Doctor Who 50th

[mr_orgue]

Spoilers. Indirect kinda.

Reposted from the NZDWFC board...It was very Moffat, of course, but unlike most of s5 and s6 it worked for me. I think the reason is that, unlike the last few seasons, he went into this story with a purpose. The time war was a wound at the heart of the show - and probably a necessary one, certainly a powerful and

Comments

[mr_orgue]

As I was typing this post I included "narrative" along with continuity as another thing that Moffat couldn't do. I deleted it because "narrative" wasn't the right word for what I meant. But I was thinking of the same kind of stuff you talk about here. It's definitely a big weakness of both showrunners.

But - I don't think this weakens the emotional key-change, as you put it. The point is never the plot detail, it's always the emotional arc. And while it'd be better if they were both in play - MUCH better - I'm on board with handwaving the former to give more space to the latter. In this case, it didn't matter that the solution was a bit silly and basically the same as what the bad time lords were up to in the End of Time; what mattered was that the Doctor was too trapped in his/their guilt to get perspective on the situation until an external fresh perspective jolted him out of it (itself prompted by seeing something redemptive in the Hurt Doctor); and then that the solution needed the help of his/their former selves to complete the redemption of the lost Doctor. For me that stuff worked just fine.

[mashugenah]

We're well and truly into "emotional reaction" territory here, so there's definitely room to differ in conclusion without disagreeing on the observable inputs.

[mrteufel]

Hurt Doctor
Physician, heal thyself