Doctor Who 33bx02 The Rings of Akhaten
There was a lot I loved about this episode.It was lovely to be on a genuine alien planet which was so vivid and unique. It was amazing to see so many new species - and I loved the 'barking' communication between the Doctor/Clara and one of the aliens. I ADORED the reference to Susan and ate that up in a heartsbeat. The idea of things of sentimental value being 'money' and having more worth than paper (and gold)? Gorgeous. The religion aspect - the God who sleeps forever because of the never ending song - I liked. (Not so keen on the whole shooting down of religion based on science as it's always better to at least be respectful and/or keep an open mind on these things but that's a minor quibble.)
The singing was haunting and beautiful. A bit of a throwback to Gridlock, where they all sang to keep their spirits up when travelling the motorway, but it was used in a different way so it was nice. Merry sounded beautiful and was utterly adorable. I love how brave she was - even if she was scared at the same time - she was genuinely willing to give herself up to the vampire/parasite in order to save everyone. But that wasn't enough for the Doctor and Clara.
The Doctor really broke my heart when he talked about everything he'd seen and everything he'd experienced and how it felt as he tried to get the parasite to eat his stories/soul. Then, Clara comes in and saves the day with untapped potential and that's a nice resolution.
It's also nice to get the backstory of how THIS Clara came into being - how her parents met - the keeping of the leaf - watching her grow up - the story about Blackpool and so on. It really adds colour to the history of the character and makes her feel more rounded immediately. The one quibble? More dead parents. Rose and Amy both had dead parents (who conveniently came back) and it does make me question if that will happen again. Besides, there are so many other ways to have lost days and untapped potential - Clara could have been adopted with the leaf a present from her birth mother (and thus, lost days in the sense that she never got to grow up with her adoptive parents - even more poignant if she had been thrown around the foster system and THUS that's why she wants to offer her friend's kids the stability she never had.) Or, her mother could have been in a serious accident, leaving her paralysed and Clara and her father had to make the terrible decision to put her into a home as they were unable to meet her needs. Her mother would have lost her hopes and dreams in an instant - poetic in the sense that her father nearly died before her conception in a car crash and thus, met her mother. And then her mother loses her future to an actual accident. THEN, as Clara travels, she could have taken photos to show her mum to let her live vicariously through her and....
Okay. That's enough ramblings on what ifs. To cut it short: there's a lot of ways to lose potential days other than just killing off a character. It's almost lazy and cheap emotion, especially in Doctor Who these days.
And finally: the TARDIS is clearly rejecting Clara based on the fact that she is 'wrong' somehow and thus the TARDIS doesn't want her inside of her. And also, Clara doesn't have a key.
Yet.
The singing was haunting and beautiful. A bit of a throwback to Gridlock, where they all sang to keep their spirits up when travelling the motorway, but it was used in a different way so it was nice. Merry sounded beautiful and was utterly adorable. I love how brave she was - even if she was scared at the same time - she was genuinely willing to give herself up to the vampire/parasite in order to save everyone. But that wasn't enough for the Doctor and Clara.
The Doctor really broke my heart when he talked about everything he'd seen and everything he'd experienced and how it felt as he tried to get the parasite to eat his stories/soul. Then, Clara comes in and saves the day with untapped potential and that's a nice resolution.
It's also nice to get the backstory of how THIS Clara came into being - how her parents met - the keeping of the leaf - watching her grow up - the story about Blackpool and so on. It really adds colour to the history of the character and makes her feel more rounded immediately. The one quibble? More dead parents. Rose and Amy both had dead parents (who conveniently came back) and it does make me question if that will happen again. Besides, there are so many other ways to have lost days and untapped potential - Clara could have been adopted with the leaf a present from her birth mother (and thus, lost days in the sense that she never got to grow up with her adoptive parents - even more poignant if she had been thrown around the foster system and THUS that's why she wants to offer her friend's kids the stability she never had.) Or, her mother could have been in a serious accident, leaving her paralysed and Clara and her father had to make the terrible decision to put her into a home as they were unable to meet her needs. Her mother would have lost her hopes and dreams in an instant - poetic in the sense that her father nearly died before her conception in a car crash and thus, met her mother. And then her mother loses her future to an actual accident. THEN, as Clara travels, she could have taken photos to show her mum to let her live vicariously through her and....
Okay. That's enough ramblings on what ifs. To cut it short: there's a lot of ways to lose potential days other than just killing off a character. It's almost lazy and cheap emotion, especially in Doctor Who these days.
And finally: the TARDIS is clearly rejecting Clara based on the fact that she is 'wrong' somehow and thus the TARDIS doesn't want her inside of her. And also, Clara doesn't have a key.
Yet.