'Doctor Who' Series Five, Episodes 11-13
Alright, in the homestretch now, and erm, Moffat fans, you won't like much of this post. I'm really continuing to not love his work. Other than "The Eleventh Hour" -- which was passable, and great moments (with one particular long stretch in "The Big Bang") in his others, the only episodes that I like are those that aren't written by him, and don't feel like him. The ones that are, or do ... kinda suck in my opinion. But, I love Matt Smith so, I enjoy Amy, Rory is adorable and I can deal with River in doses -- even if the "relationship" with the Doctor as set up really makes no flippin' sense whatsoever. :shrugs: Anyhoo, as I said ... the homestretch.
"The Lodger" -- Erm, Matt Smith was delectably awesome. And, uhm, I love Eleven. And ... did I mention that Matt Smith was awesome? Yeah, that pretty much sums up all that was good about this episode. It was pretty lame. Smith was great, how he played the Doctor was great, the little gags about the Doctor trying to be human were great, but ... it felt like the writer, Gareth Roberts, came up with that great idea (the Doctor pretends to be human), and then wrote a story around it. The plot was very clearly an afterthought. And, a quibble. Why didn't the Doctor just use the name John Smith? Oh, one other good thing! It was lovely seeing the quick glimpse of Nine, Ten and Rose (!!) :)
"The Pandorica Opens" -- It's just annoying how Moffat makes River such a freakin' Mary Sue. And now she's written the first words of all time? *sigh* And River as Cleopatra? Seriously, Moffat? Really?! Just stop. I did like seeing a bunch of the people we met this series (VINCENT!) though. Alright, let me finish watching it ... and done. So, that was pretty much lots of boring suck surrounded by some cool moments. Yeah, no, didn't work for me. The slow music over the final moments before the Doctor spoke was just, I dunno, ordinary. What you'd see on pretty much every dramatic show trying to get your heartstrings going.
And, oh, yeah, remember that whole predictability comment about episodes 2-5? Well, most of that came from the Moffat episodes, and yeah, pretty much happened here again. I knew the Roman was Rory; I knew that it was the Doctor who was the ultimate in the Pandorica, and I knew that the TARDIS blowing up is what caused the cracks in time. All well before the reveals. Heck, maybe most watching it figured all that out too, which shows the episode was ... predictable. And also, gah, Moffat just does not know how to write emotion/characterization/heart for me. And, my God!, he makes River THE most annoying character. The only thing redeemable about her is the awesome actress who portrays her. But overall I am so tired of Moffat making her so capable, so awesome, so able to do anything and everything. Oh, except stop the TARDIS from blowing up. Because where would his big cliffhanger be otherwise? Meh. Whatever, onto part two.
"The Big Bang" -- I was mostly meh throughout this, and there were a few things that made me go huh?, but from the actual wedding on, I really did begin to enjoy it. So I ended the series with a smile on my face. I love that the Doctor will be traveling with Amy and Rory (although, what's up with Amy going on about snogging the Doctor?!) and I hope that means that Arthur Darvill will be a regular next season. The three actors together are fabulous. :)
As for the whole River/Doctor thing, well, it still is annoying. Seriously, if she *is* just his wife at this point, talk about uber-lame. I want her to be more, be something truly special because I do want to like her because I love Alex Kingston so, and all the build-up leading up to her just being his wife (after all, he has married before, and he has truly loved before) would be a major letdown, writing-wise. Of course, even if she is his wife, I'm sticking to my guns that anything with the Doctor and River, I will not let bother me because after her two-part introduction and what followed, River and all the Doctor does with her is a direct result of the Doctor saving Donna, and the universe and thus Rose. So he has to do all of whatever with River to get to their ending (in "Forest of the Dead") if he wants Rose to live. Yuppers. Call me a die-hard Doctor/Rose fan, I don't care, it's the only way that River can ever be palatable to me.
So overall thoughts of the series. I adore Matt Smith. I adore Eleven. I love Rory. I like Amy. I like Rory/Amy. I think that Matt Smith and Karen Gillian have insane chemistry. I want to like River. I much preferred the later non-Moffat episodes. And I still had a huge issue with Amy (and Rory to a degree) having no sense of wonder and joy over traveling with the Doctor. As I said in this post, a few lines here and there were telling, not showing. I always got that sense of wondrous joy from Rose, Martha and Donna. I really missed that in this series.
So, yeah, needless to say, I'm still not a fan of Moffat, but clearly controlling the whole stream of the show helped to mitigate some of my overall issues with him, and unlike how his eps during RTD's reign created gaping episodes of continuity fail, there were none in this series. Of course, Moffat didn't have to deal with a disrespectful writer whose words he couldn't touch and who chose to ignore everything going on around him as RTD did. I will continue watching -- if only for Matt Smith/Eleven alone, but I do like more than him. It's not RTD's Who. I don't love it as a whole, it's not as good or as emotionally engaging, but it's enjoyable. And, as always ...
I LOVE MATT SMITH!
"The Lodger" -- Erm, Matt Smith was delectably awesome. And, uhm, I love Eleven. And ... did I mention that Matt Smith was awesome? Yeah, that pretty much sums up all that was good about this episode. It was pretty lame. Smith was great, how he played the Doctor was great, the little gags about the Doctor trying to be human were great, but ... it felt like the writer, Gareth Roberts, came up with that great idea (the Doctor pretends to be human), and then wrote a story around it. The plot was very clearly an afterthought. And, a quibble. Why didn't the Doctor just use the name John Smith? Oh, one other good thing! It was lovely seeing the quick glimpse of Nine, Ten and Rose (!!) :)
"The Pandorica Opens" -- It's just annoying how Moffat makes River such a freakin' Mary Sue. And now she's written the first words of all time? *sigh* And River as Cleopatra? Seriously, Moffat? Really?! Just stop. I did like seeing a bunch of the people we met this series (VINCENT!) though. Alright, let me finish watching it ... and done. So, that was pretty much lots of boring suck surrounded by some cool moments. Yeah, no, didn't work for me. The slow music over the final moments before the Doctor spoke was just, I dunno, ordinary. What you'd see on pretty much every dramatic show trying to get your heartstrings going.
And, oh, yeah, remember that whole predictability comment about episodes 2-5? Well, most of that came from the Moffat episodes, and yeah, pretty much happened here again. I knew the Roman was Rory; I knew that it was the Doctor who was the ultimate in the Pandorica, and I knew that the TARDIS blowing up is what caused the cracks in time. All well before the reveals. Heck, maybe most watching it figured all that out too, which shows the episode was ... predictable. And also, gah, Moffat just does not know how to write emotion/characterization/heart for me. And, my God!, he makes River THE most annoying character. The only thing redeemable about her is the awesome actress who portrays her. But overall I am so tired of Moffat making her so capable, so awesome, so able to do anything and everything. Oh, except stop the TARDIS from blowing up. Because where would his big cliffhanger be otherwise? Meh. Whatever, onto part two.
"The Big Bang" -- I was mostly meh throughout this, and there were a few things that made me go huh?, but from the actual wedding on, I really did begin to enjoy it. So I ended the series with a smile on my face. I love that the Doctor will be traveling with Amy and Rory (although, what's up with Amy going on about snogging the Doctor?!) and I hope that means that Arthur Darvill will be a regular next season. The three actors together are fabulous. :)
As for the whole River/Doctor thing, well, it still is annoying. Seriously, if she *is* just his wife at this point, talk about uber-lame. I want her to be more, be something truly special because I do want to like her because I love Alex Kingston so, and all the build-up leading up to her just being his wife (after all, he has married before, and he has truly loved before) would be a major letdown, writing-wise. Of course, even if she is his wife, I'm sticking to my guns that anything with the Doctor and River, I will not let bother me because after her two-part introduction and what followed, River and all the Doctor does with her is a direct result of the Doctor saving Donna, and the universe and thus Rose. So he has to do all of whatever with River to get to their ending (in "Forest of the Dead") if he wants Rose to live. Yuppers. Call me a die-hard Doctor/Rose fan, I don't care, it's the only way that River can ever be palatable to me.
So overall thoughts of the series. I adore Matt Smith. I adore Eleven. I love Rory. I like Amy. I like Rory/Amy. I think that Matt Smith and Karen Gillian have insane chemistry. I want to like River. I much preferred the later non-Moffat episodes. And I still had a huge issue with Amy (and Rory to a degree) having no sense of wonder and joy over traveling with the Doctor. As I said in this post, a few lines here and there were telling, not showing. I always got that sense of wondrous joy from Rose, Martha and Donna. I really missed that in this series.
So, yeah, needless to say, I'm still not a fan of Moffat, but clearly controlling the whole stream of the show helped to mitigate some of my overall issues with him, and unlike how his eps during RTD's reign created gaping episodes of continuity fail, there were none in this series. Of course, Moffat didn't have to deal with a disrespectful writer whose words he couldn't touch and who chose to ignore everything going on around him as RTD did. I will continue watching -- if only for Matt Smith/Eleven alone, but I do like more than him. It's not RTD's Who. I don't love it as a whole, it's not as good or as emotionally engaging, but it's enjoyable. And, as always ...
I LOVE MATT SMITH!