Vampires Of Venice Recap
For the record, this is my third time watching this episode. I have a problem. But here we go!
Guess what I just found out that completely blew my mind: Rosanna is Helen McCrory. Aka Narcissa Malfoy!
I KNEW SHE LOOKED FAMILIAR. Anyway, maybe I'm the last person to realize this, but it broke my brain a little bit. Also, apparently the guy who voices Dobby is going to be The Dream Lord (which: lolwut) in next week's episode. Oh, Britain. *snuggles your small worldedness*
So the episode starts with Rosanna not even letting Isabella shop for school supplies, like a reinforced neck protector, before joining her school, but that doesn't matter, because THEN WE SEE THE BEST OPENING EVER.
Rory's shirt. Rory's SHIRT. RORY'S SHIRT.
Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, I have to admit that the more I watch it, the more it depresses me, because Rory is so madly in love with Amy, and he's such a puppy, and she's so messed up, and it only gets worse once they're together, and saaaad. Also, have you noticed that every time they think we need to be reminded of Amy's Crazy, they cut to the wedding dress in the shadows? I hope she doesn't get alien goop on it before getting to wear it or something, because seriously. So many shots of the dress.
I have no idea why Eleven had to burst through a cake to get to Rory, but maybe it's some newfangled form of therapy. It's adorably Eleven, though; finding the hardest way to do something simple and acting as if it's everyone else who's mad. And the way he asks for a jumper for the previous occupant of the cake. Makes me wonder if he has to approve Amy's outfits before she leaves the TARDIS. Hey! Maybe that's why she's wearing the scarf with the crazyass fishnets this week; he didn't want her to catch a chill.
Brilliant going in on the awkward silence. Jane Espenson would be proud.
The Doctor is such. a. dork. With the goggles. and the...harness thing. and the random sparks. And the weirdly intense "I always look forward to that." Oh, Eleven.
As you may have noticed, because I've already seen this episode twice, this is probably going to be kind of...different and choppy. Hope you can deal.
So, the Doctor checks his watch for the year. Is this new? Has Eleven always had a watch? Have any other Doctors had watches? Or have all the Doctors had watches, and I'm just dumb? I don't think I've ever noticed it before now, and it's interesting. His head is like a big, floating, interdimensional space clock, yet he wears a watch.
If someone could please explain why the "vampires" feel the need to take midday walks wearing lots of sheer white clothing which clearly lets in light, I would be very thankful.
And Eleven abandons Amy and Rory to rekindle their love or something, and he goes to investigate the school, starting by asking...
okay. I need to pause this recap for a second by saying that I didn't know what Isabella's father's name was, so I asked Wikipedia, and they say that's it's Guido.
.....
I LIVE AT THE JERSEY SHORE, OKAY? HIS NAME IS GUIDO?!?! REALLY?! MAKES ME DO THIS:
LOLING FOREVER.
professor_spork informs me that it's pronounced Gi-do in the Confidential, but I'm going to fix that problem by calling him The Situation* for the rest of this recap.
So ANYWAY. Then Rosanna and her creepy son are creepy, and Amy and Rory are awkward and painful. The Doctor really doesn't know how to do this whole couple's therapy thing. He does the exact wrong thing, which is taking Rory and bringing him into their world. First of all, it puts Rory in the really uncomfortable position of being the outsider when he should be the focus of their attention considering what they were doing behind his back. He has to get used to a new world and a new Amy all at once, and he's in shock and doesn't know whether to bring it up or ignore it, but really, he shouldn't have to; Amy should. But her way of dealing with everything is to avoid it-- she didn't want to marry the Doctor and have his little, floppy-haired babies, she wanted a one night stand to blow off some steam. Essentially, the Doctor gave her that by wisking her off to Venice with Rory, which validates her issues. She and Rory don't need to escape from their problems; they need to deal with them. A locked room--with them tied to separate chairs so Amy couldn't try any funny business-- would have been ideal, but instead he put them in a kaleidoscope of distraction. Well done.
Amy Pond and I have a similar response to pictures being taken of us: pull a stupid face. I would be such a bad celebrity. For...more reasons than that I am not photogenic, but just saying.
LIBRARY CARD WITH THE FIRST DOCTOR SO MUCH LUFF.
Amy and Eleven giggle and bounce while Rory is confused, and I know I was supposed to be reminded of Tooth and Claw like everyone else, but I was reminded of this instead:
Y'know what I also found kind of wonderful? When they're in The Situation's house, discussing their options, Amy and the Doctor both think of sneaking her into the school as a student so she can get the rest of them in to bring the place down. Of course the Doctor's opposed...at first...but he's also proud. She's not only thinking, but she's thinking bravely and smartly and dangerously-- those are always his kinds of girls. There's the barest hint of a smile before he starts with his "No! Nonononono!" Go Matt Smith for really working that moment. It says so much about the Doctor-Companion relationship. Brilliant. Also, Matt does a mean vampire face. Really, terrifying. xD
Amy. When you enter a house of maybe-vampires, it is not appropriate to first tell your fiance to tell your new alien bff that you'll see him soon, and then try to comfort your fiance with a half-assed, "I'll be fine!" Priorities, sweetie.
I know I shouldn't compare Amy to Rose, because they're very, very different people, but...I sort of couldn't help it when she started talking to Isabella. Amy's so direct-- Rose would've comforted her or befriended her first, but with Amy, it's like an interrogation. Which is the smarter thing to do because time is limited, but it's not necessarily the kinder option. Amy really needs to work on relating to people; it's like she's so afraid of vulnerability in herself that she shuns it in other people. Makes me wonder how she's going to end up with Rory, whom I love dearly but who's, y'know, quite a bit more attached than she is.
Rory and the Doctor have a bit of a man-to-man talk about Amy, which is....sigh. Rory's hurt, and the Doctor is so clueless and is so going about all of this the wrong way, like I said before. I just want to slap him sometimes.
The scene in the Mysterious Green Room of Greenness legitimately gave me the wiggins the first time I saw it, because, like...they capture her and tie her up and start hurting her, and that's not supposed to happen to Amy Pond. She's Amy fucking Pond! Also, it gave me some Hermione-at-Malfoy-manor-in-DH flashbacks, and badbadbad. (which is interesting knowing that Rosanna is Helen McCrory, who was originally supposed to play Bellatrix. She would have been fantastic)
Rory speaks the truthiest truth of the truths, and I completely fall in love with him.
"Y'know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks; it's that you make them want to impress you. You-- you make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."
And then Amy's a badass again and kicks the space fish, and all is right with the world.
Except for the really depressing shot of The Situation in Rory's shirt, having just lost his daughter and so close to actually losing her, though he doesn't know it.
I really like the question game sequence. Even though the questions don't really make sense and the answers make even less sense. But it kinda feels like we're getting answers! And Matt and Helen just have really good chemistry...other than the awkward "think of the children" moment. They're both so talented. God, say what you want about the Moff-- the actors are carrying this series Although after this episode and School Reunion, I'm a huge fan of Toby Whithouse. This is definitely my favorite of the series so far.
HE GIVES HER A COOKIE. CUTE. CUTE.
And I love the "Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush." It's very Eleven but also adorably Doctor.
The shot where the Doctor realizes what The Situation's going to do was interesting. It was almost like the Google streetview thing from Eleventh Hour, but from his perspective. I don't know why I find it hilarious and perfect when Eleven's a douche about how intelligent he is and how he's going to think them out of whatever mess they're in but when they communicate they visually, it's just annoying. I guess it's overkill, and I'd rather see the Doctor being smart than have the Doctor look like he's being smart.
Can I just say: BADASS LIGHTNING IS BADASS. I bet they called Rosanna when they shot the credits. I actually really liked the whole drown-them-from-above thing, because it surprised me. I was thinking your normal destructive villain pattern, so I figured Rosanna was going to try to overflow the rivers or burn down the houses or dissolve the land or...something. It was very like her character that she didn't; she was never there to destroy, but rather to help-- only her own kind, of course, but still. Doctor Who is very good at villains who aren't villains.
FINALLY the Doctor does something right for Rory and Amy. "I tell you to do something, and you do it!" It fits with their father/daughter vibe, and of course he wants her to be safe, especially since Rory's tagging along now, and he's never done this before....but he doesn't call her Amelia, so we know he doesn't mean it. Loooove that. And I love that Rory gets it even when Amy doesn't; Rory seems to really understand people, and as the series progresses, I think he's going to be a hero. I wasn't sure about him at first, but he's wonderful. Now Amy has to learn to see it.
On the other hand...oh, Rory.
Then again, he's much better in a crisis than Amy is. When she's cornered-- and it's the same thing that happened when she couldn't see-- she just loses herself. It happened in the green room, as well, and while both of those times she's regained control of the situation and stricken back, it's a worrying trait for a Companion to have. It's like she's so used to moving forwards and going and going that when she's stopped, she freezes. And of course her way of getting back on top is, uh...literally getting on top of whoever's closest. And maybe I'm being too harsh, because I do absolutely love Amy, but she is so messed up.
And Rory stays to help even though he knows he shouldn't, even though he knows it's stupid and dangerous and it's the effect the Doctor has on people and he should save Amy and himself. He stays, because they're not leaving him. Hell yeah.
TOO HIGH UP AND TOO SLIPPERY AND I WAS VERREH WORRIED AND DID NOT LIKE THIS. (I don't like heights)
I loved the scene with the Doctor and Rosanna, but man, it's good it was Eleven. Although I hope people don't keep killing themselves in front of him and blaming him for it, because he's so cute and fluffy and new and yet crotchety already, and he really doesn't need that kind of influence.
"Got mah spaceship, got mah boys! My work here is done." Adorable. I cannot wait for more Rory and for more Amy/Rory and for more Doctor awkwardly trying to help but making things worse and sometimes maybe better. I love them all.
Oh, and whatever, Silence. I've decided not to talk to you, because you never return my calls. We'll see how it goes at the series finale.
*I've never seen an episode of Jersey Shore, I hate that show, none of them actually live here, but I do, and I hate it, so I'm allowed to mercilessly make fun of it. If you make Jersey Shore jokes based on nothing but the reality show, I will probably get annoyed at you.
Guess what I just found out that completely blew my mind: Rosanna is Helen McCrory. Aka Narcissa Malfoy!
I KNEW SHE LOOKED FAMILIAR. Anyway, maybe I'm the last person to realize this, but it broke my brain a little bit. Also, apparently the guy who voices Dobby is going to be The Dream Lord (which: lolwut) in next week's episode. Oh, Britain. *snuggles your small worldedness*
So the episode starts with Rosanna not even letting Isabella shop for school supplies, like a reinforced neck protector, before joining her school, but that doesn't matter, because THEN WE SEE THE BEST OPENING EVER.
Rory's shirt. Rory's SHIRT. RORY'S SHIRT.
Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, I have to admit that the more I watch it, the more it depresses me, because Rory is so madly in love with Amy, and he's such a puppy, and she's so messed up, and it only gets worse once they're together, and saaaad. Also, have you noticed that every time they think we need to be reminded of Amy's Crazy, they cut to the wedding dress in the shadows? I hope she doesn't get alien goop on it before getting to wear it or something, because seriously. So many shots of the dress.
I have no idea why Eleven had to burst through a cake to get to Rory, but maybe it's some newfangled form of therapy. It's adorably Eleven, though; finding the hardest way to do something simple and acting as if it's everyone else who's mad. And the way he asks for a jumper for the previous occupant of the cake. Makes me wonder if he has to approve Amy's outfits before she leaves the TARDIS. Hey! Maybe that's why she's wearing the scarf with the crazyass fishnets this week; he didn't want her to catch a chill.
Brilliant going in on the awkward silence. Jane Espenson would be proud.
The Doctor is such. a. dork. With the goggles. and the...harness thing. and the random sparks. And the weirdly intense "I always look forward to that." Oh, Eleven.
As you may have noticed, because I've already seen this episode twice, this is probably going to be kind of...different and choppy. Hope you can deal.
So, the Doctor checks his watch for the year. Is this new? Has Eleven always had a watch? Have any other Doctors had watches? Or have all the Doctors had watches, and I'm just dumb? I don't think I've ever noticed it before now, and it's interesting. His head is like a big, floating, interdimensional space clock, yet he wears a watch.
If someone could please explain why the "vampires" feel the need to take midday walks wearing lots of sheer white clothing which clearly lets in light, I would be very thankful.
And Eleven abandons Amy and Rory to rekindle their love or something, and he goes to investigate the school, starting by asking...
okay. I need to pause this recap for a second by saying that I didn't know what Isabella's father's name was, so I asked Wikipedia, and they say that's it's Guido.
.....
I LIVE AT THE JERSEY SHORE, OKAY? HIS NAME IS GUIDO?!?! REALLY?! MAKES ME DO THIS:
LOLING FOREVER.
professor_spork informs me that it's pronounced Gi-do in the Confidential, but I'm going to fix that problem by calling him The Situation* for the rest of this recap.
So ANYWAY. Then Rosanna and her creepy son are creepy, and Amy and Rory are awkward and painful. The Doctor really doesn't know how to do this whole couple's therapy thing. He does the exact wrong thing, which is taking Rory and bringing him into their world. First of all, it puts Rory in the really uncomfortable position of being the outsider when he should be the focus of their attention considering what they were doing behind his back. He has to get used to a new world and a new Amy all at once, and he's in shock and doesn't know whether to bring it up or ignore it, but really, he shouldn't have to; Amy should. But her way of dealing with everything is to avoid it-- she didn't want to marry the Doctor and have his little, floppy-haired babies, she wanted a one night stand to blow off some steam. Essentially, the Doctor gave her that by wisking her off to Venice with Rory, which validates her issues. She and Rory don't need to escape from their problems; they need to deal with them. A locked room--with them tied to separate chairs so Amy couldn't try any funny business-- would have been ideal, but instead he put them in a kaleidoscope of distraction. Well done.
Amy Pond and I have a similar response to pictures being taken of us: pull a stupid face. I would be such a bad celebrity. For...more reasons than that I am not photogenic, but just saying.
LIBRARY CARD WITH THE FIRST DOCTOR SO MUCH LUFF.
Amy and Eleven giggle and bounce while Rory is confused, and I know I was supposed to be reminded of Tooth and Claw like everyone else, but I was reminded of this instead:
Y'know what I also found kind of wonderful? When they're in The Situation's house, discussing their options, Amy and the Doctor both think of sneaking her into the school as a student so she can get the rest of them in to bring the place down. Of course the Doctor's opposed...at first...but he's also proud. She's not only thinking, but she's thinking bravely and smartly and dangerously-- those are always his kinds of girls. There's the barest hint of a smile before he starts with his "No! Nonononono!" Go Matt Smith for really working that moment. It says so much about the Doctor-Companion relationship. Brilliant. Also, Matt does a mean vampire face. Really, terrifying. xD
Amy. When you enter a house of maybe-vampires, it is not appropriate to first tell your fiance to tell your new alien bff that you'll see him soon, and then try to comfort your fiance with a half-assed, "I'll be fine!" Priorities, sweetie.
I know I shouldn't compare Amy to Rose, because they're very, very different people, but...I sort of couldn't help it when she started talking to Isabella. Amy's so direct-- Rose would've comforted her or befriended her first, but with Amy, it's like an interrogation. Which is the smarter thing to do because time is limited, but it's not necessarily the kinder option. Amy really needs to work on relating to people; it's like she's so afraid of vulnerability in herself that she shuns it in other people. Makes me wonder how she's going to end up with Rory, whom I love dearly but who's, y'know, quite a bit more attached than she is.
Rory and the Doctor have a bit of a man-to-man talk about Amy, which is....sigh. Rory's hurt, and the Doctor is so clueless and is so going about all of this the wrong way, like I said before. I just want to slap him sometimes.
The scene in the Mysterious Green Room of Greenness legitimately gave me the wiggins the first time I saw it, because, like...they capture her and tie her up and start hurting her, and that's not supposed to happen to Amy Pond. She's Amy fucking Pond! Also, it gave me some Hermione-at-Malfoy-manor-in-DH flashbacks, and badbadbad. (which is interesting knowing that Rosanna is Helen McCrory, who was originally supposed to play Bellatrix. She would have been fantastic)
Rory speaks the truthiest truth of the truths, and I completely fall in love with him.
"Y'know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks; it's that you make them want to impress you. You-- you make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."
And then Amy's a badass again and kicks the space fish, and all is right with the world.
Except for the really depressing shot of The Situation in Rory's shirt, having just lost his daughter and so close to actually losing her, though he doesn't know it.
I really like the question game sequence. Even though the questions don't really make sense and the answers make even less sense. But it kinda feels like we're getting answers! And Matt and Helen just have really good chemistry...other than the awkward "think of the children" moment. They're both so talented. God, say what you want about the Moff-- the actors are carrying this series Although after this episode and School Reunion, I'm a huge fan of Toby Whithouse. This is definitely my favorite of the series so far.
HE GIVES HER A COOKIE. CUTE. CUTE.
And I love the "Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush." It's very Eleven but also adorably Doctor.
The shot where the Doctor realizes what The Situation's going to do was interesting. It was almost like the Google streetview thing from Eleventh Hour, but from his perspective. I don't know why I find it hilarious and perfect when Eleven's a douche about how intelligent he is and how he's going to think them out of whatever mess they're in but when they communicate they visually, it's just annoying. I guess it's overkill, and I'd rather see the Doctor being smart than have the Doctor look like he's being smart.
Can I just say: BADASS LIGHTNING IS BADASS. I bet they called Rosanna when they shot the credits. I actually really liked the whole drown-them-from-above thing, because it surprised me. I was thinking your normal destructive villain pattern, so I figured Rosanna was going to try to overflow the rivers or burn down the houses or dissolve the land or...something. It was very like her character that she didn't; she was never there to destroy, but rather to help-- only her own kind, of course, but still. Doctor Who is very good at villains who aren't villains.
FINALLY the Doctor does something right for Rory and Amy. "I tell you to do something, and you do it!" It fits with their father/daughter vibe, and of course he wants her to be safe, especially since Rory's tagging along now, and he's never done this before....but he doesn't call her Amelia, so we know he doesn't mean it. Loooove that. And I love that Rory gets it even when Amy doesn't; Rory seems to really understand people, and as the series progresses, I think he's going to be a hero. I wasn't sure about him at first, but he's wonderful. Now Amy has to learn to see it.
On the other hand...oh, Rory.
Then again, he's much better in a crisis than Amy is. When she's cornered-- and it's the same thing that happened when she couldn't see-- she just loses herself. It happened in the green room, as well, and while both of those times she's regained control of the situation and stricken back, it's a worrying trait for a Companion to have. It's like she's so used to moving forwards and going and going that when she's stopped, she freezes. And of course her way of getting back on top is, uh...literally getting on top of whoever's closest. And maybe I'm being too harsh, because I do absolutely love Amy, but she is so messed up.
And Rory stays to help even though he knows he shouldn't, even though he knows it's stupid and dangerous and it's the effect the Doctor has on people and he should save Amy and himself. He stays, because they're not leaving him. Hell yeah.
TOO HIGH UP AND TOO SLIPPERY AND I WAS VERREH WORRIED AND DID NOT LIKE THIS. (I don't like heights)
I loved the scene with the Doctor and Rosanna, but man, it's good it was Eleven. Although I hope people don't keep killing themselves in front of him and blaming him for it, because he's so cute and fluffy and new and yet crotchety already, and he really doesn't need that kind of influence.
"Got mah spaceship, got mah boys! My work here is done." Adorable. I cannot wait for more Rory and for more Amy/Rory and for more Doctor awkwardly trying to help but making things worse and sometimes maybe better. I love them all.
Oh, and whatever, Silence. I've decided not to talk to you, because you never return my calls. We'll see how it goes at the series finale.
*I've never seen an episode of Jersey Shore, I hate that show, none of them actually live here, but I do, and I hate it, so I'm allowed to mercilessly make fun of it. If you make Jersey Shore jokes based on nothing but the reality show, I will probably get annoyed at you.