Doctor Who 5.02 or, the episode in which they go WHEEEEEEEEE and make no sense
WTF. This episode saddens me, because it further establishes the awesome of Eleven and Amy, and the Queen was AMAZING ("Basically?" *shoots* "I'm the Queen."), and so was the cinematography (color and lighting! *dies*), and the plot could have been really cool, had it been the plot of two episodes instead of one. Because, here's the thing: this episode was basically the Satan Pit episode with the black hole, only more British. AND SEE WHAT THEY DID THERE, WRITERS? THEY GAVE IT TWO EPISODES. NOT SQUISHED IT INTO ONE. But because they did, the whole episode felt like hook plot point revelation about plot point plot point revelation about plot point another revelation another plot point revelation revelation space whale children Amy's emotional telepathy boom. As soon as they established the existence of something, whether it be the Dai Li in space, the woman in the mask, the tentacles, the space whale - not even the essence of something! Just the fact that it existed! - it was immediately revealed to be something else. There was no time for the knowledge to build, no suspense, no moment of truth when the thing you've known all along - that's been with you every step of the way - is revealed to be something else, which is what all the best reveals are. That's why you have reveals.
For instance, the scene when Amy and the Doctor go hurtling down the garbage chute. Amy goes, ew, why are we in sewage? And the Doctor says, the sewage is vegetables but never mind that, the floor's a tongue! Then they get thrown up into a hallway, where a woman with a gun and a red velveteen cape decides to shoot some people and tells them she's the Queen. And that, for me, encompassed the feel of the entire episode.
Also for the "WTF? IDK" category: Amy's little thing at the end with the Doctor. What? She's known him for maybe eighteen hours over the past twenty-something years, and that he was an alien for less. Frankly, he's told her nothing about Time Lords, nothing about how they died or what happened or how he's still living, and yet everyone acts as if she knows all this. She doesn't treat him like a sad, puzzling alien who's lost his entire species; she treats him like the Lonely God. Is she telepathic? Did I miss an entire episode where she has a chat with Rose and Donna about the Doctor's issues and hangups and history? Why are the writers speeding through things they took half a season (sometimes more!) to set up with the other characters? Or, for that matter, the Doctor's assumption in the beginning, or Amy's at the end. People just seem to know things in this episode. It bothers me.
In conclusion: TOO FAST. SLOW DOWN. And the majority of the bits with the Queen - though I loved her - made NO SENSE AT ALL.
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For instance, the scene when Amy and the Doctor go hurtling down the garbage chute. Amy goes, ew, why are we in sewage? And the Doctor says, the sewage is vegetables but never mind that, the floor's a tongue! Then they get thrown up into a hallway, where a woman with a gun and a red velveteen cape decides to shoot some people and tells them she's the Queen. And that, for me, encompassed the feel of the entire episode.
Also for the "WTF? IDK" category: Amy's little thing at the end with the Doctor. What? She's known him for maybe eighteen hours over the past twenty-something years, and that he was an alien for less. Frankly, he's told her nothing about Time Lords, nothing about how they died or what happened or how he's still living, and yet everyone acts as if she knows all this. She doesn't treat him like a sad, puzzling alien who's lost his entire species; she treats him like the Lonely God. Is she telepathic? Did I miss an entire episode where she has a chat with Rose and Donna about the Doctor's issues and hangups and history? Why are the writers speeding through things they took half a season (sometimes more!) to set up with the other characters? Or, for that matter, the Doctor's assumption in the beginning, or Amy's at the end. People just seem to know things in this episode. It bothers me.
In conclusion: TOO FAST. SLOW DOWN. And the majority of the bits with the Queen - though I loved her - made NO SENSE AT ALL.
This entry was originally posted at http://vanitashaze.dreamwidth.org/64047.html. Please comment there using OpenID.