Killing Hitler, Old Friends, My Icons Suck
Lots to cover, forgive me if I ramble.
So, I've seen Let's Kill Hitler twice now (mike_mccall was out at a LARP when I watched it the first time so I watched it again - utterly enjoying his reactions) and I've read a lot of other people's reactions, and I have a few observations I want to get down.
I see people all over saying things like "Hitler/Nazis were tangential/unnecessary to this plot; why were they even here" and I want to respectfully state I feel you are missing the point. There was a theme at play here, a central question of is it ethical or right to "punish" (even non-lethally) dead criminals with Time Travel? How is this different from revenge? How is this different from what the Doctor does? And we need Hitler/Nazis to get us there because it hits us on a visceral level, it gets us all on the same page. Cheep? Probably. But effective. Some Anvils Need To Be Dropped.
Which brings me to my next point: Moff is shameless about throwing so much at you, of keeping the pace and action and emotional twists coming at you so fast you don't notice the holes and cheapness of his shots. And you know what? I DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS. For example: Mels. Mike pointed this out to me. In retrospect, her identity is obvious, but at what point during her introduction/backstory montage did we get a chance to absorb and think in order to come to that conclusion? Moff's solution to Fridge Logic is to keep us too stunned by awesome to give us a chance to go to the fridge. And I'll fucking take it.
I also feel it cannot be brought up enough: the acting in this episode was beyond phenomenal. It was mind-blowing. Matt was lovely as ever, doing his old soul bit with practiced ease, conveying tremendous pain and delirium, pushed down with sheer determination. I got serious Caves of Androzani flashbacks (and I am boggled no-one I've seen has made that connection). Arther and Karen similarly give their standard amazing turns of their wonderful, flawed, endearing characters, with extra points to Karen for her chilling android portrayal. But that's the standard level of awesome. This one goes above and beyond on the strength of the geust cast, recurring and new. The lovely lovely young women playing mels (both the child actor and the grown-up one) are amazing. Going back and watching it again, knowing the twist, you can see it. And yet she's not over the top enough to give it away beforehand. Little Ameleia is not only as wonderful as usual, she (like everyone else) converse age with acting and posture alone, with a little help from the hair department (Karen and Arthur get props there too). And the TARDIS voice interface. Not many actors that young could pull that off. Watch out for that girl.
And then there's Alex Kingston, who is so amazing she gets a paragraph to herself. She takes an established character back to the very beginning of her arc; a callow youth in a mature body: the precise opposite of Eleven. And she also seamlessly blends the carefree action girl with the hardwired killer. She gives me chills. With one line, and her eyes, she utterly sells her change of heart which causes her to save the dying Doctor (oh come on that is NOT a spoiler. HE SURVIVES THE EPISODE.) when she's the one who put him in danger in the first place. And all the callbacks to "later"/earlier River moments (the Diary. The Doctor Lies. Spoilers.). I'm sure we're going to see more River in future (or, you know, past) but this is The Beginning. I'm now at the point where I feel I can do my "backwards" River marathon, starting with Let's Kill Hitler and going back to Silence in the Library. It should be interesting.
Got a lovely treat when out of the blue old friend miishal contacted me on my tumblr saying basically "hey it's been years I'm not doing anything are you busy?" and I'm all "fuck no that's awesome I need to be more social" so we went out for sushi and had many interesting discussions on Tron (her latest obsession and something I am very fond of), kickass soundtracks, Homestuck and why we both stay out of its fandom, fandom in general, and just basically were very silly and made each other laugh alot. It was glorious and felt very healthy for my psyche.
And if you're reading this, Mii: I'm having technical difficulty with that file, I will upload it asap. ♥
Checked my flist and made an observation not for the first time: my current selection of icons is totally inadequate. I have no Doctor Who icons more recent than 4th series, (and that is a scandal because 5-6 is smashing!) and no Homestuck or MSPA ones, and no room to fix any of this. So: out with the old, in with the new, expect a complete overhaul and lots of posts sporting my default.
EB: there is a perfectly reasonable and scientific explanation for that.
EB: it is because shut up.
EB: Shut up is why.
-Homestuck
So, I've seen Let's Kill Hitler twice now (mike_mccall was out at a LARP when I watched it the first time so I watched it again - utterly enjoying his reactions) and I've read a lot of other people's reactions, and I have a few observations I want to get down.
I see people all over saying things like "Hitler/Nazis were tangential/unnecessary to this plot; why were they even here" and I want to respectfully state I feel you are missing the point. There was a theme at play here, a central question of is it ethical or right to "punish" (even non-lethally) dead criminals with Time Travel? How is this different from revenge? How is this different from what the Doctor does? And we need Hitler/Nazis to get us there because it hits us on a visceral level, it gets us all on the same page. Cheep? Probably. But effective. Some Anvils Need To Be Dropped.
Which brings me to my next point: Moff is shameless about throwing so much at you, of keeping the pace and action and emotional twists coming at you so fast you don't notice the holes and cheapness of his shots. And you know what? I DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS. For example: Mels. Mike pointed this out to me. In retrospect, her identity is obvious, but at what point during her introduction/backstory montage did we get a chance to absorb and think in order to come to that conclusion? Moff's solution to Fridge Logic is to keep us too stunned by awesome to give us a chance to go to the fridge. And I'll fucking take it.
I also feel it cannot be brought up enough: the acting in this episode was beyond phenomenal. It was mind-blowing. Matt was lovely as ever, doing his old soul bit with practiced ease, conveying tremendous pain and delirium, pushed down with sheer determination. I got serious Caves of Androzani flashbacks (and I am boggled no-one I've seen has made that connection). Arther and Karen similarly give their standard amazing turns of their wonderful, flawed, endearing characters, with extra points to Karen for her chilling android portrayal. But that's the standard level of awesome. This one goes above and beyond on the strength of the geust cast, recurring and new. The lovely lovely young women playing mels (both the child actor and the grown-up one) are amazing. Going back and watching it again, knowing the twist, you can see it. And yet she's not over the top enough to give it away beforehand. Little Ameleia is not only as wonderful as usual, she (like everyone else) converse age with acting and posture alone, with a little help from the hair department (Karen and Arthur get props there too). And the TARDIS voice interface. Not many actors that young could pull that off. Watch out for that girl.
And then there's Alex Kingston, who is so amazing she gets a paragraph to herself. She takes an established character back to the very beginning of her arc; a callow youth in a mature body: the precise opposite of Eleven. And she also seamlessly blends the carefree action girl with the hardwired killer. She gives me chills. With one line, and her eyes, she utterly sells her change of heart which causes her to save the dying Doctor (oh come on that is NOT a spoiler. HE SURVIVES THE EPISODE.) when she's the one who put him in danger in the first place. And all the callbacks to "later"/earlier River moments (the Diary. The Doctor Lies. Spoilers.). I'm sure we're going to see more River in future (or, you know, past) but this is The Beginning. I'm now at the point where I feel I can do my "backwards" River marathon, starting with Let's Kill Hitler and going back to Silence in the Library. It should be interesting.
Got a lovely treat when out of the blue old friend miishal contacted me on my tumblr saying basically "hey it's been years I'm not doing anything are you busy?" and I'm all "fuck no that's awesome I need to be more social" so we went out for sushi and had many interesting discussions on Tron (her latest obsession and something I am very fond of), kickass soundtracks, Homestuck and why we both stay out of its fandom, fandom in general, and just basically were very silly and made each other laugh alot. It was glorious and felt very healthy for my psyche.
And if you're reading this, Mii: I'm having technical difficulty with that file, I will upload it asap. ♥
Checked my flist and made an observation not for the first time: my current selection of icons is totally inadequate. I have no Doctor Who icons more recent than 4th series, (and that is a scandal because 5-6 is smashing!) and no Homestuck or MSPA ones, and no room to fix any of this. So: out with the old, in with the new, expect a complete overhaul and lots of posts sporting my default.
EB: there is a perfectly reasonable and scientific explanation for that.
EB: it is because shut up.
EB: Shut up is why.
-Homestuck