Doctor Who 14x02: The Devil's Chord Reaction

[@ThePonderer]

I adore this episode. Maestro is an instant classic villain, and the *direction* is absolutely fantastic. Se of the best and most dynamic the show has ever looked. I’d love this one based on writing alone but the visuals elevate it.

[@stephaniepage4334]

Same

[@VBane]

The same actress has appeared in minor speaking roles in Devil's Chord, Space Babies, Church on Ruby Road, and Wild Blue Wonder. That actress's name is Susan Twist. There's always a Twist in the end

[@rascal_rae]

!!!!!!!

[@tearez13]

As a musician/musical nerd, I am OBSESSED with this episode

[@rogvortex58]

This Doctor and Ruby just have such great energy together. Absolutely love their dynamic. Especially in this episode.

[@bigwave1713]

I do love the Doctor being actually scared here. Like is something beyond what he usually has to face and last time he barley defeated him

[@ThetaSigma-vu1sk]

Putting this out here. The tune Ruby hums before she sung Carol of the Bells is nearly identical to the Trickster's theme in SJA.

[@LiamCatterson]

I can have hope. Please

[@ciaranirvine]

The fourth wall breaks seemed deliberate - possibly the influence of yet another of the legion, turning reality into a theatre/TV production? Or just something that happens in musicals? We've had the Toymaker (games) and Maestro (music) so would that make the Oldest.... telling (imagined) stories? The god of imagination itself, that spawned the others? But who is the One Who Waits, that terrified the Toymaker?

[@chrisleneil]

Loved how beautifully creepy and wonderfully camp it was. Hopefully they will somehow bring in, as one of the the Toymaker’s legion, the Land of Fiction (or something close to it) Wonderful reaction as always 💜💜➕🌈🟦

[@kaz555]

I love this episode 🤍🖤🎹🎶❄️

[@Luckynumberrabbit]

“Not beating the remote allegations” 😂

[@DmonHiro]

I want Maestro back. Such a good villain.

[@justinriley]

Jinx killed it

[@RubyMadigan]

People have been talking about The Rani and about Susan in relation to Ruby and both have been mentioned in the first two episodes! And then of all things a random Strictly cameo in the musical number. That wasn't on my bingo card 😅

[@nathancarty1]

Out of the first 2 eps the 2nd was definitely my favourite I loved the 2nd episode

[@sonicsean34]

It's a shame Maestro wasn't smarter otherwise they would have waited until 2024 and consumed the OSTs of the whole Sonic video game series, pretty much everything by Square Enix and Nintendo too. They started feasting too early and missed all the gourmet treats.

[@mrmaclovin255]

No. Just no. Shame on you for thinking they're better then the bands from the 30s to 60s

[@TomHaynes-cb5yh]

I like the second episode It is fantastic I like their costumes. & I like the song I liked the MUSTRO 😊😊😊😊😊

[@sortascouseace]

After what was said by maestro about ruby I cant help feeling like Ruby is one of the toymakers 'Legions' maybe she embodies memory or fantasy.

[@TomHaynes-cb5yh]

I like their impressions in the episode

[@ChazaMazza_]

when I heard maestro say “the one who waits is almost here” I instantly thought it was old amy pond from the girl who waited

[@LiamCatterson]

Naaah it has to be CyberBill 😂😝

[@ChazaMazza_]

@@LiamCatterson noooo not cyberbill😭

[@justinspencer4472]

It was an excellent episode. Such fun. Ridiculous in fact. Loved it.

[@inspectorwhoreacts]

Yeah this season is gonna be fun!

[@chaotic7cam]

This was an absolutely phenomenal episode. I’m really curious about the heavy fourth-wall breaking we’ve been getting though. Does it contribute to the story somehow? Like the very end bit with dancing and then how the crosswalk lit up…. Did that really happen or is it just a bit not to be taken seriously? Because a crosswalk lighting up isn’t normal and feels like a sign of something wrong being afoot, like reality is breaking. I’m really not sure how I feel about it. It’s weird lol. But fun.

[@LiamCatterson]

I think the myth and legends becoming more apparent plays into the Fourth Wall occurring as much. Sure, they did do it quite a bit for S9 but I think with the fact everything is coming into reality, whether they were legend or not, it adds more substance.

[@micron000]

I'm thinking the 4th wall breaks aren't a coincidence and might just be building up to some sort of twist at the end :P But tbh when it comes to the crosswalk light-up scene, I kinda took it, and the entire musical number, as more of an equivalent to after the Toymaker was defeated and his presence still lingered for a while (thus allowing the Doctor to split the TARDIS in two). It makes sense that just like "the rules of the game" lingered after his defeat, Maestro's defeat will allow the spirit of musicals to linger in a sort of fantastical way.

[@chaotic7cam]

@@micron000 The effects lingering makes sense!

[@TomHaynes-cb5yh]

I like the song at the end I like the outfits

[@OnlineFanBoy]

Well at least we know who the one who waits is now.

[@MrTardis11]

😂😂😂 lol that ending is edited so abruptly, there’s always a twist at the end 12:10

[@bombseel]

I definitely think there will be a god of time at some point, if the doctor doesn't thematically take that role himself

[@christianschoff2490]

Ooh. A god of time could potentially be the one that even the Toymaker would fear.

[@AndrewHalliwell]

As long as it's not the bullshit thing Chibs came up with.

[@johnnyf841]

I have to say I have not been happy with the way some people have been talking negatively about these episodes like doctor who doesn't have to be serious and scary sometimes silly and fun is fine

[@LiamCatterson]

Yeah, it has been bothering at times. Like the fart joke in Space Babies as if it’s the first time a fart joke has been used in Doctor Who

[@johnnyf841]

@@LiamCatterson absolutely and doctor who is rooted in absurdity look at classic doctor who or even recent doctor who it has plenty of that stuff

[@micron000]

I don't think it's recency bias, it really was a great episode! Maestro was amazing, the setting was great, the risk felt so real and serious - yet, the vibe overall was still very campy and fun.. Plus we got some further set-up for future mysteries, great meta-jokes and wall-break moments, and even an actual musical number for that nice twist at the end haha. Speaking of which, did you notice the Susan Twist appearance? It's the 4th episode she's appeared in, which makes me think she might just be "the one who waits", and given the fact that we've had a Susan reference in this episode, I'm starting to think she might just be an incarnation of Susan after all.. But who knows. Maybe she actually connects to Ruby's story, or to something else altogether, and the one who waits will actually be Harbinger. Also, I love that your first thought about the time-gap was Nick Briggs haha.. I had the same thought; even though I'm not too happy about not getting to see Ruby and the Doctor getting to know each other better - I am happy for BF/comic/fanfic writers, cause they get to have this time period to play with now lol.

[@tempusspiritus]

I loved this episode, but I did have 2 nitpicks. I had very little expectations going into it but the episode was so good I somehow was left feeling like it could have been better. I think the problem is Maestro, like the Toymaker, feels like a more than one episode villain so it felt a bit rushed. Then there’s what is really a music video at the end. I enjoyed it… but while a musical number would have made sense in the episode the one we got was completely disconnected and felt like they did it just because they could. I know it’s a weird nitpick but I think it should have been 100% separate like a video posted to KZbin and a dvd/Blu-ray bonus feature.

[@TheCagedCorvid]

I get the feeling that this isn't the last we'll see of the maestro, it seems like there's a whole family structure or pantheon being introduced here, I'm sure they'll be back... as for the musical number, I totally agree that it felt tacked on for the hell of it. I really wish they had incorporated it into the story either to beat the maestro, suck all the music back out of them to send it back out into the world, or even just as a F.U. to them before they get banished... it needed a point.

[@sallyatticum]

@@TheCagedCorvid Even if they just made it a big celebration by the townspeople, it would have worked better; but no, it was a coordinated choreographed dance routine out of the blue.

[@lichcoin6144]

I can forgive the musical number at the end because it was also clearly foreshadowing to the recurruing background character since Wild Blue Yonder, Susan Twist, so it served the narrative as plot seeds.

[@sallyatticum]

@@lichcoin6144 Yes, I have come around after rewatching to thinking we are going to find out that the whole season is a fairy tale, an alternate reality. We see these song and dance numbers in Disney fairy tales all the time.

[@zvimur]

11:31 So, any real life significance to the banishing chord? An opening of a Beatles song, maybe?

[@JulieFreyHomeWebBiz]

Before this and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, we had the Fantasia intermission where we meet the soundtrack. What felt missing was lack of any Beatles music. Too expensive to buy? There is another reaction channel that goes through music by composer point of view. (Daily Doug)

[@LiamCatterson]

Yeah the licensing for the usage of the Beatles music is apparently astronomical even with Disney money

[@zvimur]

​@@LiamCattersonremember "The Chase"😢?

[@markusneedle9368]

is Harbinger working alone or with someone ? Maesro was a great villain . the moment the doctor use the sonic to mute reminding me of the buffy episode Hush. So Susan twist has appeared in 4 out of 6 episode of rtd2 era 2 of which she is credited and the tardis acts weird🤔

[@LiamCatterson]

I imagine Harbinger is working for someone. Acting on behalf of the One Who Waits merhaps.

[@jamesward4561]

In regards to Susan Twists character, the tea lady, I noticed when she was serving the Doctor that when she speaks he has turned around and doesn’t see her face, when he turns back she has then turned around. Something tells me that means if he sees the face he will recognise her. Rubys ‘ mother perhaps?

[@13jasonvoorhees]

Perhaps Harbinger doesn't just come before Maestro. Perhaps he signals the arrival of any being from the Pantheon? Which is why we see he was still around even after Maestro got banished.

[@chaotic7cam]

@@13jasonvoorheesThat would make sense and tracks with embodying his name.

[@markusneedle9368]

@@13jasonvoorhees so like Harbinger works for The Pantheon of Discord and helps create a pathway for people like Maestro, toymaker and maybe the trickster etc?

[@pennynicholssoler5693]

Where is space baby. I can't find it

[@StevenHouse1980]

Well who waits all year and then turns up for X-mass.

[@LiamCatterson]

I don't know, I'm pretty much waiting for the day Sonic 3 comes out, so you don't know, I could be... THE ONE WHO WAITS.

[@bastiendamour1617]

Gosh, i'm so happy, DOCTOR WHO IS FINALLY BACK, i have waited since Capaldi 😭😭 (yeah i hated Chibnall's era, and Jodie, and don't say it's not her fault too, Capaldi had bad episodes but his acting was IMMACULATE, and he is my favorite Doctor), just one word for this second episode, CHILLS!!

[@LiamCatterson]

Each to their own, she may have not been the greatest performing Doctor but she was still great despite what she had in script material

[@bastiendamour1617]

@@LiamCatterson like I said, Capaldi had awful episodes, but his acting was always perfect, for Jodie? No, the acting was trash, the whole "fam" things was trash, there is not a single moment where she showed good emotions, the flux? The timeless child? For god sake the only time where those things felt IMPORTANT, it was in the 60th when Tennant talked about it to the fake Donna!!

[@steve8510]

Ripper ep

[@narvickdevil]

This is so gay ,you even get the song and dance routine at the end ,Well congratulations!! It's flaming 🥳 now stick it on the channel it should be on CBeebies and put it on earlier so the kiddies can watch it while they have their dinner , then me and the wife can put them to bed at a earlier hour and be able to have some peace and quite in front of the box watching grown up stuff 😅 thx . 😁

[@dannymorgan7252]

Can you not?

[@MARStark97]

It’s almost like Dr Who is a kids show? 😱