Shhhhh!
or Silence in the Library...
So, yes, I caught up with Saturday's Dr Who. I don't know if it's just me, because I've been immersed in conferenceness, but I totally didn't get it[1]. Well, not totally. But I don't get it, and it's driving me mad, because everyone is going on about what a good episode it was, and I just feel a bit meh about it. I may change my mind when I've seen the second half, but at the moment I'm not particularly enthusiastic...
I'll do some points by numbers:
1) There's a thing about spoilers, but I don't quite understand the significance yet. However, I approve of a plot that takes in such a fangirlish concept.
2) I'm disturbed by the relationship with River. This is purely because I feel unsettled when there's new information about the Doctor's life and we don't get it yet. I wonder how far into the future their relationship is supposed to be - the line about his face indicating that it must be early in their relationship was nice, because it implied he could have regeneratesd later on - however, OTOH, she said he looked young, and that *might* mean that the David Tennant version of the Doctor lives such a long time that he starts to look old (though, obviously, there are other possibilities). At first I wondered if River was Jenny, but she can't be because she implied that this meeting predated any other in the Doctor's timeline.
3) There are shadows, and they eat flesh. The idea seemed a bit cartoony, but it was backed up by DW cod science, so it must be OK.
4) The only thing I *loved* about the episode was the thing where the spacesuit keeps people sentient for a bit after they die ('ghosting') - that was super sad with lashings of pathos, so it was good :) And the stupid girl was such a good character - shame she had to die.
5) There's a mystery with the faces on the helper-robot-whatever-thingies. They're clearly not dead (so let's hope the Doctor can save them all), but apart from that I don't get it.
6) Back to the shadows. Actually, I'm not sure all the visuals worked. OTOH, acquiring a second shadow was done well, but OTO there were shadows all over the place all the time and they didn't always seem... differentiated very well. I *know* the point is that you don't know which shadows are dangerous - but I still thought they could have been cleverer with the lighting so that you didn't sometimes have glimpses where people were clearly near or in shadows of some sort without being afraid about it.
7) There's a girl with the whole library inside her head. So far I'm not convinced the explanation for this is going to be exciting, but I do like Colin Salmon.
8) So, Stephen Moffat. Everyone seems very impressed (and I have been with his earlier episode - The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances and Blink), but I still need convincing. I have to admit that the script was very good. In fact, there was one line in particular (not long before the one about travelling with the Doctor being one big spoiler) that I loved but I've forgotten what it was now (*shrug*). But as for the plot, I just need to see the whole thing before I'm sure. It's intriguing in some ways, but (I thought) slightly plodding in others. It doesn't have that wonderful scary immediacy of The Empty Child IMO.
[1] Then again, the conference can't have addled my brain too much, because I had all the right reactions to Bodie-in-a-wetsuit-and-shooting-with-big-guns ;)
So, yes, I caught up with Saturday's Dr Who. I don't know if it's just me, because I've been immersed in conferenceness, but I totally didn't get it[1]. Well, not totally. But I don't get it, and it's driving me mad, because everyone is going on about what a good episode it was, and I just feel a bit meh about it. I may change my mind when I've seen the second half, but at the moment I'm not particularly enthusiastic...
I'll do some points by numbers:
1) There's a thing about spoilers, but I don't quite understand the significance yet. However, I approve of a plot that takes in such a fangirlish concept.
2) I'm disturbed by the relationship with River. This is purely because I feel unsettled when there's new information about the Doctor's life and we don't get it yet. I wonder how far into the future their relationship is supposed to be - the line about his face indicating that it must be early in their relationship was nice, because it implied he could have regeneratesd later on - however, OTOH, she said he looked young, and that *might* mean that the David Tennant version of the Doctor lives such a long time that he starts to look old (though, obviously, there are other possibilities). At first I wondered if River was Jenny, but she can't be because she implied that this meeting predated any other in the Doctor's timeline.
3) There are shadows, and they eat flesh. The idea seemed a bit cartoony, but it was backed up by DW cod science, so it must be OK.
4) The only thing I *loved* about the episode was the thing where the spacesuit keeps people sentient for a bit after they die ('ghosting') - that was super sad with lashings of pathos, so it was good :) And the stupid girl was such a good character - shame she had to die.
5) There's a mystery with the faces on the helper-robot-whatever-thingies. They're clearly not dead (so let's hope the Doctor can save them all), but apart from that I don't get it.
6) Back to the shadows. Actually, I'm not sure all the visuals worked. OTOH, acquiring a second shadow was done well, but OTO there were shadows all over the place all the time and they didn't always seem... differentiated very well. I *know* the point is that you don't know which shadows are dangerous - but I still thought they could have been cleverer with the lighting so that you didn't sometimes have glimpses where people were clearly near or in shadows of some sort without being afraid about it.
7) There's a girl with the whole library inside her head. So far I'm not convinced the explanation for this is going to be exciting, but I do like Colin Salmon.
8) So, Stephen Moffat. Everyone seems very impressed (and I have been with his earlier episode - The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances and Blink), but I still need convincing. I have to admit that the script was very good. In fact, there was one line in particular (not long before the one about travelling with the Doctor being one big spoiler) that I loved but I've forgotten what it was now (*shrug*). But as for the plot, I just need to see the whole thing before I'm sure. It's intriguing in some ways, but (I thought) slightly plodding in others. It doesn't have that wonderful scary immediacy of The Empty Child IMO.
[1] Then again, the conference can't have addled my brain too much, because I had all the right reactions to Bodie-in-a-wetsuit-and-shooting-with-big-guns ;)