Why Don't You Ask Her?
I was wondering last week where all the Doctor Who reaction posts were; evidently you were all waiting for this episode! And I can't blame you, because there was so much to react to.
THE OPENING WAS AMAZING. SO AMAZING. I'm not sure I quite understand the why of it - I was sort of expecting an explanatory flashback that never came - but I loved the great sweeping shots and the being-chasedness and Canton seemingly taunting the Doctor and then the moment of revelation in the sealed chamber. I spent the entire opening sequence going 'I have no idea what's going on BUT THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER WATCHED.' And the recording chips, and Canton's chip flashing when neither he nor we could remember what had happened to cause it: brilliant.
I would have liked a flashback. I'd have loved an entire episode of a manhunt across America, in fact, with Silence everywhere and Canton being an awesome double agent. Wasn't there a flashforward showing that Amy wasn't captured for three months? I want to know about those three months. And presumably the companions being hunted down didn't know that Canton wasn't a bad guy - why else run to all corners of America? why jump off the building instead of being captured? why be on the run for months? - which could be intriguing. Oh, man, why didn't we get to watch this? I want an entire Prison Break-esque series of the manhunt!
THE SILENCE ARE SUCH A TERRIFYING CONCEPT. And ingenious! Also terrifying: the orphanage. Steven Moffat is obviously writing his own Silent Hill crossover straight into his show.
(Augh, Amy suddenly realising she's covered in seen-a-Silent markings. I'm not sure it makes a great deal of sense for her to look up when she's trapped in a room, see the ceiling is covered in Silence and proceed to draw lines all over herself (I suppose it could be to illustrate the scale of the danger to herself, but she could have used her recording chip and wasted much less time she could have potentially used trying to get out), but it was such a brilliant moment that I am prepared to forgive it. I liked Amy quite a lot in this episode, actually! This series is already doing everything I hoped of it and more, and it's only the second episode. I really hope it keeps it up.)
I am weirdly resentful of River for making an awesome exit by falling backwards off a building, because Yuna did it first and Yuna is my favourite. It does put the idea of River as a summoner in my head, though, which is sort of intriguing.
She also won back many points with 'You've got a screwdriver! Fix a cabinet!' I am so in favour of entertaining bickering. Keep that up, guys. (I was very pleased by the confirmation that the Doctor was in fact waving his screwdriver around; at first I thought it was a gun and became quite distressed because the Doctor is not supposed to use guns.)
And I loved the Doctor's awkwardness at the kiss. HE HAS NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH HIS HANDS OR WHAT TO SAY AND IT'S ADORABLE.
Is Canton Delaware amazing, or am I just biased towards Mark Sheppard characters after falling in love with Supernatural's Crowley? WHICHEVER IS THE CASE, I WANT CANTON TO BE PART OF TEAM TARDIS FOR EVER. I really hope that we see him again. As he was called to the yet-to-be-resolved Doctor's death, perhaps we shall!
Seriously, at the beginning I was going NOOOO CANTON DON'T BE A BAD GUY (even if I was going THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I'VE EVER SEEN simultaneously), and then he sealed in the Doctor and went SURPRISE ACTUALLY I'M THE BEST. And then he shot the Silent and ran to help Amy and Canton, Canton, Canton, you would make such a wonderful part of the team.
'These things could really do with airholes!' 'There've never been any complaints before.' Canton ♥.
'This is a video phone. Whatever a video phone is.' CANTON ♥.
Which reminds me: the use of the video phone was so clever! I was thinking 'why is the Silent talking directly into it?', having forgotten that this was 1969 and of course the Silence would have no idea what it was. (pinkfinity has made an entry that explains why the placement of the Silent broadcast was brilliant and perfect.)
I have my issues with Moffat, but credit where credit's due: he is really, really good at making effective use of time travel in his plots. There are so many brilliant things that can be done with time travel and simply weren't used in the Ninth or Tenth Doctors' eras. (I was surprised by the soldier's 'You've been in there for days' when Canton exited the sealed chamber, because the TARDIS could of course have taken them back to moments after they left, and I wouldn't have expected Moffat to forget about something like that. He can generally be trusted to handle time travel well: none of that 'I couldn't save all the Ood; I only had time for one trip' nonsense. Still, the Doctor's aim isn't always perfect, so I suppose the 'days' thing is believable.)
Anyway, yes. More Canton, please!
(A confession: when Canton straightened the Doctor's tie, I immediately wanted vast swathes of Canton/Doctor fanfiction. Well, not really Canton/Doctor fanfiction, because it's not requited on the Doctor's part, but there's still a great deal of respect and chemistry between them and Canton is a little in love. He's not mooning about it, but he's still in love. And then it turned out that it was not simply a spontaneous tie-straightening, but by then it was too late; much as the Doctor had implanted the tie-straightening desire in Canton's head, the moment had implanted the desire for fanfiction in mine.)
Stupid ficsnippet I wrote before I realised I would never be able to write an American from the sixties convincingly and it therefore wasn't going anywhere:
"Canton Everett Delaware III," the Doctor says. "You are amazing."
"It's pronounced 'the Third', I think," Rory says, quietly. "Not 'eee'."
"What? Oh, yes, of course; that naming style doesn't come into fashion for a long time yet. Did I ever tell you about that time I met Lady Edith Callican AAAA? Lovely woman, but it was always a bit embarrassing saying her name; I felt I was crying for help."
THE OPENING WAS AMAZING. SO AMAZING. I'm not sure I quite understand the why of it - I was sort of expecting an explanatory flashback that never came - but I loved the great sweeping shots and the being-chasedness and Canton seemingly taunting the Doctor and then the moment of revelation in the sealed chamber. I spent the entire opening sequence going 'I have no idea what's going on BUT THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER WATCHED.' And the recording chips, and Canton's chip flashing when neither he nor we could remember what had happened to cause it: brilliant.
I would have liked a flashback. I'd have loved an entire episode of a manhunt across America, in fact, with Silence everywhere and Canton being an awesome double agent. Wasn't there a flashforward showing that Amy wasn't captured for three months? I want to know about those three months. And presumably the companions being hunted down didn't know that Canton wasn't a bad guy - why else run to all corners of America? why jump off the building instead of being captured? why be on the run for months? - which could be intriguing. Oh, man, why didn't we get to watch this? I want an entire Prison Break-esque series of the manhunt!
THE SILENCE ARE SUCH A TERRIFYING CONCEPT. And ingenious! Also terrifying: the orphanage. Steven Moffat is obviously writing his own Silent Hill crossover straight into his show.
(Augh, Amy suddenly realising she's covered in seen-a-Silent markings. I'm not sure it makes a great deal of sense for her to look up when she's trapped in a room, see the ceiling is covered in Silence and proceed to draw lines all over herself (I suppose it could be to illustrate the scale of the danger to herself, but she could have used her recording chip and wasted much less time she could have potentially used trying to get out), but it was such a brilliant moment that I am prepared to forgive it. I liked Amy quite a lot in this episode, actually! This series is already doing everything I hoped of it and more, and it's only the second episode. I really hope it keeps it up.)
I am weirdly resentful of River for making an awesome exit by falling backwards off a building, because Yuna did it first and Yuna is my favourite. It does put the idea of River as a summoner in my head, though, which is sort of intriguing.
She also won back many points with 'You've got a screwdriver! Fix a cabinet!' I am so in favour of entertaining bickering. Keep that up, guys. (I was very pleased by the confirmation that the Doctor was in fact waving his screwdriver around; at first I thought it was a gun and became quite distressed because the Doctor is not supposed to use guns.)
And I loved the Doctor's awkwardness at the kiss. HE HAS NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH HIS HANDS OR WHAT TO SAY AND IT'S ADORABLE.
Is Canton Delaware amazing, or am I just biased towards Mark Sheppard characters after falling in love with Supernatural's Crowley? WHICHEVER IS THE CASE, I WANT CANTON TO BE PART OF TEAM TARDIS FOR EVER. I really hope that we see him again. As he was called to the yet-to-be-resolved Doctor's death, perhaps we shall!
Seriously, at the beginning I was going NOOOO CANTON DON'T BE A BAD GUY (even if I was going THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I'VE EVER SEEN simultaneously), and then he sealed in the Doctor and went SURPRISE ACTUALLY I'M THE BEST. And then he shot the Silent and ran to help Amy and Canton, Canton, Canton, you would make such a wonderful part of the team.
'These things could really do with airholes!' 'There've never been any complaints before.' Canton ♥.
'This is a video phone. Whatever a video phone is.' CANTON ♥.
Which reminds me: the use of the video phone was so clever! I was thinking 'why is the Silent talking directly into it?', having forgotten that this was 1969 and of course the Silence would have no idea what it was. (pinkfinity has made an entry that explains why the placement of the Silent broadcast was brilliant and perfect.)
I have my issues with Moffat, but credit where credit's due: he is really, really good at making effective use of time travel in his plots. There are so many brilliant things that can be done with time travel and simply weren't used in the Ninth or Tenth Doctors' eras. (I was surprised by the soldier's 'You've been in there for days' when Canton exited the sealed chamber, because the TARDIS could of course have taken them back to moments after they left, and I wouldn't have expected Moffat to forget about something like that. He can generally be trusted to handle time travel well: none of that 'I couldn't save all the Ood; I only had time for one trip' nonsense. Still, the Doctor's aim isn't always perfect, so I suppose the 'days' thing is believable.)
Anyway, yes. More Canton, please!
(A confession: when Canton straightened the Doctor's tie, I immediately wanted vast swathes of Canton/Doctor fanfiction. Well, not really Canton/Doctor fanfiction, because it's not requited on the Doctor's part, but there's still a great deal of respect and chemistry between them and Canton is a little in love. He's not mooning about it, but he's still in love. And then it turned out that it was not simply a spontaneous tie-straightening, but by then it was too late; much as the Doctor had implanted the tie-straightening desire in Canton's head, the moment had implanted the desire for fanfiction in mine.)
Stupid ficsnippet I wrote before I realised I would never be able to write an American from the sixties convincingly and it therefore wasn't going anywhere:
"Canton Everett Delaware III," the Doctor says. "You are amazing."
"It's pronounced 'the Third', I think," Rory says, quietly. "Not 'eee'."
"What? Oh, yes, of course; that naming style doesn't come into fashion for a long time yet. Did I ever tell you about that time I met Lady Edith Callican AAAA? Lovely woman, but it was always a bit embarrassing saying her name; I felt I was crying for help."