What If... the Doctor's moral compass had never formed? (Part 2)

Last time, we had seen a Doctor who had not taken on Ian and Barbara as companions. As a result he alienated his granddaughter Susan, who voluntarily chose to leave the TARDIS and her grandfather behind. He regenerated not long after, finding himself with new companions in the form of Vicki Pallister, Steven Taylor, and Sara Kingdom. Also, when we last left them, the last of their number had filled the Meddling Monk with so many holes that he whistled on the way to the ground, Sara knowing something that the Monk has yet to do and trying to prevent it... which might have worked, if the Monk were not a Time Lord and thus a regeneration had begun...

What If... the Doctor's moral compass had never formed? (Part 1)

Well, it is the 60th anniversary and there's no way I'm gonna finish (or even start, in some cases) the stories I wanted to do to celebrate. Blame real life, it happens.

However, I do have enough time to shoot the breeze and talk about a continuation of a What If? scenario that I've already done - namely a universe where Ian and Barbara never investigated their strange pupil Susan Foreman. That's right, this is technically "What If Ian and Barbara never investigated Susan?" Part 5, but I decided to spin it off into its own for reasons that will become clear soon enough.

Spoilers for Classic Who below the cut. You've been warned!

What If... the Trickster never reset the Timeline? (Part 3)

Last time, we ended on a bit of a sour note indeed. With his plan to reset the timeline blocked off by two of his older brothers, Gabriel found himself having to work to prevent the Apocalypse itself.

...he failed. Despite some changes in the timeline everything, as Gabriel of the Prime Timeline might say, inevitably went down the same road. Sam still killed Lilith, which still released Lucifer. The Apocalypse is nigh... and the Devil is rising.

So, what happens next? Well, as of this writing, I still haven't finished Season 4, but don't worry... I'm still going to mercilessly dig into spoilers for the show I haven't yet reviewed.

You have been warned!

What If... Jenny survived "The Doctor's Daughter?" (Part 2)

Alright, so... it is the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who, so it'd be rather bad of me to not do something in the month of November to acknowledge that... even if I am about six days too late. Whoops!

And I'm sure the Fiction Corner stories will be finished at some point in the future, but I doubt we'll be seeing the rest of them in 2023 for sure.

That said...

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Bad Words" (2013)

Comedy is a rather subjective thing on the whole. What is funny can mean different things to different people. Sometimes, comedies are about a happy go lucky fella standing up against impossible odds through shenanigans and things turn out alright in the end.

Bad Words is not that movie.

Because Bad Words is hilarious in a very, very different way. Very much in the dark and twisted way.

From MadCap's Couch - Kindred: The Embraced: "The Original Saga"

Alrighty! New series! Don't worry, I highly doubt I'll be touching on this particular one at any time other than October, so it won't be getting in the way of the regular series reviews like Doctor Who, Supernatural, or Sliders. Plus, with only eight episodes of this series existing, this won't take long.

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Halloween Kills" (2021)

Alright, so we've come to it at last. Is this going to be the glorious middle part of a trilogy like The Empire Strikes Back or is it going to be a horrible, horrible mistake like... y'know what? It's 2023 and I'm not beating that particular dead horse any more dead than it already is. Let's just get into it.

MadCap's D&D Builds - Axel Palmer (5e)

Well, we are finally down to our final build for Horror Month 2023 - Axel Palmer from the classic slasher 1981 slasher film My Bloody Valentine - which I probably need to get around to reviewing for a Horror Month at some point in the near future. Born in the town of Valentine Bluffs... somewhere on the East Coast of Canada?... Axel was the son of a miner who was killed after an accident in the minds had made him resort to cannibalism. Who killed him? The Miner, of course... A warning was left that, if the town were to celebrate Valentine's Day (the day of the accident), then the Miner would return.

As such, the town of Valentine Bluffs hasn't celebrated the holiday that they're named after... until 1981, when the town tried to reinstate the holiday... and the Miner did return as promised, killing again. Axel picked up the ol' pick axe and sought vengeance...

What If... the Trickster never reset the Timeline? (Part 2)

Oh, c'mon, you knew we'd be coming back to this one. I basically all but completely guaranteed it eight months ago.

As almost always now - spoilers below the cut for things I may not yet have covered in my Supernatural reviews. You've been warned.

From MadCap's Couch - Sliders: "The Alternateville Horror"

"He said it was called 'Shining' and then he said he had to meet somebody named 'Optimus'."

Oooookay, so it's been a long while since I reviewed Sliders. Like, a ridiculously long time. We are also, like the Quantum Leap review for this month, jumping a good bit ahead. Chronologically, we ended on Season 2. This episode is the eighth one of Season 4 and you'll notice some changes right off the bat.

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Fright Night Part 2" (1988)

Huh, well... kind of thought we'd be getting to this one much sooner. Like, much sooner. Regardless, we're here now and I can finally put this monster to rest with a stake through the heart.

This is Fright Night Part 2.

Madcap's D&D Builds - Christine (5e)

Huh? What's that? I can't make a character build around a possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury? That's insane? Ridiculous?

Well, you may be right. I may be crazy. But guess what?

I'm MadCapMunchkin and I can do whatever the hell I want. Let's do it!

What If... Freddy Krueger had never resurrected Jason Voorhees? (Part 3)

Last time... well, you all clearly read the description I gave last week, right? I mashed together multiple horror franchises with gleefully reckless abandon like I was a child playing with action figures.

But, the forces of darkness are powerful, but splintered...Freddy getting his monster mash on and Pinhead getting lost in the Necronomicon Ex Mortis. The good guys are not, even though they are currently running on just two and a head number of members (that last one most unwillingly) and have no clue where to go from where they are.

So, I know what you're all thinking... what happens next?

From MadCap's Couch - Supernatural: "It's The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester"

"Dean, I just don't see Halloween-themed Junior Mints catching on."

See? I told you we'd be getting back to it...

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Doctor Who: The Movie" (1996)

...oh, you thought this was gonna be Hellraiser? Nah, I decided to bring you some real horror: The Doctor Who TV Movie from 1996.

It's only the 60th anniversary year for my favorite TV show of all time and the major plot of this does involve an alien parasite trying to steal bodies, so it's technically horror-themed if nothing else. Beyond it, of course, being one of the most controversial entries in all of Doctor Who canon, which is not a statement I make lightly.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Seattle By Night: "Hell is For Children"

Seattle By Night is based on the Vampire: The Masquerade Tabletop RPG. It can and does cover serious subject matter and will not shy away from R-rated topics. Reader discretion is advised.

It had been less than a week since the Methuselah Lamdiel had come through Seattle. Well, the official story told among the Kindred was that a powerful Malkavian had tried to rise up against Prince Blanchard and had been taken down by a small coterie that was beginning to get more than a little attention. Eyes were on them, and just what had actually happened seemed to vary from night to night and from Kindred to Kindred. Nevertheless, the sun continued to set, the moon continued to rise, and life went on in the Emerald City just as it had in the nights before.

And, some might be foolish enough to think, would continue into the nights after...

MadCap's D&D Builds - Pinhead (5e)

Another Thursday in October, another D&D build of the horror vein. I guess that you can tell from the title, I have such sights to show you...

What If...Sam Winchester killed John Winchester? (Part 5)

Last time, we took another look into the world where Sam Winchester had shot the demon Azazel dead when the latter had possessed John Winchester during the events of Devil's Trap. On the latest part, Dean once more made the deal that would see Sam resurrected after being killed and the brothers teamed up with Bobby, Jo, and Ellen to stop Lilith and Ansem from opening the Devil's Gate.

As in the OT... they failed.

Also, it seems there's already some interplay between Heaven and Hell, as Lilith met with a grumpy Raphael to tell him that things were indeed back on schedule.

So... what happens next? Let's take a look!

From MadCap's Couch - Quantum Leap: "The Boogieman"

So, the last time that we left Dr. Sam Beckett, he had just leaped out of a Casablanca homage and into the body of the woman...

...so, are you ready for Quantum Leap to not only get weird, but spooky?

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan" (1989)

...yeah, it's a lie.

I know people have been making this joke literally since 1989, but it is. Literally the only parts of this movie's title that are accurate are which Friday the 13th movie this is and the word "Jason".

There is no taking of Manhattan.

There's barely any Manhattan.

I mean it.

...let's just get on with it. I'm already not happy with having to review this to begin with.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Seattle By Night: "End of Madness"

Seattle By Night is based on the Vampire: The Masquerade Tabletop RPG. It can and does cover serious subject matter and will not shy away from R-rated topics. Reader discretion is advised.

MadCap's D&D Builds - Jigsaw (5e)

Another Horror Month and another set of Halloween builds using 5e rules for Dungeons & Dragons. Now we have a new banner for them - since the Tabletop Tales banner is now a distant memory - let's get into the father of the modern slasher film, John Kramer aka the Jigsaw Killer. A man dying of terminal cancer who uses his skills to put those who deserve punishment into lethal situations that they either sacrifice to get themselves out of... or die horribly as you can see in... well, any of the Saw movies.

I'm not a huge fan of Saw, but Epic Apathy (that handsome devil!) dropped this idea into my lap and it was too good to not go with.

What If... Jamie Lloyd was the killer after Halloween 4? (Part 2)

We caught back up with Jamie Lloyd, Rachel Carruthers, and the closest thing we have to Dr. Sam Loomis some nineteen years after Jamie stabbed her foster mother to death.

Needless to say, the reunion did not go well for seven people in that small town in Connecticut.

But, as we saw there, the body of Dr. Sartain had been left out in the morgue by a person or persons unknown. More specifically the mysterious Man in Black, whose motives are unknown and unknowable at the present. So, the question becomes... what happens next?

Let's find out, shall we?

From MadCap's Couch - Doctor Who: "The Curse of Fenric"

Excuse me, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Ug-Qualtoth?

Alrighty, a little bit of a notice before we start. Generally in the past, the Horror Month TV reviews have been Supernatural. We will have a Supernatural episode up for this month. However, I decided that I'm going to change it up a little this time as the title of this post may have clued you in to. Rather than going with just one series - I'm going to skip around the various series that I've reviewed and pick a spooky episode from each one. So, given that there are five Tuesdays in this October, I have decided to review at least one episode from:

• Doctor Who
• Quantum Leap
• Supernatural (duh)
• Sliders
• ...and one other special thing, which may come from any of those series or something else entirely!

Everybody got that? Good! Then we can get on with this episode (the penultimate one of the entire classic show), one of my favorite episodes of not only the Sylvester McCoy era (which we've touched on before), but of all of Doctor Who in its entirety.

The Curse of Fenric!

Seriously, this is honestly one of the best episodes of the entire show. Old or new.

...no, really. I'm not even kidding.

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984)

Well, with the release of my New Nightmare review, I really don't have any Nightmare films to review. This is a weird feeling. Sure, I could review Freddy vs. Jason, but I really want to save that for when I finish the Friday the 13th reviews, of which we still have quite a few to get through... including my least favorite one this year. However, this creates a gap in my reviews for Horror Month that hasn't existed since at least 2015. What exactly could I fill it with?

...

...

...what do you mean I only reviewed the remake, not the original?!

MadCap's Game Reviews - "The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon"

Well, goodness me! Two game reviews after a year long hiatus from them? Yeah, don't celebrate too hard, I probably have one more of these in me for a bit before game reviewer me gets put back into hibernation for a while.

Try not to weep.

From MadCap's Couch - Supernatural: "Yellow Fever"

.

"It was either this or more Wincest fanfics, so..."

..no, really, I promise. It's not problematic. It refers to someone being "yellow" as in being fearful or a coward, not the slang term for... y'know what? It's not important. It's just unfortunately implications due to the origin of the supernatural creature in question this time around.

...anyway, let's get on with it.

MadCap's Game Reviews - "Pokémon Scarlet and Violet"

Wow, been a while since we were here, huh? Over a year, in fact. And I still have to review that other DLC for The Outer Worlds that I've been meaning to get to...

From MadCap's Couch - Supernatural: "Monster Movie"

...what? Yeah, I could have saved this for Horror Month 2023. There's one more thematically appropriate coming up.

Last time, we were left on a sour note as Jack Montgomery succumbed to the beast within and lost everything to his nature as a rugaru, leaving Sam's fate in the near future in question.

This time... shenanigans at Oktoberfest!

From MadCap's Couch - Supernatural: "Metamorphosis"

"Okay, so the safety word is Wildfire."

The recap is largely concerning the previous episode and Sam pursuing the use of his psychic abilities (despite telling Dean that he hadn't been), capped off by Castiel's warning to Dean to stop him.

From MadCap's Couch - Supernatural: "In the Beginning"

"Look, it's either this or the DeLorean two lots over..."

So, last episode, we had a hell of a lore dump, learning the reason that Dean was rescued from Hell by Castiel: the 66 Seals are being broken and Lucifer is soon to be rising.Given that when a seal is broken it is lost, it seems that Heaven and the Winchesters are fighting an uphill battle, if not a losing one. This time, we'll be shifting gears to the side a bit... or in reverse, as it were.

Just remember, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit.

From MadCap's Couch - Supernatural: "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester"

Let's show these ghost bitches how we do it downtown!

Last time, Dean returned from Hell under mysterious circumstances! While Sam had clearly teamed up with Ruby to hunt demons in his absence, Dean and Bobby summoned up the creature responsible for Dean's resurrection - an angel named Castiel. Season 4 was definitely set off with a bang... so what happens next?

From MadCap's Couch - Supernatural: "Lazarus Rising"

Where will you be when diarrhea hits?

DEAN WINCHESTER IS SAVED!

...oh, wait. That comes later.

From MadCap's Couch - Doctor Who: "The Big Bang"

*record scratch* Yeah... it's me. You're probably wondering how I got here.
Well, to answer that, we'll have to go back a ways... or forward... it's complicated.

I'm always fashionably late to weddings, after all.

From MadCap's Couch - Doctor Who: "The Pandorica Opens"

Piscem hunc magnum quondam cepi!

And so, we come to it at last! The first part of the epic two part finale of Series 5!

Let's GOOOOOOOO!

From MadCap's Couch - Doctor Who: "The Lodger"

"Hey, wanna buy some Girl Scout cookies?"

Now it's time for a concept that I'm kind of iffy about - the companion-lite episode. The reverse of Doctor-lite episodes like Love & Monsters, Blink, and Turn Left, we saw this experimented with in the very, very excellent Midnight, where Russell T. Davies cleverly (no, really, it was) explored the tropes of Doctor Who and turned them on their head. In Series 5, Moffat decided to continue the tradition and thus Gareth Roberts penned The Lodger, which we'll be looking at today.

From MadCap's Couch - Doctor Who: "Vincent and the Doctor"

From lizard people from the dawn of time to a Post-Impressionist painter who is arguably one of the greatest who have ever lived. It's time to get into one of my favorite episodes of Series 5 and indeed the entire Matt Smith era of the show - Vincent and the Doctor.

From MadCap's Couch - Doctor Who: "Cold Blood"

Excuse me but do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Curt Connors?

Last time, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory found themselves at a Welsh mining operation in the far off year of 2020 that was becoming the target of a bunch of Silurians. Faced with a nigh-impossible situation, with humans captured by the Silurians and Silurians captured by the humans, the Doctor finds that it is not remotely a small tribe of them... not remotely a small tribe at all...

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Seattle By Night: "Release of Madness" (Part 5)

Author Note: So, a bit of housekeeping here before we get started. This is going to be the last Seattle By Night story that will be in parts. After having had about six months since the last part to think this over, I've decided that I'm going to continue writing through to the ending of each part, keeping each story to one blog post. While I understand that this will make the stories longer and not everybody likes reading on and on and on through mountains of text... I'm in too deep to stop at this point and this is the only way I can see to get back to any consistency.

Plus side, this means that we only have five more stories to get to the end of Season 1, rather than... however many parts I'd have to split things up into.

Also, expect the tone to get much darker from here on out. I'll pop a content warning onto future posts, but I intend to draw a bit more from the overall tone of the actual Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop game. I admit, looking back over it, things were a bit goofy and we're gonna start weeding that out from here on out into the end of Season 1 and... well, whatever comes next. We'll see.

With all of that out of the way, let's pick up on the cliffhanger I left us on six months ago...

...and don't worry, we'll be getting back to Doctor Who, don't worry. It is still the 60th Anniversary, after all.

From MadCap's Couch - Doctor Who: "The Hungry Earth"

"I'll never let go, Jack."
"AMY!"
"Right, Amy. Amy... right..."

So... it is now the year 2023. The Chris Chibnall era of Doctor Who is over, and I can very generously say that it was a contentious era in the show's history. We'll be getting to it and all of its downs and... downs... later. I opened this episode this way because I'm about to drop a bombshell on you... ready?

Chris Chibnall... once wrote good Doctor Who. Other than the just ok Doctor Who he wrote before this point. Apparently with Moffat holding his reins, the man can produce something halfway decent. Go figure.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Jenny Journeys: "The Ghost of the Warlord" (Chapter Eight)

As he stirred, Andrew found himself in darkness and with pain radiating from his right arm. A lot of pain, although he apparently could still move it. His eyes began to adjust to his surroundings. He remembered the wreck, and remembered Jenny... no, Morbius, it was Morbius... punching him repeatedly in the head. Then the explosion and...

MadCap At The Movies - "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" (2023)

...okay, so at the very least the Spider-Verse films are either part of the MCU or are MCU adjacent. Come to peace with it.

Spoiler alert.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Jenny Journeys: "The Ghost of the Warlord" (Chapter Seven)

"Emergency power is up." Dah-Regg said, having been fighting with the controls of the ship for some time. "Really glad you put the reserve tanks nearer the bow, Captain."

"Does that mean we have control of the ship back?" Jones asked, likewise having been working at what was left of a terminal.

"Unfortunately, no." Dah-Regg said. "I do have the censor grid up and running, though."

"What have we got?"

"Well, we're entering Milax Five's atmosphere again."

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Land of Doom" (1986)

...what's that?

Oh, right, I had promised I'd review Star Trek Into Darkness. Huh.

Anyway, let's move on to something completely different - because the less time I have to spend thinking about the other bad Wrath of Khan remake, the happier I'll be.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Jenny Journeys: "The Ghost of the Warlord" (Chapter Six)

"It's... stable."

"Of course it is." Morbius said, running her hands up and down her new neck, feeling the new flesh. Feeling anything after so long in that hellish isolation from the material form. "Did you expect anything less?"

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Jenny Journeys: "The Ghost of the Warlord" (Chapter Five)

"We're back in standard orbit." Po Kraisem said as he set the Champlain onto the proper flight path via the autopilot.

MadCap At The Movies - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" (2023)

 ...this movie is good. Go watch it.

Yeah, that's... that's pretty much it. That's the takeaway here. Go.

Right now.

Go.

...alright, fine. But don't say I didn't put up a spoiler warning.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Jenny Journeys: "The Ghost of the Warlord" (Chapter Four)

Jenny quickly slammed her hand against the door control panel, the hatch sealing shut just before the first volley would have blasted both herself and the Captain into bits.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Jenny Journeys: "The Ghost of the Warlord" (Chapter Three)

"I... don't think... I..."

"Almost... there..." The blonde woman heard the young man thud against the grated metal floor as he (she hoped) fell unconscious. She wasn't experienced with filtration systems. Give her a rifle, she could disassemble and reassemble it in record time. This, though? A little more complicated. Nevertheless, she doubted the gas was going to be all that benevolent, given that it was all sinister-looking and sickly green in color. Finally, she allowed herself to breathe a bit more when she heard the ventilation kick on once again, that misty emerald smoke being pulled back up into it.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Jenny Journeys: "The Ghost of the Warlord" (Chapter Two)

The Runner was making its way rapidly back to the drop zone. That, unfortunately, was not to be the end of their troubles that day. Settling in with their now sixth passenger, Jones was already looking worriedly at the sensor display.

"They're still coming up on us."