Writers. Love them or hate them, you still owe them your soul. Part I
There are times... when writers confuse me. There's this extremely confusing chasm between my love for them and my hatred for them, and yet they are almost indistinguishably close to each other that I get confused on whether I'm supposed to smash in my screen out of frustration or hug it and give it tea and send it to a spa in Jamaica.
I just don't know. So today, you get to sit there and read my incredibly long rant about my thoughts or RTD and Steven Moffat, all while I debate endlessly with myself on whether I love them or hate them.
To be honest, my favourite New Who writer is usually Paul Cornell, 'cause mercy of fuck, he knows how to pull at heart strings and he does it so well and roundedly and thoughtfully.
Steven Moffat
I shall deal with the Moff first, because everyone seems to have a love affair with him nowadays, and I don't understand any of that. I think it's more of a syndrome of 'RTD is crap, Moffat is so much better' that seems to be spreading like virulent turkey virus. Frankly, I think I adore them both, even if Moffat is slightly irritating me as of late, but that's mostly due to rabid followers and general Rose hating. I'm fine if fans are outspoken about their opinion on characters, but I would think that a writer shows some equilibrium on the subject. He is, after all, the freaking writer. It doesn't matter if you want to throw the girl into the lake or not, show them some goddamn respect, and don't screw it up when you write them.
Pros: I have... something of a love with Moffat's brain for plot. Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief: He writes amazing plot. (I won't mention how half of Silence in the Library was taken from The Time Traveller's Wife if you don't. In fact, I probably won't mention Silence of the Library period for this half... SitL was some solid Moffat crap.)
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances is a prime example of this, I loved it. Adored it, coveted it. Had mad rendezvous in a closet with it. I do believe TEC/TDD are the strongest in terms of Moffat's plots, and I wish I could believe that he could keep it up. I liked Girl in the Fireplace, it's a very good episode, with it's own very lovely concept. I like Reinette, I just don't ship her quite as enthusiastically with the Doctor as I do with Rose. That understandably makes me a filthy pigrat cow, but unfortunately, I like to ship, and I latched onto Doctor/Rose because they were cute, adorable, and incredibly dorky. Moffat didn't approve, but whatever.
His concepts and ideas really befuddle and dazzle me; while it's not a terribly original idea to have a story where the future and the past get mixed up in the timeline, he took it and made it original for Blink. Someone somewhere might have gotten my reaction to Blink, my abject disappointment for it because it wasn't as good as everyone told me it was, but I'm perfectly willing to accept it and enjoy it as a well written episode. His ideas, honestly. Quantum locks where if you take your eyes of them they become free? It's brilliant. It's ingenious. I never would have thought of it. There's always the feeling that things might move behind your back when you're not watching, but this was an entirely creative way of going about it. He takes normal fear and makes it into something special. Something that could be real.
I love Girl in the Fireplace because it's beautiful. Not the greatest plot, but a creepy and unique idea about a ship using human parts to fix itself. It's almost human-like insanity in a way. I'm Madame Du Pompadour as well. I need your brain to be me again. It's sick, twisted, yet eerily rational logic. It is Madame Du Pompadour. And it needs Madame Du Pompadour to work again. It's even waiting for her to grow up to the right age, the same as itself. I love the idea. It makes my heart ache cause it's so... just... so. It makes me feel pathetic and weak because I know such epiphanies would never come to me, and honestly? Frustrates me a lot. No, but, I'll admit it's not the greatest plot. All the bits I like about it, the time windows, the ship, the robots and the clock, they're all ideas that make the story work, but the story wasn't all that wonderful in itself.
Then we come to The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances aaaaall over again. Do you know how much I adore this episode? It's brilliant. You think of zombies as mindless, brainless corpses, milling around saying 'graaaaah' all the time, trying to eat your brain, but he somehow takes it and makes it even scarier. Turns it into a little boy with a gas mask on. In the grittiness of WWII England, it really fits. Everything fits. I know this isn't all Moffat's doing, but I loved the costuming, the lighting, the whole feel of the episode, it just flowed all together and I really really enjoyed it. One piece of brilliance after another, though. Gas-masked zombies, nanogenes, dancing on the London Blitz, the whole scene with the tape that practically injected goosebumps right into my bloodstream. I love it. I love it all. The Doctor talks to cats. It's all good.
As much as I loathe and despise Silence in the Library, I do really like Forest of the Dead. For those people who said they were waiting for the second part, you're a better person than me, since I was expecting to hate it with a passion. Which might be why I liked it, since my expectations were so desperately low, but no, I did enjoy FotD. Er... I'm tempted to go into things about how "companions kick so much more ass when they're not with the Doctor", but I won't. I just want to say that it was better in the second parter because there wasn't this whole "STAY OUT OF THE SHADOWS, STAY OUT OF THE SHADOWS, OMG, I'M IN A SHADOW I KNOW, BUT SHADOWS ARE VERY BAD." It wasn't frustrating in the whole pure irony that was in SitL. I loved Donna's own little world, her children and god, Catherine's acting was so bloody amazing when they disappeared. It's a fantasy world, but it feels real, and if it feels real, then you feel for it as though it's real. Just because it's fake doesn't mean you can't laugh and cry and love and fall in love because of it. And River. I didn't like her at first, because I thought she was 'Meh' and devoid of most personality, but in FotD, she really came into it for me. I really don't understand why everyone's all screaming "OMFG, BUT IF RIVER TRUSTED THE DOCTOR, WHY DIDN'T SHE JUST LEAVE?"
I... wait... what? If she trusted the Doctor, why didn't she just take his advice and leave? Let me pose to you all this question. Donna, Martha, Jack, Rose, Sarah Jane, EVERYONE trusts the Doctor, yes? They'd trust him with their lives and they constantly have. They love him and he loves all of them back. So. Would Donna have left? Would Martha have left? Would Jack have left? Would Sarah Jane, would anyone, would Rose have left him just because he told them to? No. If River and the Doctor is a relationship, platonic or otherwise, if she trusted him, especially if she trusted him, she would never, ever have left. Then there's the whole indignation of "She handcuffed him to a wall and made him watch" thing that really confuses me. I didn't have a problem with it. Yes, I felt sorry for the Doctor because he was forced to watch, but 1) if she hadn't handcuffed him, he most certainly would have stopped her and 2) River's ending just wouldn't have worked otherwise. Of course she knocked him out. Do you honestly think the Doctor would have just said "Yes, go on, take my place and kill yourself for me. I'm totally fine with that." He knew it was deadly, she knew it was deadly. He never would have sacrificed her, even if she was everything he most hated. He's the Doctor. If you want to sacrifice your life, it's not recommended that you try to do it while he's conscious, because HE WON'T LET YOU, HE'S THE GODDAMN DOCTOR.
Ugh, the strange thing about Silence in the Library -- I absolutely freaking adore the first twenty minutes of it. The camera work, the music, the identical Doctor Donnaing. It's lovely. It seems like a child's dream, but it has the Doctor and Donna, and you know that they're real, so who is this child and what is this dream. And the scene when the girl starts crying because the Doctor's fiddling with the security camera? I just.. that scene is just so love to me. Then it starts going down hill, but this is the Pro section of the Moff discussion, so I'll wait until Cons. I did love the whole scene with ghosting with character-I-don't-remember-the-name-of. It was another burst of Catherine being awesome, even if it was sort of obviously stuck in to say "cry, bitches, cry," considering Donna talked to the girl for all of two minutes. But it was still a brilliantly written and preformed scene.
Another thing I'm appreciative about in Steven Moffat's case is his ability to remind us that this is, in fact, not just a show for children. He does bring a bit of adult humour into the show, and I like that sometimes. It does make me a little tetchy because I am, of course, an incredibly repressed and squeamish person, and I was really surprised at that whole scene in Blink with the nekkid guy, but he does remind us that this is the 21st century, there's sex, get over it. Dancing with Jack, snogging with Pompadour, handcuffs with River.
I would continue to say that he has some great dialogue, but honestly? All the DW episodes have their own amazing dialogue. Everyone's good at one liners, Steven's isn't any better or worse.
Cons: The problem I have with Moffat is, first and foremost, his characterisation. He's... just absolute shodding rubbish at it, do you know that? It always feels like to me when I'm watching Girl in the Fireplace that he put so much character into Reinette that he completely forgot about Rose and Mickey. I've read this somewhere and I utterly agree. The main problem I have with GitF would have been solved by four words from Rose. "We've got a horse." Whoever said that, thank you, thank you, thank you, because you're so freaking right. Four freaking words. It would have entirely solved everything for me. It would have taken ten seconds.
He takes his original characters and practically overpowers them over the current companions. Another reason I hated Silence in the Library? What was "That was just something clever to make you shut up" line about? And where was Donna's witty comeback? To be very blunt, just what the fuck happened right there?
I'll take this one episode at a time again. It's easier that way. I'll even do it backwards.
Silence in the Library generally pisses me off in this area. Do you know I can't remember who the hell that idiot girl was who got eaten by the Vashta Nerada? I don't remember her name, I just remember that she was pretty, extremely pale, had red lips and was an absolute airhead. And she died. That's about it. I don't remember her name, I also don't care. The only reason I remember Proper Dave and Other Dave is because they had their two lines of funny. The only reason I remember the only girl who was eaten in Forest is because of how the Nerada used her. That's not how you make memorable characters, by giving them funny names and funny lines. You make memorable characters by making backstories, by making them people, not just things you stamped a one-sided personality to. I don't even remember what Proper Dave and Other Dave were doing there. One died, who the hell cared. And you know why I hate this so much? Because I know that an assembled cast can still all be developed and fleshed out in two episodes.
Do you remember The Impossible Planet/Satan's Pit? One of the many things I loved about that episode, was that scene where the Beast is naming them all, along with their fears and weaknesses. What I love about it is that it isn't an easy way of giving them their backstories, you sort of already knew their backstories by how the acted, by who they were. You looked at Jefferson and you knew he was a man with a gun. A veteran of sorts. You looked at Zach and you knew he was the tired but loyal leader. You looked at Ida and you saw the uncertain scientist. You saw Danny and you thought he was a bit off, too relaxed. You saw Toby and you knew he was young, innocent, kind of a dork. Anything the Beast said just elaborated and built on that. It was established. It was done. You can write such a good ensemble cast. So why couldn't you, Mr. Moffat. You just give us these people, who are pretty much little more than meat walking around to get eaten.
The really biting thing about Silence in the Library is his complete lack of consideration for even the Doctor's characterisation. I understand that the Doctor and Donna have a mild teasing and belittling going between them, but they always have a respect. His "just something to make you shut up" line just struck on FIVE BILLION WRONG CHORDS WITH ME that I wanted to scream at my screen in frustration. And if it wasn't that, it was the complete lack of Donna comebacks that really irritated me. Are you telling me that if Donna was told to shut up that she wouldn't tell them to shove it up their arse and go take a running jump?
And besides that, this episode was just rubbish in general. Moffat can write frightening stuff, but he can't write terror, as he was so obviously trying for here. Also it had massive amounts of plotholes, everyone was stupid, and everyone walked into shadows all the time. I hate Silence and I hate it with a fierce passion.
Blink, as I've said, was hardly my favourite Moffat episode, let alone my favourite episode in any margin, and I know perfectly well that it's only because I'm retarded and everyone had to go ruining it for me by screaming it in my ear that it was great. Between the plot and writing, his characterisation does have its good points. Sally's friend who goes into the future doesn't have much of one, but her grandson has. Sally has great characterisation in this episode. But why? Because she had it mostly to herself, she had that long to make herself into a proper character. Plus, she was the main character for the episode, that always helps. Like I said, Moffat's good at focusing on his own characters, at the cost of everyone else.
Martha? Got like five lines. Don't even remember what they were. Something about lizards, stuck her head into the screen and complained about the Doctor (don't have anything against that, it must have been hell), and kind of just stood there while the Doctor explained the whole situation to two-dimensional-guy-who-hit-on-Sally. Heaven's sake, Martha had more use in The Doctor's Daughter (even if for however much I hate that episode, Martha was kind of awesome in it) an episode I sometimes forget Martha was even in, that's how much use she was in it. In Blink it's only memorable because she's scarce and you notice it more when she pops up.
I really do like Girl in the Fireplace (I feel I need to mention this a lot because I get a lot of crap for being a D/R shipper, even if I like everyone), but I do have some problems with it. The real flaw is with Mickey, I think, here. At this moment in time, it's after School Reunion and before Age of Steel. Mickey goes from the tin dog to defender of the Earth. Did Moff show any of this? No. Why? Cause he didn't even read the scripts before and after his. Let's try a little continuity here, eh, Mr. Moffat? It might make us a bit happier if you actually care about the Doctor's current companions. One of the reasons I'm glad Moff's taking head writer is because he won't leave out the current companions any more because they're his own characters. And, you know. He'll actually keep something of a continuity if he's writing the whole arc, jesus christ.
Anyway, yes. I'm glad that Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel were good as they were because they made Mickey all on their own. It would, however, been even nicer with a bit of support from the Moff. When I look back, I keep thinking 'this needs more Mickey scenes, this needs more Mickey scenes'. Mickey didn't do anything. He wasn't interesting, he sat there, he walked around and he asked Rose if the Doctor was coming back. There was no slight glimpses of 'Mickey the hero' in this. It was just all still 'Mickey', and damn all Moff did with that too. In fact, I think he even reduced him back to 'Mickey the coward'.
Despite everything, however, I do like what he did with Rose here. She was barely in it, I agree, but she did what Rose would do. The Doctor left, so she took an ice gun and started looking around. And whatever the Doctor/Reinette relationship was, Rose was quiet and accepting of it because... well, I suppose I'm allowed to get a little shippy here, but I think Rose thought that he was really in love, and when you love someone, really love someone as I think Rose did, you don't get in the way if the person you're in love with loves someone else. Her timid 'why her' always breaks my heart, honestly. The way she immediately rectifies it later. I feel so sorry for her, because it must have hurt so much, but she's Rose, and she wouldn't get in the way of what she honestly thought was real. I hate reading GitF fics where Rose is bitter and jealous and spends a lot of her time crying. That's not Rose. Rose is strong and she isn't petty or stupid. Well, she's petty, *laughs*, just a little, but that's Rose, that's human, and she's smart enough to sober up when it gets too much. (Speaking of which, Rose did get good GSCE scores as canon in my head, so I think she's smart, maybe not brilliant or anything like that, but I think she knows her share of good knowledge along with her street smarts.) I do like GitF fics, though. I just wish I'd find something that wasn't Reinette bashing and really good to read. I've gotten a few, but a lot of the other ones follow the same annoying vein.
Er... this is why I can't have nice things. I somehow turn it into shippy talk.
I'll very readily admit that The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances doesn't have the annoying disregard of companions as his later episodes have. I think everyone was well rounded and well done, but I was just always confused at the Doctor leaving Rose behind without noticing. Seriously? When he was Nine too. That's kind of weird. But overall, everything was just fine.
My recent, and more personal miff, comes with Moff's "Rose is a clingy, needy girlfriend" quote he blathered out a few weeks ago. You know, I really don't understand this whole "Rose was clingy in Series 2" thing? I'm generally very confused by it. Rose? Needy? Yeah, that's totally why she stepped out of the elevator in New Earth and didn't go back to go get the Doctor. Totally why she took an ice gun and went off wandering in Fireplace and later left him alone because she knew she had to at the end of the episode. Totally why she said she'd go into the factory with her father in Steel and told him that there was no way he was stopping her. Totally why she suggested they find their own clues, figured out the whole mystery before he did in Lantern. If anything, Series 2 was mostly about the Doctor needing Rose. "Get her back to me." "No, not to you." "Always wait five and a half hours." "There's no stopping you, is there?" "There's no power on this Earth that can stop me!" etc, etc, etc, ETC. I'm sorry, who was clingy again? 'Course Rose has her moments, "Where the hell have you been!?" "Is that what you're going to do to me?" "No, I'm going to stay here. With him." "I made my choice a long time ago and I'm never going to leave you." But, you know, they don't strike me as very clingy. Except maybe the School Reunion one, but that episode was riddled with 'wtf'. Now that I'm much more familiar with Sarah Jane, I'm rather disappointed that they wrote her as someone who waited their entire life for the Doctor. She just doesn't strike me as that kind of person. It struck me as very irritating that Rose never considered that the Doctor travelled with someone else. He's nine hundred years old, and he's had companions that had come and gone while he was with her. I suppose it was just one of those things she never really thought about. But yeah. What the hell, Rose is not clingy.
People have told me Moffat's quote was a joke, but really, it doesn't sound that way, I think it holds a veil of truth under the words. But like I said. It's fine if you want to throw her in a lake, but you're a writer, so keep your mouth shut and don't screw up her character or I will knife you in the neck.
Well, this is much too long for Moffat's section already, so I will write up RTD's part tomorrow. You know, if anyone cares.
I just don't know. So today, you get to sit there and read my incredibly long rant about my thoughts or RTD and Steven Moffat, all while I debate endlessly with myself on whether I love them or hate them.
To be honest, my favourite New Who writer is usually Paul Cornell, 'cause mercy of fuck, he knows how to pull at heart strings and he does it so well and roundedly and thoughtfully.
Steven Moffat
I shall deal with the Moff first, because everyone seems to have a love affair with him nowadays, and I don't understand any of that. I think it's more of a syndrome of 'RTD is crap, Moffat is so much better' that seems to be spreading like virulent turkey virus. Frankly, I think I adore them both, even if Moffat is slightly irritating me as of late, but that's mostly due to rabid followers and general Rose hating. I'm fine if fans are outspoken about their opinion on characters, but I would think that a writer shows some equilibrium on the subject. He is, after all, the freaking writer. It doesn't matter if you want to throw the girl into the lake or not, show them some goddamn respect, and don't screw it up when you write them.
Pros: I have... something of a love with Moffat's brain for plot. Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief: He writes amazing plot. (I won't mention how half of Silence in the Library was taken from The Time Traveller's Wife if you don't. In fact, I probably won't mention Silence of the Library period for this half... SitL was some solid Moffat crap.)
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances is a prime example of this, I loved it. Adored it, coveted it. Had mad rendezvous in a closet with it. I do believe TEC/TDD are the strongest in terms of Moffat's plots, and I wish I could believe that he could keep it up. I liked Girl in the Fireplace, it's a very good episode, with it's own very lovely concept. I like Reinette, I just don't ship her quite as enthusiastically with the Doctor as I do with Rose. That understandably makes me a filthy pigrat cow, but unfortunately, I like to ship, and I latched onto Doctor/Rose because they were cute, adorable, and incredibly dorky. Moffat didn't approve, but whatever.
His concepts and ideas really befuddle and dazzle me; while it's not a terribly original idea to have a story where the future and the past get mixed up in the timeline, he took it and made it original for Blink. Someone somewhere might have gotten my reaction to Blink, my abject disappointment for it because it wasn't as good as everyone told me it was, but I'm perfectly willing to accept it and enjoy it as a well written episode. His ideas, honestly. Quantum locks where if you take your eyes of them they become free? It's brilliant. It's ingenious. I never would have thought of it. There's always the feeling that things might move behind your back when you're not watching, but this was an entirely creative way of going about it. He takes normal fear and makes it into something special. Something that could be real.
I love Girl in the Fireplace because it's beautiful. Not the greatest plot, but a creepy and unique idea about a ship using human parts to fix itself. It's almost human-like insanity in a way. I'm Madame Du Pompadour as well. I need your brain to be me again. It's sick, twisted, yet eerily rational logic. It is Madame Du Pompadour. And it needs Madame Du Pompadour to work again. It's even waiting for her to grow up to the right age, the same as itself. I love the idea. It makes my heart ache cause it's so... just... so. It makes me feel pathetic and weak because I know such epiphanies would never come to me, and honestly? Frustrates me a lot. No, but, I'll admit it's not the greatest plot. All the bits I like about it, the time windows, the ship, the robots and the clock, they're all ideas that make the story work, but the story wasn't all that wonderful in itself.
Then we come to The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances aaaaall over again. Do you know how much I adore this episode? It's brilliant. You think of zombies as mindless, brainless corpses, milling around saying 'graaaaah' all the time, trying to eat your brain, but he somehow takes it and makes it even scarier. Turns it into a little boy with a gas mask on. In the grittiness of WWII England, it really fits. Everything fits. I know this isn't all Moffat's doing, but I loved the costuming, the lighting, the whole feel of the episode, it just flowed all together and I really really enjoyed it. One piece of brilliance after another, though. Gas-masked zombies, nanogenes, dancing on the London Blitz, the whole scene with the tape that practically injected goosebumps right into my bloodstream. I love it. I love it all. The Doctor talks to cats. It's all good.
As much as I loathe and despise Silence in the Library, I do really like Forest of the Dead. For those people who said they were waiting for the second part, you're a better person than me, since I was expecting to hate it with a passion. Which might be why I liked it, since my expectations were so desperately low, but no, I did enjoy FotD. Er... I'm tempted to go into things about how "companions kick so much more ass when they're not with the Doctor", but I won't. I just want to say that it was better in the second parter because there wasn't this whole "STAY OUT OF THE SHADOWS, STAY OUT OF THE SHADOWS, OMG, I'M IN A SHADOW I KNOW, BUT SHADOWS ARE VERY BAD." It wasn't frustrating in the whole pure irony that was in SitL. I loved Donna's own little world, her children and god, Catherine's acting was so bloody amazing when they disappeared. It's a fantasy world, but it feels real, and if it feels real, then you feel for it as though it's real. Just because it's fake doesn't mean you can't laugh and cry and love and fall in love because of it. And River. I didn't like her at first, because I thought she was 'Meh' and devoid of most personality, but in FotD, she really came into it for me. I really don't understand why everyone's all screaming "OMFG, BUT IF RIVER TRUSTED THE DOCTOR, WHY DIDN'T SHE JUST LEAVE?"
I... wait... what? If she trusted the Doctor, why didn't she just take his advice and leave? Let me pose to you all this question. Donna, Martha, Jack, Rose, Sarah Jane, EVERYONE trusts the Doctor, yes? They'd trust him with their lives and they constantly have. They love him and he loves all of them back. So. Would Donna have left? Would Martha have left? Would Jack have left? Would Sarah Jane, would anyone, would Rose have left him just because he told them to? No. If River and the Doctor is a relationship, platonic or otherwise, if she trusted him, especially if she trusted him, she would never, ever have left. Then there's the whole indignation of "She handcuffed him to a wall and made him watch" thing that really confuses me. I didn't have a problem with it. Yes, I felt sorry for the Doctor because he was forced to watch, but 1) if she hadn't handcuffed him, he most certainly would have stopped her and 2) River's ending just wouldn't have worked otherwise. Of course she knocked him out. Do you honestly think the Doctor would have just said "Yes, go on, take my place and kill yourself for me. I'm totally fine with that." He knew it was deadly, she knew it was deadly. He never would have sacrificed her, even if she was everything he most hated. He's the Doctor. If you want to sacrifice your life, it's not recommended that you try to do it while he's conscious, because HE WON'T LET YOU, HE'S THE GODDAMN DOCTOR.
Ugh, the strange thing about Silence in the Library -- I absolutely freaking adore the first twenty minutes of it. The camera work, the music, the identical Doctor Donnaing. It's lovely. It seems like a child's dream, but it has the Doctor and Donna, and you know that they're real, so who is this child and what is this dream. And the scene when the girl starts crying because the Doctor's fiddling with the security camera? I just.. that scene is just so love to me. Then it starts going down hill, but this is the Pro section of the Moff discussion, so I'll wait until Cons. I did love the whole scene with ghosting with character-I-don't-remember-the-name-of. It was another burst of Catherine being awesome, even if it was sort of obviously stuck in to say "cry, bitches, cry," considering Donna talked to the girl for all of two minutes. But it was still a brilliantly written and preformed scene.
Another thing I'm appreciative about in Steven Moffat's case is his ability to remind us that this is, in fact, not just a show for children. He does bring a bit of adult humour into the show, and I like that sometimes. It does make me a little tetchy because I am, of course, an incredibly repressed and squeamish person, and I was really surprised at that whole scene in Blink with the nekkid guy, but he does remind us that this is the 21st century, there's sex, get over it. Dancing with Jack, snogging with Pompadour, handcuffs with River.
I would continue to say that he has some great dialogue, but honestly? All the DW episodes have their own amazing dialogue. Everyone's good at one liners, Steven's isn't any better or worse.
Cons: The problem I have with Moffat is, first and foremost, his characterisation. He's... just absolute shodding rubbish at it, do you know that? It always feels like to me when I'm watching Girl in the Fireplace that he put so much character into Reinette that he completely forgot about Rose and Mickey. I've read this somewhere and I utterly agree. The main problem I have with GitF would have been solved by four words from Rose. "We've got a horse." Whoever said that, thank you, thank you, thank you, because you're so freaking right. Four freaking words. It would have entirely solved everything for me. It would have taken ten seconds.
He takes his original characters and practically overpowers them over the current companions. Another reason I hated Silence in the Library? What was "That was just something clever to make you shut up" line about? And where was Donna's witty comeback? To be very blunt, just what the fuck happened right there?
I'll take this one episode at a time again. It's easier that way. I'll even do it backwards.
Silence in the Library generally pisses me off in this area. Do you know I can't remember who the hell that idiot girl was who got eaten by the Vashta Nerada? I don't remember her name, I just remember that she was pretty, extremely pale, had red lips and was an absolute airhead. And she died. That's about it. I don't remember her name, I also don't care. The only reason I remember Proper Dave and Other Dave is because they had their two lines of funny. The only reason I remember the only girl who was eaten in Forest is because of how the Nerada used her. That's not how you make memorable characters, by giving them funny names and funny lines. You make memorable characters by making backstories, by making them people, not just things you stamped a one-sided personality to. I don't even remember what Proper Dave and Other Dave were doing there. One died, who the hell cared. And you know why I hate this so much? Because I know that an assembled cast can still all be developed and fleshed out in two episodes.
Do you remember The Impossible Planet/Satan's Pit? One of the many things I loved about that episode, was that scene where the Beast is naming them all, along with their fears and weaknesses. What I love about it is that it isn't an easy way of giving them their backstories, you sort of already knew their backstories by how the acted, by who they were. You looked at Jefferson and you knew he was a man with a gun. A veteran of sorts. You looked at Zach and you knew he was the tired but loyal leader. You looked at Ida and you saw the uncertain scientist. You saw Danny and you thought he was a bit off, too relaxed. You saw Toby and you knew he was young, innocent, kind of a dork. Anything the Beast said just elaborated and built on that. It was established. It was done. You can write such a good ensemble cast. So why couldn't you, Mr. Moffat. You just give us these people, who are pretty much little more than meat walking around to get eaten.
The really biting thing about Silence in the Library is his complete lack of consideration for even the Doctor's characterisation. I understand that the Doctor and Donna have a mild teasing and belittling going between them, but they always have a respect. His "just something to make you shut up" line just struck on FIVE BILLION WRONG CHORDS WITH ME that I wanted to scream at my screen in frustration. And if it wasn't that, it was the complete lack of Donna comebacks that really irritated me. Are you telling me that if Donna was told to shut up that she wouldn't tell them to shove it up their arse and go take a running jump?
And besides that, this episode was just rubbish in general. Moffat can write frightening stuff, but he can't write terror, as he was so obviously trying for here. Also it had massive amounts of plotholes, everyone was stupid, and everyone walked into shadows all the time. I hate Silence and I hate it with a fierce passion.
Blink, as I've said, was hardly my favourite Moffat episode, let alone my favourite episode in any margin, and I know perfectly well that it's only because I'm retarded and everyone had to go ruining it for me by screaming it in my ear that it was great. Between the plot and writing, his characterisation does have its good points. Sally's friend who goes into the future doesn't have much of one, but her grandson has. Sally has great characterisation in this episode. But why? Because she had it mostly to herself, she had that long to make herself into a proper character. Plus, she was the main character for the episode, that always helps. Like I said, Moffat's good at focusing on his own characters, at the cost of everyone else.
Martha? Got like five lines. Don't even remember what they were. Something about lizards, stuck her head into the screen and complained about the Doctor (don't have anything against that, it must have been hell), and kind of just stood there while the Doctor explained the whole situation to two-dimensional-guy-who-hit-on-Sally. Heaven's sake, Martha had more use in The Doctor's Daughter (even if for however much I hate that episode, Martha was kind of awesome in it) an episode I sometimes forget Martha was even in, that's how much use she was in it. In Blink it's only memorable because she's scarce and you notice it more when she pops up.
I really do like Girl in the Fireplace (I feel I need to mention this a lot because I get a lot of crap for being a D/R shipper, even if I like everyone), but I do have some problems with it. The real flaw is with Mickey, I think, here. At this moment in time, it's after School Reunion and before Age of Steel. Mickey goes from the tin dog to defender of the Earth. Did Moff show any of this? No. Why? Cause he didn't even read the scripts before and after his. Let's try a little continuity here, eh, Mr. Moffat? It might make us a bit happier if you actually care about the Doctor's current companions. One of the reasons I'm glad Moff's taking head writer is because he won't leave out the current companions any more because they're his own characters. And, you know. He'll actually keep something of a continuity if he's writing the whole arc, jesus christ.
Anyway, yes. I'm glad that Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel were good as they were because they made Mickey all on their own. It would, however, been even nicer with a bit of support from the Moff. When I look back, I keep thinking 'this needs more Mickey scenes, this needs more Mickey scenes'. Mickey didn't do anything. He wasn't interesting, he sat there, he walked around and he asked Rose if the Doctor was coming back. There was no slight glimpses of 'Mickey the hero' in this. It was just all still 'Mickey', and damn all Moff did with that too. In fact, I think he even reduced him back to 'Mickey the coward'.
Despite everything, however, I do like what he did with Rose here. She was barely in it, I agree, but she did what Rose would do. The Doctor left, so she took an ice gun and started looking around. And whatever the Doctor/Reinette relationship was, Rose was quiet and accepting of it because... well, I suppose I'm allowed to get a little shippy here, but I think Rose thought that he was really in love, and when you love someone, really love someone as I think Rose did, you don't get in the way if the person you're in love with loves someone else. Her timid 'why her' always breaks my heart, honestly. The way she immediately rectifies it later. I feel so sorry for her, because it must have hurt so much, but she's Rose, and she wouldn't get in the way of what she honestly thought was real. I hate reading GitF fics where Rose is bitter and jealous and spends a lot of her time crying. That's not Rose. Rose is strong and she isn't petty or stupid. Well, she's petty, *laughs*, just a little, but that's Rose, that's human, and she's smart enough to sober up when it gets too much. (Speaking of which, Rose did get good GSCE scores as canon in my head, so I think she's smart, maybe not brilliant or anything like that, but I think she knows her share of good knowledge along with her street smarts.) I do like GitF fics, though. I just wish I'd find something that wasn't Reinette bashing and really good to read. I've gotten a few, but a lot of the other ones follow the same annoying vein.
Er... this is why I can't have nice things. I somehow turn it into shippy talk.
I'll very readily admit that The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances doesn't have the annoying disregard of companions as his later episodes have. I think everyone was well rounded and well done, but I was just always confused at the Doctor leaving Rose behind without noticing. Seriously? When he was Nine too. That's kind of weird. But overall, everything was just fine.
My recent, and more personal miff, comes with Moff's "Rose is a clingy, needy girlfriend" quote he blathered out a few weeks ago. You know, I really don't understand this whole "Rose was clingy in Series 2" thing? I'm generally very confused by it. Rose? Needy? Yeah, that's totally why she stepped out of the elevator in New Earth and didn't go back to go get the Doctor. Totally why she took an ice gun and went off wandering in Fireplace and later left him alone because she knew she had to at the end of the episode. Totally why she said she'd go into the factory with her father in Steel and told him that there was no way he was stopping her. Totally why she suggested they find their own clues, figured out the whole mystery before he did in Lantern. If anything, Series 2 was mostly about the Doctor needing Rose. "Get her back to me." "No, not to you." "Always wait five and a half hours." "There's no stopping you, is there?" "There's no power on this Earth that can stop me!" etc, etc, etc, ETC. I'm sorry, who was clingy again? 'Course Rose has her moments, "Where the hell have you been!?" "Is that what you're going to do to me?" "No, I'm going to stay here. With him." "I made my choice a long time ago and I'm never going to leave you." But, you know, they don't strike me as very clingy. Except maybe the School Reunion one, but that episode was riddled with 'wtf'. Now that I'm much more familiar with Sarah Jane, I'm rather disappointed that they wrote her as someone who waited their entire life for the Doctor. She just doesn't strike me as that kind of person. It struck me as very irritating that Rose never considered that the Doctor travelled with someone else. He's nine hundred years old, and he's had companions that had come and gone while he was with her. I suppose it was just one of those things she never really thought about. But yeah. What the hell, Rose is not clingy.
People have told me Moffat's quote was a joke, but really, it doesn't sound that way, I think it holds a veil of truth under the words. But like I said. It's fine if you want to throw her in a lake, but you're a writer, so keep your mouth shut and don't screw up her character or I will knife you in the neck.
Well, this is much too long for Moffat's section already, so I will write up RTD's part tomorrow. You know, if anyone cares.