Doctor Who "Slience in the Library"
I have the plague a cold. I thought I'd dodged it, felt a little low last Friday, but was better over the weekend. But, then I went and did that 36+ hour day Sunday/Monday (Protip: don't do that) and I guess the plague cold decided that was a brilliant invitation, for I woke up Tuesday without my voice. And then I was completely unable to sleep Tuesday night and for most of Wednesday, and most of Thursday, and ... aren't you supposed to get tired when you get sick? I never get sick (not cold/flu sick, at any rate). My superior immune system has failed me. Woe. And cough.
Also, it's 106 outside. It's like summer realized it was sort of late and went "oh shi-- hold on! I'm coming! HERE HAVE SOME FREAKING HEAT!" Jeebus. At least the humidity has gone away.
/whining
I will make myself feel better by finally rewatching/recapping/reviewing/reeverything this season's Moffat eps.
Short version: I liked 'em a lot, and I liked River really a lot. I know I've been all opposite fandom this year -- it's strange, and not usually the case. Though, I will allow that I do not think these eps were the strongest of Moffat's Who offerings in some ways, but in other ways I felt I got something of the Doctor that I, at least, hadn't really spent a lot of time considering before.
(you know, these take me hours to do (short attention span + needing to pause and replay multiple times + time to commentate = forfreakingever), and then this time, I went and added pictures (no reason. just 'cause), so this took a bazillion times longer (roughly), and it's only part one of two. The season'll be over before I finish this.)
Warning: I admit that there are times when I am a sap, and that my sappiness may not be what other people care for. I'm not generally a Who shipper of any sort; I don't care one way or the other (literally, do not care. Have no caring at all, whatsoever. Ship, don't ship -- I have no opinion on the subject, except that I have no opinion on the subject). But, I went all sappy over River/Doctor. I DON'T KNOW! Except I do. Anyway, if you didn't, that was your warning to bail now. Thank you, I'm sorry.
On to the story:
I don't think that this was Moffat's creepiest story, either (I don't really look for Doctor Who to scare me. It hasn't done since I was like nine, so I'm pretty comfortable with that. It might be creepy, a little chilling, tense even, but scary? Not so much) -- perhaps tied with GitF, as I didn't think the clockwork robots were creepy, so much as sad. Poor clockwork robots, confused about and unable to fulfill their function. Sad, beautiful clockwork robots. :(
But, like GitF, we do get a look at the Doctor's soft and squishy hearts. Not literally. But, clearly, Steven Moffat and I are on very similar sap wavelengths. This is pleasing to me, but I realize not to everybody in fandom.
We open with the little girl and Dr. Moon, and the library is really lovely -- all of it. I approve.
"The library is in your mind."
"I know its in my mind, but something's got inside." You know, by itself, sort of an alarming statement.
Alarm and fear -- an appropriate reaction to the arrival of the Doctor, I think.
"You need the smell. The smell of books, Donna." My favorite book when I was a kid was "the Hobbit", and we had a copy of it that smelled amazing. It smelled like old paper and sweet spice. I loved that book until it fell apart, and then I got a hardback copy that didn't smell nearly as amazing -- it smelled all sort of ink and glue sour.
"The library. So big it doesn't need a name, just a great big 'the'." Like you? An ego so big it doesn't need a proper name, just a great big 'the'.
Really, the library planet design is just lovely.
"I love biographies."
"Yeah, very you, always a death at the end." HA! I love Donna. Sharp and pointy Donna. Oh, Donna, don't leave us!
"You need a good death. Without death, there'd only be comedies. 'Dying gives us size'." Oh, Doctor ... I'm not even sure I know how to say what I want to say to that. I think it's fair enough to say that by his own words, he's something of a coward (which, I'm not sure he'd dispute), or at the very least, all talk. He'll have his friends, his mates, he'll love them, because that's what he does -- but he'll only let it so far, and then he plays the interpersonal relationship idiot card, because eventually they'll leave, or they'll die (and he really doesn't want to see/know that), and after a millennium of that, well, I'm sure it doesn't get any easier for him. We wouldn't like him very much if it did. But, see? All talk. He likes the biographies in the abstract, or he likes them briefly. He might want to meet the subject of the biographies, but then he moves the hell on, because he knows how it ends, because that's how it always ends, and he doesn't want to actually see that part.
I think that's what I liked so much about River and the idea of River, and why, of course when the Doctor lets himself fall in love (and, be in love, and you know, let the other person know that), it's a paradox -- he'll let himself, because he will let himself, and he did let himself, therefore he can let himself. He might not think about it otherwise. But, this time, because he knows he doesn't run from it, he doesn't run from it -- her life, her death. But, serious props to River, because she, no doubt, had to cut through the interpersonal relationship idiot act, anyway, because I'm sure he doesn't have like a switch or anything for it. I salute her resilience and determination in the face of his absolutely intentional, obstinate cluelessness.
That's getting a bit head of myself, though. After the first part, I did wonder if she was maybe some sort of crazy, delusional Doctor stalker. I was pleased to be wrong.
"Isn't traveling with you, one big spoiler?"
"... I try to keep you away from major plot developments." Oh, Doctor, you're such a liar and/or hypocrite. Bless. "Which, to be honest, I seem to be very bad at." Hee. At least he's an honest liar.
"Maybe it's a Sunday."
"Nah, I never land on Sunday. Sunday's are boring." Ha! I don't know why I found that so funny, but i did. Maybe it was just his off-hand, factual delivery.
(my god, there are people outside doing yardwork. Did I mention it's 106? Because it really is. I'm getting heatstroke just thinking about this)
"Doctor, why're we here? Really why?"
"Oh, you know ... just passing."
"No, seriously, it was all 'let's hit the beach' and then suddenly we're in a library. What?" Oh, Donna, she so has his number. He really can't get anything past her, I just love her to pieces. DON'T LEAVE US DONNA!
That is a very "you are so full of crap" look on her face. I love her.
Right, so the Doctor widens the life form parameters ("life forms, Oh you little life forms, where are you?" /mortifyingly geeky), and finds that there's a trillion of something there, and it's all very quiet, so what the hell is it (and I think, they probably should have, maybe, specified, that while the parameters were all very wide, they probably didn't mean, necessarily, your common bacteria and dust mites and whatever, because there's gajillions of those everywhere, including, I'm sure, THE Library).
I love that Donna asks the question of "it's not the books, is it? It can't be the books, can it?" And then they both look askance at the books, and scare the crap out of themselves. Hee.
"So, that's why we're here." And Donna gives him a tiny look, and probably wants to punch him just a little bit.
"Count the shadows. For god's sake remember, If you want to live, count the shadows." Actually, though, by the time you've spotted an extra shadow, it's too late, isn't it? Well, it's too late for somebody, maybe not you, I guess. Potentially helpful, for somebody, maybe.
"So, we weren't just in the neighborhood."
"Yeah, I kinda, sorta lied a bit."
Yeah, a bit? Shocking.
"I got a message on the psychic paper. What do you think? Cry for help?"
"Cry for help, with a kiss." Hee.
"Well, we've all done that." Seriously, Doctor? You've signed notes with a kiss? I find that hilariously hard to believe.
And the lights go out. And there's running, and the door won't open. "Sonic it! Use the thingy." Hee. "Hang on, hang on, if I can vibrate the molecules, blah blah blah". Vibrate the molecules? -- seriously Doctor. He's gone so far around clever he's turned back into an idiot? Donna, being Donna, uses the practical 'kick it freaking open' approach. Shame she didn't think about that when her granddad was trapped in a car and dying of poisoning in the Helen Raynor eps of supreme shit (I'm letting that go. I am, I'm letting it go. This is me letting go. ... now)
And we're back where we started.
"Nice door skills, Donna."
"Yeah, well, boyfriends ... sometimes you need the element of surprise." Ha! This is why the Doctor and Donna work so well together -- they're both as subtle as a nuclear blast.
"Are we safe here?"
"Of course we're safe. It's a little shop." Little shop = safest places ever? Good to know.
"It's alive."
"You said it was a security camera."
"It is ... it's an alive one."
Back to the little girl -- who was not herself creepy, but some of the things she said were certainly unsettling. "Others are coming. The library has been breached."
This is just a very pretty shot. This was an awesomely lit episode. I mean, as you'd require with a story about, you know, shadows. But, still, worth mentioning.
No, really, very lovely.
"It chose me a dead face, it thought I'd like?" Heh. I can't say that I'd fixate on that quite as much as Donna did, but it is sort of ... unappealing. "It's the 51st century that's basically like donating a park bench." Fair enough, and yet ...
"I counted it. One shadow."
"Yeah, but what's casting it." It is a bit of a dramatic shadow for such a small ball. And also, it's two shadows -- the round shadow immediately around the ball and the long, conical shadow across the floor. (i was just paused and noticed and mentioned -- not a nitpick).
"I'm thick. Look at me, I'm old and thick. My head's too full of stuff. I need a bigger head." Oh, you really don't.
"Why's it dark?"
"It's not dark."
"That shadow hasn't gone, it's moved."
I'm not sure why this fails on the creep scale. It shouldn't, and yet, it sort of does. The bit about "the library has been breached, others are coming" was more unsettling than the shadows.
Oh look. Others.
"Hello, sweetie." The other great thing about River? How off-balance she puts him. All. The. Time. It's awesome.
"Did you say expedition?"
"My expedition."
I really liked that asshole businessman turned out not to be such an asshole. It was a little disappointing, at first, that Moffat would include a character so ... one-dimensional.
"I lied, I'm always lying, bound to be others." Ha!
"Tell me you're not archaeologists."
He's never recovered from Emilia, is what's happened. (Emilia was the best thing ever. I loved her so very much.)
"I'm a time traveler. I point and laugh at archaeologists."
"Professor River Song. Archaeologist." Hee.
I love him trying to rush everybody out, while nobody's actually listening. They're all just standing there looking at him like he's mad. Of course, you know, he's not bothering to explain -- granted, he doesn't know exactly what's going on, but something other than a "leave 'cause I told you so" might be a bit more productive? Perhaps?
"Find a nice bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, very scared." I would, Doctor, but for some reason the creep factor is failing for me. Everybody else agrees with me. Unfortunately for them, because I'm pretty sure I'll survive watching this episode, but they may not.
And River just keeps looking at him with sort of amused affection. AND I'M A SAP! I'M SORRY, I AM!
"And who are you?"
"Dave."
"Okay, Dave."
"Oh, well, Other Dave, 'cause that's Proper Dave. He's the pilot, he was the first Dave. So when we ...." Hee.
The Doctor's like "NONE OF YOU ARE GETTING THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION! WHY AM I FAILING TO CONVEY THE CREEPY?" I don't know, Doctor, I can't figure it out.
"You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the library are the ... intellectual ... property of the Fellman Lux Corporation." I love Lux mouthing along with her as she tries to spit out the last bit. And then the Doctor does what the Doctor does with contracts, and Donna being, in general, as subtle as him, does the same.
"That was a hundred years ago. The library's been silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here is long dead."
"Bet your life?"
"Always."
Wow, those two had/will have a fun life. Seriously, I love it. It's the potential, or something. I dunno. I'M A SAP.
And he can't figure her out, and it's awesome.
"He said seal the door."
"You're taking orders from him?"
"Spooky, innit?" Heh. The Doctor's just a force of nature -- bend like a willow, or get blown over, I guess.
"Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong. It's not irrational." Hmm, if you say so, Doctor. Maybe this is why I'm not buying the creep factor. You can tell me I should be afraid of the dark as much as you like, but I'm not going to be. I'm sorry, it's just ... not me. I like the dark. It's comforting. Calming. Peaceful. But, you're halfway there. It's not the dark that's scary, it's shadows in the dark that can be creepy. It's a fine line, I know, but it is a line, and it makes a world of difference between creepy and not -- at least in my head it does -- and the line's not well enough defined here.
"It's Vashta Nerada." And you can give it a name, and still ... not afraid of the dark. And I think maybe the other Moffat stories didn't spend quite so much time telling us what was creepy, so much as they just spent that time being creepy.
River takes charge, while the Doctor's doing ... whatever it is the Doctor's doing. Listening for Apache, or something.
"Pretty boy, with me, I said."
And Donna's face "oi, dumbass, that's you." Hee.
"Oh! I'm pretty boy."
"Yes."
Poor Miss Evangelista, dumb as a post, but she just wants to help. "I could just, you know, hold things." Heh, poor girl.
"Couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod and the bathroom. We had to go back for her. Twice." Aww, and hee.
The Doctor is still trying to figure out River. I just ... I just really love that. He's so off balance. I think he needs that every now and again, I do. Keeps him from being insufferable.
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"The usual. For coming when I call."
"Oh, that was you?"
"You're doing a very good job of acting like you don't know me. I'm assuming there's a reason."
"A fairly good one, actually." Heh.
Poor River. Yeah. I wonder, though, does he just randomly show up with companions she'd never met? I mean, clearly it's not an issue, just interesting, seeing as she doesn't even question it.
"Shall we do diaries then? Where are we this time?"
I like this about them, too -- they have separate lives, all intertwining and connected and what, but still separate.
"Judging by your face, it's still early days for you."
That's quite a journal she's got. Thick and battered as hell. How old is she, do you suppose? She's obviously known him for a long time in her personal time line.
And he just keeps staring. Heh.
"Ahh, picnic at Asgard. have we done Asgard yet?" The Doctor's a romantic sap, isn't he? Welcome to the sap club, Doctor.
"Blimey, very early days then. Woo. Life with a time traveler, never knew it could be such hard work."
And she realizes, probably by his clueless staring and his extremely uncharacteristic silence, that he's never met her. Yet. Until just now.
"Look at you. You're young." She sounds so ... amazed and fond.
"I'm really not, you know."
"No, but you are."
The other thing I like about River -- he believes he knows everything about himself, but he really doesn't. He, and we, see that through her. We see his potential -- which I think he doesn't think about very often at all. Nor do I, really. We just sort of accept him as he is at any particular moment, and don't think a lot about what he could/will be. At least, I don't know that I have. Not in quite this way, at any rate.
"Your eyes. You're younger than I've ever seen you." And he's moving past puzzled into a bit wigged. It's one thing I think to meet somebody who's all "hey! I know you" and you've not met yet, it's another when that person's clearly more familiar with you than you ever really let anybody get (or at least, have let for a few centuries).
"So, you've seen me before, then?" Thus the face stroking, I imagine. I don't think she's the type to go around stroking random strangers. I mean, I don't know, I guess she could be, but I suspect not.
"Doctor, please tell me you know who I am?"
"Who are you?"
Poor River. That's got to sting a bit.
And ... something goes to hell and starts beeping. As things do when you're the Doctor, or with the Doctor, or in the general vicinity of the Doctor, or in the same quadrant of the galaxy as the Doctor.
It's ...
A giant alarm phone only the little girl can hear in her neverland.
"Hello, are you in my fireplace television?"
"No, I'm sort of in space." Heh.
The journal taunts the Doctor. Until River takes it from him. "I'm sorry. You're not allowed to see inside the book. It's against the rules."
"What rules?"
"Your rules." Dumbass (implied).
And the little girl starts to work on the universe with the remote control. I do like the back and forth between the little girl's world and the library -- the interaction between the two.
Books go a-flying. Though, um, how does that work, exactly? She's the computer core, the books are on the shelves, so how does she fling them? Maybe I should handwave. /handwave
The Doctor is very confused. Never a good sign, really.
Oh! Maybe the books are on the shelves, but the shelves have a mechanical component that is tied to the computer for ... um cataloging or retrieval or something so you always know if a book is where it ought to be or if you need to get it when you're on a different booky continent or whatever? Yeah, alright, that's fine. Whatever, moving on.
"They don't want me. They think I'm stupid because I'm pretty."
"Of course they don't." Aw, Donna, that's nice of you. And probably right, they think she's stupid 'cause, well, she's stupid. Poor girl.
"My dad said I had the IQ of plankton and I was pleased." ouch.
"CAL -- what is it?"
"Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contract."
Heh. Asshole. Mercifully less grating or obnoxious when it's explained why. But, the first time I watched, it was aggravating. I don't like characters like Mr. Lux seemed to be at first. I have very little patience for that.
"Mr. Lux, right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in in your whole life, and you're protecting a patent." Tsk, Doctor, with the assumptions.
"I'm protecting my family's pride."
"Then why don't you sign his contract?" Heh. And the Doctor stares some more. "I didn't either. I'm getting worse than you." Pretty much. You two are/will be fun.
She renders him speechless again. And now she's just doing it on purpose. The opportunity to have a bit of fun with him would be too much to resist, I'm sure.
(had to take a dinner break and watch a couple eps of the Tick. Man, I love the Tick. One of the eps was, coincidentally, "Ants in Pants", where the ants try to fry the humans by making a giant magnifying glass -- but first they break up into swarms and dress up in human clothes in order to sneak around the city. I did not plan that. It just happened. Awesomely.)
So, right, last place we were ... okay, yes, the Doctor's being unsettled by River and he decides to focus on what happened in the Library and demands to know what happened, one hundred years ago, on that day everybody went missing. River says they just got the one cryptic message about how the lights were going out. That's it. And the mystery continues.
And now there's chatting and the little girl hits a button and a panel door opens up. Miss E will wander off, after trying to get people's attention and they ignore her. This will end badly for her. Because that's the way things go.
"There was one other thing in the last message."
"That's confidential."
"I trust this man. With my life. With everything."
"You've only just met him."
"Nope, he's only just met me."
Donna cottoned on a bit ago, and she's been very watchy and quiet, but, no, she doesn't know what to say to that either, Doctor. You're on your own, pal.
"This is a data extract that came with the last message."
"4022 saved. No survivors."
"How can 4022 people have been saved if there were no survivors?"
A conundrum.
Gratuitous loving-the-lighting image (GLLI).
"And so far, what we haven't found are any bodies." The library's the size of a planet, yes? 4022 people go missing/dead on a planet ... that's a lot of square footage for a relatively small number of people. I shouldn't be surprised you're not tripping over corpses. But, you'll find one in a mo' as Miss E wanders off to be et.
GLLI
And there's screaming! And running! Excitement! I'm not sure who Who's sound engineer/whatever is, but they need to tone down the score. It's been an intermittent problem for, you know, four series now. Sometimes it's more obviously annoying than other times. Right now, it's a bit loud.
Thorough little buggers, aren't they? And, you know, mostly tidy. Bone's no good, though? What about the tasty, delicious marrow? Nom nom nom. (well, then they wouldn't have a skeleton to find. I know, I know.)
"We heard her scream a few seconds ago. What could do that to a person in a few seconds?"
Hungry space piranha, I reckon.
"I'm sorry everyone. Um, this isn't going to be pleasant. She's ghosting." Well now, that's just disturbing. And sad. I like Proper Dave's bit about not wanting to sound horrible, but couldn't they just ... because, really, that's very sad, and how terrible to have to listen to somebody's last, confused thoughts as the clock ticks out on them. It's not horrible, Proper Dave, but yes, a bit of respect for poor, thick Miss E. :(
"But she's conscious. She's thinking."
"She's a footprint on the beach. And the tide's coming in." Slightly harsh, Doctor.
Did Rusty sit down at the start of the season, I wonder, and think to himself "how can I make this series as hellish as possible on the companion? Hmm ..." Donna's had a rough ride. I mean, Martha's last year with the Doctor was no picnic, to be sure, but her time with him wasn't quite so brutal right out the start, you know.
"Help her."
"She's dead."
"Yeah ... help her."
I think that's the first time Donna's really looked to the Doctor for guidance of a particular sort (not of the "which way should we run" sort, I mean) (and there may have been another instance, but this one caught me (and also I don't remember others)), usually it's her reminding him, guiding him in a way -- "oi, she's your daughter, jackass" or "hey, save that family" or "pull your head out of your ass and look around, ego lad". The "she's dead" wasn't really argumentative so much as seeking clarification. Oh, Donna, you're just ... so fantastic and compassionate (and mouthy, and obstinate, and demanding). Bless.
"What I said before, about being stupid, don't tell the others, they'll only laugh." :(
"She's looping now. The pattern's degrading."
"Ice cream" or "I scream"?
River ends it mercifully.
"That was horrible. That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen." Donna gets ripped to shreds in this story, she really does. :(
"It's just a freak of technology. Whatever did this to her, whatever killed her ... I'd like a word with that." Go get 'em, River. Oh, look, the Doctor will introduce you. And he'll try not to get you et, I'm sure.
The Doctor demands a lunch, and River goes to her pack, pulling out the book as she digs for the food. "What's in that book?" Oh, Doctor, you are just a big spoiler whore, aren't you? You don't want to know, but you do, and you can't really resist, because mostly, as a time traveler, you don't have to. But in this instance, it's all about you, and that doesn't happen really that much. Or ever. Must be driving him mad.
"Who are you?"
"Professor River Song. University of--"
"To me." Oh Doctor, you know she can't answer that. You know that if you do know her, you'd tell her not to answer that, Which is why the journals. So, you know, dude, it's quite unfair of you to ask, even if it is driving you mad.
Gorgeous. Just a gorgeous episode.
And the Doctor gets his arrogant on. "Oi, you lot, let's all meet the Vashta Nerada."
Dr. Moon's got a few words for the little girl before he leaves. I really liked Dr. Moon. I'm sure I've seen the actor before, too. Where from, flist?
"There's the real world, and there's the world of nightmares."
"What I want you to remember is this, and I know it's hard: The real world is a lie, and your nightmares are real." Comforting. "The library is real. There are people trapped in there. People who need to be saved. The shadows are moving again." See, that last line? That was pretty creepy, it just failed to bleed over into "the real world". Weird.
"Those people are depending on you. Only you can save them. Only you." So, no pressure, kiddo.
And River watches the Doctor be the Doctor. Such a fond look. I'm a sap, thank you.
"You travel with him, don't you?" Well, sort of obvious, yeah? How else did she get there? But, you know, I can see it as a sort of conversation starter. What else do you say?
"The Doctor, you travel with him?"
"What of it?" Donna's had about enough of the River mystery, herself, and is a tad defensive, eh? Or protective?
"You know him, don't you?"
"Oh God, do I know that man. We go way back, that man and me. Just not this far back." Exactly this far back, I'd say.
How could you stare at that and not think "that man is a loon?" Heh.
"This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me. And he looks at me, he looks right through me, and it shouldn't kill me, but it does."
"What are you talking about? Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him, or don't you?" Donna's having a hard time with this, conceptually. Heh
The Doctor tells Donna to shut it, he's listening for horses ... I mean, he's looking for the evil shadows.
"You're Donna Noble."
"Yeah, why?"
An ally! Somebody she's heard of, who might get the time travel crazy. Maybe. "I do know the Doctor, but in the future. His personal future."
"So, why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?" Well, given that Rusty decided you were going to have a hellish series, I think you must have one horrific hell of a finale coming up. Poor Donna. (that's not a spoiler, it's just speculation, based on story anvils all series long)
River's noticed the anvils, too. *sigh* Poor Donna, I do love her so.
"This is not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man eating swarm. " "Ants. In. Pants. AAAAAAAAA" /the tick
The Doctor tosses the swarm a chicken bone and they eat it right up. Funny thing -- that's exactly what I had for lunch when I was first watching this ep. They do an excellent Waldorf salad with awesome grilled chicken in the kitchen at my place of employment.
"They're piranhas of the air." Okay, well, same thing as space piranhas, right?
"The Vashta Nerada. Literally "the shadows that melt the flesh." Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters."
Yes, Donna, of course they're on Earth, too. Couldn't adequately terrify children otherwise.
"You can see them sometimes if you look. The dust in sunbeams." Oh, now you're just trying to freak her out.
GLLI
"Sometimes people go missing. Not everybody comes back out of the dark." And still, I fail to be creeped out. :(
"Daleks, aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada, run." I think he just likes saying 'vashta nerada' now.
"Doctor, the little shop, they always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff." Clever Donna.
"You're right! Brilliant! That's why I love a little shop." Heh. I bet the Doctor's got entire wings of the TARDIS filled with little shop tchotchkes and postcards and gaudy themed trinkets and hideously over-priced coffee table books and a Jane Austen action-figure (signed by Jane Austen).
"Actually, Proper Dave, can you stay where you are for a moment?"
"Why?"
"I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry." When the Doctor tells you he's sorry, it usually means you're very, horribly dead, but maybe haven't noticed it yet. I'm sorry, too, Proper Dave. :(
Oh, you've got a second shadow. Alas.
GLLI
"It's how they hunt. They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh." Um, okay. Maybe this is it! They're not very visually-active creepy things, so the Doctor's always having to tell us things about them, so we notice what creepy thing they've done next. We can't see or hear it for ourselves, on account of, well, they're freaking shadows in a shadowy library -- it's hard to notice which ones are the bad ones. Which, normally, might make things scarier, and were I there, I'm sure I'd be well freaked, but I'm just not getting the sense of paranoia as a viewer.
I don't mean to go on about this, because I really did love these episodes, and this is in no way a deal-breaker for me, it's just, watching it in pieces like this now, I notice how hard the dialogue is trying to push the scariness of the Vashta Nerada.
"What do I do?"
"You stay absolutely still. Like there's a wasp in the room." Not my usual method of freaking and flailing and trying to find something flat and heavy? That won't work? Alas. "Like there's a million wasps." *shudder*
"Helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got."
"But, Doctor, we haven't got any helmets."
"Yeah, but we're safe, anyway."
"How are we safe?"
"We're not, that was just a clever lie to shut you up." Actually, Doctor, knowing Donna, that was a stupid lie, because did you really think she'd shut up?
"Professor, anything I can do with the suits?"
"Increase the mesh density, dial it up 400%. Make it a tougher meal."
"Okay, 800%. Pass it on."
"Gotcha."
Rendering the Doctor speechless again in 3...2 ... immediately
"What's that?" Silly boy. What's it look like?
"It's a screwdriver."
"It's sonic."
"Yeah, I know. Snap." Hee
GLLI and also puzzled Doctor.
And we're running. "What are we doing? Are we shopping? Is it the time to shop?" Heh, Donna, c'mon, you know better. Or, maybe she does ... whole wings of the TARDIS. I'm certain of it.
"You don't have a suit, you're not safe."
"You don't have a suit, so you're in just as much danger as I am and I'm not leaving." Nice try, Donna.
Sadly, sending Donna to the TARDIS didn't work, and she gets et a bit. :(
Proper Dave's evil shadow has mysteriously disappeared.
"It's just gone."
"They're never just gone and they never give up." More of the Doctor telling. *sigh* I mean, it's tough with shadow creatures you can't actually see, I get it, but ...
"Hey, who turned out the lights? No seriously, I can't see a ruddy thing." Poor Proper Dave.
Never trust a swarm in a suit. If they're not trying to fry you with a giant magnifying glass, they're trying to strip the flesh from your bones. I swear, nothing but trouble, them.
The kiddie nightmare shot. I'm glad I'm no longer nine. Really.
And River comes to the rescue with her, far superior, sonic screwdriver. That's got to bug the hell out of the Doctor, too. He's so touchy about his screwdriver.
"Doesn't move very fast, does it?"
"It's a swarm in a suit." Hee. "But it's learning." What? That it can travel by suit? Is that superior to swarming in the air? I'm not sure that it is, but then we'd miss the nightmare fodder, and we're back to my problem of not very visually-active threat, so I should really just shut the hell up now.
And she's got a squareness gun. See, that's years of travel with the Doctor. Always be prepared. More prepared than a freaking Scout, for seriously.
The Doctor is impressed. Did I read somewhere that that was actually Jack's gun? So, is it like actually Jack's gun, or just a reuse of the prop? I don't remember what happened to Jack's gun, actually. I mean, it was all useless 'cause the Doctor's got a thing for bananas and turned the weapon yards of villengard into a banana plantation, but ... nevermind, not important.
"Run!" She's done this so very many times. Heh.
Little girl informs us, creepily, "Donna Noble has been saved."
Poor actors, that looks like some gnarly uncomfortable headgear.
"So, what's the plan? Do we have a plan?" I'm sorry, River, the Doctor's stuck on your screwdriver and I think he might obsess about it for a bit first.
"Your screwdriver." Because, it really is more awesome than his. He's so touchy, really.
"Looks exactly like mine." Except how it sort of doesn't. I mean, not exactly. Similar, yes, and I mean, it is yours, but ...
"Yeah, you gave it to me."
"I don't give my screwdriver to anyone." See? Obsessy and touchy.
And River informs him, she's not just anyone. And, yes, I think she's having some fun with him, but it is killing her he doesn't know her and she can't say anything. Poor River.
"Who are you?"
"What's the plan?"
She's somebody who knows how to get your ass back on track, Doctor.
I love his reactions, even though, you know, MORTAL DANGER DOCTOR! NOW IS NOT THE TIME.
"If we don't get back there in under five hours, emergency program one will activate."
"Take her home, yeah."
"She's not there. I should have received a signal. The console signals me if there's a teleport breach."
"Well maybe the coordinates have slipped. The equipment is ancient." Oh, River, don't criticize the Doctor's equipment. If you think he's touchy about the screwdriver, hooboy, watch out if you go on about the TARDIS. Good thing he's more worried about Donna.
Oh noes! Donna has been reduced to a face! "Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved."
"Oh, Donna." Poor Doctor. His hearts are broken. :(
And there's running and the shadows grow.
"Doctor, what are we going to do?"
Stand around for a bit, because it's the end of the ep, and we need a cliffhanger, I suppose.
Yay. I still really like that ep. Let's see if I still like the second part and the story as a whole. On to "The Forests of the Dead!" This'll take me another week, I'm sure, particularly with a new ep tonight. (I started this on Wednesday -- how sad is that? Short attention span AHOY!)
Also, it's 106 outside. It's like summer realized it was sort of late and went "oh shi-- hold on! I'm coming! HERE HAVE SOME FREAKING HEAT!" Jeebus. At least the humidity has gone away.
/whining
I will make myself feel better by finally rewatching/recapping/reviewing/reeverything this season's Moffat eps.
Short version: I liked 'em a lot, and I liked River really a lot. I know I've been all opposite fandom this year -- it's strange, and not usually the case. Though, I will allow that I do not think these eps were the strongest of Moffat's Who offerings in some ways, but in other ways I felt I got something of the Doctor that I, at least, hadn't really spent a lot of time considering before.
(you know, these take me hours to do (short attention span + needing to pause and replay multiple times + time to commentate = forfreakingever), and then this time, I went and added pictures (no reason. just 'cause), so this took a bazillion times longer (roughly), and it's only part one of two. The season'll be over before I finish this.)
Warning: I admit that there are times when I am a sap, and that my sappiness may not be what other people care for. I'm not generally a Who shipper of any sort; I don't care one way or the other (literally, do not care. Have no caring at all, whatsoever. Ship, don't ship -- I have no opinion on the subject, except that I have no opinion on the subject). But, I went all sappy over River/Doctor. I DON'T KNOW! Except I do. Anyway, if you didn't, that was your warning to bail now. Thank you, I'm sorry.
On to the story:
I don't think that this was Moffat's creepiest story, either (I don't really look for Doctor Who to scare me. It hasn't done since I was like nine, so I'm pretty comfortable with that. It might be creepy, a little chilling, tense even, but scary? Not so much) -- perhaps tied with GitF, as I didn't think the clockwork robots were creepy, so much as sad. Poor clockwork robots, confused about and unable to fulfill their function. Sad, beautiful clockwork robots. :(
But, like GitF, we do get a look at the Doctor's soft and squishy hearts. Not literally. But, clearly, Steven Moffat and I are on very similar sap wavelengths. This is pleasing to me, but I realize not to everybody in fandom.
We open with the little girl and Dr. Moon, and the library is really lovely -- all of it. I approve.
"The library is in your mind."
"I know its in my mind, but something's got inside." You know, by itself, sort of an alarming statement.
Alarm and fear -- an appropriate reaction to the arrival of the Doctor, I think.
"You need the smell. The smell of books, Donna." My favorite book when I was a kid was "the Hobbit", and we had a copy of it that smelled amazing. It smelled like old paper and sweet spice. I loved that book until it fell apart, and then I got a hardback copy that didn't smell nearly as amazing -- it smelled all sort of ink and glue sour.
"The library. So big it doesn't need a name, just a great big 'the'." Like you? An ego so big it doesn't need a proper name, just a great big 'the'.
Really, the library planet design is just lovely.
"I love biographies."
"Yeah, very you, always a death at the end." HA! I love Donna. Sharp and pointy Donna. Oh, Donna, don't leave us!
"You need a good death. Without death, there'd only be comedies. 'Dying gives us size'." Oh, Doctor ... I'm not even sure I know how to say what I want to say to that. I think it's fair enough to say that by his own words, he's something of a coward (which, I'm not sure he'd dispute), or at the very least, all talk. He'll have his friends, his mates, he'll love them, because that's what he does -- but he'll only let it so far, and then he plays the interpersonal relationship idiot card, because eventually they'll leave, or they'll die (and he really doesn't want to see/know that), and after a millennium of that, well, I'm sure it doesn't get any easier for him. We wouldn't like him very much if it did. But, see? All talk. He likes the biographies in the abstract, or he likes them briefly. He might want to meet the subject of the biographies, but then he moves the hell on, because he knows how it ends, because that's how it always ends, and he doesn't want to actually see that part.
I think that's what I liked so much about River and the idea of River, and why, of course when the Doctor lets himself fall in love (and, be in love, and you know, let the other person know that), it's a paradox -- he'll let himself, because he will let himself, and he did let himself, therefore he can let himself. He might not think about it otherwise. But, this time, because he knows he doesn't run from it, he doesn't run from it -- her life, her death. But, serious props to River, because she, no doubt, had to cut through the interpersonal relationship idiot act, anyway, because I'm sure he doesn't have like a switch or anything for it. I salute her resilience and determination in the face of his absolutely intentional, obstinate cluelessness.
That's getting a bit head of myself, though. After the first part, I did wonder if she was maybe some sort of crazy, delusional Doctor stalker. I was pleased to be wrong.
"Isn't traveling with you, one big spoiler?"
"... I try to keep you away from major plot developments." Oh, Doctor, you're such a liar and/or hypocrite. Bless. "Which, to be honest, I seem to be very bad at." Hee. At least he's an honest liar.
"Maybe it's a Sunday."
"Nah, I never land on Sunday. Sunday's are boring." Ha! I don't know why I found that so funny, but i did. Maybe it was just his off-hand, factual delivery.
(my god, there are people outside doing yardwork. Did I mention it's 106? Because it really is. I'm getting heatstroke just thinking about this)
"Doctor, why're we here? Really why?"
"Oh, you know ... just passing."
"No, seriously, it was all 'let's hit the beach' and then suddenly we're in a library. What?" Oh, Donna, she so has his number. He really can't get anything past her, I just love her to pieces. DON'T LEAVE US DONNA!
That is a very "you are so full of crap" look on her face. I love her.
Right, so the Doctor widens the life form parameters ("life forms, Oh you little life forms, where are you?" /mortifyingly geeky), and finds that there's a trillion of something there, and it's all very quiet, so what the hell is it (and I think, they probably should have, maybe, specified, that while the parameters were all very wide, they probably didn't mean, necessarily, your common bacteria and dust mites and whatever, because there's gajillions of those everywhere, including, I'm sure, THE Library).
I love that Donna asks the question of "it's not the books, is it? It can't be the books, can it?" And then they both look askance at the books, and scare the crap out of themselves. Hee.
"So, that's why we're here." And Donna gives him a tiny look, and probably wants to punch him just a little bit.
"Count the shadows. For god's sake remember, If you want to live, count the shadows." Actually, though, by the time you've spotted an extra shadow, it's too late, isn't it? Well, it's too late for somebody, maybe not you, I guess. Potentially helpful, for somebody, maybe.
"So, we weren't just in the neighborhood."
"Yeah, I kinda, sorta lied a bit."
Yeah, a bit? Shocking.
"I got a message on the psychic paper. What do you think? Cry for help?"
"Cry for help, with a kiss." Hee.
"Well, we've all done that." Seriously, Doctor? You've signed notes with a kiss? I find that hilariously hard to believe.
And the lights go out. And there's running, and the door won't open. "Sonic it! Use the thingy." Hee. "Hang on, hang on, if I can vibrate the molecules, blah blah blah". Vibrate the molecules? -- seriously Doctor. He's gone so far around clever he's turned back into an idiot? Donna, being Donna, uses the practical 'kick it freaking open' approach. Shame she didn't think about that when her granddad was trapped in a car and dying of poisoning in the Helen Raynor eps of supreme shit (I'm letting that go. I am, I'm letting it go. This is me letting go. ... now)
And we're back where we started.
"Nice door skills, Donna."
"Yeah, well, boyfriends ... sometimes you need the element of surprise." Ha! This is why the Doctor and Donna work so well together -- they're both as subtle as a nuclear blast.
"Are we safe here?"
"Of course we're safe. It's a little shop." Little shop = safest places ever? Good to know.
"It's alive."
"You said it was a security camera."
"It is ... it's an alive one."
Back to the little girl -- who was not herself creepy, but some of the things she said were certainly unsettling. "Others are coming. The library has been breached."
This is just a very pretty shot. This was an awesomely lit episode. I mean, as you'd require with a story about, you know, shadows. But, still, worth mentioning.
No, really, very lovely.
"It chose me a dead face, it thought I'd like?" Heh. I can't say that I'd fixate on that quite as much as Donna did, but it is sort of ... unappealing. "It's the 51st century that's basically like donating a park bench." Fair enough, and yet ...
"I counted it. One shadow."
"Yeah, but what's casting it." It is a bit of a dramatic shadow for such a small ball. And also, it's two shadows -- the round shadow immediately around the ball and the long, conical shadow across the floor. (i was just paused and noticed and mentioned -- not a nitpick).
"I'm thick. Look at me, I'm old and thick. My head's too full of stuff. I need a bigger head." Oh, you really don't.
"Why's it dark?"
"It's not dark."
"That shadow hasn't gone, it's moved."
I'm not sure why this fails on the creep scale. It shouldn't, and yet, it sort of does. The bit about "the library has been breached, others are coming" was more unsettling than the shadows.
Oh look. Others.
"Hello, sweetie." The other great thing about River? How off-balance she puts him. All. The. Time. It's awesome.
"Did you say expedition?"
"My expedition."
I really liked that asshole businessman turned out not to be such an asshole. It was a little disappointing, at first, that Moffat would include a character so ... one-dimensional.
"I lied, I'm always lying, bound to be others." Ha!
"Tell me you're not archaeologists."
He's never recovered from Emilia, is what's happened. (Emilia was the best thing ever. I loved her so very much.)
"I'm a time traveler. I point and laugh at archaeologists."
"Professor River Song. Archaeologist." Hee.
I love him trying to rush everybody out, while nobody's actually listening. They're all just standing there looking at him like he's mad. Of course, you know, he's not bothering to explain -- granted, he doesn't know exactly what's going on, but something other than a "leave 'cause I told you so" might be a bit more productive? Perhaps?
"Find a nice bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, very scared." I would, Doctor, but for some reason the creep factor is failing for me. Everybody else agrees with me. Unfortunately for them, because I'm pretty sure I'll survive watching this episode, but they may not.
And River just keeps looking at him with sort of amused affection. AND I'M A SAP! I'M SORRY, I AM!
"And who are you?"
"Dave."
"Okay, Dave."
"Oh, well, Other Dave, 'cause that's Proper Dave. He's the pilot, he was the first Dave. So when we ...." Hee.
The Doctor's like "NONE OF YOU ARE GETTING THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION! WHY AM I FAILING TO CONVEY THE CREEPY?" I don't know, Doctor, I can't figure it out.
"You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the library are the ... intellectual ... property of the Fellman Lux Corporation." I love Lux mouthing along with her as she tries to spit out the last bit. And then the Doctor does what the Doctor does with contracts, and Donna being, in general, as subtle as him, does the same.
"That was a hundred years ago. The library's been silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here is long dead."
"Bet your life?"
"Always."
Wow, those two had/will have a fun life. Seriously, I love it. It's the potential, or something. I dunno. I'M A SAP.
And he can't figure her out, and it's awesome.
"He said seal the door."
"You're taking orders from him?"
"Spooky, innit?" Heh. The Doctor's just a force of nature -- bend like a willow, or get blown over, I guess.
"Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong. It's not irrational." Hmm, if you say so, Doctor. Maybe this is why I'm not buying the creep factor. You can tell me I should be afraid of the dark as much as you like, but I'm not going to be. I'm sorry, it's just ... not me. I like the dark. It's comforting. Calming. Peaceful. But, you're halfway there. It's not the dark that's scary, it's shadows in the dark that can be creepy. It's a fine line, I know, but it is a line, and it makes a world of difference between creepy and not -- at least in my head it does -- and the line's not well enough defined here.
"It's Vashta Nerada." And you can give it a name, and still ... not afraid of the dark. And I think maybe the other Moffat stories didn't spend quite so much time telling us what was creepy, so much as they just spent that time being creepy.
River takes charge, while the Doctor's doing ... whatever it is the Doctor's doing. Listening for Apache, or something.
"Pretty boy, with me, I said."
And Donna's face "oi, dumbass, that's you." Hee.
"Oh! I'm pretty boy."
"Yes."
Poor Miss Evangelista, dumb as a post, but she just wants to help. "I could just, you know, hold things." Heh, poor girl.
"Couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod and the bathroom. We had to go back for her. Twice." Aww, and hee.
The Doctor is still trying to figure out River. I just ... I just really love that. He's so off balance. I think he needs that every now and again, I do. Keeps him from being insufferable.
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"The usual. For coming when I call."
"Oh, that was you?"
"You're doing a very good job of acting like you don't know me. I'm assuming there's a reason."
"A fairly good one, actually." Heh.
Poor River. Yeah. I wonder, though, does he just randomly show up with companions she'd never met? I mean, clearly it's not an issue, just interesting, seeing as she doesn't even question it.
"Shall we do diaries then? Where are we this time?"
I like this about them, too -- they have separate lives, all intertwining and connected and what, but still separate.
"Judging by your face, it's still early days for you."
That's quite a journal she's got. Thick and battered as hell. How old is she, do you suppose? She's obviously known him for a long time in her personal time line.
And he just keeps staring. Heh.
"Ahh, picnic at Asgard. have we done Asgard yet?" The Doctor's a romantic sap, isn't he? Welcome to the sap club, Doctor.
"Blimey, very early days then. Woo. Life with a time traveler, never knew it could be such hard work."
And she realizes, probably by his clueless staring and his extremely uncharacteristic silence, that he's never met her. Yet. Until just now.
"Look at you. You're young." She sounds so ... amazed and fond.
"I'm really not, you know."
"No, but you are."
The other thing I like about River -- he believes he knows everything about himself, but he really doesn't. He, and we, see that through her. We see his potential -- which I think he doesn't think about very often at all. Nor do I, really. We just sort of accept him as he is at any particular moment, and don't think a lot about what he could/will be. At least, I don't know that I have. Not in quite this way, at any rate.
"Your eyes. You're younger than I've ever seen you." And he's moving past puzzled into a bit wigged. It's one thing I think to meet somebody who's all "hey! I know you" and you've not met yet, it's another when that person's clearly more familiar with you than you ever really let anybody get (or at least, have let for a few centuries).
"So, you've seen me before, then?" Thus the face stroking, I imagine. I don't think she's the type to go around stroking random strangers. I mean, I don't know, I guess she could be, but I suspect not.
"Doctor, please tell me you know who I am?"
"Who are you?"
Poor River. That's got to sting a bit.
And ... something goes to hell and starts beeping. As things do when you're the Doctor, or with the Doctor, or in the general vicinity of the Doctor, or in the same quadrant of the galaxy as the Doctor.
It's ...
A giant alarm phone only the little girl can hear in her neverland.
"Hello, are you in my fireplace television?"
"No, I'm sort of in space." Heh.
The journal taunts the Doctor. Until River takes it from him. "I'm sorry. You're not allowed to see inside the book. It's against the rules."
"What rules?"
"Your rules." Dumbass (implied).
And the little girl starts to work on the universe with the remote control. I do like the back and forth between the little girl's world and the library -- the interaction between the two.
Books go a-flying. Though, um, how does that work, exactly? She's the computer core, the books are on the shelves, so how does she fling them? Maybe I should handwave. /handwave
The Doctor is very confused. Never a good sign, really.
Oh! Maybe the books are on the shelves, but the shelves have a mechanical component that is tied to the computer for ... um cataloging or retrieval or something so you always know if a book is where it ought to be or if you need to get it when you're on a different booky continent or whatever? Yeah, alright, that's fine. Whatever, moving on.
"They don't want me. They think I'm stupid because I'm pretty."
"Of course they don't." Aw, Donna, that's nice of you. And probably right, they think she's stupid 'cause, well, she's stupid. Poor girl.
"My dad said I had the IQ of plankton and I was pleased." ouch.
"CAL -- what is it?"
"Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contract."
Heh. Asshole. Mercifully less grating or obnoxious when it's explained why. But, the first time I watched, it was aggravating. I don't like characters like Mr. Lux seemed to be at first. I have very little patience for that.
"Mr. Lux, right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in in your whole life, and you're protecting a patent." Tsk, Doctor, with the assumptions.
"I'm protecting my family's pride."
"Then why don't you sign his contract?" Heh. And the Doctor stares some more. "I didn't either. I'm getting worse than you." Pretty much. You two are/will be fun.
She renders him speechless again. And now she's just doing it on purpose. The opportunity to have a bit of fun with him would be too much to resist, I'm sure.
(had to take a dinner break and watch a couple eps of the Tick. Man, I love the Tick. One of the eps was, coincidentally, "Ants in Pants", where the ants try to fry the humans by making a giant magnifying glass -- but first they break up into swarms and dress up in human clothes in order to sneak around the city. I did not plan that. It just happened. Awesomely.)
So, right, last place we were ... okay, yes, the Doctor's being unsettled by River and he decides to focus on what happened in the Library and demands to know what happened, one hundred years ago, on that day everybody went missing. River says they just got the one cryptic message about how the lights were going out. That's it. And the mystery continues.
And now there's chatting and the little girl hits a button and a panel door opens up. Miss E will wander off, after trying to get people's attention and they ignore her. This will end badly for her. Because that's the way things go.
"There was one other thing in the last message."
"That's confidential."
"I trust this man. With my life. With everything."
"You've only just met him."
"Nope, he's only just met me."
Donna cottoned on a bit ago, and she's been very watchy and quiet, but, no, she doesn't know what to say to that either, Doctor. You're on your own, pal.
"This is a data extract that came with the last message."
"4022 saved. No survivors."
"How can 4022 people have been saved if there were no survivors?"
A conundrum.
Gratuitous loving-the-lighting image (GLLI).
"And so far, what we haven't found are any bodies." The library's the size of a planet, yes? 4022 people go missing/dead on a planet ... that's a lot of square footage for a relatively small number of people. I shouldn't be surprised you're not tripping over corpses. But, you'll find one in a mo' as Miss E wanders off to be et.
GLLI
And there's screaming! And running! Excitement! I'm not sure who Who's sound engineer/whatever is, but they need to tone down the score. It's been an intermittent problem for, you know, four series now. Sometimes it's more obviously annoying than other times. Right now, it's a bit loud.
Thorough little buggers, aren't they? And, you know, mostly tidy. Bone's no good, though? What about the tasty, delicious marrow? Nom nom nom. (well, then they wouldn't have a skeleton to find. I know, I know.)
"We heard her scream a few seconds ago. What could do that to a person in a few seconds?"
Hungry space piranha, I reckon.
"I'm sorry everyone. Um, this isn't going to be pleasant. She's ghosting." Well now, that's just disturbing. And sad. I like Proper Dave's bit about not wanting to sound horrible, but couldn't they just ... because, really, that's very sad, and how terrible to have to listen to somebody's last, confused thoughts as the clock ticks out on them. It's not horrible, Proper Dave, but yes, a bit of respect for poor, thick Miss E. :(
"But she's conscious. She's thinking."
"She's a footprint on the beach. And the tide's coming in." Slightly harsh, Doctor.
Did Rusty sit down at the start of the season, I wonder, and think to himself "how can I make this series as hellish as possible on the companion? Hmm ..." Donna's had a rough ride. I mean, Martha's last year with the Doctor was no picnic, to be sure, but her time with him wasn't quite so brutal right out the start, you know.
"Help her."
"She's dead."
"Yeah ... help her."
I think that's the first time Donna's really looked to the Doctor for guidance of a particular sort (not of the "which way should we run" sort, I mean) (and there may have been another instance, but this one caught me (and also I don't remember others)), usually it's her reminding him, guiding him in a way -- "oi, she's your daughter, jackass" or "hey, save that family" or "pull your head out of your ass and look around, ego lad". The "she's dead" wasn't really argumentative so much as seeking clarification. Oh, Donna, you're just ... so fantastic and compassionate (and mouthy, and obstinate, and demanding). Bless.
"What I said before, about being stupid, don't tell the others, they'll only laugh." :(
"She's looping now. The pattern's degrading."
"Ice cream" or "I scream"?
River ends it mercifully.
"That was horrible. That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen." Donna gets ripped to shreds in this story, she really does. :(
"It's just a freak of technology. Whatever did this to her, whatever killed her ... I'd like a word with that." Go get 'em, River. Oh, look, the Doctor will introduce you. And he'll try not to get you et, I'm sure.
The Doctor demands a lunch, and River goes to her pack, pulling out the book as she digs for the food. "What's in that book?" Oh, Doctor, you are just a big spoiler whore, aren't you? You don't want to know, but you do, and you can't really resist, because mostly, as a time traveler, you don't have to. But in this instance, it's all about you, and that doesn't happen really that much. Or ever. Must be driving him mad.
"Who are you?"
"Professor River Song. University of--"
"To me." Oh Doctor, you know she can't answer that. You know that if you do know her, you'd tell her not to answer that, Which is why the journals. So, you know, dude, it's quite unfair of you to ask, even if it is driving you mad.
Gorgeous. Just a gorgeous episode.
And the Doctor gets his arrogant on. "Oi, you lot, let's all meet the Vashta Nerada."
Dr. Moon's got a few words for the little girl before he leaves. I really liked Dr. Moon. I'm sure I've seen the actor before, too. Where from, flist?
"There's the real world, and there's the world of nightmares."
"What I want you to remember is this, and I know it's hard: The real world is a lie, and your nightmares are real." Comforting. "The library is real. There are people trapped in there. People who need to be saved. The shadows are moving again." See, that last line? That was pretty creepy, it just failed to bleed over into "the real world". Weird.
"Those people are depending on you. Only you can save them. Only you." So, no pressure, kiddo.
And River watches the Doctor be the Doctor. Such a fond look. I'm a sap, thank you.
"You travel with him, don't you?" Well, sort of obvious, yeah? How else did she get there? But, you know, I can see it as a sort of conversation starter. What else do you say?
"The Doctor, you travel with him?"
"What of it?" Donna's had about enough of the River mystery, herself, and is a tad defensive, eh? Or protective?
"You know him, don't you?"
"Oh God, do I know that man. We go way back, that man and me. Just not this far back." Exactly this far back, I'd say.
How could you stare at that and not think "that man is a loon?" Heh.
"This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me. And he looks at me, he looks right through me, and it shouldn't kill me, but it does."
"What are you talking about? Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him, or don't you?" Donna's having a hard time with this, conceptually. Heh
The Doctor tells Donna to shut it, he's listening for horses ... I mean, he's looking for the evil shadows.
"You're Donna Noble."
"Yeah, why?"
An ally! Somebody she's heard of, who might get the time travel crazy. Maybe. "I do know the Doctor, but in the future. His personal future."
"So, why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?" Well, given that Rusty decided you were going to have a hellish series, I think you must have one horrific hell of a finale coming up. Poor Donna. (that's not a spoiler, it's just speculation, based on story anvils all series long)
River's noticed the anvils, too. *sigh* Poor Donna, I do love her so.
"This is not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man eating swarm. " "Ants. In. Pants. AAAAAAAAA" /the tick
The Doctor tosses the swarm a chicken bone and they eat it right up. Funny thing -- that's exactly what I had for lunch when I was first watching this ep. They do an excellent Waldorf salad with awesome grilled chicken in the kitchen at my place of employment.
"They're piranhas of the air." Okay, well, same thing as space piranhas, right?
"The Vashta Nerada. Literally "the shadows that melt the flesh." Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters."
Yes, Donna, of course they're on Earth, too. Couldn't adequately terrify children otherwise.
"You can see them sometimes if you look. The dust in sunbeams." Oh, now you're just trying to freak her out.
GLLI
"Sometimes people go missing. Not everybody comes back out of the dark." And still, I fail to be creeped out. :(
"Daleks, aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada, run." I think he just likes saying 'vashta nerada' now.
"Doctor, the little shop, they always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff." Clever Donna.
"You're right! Brilliant! That's why I love a little shop." Heh. I bet the Doctor's got entire wings of the TARDIS filled with little shop tchotchkes and postcards and gaudy themed trinkets and hideously over-priced coffee table books and a Jane Austen action-figure (signed by Jane Austen).
"Actually, Proper Dave, can you stay where you are for a moment?"
"Why?"
"I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry." When the Doctor tells you he's sorry, it usually means you're very, horribly dead, but maybe haven't noticed it yet. I'm sorry, too, Proper Dave. :(
Oh, you've got a second shadow. Alas.
GLLI
"It's how they hunt. They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh." Um, okay. Maybe this is it! They're not very visually-active creepy things, so the Doctor's always having to tell us things about them, so we notice what creepy thing they've done next. We can't see or hear it for ourselves, on account of, well, they're freaking shadows in a shadowy library -- it's hard to notice which ones are the bad ones. Which, normally, might make things scarier, and were I there, I'm sure I'd be well freaked, but I'm just not getting the sense of paranoia as a viewer.
I don't mean to go on about this, because I really did love these episodes, and this is in no way a deal-breaker for me, it's just, watching it in pieces like this now, I notice how hard the dialogue is trying to push the scariness of the Vashta Nerada.
"What do I do?"
"You stay absolutely still. Like there's a wasp in the room." Not my usual method of freaking and flailing and trying to find something flat and heavy? That won't work? Alas. "Like there's a million wasps." *shudder*
"Helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got."
"But, Doctor, we haven't got any helmets."
"Yeah, but we're safe, anyway."
"How are we safe?"
"We're not, that was just a clever lie to shut you up." Actually, Doctor, knowing Donna, that was a stupid lie, because did you really think she'd shut up?
"Professor, anything I can do with the suits?"
"Increase the mesh density, dial it up 400%. Make it a tougher meal."
"Okay, 800%. Pass it on."
"Gotcha."
Rendering the Doctor speechless again in 3...2 ... immediately
"What's that?" Silly boy. What's it look like?
"It's a screwdriver."
"It's sonic."
"Yeah, I know. Snap." Hee
GLLI and also puzzled Doctor.
And we're running. "What are we doing? Are we shopping? Is it the time to shop?" Heh, Donna, c'mon, you know better. Or, maybe she does ... whole wings of the TARDIS. I'm certain of it.
"You don't have a suit, you're not safe."
"You don't have a suit, so you're in just as much danger as I am and I'm not leaving." Nice try, Donna.
Sadly, sending Donna to the TARDIS didn't work, and she gets et a bit. :(
Proper Dave's evil shadow has mysteriously disappeared.
"It's just gone."
"They're never just gone and they never give up." More of the Doctor telling. *sigh* I mean, it's tough with shadow creatures you can't actually see, I get it, but ...
"Hey, who turned out the lights? No seriously, I can't see a ruddy thing." Poor Proper Dave.
Never trust a swarm in a suit. If they're not trying to fry you with a giant magnifying glass, they're trying to strip the flesh from your bones. I swear, nothing but trouble, them.
The kiddie nightmare shot. I'm glad I'm no longer nine. Really.
And River comes to the rescue with her, far superior, sonic screwdriver. That's got to bug the hell out of the Doctor, too. He's so touchy about his screwdriver.
"Doesn't move very fast, does it?"
"It's a swarm in a suit." Hee. "But it's learning." What? That it can travel by suit? Is that superior to swarming in the air? I'm not sure that it is, but then we'd miss the nightmare fodder, and we're back to my problem of not very visually-active threat, so I should really just shut the hell up now.
And she's got a squareness gun. See, that's years of travel with the Doctor. Always be prepared. More prepared than a freaking Scout, for seriously.
The Doctor is impressed. Did I read somewhere that that was actually Jack's gun? So, is it like actually Jack's gun, or just a reuse of the prop? I don't remember what happened to Jack's gun, actually. I mean, it was all useless 'cause the Doctor's got a thing for bananas and turned the weapon yards of villengard into a banana plantation, but ... nevermind, not important.
"Run!" She's done this so very many times. Heh.
Little girl informs us, creepily, "Donna Noble has been saved."
Poor actors, that looks like some gnarly uncomfortable headgear.
"So, what's the plan? Do we have a plan?" I'm sorry, River, the Doctor's stuck on your screwdriver and I think he might obsess about it for a bit first.
"Your screwdriver." Because, it really is more awesome than his. He's so touchy, really.
"Looks exactly like mine." Except how it sort of doesn't. I mean, not exactly. Similar, yes, and I mean, it is yours, but ...
"Yeah, you gave it to me."
"I don't give my screwdriver to anyone." See? Obsessy and touchy.
And River informs him, she's not just anyone. And, yes, I think she's having some fun with him, but it is killing her he doesn't know her and she can't say anything. Poor River.
"Who are you?"
"What's the plan?"
She's somebody who knows how to get your ass back on track, Doctor.
I love his reactions, even though, you know, MORTAL DANGER DOCTOR! NOW IS NOT THE TIME.
"If we don't get back there in under five hours, emergency program one will activate."
"Take her home, yeah."
"She's not there. I should have received a signal. The console signals me if there's a teleport breach."
"Well maybe the coordinates have slipped. The equipment is ancient." Oh, River, don't criticize the Doctor's equipment. If you think he's touchy about the screwdriver, hooboy, watch out if you go on about the TARDIS. Good thing he's more worried about Donna.
Oh noes! Donna has been reduced to a face! "Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved."
"Oh, Donna." Poor Doctor. His hearts are broken. :(
And there's running and the shadows grow.
"Doctor, what are we going to do?"
Stand around for a bit, because it's the end of the ep, and we need a cliffhanger, I suppose.
Yay. I still really like that ep. Let's see if I still like the second part and the story as a whole. On to "The Forests of the Dead!" This'll take me another week, I'm sure, particularly with a new ep tonight. (I started this on Wednesday -- how sad is that? Short attention span AHOY!)