Who is in charge of these things? Why is it not me?
God knows why I thought it would be a good idea to wind down last night by watching the last ep of season 2 of Torchwood, and tonight by watching the latest Doctor Who.
I'd forgotten how gut-wrenching this episode is, especially the last conversation between Tosh and Owen. I was never really on board with the whole Tosh-pining-for-Owen deal, but if that last scene between them doesn't rip your heart out, you don't have one. And James Marsters is always amazing. The one weak point: how did they end up casting such an incredibly shitty actor as Gray? Because the whole relationship between Jack and Gray, which was the heart of the episode, could have been so much more powerful if John Barrowman wasn't the only one actually acting.
They added Children of Earth to Netflix streaming, so I'm going to re-watch that before I watch Miracle Day. I remember loving CoE the first time I watched it (the "We are coming... back" gave me chills), even with the way it ends, but we'll see how I feel this time. And I have no idea what to expect about Miracle Day; I purposefully haven't read anything about it.
First off, the DW ep should have been a two-parter. There were good things about it: River as the pulp novel detective, the idea of a book that tells the future that you can't read, the run-down hotel with the names on the room doors, the single smiling angel. But the whole thing felt rushed and underdeveloped, never mind the WHAT? ending.
And dammit, I hate what they've done with the Angels. The great thing about science fiction is you get to make your own rules, but once you make them, you have to play by them. Between The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone and this episode, they went from really distinctive villains to "oooh, look out, creepy statues!" Do you know why they're called the Weeping Angels? BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO COVER THEIR FACES SO THEY WON'T LOOK AT EACH OTHER. That was the ultimate resolution of "Blink," and also what made the ending so scary because (if I remember correctly) you didn't see their faces until the end. Here, they're looking at each other all over the place, which should deadlock them but doesn't. Even the fact that someone's looking at them doesn't seem to matter, because clearly River and the Doctor are looking at the angel that takes Amy. I suppose you could argue that it doesn't actually move, it just does its time-zappy thing because Amy purposefully backed into it. So they can't move while you're looking at them, but they can send you back in time? Besides, Amy saw the one that zapped Rory before it touched him.
It's horror movie basics: 1) the less you see of something, the more frightening it is; and 2) it helps if there aren't 10,000 of them everywhere you look INCLUDING THE STATUE OF FUCKING LIBERTY. So any statue can be converted into an angel now? Ugh, I just hated that they took such an original premise and made such a mess of it. Amy and Rory deserved a much better send-off. I don't mind it not being a picture-perfect happy ending, but how, exactly, is a woman like Amy going to function in the 1930s without going crazy? And the Doctor can see Amy and Rory again, just not in New York in 1938. How about picking them up in Boston in 1939? And why, exactly, can't River write the book to end differently, if writing is what freezes something in time? I realize it's pretty much impossible to write time-travel stories without giant plot holes, but this just felt weak and completely un-thought-out.
Aside from "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship," I'm not crazy about this season.
I'd forgotten how gut-wrenching this episode is, especially the last conversation between Tosh and Owen. I was never really on board with the whole Tosh-pining-for-Owen deal, but if that last scene between them doesn't rip your heart out, you don't have one. And James Marsters is always amazing. The one weak point: how did they end up casting such an incredibly shitty actor as Gray? Because the whole relationship between Jack and Gray, which was the heart of the episode, could have been so much more powerful if John Barrowman wasn't the only one actually acting.
They added Children of Earth to Netflix streaming, so I'm going to re-watch that before I watch Miracle Day. I remember loving CoE the first time I watched it (the "We are coming... back" gave me chills), even with the way it ends, but we'll see how I feel this time. And I have no idea what to expect about Miracle Day; I purposefully haven't read anything about it.
First off, the DW ep should have been a two-parter. There were good things about it: River as the pulp novel detective, the idea of a book that tells the future that you can't read, the run-down hotel with the names on the room doors, the single smiling angel. But the whole thing felt rushed and underdeveloped, never mind the WHAT? ending.
And dammit, I hate what they've done with the Angels. The great thing about science fiction is you get to make your own rules, but once you make them, you have to play by them. Between The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone and this episode, they went from really distinctive villains to "oooh, look out, creepy statues!" Do you know why they're called the Weeping Angels? BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO COVER THEIR FACES SO THEY WON'T LOOK AT EACH OTHER. That was the ultimate resolution of "Blink," and also what made the ending so scary because (if I remember correctly) you didn't see their faces until the end. Here, they're looking at each other all over the place, which should deadlock them but doesn't. Even the fact that someone's looking at them doesn't seem to matter, because clearly River and the Doctor are looking at the angel that takes Amy. I suppose you could argue that it doesn't actually move, it just does its time-zappy thing because Amy purposefully backed into it. So they can't move while you're looking at them, but they can send you back in time? Besides, Amy saw the one that zapped Rory before it touched him.
It's horror movie basics: 1) the less you see of something, the more frightening it is; and 2) it helps if there aren't 10,000 of them everywhere you look INCLUDING THE STATUE OF FUCKING LIBERTY. So any statue can be converted into an angel now? Ugh, I just hated that they took such an original premise and made such a mess of it. Amy and Rory deserved a much better send-off. I don't mind it not being a picture-perfect happy ending, but how, exactly, is a woman like Amy going to function in the 1930s without going crazy? And the Doctor can see Amy and Rory again, just not in New York in 1938. How about picking them up in Boston in 1939? And why, exactly, can't River write the book to end differently, if writing is what freezes something in time? I realize it's pretty much impossible to write time-travel stories without giant plot holes, but this just felt weak and completely un-thought-out.
Aside from "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship," I'm not crazy about this season.