[review] Doctor Who 5x04 - The Time of Angels
And so now Moffat kicks the season into high gear.
River Song and the Weeping Angels? I think this is what's called fan service. As Dr Memory pointed out, if Moffat couldn't make that combination more compelling than the first few episodes of the season, he's in trouble.
He's not in trouble yet. Of course, this was the first episode filmed this year, so if the trouble really has been trying to write and showrun at the same time, he may have simply not burned himself out by the time this was done. Still, this suffered from high expectations, and I am certainly feeling less Moffat magic than we had when he got to do one shots.
We've got River Song back, and she's still out of order with the good Doctor. She's still ahead of him, but she's behind where she was. I do hope if we see her again this season or next, we'll actually have a flip at some point, where he's ahead of her. While I like the character, and Alex Kingston is entertaining, I found her somewhat grating here. This could well be a deliberate choice. The River we met in the library is older, and perhaps wiser and less reckless.
I'm not sure what I make of The Weeping Angels returning. On the one hand, they are the most interesting new adversaries brought in since the new series started. On the other hand, the more you expose a villain, the less threatening they tend to be. Moffat seems to have decided to get around this by introducing new elements to the Angels, namely the ill-defined "an image of an Angel becomes an Angel" (along with a nod to Ringu) and the "Eyes are not the window to the soul, they are the door.". (Also, random Deadlock seal power.) The "crash a ship with a temporal drive to give food to my starving people" plot is an intriguing one, although we have to not pay too much attention to the implication that there were only a few left in the late 20th century given that they are off massacring entire civilizations in the 47th.
The pacing of the episode felt a bit off, but nothing too terrible. The weakened Angels were ok, although I thought there was more than one opportunity for them to get to the group. It was a less than stellar cliffhanger, although a fairly natural break point. If that last shot was the gravity globe, then a proper beat of the room plunged into darkness would have been more effective, I think.
I mentioned Moffat repeating himself. The part that specifically grated for me was the dead voice to communicate with the Monster of the Week. We saw that last time we saw River, in the library, and while I understand the desire to put something in, it really felt far too similar.
Still, most writers have tics, and Moffat's remain less irritating to me than RTD's.
Aside from the main plot, there were also the performances, continuity nods and throwaways. Matt Smith continues to be acceptable as the Doctor and no more. The final speech about the trap was more effective in the trailer than it was in context, and throughout the episode he was the least interesting thing around. That's never a good sign for a Doctor.
I adored Amelia Pond in this episode. I liked her challenging the Doctor and River. She has a somewhat mad, "prove me wrong, Universe, or at least show me something to impress me" attitude. It's a very different dynamic than we've seen so far with the companions, and I am glad it seems to have drifted off of the "pining for the Doctor" template even more.
Father Octavian was a nice twist on the old Brigadier-style role, and I liked him being offended at the Doctor's cavalier manner.
I did like seeing Old High Gallifreyan again, and the speed-read of the Weeping Angels book was a sweet call back to Tom Baker. (It may well be a word-for-word rehash of the joke, if I remember correctly.)
I am intrigued by the River backstory. We now have her as a more larcenous figure, with a prison record. (And one that could prevent the Doctor from helping her.) She's known for hallucinogenic lipstick and obviously has a certain Tomb Raider reputation. She can fly the TARDIS, but was taught by someone not the Doctor. Despite her fencing with Amelia, I'm growing less convinced that she's the "Future Mrs. Doctor" - or at least, that she's the Doctor's Future Wife.
I have decided that her explanation of the TARDIS sound is not true, though. Or, at most, it is about the internal sound, and not the exterior.
I suspect that my opinion of part 1 will depend a great deal on how part 2 plays out. (I did find it interesting there was no crack to be seen anywhere, btw.)
This entry was originally posted at http://lightcastle.dreamwidth.org/95059.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
River Song and the Weeping Angels? I think this is what's called fan service. As Dr Memory pointed out, if Moffat couldn't make that combination more compelling than the first few episodes of the season, he's in trouble.
He's not in trouble yet. Of course, this was the first episode filmed this year, so if the trouble really has been trying to write and showrun at the same time, he may have simply not burned himself out by the time this was done. Still, this suffered from high expectations, and I am certainly feeling less Moffat magic than we had when he got to do one shots.
We've got River Song back, and she's still out of order with the good Doctor. She's still ahead of him, but she's behind where she was. I do hope if we see her again this season or next, we'll actually have a flip at some point, where he's ahead of her. While I like the character, and Alex Kingston is entertaining, I found her somewhat grating here. This could well be a deliberate choice. The River we met in the library is older, and perhaps wiser and less reckless.
I'm not sure what I make of The Weeping Angels returning. On the one hand, they are the most interesting new adversaries brought in since the new series started. On the other hand, the more you expose a villain, the less threatening they tend to be. Moffat seems to have decided to get around this by introducing new elements to the Angels, namely the ill-defined "an image of an Angel becomes an Angel" (along with a nod to Ringu) and the "Eyes are not the window to the soul, they are the door.". (Also, random Deadlock seal power.) The "crash a ship with a temporal drive to give food to my starving people" plot is an intriguing one, although we have to not pay too much attention to the implication that there were only a few left in the late 20th century given that they are off massacring entire civilizations in the 47th.
The pacing of the episode felt a bit off, but nothing too terrible. The weakened Angels were ok, although I thought there was more than one opportunity for them to get to the group. It was a less than stellar cliffhanger, although a fairly natural break point. If that last shot was the gravity globe, then a proper beat of the room plunged into darkness would have been more effective, I think.
I mentioned Moffat repeating himself. The part that specifically grated for me was the dead voice to communicate with the Monster of the Week. We saw that last time we saw River, in the library, and while I understand the desire to put something in, it really felt far too similar.
Still, most writers have tics, and Moffat's remain less irritating to me than RTD's.
Aside from the main plot, there were also the performances, continuity nods and throwaways. Matt Smith continues to be acceptable as the Doctor and no more. The final speech about the trap was more effective in the trailer than it was in context, and throughout the episode he was the least interesting thing around. That's never a good sign for a Doctor.
I adored Amelia Pond in this episode. I liked her challenging the Doctor and River. She has a somewhat mad, "prove me wrong, Universe, or at least show me something to impress me" attitude. It's a very different dynamic than we've seen so far with the companions, and I am glad it seems to have drifted off of the "pining for the Doctor" template even more.
Father Octavian was a nice twist on the old Brigadier-style role, and I liked him being offended at the Doctor's cavalier manner.
I did like seeing Old High Gallifreyan again, and the speed-read of the Weeping Angels book was a sweet call back to Tom Baker. (It may well be a word-for-word rehash of the joke, if I remember correctly.)
I am intrigued by the River backstory. We now have her as a more larcenous figure, with a prison record. (And one that could prevent the Doctor from helping her.) She's known for hallucinogenic lipstick and obviously has a certain Tomb Raider reputation. She can fly the TARDIS, but was taught by someone not the Doctor. Despite her fencing with Amelia, I'm growing less convinced that she's the "Future Mrs. Doctor" - or at least, that she's the Doctor's Future Wife.
I have decided that her explanation of the TARDIS sound is not true, though. Or, at most, it is about the internal sound, and not the exterior.
I suspect that my opinion of part 1 will depend a great deal on how part 2 plays out. (I did find it interesting there was no crack to be seen anywhere, btw.)
This entry was originally posted at http://lightcastle.dreamwidth.org/95059.html. Please comment there using OpenID.