The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People, random thoughts.
With a cut, obvsly. Spoilers are cruel. (I listened at work today, and took some notes)
1. I think Jennifer was always conflicted about their duplicates, when she wasn't in harness. I don't think she ever really articulated it to anyone (I wonder if there's some latent psychic ability, there, or just that sense that Things Were Wrong). I'm not saying she considered them 'people', but she... was not happy to be getting into harness, even if she was fine afterwards.
2. AMY IS IN LABOR FOR BOTH EPISODES. The Doctor tells her to breathe fourteen minutes into The Rebel Flesh, right after he connects with the Flesh. Does it boost his ability to sense the weirdness surrounding her? Later, in TAP, she says "I think I coughed so hard I've pulled a muscle or something", which was where it clicked (in my notes, I have "HOLY GOD. I HATE YOU, MOFFAT [no I don't]" because making Amy be in labor for two episodes is cruel to Amy, but sort of reality, as babies don't just arrive in two seconds)
3. Amy and Rory have a conversation about his worrying over ganger!Jennifer, which ends when Rory asks her "If I were flesh, would you kill me?" Amy's answer is non-existent.
4. I love the music in these episodes, especially the bits over the last four minutes of TRF, and some of the later stuff which is very Blake's 7 sounding. From the burial scene in Sarcophagus.
5. Jennifer says they remember dying (and 'why' is a central theme to both episodes--possibly this whole season), but I'm not so sure they remember-remember. More like a race memory, possibly? Or perhaps she remembers because she believes she remembers. Miranda's got a psychosomatic blood clot, after all.
6. The Doctor slamming Amy against the wall is so understandable. There's so much going on--he's just found out he's going to die (and he invited himself, also, that River, Amy and Rory kept that from him, though he understands WHY [there's that word again]), and there's the Flesh's panicking everywhere, and then there's Amy herself--she's not Amy, and he cannot simply run off and save her, there's more to the entire plot than that, and he can't wave some magic wand. Sure, he's the Doctor, and sure, everyone trusts him--Amy trusts him--but that doesn't solve the essential problem.
He's also realized he's going to have to kill ganger!Amy. Which is killing a living, breathing person. Yes, it's for Amy's sake, but it's still wrong in some sense.
Anger is a very human reaction, and Eleven's shifting more and more towards human.
The Flesh is also pounding at his brain, asking why why why why without really having an answer. And there's nothing the Doctor can do--he can't simply kill the Flesh, or set it free, because that would be altering the timeline that created ganger!Amy, anyway. And besides, he knows that his involvement causes the inevitable, anyway.
Or possibly something timey-whimey like that.
7. The Doctor flirting with himself is almost as hot as Amy flirting with herself.
1. I think Jennifer was always conflicted about their duplicates, when she wasn't in harness. I don't think she ever really articulated it to anyone (I wonder if there's some latent psychic ability, there, or just that sense that Things Were Wrong). I'm not saying she considered them 'people', but she... was not happy to be getting into harness, even if she was fine afterwards.
2. AMY IS IN LABOR FOR BOTH EPISODES. The Doctor tells her to breathe fourteen minutes into The Rebel Flesh, right after he connects with the Flesh. Does it boost his ability to sense the weirdness surrounding her? Later, in TAP, she says "I think I coughed so hard I've pulled a muscle or something", which was where it clicked (in my notes, I have "HOLY GOD. I HATE YOU, MOFFAT [no I don't]" because making Amy be in labor for two episodes is cruel to Amy, but sort of reality, as babies don't just arrive in two seconds)
3. Amy and Rory have a conversation about his worrying over ganger!Jennifer, which ends when Rory asks her "If I were flesh, would you kill me?" Amy's answer is non-existent.
4. I love the music in these episodes, especially the bits over the last four minutes of TRF, and some of the later stuff which is very Blake's 7 sounding. From the burial scene in Sarcophagus.
5. Jennifer says they remember dying (and 'why' is a central theme to both episodes--possibly this whole season), but I'm not so sure they remember-remember. More like a race memory, possibly? Or perhaps she remembers because she believes she remembers. Miranda's got a psychosomatic blood clot, after all.
6. The Doctor slamming Amy against the wall is so understandable. There's so much going on--he's just found out he's going to die (and he invited himself, also, that River, Amy and Rory kept that from him, though he understands WHY [there's that word again]), and there's the Flesh's panicking everywhere, and then there's Amy herself--she's not Amy, and he cannot simply run off and save her, there's more to the entire plot than that, and he can't wave some magic wand. Sure, he's the Doctor, and sure, everyone trusts him--Amy trusts him--but that doesn't solve the essential problem.
He's also realized he's going to have to kill ganger!Amy. Which is killing a living, breathing person. Yes, it's for Amy's sake, but it's still wrong in some sense.
Anger is a very human reaction, and Eleven's shifting more and more towards human.
The Flesh is also pounding at his brain, asking why why why why without really having an answer. And there's nothing the Doctor can do--he can't simply kill the Flesh, or set it free, because that would be altering the timeline that created ganger!Amy, anyway. And besides, he knows that his involvement causes the inevitable, anyway.
Or possibly something timey-whimey like that.
7. The Doctor flirting with himself is almost as hot as Amy flirting with herself.