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man049 · 5 months

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After finally getting around to watching Kill The Moon I was very much surprised, pleasantly in fact.

While the abortion metaphor is 100% a valid reading you can make of the story, I don't buy it being the true conflict and message of the episode. Knowing that apparently Peter Harness didn't intend this to be an abortion metaphor, I can let it pass as what is probably a writer's political views subconsciously leaking into the script.

Judging the story literally and not metaphorically. It's about choosing if it's right/worth to kill an innocent being to save the lives of many.

This is literally the trolley problem.

Then you remember that this episode works as a sort of prelude for Mummy On The Orient Express and the true intentions of this episode come to light.

This is a story about having no "good choices", about taking risks when you aren't sure what's going to happen.

Clara is put way more in a bad light than what most people say. Clara is left speechless and with no counter arguments to what Lundwik argues and concedes to letting earth decide. When she finally pushes the button it was clearly a sudden and irrational move.

Clara outright says she didn't know what was going to happen, that she wasn't planning to press the button. Clara didn't make this choice because of knowing what was for the best, she did it because she couldn't bear the weight of intentionally killing an innocent being. She gambled, she took a leap of faith and it paid off.

Beyond the choice itself. Another big aspect of the episode is why The Doctor put Clara in this situation.

The Doctor is lonely. Everybody knows that. But even when companions are close to him, he still feels alone because there's nobody in the universe like him.

He can relate to some, but there's always a thing or two getting in the way (for example Time Lords being dead). So he craves, he strongly craves for someone like him. When The Doctor is asked why he wants to rehabilitate Missy a big reason he gives is the fact she is the only person somewhat similar to him.

The Doctor desires someone he can relate to so badly it makes him want to redeem the person who destroyed 1/4 of the universe.

And now in an adventure with her he finds a situation in which they have to decide if they are willing to stop the birth of a living being to save the lives of many? That sounds familiar.

Just like Nine brought Rose to the future so she could also experience what it's like seeing your planet explode and be the last member of your species, Twelve put Clara in this situation so she could experience what it's like to be the one who makes the big choices.

The Doctor all the time makes decisions that affect the lives of many. Decisions that most of the time he isn't sure if they will work. He risks it all every day. It brings him a lot of pain but he feels forced to do it because he thinks no one else can. He always has to save humanity because he thinks none of them could do what he does.

This... Sadly brings out the uncomfortable truth. Which is that The Doctor does look down upon humans. Don't get me wrong, he adores them, he would give it all to be like them. But he is aware that he considers himself superior to humanity, which is a side of him he (usually) tries to keep in check.

Humanity is for The Doctor what animals are for humanity. We love animals, we admire what they can do and even envy them in some areas, but we still don't consider them as capable, as intelligent as us.

This side of The Doctor can be seen as far back as the first episode of the revival. Calling humans stupid apes, and describing them as a species on it's first baby steps. Because of it, he wants them to be better, he knows how amazing they can and will be and wants them to achieve their potential.

What I'm getting at is that he feels like he is the only one who has to make the big choices, he feels alone taking that burden. But at the same time, he likes it, he enjoys taking these decisions, and he would be more than pleased to have someone right by his side taking them as well.

This is about nurturing Clara into becoming something greater. In his eyes, this means stop being a little human and grow to be the tiniest little bit similar to him.

All of this makes me remember that one moment in The End Of Time Part 2.

The Doctor said humans look like giants, he never said they look bigger than him.

#ramblings #doctor who #nuwho #12th doctor #the twelfth doctor #clara oswald #whouffaldi #whouffle #twelveclara #kill the moon

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knickynoo · 6 months

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Back to the Future: The Animated Series, s02ep08 “A Verne by Any Other Name"

Previous episodes linked here.

In this episode: Marty gets slapped by famous novelist Jules Verne and then has a terrible trip back to the Old West, and Verne hangs out with his parents on the night he's going to be born.

Wow, I haven't covered an animated series episode since September since I was so preoccupied with Doctober. I've missed this bonkers little show.

We begin in Paris (it's really interesting how we're hardly ever in the lab anymore this season). Doc is wearing a phenomenal floral-print Hawaiian shirt and talking about how much he loves visiting France.

He's taking a picture of Clara in that first one, btw. She's up in the Eiffel Tower :)

As usual, his trip has a connection to the plot in the cartoon portion of the show, and he leads us into it by mentioning that Marty and Verne once took a trip to France as well...

The cartoon opens up at Hill Valley Elementary school, where Verne is hiding out on the playground, waiting for everyone else to return to their classes before venturing inside. The reason? He's being teased by his classmates because of his name. While sneaking through the empty hallway, he's stopped by Biff Jr. and another classmate who appeared in a past ep but whose name I can't remember.

They call him "Verne the Worm" and "La-Verne," and then try to block his path down the hall.

When Verne gets home later, he immediately announces to his parents that he doesn't like his name. After failing to convince Verne that it's an honor to be named after such a great science fiction writer, Clara whispers to Verne that she wanted to name him after her uncle, but Doc won the coin toss, lol. And I just cannot get over the image of Doc and Clara settling on Verne's name via a coin flip. Ridiculous.

But you know what's more ridiculous?? What else is happening in the scene while Verne is talking to his parents:

That giant yellow thing behind Doc and Verne is CORN ON THE COB. Doc has created "super growth mondo corn." Because. Idk, we're not given a reason. And the thing on the left is a gigantic piece of popcorn that Doc made using just one singular kernel. When he calls to Clara that they're going to need a lot of butter, she drives into the workshop towing an equally large stick of butter.

This show is. It's a lot to process sometimes. Things like this just happen, and I have to go, "Sure, why not?" and keep watching.

Anyway, we cut to a new scene where bad decisions are being made. Verne has recruited Marty's help in dealing with his problem, and the plan is to go back in time and convince Jules Verne to change his own name. Even Marty thinks this is a silly idea, which is saying a lot.

Verne informs Marty that he's crucial to the plan because Marty speaks fluent French. Oohh, that's an interesting little tidbit, right? Except, no it isn't because, as Marty is quick to point out, he doesn't speak French; he's taking a French class. And he's failing it.

Upon arriving in Paris and tracking down where Jules Verne lives, Marty and Verne are very happy to discover that he speaks English. They exchange high-fives.

I have my criticisms of Cartoon Marty, but I do love his relationship with Verne a whole lot. They're such buddies.

Marty's list of friends:

His girlfriend (sometimes. Jen is angry at him a lot in the cartoon)

An old man

An eight-year-old

Posing as "Nerdy Names Anonymous," the boys tell Jules that they can help him pick out a new and cooler name. Verne offers a few suggestions: Hammer, Raphael, and Bart Simpson. To really drill in the point that Jules Verne is a bad name, Verne sings one of the taunting songs he's heard at school. Jules then slaps Marty in the face. When Marty points out that he wasn't the one singing the song, Jules says "A French man does not slap a child." He then slams the door in their faces.

Later on, Jules Verne is enjoying a meal at a cafe. Marty and Verne pose as waiters, and upon him telling them his name, Verne says, "What a doofus name. Why don't you change it?" J.V. responds to this by slapping Marty again. After a final failed attempt later in the evening, Verne decides it's time for Plan B.

The guys are heading to the Old West! Verne's new plan is to go directly to his parents and convince them to pick a different name for their second son.

And look! Look who we see! It's baby Jules!

While Marty goes to hide the DeLorean (he crashes it into some trees) Verne approaches the house. Just as the door opens, one of Doc's inventions goes haywire (because of course it does) and FLINGS Jules OUT OF THE CABIN. Verne manages to catch and save him just in time, and—after giving their thanks—Doc and Clara soon realize that Jules seems to love Verne. They invite their mysterious newcomer into the house.

And like. He introduces himself as Verne, and Doc and Clara don't bat an eye?? They don't even make a passing comment of, "Oh, that's interesting; our son's name is Jules, and we both love Jules Verne."

Anyway, I can't get over baby Jules. He's building a model of the Eiffel Tower. He is an INFANT.

Meanwhile, while all this is going on, Marty is stuck in the DeLorean on top of several very tall trees. His only way to get down is to jump, and after hitting the ground, he falls down an embankment, gets rolled into a giant snowball as he tumbles around, is then approached by an angry bear, and—in his attempt to get away—ends up running right into a tree. Typical day for Marty McFly.

ALSO! I just realized that this scene gives great insight into the amount of snow Hill Valley gets! (featuring Marty: the human snowball)

I'd been wondering how much snow they got. This could be helpful information for a future fic.

Back at the cabin, Clara is telling Verne all about the new baby she's going to have soon. She says the baby will be named Florence if it's a girl or Jehoshaphat (after her uncle) if it's a boy.

Verne is not pleased by this alternative name.

Doc steps in to remind Clara that he wants to name the baby Galileo, which Verne is also horrified to hear.

Doc and Clara then get into a full on fight over their inability to agree on a name, and it ends with Clara shouting, "Get out of my house you big eyebrowed slave to science!" They both then slam lots of doors, and Doc storms out.

??? Huh???? What is happening? Who decided that it was in-character for Doc and Clara to scream at each other like this? I don't like it!!

Clara then goes into labor, and tells Verne that he has to go into town to find the doctor and bring him to the cabin. Verne goes out into the horrific blizzard conditions.

It's up to the top of his head in that first pic. That is like four feet of snow!!

Using some ingenuity, Verne crafts a little snowplow and manages to brave the piles of snow all around. He locates Doc and the doctor, and leads them both back to the cabin.

We also return to Marty, who is continuing to have a great day.

The bear then shakes the tree, and the DeLorean (which is still stuck up there) falls directly onto Marty.

A short while later, Verne has the very odd experience of being at his own birth.

After tentatively asking if they're going to name the baby Jehoshaphat, Clara says that she and Doc have decided to name their new son after a brave young man: Verne.

And with that, Verne is now named after himself.

So. So though Verne was previously named after Jules Verne, his being named Verne now has nothing to do with that.

Verne and Marty (who is remarkably unscathed by his visit back to the Old West) return to the present day, where Verne now has a newfound appreciation for his name. End of cartoon.

Back in Paris with Real Doc, he informs us that he's going to read the entirety of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" out loud.

Unfortunately, he only gets a few words into the novel before a miniature hot air balloon interrupts his story.

The basket contains a note from Clara, informing Doc that he's out of time, and it's time to end his little science broadcast. He tells us to go check the book out at the local library and sends us off with his phrase that ends every episode, "See you in the future!"

Weird episode. Very weird episode. I don't like how Doc and Clara got so mean with each other and the fact that Doc WALKED OUT on his wife who was mere hours away from giving birth. That is not my Doc and Clara. Wish we could have had a super extended edition of the episode where Christopher Lloyd did read the whole 20,000 Leagues novel to us. That would have been nice, I think.

Also, what was with that gigantic cob of corn from the beginning of the episode?? It never came back into play at any other point. There was zero reason for that scene to happen. Cartoon Doc has problems.

Join me next time as the Brown family gets run out of town because Doc can't stop causing chaos.

#back to the future #bttf #bttf: the animated series

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dragon-chica · 11 months

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A Relationship with Rat/Jacob Lester...

Podcast: Archive 81

Some people just write for popular/living fandoms...then there's what I'm doing out here with podcasts... This is written a lot differently that I have done before, but I think it fits nicely.

I have not finished Archive81 so may not be fully in character, but I wrote all this at work and was happy with it. Enjoy.

Dan is somewhat of his proudest creation and Rat loves gushing to you about all he can do or might be able to do, or might not. It may get a little repetitive, but you humor him to get to watch his join doing so.

Whether you are humor or not, Rat is often confused at such emotions and the care he feels towards you, but you also seem to feel the same, and that's very enjoyable. He is happy with you.

If you are one of his creations, oh how wonderful. He is even more helpful to your curiosities to your new self.

The others are very weirded out by his interest then obvious infatuation with you.

First by his eager fascination, whether you're human or not, he's never been quite this "bad" with someone, and Clara and Lou try to guide you away from him at times.

They find his crush very disturbing, and with a shiver down their spines of "at least it's not me" and "oh that poor soul"

Even more horrified that you reciprocate it.

You have been asked if you're okay or it something was Done to you.

But you really are a good match together, even if you don't always understand and can't match his energy, Rat will fit himself to you as well.

If he is cross with someone he usually ends up pouting silently, and will likely come to you for company while he broods.

If he is cross with you, he isn't sure what to do, he does not like being angry with you, and usually goes to you about these things. He gets over it quickly if left alone though.

If you are mad at him he will pout, somewhat cutely (at least to you) and follow you closely like a puppy that got in trouble while you ignore him.

He is definitely very touchy, and affectionate. In his own ways of course.

He knows all the rooms in the outpost and will gladly show you each and every one.

And of course ask you to come exploring with him when new ones appear so you can experience them together.

He knew you were sad and missed music and apologized to you that listening to things are dangerous here, but asked Dan if he found anything safe if you might be able to listen to it too.

He tries humming to you are times.

You once told him his giggles were like music to you and it is the first time anyone has seen him blush.

There are many beautiful things here and he wants to show you them all, and he watches your reactions and finds them even more beautiful.

If you were to leave the company, he would follow you, and if you were to stay, he would be by your side.

If you were to deice on a name you thought would fit him nicely, whether a word or thing or name, it would only be for you to use. Others may call him Rat, you may call him Rat, he is often called many things, but he will remind them that that name is his only to you.

He can be very hyper (minded and physically) and speed off, but quickly backtracks when he realizes you are not beside him to go get you.

If you eat and if you sleep he is very happy to join you while you do so and watch.

It has been so long since he needed to eat and has mostly forgot anything about foods but asks for your favorites and what you think of each meal and he always remembers.

He remembers everything about you and what you tell him, you are very special to him after all.

He would do anything for you, even breaching contract. Even lying.

Rat, for all people think of him, disturbing and unnerving, annoying or creepy, no one would say he is unloyal after watching him with you.

You are his first priority when the Curator starts hunting in the outpost.

If you are one of his creations, despite how proud of you he is and how much he enjoys creating and thinking of his creations, he does not like thinking about your pained screams when you were being made, even though what you were made into is so beautiful.

He would listen to Dan's podcast with you if you were there beforehand, or would gladly take you to listen with him again through patreon, excited to show you how fun it was before.

#Rat x reader #Rat imagine #Jacob Lester x reader #Jacob Lester imagine #my stuff #Archive 81 x reader #Archive 81 imagine #Archive 81

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longagoitwastuesday · 11 months

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Do you have favorite actors for the various roles in "Cyrano de Bergerac"? I would love to hear your thoughts!

I do! I actually rambled a lot about this while I was watching the different productions I could get my hands on (I tagged it "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "I talk too much").

My favorite productions are the one with José Ferrer and the one with Benoit Solès, and those actors make the best Cyranos in my opinion. Though that's probably something in part beyond the actors' choice, their dynamic with their respective Roxane and Christian are the best ones, I think, and I find how Cyrano moves around these two particular characters at the core of a good Cyrano characterisation.

José Ferrer's use of his voice, which is arguably Cyrano's true most characteristic feature, is unmatched imo (although McAvoy does a very good job with this too), and he manauvers very well several of the different aspects of the character, such as his playfulness, his shittiness and longing. By the end of the play you believe he is the most beautiful man on Earth. Cyrano, however, is a bit pathetic (not just in a "pathos" way), and I'd say Ferrer gives off an air full of dignity very fitting of many scenes, but that eats almost entirely this aspect of Cyrano; Benoit Solès manages this very well, while also playing well with some of the other ones, such as the playfulness, the longing, the pain and the despair. Both Ferrer and Solès are hilarious, tender, a bit shitty, vulnerable, playful and sad. Albeit neither of them portrays 100% what Cyrano is, I think both come pretty close in slightly different flavours, and by the end of the play one ends up being terribly fond of them.

My favourite Roxane is Clara Huet in the production with Benoit Solès, but Mala Powers in the 1950 film is a close second. I think they portray wonderfully Roxane's spunk, and her mix of honest playful cheerfulness and her haughtiness, her intelligence and wit, and how much like Cyrano she is.

I've not come to love for now any Christian as much as I've loved Ferrer, Solès, Huet and Powers, but again I think the Christians in the 1950 film and the Solès productions are very very good. I love the dynamic they have with their Cyranos, especially the one Christian and Cyrano have in the 1950 film, enhanced positively by the added scenes (they actually work so well in showing their developing as friends, their deep love and care for each other!). I don't want to expand too much on this to avoid spoilers (beyond the already known 'Christian dies' ones I mean), but some things they do with both these Christians are a thing of genius, and both feel vulnerable, kind, ready to fight and truly desperate at times; I like when they do that.

There's an Italian production which has a Cyrano I truly enjoy as well, despite how they dumbify him more than I usually like my Christians. His mix of anger and deep pain when he discovers Cyrano's feelings for Roxane were so well made, and his physical presence makes you identify who Christian is even before the play starts.

The Podalydès production has two different Christians. The one in the version on youtube isn't bad, but @ride-a-dromedary likes Éric Ruf a lot. I actually adore him based on the clips and gifs she's posted of him, but I haven't been able to find the version with him online, so I can't know. But he truly seems one of the best. Based on what little I've seen, I love his intense gazes and subtle gestures.

I'm not entirely sold on any Le Bret, De Guiche or Ragueneau yet.

I think the German musical has a decent Ragueneau in vibes, and the 1990 French film does as well. I found his poem made song for what I think is a Spanish production (I'm not sure if it's a fan creation based on the Spanish production), and while I've not been able to find that production online, the song works well in vibes too I think.

The German musical's Le Bret in vibes is very good. He encompasses well his deep love and worry for Cyrano while also being done with his shit. They truly feel like close friends. The 1950 film kind of combines Gaston de Castel-Jaloux and Le Bret into one character, which sadly changes Le Bret's dynamic with Cyrano a bit, but that's a very good Le Bret as well. The one in Solès' production is pretty good too. He has my favourite delivery of the scene in which Le Bret chastises Cyrano for risking his life sending letters.

De Guiche is complicated. I think productions often make him too pathetic and laughable or too bad, so bad it makes the last act kind of not make sense. The 1950 one, the 1990 French one, the Kevin Kline one and the Solès one are all good, but I am not passionate for any of them either.

And basically that's it!

#I'm sorry for such a long reply‚ it wasn't my intention. In fact I tried to keep it short but oops #As an extra I'll say that the Japanese film based on Cyrano‚ Life of an Expert Swordsman‚ has a quite good main trio #The Christian character is pretty‚ noble and kind. The Roxane character is smart and well-versed in poetry and a writer in her own right #I loved when productions enhance these aspects of these characters #Kline isn't a bad Cyrano‚ but he is a bit too unbelievable to me. He is too pretty being too old. I already don't like these characters #being old because it makes it lose some sense (they're idiots in part because they are young) but he is so fit for a ~60yo which is like...#Really? The nose? A young man with the same traits is more believable to be self-conscious and think himself unlovable I'd say #I like that Kline comes off at times as a bit cruel and violent and I think it works well with how he is a lot of fun #But at times he is so much fun it ruins the mood‚ although this is a problem of the production in general and of it being based #on Burgess' translation‚ which is something I could ramble about on its own and that makes me kinda mad #I think Depardieu on the other hand falls short on being fun. He tries so hard it isn't funny and it often feels a bit pathetic to me #but not in the way Cyrano is meant to be. On the other hand‚ I felt Depardieu was too full of himself in this film and was too aware #of being he protagonist. The thing about Cyrano is that he doesn't think he is #All in all‚ the more I watch this film the less I like it and his portrayal of Cyrano. I also don't like their Christian and Roxane #(although she isn't as bad as the Klein production of Roxane‚ who is for me among the worst)#I'm not sold at all on the 2021 Roxane either‚ and this Cyrano is so much the dashing tragic hero that he isn't funny #which is one of Cyrano's main characteristics. So I don't like the 2021 Cyrano a lot either. But that's not due to the acting‚#but because the musical does a poor work at being an adaptation of the play and its characters I'd say #The worst Cyrano out of the ones I've seen is perhaps the one in the Italian production I've mentioned that had a Christian I liked #Their Roxane was awful too but iirc Le Bret was good and Ragueneau was decent #I'm not into the Podalydès Cyrano at all. One of the Cyranos I enjoy the least I must admit. But at least he isn't that Italian one #I conclusion‚ and I always feel kinda sectarian‚ everyone should watch the Benoit Solès version #The José Ferrer film is popular enough not to mention #I talk too much #Cyrano de Bergerac

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knickynoo · 5 months

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Back to the Future: The Animated Series, s02ep09 “Hill Valley Brown Out"

Previous episodes linked here.

In this episode: Clara and Doc's dynamic continues to upset me, the townsfolk can't decide if they love Doc or want to banish him from Hill Valley, and a reference to a '90s show makes me do ten minutes of research.

The opening sequence with Doc is super quick and not particularly interesting, so I'm going to skip it and get right to the cartoon.

The citizens of Hill Valley are preparing for the annual Founders' Day celebration, which is a thing that I know about from watching Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons, lol. Both of those shows had Founders' Day episodes as well. We see a statue dedicated to the founder of Hill Valley with a plaque that reads, "The Old Pioneer and His Mule Standing on a Hill."

We then go to the Brown home, where the family is very busy preparing for the festival. Jules and Verne are hard at work making a papier-mâché mule, Clara is putting together a handmade costume, and Doc has been put in charge of the food booth. Unfortunately, Doc is being his typical bumbling cartoon self, and he ends up making a mess of things in the house. Clara, as usual, is angry and annoyed at him and sends him out of the house with these parting words:

If you read the post for the previous episode, you'll recall Clara and Doc flipping out at each other and having a major fight, and they've been unkind to each other in other episodes as well. It's particularly prevalent with Clara, who seems to have this whole "I married an idiot" thing going on??

I do not like it. Always amazed at how little these characters resemble the ones from the movies sometimes. Clara is often framed as the nagging, long-suffering wife, Doc is so ridiculously goofy and incompetent at times that it's a little much even for a cartoon, and Marty is just Some Generic 90's Cartoon Guy that they slapped the name Marty McFly on and called it a day.

This series could have been good. It could have been so good. Alas.

Anyway, Doc goes off to the garage, where he soon gets a phone call. It's the sheriff, calling to remind Doc not to partake in any "monkey business" prior to the Founders' Day celebration. Doc assures the man that all will go smoothly.

As soon as he hangs up the phone, Doc gets a visit from Biff who asks to borrow some chairs for a party he's throwing. While he's there, Doc sees it as the perfect opportunity to test out his invention for the town celebration: a machine that cooks and serves 1,000 hot dogs per hour.

As expected, the machine malfunctions and ends up covering Biff in the food (as well as slapping him). Doc makes up for it by loaning Biff a bunch of his specialized folding chairs. After Biff leaves, Doc attempts to clean the machine using "super sudsy soap" he's invented. Does it work as it's supposed to? Of course not. This guy invented several fully functional time machines, but he's yet to invent anything in the cartoon that actually functions properly.

The soap is SO SUDSY that it flows out of the garage and into the house, where Clara is busy fixing her costume and muttering angrily to herself about her husband. As she does so, she mentions Doc's full name, and it's at that point that I discovered Lathrop isn't pronounced "lah-throp" like I'd thought all these years; it's pronounced "lay-throp." I don't know why this bothers me, but it does. It doesn't look like it should be pronounced like that.

Clara, absolutely fed up with Doc's shenanigans, gets into the DeLorean and tells him that she's taking the boys into town for the tractor pull contest. Jules and Verne are utterly delighted and seemingly oblivious to the fact that their family is one step away from crumbling.

As she pulls out of the driveway, Clara says, "And find a new lab, or you'll have to find a new family!"

HELLO??? I know married couples fight but. What is happening with these two?? This is ridiculous behavior.

Doc takes his invention over to the McFly house, hoping to use their garage as his workspace. We've never seen the McFly home in the cartoon before!

The outlets in the garage don't have enough voltage for Doc's power tools, but he decides it's a good idea to tap directly into the nearby transformer to get the power he needs. He proceeds to cause the entire town's electricity to go out.

The next day, Clara is harassed and then chased by an angry mob of protestors outside the grocery store, and Verne is tormented on the playground by kids who are singing a taunting song about Doc.

Later on, as Doc sits in the yard with Einstein and wonders if he'll be allowed back inside the house tonight (Clara had kicked him out), his wife and the boys appear and shut down that possibility real quick.

Yes, she's making him eat dog food. Also, why does he have a dog bowl, and why does it say "Doc" rather than "Emmett"? WHO PUNCHED MY BOY JULES IN THE EYE??

Doc believes he has a solution to restore electricity to the city, and he heads off to gather supplies. While walking in town, he's picked up by the sheriff, who drives him to the city limit, tosses him out of the car, and tells him not to show his face in Hill Valley again.

Things are not looking good for our pal Doc.

He quickly finds a loophole, though! Doc sneaks over to the McFly house, explains to Marty that the sheriff said not to show his face, and then shows off his new disguise.

As confident as Doc is, the disguise doesn't work all that well. A worker at the hardware store recognizes him instantly, and all I got to say is...how? That does not look remotely like Doc. This plan should have worked. Back at the garage, Marty offers to go pick up whatever Doc needs, but Doc says Marty going to the hardware store would look suspicious.

He eventually finds a way to get his supplies and is able to build a giant generator that runs off of water, wind, sunlight, and moonlight.

It works, the town gets power back, and the sheriff welcomes Doc back to the town. Back at the Brown home, Clara is relieved to have the power back, as she'd been busy using an exercise bike to power the TV.

Side note: She says, "What I go through so we won't miss Northern Exposure." This led me to then look up what that was, and I discovered it was a popular show in the 1990s. The imdb page lists this as the synopsis: "A city doctor is forced to work in the remote Alaskan town of Cicely, where he encounters peculiar locals, including a former NASA astronaut, as he adjusts to small-town life."

And right away, my brain went, "That just sounds like Doc Hollywood but in Alaska."

So, I fell down some additional rabbit holes and found several articles and message boards of people also discussing this connection. Doc Hollywood premiered a little over a year after Northern Exposure did, but some people mentioned that the show might have been inspired by the 1979 book called "What? Dead Again?" Doc Hollywood is based off of.

So, basically, it might have happened like this...

Ok, I need to get my train of thought back onto the tracks because that distracted me for several minutes.

Clara welcomes Doc back with a hug, and the townspeople declare Doc a hero.

The happiness doesn't last too long, though. The power is back, but Doc later discovers that there's no way to turn anything off. Every light and appliance in the entire town has become permanently on. A mob forms to run Doc out of town. Again. Before they do that, they decide to try to shut the generator down. Biff pours soda on it, which shorts the device out.

We get a brief shot of the local movie theater, which is playing Back to the Future. (this can be seen in a past episode as well)

Everything around town starts exploding. Lampposts, traffic lights, etc. It's a disaster. The very people who were ten seconds away from driving the Brown family out of town then beg Doc to help. He springs into action, shuts down the machine, and the angry mob goes back to cheering for him.

What a wild ride this episode is.

We cut to the Founders' Day celebration, where Jules, Verne, and Marty are grumpy since the destruction of the generator means the town has fallen back into not having electricity. The boys complain that all the fun parts of the fair need power (bumper cars, rock concert, etc). An old man then approaches and tells them that the original Founders' Day didn't have electricity either, and they still had fun. Marty concludes that they can still enjoy the day by participating in other activities like the citizens did back in the day.

Btw, the old guy looks just like the guy from the statue shown in the beginning.

After his inspirational speech, the old man asks Clara to take him back home in that "fancy carriage," which confirms that Clara had gone back in time to get him so that he could offer the town some encouragement. This brings us to the end of the cartoon.

We return to Real Doc, who, long story short, ends up accidentally opening the water reservoir gates on the Hoover Dam. Don't worry, he fixes it right away. All is well.

This feels like the longest post I've done for this show so far. It took forever to watch the episode and type it up. Though that may be due in part to me getting sidetracked by the Doc Hollywood thing.

Definitely not one of my favorite episodes. I'm so tired of Clara being mean to Doc and acting like she doesn't love him. I hope the next episode is better. I'm not even going to look up the summary because I want to just go into it without any background.

If you managed to read this whole thing, this is for you.

#back to the future #bttf: the animated series

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