(no subject)
Checking in to confirm yep, still alive. :D Been a bit swamped with real life stuff recently but I should be around more from now on. I'm not even going to attempt to catch up on all of my flist though, so if something monumentous happened now is the time to tell me about it!
Ashes to Ashes
I'm seriously late, I know, but loved the Ashes to Ashes finale. I wonder if I had a different reaction to it from not really being in the fandom or having too much time to speculate, but I thought it was lovely and the only way it could really end; I know some people wish Alex had stayed with Gene or he had been able to move on too, but I don't think either of those endings would have had the impact of Alex finally realising she was dead and moving on, or the whole cycle starting all over again.
Also loved that they still left it fairly open to interpretation at the end. I didn't think it was likely that we'd see Sam and I was kind of glad we didn't; both because it would have detracted from what was Alex's story but also because I don't really want to know what happens after they walk through the doors of the pub. That should be left up to the viewer to imagine what they want.
Doctor Who
Not going to bother wasting too much time on the Silurians two-parter (can't believe it's that long since I last posted!). Wasn't stunningly impressed - one of the things I love about the original is that it is fairly subtle while this was pretty anvillicious - but I wasn't bored at any point and I'm still loving Matt, Karen, how beautiful this season looks and the whole of S5 in general so far. As other people have said, the lows of the Moffat era so far are still a hell of a lot higher than the lows of the RTD era.
I am however going to say ohhh Rory. :( I'm going to miss him so much. It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I love a Team TARDIS/multiple companion dynamic so much more than Doctor/single companion, and to lose him like that was just horrible. But this is Doctor Who - death doesn't always mean death - and even if he is gone for good, I'm sure there's still resolution to come. I have faith in the Moff, even if he does kill off FUCKING AWESOME COMPANIONS WHO WE NEED IN THE TARDIS.
I did like the way they dealt with it in last night's episode though; not ignoring it, but not laying it on with a trowel either. It's there not just in the script but also in the way the Doctor keeps looking at Amy.
As for the rest of Vincent and the Doctor... I know it's not going to be everybody's cup of tea and it was a long way from perfect - what with a completely rubbish contractual obligation monster of the week - but I thought it was beautiful. Yeah, okay, not subtle at the end and not very Doctor Who-ish, but I had so many fears for this episode and it ended up being so lovely. I'm a bit sensitive about depictions of mental illness on TV and I was so scared they were either going to ignore it altogether or do something stupid with it. (There were about five horrible minutes when I was terrified they were going to have Van Gogh's problems actually caused by the invisible space chicken so thank Christ for that.)
But instead they addressed it and dealt with it and it turned out by the end of the episode that Van Gogh's depression was what the whole thing was about. Then there was that scene where Amy thought one big grand gesture would 'fix' everything and the Doctor knew better, then the Doctor's speech about 'piles of good things and bad things'. Which made me cry. A lot. And keeps making me cry whenever I think about it.
Without going into TMI territory, my sister has been very ill on and off for the last 15 years. It's a huge part of who she is and has been a huge part of all our lives for years. A couple of years ago she had her worst bout of depression and anxiety and ended up in hospital for six months, and I remember feeling so utterly helpless. I can't describe what it's like to see your intelligent and popular sister a shadow of herself, barely functioning as a human being, unable even to communicate, and knowing there's nothing you can do to help in any way. All I could do was record her favourite TV shows for her - Doctor Who and Strictly Come Dancing - for her to watch when she came out of hospital. But as useless as I felt, maybe I was adding a bit to her pile of good things and that's such a perfect way to look at it.
I'm not usually a Richard Curtis fan and I'm not sure how I feel about taking historical figures for joyrides in the TARDIS. But the Doctor who made that speech is my Doctor. I thought it was beautiful and touching and I'm sticking by that.
In a complete change of subject, I'm now going to make a desperate plea to my friends list. Is there anyone out there with some X-Files knowledge who'd have time in the next two days to beta a vid for me? It's a Redux II vid made for xf_is_love and I'm just a little unsure about it - it's the first vid I've ever made with such limited source. I would be very, very grateful!
Ashes to Ashes
I'm seriously late, I know, but loved the Ashes to Ashes finale. I wonder if I had a different reaction to it from not really being in the fandom or having too much time to speculate, but I thought it was lovely and the only way it could really end; I know some people wish Alex had stayed with Gene or he had been able to move on too, but I don't think either of those endings would have had the impact of Alex finally realising she was dead and moving on, or the whole cycle starting all over again.
Also loved that they still left it fairly open to interpretation at the end. I didn't think it was likely that we'd see Sam and I was kind of glad we didn't; both because it would have detracted from what was Alex's story but also because I don't really want to know what happens after they walk through the doors of the pub. That should be left up to the viewer to imagine what they want.
Doctor Who
Not going to bother wasting too much time on the Silurians two-parter (can't believe it's that long since I last posted!). Wasn't stunningly impressed - one of the things I love about the original is that it is fairly subtle while this was pretty anvillicious - but I wasn't bored at any point and I'm still loving Matt, Karen, how beautiful this season looks and the whole of S5 in general so far. As other people have said, the lows of the Moffat era so far are still a hell of a lot higher than the lows of the RTD era.
I am however going to say ohhh Rory. :( I'm going to miss him so much. It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I love a Team TARDIS/multiple companion dynamic so much more than Doctor/single companion, and to lose him like that was just horrible. But this is Doctor Who - death doesn't always mean death - and even if he is gone for good, I'm sure there's still resolution to come. I have faith in the Moff, even if he does kill off FUCKING AWESOME COMPANIONS WHO WE NEED IN THE TARDIS.
I did like the way they dealt with it in last night's episode though; not ignoring it, but not laying it on with a trowel either. It's there not just in the script but also in the way the Doctor keeps looking at Amy.
As for the rest of Vincent and the Doctor... I know it's not going to be everybody's cup of tea and it was a long way from perfect - what with a completely rubbish contractual obligation monster of the week - but I thought it was beautiful. Yeah, okay, not subtle at the end and not very Doctor Who-ish, but I had so many fears for this episode and it ended up being so lovely. I'm a bit sensitive about depictions of mental illness on TV and I was so scared they were either going to ignore it altogether or do something stupid with it. (There were about five horrible minutes when I was terrified they were going to have Van Gogh's problems actually caused by the invisible space chicken so thank Christ for that.)
But instead they addressed it and dealt with it and it turned out by the end of the episode that Van Gogh's depression was what the whole thing was about. Then there was that scene where Amy thought one big grand gesture would 'fix' everything and the Doctor knew better, then the Doctor's speech about 'piles of good things and bad things'. Which made me cry. A lot. And keeps making me cry whenever I think about it.
Without going into TMI territory, my sister has been very ill on and off for the last 15 years. It's a huge part of who she is and has been a huge part of all our lives for years. A couple of years ago she had her worst bout of depression and anxiety and ended up in hospital for six months, and I remember feeling so utterly helpless. I can't describe what it's like to see your intelligent and popular sister a shadow of herself, barely functioning as a human being, unable even to communicate, and knowing there's nothing you can do to help in any way. All I could do was record her favourite TV shows for her - Doctor Who and Strictly Come Dancing - for her to watch when she came out of hospital. But as useless as I felt, maybe I was adding a bit to her pile of good things and that's such a perfect way to look at it.
I'm not usually a Richard Curtis fan and I'm not sure how I feel about taking historical figures for joyrides in the TARDIS. But the Doctor who made that speech is my Doctor. I thought it was beautiful and touching and I'm sticking by that.
In a complete change of subject, I'm now going to make a desperate plea to my friends list. Is there anyone out there with some X-Files knowledge who'd have time in the next two days to beta a vid for me? It's a Redux II vid made for xf_is_love and I'm just a little unsure about it - it's the first vid I've ever made with such limited source. I would be very, very grateful!