that which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel
I love you, new fandom. I love you so much. Give me a few more episodes and I will be desperately searching for fanfic and pouring out adulation in squee-laden blog posts...quite like this one. It's actually quite rare for me to fall for a show this fast and this hard. Congrats, Doctor Who. You snagged me. You blinded me with science shippy moments and time-traveling and creepy bad guys and awesome ladies. Fuck. I'm a goner.
The Beast Below: I must admit. I have a love for really creepy doll-faces. And the smilers in this episode hit my old fondness for evil, cheery, toy-like images. Back in the day, that slot was happily filled by Angel, but since that show is dead, I am happy to replace it with this new awesome. I did enjoy the smiler design, and the Orwellian police state atmosphere that pervaded the UK spaceship on a whale. Really. I loved that the spaceship was on a whale. Excised of its horrible torture aspect, the concept is hilariously whimsical.
That said, the message of the episode got kind of obvious. I mean...they shouldn't have had it hammered in so much that the Doctor is the last of his kind and old and loves children and the whale is OLD and the LAST and loves CHILDREN and have I mentioned OLD AND KIND AND LAST AND CHILDREN. At the third or fourth repetition, I was done. So very done. The only bit I liked in that vein was when it was mentioned on the explanation video that the space whale was the last of its kind, and we saw the Doctor's expression. Nice. Tasteful. No verbal explanations necessary.
Aside from that. As always, Eleven's whimsical Doctor-ness never ceases to amuse me. Like when he grabs a water glass without explanation, listens to it, and talks about an escaped fish. And then walks off into nowhere. And the Queen (THE FREAKING AMAZING QUEEN) gets a call about the Doctor doing the glass thing. I'm going to pause for a moment to love on Liz. Badass POC woman and also the queen. Her line: "I'm the bloody queen, and basically, I rule?" I flailed. And squealed. Like a sad, sad teenaged girl. I am not ashamed. I loved her total command. ("Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen." No fear.)I loved her 300 year-long reign, with her choosing to wipe her mind every ten years instead of pressing a button that would kill everyone on the ship. Although I wasn't fond of the fact that it seemed necessary for her not to know about the evil being done to keep her people sake. I can see the logic: the leader should be innocent of that cruelty, but it seems both condescending of her subjects and irresponsible of her. If you're going to allow horrible torture to continue, own up to it!
I enjoyed Amy saving the day by pointing out the space whale came to save their children and the insight to the Doctor it gave us. When the Doctor got pissed off at Amy for not telling him about the whale to protect him from making the awful choice, I understood why he was so angry and frustrated, but I was also upset that he was going to just take Amy back home. Good god, man. One little mistake, all the best intentions, and to hell with letting her go with you? She waited twelve years for you! GAH! But then they hugged and my heart melted and d'awww.
The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone: This was another lovely, creepy episode. Do all of the Doctor Who plotlines deal with creepy, fucked-up creatures? If so, WHERE HAS THIS SHOW BEEN ALL MY LIFE. Right. So, obviously I enjoyed the creepy stone angels that are only statues when you are looking at them. Anything that moves quickly when you look away has such lovely creep-out potential. And when Amy was watching the moving Angel on the television, I was doing the exact same thing I do during horror movies: talking to the screen, saying 'NOOOO!' and 'RUN!' and 'JUST KEEP LOOKING AT THE SCREEN!' It is rare for a TV show to make me verbally interact with it.
River Song. I adore her. She's a cool, uber-competent, uber-confident spy/cat burglar type. And apparently the Doctor's future wife. Very cool. Why does fandom hate her? Aside from the future wife thing? (Oh wait. Answered my own question.)
Small parts I liked: Amy getting the image of the Angel stuck in her mind, causing her to recite a countdown to her own impending death. I liked how the Doctor was all flustered over that, while at the same time being incredibly blunt: "You're dying. You're going to die," instead of telling her she was fine and lying, like River was. And how he stomped on the communicator when Bob told him that the Angel was making her countdown to her death to frighten her because they thought it was fun.
Angel Bob. That was a nice touch. I liked dead Bob's voice saying horrible things like: "I didn't escape. They killed me. snapped my neck, sir. Sorry." and "I died in fear. The Angels are very keen on letting you know that, sir, I apologize." I liked that the Angel in charge of Bob's little bit of consciousness had a mean, mean sense of humor.
Tree room/oxygen factory. Oh, nature and science fused into a pretty nature/science forest. I do like it when sci-fi tosses pretty concepts at me.
"We have comfy chairs." "We have no need for comfy chairs, sir." "I made him say comfy chairs!" XDXDXD
The crack in time causing the clerics to cease to exist and stop remembering each other, and Amy being able to remember them because she's a time traveler. Those cracks are fascinating. And it's funny how the Doctor walks around like an oblivious dork for the first part of the episode, not noticing them. But, seeing what the crack did, I'm feeling nervous about what the crack in the side of the UK spaceship might be getting up to.
Angel Bob repeating what Prisoner Zero taunted the Doctor with: "The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know." Am hoping it doesn't get repeated too often, but a second repetition is nice. am hearing speculation that this means there's another Doctor. I just took it to mean that it's ironic that a Time Lord doesn't know anything about a time anomaly.
OH. THE ATTEMPTED MAKE OUT. LOL.
"I'm 907 years old! Do you know what that means?" "It's been a while?" "Yes! No!"
Oh, Doctor. You clueless, clueless...male alien.
I'm wondering if Angels have hive minds. They act hive-minded, in a way, and the single mouthpiece through a dead man's voice made it seem like a demonic moment. You know: "Our name is Legion, for we are many." I would have liked more explanation on these things, like...what created them, where did they come from, and what the hell do they do to you after they kill you. Eat your soul? Drink your blood? Steal your left sock? Would have been nice.
I can't wait for 'Vampires in Venice'. There's just something intrinsically wonderful about that name.
The Beast Below: I must admit. I have a love for really creepy doll-faces. And the smilers in this episode hit my old fondness for evil, cheery, toy-like images. Back in the day, that slot was happily filled by Angel, but since that show is dead, I am happy to replace it with this new awesome. I did enjoy the smiler design, and the Orwellian police state atmosphere that pervaded the UK spaceship on a whale. Really. I loved that the spaceship was on a whale. Excised of its horrible torture aspect, the concept is hilariously whimsical.
That said, the message of the episode got kind of obvious. I mean...they shouldn't have had it hammered in so much that the Doctor is the last of his kind and old and loves children and the whale is OLD and the LAST and loves CHILDREN and have I mentioned OLD AND KIND AND LAST AND CHILDREN. At the third or fourth repetition, I was done. So very done. The only bit I liked in that vein was when it was mentioned on the explanation video that the space whale was the last of its kind, and we saw the Doctor's expression. Nice. Tasteful. No verbal explanations necessary.
Aside from that. As always, Eleven's whimsical Doctor-ness never ceases to amuse me. Like when he grabs a water glass without explanation, listens to it, and talks about an escaped fish. And then walks off into nowhere. And the Queen (THE FREAKING AMAZING QUEEN) gets a call about the Doctor doing the glass thing. I'm going to pause for a moment to love on Liz. Badass POC woman and also the queen. Her line: "I'm the bloody queen, and basically, I rule?" I flailed. And squealed. Like a sad, sad teenaged girl. I am not ashamed. I loved her total command. ("Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen." No fear.)I loved her 300 year-long reign, with her choosing to wipe her mind every ten years instead of pressing a button that would kill everyone on the ship. Although I wasn't fond of the fact that it seemed necessary for her not to know about the evil being done to keep her people sake. I can see the logic: the leader should be innocent of that cruelty, but it seems both condescending of her subjects and irresponsible of her. If you're going to allow horrible torture to continue, own up to it!
I enjoyed Amy saving the day by pointing out the space whale came to save their children and the insight to the Doctor it gave us. When the Doctor got pissed off at Amy for not telling him about the whale to protect him from making the awful choice, I understood why he was so angry and frustrated, but I was also upset that he was going to just take Amy back home. Good god, man. One little mistake, all the best intentions, and to hell with letting her go with you? She waited twelve years for you! GAH! But then they hugged and my heart melted and d'awww.
The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone: This was another lovely, creepy episode. Do all of the Doctor Who plotlines deal with creepy, fucked-up creatures? If so, WHERE HAS THIS SHOW BEEN ALL MY LIFE. Right. So, obviously I enjoyed the creepy stone angels that are only statues when you are looking at them. Anything that moves quickly when you look away has such lovely creep-out potential. And when Amy was watching the moving Angel on the television, I was doing the exact same thing I do during horror movies: talking to the screen, saying 'NOOOO!' and 'RUN!' and 'JUST KEEP LOOKING AT THE SCREEN!' It is rare for a TV show to make me verbally interact with it.
River Song. I adore her. She's a cool, uber-competent, uber-confident spy/cat burglar type. And apparently the Doctor's future wife. Very cool. Why does fandom hate her? Aside from the future wife thing? (Oh wait. Answered my own question.)
Small parts I liked: Amy getting the image of the Angel stuck in her mind, causing her to recite a countdown to her own impending death. I liked how the Doctor was all flustered over that, while at the same time being incredibly blunt: "You're dying. You're going to die," instead of telling her she was fine and lying, like River was. And how he stomped on the communicator when Bob told him that the Angel was making her countdown to her death to frighten her because they thought it was fun.
Angel Bob. That was a nice touch. I liked dead Bob's voice saying horrible things like: "I didn't escape. They killed me. snapped my neck, sir. Sorry." and "I died in fear. The Angels are very keen on letting you know that, sir, I apologize." I liked that the Angel in charge of Bob's little bit of consciousness had a mean, mean sense of humor.
Tree room/oxygen factory. Oh, nature and science fused into a pretty nature/science forest. I do like it when sci-fi tosses pretty concepts at me.
"We have comfy chairs." "We have no need for comfy chairs, sir." "I made him say comfy chairs!" XDXDXD
The crack in time causing the clerics to cease to exist and stop remembering each other, and Amy being able to remember them because she's a time traveler. Those cracks are fascinating. And it's funny how the Doctor walks around like an oblivious dork for the first part of the episode, not noticing them. But, seeing what the crack did, I'm feeling nervous about what the crack in the side of the UK spaceship might be getting up to.
Angel Bob repeating what Prisoner Zero taunted the Doctor with: "The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know." Am hoping it doesn't get repeated too often, but a second repetition is nice. am hearing speculation that this means there's another Doctor. I just took it to mean that it's ironic that a Time Lord doesn't know anything about a time anomaly.
OH. THE ATTEMPTED MAKE OUT. LOL.
"I'm 907 years old! Do you know what that means?" "It's been a while?" "Yes! No!"
Oh, Doctor. You clueless, clueless...male alien.
I'm wondering if Angels have hive minds. They act hive-minded, in a way, and the single mouthpiece through a dead man's voice made it seem like a demonic moment. You know: "Our name is Legion, for we are many." I would have liked more explanation on these things, like...what created them, where did they come from, and what the hell do they do to you after they kill you. Eat your soul? Drink your blood? Steal your left sock? Would have been nice.
I can't wait for 'Vampires in Venice'. There's just something intrinsically wonderful about that name.