The New Doctor
...Which for the record, sounds like it should be the title of a Lifetime Original.
Anyway, like ddrpolaris, I'm not as impressed by the episodes so far as I have been with previous seasons. Now this isn't all about 'Ten being my only Doctor' or any of that noise--I had a little bit of that with the transition from Nine to Ten and that was it. Matt Smith's Doctor is interesting. He's cattier than some of the previous Doctors, which makes me laugh, but also a lot dumber sometimes, too. I mean, he makes some really stupid comments. "I kissed your fiancee?" How did he THINK that was going to go over? Especially in public. I know that sometimes the different aspects of his personality need to be played up to show that, no matter how human he looks, he isn't, but that kind of ignorance is just contrived.
I really like Amy and I'm ever so grateful that they nipped the whole Amy-falling-for-the-Doctor thing. That has gotten old and I am tired of it. I loved the dynamic between Donna and Ten; I like it when people can acknowledge that men and women are capable of being just friends. I mean, sure, if I was swept off the the Doctor in the Tardis, I'd be three-quarters in love with him, too (even if Matt Smith is funny looking, there, have my moment of shallow). But that doesn't mean I want a variation on the same theme time and time again. Also, as much as I am enjoying Amy, I'd really like to see the Doctor and a new male companion sometimes. Not one who gets to tag along as the significant other of the Doctor's companion, but some guy that the Doctor picks up and decides to bring along for the awesomes. He's had them before, he can have them again.
As for the episodes themselves, I feel like most of them are brilliant in their concept and the first third-to-half of their execution, but then I'm really let down in the end. The Beast Below, for example. I was so looking forward to a distopian romp with the Smilers and crying children and all sorts of cool things. 1984 on a spaceship, baby, yeah! Even Liz 10 was pretty cool, at least when she first showed up to kick ass and take names. But the whole ending was a disappointment. It turned into a hugs and candy session (though the angry "No one human gets to talk to me today!" was awesome). Why the Smilers? Why the distopian trappings? Amy was firmly on the side of the 'keep the star-whale tethered' just after watching the video--so then why the elaborate trappings? I just felt like the set-up and the climax belonged to two completely different stories and I was far more interested in the first than the second.
Vampires of Venice, I was hoping was going to be a lot like Blink--a straight up horror episode that would have us giving serious thought to watching it from behind the sofa. One of the reasons Blink worked so well is because it was able to tell an entire story in one episode. It's a stand-alone ep, not trying to push any other storylines ahead. Just a really creepy story that id its own thing and did it well--kind of like 42, but done well. Again, it had a strong start (though ddrpolaris disagrees), but by the end it had almost turned into a farce. 7 girls for 10,000 sons? The Doctor saves the day with a toggle switch? Amy kills off Whats-his-face with a pocket mirror? Really? Helen McCrory was amazing as Rosanna Calvieri, but as she's delivering her magnificent speech to Eleven about hoping he dreams of one species he's killed off, we're cracking jokes about how the Doctor can's Xenocide to save his life. The smart thing for an endangered species to do is to call him and try to get him to destroy them. Guaranteed, they'll be back in fighting trim in no time (Daleks anyone?). I'm not even sure what I would change about the episode to make it awesome. It just...did a credible imitation of a souffle next to a marching band.
Okay I kinda loved Victory of the Daleks, mostly because of the angry "WOULD YOU LIKE SOME TEA" from the soldier-Dalek. I couldn't take the episode seriously, so the whole thing was hilarious. Including new Sentai Team Dalek Okay Ranger GO!!
And then the angel eps...I really wanted them to be good. I did. I, like the rest of the planet, loved Blink and River Song is pretty fabulous. But I feel like this episode did too much. It mixed angels with the crack in time with the mystery of River and...kind of went nowhere. The only part that really captured the feel of the original was the scene when the angel in the TV started getting closer and closer to the screen.
Again, the Blink worked for a bunch of reasons that I can't even list. But part of what really built the suspense was the not knowing. It was this subtle, low-level creepy that suddenly ratcheted up the tension. But watching them stalk Sally Sparrow--first on the roof across from the police station...then directly on either side of the window she was looking out of...seeing them inch their way, closer and closer to someone. The pacing was amazing for that episode. These two? Not so much. For one, it was too long, and for another, it was too unfocused. It wasn't telling a story about the creepy angels; there were several threads being braided together, one of which was the angels'. Also, I didn't like the angel talking to them. Doctor Who falls prey to this problem a lot--they show the monster. Oftentime, they not only show it, but they show too much. I didn't want the angels talking. I liked them better silent and mysterious, lurking in the shadows. Let my own imagination do the heavy lifting.
Though the shot from whence came my icon is fantastic.
Anyway, like ddrpolaris, I'm not as impressed by the episodes so far as I have been with previous seasons. Now this isn't all about 'Ten being my only Doctor' or any of that noise--I had a little bit of that with the transition from Nine to Ten and that was it. Matt Smith's Doctor is interesting. He's cattier than some of the previous Doctors, which makes me laugh, but also a lot dumber sometimes, too. I mean, he makes some really stupid comments. "I kissed your fiancee?" How did he THINK that was going to go over? Especially in public. I know that sometimes the different aspects of his personality need to be played up to show that, no matter how human he looks, he isn't, but that kind of ignorance is just contrived.
I really like Amy and I'm ever so grateful that they nipped the whole Amy-falling-for-the-Doctor thing. That has gotten old and I am tired of it. I loved the dynamic between Donna and Ten; I like it when people can acknowledge that men and women are capable of being just friends. I mean, sure, if I was swept off the the Doctor in the Tardis, I'd be three-quarters in love with him, too (even if Matt Smith is funny looking, there, have my moment of shallow). But that doesn't mean I want a variation on the same theme time and time again. Also, as much as I am enjoying Amy, I'd really like to see the Doctor and a new male companion sometimes. Not one who gets to tag along as the significant other of the Doctor's companion, but some guy that the Doctor picks up and decides to bring along for the awesomes. He's had them before, he can have them again.
As for the episodes themselves, I feel like most of them are brilliant in their concept and the first third-to-half of their execution, but then I'm really let down in the end. The Beast Below, for example. I was so looking forward to a distopian romp with the Smilers and crying children and all sorts of cool things. 1984 on a spaceship, baby, yeah! Even Liz 10 was pretty cool, at least when she first showed up to kick ass and take names. But the whole ending was a disappointment. It turned into a hugs and candy session (though the angry "No one human gets to talk to me today!" was awesome). Why the Smilers? Why the distopian trappings? Amy was firmly on the side of the 'keep the star-whale tethered' just after watching the video--so then why the elaborate trappings? I just felt like the set-up and the climax belonged to two completely different stories and I was far more interested in the first than the second.
Vampires of Venice, I was hoping was going to be a lot like Blink--a straight up horror episode that would have us giving serious thought to watching it from behind the sofa. One of the reasons Blink worked so well is because it was able to tell an entire story in one episode. It's a stand-alone ep, not trying to push any other storylines ahead. Just a really creepy story that id its own thing and did it well--kind of like 42, but done well. Again, it had a strong start (though ddrpolaris disagrees), but by the end it had almost turned into a farce. 7 girls for 10,000 sons? The Doctor saves the day with a toggle switch? Amy kills off Whats-his-face with a pocket mirror? Really? Helen McCrory was amazing as Rosanna Calvieri, but as she's delivering her magnificent speech to Eleven about hoping he dreams of one species he's killed off, we're cracking jokes about how the Doctor can's Xenocide to save his life. The smart thing for an endangered species to do is to call him and try to get him to destroy them. Guaranteed, they'll be back in fighting trim in no time (Daleks anyone?). I'm not even sure what I would change about the episode to make it awesome. It just...did a credible imitation of a souffle next to a marching band.
Okay I kinda loved Victory of the Daleks, mostly because of the angry "WOULD YOU LIKE SOME TEA" from the soldier-Dalek. I couldn't take the episode seriously, so the whole thing was hilarious. Including new Sentai Team Dalek Okay Ranger GO!!
And then the angel eps...I really wanted them to be good. I did. I, like the rest of the planet, loved Blink and River Song is pretty fabulous. But I feel like this episode did too much. It mixed angels with the crack in time with the mystery of River and...kind of went nowhere. The only part that really captured the feel of the original was the scene when the angel in the TV started getting closer and closer to the screen.
Again, the Blink worked for a bunch of reasons that I can't even list. But part of what really built the suspense was the not knowing. It was this subtle, low-level creepy that suddenly ratcheted up the tension. But watching them stalk Sally Sparrow--first on the roof across from the police station...then directly on either side of the window she was looking out of...seeing them inch their way, closer and closer to someone. The pacing was amazing for that episode. These two? Not so much. For one, it was too long, and for another, it was too unfocused. It wasn't telling a story about the creepy angels; there were several threads being braided together, one of which was the angels'. Also, I didn't like the angel talking to them. Doctor Who falls prey to this problem a lot--they show the monster. Oftentime, they not only show it, but they show too much. I didn't want the angels talking. I liked them better silent and mysterious, lurking in the shadows. Let my own imagination do the heavy lifting.
Though the shot from whence came my icon is fantastic.