Tenth Doctor does not approve of your shenanigans. (He wanted shenanigans all to himself.)
Dear lord, I am turning into one of those people -- yes, that's right, those people who post Doctor Who episode recaps/responses right after the episodes air. I don't think I've done this for a television show before, ever. But this is not just a television show. This is Doctor Who. And this week's episode requires some discussion.
So I must preface this with the disclaimer that, as of two and a half months ago, I had never watched an episode of Doctor Who in my life. I am not British. I did not grow up with the experience of hiding behind the sofa every time a Dalek appeared onscreen. But it really isn't my fault that I was halfway born in the wrong country (despite having a large part of my heart hooked up to Great Britain, I maintain a strong love of California, real Mexican food, the beach, driving fast on freeways, and other quintessentially American experiences). And hey, at least when I realized what a big mistake I'd been making for, oh, my entire life up until I watched Doctor Who, I remedied the issue with speed and precision. So while I've never re-watched an episode, I have watched all of them within the last two and a half months. That's gotta count for something.
Anyway, my response to this episode requires a little more contextualization regarding previous seasons. Now, I started out thinking "who in the world are these people and what do you mean there was another Doctor before David Tennant?" but by "Bad Wolf" I was totally certain Rose and the Doctor were made for each other (Oh Doctor Who, you convince me of the most impossible things). Not in a terribly disgusting and shippy way (at least I think/hope not) but in an "awww look at that isn't it so ridiculously and unexpectedly adorable?" sort of way. And the series two finale had me bawling my eyes out SO HARD. (Fast forward to the series four finale, which was basically the same, except with some squeeing involved. Reiterating my previous post on this subject, Rose/Ten is the CUTEST THING EVER.)
Ignoring that massive time jump there (we are working with Time Lords, those should not be so surprising), I didn't really like Martha because it was so obvious (to me if not to her) that she was never going to have something with the Doctor that would come anywhere close to being like what Rose had with him. And she just didn't get that. I can understand that if the Doctor enters your life it must make every other man in the entire world seem pointless in comparison but at the same time, there are few things I dislike more than a woman whining/pining away for a man who obviously doesn't love her the way she wants him to and isn't going to be able to. Possibly part of the Martha dislike is also related to extreme love for Donna, and anger throughout the entire third series that she hadn't agreed to travel with the Doctor (though at the same time, that was what I liked about Donna in the first place -- the fact that she said no, considered her own life first and as something over which she still had control).
So in a really roundabout way I think that brings us to Amy Pond. From the first episode of this series I was hooked, because here was something that looked (to me) like a really different kind of Doctor/companion relationship. Amy and the Doctor got on like a particularly argumentative set of siblings, which was a refreshing and quite welcome change, and absolutely fabulous to watch. The "pan to a wedding dress" moment made me a little wary, but I reasoned with myself that everything had been golden thus far and I shouldn't start to worry now, not with the dress as the only worry-trigger. "The Time of Angels" was a completely brilliant mindgame and Moffat's writing was spot on. In fact, I could say the exact same for "Flesh and Bone" -- until the last two minutes.
I can't complain about the acting. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen anything in my life that deserves falling-down-laughter as much as Matt Smith trying to escape an eager Karen Gillan, scrabbling backwards across her bed, pulling his suspenders (braces for you Brits) up every time she pulled them down, falling into the TARDIS. But I'm a little bit disappointed that it happened. Here I was hoping that it was possible for the Doctor's companion to have spunk and sass and fire without secretly wanting to shag him (although as a sidenote, he is Matt Smith, so I can't entirely blame her). Here I was hoping that it was possible for the Doctor to have a traveling companion whose life he did not utterly invade and destroy, all because he was lonely. Not that he's destroyed anything yet, but he's not exactly gentle to relationships.
I think my negative response to this scene is also probably exacerbated by my friend's positive response to it. Matt Smith is her first Doctor; she's never seen any of the older episodes; and she looks at the world, as she has told me, with "relationship goggles," so from the start she's shipped Amy/Eleven. I watched the episode with her and she was so ecstatic about this while I was busy yelling at the computer, "Amelia Pond, I liked you! Stop embarrassing me!" Or something along those lines.
And I mean of course there are ways in which the next episode can address this and make it all okay again. Amy can be awkward and embarrassed and the Doctor can be awkward but pretty clear about the ground rules (although, as a side note, those are probably not as clear to Amy as they were to other companions in the past because Amy has met River and I have no idea how she can be what she is to the Doctor, so it's okay if she's got Amy a bit confused). And I can go on liking these two for being what I hoped/thought they were at the beginning: the kind of good friends who will never stop nagging at each other and encouraging each other on to do better.
AND as Guardian writer Dan Martin has said, pretty much echoing my newbie friend, "it's worth remembering that this isn't Rose Tyler simpering. After her ordeal it's unsurprising that Amy is looking to get laid with the nearest thing available. This is humanity at its most basic lustful: jumping a hapless alien professor." (Also can I please have a hapless alien professor to jump the next time I come out of a trying ordeal? Seriously.) Amy does have that FABULOUS line about this not exactly being long-term. But I don't want her to be the kind of girl who would do something like that the night before her wedding. See above comment about the Doctor's effect on relationships. I was hoping Amy could be strong enough to hold her own in both worlds, the Doctor's and her own, without compromising her integrity in either. (Perhaps this is hoping for the superhumanly impossible? Still, a girl can dream.)
But dammit, I am NOT looking forward to having to wait another week to figure this out. (Almost as much as I am NOT looking forward to seeing all the holes friends poke in my arguments by the morning. If I re-read this before posting it will probably not get posted, though...so here goes nothing.)
So I must preface this with the disclaimer that, as of two and a half months ago, I had never watched an episode of Doctor Who in my life. I am not British. I did not grow up with the experience of hiding behind the sofa every time a Dalek appeared onscreen. But it really isn't my fault that I was halfway born in the wrong country (despite having a large part of my heart hooked up to Great Britain, I maintain a strong love of California, real Mexican food, the beach, driving fast on freeways, and other quintessentially American experiences). And hey, at least when I realized what a big mistake I'd been making for, oh, my entire life up until I watched Doctor Who, I remedied the issue with speed and precision. So while I've never re-watched an episode, I have watched all of them within the last two and a half months. That's gotta count for something.
Anyway, my response to this episode requires a little more contextualization regarding previous seasons. Now, I started out thinking "who in the world are these people and what do you mean there was another Doctor before David Tennant?" but by "Bad Wolf" I was totally certain Rose and the Doctor were made for each other (Oh Doctor Who, you convince me of the most impossible things). Not in a terribly disgusting and shippy way (at least I think/hope not) but in an "awww look at that isn't it so ridiculously and unexpectedly adorable?" sort of way. And the series two finale had me bawling my eyes out SO HARD. (Fast forward to the series four finale, which was basically the same, except with some squeeing involved. Reiterating my previous post on this subject, Rose/Ten is the CUTEST THING EVER.)
Ignoring that massive time jump there (we are working with Time Lords, those should not be so surprising), I didn't really like Martha because it was so obvious (to me if not to her) that she was never going to have something with the Doctor that would come anywhere close to being like what Rose had with him. And she just didn't get that. I can understand that if the Doctor enters your life it must make every other man in the entire world seem pointless in comparison but at the same time, there are few things I dislike more than a woman whining/pining away for a man who obviously doesn't love her the way she wants him to and isn't going to be able to. Possibly part of the Martha dislike is also related to extreme love for Donna, and anger throughout the entire third series that she hadn't agreed to travel with the Doctor (though at the same time, that was what I liked about Donna in the first place -- the fact that she said no, considered her own life first and as something over which she still had control).
So in a really roundabout way I think that brings us to Amy Pond. From the first episode of this series I was hooked, because here was something that looked (to me) like a really different kind of Doctor/companion relationship. Amy and the Doctor got on like a particularly argumentative set of siblings, which was a refreshing and quite welcome change, and absolutely fabulous to watch. The "pan to a wedding dress" moment made me a little wary, but I reasoned with myself that everything had been golden thus far and I shouldn't start to worry now, not with the dress as the only worry-trigger. "The Time of Angels" was a completely brilliant mindgame and Moffat's writing was spot on. In fact, I could say the exact same for "Flesh and Bone" -- until the last two minutes.
I can't complain about the acting. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen anything in my life that deserves falling-down-laughter as much as Matt Smith trying to escape an eager Karen Gillan, scrabbling backwards across her bed, pulling his suspenders (braces for you Brits) up every time she pulled them down, falling into the TARDIS. But I'm a little bit disappointed that it happened. Here I was hoping that it was possible for the Doctor's companion to have spunk and sass and fire without secretly wanting to shag him (although as a sidenote, he is Matt Smith, so I can't entirely blame her). Here I was hoping that it was possible for the Doctor to have a traveling companion whose life he did not utterly invade and destroy, all because he was lonely. Not that he's destroyed anything yet, but he's not exactly gentle to relationships.
I think my negative response to this scene is also probably exacerbated by my friend's positive response to it. Matt Smith is her first Doctor; she's never seen any of the older episodes; and she looks at the world, as she has told me, with "relationship goggles," so from the start she's shipped Amy/Eleven. I watched the episode with her and she was so ecstatic about this while I was busy yelling at the computer, "Amelia Pond, I liked you! Stop embarrassing me!" Or something along those lines.
And I mean of course there are ways in which the next episode can address this and make it all okay again. Amy can be awkward and embarrassed and the Doctor can be awkward but pretty clear about the ground rules (although, as a side note, those are probably not as clear to Amy as they were to other companions in the past because Amy has met River and I have no idea how she can be what she is to the Doctor, so it's okay if she's got Amy a bit confused). And I can go on liking these two for being what I hoped/thought they were at the beginning: the kind of good friends who will never stop nagging at each other and encouraging each other on to do better.
AND as Guardian writer Dan Martin has said, pretty much echoing my newbie friend, "it's worth remembering that this isn't Rose Tyler simpering. After her ordeal it's unsurprising that Amy is looking to get laid with the nearest thing available. This is humanity at its most basic lustful: jumping a hapless alien professor." (Also can I please have a hapless alien professor to jump the next time I come out of a trying ordeal? Seriously.) Amy does have that FABULOUS line about this not exactly being long-term. But I don't want her to be the kind of girl who would do something like that the night before her wedding. See above comment about the Doctor's effect on relationships. I was hoping Amy could be strong enough to hold her own in both worlds, the Doctor's and her own, without compromising her integrity in either. (Perhaps this is hoping for the superhumanly impossible? Still, a girl can dream.)
But dammit, I am NOT looking forward to having to wait another week to figure this out. (Almost as much as I am NOT looking forward to seeing all the holes friends poke in my arguments by the morning. If I re-read this before posting it will probably not get posted, though...so here goes nothing.)