems to like Cardiff) and brings them along as companions on his adventures. And every so often he dies, at which time he regenerates and gets a new face and a new personality, which is just incredibly distressing if you’ve gotten attached to the old face. You’ll see this Christmas. You’ll all see.

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by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×06: “Knight Vision”

I’ve been disappointed by this show before. You know this. I’m easily disappointed.

Tonight, though, the episode started out with references to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and it only got better from there. So I would say I was pleasantly surprised. And now I’m going to explain why, because this is a review and that’s what people do in reviews.

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by Grace Crawford

All Doctor Who images courtesy of the BBC.

The last full-length review I wrote had a pretty awesome intro, in my opinion, so I’m not going to try to replicate that. You can click the link in the last sentence if you’d like to read it. So let’s just jump in, because this is already promising to be a bit of a lengthier review.

The Premise

A long time ago, or possibly in the future, a Time Lord stole a box called a TARDIS and went on grand adventures through time and space (though he kept coming back to modern-day England, which prompts the question why don’t I live there). But travelling alone has a way of making him a little crazy, and ruthless, and incredibly lonely, so he picks up people off the streets of London (or Cardiff; the Doctor seems to like Cardiff) and brings them along as companions on his adventures. And every so often he dies, at which time he regenerates and gets a new face and a new personality, which is just incredibly distressing if you’ve gotten attached to the old face. Like I did with David Tennant. Literally just about every time I’ve been reduced to a sobbing mess has been because of the Tenth Doctor. Just… you’ll see.

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by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×05: “The Poker Game”

Not a lot happened this week. The episode felt like half its usual length, although, as any man struggling with self-esteem will tell you, it’s not the length that matters—it’s what you do with it.

That being said, this week’s episode, the much-anticipated poker game, was a little lacking in the “doing something with it” department.

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