Christology of Who: Dalek

A look at a few of the spiritual themes in Doctor Who, episode “Dalek” by Robert Shearman.

SPOILER ALERT:  I will be giving away the end of the episode.

Episode bits pulled from Who Transcripts.

One of the ongoing themes of Doctor Who is the question of “what does it mean to be human?”

(Before I go on, I realize that this line of thought might seem like a cheat – the blog series I am writing is supposed to be about Christology after all. But it does/will tie in, as the claim my faith makes is that Christ was fully human and fully G-d. So a study of “what does it mean to be human” plays to both The Humanism of Who and The Christology of Who.)

The Doctor has always been fascinated by humanity, bordering on an unhealthy obsession. He dithers on about how special they are.

How special are they?

The 21^st Century reboot takes a long look at that question by starting with a race that is very, very much not human: the Daleks.

The Daleks are, well, here’s the Doctor to explain:

THE DOCTOR
A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered - every single emotion was removed except hate.

The Daleks have one function: to exterminate anything that is different, that is not a Dalek. They live to kill.

The Time Lords (the Doctor’s race) and the Daleks wiped each other out in the time war, with only the Doctor surviving. (That’s not quite true, but it was the common wisdom of the day.)

In the episode “Dalek,” it is discovered that one Dalek somehow survived, was thrown to earth, and is being held captive by a collector of such things.

Rose touches the weakened Dalek (out of sympathy), and the creature absorbs her DNA and uses that to regain its strength. Then the Dalek proceeds to break out of its prison, going on a killing spree along the way.

A problem arises though – the Dalek is no longer pure Dalek, but now has a slight case of the Roses: the absorbed human DNA is affecting the creature, as shown when it prepares to exterminate Rose:

ROSE
And now what? What're you waiting for?

DALEK
I feel your fear.

ROSE
What do you expect?!

DALEK
Daleks do not fear. Must not fear.

It shoots its death ray wildly at the wall either side of Rose.

DALEK (CONT'D)
(slightly hysterical, even scared)
You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated! 

The poor creature finds that it can not kill without feeling (killing now has a cost), knows fear, knows pity, knows compassion.

At the climatic moment of the episode, The Dalek, long held underground, blasts a hole in the ceiling, revealing the sun. Noticing that Rose longed for the sun, the Dalek exposes itself to the beams – to feel the warmth of sunshine.

That is a joy that the Dalek can not live with; such feelings are to be disdained – they are messy, uncontrollable, not pristine like the killing machine should be. 

The television series will continue to explore what it means to be human – but the first step was made here in this episode:

Humanity feels.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Next up: The Parting of Ways

Sling Baby

I worked on the team for two commercials for the "Doritos Crash the Superbowl" contest. Pretty proud of them, especially the first (I was more involved with Sling Baby).

Enjoy.

Sling Baby

Kitty Heist

Pangs of Moralizing

As one who has his feet in both the world of writing and the world of the church, I am often asked to create a piece of writing (play, screenplay, story) for faith based organizations.

I like doing so, as it gives me a chance to blatantly blend two important areas of my life – faith and art. (These two areas are blended in everything I do, just not always so blatantly.)

But there are times when my producers try to push me to lean away from story and focus solely on getting a message across – less art, more propaganda.

It is tricky to try and explain why that is counterproductive. Coming from a world where sermons can lead audiences in droves to the altar, the people from the church business can’t help but to think of story as just another way to preach.

But story is a lousy preaching platform; and if you get those same folk to honestly talk about the stories that impacted their lives, you’ll likely find them sermon-free.  Preaching just isn’t a strength of the medium.

A story works emotionally first; if there is a message, it comes through the experience, not by stating a moral.

My pastor last week talked about the difference between exposing people to truth, and experiencing truth. Unless someone experiences truth, it doesn’t quite stick.

Storytelling is a way to get people to experience; at least that is what it does best.

Take a look at Jesus’ parables – while there may be preaching and teaching around the stories, there isn’t much within the stories.

Even stories that contain great speeches – think On the Waterfront, or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, or Some More Recent Movie That I Just Can’t Think of Right Now, the monologues are earned by the speaker through experience, and are almost commentaries on the story rather than sermons.

So what does one do when they want to tackle a big issue within a story?  The Bitter Script Reader has a nice write up on the topic, examining a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode written by Jane Espenson.

A captive audience...

Well worth the look, as an experienced script reader digs into a work by one of the better writers in television.

The summary: serve the story first, and give all sides their due.

Favorite line from the blog post: 

“Even if Jane Espenson had a point she wanted to make, she seems to be smart enough to know that simply preaching an idea that goes unchallenged isn't the way to win converts to your side.”

So, if you want to hire me to write a piece that includes a message, expect me to fight for the story first – only because I really care about the message.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Christology of Who: Boomtown Part Two

A look at a few of the spiritual themes in Doctor Who, episode “Boomtown” by Russell T. Davies.

SPOILER ALERT:  I will be giving away the end of the episode.

Episode bits pulled from Who Transcripts.

For part one, go here.

The story so far: Margaret (aka Blon Fel Fotch), is about to be sent back home to a waiting death penalty by the Doctor. She has made several efforts to convince the Doctor to let her go, none of them work.

So Margaret forgets arguments, turns the table on the Doctor, and prepares to use the Tardis to blow up the world and ride her surfboard to freedom.

But in doing so, she exposes herself to the Heart of the Tardis.

Bathed in its light, really. 

Breathing heavily, Margaret stares into the light, as if forgetting everything else. Her voice becomes dreamy and vague.

MARGARET
It's ... so bright...

THE DOCTOR
Look at it, Margaret...

MARGARET
... Beautiful...

THE DOCTOR
Look inside, Blon Fel Fotch. Look at the light. 

Margaret is transfixed by the light, and her grip on Rose relaxes. Rose stumbles out of the way and back to Jack. Margaret continues to stare into the light, a blissful smile spreading across her face. Then, she looks up at the Doctor who smiles slightly.

MARGARET
(softly, genuinely)
Thank you ...

She is engulfed by the light, and when it clears, her body-suit flops on top of the extrapolator, empty.

She’s not dead, as one (or at least Jack) might suppose.

Rather, the Spirit that has engulfed her transforms her back into an egg. 

ROSE
She's an egg?

THE DOCTOR
Regressed to her childhood.

JACK
She's an egg?

THE DOCTOR
She can start again! Live her life from scratch. If we take her home, give her to a different family, tell 'em to bring her up properly, she might be all right!

JACK
Or she might be worse.

THE DOCTOR
That's her choice.

ROSE
She's an egg.

THE DOCTOR
She's an egg.

And thus, has a chance to be saved.

It’s not pity, or good deeds, or promises or threats – the only way to be avoid the death penalty, the only true grace, is to be bathed by the Spirit and born again.

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Next up: Dalek and Parting of Ways

Christology of Who: Boomtown Part One

“You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
   who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
   you were angry.
   How then can we be saved?”

Isaiah 64:5

A look at a few of the spiritual themes in Doctor Who, episode “Boomtown” by Russell T. Davies.

SPOILER ALERT:  I will be giving away the end of the episode.

Episode bits pulled from Who Transcripts.

Here’s the story:

The Doctor catches Margaret (aka Blon Fel Fotch), a Slitheen (alien race, don’t ‘cha know) hiding in a human skin, who has twice now tried to destroy the earth. First go around it was to sell off bits of radioactive earth for profit; this time to power a vessel (cosmic surf board, really) to escape earth.

The Doctor decides to take her home – and turn her over to the authorities.

But here’s the twist: Margaret’s homeworld has the death penalty, and Margaret has already been tried and sentenced in absentia. Going home means being punished by death.

Before they can go, the Tardis needs to be powered up, so they have some time to kill.

I should mention a thing or two about the Tardis – the space/time ship that the Doctor travels in. It is powered by something called “the Heart of the Tardis” – a sentient energy within the big blue box.

The Heart of the Tardis is an ephemeral force, a spirit form. She is telepathic, and can guide the Doctor even from a distance. The Doctor travels where he likes, but the Heart will often nudge him (or push him) to specific times and locales.

And the Heart has the gift of tongues – she is the universal translator for all who travel in the Tardis. 

Margaret is very impressed by the Tardis.

MARGARET
I almost feel better about being defeated. We never stood a chance. This is the technology of the Gods. 

THE DOCTOR
Don't worship me - I'd make a very bad God. You wouldn't get a day off, for starters.

 

Anywho, the Doctor and company are waiting for the Heart to get refueled, and that leaves some time for Margaret to plead her case with the Doctor. 

And she has all kinds of reasons why she feels the Doctor should let her avoid the death penalty.

First she tries a little guilt: if the Doctor takes her in, that makes him a murderer, right? The argument is ignored – another’s transgression doesn’t make Margaret any less guilty.

Then she tries to get the Doctor to pity her – and he does. But having pity on someone doesn’t erase their guilt, nor their debt.

Then she argues that she has changed, that she won’t be trying to destroy the world again. The Doctor counters that change isn’t in her nature. After all,she tries twice to poison the time lord while making these pleas.

Then she provides proof that she can be virtuous. There was a woman that she was going to kill, but she didn’t. See, she did a good thing!

THE DOCTOR
It doesn't mean anything.

MARGARET
I spared her life. 

THE DOCTOR
You let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim's spared. Because she smiled... because he's got freckles... 'cos they begged... and that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions. Because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction... you happen to be kind. 

In other words, doing some good doesn’t erase doing bad.

Her last attempt for clemency is to argue that she is not responsible for her own behavior. It is just the way she was raised; it was her community, her environment, not her.

Yeah, the Doctor doesn’t buy that either.

There is nothing that Margaret can do or say to be saved.

To be continued…

Christology of Who: More On "The Doctor Dances"

A look at a few of the spiritual themes in Doctor Who, episode “The Doctor Dances” by Steven Moffat

For an earlier discussion of these episodes and a synopsis, go here.

There is a very moving, deeply moving moment in “The Doctor Dances.” 

Thing is, I completely missed it first go around, because I didn’t have a clue yet as to how ridiculously momentous that moment was.

After watching the following few years with David Tennant, and I got to understand what was happening.

 

The moment is after the nanogenes start to learn, and the Doctor makes a plea to the universe:

THE DOCTOR
Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one. 

He is indeed given “this one,” and the nanogenes do their work. And not only is the boy healed, but everyone is healed.

THE DOCTOR
Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once. Everybody lives!

There’s the moment, the deep deep moment: the joy of the Doctor is unbounded, he has reason to dance – everybody lives!

That is so momentous because it is so rare.

Yes, the Doctor saves the day, time after time. But it almost always comes at a heavy price.

In the end, the majority of humanity is all right; but along the way, many are lost.

This is one source of the Doctor’s deep sadness – the weight of those that weren’t saved in the process of saving those that are.

Doing right has a cost; conquering evil has a cost.

Letters of Note has a letter on its site written by an American OSS officer to his son. One of the many remarkable things is that the letter is written on Adolf Hitler’s stationary. (You can see the letter here.)

After the fall of Hitler, the author got his hands on some stationary, and sent this letter: 

Dear Dennis,

The man who might have written on this card once controlled Europe — three short years ago when you were born. Today he is dead, his memory despised, his country in ruins. He had a thirst for power, a low opinion of man as an individual, and a fear of intellectual honesty. He was a force for evil in the world. His passing, his defeat — a boon to mankind. But thousands died that it might be so. The price for ridding society of bad is always high.

Love, Daddy

The Doctor has a right to dance – he has been given a great gift. For once, just once! everybody lives!

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Next up:  Boomtown

Christology of Who: The Doctor Dances

From Empty to Child

A look at a few of the spiritual themes in Doctor Who, episodes “The Empty Child” and “The Doctor Dances” by Steven Moffat

SPOILER ALERT:  As we look at this Doctor Who episode, I wanted to give my warning again: I will be giving away the end of the episode.

What you need to know:

In the frequently bombarded, WWII London, a ghostly boy of five, wearing a gas mask, wanders the streets calling for his mummy. The child doesn’t seem to have much vocabulary or understanding beyond asking, “Are you my mummy?”

Oh, and he isn’t wearing a gas mask, his face is a gas mask. And anyone he touches, becomes sick, dies, and is reanimated with a face turned into a gas mask.

The boy targets a girl named Nancy, following her throughout the town, persistently asking, “Are you my muumy?”

The cause of the troubles is a space ambulance that has crashed in London. The ambulance was full of nanogenes – the way they heal is by invading the body of the patient and rebuilding the dna to replace the sickly parts.

When the ambulance crashed, the only “patient” nearby was the boy – already dead and wearing a gas mask. The nanogenes didn’t know what a human was supposed to be, and assumed the gas mask as a face, and rebuilt the boy as best they could – animated outside, near empty inside.

And then assumed that all of humanity was supposed to be like this dead boy – and so whenever the nanogenes are transferred to another, they remake the new person in the image of the scared masked boy looking for his mother.

Before I continue, here’s a story from history:

Jesus of Nazareth was traveling about with his disciples, teaching and healing. One day as they walked along a road, they came across a leper.

Leprosy is a highly contagious disease that disfigures the victim; in that day there was no known cure. As such, lepers where labeled “unclean,” and laws strictly forbade any physical contact.

This leper fell to his knees in the path of Jesus and the disciples.

“Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean,” he called out.

So what did Jesus do? Not caring what would happen to himself, he reached out and touched the leper, saying,

“I am willing. Be clean.”

And the man was instantly cured of his disease. The healed man then went about the countryside, blabbing about his healing, which brought even more crowds to the healer.

Now back to the Doctor:

At the climax of the story, the Doctor, Nancy, Rose and Jack are at the site of the crash, and the Doctor has figured out what the nanogenes are doing. But, alas, there is no weapon that can stop the little healers from destroying all of humanity.

All the gasmaskers show up, led by the little boy, still calling for his mummy.

And the Doctor figures out one more thing – why the boy keeps chasing down Nancy. Up to now, it has been thought (by Nancy’s own lie) that the boy is her brother. But she is a bit older than she looks...

The Doctor encourages her to face the truth, and answer the boy.

THE CHILD
Are you my mummy?

NANCY
(kneeling before him)
I'm here.

THE CHILD
Are you my mummy?

NANCY
(whispers)
Yes.

THE DOCTOR
(to Rose)
He doesn't understand. There's not enough of him left.

Nancy looks at her little boy.

NANCY
(tearful, sincere)
I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry.

And she takes him into her arms, no longer caring what will happen. The nanogenes surround them, making them glow with a golden light.

Please note that little bit of action – she takes the child in her arms, not caring what will happen to herself.

The nanogenes wrap up the duo, and when they separate, the boy takes off his gasmask – back from the dead and fully healed.

As the doctor explains, the nanogenes recognized the mother as the true model, and corrected their mistake.
Then, with prompting from the Doctor, the nanogenes revisit all the people they’ve corrupted, and heal them.

And not just from the damage done by the nanogenes – but from all prior damage. They are now in perfect health.

Here are a few things that I took away from these stories.

Transformation starts with an act of love and transformation is risky. It starts with a reaching out, a touching – and such actions comes with risk of infection.

Transformation is a gift from the outside. The power doesn’t come from within, but is sparked by the outside. We can’t transform ourselves on our own; but perhaps we can be the catalyst to someone else’s transformation.

Transformation is contagious. From the example of the empty child becoming a boy named Jamie again, others likewise afflicted are able to be saved. One leper healed on the road leads to crowds coming for healing and teaching.

Transformation requires a modeling of the healthy DNA.  The nanogenes were working on the wrong model, and needed to encounter the correct model before they could be set right. (Likewise, the leper’s body was working on the wrong model…)

An act of love, a risk, a transformation, a modeling.

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.

“I am willing,” he said.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

ps I do have one more point to make on this episode, but let’s hold that off for next time, shall we?

Episode transcripts pulled from Who Transcripts.

Christology of Who: Father's Day Part Three

A look at a few spiritual themes in Doctor Who, episode "Father's Day" written by Paul Cornell.

For part one, go here.

For part two, go here.

Predestination

Here’s the idea of the Predestination: Everything that is going to happen is going to happen, and there’s nothing we can do about it. If you decide to become a Christian, it is because that was predestined, not because you chose to decide to become a Christian.

Or to look at it in a more serious light, George Lucas was predestined to create Jar-Jar Binks, and no matter what anyone may have tried to do to prevent that from happening, it was destined to be.

The folks on the other side of the aisle say, “It ain’t so, Joe.” They argue that life is all about free will, and our choices matter. For them, the existence of Jar-Jar could have been avoided as a product of free will.

The Doctor says, “This debate isn't all that important.”

Well, more like: “Is there predestination? Sure, at times. Is there free will? Absolutely. But the essential part of the equation is: what are you going to do with all that?”

Let me explain with this episode:

Pete is going to die. No way around it, no choice in the matter, it is written in the stars. That car is going to keep appearing in front of the church until it collects its victim.

But what that death means – that bit of information is up for grabs.

Pete Tyler, apparent ne'er-do-well, good for nothing, failure Pete Tyler figures it out: everyone is in danger because he was supposed to die and didn't. The Doctor is gone, no one is going to fix this. And Pete Tyler has a choice.

Pete could keep hiding in the church; he could make a run for it; he could fight to the finish. And in doing so, more and more people will be wiped from the face of the earth.

But Pete knows those aren't the right choices – not for who he really is.

Once he has decided that he is going to sacrifice himself, he explains it to Rose by getting her to tell him why he is going to do it.

PETE
(putting his jacket on)
The car that should've killed me, love. It's here. The Doctor worked it out way back, but he - he tried to protect me. 

Rose just looks at him, eyes filling with tears.

PETE (CONT'D)
Still - he's not in charge anymore. I am. 

ROSE
(voice cracking)
But you can't...

Pete reaches out and strokes Rose's face.

PETE
Who am I, love?

ROSE
My Daddy.

And Daddys take the punishment so their daughters can live.

The question isn’t “what’s going to happen?”

The question is,

“What will we make it mean?”

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Next up: The Doctor Dances.

Christology of Who: Father's Day Part Two

A look at a few spiritual themes in Doctor Who, episode "Father's Day" written by Paul Cornell.

For Part One of this discussion, go here.

Who Are You? Who, Who?

The Doctor loves playing with the title of his show. This episode, however, isn’t about “Doctor who?” but rather, “Who is Pete?”

The show begins with Rose calling Peter Tyler “the most wonderful man in the world,” while Jackie tells young Rose what a great man he was.

Then we meet the schlub.

Whereas Rose was told he was a successful businessman, we see that he was flitting about with all kinds of failed projects.

JACKIE
You bring home cut-priced detergents, tonic water, Betamax tape and NONE of it works - I'm DROWNING in your rubbish.
(to Rose)
What did he tell you? Did he say he's this big businessman, 'cos he's not. He's a failure. Born failure, that one. Rose needs a proper father—

The marriage of Jackie and Pete isn’t the storybook romance that Rose was led to believe – I suppose the quote above showcases that quite nicely.

Ah, what the heck, let’s throw in Pete’s take:

PETE
What's she told you about me, then?
ROSE
She said she'd picked the most fantastic man in the world.
PETE
Must be a different Jackie, then. She'd never say that.

So we learn that Pete Tyler isn’t the most wonderful man in the world. At least not to the naked eye.

The last lines of the episode are Rose’s – telling us about Pete Tyler, “the most wonderful man in the world.”

Begins and ends with that, and Rose is probably right.

So what about all that stuff in the middle – the failure, the goof, the good for nothing?

Here’s the thing – none of us can be judged by whether the bits and pieces of our lives work - by our worldly success. In that standard, if we were honest in the judging, we are all failures.

But even if you look at Pete’s failings, you can see that they spring from attempts at something more. Who he is comes less from the success or failure of his attempts, and more of what is under his attempts.

He is trying to provide – he isn’t out hawking betamax tapes from greed, or pride, or envy, or sloth, or gluttony, or anger, or lust. Sure, he appears a failure, but it isn’t the appearance that defines him. (John 7:24; Samuel 16:7)

Jesus says that there are going to be a whole lot of us that look very much like we are heaven bound, and on that day he won’t have a clue who we are.

And there will be those that look like failures, goofs and good for nothings, and (to their own surprise) they will be embraced by Christ as family.

Pete can’t be defined by his accomplishments because the person he ultimately is... well, that’s for the next section.

To be continued... 

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Christology of Who: Father's Day Part One

A look at “Father’s Day,” written by Paul Cornell, from Series One.

SPOILER ALERT:  As we look at the Doctor Who episode, I wanted to give my warning again: I will be giving away the end of the episode.

Episode summary:

Rose has never met her father (Pete) – he died when she was a baby; but her mother (Jackie) always told Rose what a wonderful, perfect man he was. Rose convinces the Doctor to take her back to the day of Pete’s death, so she can be with him and therefore he won’t die alone.

Instead of just being with him, Rose impulsively saves her father from the hit-and-run. Good for him, bad for the world as this action upsets the balance of time, and Reapers come out to kill everyone in the world and thus erase the damage.

Rose, Jackie, Pete and Baby Rose hide with the Doctor inside a church for a while, until a Reaper gets in and kills the Doctor. Pete, realizing that this is all because he wasn’t supposed to live, sacrifices himself by jumping in front of the hit-and-run car – which has been reappearing in front of the church the whole time they’ve been hiding there.

Time is restored, the Doctor is back, everyone forgets what just happened, and Rose is able to be with her dad as he lay on the street dying.

And now for a look at a few of the themes:

Humanity Matters

A running premise of the entire series is that people matter. And not just the Churchills and Victorias and Einsteins and Shakespeares – but the ordinary, every day person is important.

This notion is underscored twice in the episode, first when Rose can’t understand why the Doctor is ticked at her for saving her daddy. After all, he is just a regular person, so she can’t have changed much.

THE DOCTOR
Rose - there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. An ordinary man, that's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive. 

Later, when the Doctor is talking to the bride and groom during a lull in the attack, he gets them to tell of how they met. But as the reality of the situation kicks in, they both protest that they aren’t important.

The Doctor disagrees:

THE DOCTOR
I've traveled to all sorts of places. Done things you couldn't even imagine. But, you two: Street corner. Two in the morning. Getting a taxi home. I've never had a life like that. Yes.
(smiles)
I'll try and save you. 

Humanity matters, and not just the ones we think of as important – but all of them are worth fighting and dying for.

“For G-d so loved the world…”

To be continued... 

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Christology of Who

Something that will not come as a shock to anyone who knows me: I am a huge fan of Doctor Who – more specifically, of the recent re-launch of the past seven years.

There are many, many things to like about the series, including the marvelous writing and the performances that rise above (and dig deeper) than standard television acting (David Tennant, I’m talking to you).

Another aspect of the show that has caught my fancy is it’s exploration of things spiritual – specifically (in my mind) the probing of G-d and the tenets of Christ’s teaching.

In viewing the series first go around, I was continually amazed by the way in which key aspects of my faith were being played out in the action – grace, faith, forgiveness, justice, and mercy to name a few.

I want to be clear here – I am in no way claiming that showrunner Russell T Davies and company set out to make a defense or proselytizing vehicle for the Church. In fact, Russell (I feel that I may call him Russell as we have met – I was about fifty-three rows back from the stage when he appeared at ComicCon) is an avowed atheist.

But he is a writer, and one with talent and a willingness to let the work speak; and he is in the sci-fi world. With those two aspects in the mix, it is only natural that the big themes would end up being explored.

And among the big themes of humanity are those oft left to the theologians and philosophers.

So I see G-d at every turn in the Doctor’s adventures.

I have recently started working my way through the series again, starting with “Rose” – with the intention of joyfully riding on through and into the eleventh Doctor’s exploits.

As I go, I plan on sharing the insights on faith and theology that I garner from the journey.

Before I do that, three more disclaimers:

Again out of respect for the creator’s beliefs, I am not pretending that Russell T Davies and his writing staff would agree with my conclusions – I am just saying that this is what the show says to me.

I imagine, like most works of art, there are things within it that are knowingly being said by the writers – such as the emptiness of the Holy Spirit and religion as seen in “Gridlock”; and also there are things that speak beyond the knowledge and intentions of the writers – such as the example of the power of the Holy Spirit and religion seen in “Gridlock.”

(There is a marvelous bit in the behind-the-scenes “Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale” where Davies dishes on his swipe at the church in that episode, as well as his surprise at what he put into that show.)

I also want to make clear that I am not advocating that the Doctor is a “Christ figure.” I can already hear the arguments of why the Doctor would be flawed in that function.  I do not see the series as being that clean in its symbolism – nor wanting to be.

Rather, the big themes that are explored are an experiment episode to episode. Yes, there are chapters where the Doctor stands in for Christ (such as “Family of Blood”); just as there are times where the Doctor is just someone in search of the Way and the Truth (“Boomtown”).

The episodes that strike the deepest to me are those where Davies puts the Doctor to the test: what would it look like if someone tried to actually live by those teachings of the Nazarene – live by loving one’s enemy, and forgiveness, and justice and truth.

Okay, last caveat: I will be giving out spoilers like nobody’s business. You can’t see the full Christology of “Family of Blood” without knowing the ending – the shocking twist of that episode is to theme what the twist in “The Sixth Sense” is to plot.

So I will give you a warning a day or two (or six) before I write about an episode, in case you want to get caught up with me.

Sometime in the next week: I am going to skim along Series One by hitting on the notions of sacrifice and predestination in “Father’s Day.”

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Forget Having a Boombox...

Outside a girl's window, the real romance is here:

Black Panther

What I’m Watching:

I’ve been using my new Netflix streaming to catch up on things I missed. Like “The Black Panther” – the BET produced series based on one of my favorite Marvel superheroes.

Each episode runs ten minutes – feeling like television quality webisodes. But the perfect bite-size chunks for viewing while grabbing lunch or for a writing break.

What Worked

I really enjoyed this series, it hit the comic book geek in me just right. As I stated above, T’Challa – sorry, Black Panther, as I do not know the king well enough to refer to him by his first name – has been a fav of mine since I first found him successfully breaking into the Avengers mansion many, many years ago.

A king/superhero/warrior, the Panther has always been about integrity of character, of being the right kind of man, leader and hero. His struggles aren’t just about how to whomp the latest villain, although he does that quite well.

And the fact that he can go toe to toe with the Avengers assembled is pretty cool too.

With good action and a storyline that builds in intensity, the series is fun and satisfying.

The show also strikes the right tone for me – serious actions (invasion of a nation, no shortage of death from war) while keeping a light tongue (sibling banter and well placed gags).

What Didn’t Work

The bashing of a previous administration is so heavy handed, it take the viewer out of the story. The US National Security Advisor is named Dondi Reece – yes the topic is handled with that level of subtlety. 

Thankfully not enough time is spent here to sabotage the series.

The Skinny

A very fun, compelling adaptation of a graphic novel series. Well worth the time.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Phone Booth Faux Pas

Are you tired of being stuck in the same old time and space?

Get one for your own use! 
(Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Things not included.)

Year In Review: 2010

We recently uncovered a listing of television shows scheduled to arrive in 2010 – and thought it would be fun to look back and see which shows were hits and misses. 

Thanks to Entertainment Yearly and Gaffney Guide for these descriptions. 

Programming Scheduled in 2010:

THE GUESTROOM  Drama; Friday nights.  An anthology series with a rotating cast of guest stars as they find love, adventure, magic, and cat fur while visiting Sean, Cath, and River.  Famous guest stars include:  Isaac, Beth, Niffer, David & Ann, Irene, Faith & Sarah, Bethanie, Lauren & Scott, Wayne & Jean, Wayne & Pat, Luke and Felicia. 

THE BOWL  Culture; Sundays on PBS.  Exciting adventures as Sean and Cath introduce their parents to the wonders of the Hollywood Bowl.  Spring special focuses on Wayne and Jean attending the Bel Air Pres Easter Service at the bowl, followed shortly with an earthquake.  The Summer special finds Wayne and Pat watching the antics of Bugs Bunny and company as the symphony plays along.

MUSICAL MYSTERY  Suspense; Thursdays.  Detectives Sean and Catherine are on the trail of the missing musical, tracking the slippery song and dance shows throughout the country.  They nearly catch “Guys and Dolls” at a living room read event at Janet and Lee’s (all attendees sit in a circle and pop up to read/sing their parts); they corner “In the Heights” at Pantages; race against “A Walk in the Woods” with Dean and Beth in a Noho theater; then sprint up the coast to catch “Man of La Mancha” red handed at Taproot in Seattle. 

THE AMAZING, WELL WE’LL GET THERE WHEN WE GET THERE, RACE  Reality, Mondays.   Sean and Catherine race (well, mosey) to various locations around the country for prizes (or vacation and business).  They visit Cayucos over a long weekend, and buy seasalt cookies.  Air Force jets buzz by Sean as he watches Isaac’s graduation in CO.  Cath drags Sean for a business trip in Red Rock outside Vegas for a dance conference (special guests Shon, Jodi and Chantal).  Sean faces freezing weather to venture out alone to Nashville to work on a book pitch (no news on the book pitch until 2011). Reality series already renewed for April 2011 trip to Australia and Tasmania.

ENTERTAINMENT THIS AFTERNOON  News, daily.  In depth coverage of the entertainment going-ons of Sean and Cath.  Show includes links to Cath’s breakout series BETTY AND DD (www.bettyanddd.com), her performance in THE KILLERS, and to Sean’s occasional badd videos (www.belairdrama.com).  Coverage also on Cath’s new headshots (www.catherinegaffney.net … yes, that is grey hair!), and audition travails, including exclusive coverage of Catherine signing with a new manager and being sent out to network auditions.

THE VEGAS THANKSGIVING  Comedy; Holiday Special.  After following the directions from a discount GPS machine that Sean buys, a group of friends are forced to spend Thanksgiving in Las Vegas instead of their intended destination of Vermont.  The gang endures comical trials, including viewing a Bill Cosby show, attending a Cirque d’ Soleil event, shopping at the Forum, eating at the Bellagio buffett and shouting AMEN at the gospel brunch at the House of Blues, until finally Mark wins enough poker money to buy them all bus tickets home.  Cast includes:  Joel, Mark, Nicole, Shon, Jodi, Ray, Karen, Bob, Anne, Beth, Sean and Catherine.  (NOTE:  This special received such high ratings that the network is already planning a sequel.)

A VERY REOHR NEW YEAR  Comedy; Wednesdays.  The whacky antics of Trey, Abby, Katie, Paige, Dick and Mary as they ring in the New Year with special guest stars Uncle Cath and Uncle Funny.  Plot to be determined. 

Thumbs up for a great year.  Stay tuned on Facebook, Twitter (cathgaff), Skype (seancath), email, text, phone, or sky writing for a brand new season of wacky Gaffney programming in 3D (no glasses required). 

The Perks of Being a Television Star

"I gotta get me one of those."

Thanks for the find, Nicole.

Hee Hee, Aahhh, and Yep

Hee hee...



Aahhh...



and Yep.

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Just my thoughts,

Sean