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merryghoulInitially when I started reading The Missy Chronicles, I liked it. But then again, when you’re initially skimming through a book to understand it, you miss a few things. When I read it a second time to summarize the book, there were a few things that stood out to me that bothered me. And I was personally let down by some of the stories.
James Goss’ “Dismemberment” is the first story, about how Missy is thrown out of a gentlemen’s club made up of awful men, and how she ended its membership. So yeah, this story is gory—not overly detailed gory, but gory. Thing is, these men are pirates, spies, literal Nazis (in this story), American enslavers...and Christopher Marlowe. I mean, there isn’t a lot known about Marlowe, but given this canon* continues to portray Churchill as an honorable, noble man when in reality he was a racist and imperialist, I can’t use willing suspension of belief to compare Marlowe to a literal Nazi, sorry.
Speaking of that enslavement business: The scenes that happen on a US plantation are handled mostly sensitively, along with a minor slave character, Saffron. Except for the origins of Missy’s name in this story (it does come from slaves being forced to call white women on plantations “mistresses”); said origin will only fuel people who were upset Moffat chose to call Michelle Gomez’s Master “Missy.” I’d like this story more if only it didn’t have those unintentional implications in it.
In “Lords and Masters” by Cavan Scott, Missy’s TARDIS(!) is stopped and she is captured as part of a post-Time War Gallifreyan plot. I found Missy’s backstory more interesting than the kidnapping plot and Missy’s eventual escape, but here Missy has a TARDIS and a sonic umbrella. She also obtains her constant vortex manipulator in this story.
“Teddy Sparkles Must Die!” by Paul Magrs sounds awesome on paper. Missy kidnaps a time-warping mystic who looks like a teddy bear. In 1925, the two do battle over the destinies of three children. It sounds something like Mary Poppins, especially since Missy’s somewhat inspired by Poppins,** right? There’s the time period (it factors hugely in this story)—1925 is way too early for, well, Mary Poppins for Missy to be confused for Poppins. The real disappointing thing about the story is the dialogue is way over the top for Teddy and Missy, and the dialogue really doesn’t feel like things children’s television obsessed*** Missy would say.
Easily my favorite story is “The Liar, the Glitch and the War Zone” by Peter Anghelides. It’s a slow-moving, but satisfying story about alien gryphons, time glitches, and Venice, featuring nun Antonia, a “companion” of sorts, and a troublemaker named Mario (after Balotelli). The story isn’t patronizing against Mario (I tend to cringe when fiction, professional or not, treats POCs badly), and Missy here, unlike the Missy in “Teddy Sparkles,” references Harry Potter and the Narnia books with ease.
Jaqueline Rayner’s “Girl Power!,” an epistolary short story told in letters and fictional Facebook-style interactions, is set while Missy is in the Vault. Nardole helps acquire things for Missy while Missy wrecks havoc at St. Luke’s and tries to start a revolt with various women throughout history. Eventually Missy fails in her schemes to conquer the world, but this story (if you can call it one; this story doesn’t feel like it has a narrative structure at all) feels way too silly, even if it has to adhere to canon more than the other stories. And especially since some of the characters mentioned in the story (e.g. Agatha Christie, Boudicca) have been portrayed in a serious manner in Who canon prior to this story getting published.
I’ve said this before, but I’m really not fond of the last few episodes of Series 10, mostly because of the treatment of Bill. (I’m also saying this specifically again, but she couldn’t survive her only series without dying? Really?) With that said, “Alit in Underland” by Richard Dinnick is a hypnotic short story, set during those last episodes of Series 10, where the Harold Saxon Master and Missy enlist a child named Alit in their scheme to regain control over some Cybermen, all while hinting at Missy’s current fate. I was also irritated by people shipping the Harold Saxon Master and Missy after those episodes (once again, mostly because of Bill), but this story makes me want to do that—their dialogue in this story strikes me as flirtatious.
I find that The Missy Chronicles highlights the strengths and weaknesses of Missy as a character. At worst, she’s portrayed here as only cruel and cartoonish, even as the book is supposed to show her progression from being heartless to repentant. But at best, the stories show Missy as a cunning schemer who occasionally cares about others. I only wish the book had a consistent tone throughout, to make it seem as if Missy did change from her regeneration from the Harry Saxon Master to her death...?
* This canon isn’t the only canon that portrays Churchill as some sort of hero (see: The Crown, Darkest Hour) but it’s portrayed Churchill as a hero without question for some time now.
**If link goes down: YouTube clip of Missy’s arrival near the end of “Death in Heaven.”
***If link goes down: YouTube clip of Missy’s hologram from “The Magician’s Apprentice” (the show referenced here is Play School).
James Goss’ “Dismemberment” is the first story, about how Missy is thrown out of a gentlemen’s club made up of awful men, and how she ended its membership. So yeah, this story is gory—not overly detailed gory, but gory. Thing is, these men are pirates, spies, literal Nazis (in this story), American enslavers...and Christopher Marlowe. I mean, there isn’t a lot known about Marlowe, but given this canon* continues to portray Churchill as an honorable, noble man when in reality he was a racist and imperialist, I can’t use willing suspension of belief to compare Marlowe to a literal Nazi, sorry.
Speaking of that enslavement business: The scenes that happen on a US plantation are handled mostly sensitively, along with a minor slave character, Saffron. Except for the origins of Missy’s name in this story (it does come from slaves being forced to call white women on plantations “mistresses”); said origin will only fuel people who were upset Moffat chose to call Michelle Gomez’s Master “Missy.” I’d like this story more if only it didn’t have those unintentional implications in it.
In “Lords and Masters” by Cavan Scott, Missy’s TARDIS(!) is stopped and she is captured as part of a post-Time War Gallifreyan plot. I found Missy’s backstory more interesting than the kidnapping plot and Missy’s eventual escape, but here Missy has a TARDIS and a sonic umbrella. She also obtains her constant vortex manipulator in this story.
“Teddy Sparkles Must Die!” by Paul Magrs sounds awesome on paper. Missy kidnaps a time-warping mystic who looks like a teddy bear. In 1925, the two do battle over the destinies of three children. It sounds something like Mary Poppins, especially since Missy’s somewhat inspired by Poppins,** right? There’s the time period (it factors hugely in this story)—1925 is way too early for, well, Mary Poppins for Missy to be confused for Poppins. The real disappointing thing about the story is the dialogue is way over the top for Teddy and Missy, and the dialogue really doesn’t feel like things children’s television obsessed*** Missy would say.
Easily my favorite story is “The Liar, the Glitch and the War Zone” by Peter Anghelides. It’s a slow-moving, but satisfying story about alien gryphons, time glitches, and Venice, featuring nun Antonia, a “companion” of sorts, and a troublemaker named Mario (after Balotelli). The story isn’t patronizing against Mario (I tend to cringe when fiction, professional or not, treats POCs badly), and Missy here, unlike the Missy in “Teddy Sparkles,” references Harry Potter and the Narnia books with ease.
Jaqueline Rayner’s “Girl Power!,” an epistolary short story told in letters and fictional Facebook-style interactions, is set while Missy is in the Vault. Nardole helps acquire things for Missy while Missy wrecks havoc at St. Luke’s and tries to start a revolt with various women throughout history. Eventually Missy fails in her schemes to conquer the world, but this story (if you can call it one; this story doesn’t feel like it has a narrative structure at all) feels way too silly, even if it has to adhere to canon more than the other stories. And especially since some of the characters mentioned in the story (e.g. Agatha Christie, Boudicca) have been portrayed in a serious manner in Who canon prior to this story getting published.
I’ve said this before, but I’m really not fond of the last few episodes of Series 10, mostly because of the treatment of Bill. (I’m also saying this specifically again, but she couldn’t survive her only series without dying? Really?) With that said, “Alit in Underland” by Richard Dinnick is a hypnotic short story, set during those last episodes of Series 10, where the Harold Saxon Master and Missy enlist a child named Alit in their scheme to regain control over some Cybermen, all while hinting at Missy’s current fate. I was also irritated by people shipping the Harold Saxon Master and Missy after those episodes (once again, mostly because of Bill), but this story makes me want to do that—their dialogue in this story strikes me as flirtatious.
I find that The Missy Chronicles highlights the strengths and weaknesses of Missy as a character. At worst, she’s portrayed here as only cruel and cartoonish, even as the book is supposed to show her progression from being heartless to repentant. But at best, the stories show Missy as a cunning schemer who occasionally cares about others. I only wish the book had a consistent tone throughout, to make it seem as if Missy did change from her regeneration from the Harry Saxon Master to her death...?
* This canon isn’t the only canon that portrays Churchill as some sort of hero (see: The Crown, Darkest Hour) but it’s portrayed Churchill as a hero without question for some time now.
**If link goes down: YouTube clip of Missy’s arrival near the end of “Death in Heaven.”
***If link goes down: YouTube clip of Missy’s hologram from “The Magician’s Apprentice” (the show referenced here is Play School).
no subject
Date: 2018-03-11 09:54 pm (UTC)(WaPo, paywall in effect)