Doctor Who weekend
Sep. 9th, 2012 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkA whole weekend of Doctor Who! I went to L's and M's place on Saturday morning and came back on Sunday evening, and in between we watched the complete season 6, the special, and the first two season 7 episodes. We talked a lot, ate very well, and had a great time. Now I'm finally caught up!
A few episode reactions, but not much because I want to go to sleep sometime today. (Hahaha.) Spoilers for everything that aired until now except the preview for next week.
The Impossible Astronaut: Sooo many questions! Season 6 must have been terrible to watch in real-time. Yay River :D And Sterling was there, too, acting very Sterling-like, but his alias as Canton Everett Delaware III was also entertaining. I also liked Amy here (usually a 50/50-chance or less, more on why I'm not a big fan of Amy later if I don't forget.)
ETA: What did the Silence want Amy to tell the Doctor? Hm.
Day of the Moon: Very nice opening! I'm still not sure where they got the black alien building material from? I didn't understand 100% how those hand-recorder thingies work, would have to watch it again (and now I can, because L. gave me seasons 4-6 on USB.) The orphanage was properly creepy (poor River.) It would have been a good moment for the Silence to grab Amy, but she sees the woman before - no, actually, it wouldn't have been, because them going to the orphanage means River could escape (at least that's how I saw it? Complicated) and that wasn't the plan.
About the plan, nice idea, but I'm not sure if I buy it 100%. People will just follow that suggestion, without questioning it, and shoot the Silent? The Silent won't become smart enough to keep out of the sight of people with guns? It also means that they should have encountered a lot of the Silent every time they went to Earth before 1969 - sure, we can say the Silent Ones made them forget, and only Amy remembers because she grew up next to the crack, but someone would have been smart enough to take a photograph or write something done or things like that. That's why I thought the Silence had something to do with the cracks and they only appeared in reality after the TARDIS exploded, but no. (Did we ever find out what made the TARDIS explode, I don't think so? Hmph.)
River and the Doctor flirting, aw. River shooting all those Silence looked very cool!
I'd hoped we'd see Canton again, but no :(
The Curse of the Black Spot: Pirate!Amy, yay! (Although I tried fake-swordfighting recently and found it very hard, so she must have practiced on her travels sometime before?) Okay episode, until the ending, where Amy for some reason gives up after 30 seconds of CPR and then gives up and cries instead of trying to save Rory's life. Seriously?!?!! If she cries and sobs while continuing to give him CPR, fine, but he could have died just because she thought pumping for five minutes was too much work. Argh. One of those needless very annoying things.
The Doctor's Wife: I was looking forward to this one and it didn't disappoint! I loved the TARDIS-in-human-body. Awww, she and the Doctor were so cute. Sexy, heee. <3 Doctor/TARDIS OTP.
The Rebel Flesh: A doppelganger episode that seemed fairly standard to me, even though I haven't seen that many doppelganger episodes. I bet from the beginning that mutual distrust -> some uncertainty who is "real" -> attempt of reconciliation -> misunderstanding/one act of aggression -> violent conflict -> some deaths, some "converted"-> only one of each version would survive and that at least some of the gangers would sacrifice themselves for the real ones (see SGA.)
The Almost People: I was sure it would, but I was still disappointed when it happened. And for no reason! Okay, I can see that having two Doctors would be too complicated, even though you could argue whether or not the second one was a full Time Lord (depends on the Flesh's replicating abilities), but why kill the second Miranda? It would have been much more interesting to keep them both alive. They'd already started to empathize with each other. What a waste. I wonder where the Doctor learned about the technology...
And then Amy melted. (Why did the Doctor tell Rory to step away? He would have become a bit gooey, big deal, but it would have been less tense and a comfort to dreaming Amy.)
A Good Man Goes to War: This episode seemed like it should have had more of an impact, but it sort of felt flat for me. I don't remember having heard of Demon's Run before (maybe River mentioned it once?), I didn't remember the allies he brought apart from their race (although the Silurian and her assistant were fun,) and "his highest triumph and deepest fall" just didn't ring true here anywhere. It would have been a great moment for a Captain Jack Harkness cameo, and Wikipedia tells me it was planned, but the actor was unavailable.
I like the Doctor outwitting his enemies (okay, it's a trap, and he really really should have checked the baby, but still) and Rory in Centurion uniform. (Do they really have to endlessly repeat the "Who does Amy love/trust more?" thing...)
About Amy's pregnancy and River being her daughter: I can see why they used that to make River's origin special (part-Timelord because she was conceived in the Time Vortex etc.), but I really dislike how this gave them an excuse to almost completely skip over Amy being pregnant and raising a child. It felt really cheap. It is mentioned again later, but way too briefly, and I'd have wanted it in much more detail than we got e.g. in "Asylum of the Daleks." Amy, and especially pregnant and mother!Amy, is clearly the damsel in distress here, another thing I don't like - why is it that Rory saving Amy is so often more epic than Amy saving Rory?
Let's Kill Hitler: It might have worked better if we'd heard of Mels before. I figured out quickly that it was Melody/River - poor River. Saving Hitler's Life, heh. "Put Hitler in the cupboard." I should have known those robots would appear again. Regenerating River letting herself be shot full of bullets, oh River *g*
I found it strange that she saved his life at such great risk to herself even though she only just killed him, they should have shown better how the brainwashing worked - did it suddenly wear off once she killed him and she noticed, or what? And why did they test her in the Astronaut suits if she was programmed to kill him, and why did they program her to kill him if they planned to put her in the suit anyway?
Night Terrors: This would have been the perfect episode to put a lot of Amy&Rory scenes in to give them the opportunity to react to what just happened. Instead they 'wasted' it with a standard filler. With creepy dolls, I hate creepy dolls.
The Girl Who Waited: Badass!Amy! Waiting for 36 years would be hard on anyone, so I can excuse that she apparently became so brilliant that she could build a sonic probe (she had the interface to help her) and claimed to hate the Doctor even though she knew that he might have problems with the TARDIS or similar, it's happened before. I loved that she initially didn't consent to sacrifice herself for her younger version, she wanted to live. Not sure how I feel about the ending: it does kind of fit, but for some reason I'm not fully satisfied.
The God Complex: Another filler. I felt the Doctor trying to destroy Amy's faith in him should have been better than it was, maybe if we'd seen more consequences, but nothing came of it (except the minotaur dying.) But he was completely sincere with everything he said.
So Amy's greatest fear is that she never stops waiting for the Doctor. Interesting. (More about Amy later, note to self.) I think it was probably the Master in the Doctor's room, who else could it be? Either that, or he himself. Probably him.
Closing Time: Craig! I was happy we got to see him again. And the Doctor makes social calls! *is busy imagining who else he visited - Sarah Jane, Luke, Jack...* Good ending - poor River...
The Wedding of River Song: Of course she would have figured out a way to save him. River <3 Apparently each time you alter a fixed point the effects are different, interesting. We see Amy take charge again, yay, and Rory as always her loyal sidekick. And River! Have I mentioned River is amazing? At this point of her timeline she doesn't know the Doctor very much yet, so her personal attachment to him seems a bit much, but fine. And they marry, kiss, and save the universe, aww. Amy is the Doctor's mother-in-law xD Nice mother-daughter scene that would have been even better if it hadn't been the first one. So River knew what was going on all along during The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon? Clever girl. More about River and why she's amazing later, note to self.
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe: I enjoyed it. Nice episode, but I don't have much to say about it. The Doctor as the Caretaker who repairs the house ("I know!") was fun :)
Pond Life: Awww *g*
Asylum of the Daleks: I liked Oswin, I thought the idea of a Dalek asylum is neat but wasn't fully utilized (what about Daleks who are 'crazy' because they're untypical, e.g. less violent or things like that?), and that the Daleks can't remember the Doctor is interesting. The first time we see Eleven he uses his reputation to scare off the Atraxi, and again at the Pandorica, but his reputation also gets him in a lot of trouble and has negative effects like the kidnapping of Melody. So now that many people think he's dead (at least in Amy's and Rory's "present time") and he wiped some more records he lost a large part of that.
I really disliked the Amy&Rory part, and not only because it seemed rushed. I can completely understand that both of them, but especially Amy has unresolved issues from Demon's Run and what it means to her that River is her daughter but she lost her as a baby and now she's infertile, I would have loved to see that more explored, not just in one minute. Here it led to a trope I hate hate hate, the "I'm letting you go for your own good without giving you a choice (or even telling you about it.)" I hate it. To be fair, I can see her doing it, and I can see Rory going along with it because he thinks he's always loved her more (he didn't see moments like in The Girl Who Waited), but then I want at least an acknowledgment how fucked up it is instead of instant reconciliation - which was also believable and in character, fine, I still really dislike it.
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship! I love the idea, and the episode was great, too. It had badass!Amy, Rory being the experienced space&time-traveler explaining things to his dad, fun, action, some Silurians, and Rory's dad eating a sandwich on the TARDIS doorstep above Earth. And then going traveling with the Doctor! In my head they picked up Wilf, and then they visited the Silurians living under the Earth and offered to relocate some of them to the planet with the dinosaurs.
Huh, writing all that took longer than I thought. More thoughts on Amy and River will have to wait for some other time. Now I have to wait one week for the next episode like everyone else...
A few episode reactions, but not much because I want to go to sleep sometime today. (Hahaha.) Spoilers for everything that aired until now except the preview for next week.
The Impossible Astronaut: Sooo many questions! Season 6 must have been terrible to watch in real-time. Yay River :D And Sterling was there, too, acting very Sterling-like, but his alias as Canton Everett Delaware III was also entertaining. I also liked Amy here (usually a 50/50-chance or less, more on why I'm not a big fan of Amy later if I don't forget.)
ETA: What did the Silence want Amy to tell the Doctor? Hm.
Day of the Moon: Very nice opening! I'm still not sure where they got the black alien building material from? I didn't understand 100% how those hand-recorder thingies work, would have to watch it again (and now I can, because L. gave me seasons 4-6 on USB.) The orphanage was properly creepy (poor River.) It would have been a good moment for the Silence to grab Amy, but she sees the woman before - no, actually, it wouldn't have been, because them going to the orphanage means River could escape (at least that's how I saw it? Complicated) and that wasn't the plan.
About the plan, nice idea, but I'm not sure if I buy it 100%. People will just follow that suggestion, without questioning it, and shoot the Silent? The Silent won't become smart enough to keep out of the sight of people with guns? It also means that they should have encountered a lot of the Silent every time they went to Earth before 1969 - sure, we can say the Silent Ones made them forget, and only Amy remembers because she grew up next to the crack, but someone would have been smart enough to take a photograph or write something done or things like that. That's why I thought the Silence had something to do with the cracks and they only appeared in reality after the TARDIS exploded, but no. (Did we ever find out what made the TARDIS explode, I don't think so? Hmph.)
River and the Doctor flirting, aw. River shooting all those Silence looked very cool!
I'd hoped we'd see Canton again, but no :(
The Curse of the Black Spot: Pirate!Amy, yay! (Although I tried fake-swordfighting recently and found it very hard, so she must have practiced on her travels sometime before?) Okay episode, until the ending, where Amy for some reason gives up after 30 seconds of CPR and then gives up and cries instead of trying to save Rory's life. Seriously?!?!! If she cries and sobs while continuing to give him CPR, fine, but he could have died just because she thought pumping for five minutes was too much work. Argh. One of those needless very annoying things.
The Doctor's Wife: I was looking forward to this one and it didn't disappoint! I loved the TARDIS-in-human-body. Awww, she and the Doctor were so cute. Sexy, heee. <3 Doctor/TARDIS OTP.
The Rebel Flesh: A doppelganger episode that seemed fairly standard to me, even though I haven't seen that many doppelganger episodes. I bet from the beginning that mutual distrust -> some uncertainty who is "real" -> attempt of reconciliation -> misunderstanding/one act of aggression -> violent conflict -> some deaths, some "converted"-> only one of each version would survive and that at least some of the gangers would sacrifice themselves for the real ones (see SGA.)
The Almost People: I was sure it would, but I was still disappointed when it happened. And for no reason! Okay, I can see that having two Doctors would be too complicated, even though you could argue whether or not the second one was a full Time Lord (depends on the Flesh's replicating abilities), but why kill the second Miranda? It would have been much more interesting to keep them both alive. They'd already started to empathize with each other. What a waste. I wonder where the Doctor learned about the technology...
And then Amy melted. (Why did the Doctor tell Rory to step away? He would have become a bit gooey, big deal, but it would have been less tense and a comfort to dreaming Amy.)
A Good Man Goes to War: This episode seemed like it should have had more of an impact, but it sort of felt flat for me. I don't remember having heard of Demon's Run before (maybe River mentioned it once?), I didn't remember the allies he brought apart from their race (although the Silurian and her assistant were fun,) and "his highest triumph and deepest fall" just didn't ring true here anywhere. It would have been a great moment for a Captain Jack Harkness cameo, and Wikipedia tells me it was planned, but the actor was unavailable.
I like the Doctor outwitting his enemies (okay, it's a trap, and he really really should have checked the baby, but still) and Rory in Centurion uniform. (Do they really have to endlessly repeat the "Who does Amy love/trust more?" thing...)
About Amy's pregnancy and River being her daughter: I can see why they used that to make River's origin special (part-Timelord because she was conceived in the Time Vortex etc.), but I really dislike how this gave them an excuse to almost completely skip over Amy being pregnant and raising a child. It felt really cheap. It is mentioned again later, but way too briefly, and I'd have wanted it in much more detail than we got e.g. in "Asylum of the Daleks." Amy, and especially pregnant and mother!Amy, is clearly the damsel in distress here, another thing I don't like - why is it that Rory saving Amy is so often more epic than Amy saving Rory?
Let's Kill Hitler: It might have worked better if we'd heard of Mels before. I figured out quickly that it was Melody/River - poor River. Saving Hitler's Life, heh. "Put Hitler in the cupboard." I should have known those robots would appear again. Regenerating River letting herself be shot full of bullets, oh River *g*
I found it strange that she saved his life at such great risk to herself even though she only just killed him, they should have shown better how the brainwashing worked - did it suddenly wear off once she killed him and she noticed, or what? And why did they test her in the Astronaut suits if she was programmed to kill him, and why did they program her to kill him if they planned to put her in the suit anyway?
Night Terrors: This would have been the perfect episode to put a lot of Amy&Rory scenes in to give them the opportunity to react to what just happened. Instead they 'wasted' it with a standard filler. With creepy dolls, I hate creepy dolls.
The Girl Who Waited: Badass!Amy! Waiting for 36 years would be hard on anyone, so I can excuse that she apparently became so brilliant that she could build a sonic probe (she had the interface to help her) and claimed to hate the Doctor even though she knew that he might have problems with the TARDIS or similar, it's happened before. I loved that she initially didn't consent to sacrifice herself for her younger version, she wanted to live. Not sure how I feel about the ending: it does kind of fit, but for some reason I'm not fully satisfied.
The God Complex: Another filler. I felt the Doctor trying to destroy Amy's faith in him should have been better than it was, maybe if we'd seen more consequences, but nothing came of it (except the minotaur dying.) But he was completely sincere with everything he said.
So Amy's greatest fear is that she never stops waiting for the Doctor. Interesting. (More about Amy later, note to self.) I think it was probably the Master in the Doctor's room, who else could it be? Either that, or he himself. Probably him.
Closing Time: Craig! I was happy we got to see him again. And the Doctor makes social calls! *is busy imagining who else he visited - Sarah Jane, Luke, Jack...* Good ending - poor River...
The Wedding of River Song: Of course she would have figured out a way to save him. River <3 Apparently each time you alter a fixed point the effects are different, interesting. We see Amy take charge again, yay, and Rory as always her loyal sidekick. And River! Have I mentioned River is amazing? At this point of her timeline she doesn't know the Doctor very much yet, so her personal attachment to him seems a bit much, but fine. And they marry, kiss, and save the universe, aww. Amy is the Doctor's mother-in-law xD Nice mother-daughter scene that would have been even better if it hadn't been the first one. So River knew what was going on all along during The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon? Clever girl. More about River and why she's amazing later, note to self.
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe: I enjoyed it. Nice episode, but I don't have much to say about it. The Doctor as the Caretaker who repairs the house ("I know!") was fun :)
Pond Life: Awww *g*
Asylum of the Daleks: I liked Oswin, I thought the idea of a Dalek asylum is neat but wasn't fully utilized (what about Daleks who are 'crazy' because they're untypical, e.g. less violent or things like that?), and that the Daleks can't remember the Doctor is interesting. The first time we see Eleven he uses his reputation to scare off the Atraxi, and again at the Pandorica, but his reputation also gets him in a lot of trouble and has negative effects like the kidnapping of Melody. So now that many people think he's dead (at least in Amy's and Rory's "present time") and he wiped some more records he lost a large part of that.
I really disliked the Amy&Rory part, and not only because it seemed rushed. I can completely understand that both of them, but especially Amy has unresolved issues from Demon's Run and what it means to her that River is her daughter but she lost her as a baby and now she's infertile, I would have loved to see that more explored, not just in one minute. Here it led to a trope I hate hate hate, the "I'm letting you go for your own good without giving you a choice (or even telling you about it.)" I hate it. To be fair, I can see her doing it, and I can see Rory going along with it because he thinks he's always loved her more (he didn't see moments like in The Girl Who Waited), but then I want at least an acknowledgment how fucked up it is instead of instant reconciliation - which was also believable and in character, fine, I still really dislike it.
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship! I love the idea, and the episode was great, too. It had badass!Amy, Rory being the experienced space&time-traveler explaining things to his dad, fun, action, some Silurians, and Rory's dad eating a sandwich on the TARDIS doorstep above Earth. And then going traveling with the Doctor! In my head they picked up Wilf, and then they visited the Silurians living under the Earth and offered to relocate some of them to the planet with the dinosaurs.
Huh, writing all that took longer than I thought. More thoughts on Amy and River will have to wait for some other time. Now I have to wait one week for the next episode like everyone else...
