Doctor Who?
The Doctor Who finale was good, but didn't change my mind on my issues with the season which I have previously documented. Amy finally being granted by the writing an emotional response to the permanent loss of her child came a little too late. But I'm not in the mood to grumble, instead I'm in the mood for being positive.
So I've have been thinking since I watched it about the storylines in comparison to other similar ones and I've come to appreciate my favourite shows of the year just that much more, because two shows in particular, Being Human the Game of Thrones, dealt with some pretty similar stuff, and they did it better.
Being Human had Mitchell in the first episode of the season confronted with a prophecy of his death, and that he would be killed by a werewolf. The season then proceeded to follow Mitchell as he tried to avoid his death, then accept it but find a way out, the find out the prophecy was made up to psych him out, and then see him come to the realisation that he needs to die.
And then you have Game of Thrones, which has not one but three women who happen to be mothers, Catelyn, Cersei and Daenerys, and who take extraordinary steps to protect their children. Catelyn in particular is relevant here. Her quest to seek justice for her crippled son and security for her family lands her in the position of starting a war. Here you have a pissed off and grieving mother, who's actions often drive the plot.
There's two scenes in particular that work in comparison to the Doctor Who finale: the scene in the season finale of Being Human in which Mitchell asks George to kill him and the scene in the Game of Thrones finale when Catelyn finally has Jaime at her mercy. As individual scenes, they're wonderful, but not exceptionally more so than Doctor Who. The scene in which the Doctor asks River to kill him and in which Amy has Madame Kovarian at her mercy are quite wonderful too.
But then you look at the journeys the characters got there and that's what makes them so much better. There was consistency, continuity and depth. Mitchell never forgot that he had an axe hanging over his head, and every episode he took a few more steps towards his inevitable death, turning his friends and the audience against him but eventually coming to a painful realisation about his nature. Same with Catelyn, she's about justice from the get go, but gets disheartened as things go horribly wrong, until she's finally in a position to exact vengeance upon the person who wronged her and her son, only by that point it's hollow, because she's lost so much along the way.
And it's those journeys that make those scenes great, the slow but unrelenting build up over many episodes, and it's the attention the shows paid to characters and their journeys that made them brilliant, and what makes them satisfying watches, and why I'm looking forward to the shows to return. Toby Whithouse I think should be considered a leading contender for taking up the reigns when Moffat eventually steps aside, and the Game of Thrones writers are really doing amazing things and the show's praise is well deserved.
Anyway, what I am saying is that while the season finale of Doctor Who did not address my problems with the season and the show under Moffat, it did succeed in making me appreciate other shows that I have been watching that much more. Which is good, I suppose. Although, I just spent five days thinking about Doctor Who and didn't end up thinking about it much at all. Not that good.
So I've have been thinking since I watched it about the storylines in comparison to other similar ones and I've come to appreciate my favourite shows of the year just that much more, because two shows in particular, Being Human the Game of Thrones, dealt with some pretty similar stuff, and they did it better.
Being Human had Mitchell in the first episode of the season confronted with a prophecy of his death, and that he would be killed by a werewolf. The season then proceeded to follow Mitchell as he tried to avoid his death, then accept it but find a way out, the find out the prophecy was made up to psych him out, and then see him come to the realisation that he needs to die.
And then you have Game of Thrones, which has not one but three women who happen to be mothers, Catelyn, Cersei and Daenerys, and who take extraordinary steps to protect their children. Catelyn in particular is relevant here. Her quest to seek justice for her crippled son and security for her family lands her in the position of starting a war. Here you have a pissed off and grieving mother, who's actions often drive the plot.
There's two scenes in particular that work in comparison to the Doctor Who finale: the scene in the season finale of Being Human in which Mitchell asks George to kill him and the scene in the Game of Thrones finale when Catelyn finally has Jaime at her mercy. As individual scenes, they're wonderful, but not exceptionally more so than Doctor Who. The scene in which the Doctor asks River to kill him and in which Amy has Madame Kovarian at her mercy are quite wonderful too.
But then you look at the journeys the characters got there and that's what makes them so much better. There was consistency, continuity and depth. Mitchell never forgot that he had an axe hanging over his head, and every episode he took a few more steps towards his inevitable death, turning his friends and the audience against him but eventually coming to a painful realisation about his nature. Same with Catelyn, she's about justice from the get go, but gets disheartened as things go horribly wrong, until she's finally in a position to exact vengeance upon the person who wronged her and her son, only by that point it's hollow, because she's lost so much along the way.
And it's those journeys that make those scenes great, the slow but unrelenting build up over many episodes, and it's the attention the shows paid to characters and their journeys that made them brilliant, and what makes them satisfying watches, and why I'm looking forward to the shows to return. Toby Whithouse I think should be considered a leading contender for taking up the reigns when Moffat eventually steps aside, and the Game of Thrones writers are really doing amazing things and the show's praise is well deserved.
Anyway, what I am saying is that while the season finale of Doctor Who did not address my problems with the season and the show under Moffat, it did succeed in making me appreciate other shows that I have been watching that much more. Which is good, I suppose. Although, I just spent five days thinking about Doctor Who and didn't end up thinking about it much at all. Not that good.