S6 Episode 11: The God Complex

Well.  I'm not really sure how I feel about this episode.  I've been thinking about it for a week, and I still don't know if I like it or not.

The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive at a hotel, every room of which contains a fear - clowns, mean girls, marionettes, etc.  Each person has their own room, a room which houses their greatest fear.  After seeing the thing which they fear, the person stops being afraid and utters the phrase, "Praise Him", which prompts a minotaur to hunt him or her down and eat their - what, their souls?  Anyway, the people all end up dead.  They get picked off one by one.

Of course, Amy opens a hotel room door and finds her fear, so the Doctor now has to race against time to save Amy.  Must be Tuesday.  He saves her, the Minotaur ends up dying after uttering some cryptic words, and the Doctor realizes that he needs to take Amy and Rory home.  He leaves them at their house (with a new car for Rory), and Amy tells Rory that the Doctor is saving them.

Curiouser and Curiouser:

Amy's fear lies behind Door 7.  The Doctor's fear lies behind Door 11.  This is the 11th Doctor, but Amy is by no means the 7th companion, even in the new series.  So what does Amy's door number mean?

Likes:

1)  Not sure if I like this or not, but it was the first thing that sprang to mind, so I'm going to go with my instinct:  I liked that we didn't see what either Amy or the Doctor feared.  I feel that Moffat is leaving too much up in the air since he took over the show, but at the same time, I liked that we didn't have anything concrete.  We may eventually find out, but I don't think it's necessary.

2)  Rory was, as always, brilliant.  It turns out that he never found his room because he doesn't have faith.  Faith in what?  Religion?  I talked about this with my husband this week, and we decided that he has no faith in Amy since she kept her pregnancy from him.  I quite agree with that; however, I still don't understand why Rory would have ever had faith in her from the beginning.  Even now, after all they've been through, I feel like she couldn't care less about him.  I don't know if they just don't have chemistry or what, but the Amy/Rory relationship seems so forced to me, and even when they're embracing, Amy is so cold towards Rory.   But I digress.

3)  I loved how Rory said to the Doctor, "that's my favorite car, how did you know?" and the Doctor replies, "because you showed me a photo and said, 'that's my favorite car.'"  I thought the exchange was hilarious.

4)  Howie, Rita and Gibbis were some of the most developed characters that we've seen so far.  They reminded me a lot of Craig and Sophie (incidentally, Craig returns to us next week!)

5)  You knew this was coming - AMY'S GONE!!!  I have to say, though, that I doubt that this is the last we're seeing of the Ponds.  But I almost did a little dance of joy.  However, I DISLIKE that there will be no more Rory if they actually are gone.


Dislikes:

1) Again, the callbacks to other characters bothered me.  I'm still not really sure why it bothers me so much when Moffat recalls Hartnell or other characters/aliens, but every time it just leaves me feeling highly uncomfortable.

2)  Why does the Doctor give Rory a car?  Rory doesn't need to be convinced to leave the TARDIS; he hasn't wanted to be there - well - EVER.  Maybe it was a way of saying "thank you".  I don't know, but I do know that for as hilarious as their exchange regarding the car was, I found the whole concept to be tasteless.  Like a consolation prize or something.  "You've lost all of time and space, but you did win this fabulous gift!"

3)  When the Minotaur was talking with the Doctor at the end, why wasn't his language being translated?  (I feel like this has happened before, too, but I can't remember which episode it would have been.)  The TARDIS should be translating everything that the Minotaur says - I'm sure it was done on purpose to show how the Doctor is clueless, but still, little stuff like this really bothers me.

4)  When the Doctor makes Amy lose her faith in him, I couldn't help but think, "Really?  That's all it takes?  She must not have had much faith in him to begin with".

5)  I didn't like Amy and Rory's exit.  First of all, I have a hard time believing that Amy is willing to just let him go so easily.  However, he's left them a few times before, so maybe she thinks that he'll be back (and I'm sure he will be, those short skirts are like a Siren's call).

6) What was the point of the Weeping Angels?  It couldn't have been Gibbis's fear, as he never turned to Minotaur-worship.  I don't like how Moffat just throws something in for the sake of throwing it in.  It's very frustrating.

7)  I wish that Rory would leave Amy and travel with the Doctor.  Arthur Darvil and Matt Smith remind me very much of Frazer Hines and Patrick Troughton.  I think it would be brilliant if Rory ditched the ungrateful bitch and took off with the Doctor.  How much fun would they have?

8)  The thing Amy fears is waiting for the Doctor?  That he'll never return?  God, could this girl be any more obsessed?  She needs to get over herself.  On the other hand, it's possible that because this fear is now "cured" by the Minotaur, that is why it's so easy for Amy to let the Doctor go?

9)  I'm adding this in late because I've been doing some more thinking about this episode, and I've come to the conclusion that it makes no sense.  The Minotaur feeds on faith.  So it shows them what they're afraid of, and suddenly they're saying "praise him".  Exactly HOW does this change occur?  It makes no sense, and now I think I have to say that I don't like this episode.

Hey, this literally just popped into my head - during The Impossible Astronaut, River, Rory and Amy are all called to the Doctor because they're the people he trusts the most.  Really?  He's letting them go now, he has (presumably) another two hundreds years to live, and after less than two years, THESE are the people he trusts the most?  River I can understand, since they apparently have this amazing relationship, but Amy and Rory?  He hasn't met ANYONE in two hundred years that can compare?  I guess you can argue that he trusts them the most because they already know what's going on, but still ... that wouldn't be trust, that would be called HEY YOUR DAUGHTER THAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT YET IS GOING TO TRY TO SHOOT ME IN THE FACE AND SET OFF ALL THE EVENTS THAT WOULDN'T HAPPEN IF YOU DIDN'T COME HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE - OOPS.

My husband and I were having a discussion about River Song last night, and I mentioned this in an online forum as well; I am so disappointed with what Moffat has done with River.  He could have made her into a much more interesting character.  Mels was fantastic, and instead of having her regenerate into Alex Kingston, she should have regenerated into a different actress.   Every time he meets her in the future (from this point on) she could be played by another actress, or at least, several actresses.  He could have continued this storyline for so long, and have the River he has a relationship with be one actress for a long time.  Mels should have been a character from the beginning, and Alex Kingston would still have been able to appear up until Let's Kill Hitler (as this is the end of her life, though she doesn't know it).  But, by making Mels regenerate into Alex, he now has to throw her into as many stories as possible because of her age.  How can the Doctor and River get together now when Alex is clearly aging?  She already looks much older than she did in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.

And with that, I'm not sure I have much more to say about The God Complex.  Yes, the Doctor has issues.  Blah blah blah.  We know this, it's been explored already in the last few episodes of the Tenth Doctor.  Do we need to go over this again?

Here's your palate-cleaner (and a shameless plug).  I made this video last weekend after hearing a brilliant Paul and Storm song.  Enjoy!

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: