Doctor Who Midpoint
Seeing as we're at the midpoint for the latest season of Doctor Who, I thought this would be a great time for us to vent, discuss and share our thoughts on the season thus far.
If you haven't watched the latest season of Who and plan to, you may want to skip this post. To quote River Song: SPOILERS!!!!!
Here are my thoughts on the Who Season.
The Pros
River Song: It's a good thing she's only a recurring character because my God, she steals every scene she's in without even trying. More than once, she has kept otherwise abysmal episodes interesting. You know what, just bow to the mistress because you infidels aren't worthy. Could you imagine what would happen if she and Jack Harkness ever met? It would be the battle of the one liners and the sexual innuendos. I wouldn't be surprised if those two know each other and she slaps him the next time she sees him.
Non-Linear Narrative: I will say this for Moffat, when it comes to the non-linear narrative he cannot be fucked with. Blink is proof of that. Moffat works best when he's doing one episodes, because consistently, when it comes to two-parters, the plot always fizzles and plummets at the end.
Amy Kicking Ass- As horrible as the Curse of the Black Hand episode was, it was awesome to see Amy finally taking some initiative, kicking ass and taking names. That's what so frustrating about the way she's written. They show flashes of brilliance where she could be a phenomenal companion and then they reduce her back to the pretty preshus princess that must be rescued.
The Doctor's Wife: For a milestone episode that focuses on the significance of the Tardis, it was only right for it to be written by a writer of Neil Gaiman's caliber. He did a very nice job. It was a good ep.
Rory: Anyone else thinking that his ass might go rogue? He keeps showing flashes of crazy, understandably given what happened to him last season but I see him snapping before this season is over. That will make for interesting storytelling.
The Cast: I've said it before and I will say it again, despite my problems with the Moffat regime, I've got nothing against the new cast. I think each of them are pretty and brilliant and immensely talented actors. I've seen some of their other work, and I can't stop singing their praises. For actors not David Tennant and co., they were the best choice.
The Cons
Oh where do I begin?
Moffat's two-parters: He consistently manages to drop the ball in the narrative when it comes to the two parters. While the Doctor outwitting the Silence (or whoever the hell they are) and River kicking their ass were nice touches, the story overall was pretty weak in my opinion. But perhaps the biggest fail of that two parter leads to my next point.
The Minority Crumbs: Oh by the by, the secret agent man is actually gay and he wants to marry a black man. THAT'S FUNNY! AMIRITE?!!!!! The problem here is that Davies spent the previous four seasons world building Who where POCs and LGBTQs were prominent in a matter-of-fact manner. Moffat's regime, POCs and LGBTQs have all but been erased. That was a slap in the face for marginalized fans who supported Who because it was one of the few places where we were welcomed and included. So cracking jokes on this in spite of the erasure and the white washing, is what we like to refer to as a dick move.
The Curse of the Black Hand: That has to be hands down one of the shittiest episodes of Doctor Who I ever saw. The writing was sloppy did anyone else notice that pirate that just vanished? Doctor Who eps, even the ones I don't care for, still have a standard and this ep? WTF?!!!!!
The Crappy Season Arc Teases: Say what you will about former Who showrunner Russell T. Davies, when he created season story arcs, clues were dropped but it was done with nuance and subtlety. Not only that but each episode was strongly written, even the oneshot filler eps. Moffat's formula? Do a bunch of filler episodes, tease at the overall story arc and then address it in the season finale. You have got to keep us intrigued. You can't just keep showing the crack in the wall or the woman with the eye piece. There needs to be new developments each episode, major developments so we can stay interested and WANT to watch each ep and be both excited and pissed when the season finale arrives. Excited because whoa shit, payoff but pissed because damn, no more Who this season.
The Tardis Being Taken Out Of Comission: That trope has gotten beyond old. Every time 11 and co. arrives at a new world, the Tardis conveniently malfunctions. That ocassionally happening makes sense. Three or four eps in a row, are you kidding me?
The Erasure of POCs and LGBTQs: I touched on this last season and sadly my point still proven this season.
The Rory/Amy Storyline: It's a whitewashed rehash of Rose and Mickey. Been there done that. It was better the first time.
No Eye Candy: Davies wasn't slick but not for lack of trying. It wasn't by happenstance that when a gay man was running the show, we plenty of sexy men being cast in each episode of Who. Sadly with him gone, that has come to a halt. And sadly, I'm sure that's affected the viewership from the women and the gays.
No Emotional Connection: To quote my man Bruce Lee, I NEED EMOTIONAL CONTENT!!!!! I noticed that when they showed trailers for this season's Who, I couldn't have cared less. I knew I would watch, but I've had no excitement or anticipation. Torchwood on the other hand, I've been counting down the days. Same went for the Sarah Jane Adventures. There's nothing about this run of Who that makes me invested. Watching the first half of the latest two-parter, it finally clicked with me. We keep seeing 11 and the gang race off to different worlds and have adventures but there's nothing that makes me care about the characters or the worlds. They're usually cardboard cutouts soon to be forgotten. At least during Davies run, the characters were diverse, but they also had fleshed out origins so even if they were a redshirt and you knew it, it still stung when they were killed off. Even if I was only meeting these oneshots for one episode, Davies made damn sure that I was invested in them in some capactiy.
Inferior Writing: I think this pretty much sums up most if not all of the problems with Nu Who, excuse me, NuNuWho.
The Final Verdict
For the most part, with the exception of Song. underwhelmed and unimpressed. Sadly, this is one of those times where being right, kinda blows. And not in the fun Harkness way either.
But to be fair, we're only halfway through the season and Moffat could have some surprises in store so things could turn around. Based on last season and how things are going so far, I'm not holding my breath.
But we'll wait and see.
And to end things on a positive note, how about a Who themed edition of Random Hawtness. Y/Y?
If you haven't watched the latest season of Who and plan to, you may want to skip this post. To quote River Song: SPOILERS!!!!!
Here are my thoughts on the Who Season.
The Pros
River Song: It's a good thing she's only a recurring character because my God, she steals every scene she's in without even trying. More than once, she has kept otherwise abysmal episodes interesting. You know what, just bow to the mistress because you infidels aren't worthy. Could you imagine what would happen if she and Jack Harkness ever met? It would be the battle of the one liners and the sexual innuendos. I wouldn't be surprised if those two know each other and she slaps him the next time she sees him.
Non-Linear Narrative: I will say this for Moffat, when it comes to the non-linear narrative he cannot be fucked with. Blink is proof of that. Moffat works best when he's doing one episodes, because consistently, when it comes to two-parters, the plot always fizzles and plummets at the end.
Amy Kicking Ass- As horrible as the Curse of the Black Hand episode was, it was awesome to see Amy finally taking some initiative, kicking ass and taking names. That's what so frustrating about the way she's written. They show flashes of brilliance where she could be a phenomenal companion and then they reduce her back to the pretty preshus princess that must be rescued.
The Doctor's Wife: For a milestone episode that focuses on the significance of the Tardis, it was only right for it to be written by a writer of Neil Gaiman's caliber. He did a very nice job. It was a good ep.
Rory: Anyone else thinking that his ass might go rogue? He keeps showing flashes of crazy, understandably given what happened to him last season but I see him snapping before this season is over. That will make for interesting storytelling.
The Cast: I've said it before and I will say it again, despite my problems with the Moffat regime, I've got nothing against the new cast. I think each of them are pretty and brilliant and immensely talented actors. I've seen some of their other work, and I can't stop singing their praises. For actors not David Tennant and co., they were the best choice.
The Cons
Oh where do I begin?
Moffat's two-parters: He consistently manages to drop the ball in the narrative when it comes to the two parters. While the Doctor outwitting the Silence (or whoever the hell they are) and River kicking their ass were nice touches, the story overall was pretty weak in my opinion. But perhaps the biggest fail of that two parter leads to my next point.
The Minority Crumbs: Oh by the by, the secret agent man is actually gay and he wants to marry a black man. THAT'S FUNNY! AMIRITE?!!!!! The problem here is that Davies spent the previous four seasons world building Who where POCs and LGBTQs were prominent in a matter-of-fact manner. Moffat's regime, POCs and LGBTQs have all but been erased. That was a slap in the face for marginalized fans who supported Who because it was one of the few places where we were welcomed and included. So cracking jokes on this in spite of the erasure and the white washing, is what we like to refer to as a dick move.
The Curse of the Black Hand: That has to be hands down one of the shittiest episodes of Doctor Who I ever saw. The writing was sloppy did anyone else notice that pirate that just vanished? Doctor Who eps, even the ones I don't care for, still have a standard and this ep? WTF?!!!!!
The Crappy Season Arc Teases: Say what you will about former Who showrunner Russell T. Davies, when he created season story arcs, clues were dropped but it was done with nuance and subtlety. Not only that but each episode was strongly written, even the oneshot filler eps. Moffat's formula? Do a bunch of filler episodes, tease at the overall story arc and then address it in the season finale. You have got to keep us intrigued. You can't just keep showing the crack in the wall or the woman with the eye piece. There needs to be new developments each episode, major developments so we can stay interested and WANT to watch each ep and be both excited and pissed when the season finale arrives. Excited because whoa shit, payoff but pissed because damn, no more Who this season.
The Tardis Being Taken Out Of Comission: That trope has gotten beyond old. Every time 11 and co. arrives at a new world, the Tardis conveniently malfunctions. That ocassionally happening makes sense. Three or four eps in a row, are you kidding me?
The Erasure of POCs and LGBTQs: I touched on this last season and sadly my point still proven this season.
The Rory/Amy Storyline: It's a whitewashed rehash of Rose and Mickey. Been there done that. It was better the first time.
No Eye Candy: Davies wasn't slick but not for lack of trying. It wasn't by happenstance that when a gay man was running the show, we plenty of sexy men being cast in each episode of Who. Sadly with him gone, that has come to a halt. And sadly, I'm sure that's affected the viewership from the women and the gays.
No Emotional Connection: To quote my man Bruce Lee, I NEED EMOTIONAL CONTENT!!!!! I noticed that when they showed trailers for this season's Who, I couldn't have cared less. I knew I would watch, but I've had no excitement or anticipation. Torchwood on the other hand, I've been counting down the days. Same went for the Sarah Jane Adventures. There's nothing about this run of Who that makes me invested. Watching the first half of the latest two-parter, it finally clicked with me. We keep seeing 11 and the gang race off to different worlds and have adventures but there's nothing that makes me care about the characters or the worlds. They're usually cardboard cutouts soon to be forgotten. At least during Davies run, the characters were diverse, but they also had fleshed out origins so even if they were a redshirt and you knew it, it still stung when they were killed off. Even if I was only meeting these oneshots for one episode, Davies made damn sure that I was invested in them in some capactiy.
Inferior Writing: I think this pretty much sums up most if not all of the problems with Nu Who, excuse me, NuNuWho.
The Final Verdict
For the most part, with the exception of Song. underwhelmed and unimpressed. Sadly, this is one of those times where being right, kinda blows. And not in the fun Harkness way either.
But to be fair, we're only halfway through the season and Moffat could have some surprises in store so things could turn around. Based on last season and how things are going so far, I'm not holding my breath.
But we'll wait and see.
And to end things on a positive note, how about a Who themed edition of Random Hawtness. Y/Y?