The Pandorica Opens
Warnings for me liking Moffat better than RTD.
There were a few things here that bothered me. Why would the Doctor never have been to Planet One before? You have a magic spaceship that can go basically anywhere at any time, and you hear about this awesome cliff face with a message from the dawn of time, YOU GO THERE. Even better, you go there in the past so you can meet the people who wrote it. You don't wait until your 11th incarnation. What was he doing, saving it for a rainy day? Also. Why did they go to Stonehenge on horseback in the first place? Why didn't they just take the TARDIS? I know if they had the plot wouldn't have worked, but I would have liked a bit of explanation. And then I don't understand why River couldn't find a more reliable way of getting a message to the Doctor than... what exactly did she do? Did she go back in time and influence what was written on the cliff or did she deface it or what? And why did she want to meet him in Roman Britain anyway? They're all like "oh the alliance of aliens constructed a thing that the Doctor wouldn't be able to resist out of Amy's memories," or something, but he didn't go there because of the Romans or the Pandorica, he went there because of River. What made HER ask him to meet her specifically there? ETA: queenzulu clears this one up in the comments below.
Okay, so I'm picking holes in it. There are things that weren't explained, or haven't been explained yet. BUT, this is important, I'm asking these questions because I care about the story. What RTD used to do was sprinkle clues to the finale throughout the rest of the season, but the episodes didn't tie together at the end. Moffat has created a season full of what seemed like essentially stand-alone episodes, and then surprised us all (or me, at least) by going back, picking up the loose ends and beginning to weave them together. Also, I was so pleased that the Doctor's big "I am a total BAMF, don't mess with me bitches" speech wasn't a silver bullet this time. I really liked Rory's reappearance, because it allowed for some closure but didn't make false promises. Your boyfriend can't come back from the dead, but grief is healthier than denial (that was how I interpreted it). I saw the whole the-Pandorica-is-for-the-Doctor thing coming (and I'm not one of these people who's good at guessing endings), but I didn't mind. Overall, while I have a few nitpicks, I thought this was really well done, especially compared to RTD's patented finale formula of running around! Shouting! Loud music! Reunion! Wasted opportunity for something interesting to happen! More shouting! Crowning moment of awesome! Bit where we all pretend it made sense and then everybody's memory gets wiped, or somebody dies, or somebody almost dies, and then there's some sad music!
I'm sorry to bash RTD - I know a lot of people really like what he did with the show, and hey, QAFUK was what got me into fandom. But Doctor Who is appointment TV for me now, whereas before it was something I would watch because it was on and because everybody else did, and frankly half the time I'd feel my eyes glazing over halfway through. So I mean, horses for courses, but Eleven has totally won me over.
There were a few things here that bothered me. Why would the Doctor never have been to Planet One before? You have a magic spaceship that can go basically anywhere at any time, and you hear about this awesome cliff face with a message from the dawn of time, YOU GO THERE. Even better, you go there in the past so you can meet the people who wrote it. You don't wait until your 11th incarnation. What was he doing, saving it for a rainy day? Also. Why did they go to Stonehenge on horseback in the first place? Why didn't they just take the TARDIS? I know if they had the plot wouldn't have worked, but I would have liked a bit of explanation. And then I don't understand why River couldn't find a more reliable way of getting a message to the Doctor than... what exactly did she do? Did she go back in time and influence what was written on the cliff or did she deface it or what? And why did she want to meet him in Roman Britain anyway? They're all like "oh the alliance of aliens constructed a thing that the Doctor wouldn't be able to resist out of Amy's memories," or something, but he didn't go there because of the Romans or the Pandorica, he went there because of River. What made HER ask him to meet her specifically there? ETA: queenzulu clears this one up in the comments below.
Okay, so I'm picking holes in it. There are things that weren't explained, or haven't been explained yet. BUT, this is important, I'm asking these questions because I care about the story. What RTD used to do was sprinkle clues to the finale throughout the rest of the season, but the episodes didn't tie together at the end. Moffat has created a season full of what seemed like essentially stand-alone episodes, and then surprised us all (or me, at least) by going back, picking up the loose ends and beginning to weave them together. Also, I was so pleased that the Doctor's big "I am a total BAMF, don't mess with me bitches" speech wasn't a silver bullet this time. I really liked Rory's reappearance, because it allowed for some closure but didn't make false promises. Your boyfriend can't come back from the dead, but grief is healthier than denial (that was how I interpreted it). I saw the whole the-Pandorica-is-for-the-Doctor thing coming (and I'm not one of these people who's good at guessing endings), but I didn't mind. Overall, while I have a few nitpicks, I thought this was really well done, especially compared to RTD's patented finale formula of running around! Shouting! Loud music! Reunion! Wasted opportunity for something interesting to happen! More shouting! Crowning moment of awesome! Bit where we all pretend it made sense and then everybody's memory gets wiped, or somebody dies, or somebody almost dies, and then there's some sad music!
I'm sorry to bash RTD - I know a lot of people really like what he did with the show, and hey, QAFUK was what got me into fandom. But Doctor Who is appointment TV for me now, whereas before it was something I would watch because it was on and because everybody else did, and frankly half the time I'd feel my eyes glazing over halfway through. So I mean, horses for courses, but Eleven has totally won me over.