Well, I'm not sure where to begin with this one. It seems so disjointed to me, but I'll give it a shot.
The episode starts out with brief looks at various characters who have appeared in (I can only guess here) classic Doctor Who episodes. Each of their stories ends with the TARDIS appearing - the Doctor has come to collect his debts. He is clearly amassing an army to storm the castle and rescue Amy. Meanwhile on Demon's Run, Amy is talking to her newborn daughter, telling her not to worry because The Last Centurion will come to rescue them. Somewhere in space, Rory shows up on board a Cybership. He says he has a message and a question - "where is my wife?" When the Cybermen ask what the message is, there is an explosion in the background, as several Cyberships are blown to smithereens. Rory says, "shall I repeat the question?"
So Melody is taken from Amy; meanwhile, the Eyepatch Lady and her troops are mustering forces against the Doctor. Among them are the Headless Monks. I'm still not really sure why they're even in this, as they don't really serve much point. A young soldier named Lorna comes to Amy's room with a present of a prayer leaf with Melody's name stitched in the tongue of the Gamma forest people.
The Doctor shows up on Demon's Run disguised as a Headless Monk, and with him are all his buddies who are going to help him. They seem to take over Demon's Run quite quickly, saving Melody and giving her back to Amy. Now, instead of getting on the TARDIS and flying Amy and Rory and Melody off somewhere safe, they all just lark around in the big ol' empty place. The Doctor brings out a cradle for Melody and says it was originally his (which I don't believe for a second). He tells Amy that he believes that she was taken shortly before America, (which I have a hard time believing, too). The lesbians call him to the control room, and it is there that they tell him that the people who had stolen Amy were scanning Melody, and that she was part Time Lord. Cause Amy and Rory did the nasty on the TARDIS.
Just then, the Headless Monks attack and almost all of the Doctor's buddies are killed. During this, the Eyepatch Lady gets on a video link with the Doctor and says something about how fooling him once was super cool but fooling him again in the same way was like the epitome of awesomeness. Well, as the Doctor rushes to Amy, we see that the baby has melted into plastic goo - the baby was an avatar, just like Amy had been. So they have Melody after all.
Lorna dies after seeing the Doctor, and then River shows up. She brings the Doctor over to the cradle and says, "can't you read"? He gets all weird and mentally challenged again and then pops off into his TARDIS and quite irresponsibly leaves them all there. River shows Amy the prayer leaf from Lorna, and since it takes the TARDIS sooooo long to translate the written word, we now see that it says "River" on one side and "Song" on the other. Wow. River is Amy and Rory's daughter. Who'dve guessed?
Curiouser and Curiouser
1) So Moffat is supposed to be this brilliant writer, yet he knocks us on the head with the whole "River Song" thing. Apparently, he didn't think we were smart enough to figure it out from the name "Melody Pond". And River saying, "they don't have a name for 'pond' in the Gamma forests, the only water in the forest is the river". Again, WHACK! Beating us over the head with it.
2) While we're on the prayer leaf (which is actually a pretty neat little concept), let's talk about this whole TARDIS translation thing. According to River, it sometimes takes a little while to translate the written word. Yet, it had no problem translating HELLO SWEETIE on the side of a cliff the second they opened the door last season.
3) It makes no sense that Amy would have been taken before America. She thought she was pregnant. Then they separated, and months later she tells the Doctor that she's better - no pregnancy. It makes soooo much more sense for them to have grabbed her while she was on her own running across the USA, not before.
4) When Rory comes to River at her cell to ask for her help, she stares at him like she's never seen him before. She gets this look of awe and wonder on her face. It's almost sickening. She has to have known in all the previous episodes that Amy and Rory are her parents, so why has she never stared at them like that before, especially when she says that they've already met? Or did she lie? It's so messed up.
5) If Melody was taken from Amy so quickly, how on earth were those pictures of the girl and Amy in the orphanage? I have a hard time believing that Amy would have posed for such a nice picture at Demon's Run. Also, if Melody is River and is also the girl in the astronaut suit, then I will ask again - how does River not know what is going on?
6) My husband pointed this one out to me - the Cybermen in this episode don't have the Cybus Industries mark on them. Are they another type of Cybermen? Do they have a different origin story?
Dislikes:
1) What a strange way to discuss Rory. Moffat clearly wants us to think that Amy's talking about the Doctor - can we please be done with the love triangle? It's soooo tiresome. And seriously, she thinks that Rory has the ability to rescue them? Since when does she have any kind of confidence in Rory? Not to mention that he's NOT older than he looks, if, "in this reality", as the Doctor says, the universe has been rebooted. Also, the Doctor is the one who said that they were going to come get her, not Rory.
2) I can't believe the Doctor blew up an entire Cyber Legion to make his point. Since when is killing so easy for him? It really bothers me. I suppose it's to make their point about how the Doctor has become synonymous with "warrior". However, we already went through all of this at the end of David Tennant's reign. He was starting to act like God, etc. etc. I feel like we're just rehashing all of that. Not to mention the fact that Davros made a huge point about how the Doctor makes people dangerous, he turns them into soldiers. Well, here's the Doctor forcing them into that role, and half of them die. Does he even care? No, he just gets all giggly about River and prances off to his TARDIS, tra la la.
3) River Song is starting to look really old and puffy. I hope they get rid of her fast - and that's not likely to happen. It's going to become the River and Amy Show, isn't it?
4) When the Doctor and his buddies descend on Demon's Run, it really took me aback. One criticism of Russell T. Davies was that he was always bringing back companions and other characters. It's almost like Moffat said, "WWRTDD?" And seriously - Danny Boy? I'm sure that all the Moffat fans LOVED it, though. Had RTD done it, there would have been nothing but whinging. What constant, f-ing hypocrites.
5) The Doctor is so mean. He wants the Colonel to be remembered as "Colonel Runaway". Yes, this is something that Ten would have done (remember, "doesn't she look tired?") However, Eleven is such as ass about it. He cannot be angry without also being a total douche.
6) Again, why don't they just get in the TARDIS where they'll be safe? No, they have to skip around like they're on holiday. Idiots. I get that the Doctor wants to know what's going on, but Amy would still be safer in the TARDIS than anywhere else.
7) The hug between the Doctor and Amy goes on for so long, it's completely awkward. They're having a conservation in the midst of a hug. WTF?
8) When River tells Amy and Rory that she's their daughter, it so reminded me of a soap opera. And that's essentially what Doctor Who is now. Amy and Rory's daughter, who was stolen at birth, is really River Song, their best friend's future wife - we think - who all this time has been sharing adventures with them before they even knew they would have a child. BARF.
Likes:
When the Sontaran is dying, Rory tells him that he'll be okay, he's a warrior. The Sontaran replies, "I'm not a warrior, I'm a nurse". This is quite a reflection of Rory, who is also a nurse, and maybe not the warrior that he is pretending to be at the moment.
Speaking of Cybermen, I just watched this episode the other day - Tomb of the Cybermen - and this scene made me laugh so hard!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
S6 Episodes 5 & 6: The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People
I've decided to combine the two-part flesh episode into one post because again, my comments for the two are so similar.
First of all, I'd like to point out that S5E5 was called Flesh and Stone, and S6E5 is called The Rebel Flesh. Is it a requirement that all of Moffat's fifth episodes need to have "flesh" in the title somewhere?
So The Rebel Flesh starts out with the Doctor, Amy, and Rory landing on a 22nd century Earth where acid is mined and pumped to the mainland. Because the acid is so dangerous, flesh is used to create dopplegangers, or Gangers, of the actual workers. The humans control the Gangers, which are essentially virtual people. However, the Doctor arrives amid a solar storm, and when a power surge goes through the building, the Gangers become completely separate entities and absorb the memories and personalities of their real-life counterparts. When the Gangers are discovered, they freak out and scream things like, "I'm real!"
Very quickly, the humans and the Gangers turn against each other, while the Doctor keeps trying to maintain peace. When he creates his own Ganger intentionally, things become even more interesting. (When the Ganger is coping with figuring out which regeneration he is, he says, "would you like a jelly baby?" in Tom Baker's voice. I know that it's Tom Baker's voice, but the change in pitch is TERRIFYING!!!) Two Matt Smiths is almost overwhelming, but I think Smith's more restrained performance made it bearable to watch. The Doctor's shoes became destroyed when he tried to enter the TARDIS, which sank in the acid, so one Doctor is wearing his shoes, and the other is wearing a borrowed pair. Amy uses the shoes to tell which is the "real" Doctor, and she says that she trusts him implicitly, and only him; the Ganger Doctor is not real to her.
Meanwhile, Rory has become bonded with one of the Gangers, Jennifer. In fact, he is very protective of her from the beginning, before he knew she was a Ganger. He spends the entire episode running around trying to save first her, then the real Jennifer. The Ganger Jennifer tricks Rory and locks all of the humans in the room with the acid. When the Doctor phones one of the workers' sons, the Gangers realize that they don't want a war after all, and rush to save the humans. However, not all of the humans survive.
By the way - whatever accent Jennifer has is creepy to begin with and gets worse when she's a Ganger. I wonder where she comes from - I'm never going there!
In the end, when everything is at stake, the Doctor and his Ganger reveal that they switched shoes, and the Doctor whom Amy thought was real was really the Ganger all along. She shows some more love for the Ganger ("you're twice the man I thought you were!") and makes us all want to puke.
As the Doctor, Rory, and Amy leave the remaining human and Ganger to try to find a resolution between the two groups, we discover that Amy has been a Ganger herself for a very long time. The Doctor melts her down, and the real Amy wakes up in some kind of sterile room, where she is in labor.
Repeat Idea:
1) In the middle of the storm, the Doctor climbs up to the weather vane to disconnect the power. This is highly reminiscent of The Idiot's Lantern and Vampires of Venice, when he has to do essentially the same thing. In addition, the Fourth Doctor apparently dies when he falls off of a transmitter tower. At least Ten references that before he climbs up another on in The Idiot's Lantern!
2) This series has quickly become All About Amy again. Last series it was the crack in HER wall. This series it's all about HER pregnancy/child. At what point are they just going to give in and put Karen Gillan's name first in the opening credits? This is getting old! It was one thing when Dumbass Donna was the "most important thing in the Universe!" But then the very next companion became the "most important thing in the Universe!" And now it's all about her AGAIN?!? Really?
Dislikes:
1) For a two-parter, things happen almost too quickly. The Gangers are against the humans almost immediately - they don't really give the humans time to figure out how they feel about the Gangers, they just assume that no one will accept them. Because of this, I didn't feel like the conflict had time to develop, it was just forced upon everyone.
2) When they first arrive at the monastery, we see a big pipe with the words - "Danger Corrosive" on it. After examining it with his screwdriver, the Doctor proclaims that they contain something corrosive. Great job, Captain Obvious!
3) The flesh is white. So does that mean that it can only copy Caucasians?
4) The lighting in the entire episode makes Matt Smith look like a corpse.
5) At one point towards the end of The Rebel Flesh, one of the workers puts a board in front of the door to keep the Gangers out. At the beginning of The Almost People, there is a different take of that shot. Sloppy!
6) At one point the Doctor (who Amy thinks is the Ganger) grabs Amy and screams at her that all he hears is "WHY? WHY? WHY?" (which is what Jennifer says the flesh all say as they die). So wait - the Doctor is psychic now? I know he's always had psychic tendencies, but I didn't realize he was like, PSYCHIC. It's important to note that it's in this scene that Amy tells the Doctor, who she thinks is the Ganger, that she's seen the Doctor's death, and that he invited them to witness it. So he knows.
7) Rory finds two Jennifers together, each claiming to be the real Jennifer. They fight, and one Jennifer lands in a puddle of acid. It melts, so we think that the surviving Jennifer is the real Jennifer. But no, they're BOTH Gangers! How on Earth did the Ganger Jennifer make another Ganger? She had to put her hand on the thingamajingie that allows them to connect to the flesh pool, and it told her she wasn't human. This is reinforced later when she puts Rory's hand on it, since it doesn't recognize her. Again, sloppy.
8) The actor that played the worker's son was horrible. He creeped me the hell out.
9) When the TARDIS falls through into the bowels of the factory, it drops down backwards. At least - there are no signs on the door in the first shot, but then when they run to it, the signs are miraculously there. SLOPPY.
10) Now there are three more companions! Poor Sexy. They should rename her Slutty, the way that people go in and out of her so often.
11) Apparently Karen Gillan doesn't know where her uterus is. Whenever she has labor pain, she's clutching her stomach, not her lower abdomen.
12) My biggest problem is this whole "Ganger Revolution" that Jennifer wants to start. It's my understanding that the Gangers became sentient because of the lightning strike. I'm guessing that all the Gangers in the world aren't their own conscious beings. But she seems to think they are. The whole talk about Ganger rights should be completely unnecessary. Yes, the discarded flesh is sad and traumatic, but that type of thing should only be occurring in the monastery.
Likes:
1) I like how the episode starts out in the factory. It has a very classic feel. I would like it more if it didn't have so many obvious problems.
2) The exchanges between the two Doctors were pretty funny.
Here's your palate-cleanser:
First of all, I'd like to point out that S5E5 was called Flesh and Stone, and S6E5 is called The Rebel Flesh. Is it a requirement that all of Moffat's fifth episodes need to have "flesh" in the title somewhere?
So The Rebel Flesh starts out with the Doctor, Amy, and Rory landing on a 22nd century Earth where acid is mined and pumped to the mainland. Because the acid is so dangerous, flesh is used to create dopplegangers, or Gangers, of the actual workers. The humans control the Gangers, which are essentially virtual people. However, the Doctor arrives amid a solar storm, and when a power surge goes through the building, the Gangers become completely separate entities and absorb the memories and personalities of their real-life counterparts. When the Gangers are discovered, they freak out and scream things like, "I'm real!"
Very quickly, the humans and the Gangers turn against each other, while the Doctor keeps trying to maintain peace. When he creates his own Ganger intentionally, things become even more interesting. (When the Ganger is coping with figuring out which regeneration he is, he says, "would you like a jelly baby?" in Tom Baker's voice. I know that it's Tom Baker's voice, but the change in pitch is TERRIFYING!!!) Two Matt Smiths is almost overwhelming, but I think Smith's more restrained performance made it bearable to watch. The Doctor's shoes became destroyed when he tried to enter the TARDIS, which sank in the acid, so one Doctor is wearing his shoes, and the other is wearing a borrowed pair. Amy uses the shoes to tell which is the "real" Doctor, and she says that she trusts him implicitly, and only him; the Ganger Doctor is not real to her.
Meanwhile, Rory has become bonded with one of the Gangers, Jennifer. In fact, he is very protective of her from the beginning, before he knew she was a Ganger. He spends the entire episode running around trying to save first her, then the real Jennifer. The Ganger Jennifer tricks Rory and locks all of the humans in the room with the acid. When the Doctor phones one of the workers' sons, the Gangers realize that they don't want a war after all, and rush to save the humans. However, not all of the humans survive.
By the way - whatever accent Jennifer has is creepy to begin with and gets worse when she's a Ganger. I wonder where she comes from - I'm never going there!
In the end, when everything is at stake, the Doctor and his Ganger reveal that they switched shoes, and the Doctor whom Amy thought was real was really the Ganger all along. She shows some more love for the Ganger ("you're twice the man I thought you were!") and makes us all want to puke.
As the Doctor, Rory, and Amy leave the remaining human and Ganger to try to find a resolution between the two groups, we discover that Amy has been a Ganger herself for a very long time. The Doctor melts her down, and the real Amy wakes up in some kind of sterile room, where she is in labor.
Repeat Idea:
1) In the middle of the storm, the Doctor climbs up to the weather vane to disconnect the power. This is highly reminiscent of The Idiot's Lantern and Vampires of Venice, when he has to do essentially the same thing. In addition, the Fourth Doctor apparently dies when he falls off of a transmitter tower. At least Ten references that before he climbs up another on in The Idiot's Lantern!
2) This series has quickly become All About Amy again. Last series it was the crack in HER wall. This series it's all about HER pregnancy/child. At what point are they just going to give in and put Karen Gillan's name first in the opening credits? This is getting old! It was one thing when Dumbass Donna was the "most important thing in the Universe!" But then the very next companion became the "most important thing in the Universe!" And now it's all about her AGAIN?!? Really?
Dislikes:
1) For a two-parter, things happen almost too quickly. The Gangers are against the humans almost immediately - they don't really give the humans time to figure out how they feel about the Gangers, they just assume that no one will accept them. Because of this, I didn't feel like the conflict had time to develop, it was just forced upon everyone.
2) When they first arrive at the monastery, we see a big pipe with the words - "Danger Corrosive" on it. After examining it with his screwdriver, the Doctor proclaims that they contain something corrosive. Great job, Captain Obvious!
3) The flesh is white. So does that mean that it can only copy Caucasians?
4) The lighting in the entire episode makes Matt Smith look like a corpse.
5) At one point towards the end of The Rebel Flesh, one of the workers puts a board in front of the door to keep the Gangers out. At the beginning of The Almost People, there is a different take of that shot. Sloppy!
6) At one point the Doctor (who Amy thinks is the Ganger) grabs Amy and screams at her that all he hears is "WHY? WHY? WHY?" (which is what Jennifer says the flesh all say as they die). So wait - the Doctor is psychic now? I know he's always had psychic tendencies, but I didn't realize he was like, PSYCHIC. It's important to note that it's in this scene that Amy tells the Doctor, who she thinks is the Ganger, that she's seen the Doctor's death, and that he invited them to witness it. So he knows.
7) Rory finds two Jennifers together, each claiming to be the real Jennifer. They fight, and one Jennifer lands in a puddle of acid. It melts, so we think that the surviving Jennifer is the real Jennifer. But no, they're BOTH Gangers! How on Earth did the Ganger Jennifer make another Ganger? She had to put her hand on the thingamajingie that allows them to connect to the flesh pool, and it told her she wasn't human. This is reinforced later when she puts Rory's hand on it, since it doesn't recognize her. Again, sloppy.
8) The actor that played the worker's son was horrible. He creeped me the hell out.
9) When the TARDIS falls through into the bowels of the factory, it drops down backwards. At least - there are no signs on the door in the first shot, but then when they run to it, the signs are miraculously there. SLOPPY.
10) Now there are three more companions! Poor Sexy. They should rename her Slutty, the way that people go in and out of her so often.
11) Apparently Karen Gillan doesn't know where her uterus is. Whenever she has labor pain, she's clutching her stomach, not her lower abdomen.
12) My biggest problem is this whole "Ganger Revolution" that Jennifer wants to start. It's my understanding that the Gangers became sentient because of the lightning strike. I'm guessing that all the Gangers in the world aren't their own conscious beings. But she seems to think they are. The whole talk about Ganger rights should be completely unnecessary. Yes, the discarded flesh is sad and traumatic, but that type of thing should only be occurring in the monastery.
Likes:
1) I like how the episode starts out in the factory. It has a very classic feel. I would like it more if it didn't have so many obvious problems.
2) The exchanges between the two Doctors were pretty funny.
Here's your palate-cleanser:
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
S6 Episode 4: The Doctor's Wife
Well, this was the first decent episode since Vincent and the Doctor. Let's get to it, shall we? Short and sweet.
The Doctor receives a distress signal from a Time Lord, they arrive somewhere outside of the universe and find Auntie, Uncle, Nephew, and Idris living on House, some kind of asteroid thing (I never really figured out what House was). The soul of the TARDIS is stolen and transferred into Idris. When she meets the Doctor, she starts talking apparent nonsense, kisses him, etc. The Doctor finds out that House has been killing Time Lords and cutting them up to remake Auntie and Uncle, Dr. Frankenstein-style. And, he eats TARDISes.
Amy and Rory get trapped inside the TARDIS, because being in life-and-death situations is what they do best. House messes with them, the Doctor and Idris, or "Sexy", as she says he calls her ("only when we're alone") build a TARDIS console from dead TARDISes and save the day. Well, Sexy saves the day because she is ANGRY.
Repeat Idea:
This is the fifth time that Rory dies.
Episodes in which Rory has died in some manner:
1) Amy's Choice: Rory dies in the dream, so he's not actually dead
2) Cold Blood: Rory actually dies
3) Day of the Moon: Rory doesn't actually die, but we think he does
4) Curse of the Black Pearl: Rory temporarily dies, but is brought back to life by Amy
5) The Doctor's Wife: Rory appears to have died after waiting for Amy for thousands of years, but it's just House messing with her mind
Likes:
1) For an episode with very little plot, there were tons of fantastic lines.
2) For as much as I hate Moffatt messing with time, I loved how Sexy (yes, I'm going to call her that because I think it's hilarious) had trouble with tenses and talking about things that hadn't happened yet. Because it's different when it's the TARDIS talking about it versus the Doctor doing whatever the frak he pleases - plus, she says that she exists in ALL of time and space simultaneously.
3) I don't know if this is a like, but there was something about Sexy's facial expression that reminded me of someone the first time through. Now I know who it is - she keeps doing Hermione Granger's "worried" face!
4) Suranne Jones was brilliant as Sexy. I LOVED her. It was so nice to see a character with real depth and emotion. We have not had a character like that since Vincent.
5) When Nephew gets atomized (or "displaced", as the Doctor says), the Doctor wryly observes, "another Ood I've failed to save". I literally laughed out loud. Every once in a while, Matt Smith just pulls out a perfect delivery.
6) Uncle was another great character - he is creepy, yet funny, and he is played to perfection by Adrian Schiller.
Dislikes:
1) There is no real point to this episode, other than the Doctor meeting the TARDIS. I guess that's okay, because it's about time we have a real character story. Vincent and the Doctor was a character story, and so was The Lodger, and I really liked them both. So maybe this shouldn't be a dislike. Hmm.
2) Captain Jack is bisexual, Eleventh Doctor is bipolar (I know, I know, Jack is actually omnisexual, but it didn't flow as nicely). Angry Doctor again. He gets mad at Auntie and Uncle and says, "You gave me hope and then you took it away. That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it'll do to me". He looks like he's about to lose it. I know some people go on about David Tennant's angst, but holy crap. This guy needs to go to Anger Management or something. He's got two emotions: super-happy-monkey and pissed off.
3) I thought the entire concept of Amy and Rory being locked in the TARDIS was ridiculous. They just keep running down the same corridor over and over. What a brilliant opportunity to show us other rooms in the TARDIS, and it was totally wasted. I really Do. Not. Care. about the relationship between Amy and Rory's anymore. Why, oh why do they keep hitting us over the head with it? And while I normally love Arthur Darvill, he does NOT look like he's running for his life when the doors slam shut. Both times that he gets separated from Amy, he looks like he's out for a casual jog.
4) The first time I watched the episode and Amy and Rory stepped into the Ninth and Tenth Doctor console, I felt violated. Watching it the second time through a few months later, I still feel violated. I literally have a visceral reaction to it, like someone has punched me in the stomach. It's just wrong, wrong, wrong.
5) Amy says, "you can't say it, you have to think it" and then proceeds to put her hands up to her temples as if she's trying to read a mind and SAYS, "crimson, eleven, delight, the smell of dust after rain". It would have been sufficient for her to make that ridiculous mime and then have the montage of thoughts, she didn't have to verbalize it, especially since she just said that you can't say it!
Here's a little bit about another of the Doctor's wives ...
The Doctor receives a distress signal from a Time Lord, they arrive somewhere outside of the universe and find Auntie, Uncle, Nephew, and Idris living on House, some kind of asteroid thing (I never really figured out what House was). The soul of the TARDIS is stolen and transferred into Idris. When she meets the Doctor, she starts talking apparent nonsense, kisses him, etc. The Doctor finds out that House has been killing Time Lords and cutting them up to remake Auntie and Uncle, Dr. Frankenstein-style. And, he eats TARDISes.
Amy and Rory get trapped inside the TARDIS, because being in life-and-death situations is what they do best. House messes with them, the Doctor and Idris, or "Sexy", as she says he calls her ("only when we're alone") build a TARDIS console from dead TARDISes and save the day. Well, Sexy saves the day because she is ANGRY.
Repeat Idea:
This is the fifth time that Rory dies.
Episodes in which Rory has died in some manner:
1) Amy's Choice: Rory dies in the dream, so he's not actually dead
2) Cold Blood: Rory actually dies
3) Day of the Moon: Rory doesn't actually die, but we think he does
4) Curse of the Black Pearl: Rory temporarily dies, but is brought back to life by Amy
5) The Doctor's Wife: Rory appears to have died after waiting for Amy for thousands of years, but it's just House messing with her mind
Likes:
1) For an episode with very little plot, there were tons of fantastic lines.
2) For as much as I hate Moffatt messing with time, I loved how Sexy (yes, I'm going to call her that because I think it's hilarious) had trouble with tenses and talking about things that hadn't happened yet. Because it's different when it's the TARDIS talking about it versus the Doctor doing whatever the frak he pleases - plus, she says that she exists in ALL of time and space simultaneously.
3) I don't know if this is a like, but there was something about Sexy's facial expression that reminded me of someone the first time through. Now I know who it is - she keeps doing Hermione Granger's "worried" face!
4) Suranne Jones was brilliant as Sexy. I LOVED her. It was so nice to see a character with real depth and emotion. We have not had a character like that since Vincent.
5) When Nephew gets atomized (or "displaced", as the Doctor says), the Doctor wryly observes, "another Ood I've failed to save". I literally laughed out loud. Every once in a while, Matt Smith just pulls out a perfect delivery.
6) Uncle was another great character - he is creepy, yet funny, and he is played to perfection by Adrian Schiller.
Dislikes:
1) There is no real point to this episode, other than the Doctor meeting the TARDIS. I guess that's okay, because it's about time we have a real character story. Vincent and the Doctor was a character story, and so was The Lodger, and I really liked them both. So maybe this shouldn't be a dislike. Hmm.
2) Captain Jack is bisexual, Eleventh Doctor is bipolar (I know, I know, Jack is actually omnisexual, but it didn't flow as nicely). Angry Doctor again. He gets mad at Auntie and Uncle and says, "You gave me hope and then you took it away. That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it'll do to me". He looks like he's about to lose it. I know some people go on about David Tennant's angst, but holy crap. This guy needs to go to Anger Management or something. He's got two emotions: super-happy-monkey and pissed off.
3) I thought the entire concept of Amy and Rory being locked in the TARDIS was ridiculous. They just keep running down the same corridor over and over. What a brilliant opportunity to show us other rooms in the TARDIS, and it was totally wasted. I really Do. Not. Care. about the relationship between Amy and Rory's anymore. Why, oh why do they keep hitting us over the head with it? And while I normally love Arthur Darvill, he does NOT look like he's running for his life when the doors slam shut. Both times that he gets separated from Amy, he looks like he's out for a casual jog.
4) The first time I watched the episode and Amy and Rory stepped into the Ninth and Tenth Doctor console, I felt violated. Watching it the second time through a few months later, I still feel violated. I literally have a visceral reaction to it, like someone has punched me in the stomach. It's just wrong, wrong, wrong.
5) Amy says, "you can't say it, you have to think it" and then proceeds to put her hands up to her temples as if she's trying to read a mind and SAYS, "crimson, eleven, delight, the smell of dust after rain". It would have been sufficient for her to make that ridiculous mime and then have the montage of thoughts, she didn't have to verbalize it, especially since she just said that you can't say it!
Here's a little bit about another of the Doctor's wives ...
Sunday, August 7, 2011
S6 Episode 3: Pirates of the Caribbean 5 Curse of the Black Spot
Surprisingly, I don't have too many issues with this episode. I should rephrase that: I have less issues that I expected I'd have, considering I LOATHE Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon. A lot of reviews that I've read or listened to heavily criticized the graphics. I had zero problems with the graphics - that's about the only thing I had zero problems with.
The Doctor and his Companions are off on a storyarc-less adventure on the high seas! They arrive on board a pirate ship whose crew is slowly being taken by a Siren-like creature. Once they are injured, even in the slightest way, they are marked with the black spot; she appears (I almost wrote "Apparates") and sings to the sailors, enchanting them. At her touch, they apparently explode. The crew get picked off rather quickly, despite having been becalmed for eight days. At one point, Rory gets a superficial cut, but Amy and the Doctor prevent him from being taken by the Siren. Pretty soon it's just the Captain, the Doctor, Amy, Rory, Toby (the Captain's stowaway son) and two other pirates. After discovering that the Siren can get in through water, they barricade themselves inside the armory.
The Doctor and the Captain make their way to the TARDIS, who is also becalmed, and disappears (or "Disapparates", if you prefer) as they watch. One of the crew members leaves the armory to pilfer the loot, and he is taken by the Siren. It is then that the Doctor then realizes that it's not water that calls the Siren, but reflections. And, OH NO! The Captain's pendant is gone! They rush back to the armory just as Toby starts to polish the pendant. The Doctor starts breaking out all the windows and throwing all the treasure overboard, but the Captain secrets a crown inside his coat. He LOVES treasure!
Well, then a huge storm whips up, and as Toby brings his father his coat, the crown rolls out and Toby is taken by the Siren. Then Rory gets knocked overboard. The Doctor, Captain, and Amy all cut their hands so that the Siren will come take them. She arrives, and they all reach out to her.
They all wake up on the floor of a space ship. All of the crew members are lying on beds, hooked up to machines. The Doctor figures out that the Siren is really some kind of hologram, and the space ship had been becalmed just like the pirate ship. And reflections were a way for the hologram to get through. She was rescuing all of the people who were injured, even if it was minor. However, she doesn't know how humans work, so she can't actually heal them, just keep them in stasis. Amy wants to take Rory back to the TARDIS, so she gives her consent to the hologram. Before unhooking Rory, he wakes up and tells her that she'll have to do CPR, which Amy says she doesn't know. But he trusts her. So she unhooks him, they get back to the TARDIS, and Amy performs CPR. After a minute, though, she gives up. And then, miraculously, Rory spits out water and is okay.
Before they leave, the Captain says he's not leaving his son. So, he decides to fly the space ship away (a ship is a ship, after all). All the crew members (that we'd met) and Toby all stand around his chair.
Repeat Ideas:
Hmm. I couldn't come up with any repeat ideas, as this is the first time we've seen a watery tart charming things with her singing ... hang on a minute ...
1) A watery tart charming things with her singing. We JUST watched Abigail charm the shark and control the fog with her singing. Yes, it was a few months prior to this episode, but it was only FOUR episodes ago!
2) A medical specialist who didn't know how to heal its patients? I have four words for you - ARE YOU MY MUMMY?
3) When they find the aliens in the space ship, the Doctor makes a comment along the lines of, "have you ever looked in a mirror and thought you were seeing a different world?" This is a bit too similar to the line in Family of Blood, "He trapped her inside a mirror ... If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you just for a second, that's her. That's always her.
4) In case you haven't been keeping count, this is the third time that Rory dies. Fourth, if you count his fake death in Day of the Moon.
Dislikes:
1) The crew gets picked off so fast. Seriously, are there THAT many injuries on a ship? At the rate that everyone is getting injured, the whole crew should have been gone days ago.
2) The Siren doesn't come for Rory until he realizes that he's been cut. That's convenient.
3) The original concept, that the Siren could travel through water, was a MUCH better concept than traveling through reflections.
4) How does the Captain knows that Toby is his son? He's clearly never met him, as Toby says, "[Mother] told me all about you, I should be proud to know you".
5) When the Doctor and the Captain leave the armory to go to the TARDIS, the Captain slips and almost cuts his hand. I have a hard time believing that a man who spends his whole life at sea could be that clumsy.
6) When they first enter the armory, there are two crew members besides Amy, Rory, and Toby. But, a few minutes later, there is only one. Where did the other crew member go?
7) Why did the Siren take the TARDIS? I understand that the TARDIS is alive, unlike the ship, but is there something wrong with the TARDIS besides being becalmed? I doubt it. They only made the TARDIS disappear so that they could get Rory onboard. If it was going to disappear, it should have happened before this.
8) If there are all these pieces of reflective treasure laying around, she would have total access to the ship. But, because you have to see a REFLECTION, then the treasure would have been fine being kept locked up somewhere. There was no need to throw it all overboard.
9) The Doctor calls the Siren to them by opening up the barrel of fresh water during the storm. DURING. THE. STORM. I've never been on a ship during a storm, but I'm guessing that the water isn't exactly reflection-friendly when the ship is being tossed about and there is no moon.
10) When the Siren takes the Doctor, Amy, and the Captain, they wake up on the floor of the space ship. Why aren't they in a bed like everyone else?
11) They find the aliens, and the Doctor touches them, then exclaims, "ew, alien bogies!" Wait a minute ... if the ship was becalmed for eight days, then the alien space ship must have been there for at least eight days, too. The aliens must have died pretty soon after landing there, since they're all still strapped in to their seats, and, if the Captain was able to fly the ship away, it wasn't becalmed. So why are their bogies still fresh?
12) How did the Doctor get consent from the Siren to take the TARDIS away? And how was Toby sitting up with the Captain when he flew the ship away? And all the other crew members? Did he give his consent? Is there some kind of long extension cord stretched between the bridge and the sick bay that's keeping Toby alive? I'm so confused.
Likes:
1) I did like how the Captain kept saying, "a ship's a ship". I love it when people from the past are able to grasp modern concepts. After all, they weren't stupid, just had no exposure to modern technology. It drives me crazy in books and movies when someone time travels to the past and everyone is terrified of technology. Overall, the Captain was a really good character.
Bottom line: most of this story didn't make sense, but it was kind of fun.
And now, Davy Jones has a question for Rory:
The Doctor and his Companions are off on a storyarc-less adventure on the high seas! They arrive on board a pirate ship whose crew is slowly being taken by a Siren-like creature. Once they are injured, even in the slightest way, they are marked with the black spot; she appears (I almost wrote "Apparates") and sings to the sailors, enchanting them. At her touch, they apparently explode. The crew get picked off rather quickly, despite having been becalmed for eight days. At one point, Rory gets a superficial cut, but Amy and the Doctor prevent him from being taken by the Siren. Pretty soon it's just the Captain, the Doctor, Amy, Rory, Toby (the Captain's stowaway son) and two other pirates. After discovering that the Siren can get in through water, they barricade themselves inside the armory.
The Doctor and the Captain make their way to the TARDIS, who is also becalmed, and disappears (or "Disapparates", if you prefer) as they watch. One of the crew members leaves the armory to pilfer the loot, and he is taken by the Siren. It is then that the Doctor then realizes that it's not water that calls the Siren, but reflections. And, OH NO! The Captain's pendant is gone! They rush back to the armory just as Toby starts to polish the pendant. The Doctor starts breaking out all the windows and throwing all the treasure overboard, but the Captain secrets a crown inside his coat. He LOVES treasure!
Well, then a huge storm whips up, and as Toby brings his father his coat, the crown rolls out and Toby is taken by the Siren. Then Rory gets knocked overboard. The Doctor, Captain, and Amy all cut their hands so that the Siren will come take them. She arrives, and they all reach out to her.
They all wake up on the floor of a space ship. All of the crew members are lying on beds, hooked up to machines. The Doctor figures out that the Siren is really some kind of hologram, and the space ship had been becalmed just like the pirate ship. And reflections were a way for the hologram to get through. She was rescuing all of the people who were injured, even if it was minor. However, she doesn't know how humans work, so she can't actually heal them, just keep them in stasis. Amy wants to take Rory back to the TARDIS, so she gives her consent to the hologram. Before unhooking Rory, he wakes up and tells her that she'll have to do CPR, which Amy says she doesn't know. But he trusts her. So she unhooks him, they get back to the TARDIS, and Amy performs CPR. After a minute, though, she gives up. And then, miraculously, Rory spits out water and is okay.
Before they leave, the Captain says he's not leaving his son. So, he decides to fly the space ship away (a ship is a ship, after all). All the crew members (that we'd met) and Toby all stand around his chair.
Repeat Ideas:
Hmm. I couldn't come up with any repeat ideas, as this is the first time we've seen a watery tart charming things with her singing ... hang on a minute ...
1) A watery tart charming things with her singing. We JUST watched Abigail charm the shark and control the fog with her singing. Yes, it was a few months prior to this episode, but it was only FOUR episodes ago!
2) A medical specialist who didn't know how to heal its patients? I have four words for you - ARE YOU MY MUMMY?
3) When they find the aliens in the space ship, the Doctor makes a comment along the lines of, "have you ever looked in a mirror and thought you were seeing a different world?" This is a bit too similar to the line in Family of Blood, "He trapped her inside a mirror ... If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you just for a second, that's her. That's always her.
4) In case you haven't been keeping count, this is the third time that Rory dies. Fourth, if you count his fake death in Day of the Moon.
Dislikes:
1) The crew gets picked off so fast. Seriously, are there THAT many injuries on a ship? At the rate that everyone is getting injured, the whole crew should have been gone days ago.
2) The Siren doesn't come for Rory until he realizes that he's been cut. That's convenient.
3) The original concept, that the Siren could travel through water, was a MUCH better concept than traveling through reflections.
4) How does the Captain knows that Toby is his son? He's clearly never met him, as Toby says, "[Mother] told me all about you, I should be proud to know you".
5) When the Doctor and the Captain leave the armory to go to the TARDIS, the Captain slips and almost cuts his hand. I have a hard time believing that a man who spends his whole life at sea could be that clumsy.
6) When they first enter the armory, there are two crew members besides Amy, Rory, and Toby. But, a few minutes later, there is only one. Where did the other crew member go?
7) Why did the Siren take the TARDIS? I understand that the TARDIS is alive, unlike the ship, but is there something wrong with the TARDIS besides being becalmed? I doubt it. They only made the TARDIS disappear so that they could get Rory onboard. If it was going to disappear, it should have happened before this.
8) If there are all these pieces of reflective treasure laying around, she would have total access to the ship. But, because you have to see a REFLECTION, then the treasure would have been fine being kept locked up somewhere. There was no need to throw it all overboard.
9) The Doctor calls the Siren to them by opening up the barrel of fresh water during the storm. DURING. THE. STORM. I've never been on a ship during a storm, but I'm guessing that the water isn't exactly reflection-friendly when the ship is being tossed about and there is no moon.
10) When the Siren takes the Doctor, Amy, and the Captain, they wake up on the floor of the space ship. Why aren't they in a bed like everyone else?
11) They find the aliens, and the Doctor touches them, then exclaims, "ew, alien bogies!" Wait a minute ... if the ship was becalmed for eight days, then the alien space ship must have been there for at least eight days, too. The aliens must have died pretty soon after landing there, since they're all still strapped in to their seats, and, if the Captain was able to fly the ship away, it wasn't becalmed. So why are their bogies still fresh?
12) How did the Doctor get consent from the Siren to take the TARDIS away? And how was Toby sitting up with the Captain when he flew the ship away? And all the other crew members? Did he give his consent? Is there some kind of long extension cord stretched between the bridge and the sick bay that's keeping Toby alive? I'm so confused.
Likes:
1) I did like how the Captain kept saying, "a ship's a ship". I love it when people from the past are able to grasp modern concepts. After all, they weren't stupid, just had no exposure to modern technology. It drives me crazy in books and movies when someone time travels to the past and everyone is terrified of technology. Overall, the Captain was a really good character.
Bottom line: most of this story didn't make sense, but it was kind of fun.
And now, Davy Jones has a question for Rory:
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