Closing Time

[wander_realtai]

Yesterday's Doctor Who. Ramblings below the cut, and I'm working on my first cup of coffee, so apologies if it's not quite coherent. :P



I'm a little torn between loving certain moments of it, and thinking some parts were silly and contrived. I had more than a few eyeroll moments, but I also had several "aww" moments, and found myself emotionally invested.

This episode, however, did have some massively LOL-worthy moments. Defeating a cyber-upgrade with love? Really? Give me a fucking break. I'm all for the love-is-the-most-powerful-force-in-the-universe trope, when it's done right. But this was just beyond implausible, to the point of being ridiculous.

Things I liked: the Doctor was actually a sympathetic character. He actually seemed to care about people. And even this cranky lady who isn't overly fond of children (not that I dislike them, but I'm not one to start cooing over every baby I see) thought the scenes with the Doctor and Alfie were adorable. Also, he's owning up to the fact that he damages people, which is a theme that's been running through the last few episodes. We have Doctor-angst. In some ways, he's starting to remind me of Ten, going full circle, so to speak. Repeating his follies. I'm not much good with writing meta, or I'd expound on that thought.

So, the Doctor's been floating around the universe on his own for the last two hundred years? Um. A lot can happen in two hundred years. Are they going to clue us in at all? Also, the Doctor never seemed to fare very well without a companion, and he's certainly had a few "Time Lord Victorious" moments in this regeneration (really, he has), so one has to wonder what sort of damage two hundred years of flying solo (or did he? I don't remember if the script specified that or not) brought to him (and the universe). (There are a lot of parentheses in the previous sentence.)

Quite frankly, I'm not invested, emotionally or intellectually, in the River Song storyline. That ship has sailed for me. I'm just pretending it doesn't exist. I will probably watch the next episode just to see what happens, but I'm not expecting to like it all that much, really. It's a shame, honestly, because I think she could be a fantastic and intriguing character if she were written well. Eh, to each their own, I suppose.

So, all in all, this episode was somewhat entertaining, though silly in some places. I quite liked both The Girl Who Waited and The God Complex, however, and I plan on rewatching them sometime soon and writing more badly-articulated and rambling reviews.

Comments

[kelkat9.livejournal.com]

You my dear do not ramble. I can agree with many of your points. The scenes with the baby were really well done. Parts of this ep were OTP but I'm okay with some of that as it is DW. I've been reading other reactions to this ep and I think the one thing I can take away is that people who have not been enjoying the Eleven era are starting to sign on board (so to speak). I think it's definately the last few eps that have done it.

Eleven is definately more connected to Ten and New Who the last few eps. There have been several moments where you can see Ten peeking through which is as it should be. I think someone must have sent a note to the writers that you just can't ignore the last four seasons of new Who. It's all well and good to get in touch with Classic Who but not at the cost of New Who which is what most of the current viewers identify with in DW. I'm a classic Who person myself but I know many people who just sort of came on board with new Who.

Yeah, I could definately point out some tenisms in him. Agreed, they did not write River Song very well (at least for me). I love the idea of her character but they lost me with what I think is poor character development. Pity. I too will watch next weeks ep but am not excited over it. I do want to find out how they resolve it. I fear it will be timey wimey which means, this blonde won't get it.

[wander-realtai.livejournal.com]

*nods* That bit of Ten showing through is really getting me connected to the character again, whether it be simply continuity's sake or because I did, in fact, prefer Ten. Probably a bit of both. The emotional connection has been stronger, in any event.

I hope the next ep isn't a complete waste of time, but I'm not holding my breath.

[navaan]

I'm not invested, emotionally or intellectually, in the River Song storyline. That ship has sailed for me. I'm just pretending it doesn't exist.

So much this! Which is probably why I liked the last few "stand alone" episodes a lot more than most of this season. Rive could have been a great character, but it's not working out to be. I half wish they would have allowed her to stay "that" mysterious woman.

I think you're right about the "Time Lord Victorious" in showing through. But It's something that was always part of the Doctor. I really do love Matt Smith's Doctor, but I feel the way the episodes are written he often hasn't room to play him really. I think I'm glad when this story arc is over, although I have no idea if I'll like how this is resolved.

[wander-realtai.livejournal.com]

I think Matt Smith does a fantastic job as the Doctor when he has a good script to work with. He'll never quite replace Tennant in my mind, but he can still tug on the heartstrings when given the material.

I don't know that I'll like the resolution of this arc either, but I still want to know what happens. A bit like watching a train wreck? lmao.