Welcome to the world, Eleven!
Despite some weaknesses and some things I'm still making up my mind about, The Eleventh Hour succeeded in making me squee and reassuring me that this is still a show I can love. Matt Smith wins my approval, assuming he continues to grow and make the role his own.
I'm going to address some basic points in bulleted list form, then raise some questions.
Observations & Opinions
-Eleven/Matt Smith: Yes, I can believe that this eyebrow-deficient young thing is the Doctor. He's a bit insane and very much in charge. He's alternately badass and utterly dorky and awkward. In a lot of ways, I felt like Eleven was written and played a bit too close to early Tennant, but with any luck we will see Matt Smith make the role more his own as time goes on. I like his ungainly body language, and I absolutely adored the way he sweet-talked the TARDIS. "You sexy thing" indeed. :)
-The TARDIS: I miss the coral. A lot. That said, I don't hate the new interior, and I suspect it will grow on me. It seems a little like a kids' play area in a science museum: a bit overly busy with random knick-knacks (which we know were not Macgyvered in by the Doctor but grown by the TARDIS, so the hodgepodge look is a bit of a pose) and gizmos that make noise or show moving graphics. However, I like the multi-level design a lot, and I like this look for the roundels. Most of all, I am THRILLED about the hints that we may get to see the interior beyond the console room. The exterior is too bright, but I can live with it. I liked the emphasis on the sentience of the TARDIS with her choosing an interior to grow on her own and the way the Doctor spoke to her. I hope we get episodes that give the TARDIS some agency.
-Wee!Amelia gets two enthusiastic thumbs up. She's unflappable, intelligent, resourceful (most kids I know that age couldn't fry anything...maybe they train them up young in Scotland?), and firm. Also, ridiculously cute. Adult Amy gets preliminary approval, but needs a little more development. I like what I saw of her so far, but I feel like we only know adult Amy in relation to the Doctor. Her job exists mostly for a joke. Even during her brief interactions with other people, they almost all mention her Raggedy Doctor obsession. I feel like all we know of her is that she's (a) fiery and tempermental (because she's a redhead, and of course redheads are all like that *sigh*), and (b) obsessed with the Doctor, even if trait (a) means that she won't take any crap from him. That's all fine, especially for just one episode, but I do hope that as time goes on we learn more about who she is, and not just how she operates as a foil to the Doctor. (Much of that paragraph is copied from a comment I made in kaffyr 's lj.) Amy seemed to have less world-saving or conscience-providing than RTD's companions got in their intros, and I hope that we do see some of that in the future. In conclusion: handy with a cricket bat, but not giving any other companions competition for my heart yet. YET.
-New theme and credits: DO NOT WANT. The new look for the Time Vortex and this version of the music both struck me as cheesy, and not the sort of DW cheese that just makes it more lovable. Oh well. If Moff & co. had to thoroughly screw up one thing in the transition, this is pretty harmless.
-opening the TARDIS doors with a snap: STOP THAT!!! It is a really pointless trick. It makes the Doctor look as much like a poser as the "Who da man?", but without the adorkable charm.
-While I'm pointing out negatives, the eyeball snowflake spaceships were pretty dumb. However, this is Doctor Who, and somewhat silly-looking villains are not a deal-breaker by any means.
-the script: The dialog is stellar, as I'd expected from Moffatt. The plot is something of a Moffat Motif Montage. There were some pretty effective bits of horror, notably when the handcuffed Doctor makes Amy realize that there is an extra room in her house that she hasn't even been able to see. The Atraxi menace and its resolution didn't wow me, but it was a functional enough source of tension. No major holes or stupidity. I am intrigued by the hints at a larger arc!
-Other miscellaneous sources of SQUEE: Doctor face montage (I don't care if The Next Doctor did it first. It's still neat.) Amy having made Rory dress up as the Doctor (canon cosplay, y'all!). The Doctor calling the aliens back in order to make sure they will stay away in the future, which he does with logic and sheer presence. Stealing clothes from a hospital locker room just like Eight (with bonus unembarrassed changing Eleven and appreciative Amy...but I'm kind of hoping this stops with leering). Climbing out of the TARDIS with a grappling hook.
-EPIC SQUEE: "I am definitely a madman with a box." Yes, Doctor, you are. You always have been. Fantastic! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Questions
-Is it just me, or did the Doctor lead the Atraxi to conclude the same thing about the Earth that was already written in the Hitchhikers' Guide? According to the little holograph montage, Earth might have soldiers and atomic bombs, but it also has Gandhi and multicultural celebrations. Conclusion: mostly harmless! As long as you don't piss off the Time Lord who often loiters about.
-How long until somebody falls down the stairs in the console room? Not very long, I wager!
-Has anyone made icons with Eleven looking disapprovingly at the presumably porn-laden laptop with captions like "Eleven discovers fanfic" or "Eleven does not approve of your fic"? I predict these will show up very shortly.
-Flist, what do you think we learned about Eleven's flaws? By the end of their first episodes, both Nine and Ten displayed evidence of flaws specific to their version of the Doctor that would continue to show up later. Nine tended to be dismissive of domestic human concerns like whether Mickey was alive or dead, and his "I couldn't save any of them" showed that he was still quite broken from the Time War. Ten's "no second chances" and his destruction of Harriet Jones revealed his tendency to be judgmental and full of hubris. Eleven's a bit of a dork who overestimates his own cool, but that's more of a running gag than a real flaw. He's a bad pilot, he's rude (making a little child go to a lot of work making him food, then spitting it all over the floor), and his apology for missing all those years of Amy's life didn't grovel as much as I felt was called for, but none of that is new. The normal Doctorish tendency to jump into action with little thought to the consequences and none for human law seems to be very strong in him, but not really enough to make it a distinguishing feature of this incarnation. Were they so focused on charming us with the new Doctor that the only flaws they gave him were old or half-joking? Do any of Eleven's actions and attitudes bespeak trouble later?
-What's the meaning of the very obvious monitor with the moving line that we saw when Eleven was giving his not very convincing reassurance that there was no particular reason for selecting Amy?
-Does Amy honestly think she's going to make it back for her wedding, given the evidence she's already seen of the Doctor's driving? If not, why is she running away from it? Rory seemed like a decent guy. Meanwhile, is Amy still a kissogram two years later?
-Is Eleven going to keep eating really weird combinations of food in the future, or was that a regeneration aid? NEEDZ MOAR BANANAS.
-Is it next week yet? How about now? ....Now?
Final Thoughts
A lot of the flaws mentioned here were realized afterwards. During the episode, there was almost all happy bouncing. This is roughly on par with or better than my reactions to previous New Who changes of Doctor or companion. Despite regenerations on screen and behind the camera, this is still the show I care about so much. There's tons of potential for that love to grow. I am over the moon with excitement about the fact that there are twelve (12!!!!!) more episodes to air in rapid succession. After such a long hiatus, this feels like an astounding bounty.
I'm going to address some basic points in bulleted list form, then raise some questions.
Observations & Opinions
-Eleven/Matt Smith: Yes, I can believe that this eyebrow-deficient young thing is the Doctor. He's a bit insane and very much in charge. He's alternately badass and utterly dorky and awkward. In a lot of ways, I felt like Eleven was written and played a bit too close to early Tennant, but with any luck we will see Matt Smith make the role more his own as time goes on. I like his ungainly body language, and I absolutely adored the way he sweet-talked the TARDIS. "You sexy thing" indeed. :)
-The TARDIS: I miss the coral. A lot. That said, I don't hate the new interior, and I suspect it will grow on me. It seems a little like a kids' play area in a science museum: a bit overly busy with random knick-knacks (which we know were not Macgyvered in by the Doctor but grown by the TARDIS, so the hodgepodge look is a bit of a pose) and gizmos that make noise or show moving graphics. However, I like the multi-level design a lot, and I like this look for the roundels. Most of all, I am THRILLED about the hints that we may get to see the interior beyond the console room. The exterior is too bright, but I can live with it. I liked the emphasis on the sentience of the TARDIS with her choosing an interior to grow on her own and the way the Doctor spoke to her. I hope we get episodes that give the TARDIS some agency.
-Wee!Amelia gets two enthusiastic thumbs up. She's unflappable, intelligent, resourceful (most kids I know that age couldn't fry anything...maybe they train them up young in Scotland?), and firm. Also, ridiculously cute. Adult Amy gets preliminary approval, but needs a little more development. I like what I saw of her so far, but I feel like we only know adult Amy in relation to the Doctor. Her job exists mostly for a joke. Even during her brief interactions with other people, they almost all mention her Raggedy Doctor obsession. I feel like all we know of her is that she's (a) fiery and tempermental (because she's a redhead, and of course redheads are all like that *sigh*), and (b) obsessed with the Doctor, even if trait (a) means that she won't take any crap from him. That's all fine, especially for just one episode, but I do hope that as time goes on we learn more about who she is, and not just how she operates as a foil to the Doctor. (Much of that paragraph is copied from a comment I made in kaffyr 's lj.) Amy seemed to have less world-saving or conscience-providing than RTD's companions got in their intros, and I hope that we do see some of that in the future. In conclusion: handy with a cricket bat, but not giving any other companions competition for my heart yet. YET.
-New theme and credits: DO NOT WANT. The new look for the Time Vortex and this version of the music both struck me as cheesy, and not the sort of DW cheese that just makes it more lovable. Oh well. If Moff & co. had to thoroughly screw up one thing in the transition, this is pretty harmless.
-opening the TARDIS doors with a snap: STOP THAT!!! It is a really pointless trick. It makes the Doctor look as much like a poser as the "Who da man?", but without the adorkable charm.
-While I'm pointing out negatives, the eyeball snowflake spaceships were pretty dumb. However, this is Doctor Who, and somewhat silly-looking villains are not a deal-breaker by any means.
-the script: The dialog is stellar, as I'd expected from Moffatt. The plot is something of a Moffat Motif Montage. There were some pretty effective bits of horror, notably when the handcuffed Doctor makes Amy realize that there is an extra room in her house that she hasn't even been able to see. The Atraxi menace and its resolution didn't wow me, but it was a functional enough source of tension. No major holes or stupidity. I am intrigued by the hints at a larger arc!
-Other miscellaneous sources of SQUEE: Doctor face montage (I don't care if The Next Doctor did it first. It's still neat.) Amy having made Rory dress up as the Doctor (canon cosplay, y'all!). The Doctor calling the aliens back in order to make sure they will stay away in the future, which he does with logic and sheer presence. Stealing clothes from a hospital locker room just like Eight (with bonus unembarrassed changing Eleven and appreciative Amy...but I'm kind of hoping this stops with leering). Climbing out of the TARDIS with a grappling hook.
-EPIC SQUEE: "I am definitely a madman with a box." Yes, Doctor, you are. You always have been. Fantastic! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Questions
-Is it just me, or did the Doctor lead the Atraxi to conclude the same thing about the Earth that was already written in the Hitchhikers' Guide? According to the little holograph montage, Earth might have soldiers and atomic bombs, but it also has Gandhi and multicultural celebrations. Conclusion: mostly harmless! As long as you don't piss off the Time Lord who often loiters about.
-How long until somebody falls down the stairs in the console room? Not very long, I wager!
-Has anyone made icons with Eleven looking disapprovingly at the presumably porn-laden laptop with captions like "Eleven discovers fanfic" or "Eleven does not approve of your fic"? I predict these will show up very shortly.
-Flist, what do you think we learned about Eleven's flaws? By the end of their first episodes, both Nine and Ten displayed evidence of flaws specific to their version of the Doctor that would continue to show up later. Nine tended to be dismissive of domestic human concerns like whether Mickey was alive or dead, and his "I couldn't save any of them" showed that he was still quite broken from the Time War. Ten's "no second chances" and his destruction of Harriet Jones revealed his tendency to be judgmental and full of hubris. Eleven's a bit of a dork who overestimates his own cool, but that's more of a running gag than a real flaw. He's a bad pilot, he's rude (making a little child go to a lot of work making him food, then spitting it all over the floor), and his apology for missing all those years of Amy's life didn't grovel as much as I felt was called for, but none of that is new. The normal Doctorish tendency to jump into action with little thought to the consequences and none for human law seems to be very strong in him, but not really enough to make it a distinguishing feature of this incarnation. Were they so focused on charming us with the new Doctor that the only flaws they gave him were old or half-joking? Do any of Eleven's actions and attitudes bespeak trouble later?
-What's the meaning of the very obvious monitor with the moving line that we saw when Eleven was giving his not very convincing reassurance that there was no particular reason for selecting Amy?
-Does Amy honestly think she's going to make it back for her wedding, given the evidence she's already seen of the Doctor's driving? If not, why is she running away from it? Rory seemed like a decent guy. Meanwhile, is Amy still a kissogram two years later?
-Is Eleven going to keep eating really weird combinations of food in the future, or was that a regeneration aid? NEEDZ MOAR BANANAS.
-Is it next week yet? How about now? ....Now?
Final Thoughts
A lot of the flaws mentioned here were realized afterwards. During the episode, there was almost all happy bouncing. This is roughly on par with or better than my reactions to previous New Who changes of Doctor or companion. Despite regenerations on screen and behind the camera, this is still the show I care about so much. There's tons of potential for that love to grow. I am over the moon with excitement about the fact that there are twelve (12!!!!!) more episodes to air in rapid succession. After such a long hiatus, this feels like an astounding bounty.