Doctor Who... speculation time :P

[dweomeroflight]

I've written 1000 words of my 2000 word essay! Yay? That means I can post here :)

So I realise I haven't blogged at all for Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone or Vampires in Venice... so I'm going to do it now... all at once.



Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone

I agree with the person who said that this is easily the best early two parter of a season since the show's revival... shudders remember daleks in manhatten... jkehgiourh awful! The Angels were scary, especially when there was just the one staring Amy down. Just woah... I can imagine hundreds of little kids hiding behind the sofa at that bit. I liked the religous soldiers too and I thought it was cool how Moffat never told us much about them, he just left it up to us to decide/fill in the blanks. I also liked how we were never quite sure about Octavian. In TOA I thought he must have been evil, but then he seemed like an alright guy in Flesh and Stone and he had a reason to be wary of River Song.

What? River killed "a good man. a hero." No freaking way Moffat. She's killing The Doctor isn't she. Bastard. This whole who/what is River, who/what is Amy thing by the way is doing my head in. I feel like I'm watching Life on Mars all over again. Also what was with the Doctor changing jackets... is this a production mistake or something far, far more sinister... damn you Moffat! I can't trust anything you do anymore. And as for the crack in time, it's still there, waiting at the end of the universe (makes me think of Utopia squee), and man it is soooo following Amy Pond. Is Amy Pond even real? I just don't know anymore.

The ending had me a little worried... my thoughts being along the lines of 'if The Doctor and Amy have sex I will never ever take this show seriously again.' But then over at flickfilosopher all of these people were pointing out that maybe it's all part of the mystery of just who is Amy Pond, and maybe that scene is really, really important for more reasons than sheer lust. I wonder if we're all having far too much faith in The Moff. Is he really that clever? Actually yes, yes he is.

I feel like with this two parter to quote Sam Tyler in LOM "Everything is significant. God is in the details." I don't remember a season this mysterious since season three's Harold Saxon run, but this one has the potential to be more complex than even that one, much as I love it.

Final thoughts:

- "Must it always end this way Doctor. You. Me. Handcuffs."
Dear Lord- the amount of fan fiction that must have spawned from that line alone.
- Is it just me or does Alex Kingston have far better chemistry with Matt Smith than she ever did with David Tennant? (I rewatched her season four eps and I really noticed a difference).
- Remember what I told you when you were seven?
Amy: what did you tell me when I was seven?
Maureen is afraid. Maureen is very, very afraid of where Amy Pond is going. I'm depending on Moffat's previous disposition to love everyone to survive to get her out of this one. I'm hoping it's a case of "Somedays are so so special, somedays are so, so blessed. Some days nobody dies at all." I'm going to need tonnes of tissues for the finale otherwise.
- Matt Smith is really good isn't he?
- Will River Song leave at the end of this season? I think I'd die a little inside. Though I'd die more inside if Moffat does what MAJ predicts and erases her from time altogether.
- That confidential was hilarious. Matt and Karen together: "We call this SMOOCHY SMOOCHY TIME!" Greatest confidential moment ever!

I had a Beast Below squee moment in this episode. I squeed in The Beast Below when Amy said that thing about being very old and not wanting to see children cry and then when she recited that poem (which by the way apparently could be important.)

The poem is here:

A horse and a man, above, below,
One has a plan but both must go,
Mile after mile, above, beneath,
One has a smile and one has teeth,
Though the man above might say hello,
Expect no love from the beast below.

In bed, above, or deep asleep,
what greater love lies further deep.
This dream must end,
this world must know,
we all depend on the beast below.

I thought it was a poem approriated from somewhere else for the episode but apparently it isn't. Which means is this poem far more important than we initially thought? Especially when it doesn't really seem to relate to the episode? Thoughts?

Anyway, I squee'd in Flesh and Stone when The Doctor said "haaa the Pandoricus Box... that's just a fairy story."
River: (Laughs) Arn't we all Doctor?

That line is so brilliant. And so true. Doctor Who is just one massive, awesome fairy story. It's so meta and great :)

This was also pretty cool too...

The Doctor: Can I trust you, River Song?

River: If you like. (laughs) But where's the fun in that?

Is it just me or is the dialogue in this season really, really good?

In fact to quote a flickfilosopher user. "Man, is it me, or did Doctor Who turn from being a show that is Good Despite Its Flaws into a show that is Really Fucking Great and Interesting?"

Anyway onwards to Vampires in Venice.

I liked this one too. I could actually see that Helen Mccory could have made a half decent Narcissa Malfoy if it wasn't for Wanker Bros. Loved that the vampies were actually fish, loved all the sexual innuendo, loved Amy and Rory (two companions... squeeee), loved the creepy reference to silence and Time Lord guilt. It was a fun 45 minutes.

Random thoughts:

- More tokenistic black man casting BBC... sigh.
- Loved The Doctor's entrance through the cake
- The silence... oh man what silence... I am again very, very afraid. Does this somehow relate to a silence in the library? Now wouldn't that be cool.
- Do I like Rory? I'm not sure yet. He seems a bit staid for Amy, though I love it when they take pictures on their iphone of Venice.
- The art direction is really good. I read an interview with Moffat where he talked about channelling a more Tim Burton fairytale vibe... I feel it, maybe that's why I like this season so much? It reminds me of Burton.



Well that's me done for the moment. Any theories on how this is all going to end?

Comments

[brendanpodger.livejournal.com]

I get the feeling River might be around for a while. In ToA one of the things she says to Amy(I think) indicates that the Dr is very young compared to one she has met him in her past.

I am not sure about the tokenistic black man in ViV. Venice was one of those unusual places where blacks could rise a fair way up the social ladder.

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

Really? I totally didn't know that :P I take that back BBC.

Yeah but if River's very existence is erased then she'd be changing time and those things wouldn't necessarily happen.

In other news: I really would love to see Romana come back. You?

[sand-woman.livejournal.com]

Just a thought, but is the poem about the two sides of the Doctor? The message sounds a bit similar to William Blake's The Tyger - that we need the dark side, too - and 'this dream must end', too, definitely sounds significant and much of it it actually played out in Amy's Choice.

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on that. I think The Beast Below is the dark side of The Doctor. I am actually going to blog about how this poem relates to Amy's Choice soon :)

Also, wanna be friends?