I wasn't in love with this two-parter opening. I really thought I would be (just The Doctor in a Stetson had me giggly), and maybe things will unfold as the series progresses that make me love it more.
There seemed to be too may subplots and not enough BAM! I'M THE DOCTOR! as you pointed out. With so much going on, my simple, linear mind couldn't decide what was important and therefore, I've determined that none of it was important.
I shall sit back and waited to be pleasantly surprised.
Yeah, you know, I think my main criticism of this is that it didn't feel right for an opening episode - too depressing and twisty, when for an opener you want fast action, clever resolutions and some light-heartedness. I'm hoping pirates next week will deliver on this.
Someone suggested the child will become River! I can't even get my head round it, but it could be kind of neat. Don't know if I like it or not, but I did go "Oooooooh!"
It was all a bit all over the place for me, though there were some very lovely moments and scares. I like the moment when the Doctor told Nixon to tape everything. :) I think I prefer episodes which move around less and encompass less time. There was so much going on in this one and lots of little bits of action spread across a longish time period. It got a bit bitty and episodic by the end. I do admire Moffat for keeping us guessing on so much for so long though. In last week's Confidential, he promised answers to some questions (notably, who River is) but not to all of them. Always keeping something back makes for suspenseful story-telling, if not always individually satisfying episodes.
But yes, I think bitty is a good description, and it didn't feel quite right for an opening episode to me. I like the idea of an epic storyline in principle, but even in a two-parter I don't think they had time to do the concept justice. But yay for suspense anyway :)
Considering the full series' worth of build-up to the Silence, I wonder if we haven't seen the last of them. It did all seem to be over a bit quickly.
Regarding River: in "Silence in the Library", she said "You're younger than I've ever seen you", implying to me that she hadn't previously met him in that incarnation. After all, the Tenth Doctor didn't have enough personal time to age noticeably between that meeting and his next regeneration.
The line from "Forest of the Dead" was "The last time I saw you - the real you, the future you, I mean - you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium to see the singing towers. Oh, what a night that was! The towers sang, and you cried." Certainly not something the Tenth Doctor would have done before he had an established relationship with River. But, in some ways, isn't that rather reminiscent of what we saw of the 1103-year-old Doctor tidying away all the loose ends before his death? Or maybe not ...
I think you're right about the Silence. The also the connection with the spaceship in The Lodger - the Silence had one of exactly the same type. And we know that the guest stars from The Lodger are going to reappear this series.
in "Silence in the Library", she said "You're younger than I've ever seen you", implying to me that she hadn't previously met him in that incarnation.
I think this is plausible. I suppose there are ways round it, and of course as watchers we're inevitably thinking in the wrong direction because it's quite likely the writers didn't have all of this planned right from River's first episode, so they're going over the older episodes to make sense of what they're writing in the new ones :) But your reaction is certainly the one I had at the beginning (though through discussion with other fans I started to think I might be wrong!).
Thank you for the quote! I always end up paraphrasing these things badly :)
But, in some ways, isn't that rather reminiscent of what we saw of the 1103-year-old Doctor tidying away
( ... )
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There seemed to be too may subplots and not enough BAM! I'M THE DOCTOR! as you pointed out. With so much going on, my simple, linear mind couldn't decide what was important and therefore, I've determined that none of it was important.
I shall sit back and waited to be pleasantly surprised.
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But yes, I think bitty is a good description, and it didn't feel quite right for an opening episode to me. I like the idea of an epic storyline in principle, but even in a two-parter I don't think they had time to do the concept justice. But yay for suspense anyway :)
Reply
Regarding River: in "Silence in the Library", she said "You're younger than I've ever seen you", implying to me that she hadn't previously met him in that incarnation. After all, the Tenth Doctor didn't have enough personal time to age noticeably between that meeting and his next regeneration.
The line from "Forest of the Dead" was "The last time I saw you - the real you, the future you, I mean - you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium to see the singing towers. Oh, what a night that was! The towers sang, and you cried." Certainly not something the Tenth Doctor would have done before he had an established relationship with River. But, in some ways, isn't that rather reminiscent of what we saw of the 1103-year-old Doctor tidying away all the loose ends before his death? Or maybe not ...
Reply
in "Silence in the Library", she said "You're younger than I've ever seen you", implying to me that she hadn't previously met him in that incarnation.
I think this is plausible. I suppose there are ways round it, and of course as watchers we're inevitably thinking in the wrong direction because it's quite likely the writers didn't have all of this planned right from River's first episode, so they're going over the older episodes to make sense of what they're writing in the new ones :) But your reaction is certainly the one I had at the beginning (though through discussion with other fans I started to think I might be wrong!).
Thank you for the quote! I always end up paraphrasing these things badly :)
But, in some ways, isn't that rather reminiscent of what we saw of the 1103-year-old Doctor tidying away ( ... )
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