Doctor Who 2x8 and 2x9 Review
I might as well get my thoughts about these two episodes out in one go. I did watch last week's last week. I just finished today's. Er, technically yesterday's by now.
There is a definite something that defines a Moffat episode. I found this two parter to be very similar to The Lonely Child/Doctor Dances two parter, and also a lot like Blink. First things first, let's count down all the similiarities of Moffat episodes:
1. They all have some connection to the 51st century (except Blink)
--LC/DD: Jack is from the 51st Century
--Girl in the Fireplace: The spaceship is in the 51st century
--Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead: Takes place in the 51st century
2. Catchphrases
--Blink: "Don't Blink"
--SitL/FotD: "Count the Shadows"
-- GitF: "The Slow Path" and arguably "My Lonely Angel"
--LC/DD: "Are you my mummy?"
3. Very supernatural feel, VERY sci-fi (GitF not as much)
4. Always leaves me feeling a bit freaked out
I'll admit, Moffat is not my favorite DW writer. I'm actually not a huge fan. I mean, I'll probably end up having the man's babies because he created the character of Jack Harkness, but on the whole his episodes are not my favorite. In fact, Girl in the Fireplace goes down as one of my least favorite DW episodes ever (and no, that's not because I'm-a-hardcore-Rose/Doctor-shipper-and-I'm-mad-the-Doctor-kissed-someone-else. I could really care less about that. Besides. I think I like my Doctor asexual) I just felt all the characters were just slightly off, and I didn't fully understand the concept.
That being said.
I think Moffat has gotten MUCH better at writing 2 parters. I didn't like Lonely Child because I felt that there was no point in it, other than to set up The Doctor Dances. It was an exposition episode. They had to set up the kid, set up Nancy, set up Jack, but there was no conflict or resolve or miniature plot. The thing about 2 parters is you need one overall conflict that will span 2 episodes, but each episode by itself needs that beginning, middle, and end (even if it's a cliffhanger) and I felt LC (or TLC hahaha) was missing that. DD was one of my favorite DW episodes, but I hardly ever watch both parts unless I'm watching it with someone who has never seen DW before.
Okay, so let's talk about these episodes. I'll start with Silence in the Library, since that's only logical.
If it weren't for the crazy shadow monsters, I would love to live on that planet. Which looked very much like Coruscant, not gonna lie. But yeah, library!planet? Totally awesome.
Donna was used WONDERFULLY throughout both episodes. I think out of the companions, Donna is the most adaptable, the most relatable, and the one who gets the Doctor the most. She's not sidetracked by her romantic feelings for him the way Rose and Martha were, so she sees things they don't. They're all very caring people, and I could see any one of them talking to Ms Evangelista and seeing the cleverness in her, but I think the reaction of seeing the "ghosting" was very much Donna. I don't know if it would have worked to see Rose or Martha do it. Because they saw horrible things but never said "I want to go home" Well, Martha did eventually. But not because of that. Donna said that once, then realized it's worth it. And this is one of those horrible things she'll see, but she's learning. She's coping. She's understanding how and why the Doctor has trained himself to be unaffected by these things. Because if you don't you'll go mad. So yeah, great use of Donna.
Poor girl has now lost 2 husbands. Donna is slowly developing Tosh's track record with relationships.
I don't think I understood who Mr. Moon was. Was he that moon harddrive thing? How come the girl could turn him off?
I think the plot with the shadow monsters whose name already is lost to me was wrapped up too quickly and easily. Even though it was done with one of the best lines ever. "I'm the Doctor and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up." I just didn't understand why they were there. Did they follow their forests after they lost their trees to the books? Were they born there because of all the paper once being trees?
Losing River Song (ps: MARY SUE NAME OMG!!!!!) and him finding her on the screwdriver made me flash back to Astrid and Voyage of the Damned. Very much the same, and I found myself going "No no not again! Please let there be enough time! Come on! Just this once!!"
I have a few theories about who River Song is. I saw some spoilers, including some pictures etc that didn't show up in the episode. So I am lost. I was under the impression they were married and had kids and had this big long life together. None of that was explained, so now I am rethinking.
So here are my theories (in no special order):
1. She's Rose. Every has this theory, but frankly, I don't think that's it.
2. She's Jenny. Again, don't think that's it.
3. (and this is the one I'm going with) She has some relation/connection to Jack.
Think about it. River is from the 51st century, which is the same time Jack is from. Both are characters created by Moffat. She has the sonic blaster, and if I remember correctly, Jack mentions the place he got his being destroyed. River knew OF Donna but hadn't met her, and at least as of now, neither has Jack. River mentions going to the end of the universe with the Doctor, which only Jack and Martha did. (No I'm not saying Jack is River. Shut up)
Of course, judging by the last theory, she could also be Chantho. :)
Is it possible she's Jack's sister/daughter/best friend/cousin/ex-lover/his and Ianto's child? Maybe. Maybe she's a Time Agent, which explains the gun. Then again, maybe the Doctor gave it to her after taking it from Jack. Maybe River isn't from the 51st century, that was just the last place the Doctor left her. I don't know why, but I'm stuck on the idea of Jack's daughter. The Doctor has a daughter now, and who'd have thought that would happen? Maybe Jack could have one. Maybe he already did, remember the Torchwood pilot? "Well, at least I won't get pregnant. Never doing that again."
River could then conceivably know the Doctor's name just because her dad is the Face of Boe and he Knows Everything.
Maybe Jack entrusted River to the Doctor at one point? Or asked him to take her on as a companion? He could have left her in his care, but there would be no reason for Jack to do that. He can't die, so he'd never leave her. Unless he decided to sneak quietly away when she started catching up to him in age. As for her ending up in the 51st century, that I don't know. Hey, wouldn't it be funny if she were Jack's kid during his Time Agent days, before he'd even met the Doctor? Or pre-Time Agent days, and grew up with him as a Time Agent, hence her sonic blaster. It's hard to tell how close this event and Jack's stint as an agent are. 51st century is 100 years. Lots of wiggle room.
There's also the two years of Jack's memories that are missing. River could be a part of those two years. I'm hoping we'll get some sort of clue when Jack comes back to DW. The hint will be in his reaction to Donna. If they have any sort of interesting interaction, I'll be taking notes. If they got on really well (and I think they would, after Donna slaps him one for "saying hello") maybe they become awesome friends, and Jack raves about her to River. Yes, I am making this up as I go right now.
... Maybe she's the daughter of Jack and Donna. She's got the slightly red hair.
Ew ew EW I just grossed myself out on that one. Jack/Donna BAD COMBINATION.
Okay, I am taking that as a sign I need to go to bed and stop theorizing. And also that I need to start sleeping with a nightlight again. Nightlight gooooood.
There is a definite something that defines a Moffat episode. I found this two parter to be very similar to The Lonely Child/Doctor Dances two parter, and also a lot like Blink. First things first, let's count down all the similiarities of Moffat episodes:
1. They all have some connection to the 51st century (except Blink)
--LC/DD: Jack is from the 51st Century
--Girl in the Fireplace: The spaceship is in the 51st century
--Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead: Takes place in the 51st century
2. Catchphrases
--Blink: "Don't Blink"
--SitL/FotD: "Count the Shadows"
-- GitF: "The Slow Path" and arguably "My Lonely Angel"
--LC/DD: "Are you my mummy?"
3. Very supernatural feel, VERY sci-fi (GitF not as much)
4. Always leaves me feeling a bit freaked out
I'll admit, Moffat is not my favorite DW writer. I'm actually not a huge fan. I mean, I'll probably end up having the man's babies because he created the character of Jack Harkness, but on the whole his episodes are not my favorite. In fact, Girl in the Fireplace goes down as one of my least favorite DW episodes ever (and no, that's not because I'm-a-hardcore-Rose/Doctor-shipper-and-I'm-mad-the-Doctor-kissed-someone-else. I could really care less about that. Besides. I think I like my Doctor asexual) I just felt all the characters were just slightly off, and I didn't fully understand the concept.
That being said.
I think Moffat has gotten MUCH better at writing 2 parters. I didn't like Lonely Child because I felt that there was no point in it, other than to set up The Doctor Dances. It was an exposition episode. They had to set up the kid, set up Nancy, set up Jack, but there was no conflict or resolve or miniature plot. The thing about 2 parters is you need one overall conflict that will span 2 episodes, but each episode by itself needs that beginning, middle, and end (even if it's a cliffhanger) and I felt LC (or TLC hahaha) was missing that. DD was one of my favorite DW episodes, but I hardly ever watch both parts unless I'm watching it with someone who has never seen DW before.
Okay, so let's talk about these episodes. I'll start with Silence in the Library, since that's only logical.
If it weren't for the crazy shadow monsters, I would love to live on that planet. Which looked very much like Coruscant, not gonna lie. But yeah, library!planet? Totally awesome.
Donna was used WONDERFULLY throughout both episodes. I think out of the companions, Donna is the most adaptable, the most relatable, and the one who gets the Doctor the most. She's not sidetracked by her romantic feelings for him the way Rose and Martha were, so she sees things they don't. They're all very caring people, and I could see any one of them talking to Ms Evangelista and seeing the cleverness in her, but I think the reaction of seeing the "ghosting" was very much Donna. I don't know if it would have worked to see Rose or Martha do it. Because they saw horrible things but never said "I want to go home" Well, Martha did eventually. But not because of that. Donna said that once, then realized it's worth it. And this is one of those horrible things she'll see, but she's learning. She's coping. She's understanding how and why the Doctor has trained himself to be unaffected by these things. Because if you don't you'll go mad. So yeah, great use of Donna.
Poor girl has now lost 2 husbands. Donna is slowly developing Tosh's track record with relationships.
I don't think I understood who Mr. Moon was. Was he that moon harddrive thing? How come the girl could turn him off?
I think the plot with the shadow monsters whose name already is lost to me was wrapped up too quickly and easily. Even though it was done with one of the best lines ever. "I'm the Doctor and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up." I just didn't understand why they were there. Did they follow their forests after they lost their trees to the books? Were they born there because of all the paper once being trees?
Losing River Song (ps: MARY SUE NAME OMG!!!!!) and him finding her on the screwdriver made me flash back to Astrid and Voyage of the Damned. Very much the same, and I found myself going "No no not again! Please let there be enough time! Come on! Just this once!!"
I have a few theories about who River Song is. I saw some spoilers, including some pictures etc that didn't show up in the episode. So I am lost. I was under the impression they were married and had kids and had this big long life together. None of that was explained, so now I am rethinking.
So here are my theories (in no special order):
1. She's Rose. Every has this theory, but frankly, I don't think that's it.
2. She's Jenny. Again, don't think that's it.
3. (and this is the one I'm going with) She has some relation/connection to Jack.
Think about it. River is from the 51st century, which is the same time Jack is from. Both are characters created by Moffat. She has the sonic blaster, and if I remember correctly, Jack mentions the place he got his being destroyed. River knew OF Donna but hadn't met her, and at least as of now, neither has Jack. River mentions going to the end of the universe with the Doctor, which only Jack and Martha did. (No I'm not saying Jack is River. Shut up)
Of course, judging by the last theory, she could also be Chantho. :)
Is it possible she's Jack's sister/daughter/best friend/cousin/ex-lover/his and Ianto's child? Maybe. Maybe she's a Time Agent, which explains the gun. Then again, maybe the Doctor gave it to her after taking it from Jack. Maybe River isn't from the 51st century, that was just the last place the Doctor left her. I don't know why, but I'm stuck on the idea of Jack's daughter. The Doctor has a daughter now, and who'd have thought that would happen? Maybe Jack could have one. Maybe he already did, remember the Torchwood pilot? "Well, at least I won't get pregnant. Never doing that again."
River could then conceivably know the Doctor's name just because her dad is the Face of Boe and he Knows Everything.
Maybe Jack entrusted River to the Doctor at one point? Or asked him to take her on as a companion? He could have left her in his care, but there would be no reason for Jack to do that. He can't die, so he'd never leave her. Unless he decided to sneak quietly away when she started catching up to him in age. As for her ending up in the 51st century, that I don't know. Hey, wouldn't it be funny if she were Jack's kid during his Time Agent days, before he'd even met the Doctor? Or pre-Time Agent days, and grew up with him as a Time Agent, hence her sonic blaster. It's hard to tell how close this event and Jack's stint as an agent are. 51st century is 100 years. Lots of wiggle room.
There's also the two years of Jack's memories that are missing. River could be a part of those two years. I'm hoping we'll get some sort of clue when Jack comes back to DW. The hint will be in his reaction to Donna. If they have any sort of interesting interaction, I'll be taking notes. If they got on really well (and I think they would, after Donna slaps him one for "saying hello") maybe they become awesome friends, and Jack raves about her to River. Yes, I am making this up as I go right now.
... Maybe she's the daughter of Jack and Donna. She's got the slightly red hair.
Ew ew EW I just grossed myself out on that one. Jack/Donna BAD COMBINATION.
Okay, I am taking that as a sign I need to go to bed and stop theorizing. And also that I need to start sleeping with a nightlight again. Nightlight gooooood.