Doctor Who: The Almost People
Yes, I was a bad girl and let Daniel steal this episode off the internets because I didn't think Memorial Day weekend was sufficient reason to go Who-less.
But I'll probably watch it again when BBC America plays it next week, because I AM SO CONFUSED. I don't even know if I liked that episode or not.
The Doctor getting along great with his copy was fun. It just shows how egotistical the Doctor is. And he's met himself before anyway, so he should be used to it by now, while it would be more disturbing for humans who haven't experienced that before.
And yes, I was a sucker for him speaking in Tom Baker's voice. Squee!
Um... and Rory didn't die. So that's good. Maybe he's not Doctor Who Kenny after all.
Other than that though... WTF?
I get that the episode was intentionally confusing. Evil Twin Sci-Fi episodes always are. I like how they didn't go the cliche road of having clearcut good and evil twins, and had people changing their minds about how they felt about the situation, and different characters reacting differently, and so on.
I'm kind of being generous though, because the episode was still really confusing, with people jumping quickly between wanting to kill their copies and talking about how smart or handsome their copies are. Or maybe I was getting confused on who were the originals and who were the copies, and it was more consistent than I thought. Or is it even supposed to be consistent? I guess it's possible that Miranda could simultanously look at her copy and go, "Wow, I'm so smart!" and at the same time try to kill it. Maybe she viewed her other self as a Worthy Opponent more than a possible friend.
And then Jennifer. So it turned out she killed her original way back at the beginning, right? The whole bonding with Rory thing was part of her Evil Plan? I'm ok with that at first, but towards the end Rory looks REALLY gullible when it becomes pretty clear that Jennifer is evil.
I guess it's ok to make the audience unsure of which characters are good and which are bad, but what really bothers me is WHEN DID THE DOCTORS SWITCH SHOES?
Was it before or after one of them slammed Amy against the wall?
Because if it was before, that's really NOT COOL.
My fiance, Daniel, says he thinks this episode was "a lot like one of those with Sylvester McCoy," because the plot was really convoluted and also because the Doctor was so deceptive and manipulative, even to his own companions. I wasn't going to bring that up at first, because I wasn't sure if I knew the Seventh Doctor well enough to make that comparison yet, but if he sees it too, then there's probably something to that. Also, I seem to remember the Second Doctor doing similar things to Jamie from time to time (and Jamie getting rightfully pissed), so I suppose the Doctor acting like this isn't entirely without precedent.
So... he knew Amy was a ganger this whole time... has she been a ganger this WHOLE SEASON? He went back to see an "earlier stage of the technology." I hope that means that Ganger!Amy was a LATER stage of the technology where they've worked out that whole glitch with gangers being independent sentient beings... given how the Doctor KILLS HER at the end, after we spent the last two episodes getting it drilled into our heads that gangers are people.
I don't think I'm liking this season as much as the last one. There's a lot of deception and manipulation going on in this one, with none of the main characters communicating with each other. Amy doesn't tell Rory she thinks she's pregnant, the Doctor doesn't tell Amy she might still be pregnant, River makes Amy and Rory swear to NOT tell the Doctor about his death...
...and now we have this episode with a Seventh Doctor-esque, "It turns out that this entire episode was all according to my plan and I knew what was happening the whole time!" thing.
Lastly, there was that last scene. Ugh... do we really need to go down the pregancy-as-horror route in Doctor Who? Really?
I have read other people's posts where they are jumping to the conclusion that Amy was raped. I really, really hope that is just jumping to a conclusion (this is a KID'S SHOW!). But in order for Amy to not have been raped, then it's got to be Rory's baby (Yes, I am assuming Amy and Rory are in a monogamous relationship), because otherwise if it's some kind of half-alien timebaby, then yes that implies Amy was alien-raped. (EDIT: Apologies for using the r-word here. I was grasping for a real-life analogy for someone having an alien embryo implanted in them against their will. I apologize if it this was hyperbole.)
Ugh, for right now, I'm going to assume that Rory is the father, but they concieved in the TARDIS (depite the bunk beds, which yes I did think was a cute line, like the Doctor views Amy and Rory and kids and is squicked by the idea of them doing things in there... he should have given them separate rooms), and having a fetus concieved in the TARDIS has caused weird things to happen.
But I still wish they wouldn't have gone down this road at all, because there's so many ways it can end up with Unfortunate Implications.
But I'll probably watch it again when BBC America plays it next week, because I AM SO CONFUSED. I don't even know if I liked that episode or not.
The Doctor getting along great with his copy was fun. It just shows how egotistical the Doctor is. And he's met himself before anyway, so he should be used to it by now, while it would be more disturbing for humans who haven't experienced that before.
And yes, I was a sucker for him speaking in Tom Baker's voice. Squee!
Um... and Rory didn't die. So that's good. Maybe he's not Doctor Who Kenny after all.
Other than that though... WTF?
I get that the episode was intentionally confusing. Evil Twin Sci-Fi episodes always are. I like how they didn't go the cliche road of having clearcut good and evil twins, and had people changing their minds about how they felt about the situation, and different characters reacting differently, and so on.
I'm kind of being generous though, because the episode was still really confusing, with people jumping quickly between wanting to kill their copies and talking about how smart or handsome their copies are. Or maybe I was getting confused on who were the originals and who were the copies, and it was more consistent than I thought. Or is it even supposed to be consistent? I guess it's possible that Miranda could simultanously look at her copy and go, "Wow, I'm so smart!" and at the same time try to kill it. Maybe she viewed her other self as a Worthy Opponent more than a possible friend.
And then Jennifer. So it turned out she killed her original way back at the beginning, right? The whole bonding with Rory thing was part of her Evil Plan? I'm ok with that at first, but towards the end Rory looks REALLY gullible when it becomes pretty clear that Jennifer is evil.
I guess it's ok to make the audience unsure of which characters are good and which are bad, but what really bothers me is WHEN DID THE DOCTORS SWITCH SHOES?
Was it before or after one of them slammed Amy against the wall?
Because if it was before, that's really NOT COOL.
My fiance, Daniel, says he thinks this episode was "a lot like one of those with Sylvester McCoy," because the plot was really convoluted and also because the Doctor was so deceptive and manipulative, even to his own companions. I wasn't going to bring that up at first, because I wasn't sure if I knew the Seventh Doctor well enough to make that comparison yet, but if he sees it too, then there's probably something to that. Also, I seem to remember the Second Doctor doing similar things to Jamie from time to time (and Jamie getting rightfully pissed), so I suppose the Doctor acting like this isn't entirely without precedent.
So... he knew Amy was a ganger this whole time... has she been a ganger this WHOLE SEASON? He went back to see an "earlier stage of the technology." I hope that means that Ganger!Amy was a LATER stage of the technology where they've worked out that whole glitch with gangers being independent sentient beings... given how the Doctor KILLS HER at the end, after we spent the last two episodes getting it drilled into our heads that gangers are people.
I don't think I'm liking this season as much as the last one. There's a lot of deception and manipulation going on in this one, with none of the main characters communicating with each other. Amy doesn't tell Rory she thinks she's pregnant, the Doctor doesn't tell Amy she might still be pregnant, River makes Amy and Rory swear to NOT tell the Doctor about his death...
...and now we have this episode with a Seventh Doctor-esque, "It turns out that this entire episode was all according to my plan and I knew what was happening the whole time!" thing.
Lastly, there was that last scene. Ugh... do we really need to go down the pregancy-as-horror route in Doctor Who? Really?
I have read other people's posts where they are jumping to the conclusion that Amy was raped. I really, really hope that is just jumping to a conclusion (this is a KID'S SHOW!). But in order for Amy to not have been raped, then it's got to be Rory's baby (Yes, I am assuming Amy and Rory are in a monogamous relationship), because otherwise if it's some kind of half-alien timebaby, then yes that implies Amy was alien-raped. (EDIT: Apologies for using the r-word here. I was grasping for a real-life analogy for someone having an alien embryo implanted in them against their will. I apologize if it this was hyperbole.)
Ugh, for right now, I'm going to assume that Rory is the father, but they concieved in the TARDIS (depite the bunk beds, which yes I did think was a cute line, like the Doctor views Amy and Rory and kids and is squicked by the idea of them doing things in there... he should have given them separate rooms), and having a fetus concieved in the TARDIS has caused weird things to happen.
But I still wish they wouldn't have gone down this road at all, because there's so many ways it can end up with Unfortunate Implications.