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Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

16 Comments

  1. Christopher Brown
    February 11, 2019 @ 9:31 pm

    First comment!

    Oh gosh, since I’m the first comment, I’d better say something, shouldn’t I?

    Anyway, you summed it up pretty well. Ditching the Shadowkin and condensing the emotional beats into one episode focused on the (awesome) killer flowers as a threat would have been so much more effective. The flowers deserved better than to have the focus sucked away from them by the Shadowkin stuff, diluting what could have been some very impactful, iconic imagery.

    It’s interesting that the reckoning-with-abusive-father bit happens in episodes 4 and 5 here, while Series 11 dragged out the “suspense” until Resolution. Also that this, for all its generic-ness, did it better. Also that this show had more than two emotional threads, unlike Series 11.

    Reply

  2. TomeDeaf
    February 12, 2019 @ 7:03 am

    One thing I do like about the Shadow Kin and their obvious Toxic Masculinity undertones – a major part of their culture (as established in this story) is that they believe the entire universe is out to get them, and they have to fight back / lash out otherwise they’ll be subsumed. That feels nicely pointed when it comes to today’s manbabies. The loss of privilege feels like oppression, and all that.

    I really like both the flowers and Dorothea. A shame the former don’t get the whole story to themselves and the latter is offed later on.

    Reply

  3. Christopher Brown
    February 12, 2019 @ 11:36 am

    It seems there isn’t much to comment on in regards to Class…says it all really.

    Reply

    • Sleepyscholar
      February 13, 2019 @ 12:19 am

      …and sadly, what there is to comment on often seems to be “Well, actually it’s slightly better than ChibnallWho, though with a lot of the same problems”.

      Reply

  4. kevin merchant
    February 13, 2019 @ 9:06 am

    It’s because no one can summon the energy to watch or even rewatch the episodes. And so because commentators here don’t make uninformed comments, there are no comments

    Reply

    • Xaldel
      February 13, 2019 @ 9:43 am

      That’s basically it. Usually, with El’s entries on stories that I haven’t seen, I at least take the time to either go and watch it or at least familiarize myself with the basic plot details.

      Here… not so much. Reading these essays as is is about as much as I’ve been able to care about Class a whole, and it’s still very little.

      Reply

    • (Not That) Jack
      February 13, 2019 @ 8:48 pm

      That’s the problem, really. I never heard a single good thing about Class, never watched it, and still haven’t.

      While I get that there’s a format for the sort of posts that go into the Eruditorum, and spin off series have been extensively covered, it does seem like if any series warranted an exception, it’s Class. It sounds like watching these episodes is as exciting as watching paint dry.

      Reply

      • TomeDeaf
        February 13, 2019 @ 10:26 pm

        I recommend the excellent coverage of Class over at Downtime by Sam and Kevin, it will make the series sound much more appealing.

        Reply

      • Przemek
        February 14, 2019 @ 8:07 am

        This is the reason why I kinda dread the Eruditorum coverage of the Chibnall era. I’m sure it will be as brilliant as always but how do you even analyze something so devoid of depth? We thought we had it bad with Gatiss episodes…

        Reply

        • tachyonspiral
          February 14, 2019 @ 2:33 pm

          With Gatiss you at least get the sense that this is a man writing what he wants to write, doing what he loves. It’s not a secret that Chibnall never particularly wanted the showrunner job.

          If Dr. S. chooses to cover the Chibnall era, i imagine she’ll surprise us. As i recall, it was only really Chibnall’s own episodes that felt phoned-in, there’s definitely interesting stuff to be said about Demons of the Punjab, or Kerblam.

          Reply

  5. Przemek
    February 13, 2019 @ 9:55 am

    “Indeed, this is more coherently imagined finale than “The Lost” will end up being.”

    I somehow misread “The Lost” as “Lost” and I thought it was deliciously savage that you consider “Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart/Brave-ish Heart” to be better than the series finale of a widely-beloved show about a mysterious island. I even thought “wow, Lost probably deserved it, but really, after all these years?”.

    As for “Class”, there’s again just not that much to say. I never even bothered watching that two-parter and nothing you wrote made me think it deserves a second chance. It’s frankly astonishing that the makers of this show made so many poor decisions this early on. Not establishing a structure? Coming up with a lame main villain? These are rookie mistakes. Well, rookie-and-Chibnall mistakes. (I finally watched “Resolution” recently and it just made me sad).

    I also wanted to add that I love the phrase “amoral pacifism” – I think it hits the nail on the head. I hate the “killing makes you as bad as the villain” schtick in fiction, not only because it’s morally empty but also because it’s more often than not used to lazily justify the villain getting away. It’s like these infuriating scenes where a captured hero manages to whack her opponent and knock him to the ground… only to start akwardly fumbling for car keys or a cell phone instead of just kicking the bastard until he stops moving.

    Reply

  6. tachyonspiral
    February 14, 2019 @ 2:27 pm

    The name “lankin” was, i’m pretty sure, a reference to the folk song “Long Lankin”, and not an invocation of the word kin. Folk songs were discussed on the programme, and, well:

    Said my lord to my lady, as he mounted his horse:
    “Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss.”

    Said my lord to my lady, as he rode away:
    “Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the hay.”

    “Let the doors be all bolted and the windows all pinned,
    And leave not a hole for a mouse to creep in.”

    So he kissed his fair lady and he rode away,
    And he was in fair London before the break of day.

    Tlhe doors were all bolted and the windows all pinned,
    Except one little window where Long Lankin crept in.

    Reply

    • tachyonspiral
      February 14, 2019 @ 2:41 pm

      (Note also that “nightvisiting” is a genre of folk song. They weren’t trying to hide the reference.)

      Reply

    • Przemek
      February 15, 2019 @ 8:48 am

      Oooh, I really love that song. Properly creepy.

      Reply

    • Roderick T. Long
      February 19, 2019 @ 4:08 am

      Here’s one recording of one version of the song:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTYf_G6__S0

      Reply

  7. Daru
    February 22, 2019 @ 10:47 am

    It’s because no one can summon the energy to watch or even rewatch the episodes. And so because commentators here don’t make uninformed comments, there are no comments.

    Sort of there with the above as I have not felt like rewatching Class, so haven’t had many comments or thoughts to share. I did tho really love the image and idea of creepy killer flowers/ petals and the ‘cuddle’ joke. Agree too it is a big misstep to undercut the disable representation.

    Reply

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