in defense of doctor who series 6.
The problem and wonder of the internet is that you find so many varied opinions, and with a show like "Doctor Who" there are bound to be plenty of people all along the spectrum of love and hate with regards to Steven Moffat's "Who." But when someone (yes, me) goes looking for other people who loved the most recent episode of "Doctor Who," what he or she finds instead is a huge amount of vitriol towards Moffat's writing, characters and plot lines. These are the reasons why I love Moffat and his rampant, unabashed trollism.
Firstly, Steven Moffat knows how to tell a story. He plots in advance, he layers in irony and foreshadowing and you never feel like he's grasping for the next bit, because he already knows. In my opinion, the quality of writing and production has gone way, way up since he took over as show-runner, and I trust in the fact that even while we viewers sit in front of our computers, going, "What the hell just happened?" that Moffat does know what the hell just happened, and he knows why.
Secondly, I've read opinions about how the Doctor seems out-of-character because he, for instance, forces the Silence underground using their own post-hypnotic suggestion tactics. I've also read opinions saying that Amy Pond gone from adventuring heroine to damsel in distress. To these people, I say, what? The Doctor has never shied away from being cruel (Human Nature/Family of Blood/Waters of Mars much?), because he is just a man, and when a race like the Silence are threatening the human race, who have no ability to resist the Silence themselves, he's going to use everything he's got against them. I'm also of the opinion that Amy Pond is the same person she's always been. Just a few episodes ago, she was swinging from a rope, waving a sword at pirates! Amelia Pond is no damsel in distress. If she is softer than she was last season, it's not because marriage has changed her for the worse, it's because marriage has made her secure enough to not always be hiding her emotions away from her husband and the man who she perhaps wasn't quite trusting last series, because he did leave her for fourteen years. I thought it was damn obvious that Amy Pond constantly masked her emotions last series--being incapable of telling Rory that she loved him, for instance--and the fact that she's more expressive of them now is pretty fantastic in my opinion.
A brief sidenote, I've also read opinions that state that Moffat doesn't focus on character relationships enough, always being concerned with the timey-wimey or the big shockers. (The timey-wimey is just good storytelling, guys. It's a show about time traveling! The real question is why it hasn't been done far more often before now. Cliffhangers or shockers are natural parts of stories as well--it keeps readers or viewers coming back.) Honestly, I've always thought that the love and affection between Amy and the Doctor or Amy and Rory or Rory and the Doctor was also very obvious. But unlike in RTD-era, it's not always put in your face, or characters express their love through their actions, like the Doctor burning through a Cyberman legion or an asteroid, for instance, when he normally abhors violence, because that's how strongly he feels about Amy.
And finally, the plots. I'm sorry, but how can anyone say that inserting phrases into every episode, until the very last bit, where it's just finally explained to you, is good plotting? I'm talking about "bad wolf," and I'm talking about "Torchwood." And when the reveal occurs, you think to yourself, 'Oh, is that it? Rose was leaving herself a post-it note throughout the universe?' As series mysteries, "bad wolf" and "Torchwood" were flat-out not good, and I infinitely prefer a crack in time, where you find out more about its properties gradually, or a strange not-pregnancy, because more gets revealed each episode, until the revelation that it's the TARDIS exploding or a ganger substitution.
With regards to "A Good Man Goes to War," I thought it was fantastic. Well-written, extremely well-acted, and River Song's identity raises more questions than it answers as it should. I wasn't surprised at her identity itself (the internet rumors have been speculating about this particular theory for a while), but I loved how it was revealed and that the Doctor went from furious to bouncy within a few seconds of knowing. I love Matt Smith more than words can say, and when he ends his tenure as the 11th doctor, I will be crying so, so hard. Not sure how I'm going to wait until autumn.
Firstly, Steven Moffat knows how to tell a story. He plots in advance, he layers in irony and foreshadowing and you never feel like he's grasping for the next bit, because he already knows. In my opinion, the quality of writing and production has gone way, way up since he took over as show-runner, and I trust in the fact that even while we viewers sit in front of our computers, going, "What the hell just happened?" that Moffat does know what the hell just happened, and he knows why.
Secondly, I've read opinions about how the Doctor seems out-of-character because he, for instance, forces the Silence underground using their own post-hypnotic suggestion tactics. I've also read opinions saying that Amy Pond gone from adventuring heroine to damsel in distress. To these people, I say, what? The Doctor has never shied away from being cruel (Human Nature/Family of Blood/Waters of Mars much?), because he is just a man, and when a race like the Silence are threatening the human race, who have no ability to resist the Silence themselves, he's going to use everything he's got against them. I'm also of the opinion that Amy Pond is the same person she's always been. Just a few episodes ago, she was swinging from a rope, waving a sword at pirates! Amelia Pond is no damsel in distress. If she is softer than she was last season, it's not because marriage has changed her for the worse, it's because marriage has made her secure enough to not always be hiding her emotions away from her husband and the man who she perhaps wasn't quite trusting last series, because he did leave her for fourteen years. I thought it was damn obvious that Amy Pond constantly masked her emotions last series--being incapable of telling Rory that she loved him, for instance--and the fact that she's more expressive of them now is pretty fantastic in my opinion.
A brief sidenote, I've also read opinions that state that Moffat doesn't focus on character relationships enough, always being concerned with the timey-wimey or the big shockers. (The timey-wimey is just good storytelling, guys. It's a show about time traveling! The real question is why it hasn't been done far more often before now. Cliffhangers or shockers are natural parts of stories as well--it keeps readers or viewers coming back.) Honestly, I've always thought that the love and affection between Amy and the Doctor or Amy and Rory or Rory and the Doctor was also very obvious. But unlike in RTD-era, it's not always put in your face, or characters express their love through their actions, like the Doctor burning through a Cyberman legion or an asteroid, for instance, when he normally abhors violence, because that's how strongly he feels about Amy.
And finally, the plots. I'm sorry, but how can anyone say that inserting phrases into every episode, until the very last bit, where it's just finally explained to you, is good plotting? I'm talking about "bad wolf," and I'm talking about "Torchwood." And when the reveal occurs, you think to yourself, 'Oh, is that it? Rose was leaving herself a post-it note throughout the universe?' As series mysteries, "bad wolf" and "Torchwood" were flat-out not good, and I infinitely prefer a crack in time, where you find out more about its properties gradually, or a strange not-pregnancy, because more gets revealed each episode, until the revelation that it's the TARDIS exploding or a ganger substitution.
With regards to "A Good Man Goes to War," I thought it was fantastic. Well-written, extremely well-acted, and River Song's identity raises more questions than it answers as it should. I wasn't surprised at her identity itself (the internet rumors have been speculating about this particular theory for a while), but I loved how it was revealed and that the Doctor went from furious to bouncy within a few seconds of knowing. I love Matt Smith more than words can say, and when he ends his tenure as the 11th doctor, I will be crying so, so hard. Not sure how I'm going to wait until autumn.