You know I never subscribed to yes sir, no sir [aka DW 7x01]
So right, Doctor Who time despite some technical hiccups that occurred!
The episode was lukewarm, with varying degrees one way or the other depending on how much weight you decide to put on something. There were good parts, there were bad parts, and the bad parts were made worse due the compounding of things from S6, but the good parts were good and engaging and then there were really weird parts that I don't know how I actually feel about yet because they're just that, and that's as far as I can go without risking spoilers.
I personally am a Bad News First, Good News Second, so that's how we'll go.
[It wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be]
So the bad only had two portions. And surprise, they were both largely related to Amy.
1. Amy and Rory can't communicate
Okay, I'm sorry to all the Amy/Rory shippers. I'm not really one of them, Amy and Rory are nice and sweet together, so.
Communication, you know. It's a cornerstone of a functioning relationship. It's good to have.
But they can't seem to communicate. Like, I'm sorry, there is no way you can sit me down and realistically expect me to believe the fact that they reached a divorce without talking about their issues.
Why didn't Rory ask why he was being kicked out? Why didn't Amy tell him? Is it because Amy was hormonal and on her period and being an irrational female? Or is it because neither of them seem to be capable of having a reasonable sit down discussion? Why wasn't there any sort of tension in Pond Life? Where was River in the discussion about babies and children? Does River not count as their child anymore? Does Amy now count River as her kid? Does Rory not? Why can't Rory and Amy talk this out without being stuck in mortal danger? Why does the Doctor have to play marriage counselor to them? Why was this conflict needed on screen? Why were we told over and over again over S5 and S6 that Amy and Rory were an OTP that could survive plastic and time cracks and mind wipes? Why does Rory want kids? When did Rory say he wanted kids? Does this have to do with the events with River? Does Amy think he stood around in plastic to wait to have kids? Does Amy think that children are the pinnacle of love? Why is this about how much Amy loves Rory?
Moffat, you see Pond Life? That's what Pond Life is for.
Maybe I'm thinking too much, but the above questions? There shouldn't be that many of them by the time the plotline is resolved. Or before it's introduced.
2. Reasons for kicking Rory out boiled down to...
Women make babies.
I'm not going to get into that, and Amy's role in things.
Or did I get that wrong?
3. Amy didn't kill the Daleks.
Amy was passive, again.
Amy at her most active, kicked Rory out, without explaining to him why.
Amy had to be rescued by the Doctor, or by Rory, again.
Amy, despite her Scottish calling, is passive.
Amy seems to be rarely able to influence her own life or govern it on her own. See S6.
It seems to me an awful lot that we're supposed to take the message away that Amy can't run her life without the Doctor.
And that's all the bad parts.
The mediocre parts, well. See everything about the Ponds and the divorce. I feel like it could've been a really cathartic moment for them to actually get everything out, it began to verge on them, but then it went to issues in the Bad Things.
Also, it lacked the emotional impact because the whole time I was wondering what the hell happened and how the hell it happened and basically way too many questions were going through when I should've been feeling more emotions.
Also see more things in Bad Parts. Whoops, this feels more like an extension of Bad Parts.
Then there was the whole Dalek mind wipe. Behold, Moffat's favorite and most overused tool when it comes to writing- something doesn't make sense, or something problematic that you don't want to explain or explore? Easy- memory wipe it!
Which means that...basically...Uh. Does anyone know when the Daleks first popped into Old!Who? It means that everything between that point and now and the Time War and all that just didn't happen, because the Doctor's the only one who remembers.
Also, I had some issue with how Amy's memory, which can apparently withstand time cracks and exploding TARDISes and the timeline being rewritten and time being fractured...is defeated by nanobots. Admittedly probably advanced nanobots, but the scale of comparison to giant, cosmic events?
The Good Parts aka mostly Oswin.
Or is her name Clara? Or is she a separate entity from Clara entirely?
Oswin is also a Dalek, which is something I had begun to suspect since the other members of the crew that they met.
There were bits that could've been done without. It wasn't perfect, and it was very much in the vein of Moffat's women.
But I guess JLC made it seem more fun? IDK, it felt much more organic and smooth compared to River Song and early Amy Pond.
I suppose this is the end of Oswin, which means that Clara/Oswin that we get later on must be earlier in her timeline, since Eleven never saw her physical form? Does that mean we get another River Song Timeline, where she loops around and ends up a Dalek at the end but he meets her earlier?
It'd have been interesting to see the companion as a former Dalek, though.
I can't really judge Clara/Oswin as a character, because we've only seen a bit of her. But the bit we did see was fun, and it was nice to see someone new. But it's Moffat, so I'm going to be cautious and hesitant.
But overall, Clara/Oswin was interesting. And she can sure speed read, alright.
The last scene with the Doctor and Oswin was pretty good, too. As was the scene when he had to confront her as a Dalek, and the scene when he was facing off the Daleks outside the door.
Oh, and the Daleks idea of beauty but they have no concept of elegence?
The episode was lukewarm, with varying degrees one way or the other depending on how much weight you decide to put on something. There were good parts, there were bad parts, and the bad parts were made worse due the compounding of things from S6, but the good parts were good and engaging and then there were really weird parts that I don't know how I actually feel about yet because they're just that, and that's as far as I can go without risking spoilers.
I personally am a Bad News First, Good News Second, so that's how we'll go.
[It wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be]
So the bad only had two portions. And surprise, they were both largely related to Amy.
1. Amy and Rory can't communicate
Okay, I'm sorry to all the Amy/Rory shippers. I'm not really one of them, Amy and Rory are nice and sweet together, so.
Communication, you know. It's a cornerstone of a functioning relationship. It's good to have.
But they can't seem to communicate. Like, I'm sorry, there is no way you can sit me down and realistically expect me to believe the fact that they reached a divorce without talking about their issues.
Why didn't Rory ask why he was being kicked out? Why didn't Amy tell him? Is it because Amy was hormonal and on her period and being an irrational female? Or is it because neither of them seem to be capable of having a reasonable sit down discussion? Why wasn't there any sort of tension in Pond Life? Where was River in the discussion about babies and children? Does River not count as their child anymore? Does Amy now count River as her kid? Does Rory not? Why can't Rory and Amy talk this out without being stuck in mortal danger? Why does the Doctor have to play marriage counselor to them? Why was this conflict needed on screen? Why were we told over and over again over S5 and S6 that Amy and Rory were an OTP that could survive plastic and time cracks and mind wipes? Why does Rory want kids? When did Rory say he wanted kids? Does this have to do with the events with River? Does Amy think he stood around in plastic to wait to have kids? Does Amy think that children are the pinnacle of love? Why is this about how much Amy loves Rory?
Moffat, you see Pond Life? That's what Pond Life is for.
Maybe I'm thinking too much, but the above questions? There shouldn't be that many of them by the time the plotline is resolved. Or before it's introduced.
2. Reasons for kicking Rory out boiled down to...
Women make babies.
I'm not going to get into that, and Amy's role in things.
Or did I get that wrong?
3. Amy didn't kill the Daleks.
Amy was passive, again.
Amy at her most active, kicked Rory out, without explaining to him why.
Amy had to be rescued by the Doctor, or by Rory, again.
Amy, despite her Scottish calling, is passive.
Amy seems to be rarely able to influence her own life or govern it on her own. See S6.
It seems to me an awful lot that we're supposed to take the message away that Amy can't run her life without the Doctor.
And that's all the bad parts.
The mediocre parts, well. See everything about the Ponds and the divorce. I feel like it could've been a really cathartic moment for them to actually get everything out, it began to verge on them, but then it went to issues in the Bad Things.
Also, it lacked the emotional impact because the whole time I was wondering what the hell happened and how the hell it happened and basically way too many questions were going through when I should've been feeling more emotions.
Also see more things in Bad Parts. Whoops, this feels more like an extension of Bad Parts.
Then there was the whole Dalek mind wipe. Behold, Moffat's favorite and most overused tool when it comes to writing- something doesn't make sense, or something problematic that you don't want to explain or explore? Easy- memory wipe it!
Which means that...basically...Uh. Does anyone know when the Daleks first popped into Old!Who? It means that everything between that point and now and the Time War and all that just didn't happen, because the Doctor's the only one who remembers.
Also, I had some issue with how Amy's memory, which can apparently withstand time cracks and exploding TARDISes and the timeline being rewritten and time being fractured...is defeated by nanobots. Admittedly probably advanced nanobots, but the scale of comparison to giant, cosmic events?
The Good Parts aka mostly Oswin.
Or is her name Clara? Or is she a separate entity from Clara entirely?
Oswin is also a Dalek, which is something I had begun to suspect since the other members of the crew that they met.
There were bits that could've been done without. It wasn't perfect, and it was very much in the vein of Moffat's women.
But I guess JLC made it seem more fun? IDK, it felt much more organic and smooth compared to River Song and early Amy Pond.
I suppose this is the end of Oswin, which means that Clara/Oswin that we get later on must be earlier in her timeline, since Eleven never saw her physical form? Does that mean we get another River Song Timeline, where she loops around and ends up a Dalek at the end but he meets her earlier?
It'd have been interesting to see the companion as a former Dalek, though.
I can't really judge Clara/Oswin as a character, because we've only seen a bit of her. But the bit we did see was fun, and it was nice to see someone new. But it's Moffat, so I'm going to be cautious and hesitant.
But overall, Clara/Oswin was interesting. And she can sure speed read, alright.
The last scene with the Doctor and Oswin was pretty good, too. As was the scene when he had to confront her as a Dalek, and the scene when he was facing off the Daleks outside the door.
Oh, and the Daleks idea of beauty but they have no concept of elegence?