JohannesVIII's Doctor Who liveblogs archive: The Face-Eater

[Original blog post on Tumblr: October 21st, 2015]

Some highlights of the last EDA I’ve read (The Face-Eater).

This isn’t exactly a review, more like some sort of retroactive liveblogging, since I took these screens while reading, along with my reactions. As usual, this is full of spoilers.

I had no idea you could take the central concept of The Thing and throw it into the plot of At the Mountains of Madness (with a bit of film noir added for good measure) and somehow manage to write something tedious with that mix. But here we are. Sam seems to have regressed to her pre-Seeing I characterisation, and Eight is just written in a generic Doctorish way. It could have been so much better. Still, the parallels with The Thing entertained me more than you might expect, as you’ll see. 3/10

I wasn’t kidding about the film noir tropes.

Hmmmmmmm noPE

So yeah, Sam is back to pre-Seeing I Sam because she wants to prove she’s still herself after the whole Sam I Am thing in Beltempest. Or at least that’s the excuse used by the writer to write her like that.

Even the Doctor thinks that’s a bit out of character for her nowadays.

Also this planet is home to the less-threatening little cousins of the creature from Midnight apparently.

You f█cking dork.

What

...I guess the writer doesn’t like companions in general, not just Sam.

Wow.

SHOTS FIRED

Hmm I wonder if the Wire from The Idiot’s Lantern is a distant cousin of the monster of the week.

The parrot-like rodents of Proxima seem to be the only life form on the planet. That creeps me out way more than the murders to be honest.

WHY ARE YOU SO CREEPY WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS PLANET WHY

Friendly reminder that the Doctor can be pretty unsettling sometimes too.

TEKELI-LI TEKELI-LI

HUMMMMMMM NOPE

Also that reminds me of an awful glitch in the Silent Hill HD collection, but I’m not going to put a link to it because it’s way too disturbing for a simple glitch and I don’t want to see it ever again.

You do realise that the shape-shifter Face-Eater has just read all your memories, right? That can’t be good.

[CONCERN FOR EIGHT INTENSIFIES]

THE WRITER ISN’T EVEN TRYING TO HIDE IT LOOK AT THAT

Meanwhile Sam Jones very narrowly escapes being burned alive. Between that, the bullet and the deadly radiations from The Janus Conjonction, plus her condition during a good part of Beltempest, I hope the next book will give her a break because she’s been put through the wringer recently.

Thankfully she’s out of her mind because of that oxygen mask, because her back has been burned horribly.

I love this whole exchange to be honest

Yes they’ve found the Doctor!

Good thing you can heal, right Doctor

BREAKING NEWS HELEN YOU ARE IN A SCIENCE-FICTION STORY

YOU HAVE BEEN IN A SCIENCE-FICTION STORY ABOUT A SHAPE-SHIFTING ENTITY A LA THE THING FOR 142 PAGES, TIME TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT LITTLE PROBLEM CAUSE THIS IS FAR TOO SLOW

Doctor please stop startling people like that when there’s a shape-shifter on the loose or you’re going to get shot by mistake.

Hmmmm you’re a bit too fascinated by this thing, Doctor.

HMMMMM YOU KNOW WHAT I JUST HAD AN AWFUL, AWFUL THOUGHT

Let’s hope I’m correct about this & please go on.

I don’t care how badly Sam is written in that book I still want to hug her

OKAY YOU ARE DEFINITELY NOT BEN FULLER

SAM GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE

KILL IT WITH FIRE

I’m not sure I want to know what it looks like when it’s not imitating someone else, Sam, but that’s still very brave of you

ALL I CAN THINK OF IS THAT HELLISH FLYING THING FROM 9

She managed to get rid of it with a car, colour me impressed.

You know, nothing serious.

I’m 50% sure he’s not the Doctor, he’s way too casual about all this.

Or, you know... it could be bad writing.

WHAT

He was either dead or one of the Face-Eaters so WHAT

Guys I think my awful thought about the Doctor was completely correct.

Also that reminds me I should finish that Seeing I drawing I’ve started a few days ago, thank you for that.

I KNEW IT

I F█CKING CALLED IT

THE REAL DOCTOR HAS BEEN FOUND BY THE REAL LEARY

SHOTS FIRED

They got rid of the fake Doctor. Good.

Holy shit, that was brutal, though.

Hey I haven’t talked a lot about Helen Percival, actually. That’s because she’s the cliché close-minded political leader in all her glory.

We are the providers of Exposition. Do not be afraid.

So yeah, the Face-Eater was to the Proximans what the Shoggoths were to the Elder Things, and no I wasn’t kidding about the plot being a mix of The Thing and At the Mountains of Madness, was I?