Historically speaking, I’ve not been much for writing meta, but I am a recovering English major and writing mathematical proofs is really not the same as writing literary analysis. So. Here I am. ( spoilers for )
First off, thank you so much for reccing my fic, it's really sweet of you and i'm glad you enjoyed it so much.
Secondly - good call on the parallels between the Mumford and Son's song and this ep! Because it's all about holding on to what is right and essential - and that thing is so clearly love, rather than fear and rather than hate.
The Doctor is scared. He’s much less gleeful in this episode than in others*nods* I found him quite enigmatic in this ep. He played his cards close to his chest, he gives a lot less away. He seemed jaded and tired. Perhaps not having a full time companion has started to take its toll on him? Too much introspection and introversion. I was particularly surprised when the woman at the start said "They said you'd be able to help" and he replied "Did they? Well, i wish they'd stop". A flippant comment maybe, but when has he ever not wanted to help and to save? And in the end, the sad thing about this ep is that he doesn't actually save anyone, technically. Amy and Rory are here because of association
( ... )
You're very welcome! And thank you for writing such a lovely fic, and for pointing out the song in the first place!
I was particularly surprised when the woman at the start said "They said you'd be able to help" and he replied "Did they? Well, i wish they'd stop". A flippant comment maybe, but when has he ever not wanted to help and to save?
I don't know--I assumed that what he meant was that he wished people would quit talking about him, because he was trying so hard to lie low. But he did say it rather bitterly, didn't he?
while i will be completely and utterly gutted to see them go, i think this is why it's right that they leave this season. *nods sadly
( ... )
And did you also notice Love and Hate written on Amy's knuckles during her photoshoot at the start? That early moment was a nod to the whole theme of the ep.
I hadn't spotted this, but what a lovely, telling, visual!
I love meta, especially when it adds to my enjoyment of an episode, and this meta certainly did. There was just SO much going on in this episode and it was all kinds of beautiful.
If RTD was picking apart the question of "Who is the doctor?" by stripping him back to his most depressed state, than Moffat's "Who is the doctor?" is all about putting him back together. Last series, Eleven declared that he had gotten "too big" and that the universe needed to forget him for awhile. His biggest problem is that so many remember and tell stories of him. Oswin gave him a wonderful gift by making the daleks forget their former greatest enemy. It was the most perfect gift a person could give somebody like the doctor- a second chance.
And actually, in many ways this episode was just as much about second chances as it was about love.
*thinky thoughts*inkvoicesSeptember 2 2012, 22:11:55 UTC
Wonderful points and wonderfully written, especially: And this is the legacy of the Asylum of the Daleks: the Daleks will not remember the man who killed them, but the Doctor will remember the Dalek who saved him. The Dalek who wasn’t really a Dalek at all but a girl, a human girl. And the weapon she had was love.
I wonder...season 5 and 6 dragged the Doctor back from being the Ongoing Storm, being ragefull and vengefull, back to standing on the doorstep of the Pond's house at Christmas with a 'human' tear, greateful to be wanted, greatful to be loved. It's been said that we're moving back towards a Doctor who's a trickster, behind the scenes, rather than a god-like figure, but perhaps we're also moving to a Doctor that loves again? Like he says in one of the shorts to Amy that the universe becomes like a backyard to him and he needs a companion to see it's wonders. Are we moving to a Doctor that can see the wonder himself again? A Doctor that doesn't hate, perhaps even doesn't hate Daleks, or at least all of them thanks to
Re: *thinky thoughts*ladymercury_10September 2 2012, 22:32:27 UTC
Thank you!
Much as I do enjoy seeing the Doctor go all righteous anger from time to time, it would be so, so lovely to see what you're describing. I think a lot of Moffat-era Who has been about realizing that the monsters are just as scared as you are and learning to think that maybe, just maybe, you could forgive them. And dweomeroflight said something above about second chances. I could go for all of that. :)
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But this was great! Really good analysis of the central character things that happened in that episode.
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But apparently I have not uploaded my Oswin icons yet? So Data, instead?
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Yay! Oswin is obvs the Data of Who.
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Haha, I always like the not-humans who manage to become human. Like Data and Spock. And the TARDIS, in "The Doctor's Wife."
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Secondly - good call on the parallels between the Mumford and Son's song and this ep! Because it's all about holding on to what is right and essential - and that thing is so clearly love, rather than fear and rather than hate.
The Doctor is scared. He’s much less gleeful in this episode than in others*nods* I found him quite enigmatic in this ep. He played his cards close to his chest, he gives a lot less away. He seemed jaded and tired. Perhaps not having a full time companion has started to take its toll on him? Too much introspection and introversion. I was particularly surprised when the woman at the start said "They said you'd be able to help" and he replied "Did they? Well, i wish they'd stop". A flippant comment maybe, but when has he ever not wanted to help and to save? And in the end, the sad thing about this ep is that he doesn't actually save anyone, technically. Amy and Rory are here because of association ( ... )
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I was particularly surprised when the woman at the start said "They said you'd be able to help" and he replied "Did they? Well, i wish they'd stop". A flippant comment maybe, but when has he ever not wanted to help and to save?
I don't know--I assumed that what he meant was that he wished people would quit talking about him, because he was trying so hard to lie low. But he did say it rather bitterly, didn't he?
while i will be completely and utterly gutted to see them go, i think this is why it's right that they leave this season. *nods sadly ( ... )
Reply
I hadn't spotted this, but what a lovely, telling, visual!
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I love meta, especially when it adds to my enjoyment of an episode, and this meta certainly did. There was just SO much going on in this episode and it was all kinds of beautiful.
If RTD was picking apart the question of "Who is the doctor?" by stripping him back to his most depressed state, than Moffat's "Who is the doctor?" is all about putting him back together. Last series, Eleven declared that he had gotten "too big" and that the universe needed to forget him for awhile. His biggest problem is that so many remember and tell stories of him. Oswin gave him a wonderful gift by making the daleks forget their former greatest enemy. It was the most perfect gift a person could give somebody like the doctor- a second chance.
And actually, in many ways this episode was just as much about second chances as it was about love.
And now I will write more meta...
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Yeah, that's a really great point--the Doctor really needed a second chance, didn't he? They all did.
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I wonder...season 5 and 6 dragged the Doctor back from being the Ongoing Storm, being ragefull and vengefull, back to standing on the doorstep of the Pond's house at Christmas with a 'human' tear, greateful to be wanted, greatful to be loved. It's been said that we're moving back towards a Doctor who's a trickster, behind the scenes, rather than a god-like figure, but perhaps we're also moving to a Doctor that loves again? Like he says in one of the shorts to Amy that the universe becomes like a backyard to him and he needs a companion to see it's wonders. Are we moving to a Doctor that can see the wonder himself again? A Doctor that doesn't hate, perhaps even doesn't hate Daleks, or at least all of them thanks to
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Much as I do enjoy seeing the Doctor go all righteous anger from time to time, it would be so, so lovely to see what you're describing. I think a lot of Moffat-era Who has been about realizing that the monsters are just as scared as you are and learning to think that maybe, just maybe, you could forgive them. And dweomeroflight said something above about second chances. I could go for all of that. :)
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