DW eps backlog (pt 1)

[petronia]

Doctor Who S05E09 "In Cold Blood": I'm inclined to side with the person from diggerdydum who said that the moral choice setup felt Torchwood-y, and per Torchwood achieved bleakness but not - somehow - realism. I've been chewing this one over, and I think it's because I don't believe humans are that predictable under pressure. In fact, if anything, as a group people become unpredictable. The weirder the situation, the harder it becomes to call who's going to hold up and who's going to crack, or even how they'll do it, or whether they'll turn on a dime due to insight or intuition (misguided or not). That's half the key to scripting horror movies, right? "Midnight" was a better take in that respect.

As for Rory etc. I wish I'd simply been told at the start of the season not to assume that character arcs were the thing. XD; (I am thinking Amy couldn't remember Rory, but at the end of the season she will be asked to remember the Doctor under similar circumstances?) That being said Meera Syal's character was a huge onscreen plus for me, and I wasn't even sure why I found her so sympathetic. It's not until now, two weeks after the fact, that I suspect she reminded me of someone I know - namely my MBA Finance II professor, the one who could actually teach concepts. And was a really nice person (not a pushover, not absentminded, not forcedly jocular, not flattening the class with ego and charisma, not dragged unwillingly away from research, not fobbing all the work onto the TA...). Did I mention she could teach concepts?

BLOOPER REEL: the Doctor reaches into the glowing crack. To ominous music, he grimaces, rummages about, and with great effort retracts his hand, gripping... the end of a long stripey scarf.

Upon which he goes >_> and throws it back in.

Comments

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I think for me the moral dilemma thing fell flat because most of the choices were forced by sheer stupidity - if the mother had just kept an eye on her kid, none of this would've happened, etc. Humans getting into trouble because they panic, because they're ignorant, because they're vengeful, because they're terrified, all of those emotions are sympathetic to an extent...pure stupidity is one of those that's harder to empathize with; it's too easy to go, "Well, *I'd* never do that..." (while as, say, Torchwood's Children of Earth scenario is one of those that makes you uncomfortably sympathetic, thinking, "well, I don't think I'd do that...but I might?" Which makes for much more interesting morality plays.)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I haven't gotten to Children of Earth yet XD;; IIRC person whom I was referring to liked Children of Earth but was talking about the first season(?) of Torchwood. Which I have watched.

It also rated a fairly big eyeroll for me when it transpired that it was the woman who transgressed LIKE EVE, and would therefore be redeemed via SAINTLY MOTHERHOOD. I mean, come on!

[credoimprobus]

I am officially Not Okay with the Rory thing. :/ (This whole Liking the Boyfriend business is apparently going to be a pattern in Whoverse for me -- loved Mickey from the first as well, and the only recurring character I ever actively cared about in Torchwood was Rhys, haha.) Character love aside, the TARDIS was a funner place with him along, as well -- but then I'm generally in favour of multiple passengers, so there you are.

Re: Nasreen, I hope the Doctor does go back and see her and Tony --and then invites them along, bcs SRSLY THE IDEA OF NASREEN IN THE TARDIS LONG-TERM = PUREST WIN. :D (I am convinced she'd make a ridic awesome companion, and will not be told otherwise! :D) Of course, I am all too aware of the meta reasons it will never happen ie they're TOO OLD, grumble grumble ageism gripe.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I am officially In Support of all this comment - liked Mickey and Rhys too, was loving the multiple passengers, and Nasreen would indeed make a fantastic Companion (seriously like everyone I know agrees with this...!)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

...I admit, that the reptilian renegade commander was female did give me pause; the theme ended up being less that sentient beings can make bad calls, and more that female beings are prone to emotionally motivated, destructive irrationality. I'm inclined to feel that this was mostly an unfortunate accident of gender assignments, but...

(also not asking why female reptiles would have mammary glands.)

[credoimprobus]

Clearly then the showrunners need to listen to us and bring Nasreen back! They're going to be replacing Amy before long anyway, they may as well go for fanservice when they do... :D

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

Can I just say that when Amy had her head down on the desk making faces like a bored bratty student during the universe's first ever lizard-human summit, I was like oh my god show do you really want me to despise this character more than I already do. Is that the goal here. Also of course in my hart I was shouting ROSE WOULD CARE (or rather so would any RTD companion), but lest anyone give Amy a pass on the grounds of Youth--and since when is Amy too damn hipster to care, anyway? It's one thing to be the anti-cling, but what happened to the liberator of abused space whales? The more I think about it the more I wonder if the writer of that 2-parter really was secretly trying to make her look like a douche (to make Nasreen more awesome by comparison? worked for me).

[caz963.livejournal.com]

Just popped in from who_daily - and can I just say a big WORDY MCWORD to this:

when Amy had her head down on the desk making faces like a bored bratty student during the universe's first ever lizard-human summit, I was like oh my god show do you really want me to despise this character more than I already do.

And yes, Nasreen was brilliant.

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

...Bawling, that is a hilarious blooper

[ampersandals.livejournal.com]

Idk, I've always thought that the point of Amy's character is that she's still a child, never grew up since she first encountered the Doctor and in thus... emotionally/psychologically stunted or smth, which may explain how she's retained childlike (childish?) self-centeredness, and... lack of concern for people she's not personally very close with (ie. Rory + Eleven)? IT MAKES SENSE IN MY HEAD ANYWAY, although in that respect that makes Amy/Rory less convincing, BUT OF COURSE I STILL SHIP THEM DESPERATELY AND WISH THEY'D SETTLE DOWN AND GET MARRIED (AND THE DOCTOR CAN GO ON HIS WAY).