Doctor Who - season to date
Ok, mostly this is from this weekends episode, because I hated it. I know I'm one of a handful since everyone seems to love Amy and I don't, but I hated this episode. As Steph said, it was a wank fest, and I was annoyed. But I've been getting annoyed progressively this whole season and here's why.
Let me get this out of the way, I think the cast is competent enough actors. I think Karen Gillan is a decent enough actor when they aren't making Amy either a blank slate or Mary Sueing her (which is rare). Arthur Darvill has sold Rory from the beginning and Matt Smith has definitely become the Doctor.
So, my problem is not with the acting or actors. My problem is the fucking stories.
I have had a problem with Moffat since he started, and it is the same problem I had with RTD when he was in charge. And this problem is these guys have great ideas, but not a damn soul to reign those ideas in so they make sense and don't take the show way the hell off course. I also swear that they way Moffat and team write stories is by coming up with a cool sounding phrase for episodes and then writing around that i.e. "You named your daughter...after your daughter" and "I'm going to rip time apart for you".
And you know, building a story around a line isn't all bad, as long as the story is cohesive and makes sense and isn't held together by duct tape and fine as hell acting.
This is definitely the duct tape and acting season.
So this who series is based on who River Song is and who kills the Doctor in the very first episode. With all the coyness around River I kind of guessed she was Amy's baby when they brought up she was pregnant. It wasn't hard to make that leap, so I wasn't at all surprised when we got to the reveal of Melody Pond being River Song. It could have been super duper interesting, unfortunately it seems the series only cares about River when she is actually IN episodes.
Normally that wouldn't suck. However when River is the product of Amy and Rory (and the TARDIS, which is cool and explains why the TARDIS not only likes her, but she's able to fly it better than the Doctor) and is stolen from them because the Doctor is considered a terrible warrior...but Amy and Rory never seem too upset about it, that's where I have issue. I will overlook the fact that last season River seemed surprised by all the stuff in Amy's room about the Doctor and the pictures of Amy and Rory in costumes...I'm quite sure it will either never be touched on, or hand waved away as timey-wimeyness since the Doctor rebooted the universe and all within it last year. And honestly if I get started on that I won't stop because I hate that every major hole in the storytelling that's pointed out it's ALWAYS hand waved away. Seriously, Moffat...criticism is there for a fucking reason, it's there for you to LEARN from mistakes and make them better...
...ok I'll stop on that.
Back to point. Amy and Rory go through hell to rescue Melody only to learn she's still been captured. Next episode they get another crushing blow, learning that the Doctor (who they don't really seem too peeved at even though it's HIS fault Melody was stolen) was not only unable to save Melody yet, but that Melody their daughter was also Melody their BFF so they STILL get screwed out of raising their daughter.
This is all tragically well and good, could still prove to be an interesting story...if Amy and Rory took any anger and resentment out on the Doctor and told him to fuck off since they got cheated out of a life with their daughter. They haven't, they still cheerily traverse the universe with him, and I can't imagine why. Having my daughter stolen because the Doctor got a god complex (again) would be a pretty major blow to my wanting to travel with the Doctor anymore.
I can't even care too much about the storyline because it is still going to come back to the first episode of the Doctor dying, and I'm convinced it'll be just like last season where we get a lot of flashbacks to show us how smart Moffat is, he set us up brilliantly to be duped by his superior storytelling...even if half the story has to be hand waved as timey-wimeyness.
Which, with all due respect, if you can't write a story without enough holes that you just say "Oh it's a show about time travel, things aren't always supposed to make sense", then you are a fucking piss poor writer.
Anyway, back to point. I have enjoyed this season better than last season, mostly because it hasn't centered entirely on Amy's specialness (thank god). I enjoy River and I enjoy Alex Kingston's chemistry with Matt Smith, and it cracks me up that they keep making references to The Graduate when it comes to those two. I have also enjoyed several of the stand alone episodes (loved The Doctor's Wife), but so far this half of the season...I have not. Last episode was like a call back to Fear Her, which I hated, and this episode while better than it's predecessor was cliche as hell.
I mean as soon as Amy picked up wooden pot I guessed they were in the cupboard. As soon as the Doctor and dad got transported to the closet I knew it would be the kid who would save them. The only thing remotely creepy about the episode was the tune the kids were singing, and how quickly people's IQ's seem to drop in the one off episodes.
Now this weeks episode. God I want to punch just about everyone involved. Maybe I am a cold hearted bastard, or maybe I've watched too much TV and it's just too easy to tell when I'm being manipulated to feel...but this episode was a manipulation from beginning to end. I felt more remorse for Donna when her memory got wiped and Rose when she got stuck in the parallel world than I did for older Amy in this episode.
Was it beautifully acted? Sure. Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill sold every scene they were in. Were there good points brought up? Absolutely, when Rory flat out voiced that their situation was the Doctor's fault since the Doctor always goes places blind, that was fantastic. The rest? Sucked like hell.
Lets start at the beginning...they drop off to a world and are faced with a door. Rory and the Doctor go through the door by pressing a green anchor button, but Amy was in the TARDIS at the time. By the time Amy gets back she of course presses the wrong button. Instead of doing what normal people would do, which is when they see an empty room even though two people should be occupying it so they leave...or even ask which button was originally pushed since there are fucking two of them, she walks in and lets the door shut behind her. So...in order for Amy to get trapped, everyone got stupid first.
All fine and good, everyone channeled Lost, where no one talks to anyone and then people get kidnapped/killed/whatever tragedy you want to happen to them that week. That's fine. But I got BEYOND pissed when Amy wanders around demanding that the Doctor and Rory save her.
Say what? The basis of this story is really Amy sitting around waiting to be saved? What?
The basis of this story is that a formerly smart woman, who formarly brought the Doctor back to effing life by the power of thought is going to sit around and wait for a man to save her.
WHAT?!
It wouldn't have even been that bad if when older Amy finally came around we realize that she was smart enough to make her own sonic screwdriver (I won't say probe, sonic probe just sounds naughty to my 12 year old mind...especially when Steph mentioned the sonic showers in Star Trek), she was able to hack the computer without arousing suspicion, she figured out when the handbots would be clear in the garden (even if we are given no reason why these ever present handbots just happen to be gone at that certain time of the day), oh and she's scrounged up a sword and learned how to kill the handbots like the best Kung Fu movie out there.
Yes folks, they Mary Sued the Mary Sue. Who knew it was possible without exploding the space time continuum.
Oh wait, timey-wimey. My bad.
It killed my soul that this episode was so clumsily written. Characters had to get stupid for Amy to get lost. Then Amy falls back into her reactive state as a character and lets things happen to her instead of using all her gained knowledge to get HERSELF out of the situation. We aren't even shown her trying to escape outside of a thrown away line that the computer she hacked tells her everything...except how to fucking escape. *head desk*
The Doctor is also shown as being an ass by lieing to everyone then telling him his reasonings (seriously, maybe clue Rory in that there is no way to save both Amy's due to the time splitting paradox it would cause so...maybe make your choice before trying to save anyone). I GET why the Doctor did it, and maybe it is supposed to be foreshadowing like the giant anvil that hit us from the Doctor informing everyone that knowing your destiny IS what can allow you to change it NO MATTER WHAT.
Honestly, I'm not sure how they can continue allowing Amy and Rory to happily travel with the Doctor after this. Not only has Rory lost his daughter, but after this episode he had to condemn a version of his wife to non-existance, all because the Doctor lies.
Seriously, at least let Rory punch the hell out of the Doctor, he has actively ruined Rory and Amy's lives. He can't even GIVE Melody back to Rory and Amy because it would break everything we have seen about River from the first meeting to now. River as we and the Doctor know it cease to exist and it would be a rehash of what happened to Donna again, with much larger consequences (as in changing everyone's timeline, completely...EVEN Donna's).
To top this episode off...the music. Seriously the music was so fucking manipulative and LOUD I wanted to punch the composer. Doctor Who has fantastic music, but I don't need a sad tune blaring when someone is about to die to tell me how I should be feeling. It's annoying and has GOT to be stopped.
I love the acting, and I'm not even that opposed to Eleven anymore, he's charming in a crazy sort of way. But I'm tired of the lazy writing. I'm tired of walking away feeling like someone tried to manipulate me but failed, but probably didn't on the larger scale. I'm also tired of feeling like this series, which did have a broader spectrum to it, is now becoming far more niche and in the end may end up turning viewers away and damning itself, all out of one mans selfishness and inability to actually listen to criticism instead of calling that person too stupid to understand the big picture.
In the end, I feel very bipolar about these recent seasons of Doctor Who, and doesn't make me feel happy about it's future and where the show at present is heading.
Let me get this out of the way, I think the cast is competent enough actors. I think Karen Gillan is a decent enough actor when they aren't making Amy either a blank slate or Mary Sueing her (which is rare). Arthur Darvill has sold Rory from the beginning and Matt Smith has definitely become the Doctor.
So, my problem is not with the acting or actors. My problem is the fucking stories.
I have had a problem with Moffat since he started, and it is the same problem I had with RTD when he was in charge. And this problem is these guys have great ideas, but not a damn soul to reign those ideas in so they make sense and don't take the show way the hell off course. I also swear that they way Moffat and team write stories is by coming up with a cool sounding phrase for episodes and then writing around that i.e. "You named your daughter...after your daughter" and "I'm going to rip time apart for you".
And you know, building a story around a line isn't all bad, as long as the story is cohesive and makes sense and isn't held together by duct tape and fine as hell acting.
This is definitely the duct tape and acting season.
So this who series is based on who River Song is and who kills the Doctor in the very first episode. With all the coyness around River I kind of guessed she was Amy's baby when they brought up she was pregnant. It wasn't hard to make that leap, so I wasn't at all surprised when we got to the reveal of Melody Pond being River Song. It could have been super duper interesting, unfortunately it seems the series only cares about River when she is actually IN episodes.
Normally that wouldn't suck. However when River is the product of Amy and Rory (and the TARDIS, which is cool and explains why the TARDIS not only likes her, but she's able to fly it better than the Doctor) and is stolen from them because the Doctor is considered a terrible warrior...but Amy and Rory never seem too upset about it, that's where I have issue. I will overlook the fact that last season River seemed surprised by all the stuff in Amy's room about the Doctor and the pictures of Amy and Rory in costumes...I'm quite sure it will either never be touched on, or hand waved away as timey-wimeyness since the Doctor rebooted the universe and all within it last year. And honestly if I get started on that I won't stop because I hate that every major hole in the storytelling that's pointed out it's ALWAYS hand waved away. Seriously, Moffat...criticism is there for a fucking reason, it's there for you to LEARN from mistakes and make them better...
...ok I'll stop on that.
Back to point. Amy and Rory go through hell to rescue Melody only to learn she's still been captured. Next episode they get another crushing blow, learning that the Doctor (who they don't really seem too peeved at even though it's HIS fault Melody was stolen) was not only unable to save Melody yet, but that Melody their daughter was also Melody their BFF so they STILL get screwed out of raising their daughter.
This is all tragically well and good, could still prove to be an interesting story...if Amy and Rory took any anger and resentment out on the Doctor and told him to fuck off since they got cheated out of a life with their daughter. They haven't, they still cheerily traverse the universe with him, and I can't imagine why. Having my daughter stolen because the Doctor got a god complex (again) would be a pretty major blow to my wanting to travel with the Doctor anymore.
I can't even care too much about the storyline because it is still going to come back to the first episode of the Doctor dying, and I'm convinced it'll be just like last season where we get a lot of flashbacks to show us how smart Moffat is, he set us up brilliantly to be duped by his superior storytelling...even if half the story has to be hand waved as timey-wimeyness.
Which, with all due respect, if you can't write a story without enough holes that you just say "Oh it's a show about time travel, things aren't always supposed to make sense", then you are a fucking piss poor writer.
Anyway, back to point. I have enjoyed this season better than last season, mostly because it hasn't centered entirely on Amy's specialness (thank god). I enjoy River and I enjoy Alex Kingston's chemistry with Matt Smith, and it cracks me up that they keep making references to The Graduate when it comes to those two. I have also enjoyed several of the stand alone episodes (loved The Doctor's Wife), but so far this half of the season...I have not. Last episode was like a call back to Fear Her, which I hated, and this episode while better than it's predecessor was cliche as hell.
I mean as soon as Amy picked up wooden pot I guessed they were in the cupboard. As soon as the Doctor and dad got transported to the closet I knew it would be the kid who would save them. The only thing remotely creepy about the episode was the tune the kids were singing, and how quickly people's IQ's seem to drop in the one off episodes.
Now this weeks episode. God I want to punch just about everyone involved. Maybe I am a cold hearted bastard, or maybe I've watched too much TV and it's just too easy to tell when I'm being manipulated to feel...but this episode was a manipulation from beginning to end. I felt more remorse for Donna when her memory got wiped and Rose when she got stuck in the parallel world than I did for older Amy in this episode.
Was it beautifully acted? Sure. Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill sold every scene they were in. Were there good points brought up? Absolutely, when Rory flat out voiced that their situation was the Doctor's fault since the Doctor always goes places blind, that was fantastic. The rest? Sucked like hell.
Lets start at the beginning...they drop off to a world and are faced with a door. Rory and the Doctor go through the door by pressing a green anchor button, but Amy was in the TARDIS at the time. By the time Amy gets back she of course presses the wrong button. Instead of doing what normal people would do, which is when they see an empty room even though two people should be occupying it so they leave...or even ask which button was originally pushed since there are fucking two of them, she walks in and lets the door shut behind her. So...in order for Amy to get trapped, everyone got stupid first.
All fine and good, everyone channeled Lost, where no one talks to anyone and then people get kidnapped/killed/whatever tragedy you want to happen to them that week. That's fine. But I got BEYOND pissed when Amy wanders around demanding that the Doctor and Rory save her.
Say what? The basis of this story is really Amy sitting around waiting to be saved? What?
The basis of this story is that a formerly smart woman, who formarly brought the Doctor back to effing life by the power of thought is going to sit around and wait for a man to save her.
WHAT?!
It wouldn't have even been that bad if when older Amy finally came around we realize that she was smart enough to make her own sonic screwdriver (I won't say probe, sonic probe just sounds naughty to my 12 year old mind...especially when Steph mentioned the sonic showers in Star Trek), she was able to hack the computer without arousing suspicion, she figured out when the handbots would be clear in the garden (even if we are given no reason why these ever present handbots just happen to be gone at that certain time of the day), oh and she's scrounged up a sword and learned how to kill the handbots like the best Kung Fu movie out there.
Yes folks, they Mary Sued the Mary Sue. Who knew it was possible without exploding the space time continuum.
Oh wait, timey-wimey. My bad.
It killed my soul that this episode was so clumsily written. Characters had to get stupid for Amy to get lost. Then Amy falls back into her reactive state as a character and lets things happen to her instead of using all her gained knowledge to get HERSELF out of the situation. We aren't even shown her trying to escape outside of a thrown away line that the computer she hacked tells her everything...except how to fucking escape. *head desk*
The Doctor is also shown as being an ass by lieing to everyone then telling him his reasonings (seriously, maybe clue Rory in that there is no way to save both Amy's due to the time splitting paradox it would cause so...maybe make your choice before trying to save anyone). I GET why the Doctor did it, and maybe it is supposed to be foreshadowing like the giant anvil that hit us from the Doctor informing everyone that knowing your destiny IS what can allow you to change it NO MATTER WHAT.
Honestly, I'm not sure how they can continue allowing Amy and Rory to happily travel with the Doctor after this. Not only has Rory lost his daughter, but after this episode he had to condemn a version of his wife to non-existance, all because the Doctor lies.
Seriously, at least let Rory punch the hell out of the Doctor, he has actively ruined Rory and Amy's lives. He can't even GIVE Melody back to Rory and Amy because it would break everything we have seen about River from the first meeting to now. River as we and the Doctor know it cease to exist and it would be a rehash of what happened to Donna again, with much larger consequences (as in changing everyone's timeline, completely...EVEN Donna's).
To top this episode off...the music. Seriously the music was so fucking manipulative and LOUD I wanted to punch the composer. Doctor Who has fantastic music, but I don't need a sad tune blaring when someone is about to die to tell me how I should be feeling. It's annoying and has GOT to be stopped.
I love the acting, and I'm not even that opposed to Eleven anymore, he's charming in a crazy sort of way. But I'm tired of the lazy writing. I'm tired of walking away feeling like someone tried to manipulate me but failed, but probably didn't on the larger scale. I'm also tired of feeling like this series, which did have a broader spectrum to it, is now becoming far more niche and in the end may end up turning viewers away and damning itself, all out of one mans selfishness and inability to actually listen to criticism instead of calling that person too stupid to understand the big picture.
In the end, I feel very bipolar about these recent seasons of Doctor Who, and doesn't make me feel happy about it's future and where the show at present is heading.