[fanbabble] S5 Who through Vampires of Venice.
So this seems to be how I do Who, on a binge while too depressed to do anything else. That's how I did S1-4 and much of Torchwood. I suppose it's like comfort food for my brain.
Anyway, finally caught up with part of S5 watching 5 eps last night (I decided to just go ahead and see it as I'll happily rewatch with person I had promised to watch it with). Random thoughts, in no order and with no coherency:
((Oh, and opinion disclaimers right up front: I like Eleven. I very much liked Nine. I have a love-hate relationship with Ten swinging from "Aw, you are brilliant!" to "Arghhhhhhh, you complete prick." I like all the companions quite a lot for very different reasons. Though I generally found Doctor/Rose hints harmless and cute at first, by JE I just found it creepy and was seriously annoyed at the OTP-ness of it all.))
-I mostly like Matt Smith's Doctor, even though I'm still getting shades of Ten now and then (but maybe that's good)--I do see bits of other Doctors I know in him, which is cool. I'm *starting* to get an idea of what Eleven is like on his own, but not a full picture yet. I do like his gentle gentlemanly-ness, and the old-man-in-a-young-body element.
-The one thing I truly do not like about Eleven is when he screams at his lady friends. When he was shouting at River telling her to pretty much shut up and sit down in the Weeping Angels episode, I cringed, but when he hollered at Amy and told her to get back in the fucking car TARDIS and then Rory thanked him for it I really really really cringed and for a moment, actually hated Eleven and Rory and the writer.
I mean, I do feel like Ten and Nine shouted at their companions now and then, spoke to them derisively and I didn't like it then either but I'm not sure why the way Eleven does it (or perhaps how it was written and directed) makes me feel... a little disturbed. Maybe because Nine was angry and rude to everybody, and Ten was a right childish brat sometimes so he could be blown off for being a twat now and then, but Eleven is usually even-keel and genteel and on the surface, kindly, and even a touch fatherly or caretaker-y and pleasant.
But that's one small thing. Mostly I am enjoying Eleven. Can't say I love him yet but we'll see.
-I do like Amy Pond though I can also see why some of the negative things being said about her are being said. (Like, I wish she didn't widen her eyes at everything. It's cute, but why so often?) I think she's really cute and spunky; sometimes I think she's like all the good things about Rose, Martha and Donna all put together. (Along with a touch of Sally Sparrow, I'd say.) I actually don't get why people are all hung up on her "sexiness"--frankly I forgot about it after a while. The first ep did have a touch of male-gaze when it did things like linger up her legs but I wasn't noticing much if any of that later on. I think it's silly that she had such a silly job but well, I'm more eye-rolling about that than anything. Women do have all sorts of jobs, from silly to brilliant.
-I really liked Liz Ten, randomly. And I quite like River Song--I really liked her in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead too, so I guess I was predisposed to like her. I do think there's a touch (very slight) of making her "too cool" (she knows Gallifreyan? or just that phrase in Gallifreyan?) and honestly, I like when she's less-made-up and in fatigues vs. her bond girl look--I think she's pretty as is and too much make up just makes her look all pancake-y.
-I hate to say it but any creepy feelings I had for the Weeping Angels vanished watching that two-parter. I might even be a bit bored of them now. :( Are you my Mummy def. much creepier. And I didn't like that they killed, it sort of turned them into generic monsters rather than the cool, twisted slow-death-giving creatures they were.
-Despite the Ikea Bin new Daleks, I thought Victory of the Daleks was all right and probably one of the better Dalek eps I've seen. (My fave is still "Dalek," with Nine; I just loved Eccleston's performance in that) Poor Bracewell. And OMG, I wanted to shout with happy at Amy's lovely handling of her crush--"It's a good sort of hurt, isn't it?" Yes, crush on the Doctor all you like but no undermining of the character or endless miserable pining, please.
-Also I really liked Rory's line to Eleven about what he does to people. And I really like how Eleven is allowed to feel sad about things but not WALLOW ENDLESSLY IN THEM. Yes. That is much better. And how the fact that he doesn't always spill his guts whingeing about stuff isn't shown to be a hit on how much he likes and trusts his companion. Instead it's allowed to be just him being private.
-I do have to say though, I've read some people bashing Ten's arrogance and saying thank god Eleven isn't so, but I find Eleven every bit as arrogant as Ten. He's less in-your-face-bluster-y about it, and he doesn't have Ten's childish tendency to driveby cruelty, but.... but when I listen to what he's saying, nine out of ten times I find he's still being a pompous I-know-better-than-you jerk. Which is to be expected, given that he's a 900yr old alien whose species is already in a holier-than-thou position being outside of Time. Maybe it's the puppy-dog face and the softer, more careless delivery that's giving a kinder impression? ;P Or the hint of age-endowed authority--you expect grandpa to be a lecture-y, you're-twenty-I'm-ninety bastard now and then.
-Nine was Doctor-in-reaction-to-Time-War; and Ten was very much Doctor-in-reaction-to-Rose, with something youthful/childish in both good and bad ways, and unsophisticated, again, in good and bad ways. Eleven is much more dignified and private and together, and seems much less Doctor-in-reaction-to- anything. Finally healing from the trauma of the Time War, perhaps?
-There was a brief moment where I wondered if River could be the Master. And I was all like WOULD THAT NOT BE SO COOL?! And then I decided that was probably not the case, but still.
-Amy's speech about the kindness of the Doctor in reaction to all the bad and isolation and trauma he suffered amused me. She's no idea of the long road he's taken since the Time War to become what he is at this stage. If only she could've seen him on Mars ;). I like how the Doctor just let her say those things, bemused and maybe a touch uncomfortable. If it were Ten he probably would've looked unhappy and scowled "You don't know what I'm capable of" *EMOOOOO* but Eleven's just all, OK, Cool, sounds good, carry on.
-Can't say I'm excessively thrilled at the whole "I've got to get you and Rory happily married in the morning" subplot so far. It's a bit... weird.
-That said, I *LOVED* the Doctor's reaction to Amy putting the moves on him. (And actually I loved that she did it) Yes! Alien! Human! Age difference! I knew you when you were a tiny childs! I can deal with subtext-y, see-it-if-you-want-to, Doctor-human romance (obviously, I write fanfic) but when it's drippy and in your face I just don't think it's right. I'm looking at you, Ten-with-your-human-fetish!!!!
-Final verdict: want to see the rest. Am finding this season quite fun, but have yet to jump out of chair and squeak with happy at any character or episode.
Anyway, finally caught up with part of S5 watching 5 eps last night (I decided to just go ahead and see it as I'll happily rewatch with person I had promised to watch it with). Random thoughts, in no order and with no coherency:
((Oh, and opinion disclaimers right up front: I like Eleven. I very much liked Nine. I have a love-hate relationship with Ten swinging from "Aw, you are brilliant!" to "Arghhhhhhh, you complete prick." I like all the companions quite a lot for very different reasons. Though I generally found Doctor/Rose hints harmless and cute at first, by JE I just found it creepy and was seriously annoyed at the OTP-ness of it all.))
-I mostly like Matt Smith's Doctor, even though I'm still getting shades of Ten now and then (but maybe that's good)--I do see bits of other Doctors I know in him, which is cool. I'm *starting* to get an idea of what Eleven is like on his own, but not a full picture yet. I do like his gentle gentlemanly-ness, and the old-man-in-a-young-body element.
-The one thing I truly do not like about Eleven is when he screams at his lady friends. When he was shouting at River telling her to pretty much shut up and sit down in the Weeping Angels episode, I cringed, but when he hollered at Amy and told her to get back in the fucking car TARDIS and then Rory thanked him for it I really really really cringed and for a moment, actually hated Eleven and Rory and the writer.
I mean, I do feel like Ten and Nine shouted at their companions now and then, spoke to them derisively and I didn't like it then either but I'm not sure why the way Eleven does it (or perhaps how it was written and directed) makes me feel... a little disturbed. Maybe because Nine was angry and rude to everybody, and Ten was a right childish brat sometimes so he could be blown off for being a twat now and then, but Eleven is usually even-keel and genteel and on the surface, kindly, and even a touch fatherly or caretaker-y and pleasant.
But that's one small thing. Mostly I am enjoying Eleven. Can't say I love him yet but we'll see.
-I do like Amy Pond though I can also see why some of the negative things being said about her are being said. (Like, I wish she didn't widen her eyes at everything. It's cute, but why so often?) I think she's really cute and spunky; sometimes I think she's like all the good things about Rose, Martha and Donna all put together. (Along with a touch of Sally Sparrow, I'd say.) I actually don't get why people are all hung up on her "sexiness"--frankly I forgot about it after a while. The first ep did have a touch of male-gaze when it did things like linger up her legs but I wasn't noticing much if any of that later on. I think it's silly that she had such a silly job but well, I'm more eye-rolling about that than anything. Women do have all sorts of jobs, from silly to brilliant.
-I really liked Liz Ten, randomly. And I quite like River Song--I really liked her in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead too, so I guess I was predisposed to like her. I do think there's a touch (very slight) of making her "too cool" (she knows Gallifreyan? or just that phrase in Gallifreyan?) and honestly, I like when she's less-made-up and in fatigues vs. her bond girl look--I think she's pretty as is and too much make up just makes her look all pancake-y.
-I hate to say it but any creepy feelings I had for the Weeping Angels vanished watching that two-parter. I might even be a bit bored of them now. :( Are you my Mummy def. much creepier. And I didn't like that they killed, it sort of turned them into generic monsters rather than the cool, twisted slow-death-giving creatures they were.
-Despite the Ikea Bin new Daleks, I thought Victory of the Daleks was all right and probably one of the better Dalek eps I've seen. (My fave is still "Dalek," with Nine; I just loved Eccleston's performance in that) Poor Bracewell. And OMG, I wanted to shout with happy at Amy's lovely handling of her crush--"It's a good sort of hurt, isn't it?" Yes, crush on the Doctor all you like but no undermining of the character or endless miserable pining, please.
-Also I really liked Rory's line to Eleven about what he does to people. And I really like how Eleven is allowed to feel sad about things but not WALLOW ENDLESSLY IN THEM. Yes. That is much better. And how the fact that he doesn't always spill his guts whingeing about stuff isn't shown to be a hit on how much he likes and trusts his companion. Instead it's allowed to be just him being private.
-I do have to say though, I've read some people bashing Ten's arrogance and saying thank god Eleven isn't so, but I find Eleven every bit as arrogant as Ten. He's less in-your-face-bluster-y about it, and he doesn't have Ten's childish tendency to driveby cruelty, but.... but when I listen to what he's saying, nine out of ten times I find he's still being a pompous I-know-better-than-you jerk. Which is to be expected, given that he's a 900yr old alien whose species is already in a holier-than-thou position being outside of Time. Maybe it's the puppy-dog face and the softer, more careless delivery that's giving a kinder impression? ;P Or the hint of age-endowed authority--you expect grandpa to be a lecture-y, you're-twenty-I'm-ninety bastard now and then.
-Nine was Doctor-in-reaction-to-Time-War; and Ten was very much Doctor-in-reaction-to-Rose, with something youthful/childish in both good and bad ways, and unsophisticated, again, in good and bad ways. Eleven is much more dignified and private and together, and seems much less Doctor-in-reaction-to- anything. Finally healing from the trauma of the Time War, perhaps?
-There was a brief moment where I wondered if River could be the Master. And I was all like WOULD THAT NOT BE SO COOL?! And then I decided that was probably not the case, but still.
-Amy's speech about the kindness of the Doctor in reaction to all the bad and isolation and trauma he suffered amused me. She's no idea of the long road he's taken since the Time War to become what he is at this stage. If only she could've seen him on Mars ;). I like how the Doctor just let her say those things, bemused and maybe a touch uncomfortable. If it were Ten he probably would've looked unhappy and scowled "You don't know what I'm capable of" *EMOOOOO* but Eleven's just all, OK, Cool, sounds good, carry on.
-Can't say I'm excessively thrilled at the whole "I've got to get you and Rory happily married in the morning" subplot so far. It's a bit... weird.
-That said, I *LOVED* the Doctor's reaction to Amy putting the moves on him. (And actually I loved that she did it) Yes! Alien! Human! Age difference! I knew you when you were a tiny childs! I can deal with subtext-y, see-it-if-you-want-to, Doctor-human romance (obviously, I write fanfic) but when it's drippy and in your face I just don't think it's right. I'm looking at you, Ten-with-your-human-fetish!!!!
-Final verdict: want to see the rest. Am finding this season quite fun, but have yet to jump out of chair and squeak with happy at any character or episode.