Art Maybury

Classic brits, stumble into a tomb and go "this is mine now. Finders keepers."

But in this case they did start with the intention of saving lives.

Wretched.

Dr. Who posits that at least Barbara helped Autloc as a silver lining but... he's way worse off now, surely.

Did they even save any lives? I'm pretty sure that that death means their intervention was a net negative on the bodycount.

Okay, I typed too soon, they are just going to have Ian straight up kill Ixta, trained soldier, in combat with no special tricks or cancellation and postponement.

I don't think Ian is here being posited as the greatest warrior, just fulfilling his narrative slot as the team brawler. He really has been at-best evenly-matched if not outmatched and always trying to get out of scrapes through machinations rather than fight, because he knows he's not good enough.

The guard was not in fact distracted enough by the shiny trinket so Ian just drubs him over the head. Surely he could have done that at any time?

Cameca is extremely perceptive or pessimistic to sense her upcoming misfortune, and rather sanguine about it all.

Ian's being framed for a behind-the-head clubbing he didn't do yet again.

After all that hassle to get the rope to turn the door, it just breaks. But they can just go back the way they originally came in, surely?

I'm glad I've been watching these episodes with friends because I'm really finding The Aztecs a slog. If I was watching by myself the watchthrough might stall out for a good long while again here just for disenthusiasm.

#WhoWatch S1E30 - The Day Of Darkness

Been a while since we've been in the shadows, which is always where this show shines brightest, ironically. The crossfades are good too.

Ian finds the idea of Dr. Who actually marrying a Mexican woman inherently laughable even though I don't think he knows it was half an accident. Everyone in this story is racist but Ian most of all.

Ah cool "barbaric" child brideship as a major plot point. Fuck me this is rough

Susan is an excellent student, as she once was in An Unearthly Child. If anything, she seems to be less of an Unearthly misfit here in her schooling.

Love the shot Tloxtl just absolutely seething in the foreground. He's got the eyebrows for it for sure.

I'm a fan of Barbara, so I'm glad to see her get more to do and to be assertive and in charge rather than imperiled and on the backfoot. Pulling a Bill Murray "nobody will believe you" confessing she is not Yetaxa. Wish the arc didn't suck.

Ian claims that there's only one exceptional "civilized" man in all of The Aztecs, and THAT is what finally convinces Barbara she can't change things for the better.

The romance plotline is a fun change but the love interest really has no character besides being in love.

#WhoWatch S1E29 - The Bride Of Sacrifice

Ixta's "stealth and cunning" is genuinely some of the most impressive double-cross work yet in a show that, other than The Keys Of Marinus, runs on double-crosses. I genuinely didn't see the whole thing coming.

It's hard to tell through the Marco Polo telesnaps but I think the caveman fight scene is still the best in the show thus far. This fight in particular is a classic "bearhug fighting" for the most part.

Barbara as Yetaza prophecizes the fall of Aztec civilization and ascribes it to human sacrifice. This could be seen as a canny ploy, but according to her declaration in the first episode is literally what she believes.

Dr. Who evil laughing as he unwittingly rigs the fight against Ian... against Ian. Good dramatic irony, farce kind of beat.

I see the Aztecs also had housewives in the same sort of family arrangement and responsibilities as the 1950s anglosphere, apparently. Just with arranged marriages instead.

Episode where Dr. Who is as defensive of like, rolling coal, as he here is of human sacrifice. It's their American tradition! They worship their automobiles, you can't stop them or save them!

Dr. Who got his sweetheart to agree to arrange a meeting for him with the builder's son... which he already had done last episode. I guess that catches up the weekly viewer of 1963.

The villain has a correct apprehension of the whole "false goddess" situation, so he's got the truth on his side at least.

Did Ian just Vulcan Nerve Pinch that guy?

#WhoWatch S1E28 - The Warriors Of Death

Really that title just seems redundant.