[150] doctor who: 5x10 - vincent and the doctor recap
i finally watched the latest episode of doctor who with
ava, and it has become one of my fave episodes of the show, and definitely my fave historical ep. i was bawling by the end, and i still keep tearing up while i type this. it was beautiful, it dealt with difficult issues in a sensitive manner, and while it's more of a stand-alone episode, i think the subtle clues in it help it fit in perfectly with the overall arc of this current season.
let me start off by admiring the guest actors. bill nighy was such a wonderful addition to this episode! i only wish we saw more of him - but having said that, i think he did a marvelous job. his interaction with eleven at the beginning of the episode was just darling [comparing bow ties, awh!], and his little speech about van gogh at the very end had me crying non-stop. this is how well-known guest stars should be - they should fit in seamlessly, yet deliver a beautiful performance without overshadowing anyone else. of course i'm a tad biased because i happen to ADORE mr. nighy, [ee, he wears the same glasses as me ♥] but i think most people will agree with me
tony curran was absolutely perfect as van gogh. honestly, HE LOOKED SO MUCH LIKE THE ARTIST. it was uncanny at times! his acting was beautiful as well. i've only seen him in league of extraordinary gentlemen, so i'm not too familiar with his body of work, but he was nothing short of phenomenal in this ep.
now for the regulars! oh, amy pond. right off the bat, we see eleven being nice to her and taking her on fabulous trips - obviously to make up for what happened with rory, even though she doesn't remember. then he slips up at one point and calls for both amy AND rory, only to gloss over it quickly when amy says "what?" even van gogh can see that she's lost someone, and somehow a part of her remembers it too, since she cries [without knowing why]. i was half-amused at the way she kept flirting with vincent since it resulted in funny lines like his comment on her very orange hair, his dedicating sunflowers to her, and her parting comment of creating the ULTIMATE GINGER had she married him. but of course her interaction with him left me half-sad, especially when she said things like "i'm not really the marrying kind". you could see the sadness on eleven's face during those moments as well, which drove the point home further.
speaking of the doctor, i was glad to see eleven in a blue bow tie + suspenders, since it was in keeping with the "he wears blue in the past/present and red in the future" theory. he's such a child sometimes, what with sticking his tongue out while using the cool identifier device, and being all flaily and shouty whenever amy surprised him
also, he's SUCH A CHATTERBOX, lol! he just wouldn't shut up while van gogh was painting the church, and did you notice all the name-dropping during that scene? such a clown ♥ i love his childish moments because he also comes off as very OLD at times, which is interesting given how young matt smith looks. it's a wonderful contrast, especially when he specifically mentions being old, which he's done a few times this season. plus, he's been compared to old creatures - like the space whale in "the beast below", and the gryphaeus [sp?] in this episode.
my initial reaction to the gryphaeus was amusement since it's basically a huge invisible space buckbeak chicken, but i liked how both the doctor and vincent ended up identifying with it, and how it wasn't a traditional "bad guy" at all.
and if you think about it in a more..abstract? metaphorical? sense, the gyrphaeus was a lot like the bouts of depression vincent suffered from in RL [and something so many of us - including myself - deal with on a daily basis]. it seemingly appears out of nowhere, cannot really be ~seen~, is misunderstood, can cause devastation if no one is there to help you "fight" it, etc. vincent is drawing wheat field with crows in the first scene of the episode, which is also one of the final scenes of his life, and he sees something invisible coming towards him through the stalks of wheat. so i interpreted it as the "invisible beast" i.e. depression having returned once more, after which he takes his own life. now, the writers of this episode may have just fudged the dates and details for the purpose of story-telling [for instance, some of the paintings we see in the museé d'orsay are actually at the moma, and the dates aren't exactly accurate since van gogh committed suicide a few weeks, and not a few months after the doctor's visit], but i prefer my interpretation. it makes sense to me, it definitely struck a chord, and probably explains why i loved this episode so much.
oh man, i got SO emotional while watching all the scenes with vincent because i absolutely LOVE van gogh. starry night is one of the very first prints i bought with my allowance, and i feel as if i appreciate his immense talent more as i grow older. i read lust for life when i was 12, and that encouraged me to do research on him, and learn about his life and work. to hear vincent repeatedly denounce his paintings as rubbish and only precious to himself made me quite sad, as did the scenes of him crying in bed, the villagers laughing at him, and alienating him further by blaming him for the death of the girl. at the same time, there were so many beautiful scenes in this episode! my absolute fave is the part where they're lying in the field and watching the night, and eleven says "nothing is quite as wonderful as the things you see" ♥
i'm actually glad that his trip to the future DIDN'T extend vincent's life, because that would have cheapened his contributions to the art world, as well as the issue of clinical depression. what vincent suffered from couldn't be cured by a few days of amazing adventure or by meeting "the first doctor to have made a difference in his life". he still had to deal with being called mad, and never being appreciated when he returned to his time. part of me wishes that van gogh could have actually known in his lifetime that he would one day become successful, that someone like the doctor and his tardis existed *sigh*
what did YOU think of this ep? share your thoughts with me!
