Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2010-06-21 01:16 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2010-06-21 01:16 pm
I'm Never Saying That Again.
This series of Doctor Who has been frustrating me, because I think Matt Smith is fantastic as the Doctor - far better than David Tennant, possibly better than Christopher Eccleston, although I'd have to rewatch Nine's series to be certain - but I haven't been enjoying the writing as much as I did in the RTD era. My enthusiasm, high at the beginning of the series, ebbed away over the next few weeks, until watching Doctor Who was just something I did, rather than something I particularly looked forward to.
And then came 'Vincent and the Doctor', and I settled unenthusiastically in front of the television, and, to my surprise, I adored it.
And then 'The Lodger', which was good fun, and then 'The Pandorica Opens', which I thought was fantastic, and yes, Doctor Who, yes, keep this up!
- As I've said, I think that Matt Smith is a fabulous Doctor. I came into Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston, who I thought was excellent. In the David Tennant era, I came to rather dislike the Doctor and became disillusioned with Doctor Who until the fourth series, when Donna firmly installed herself in my heart and made me care again. Even then, though, I was only really watching for the companion; now that Smith has brought his endearingly clumsy, scatterbrained, deeply uncool approach to the role, I'm watching for the Doctor himself.
- Unfortunately, I'm not at all sure about Amy Pond, which I think is part of what's preventing me from returning to the enormous fannish love I held for Doctor Who back in 2005; I adored the relationship between the Ninth Doctor and Rose, but in this series I have trouble caring about Amy. I feel that her character changes to accommodate the plot of the episode. The series is almost over, and I still don't feel I really have a sense of her personality. Is she compassionate or completely unable to take anything seriously, even when people are dying? An inability to take things seriously is a perfectly valid characterisation, but it should at least be consistent. Does she care about Rory? Does she take him for granted? Does she see him as an obstacle to the life she wants? Put Amy in any hypothetical situation, and I wouldn't be able to tell you how she would react. I can't love her if I don't know who she is.
- RIVER IS GREAT. I didn't really take to her in the 'Silence of the Library' two-parter, possibly in part because Moffat's habit of shoving characters he didn't create out of the way in favour of showing off those he did annoys me (PARTICULARLY WHEN DONNA NOBLE IS INVOLVED. You don't sideline Donna Noble! Why would you sideline Donna Noble?), but in this series she has been excellent. I think someone on my flist suggested that she might be a future incarnation of the Doctor, which is unlikely to be canon but a rather delightful idea.
- I am very fond of Rory. He is terribly sweet. I wish we'd been able to see more of his interactions with the Doctor, because they seem to have a closeness that we haven't really had a chance to see developing. My main reaction to the ending of 'The Pandorica Opens' was a great big 'nooooooooooo' at the realisation that Rory wasn't real. (And then Auton-Rory tried to fight his true identity! Bless him.)
- Actually, after 'The Pandorica Opens', I don't know what to believe. Were the events of that episode and those events only fabricated from Amy's childhood memories, or is the situation larger than that? Did Rory really exist? Did Amy really grow up? I assumed at first, when the Doctor asked Amy whether it bothered her that her life didn't make any sense, that he was referring to the fact that it made no sense after Rory had been stripped out of it, but perhaps it's something more sinister even than that. There have certainly been implications throughout the series that there is something Not Quite Right with Amy.
- In 'The Lodger', when Craig and Sophie accosted the Doctor as he was trying to sneak off without interrupting their snogging, was anyone else expecting them to propose a threesome? Was - was anyone else a tiny bit disappointed when they didn't?
- My housemate and I have decided that the next series is going to be about River Song and Donna Noble saving the universe together, whilst the Doctor is trapped in the Pandorica. Every episode ends with a shot of the Doctor in his prison, saying, '...hello?'
A few nights ago, I dreamt an episode of Ashes to Ashes with FLYING MOTORBIKES and RIVER SONG PILOTING ONE OF THE FLYING MOTORBIKES and RORY WILLIAMS ALSO BEING THERE IN SOME CAPACITY and ALEX REMINISCING ABOUT HER FIRST GIRLFRIEND and GENE FINDING THE INFORMATION THAT ALEX HAD A GIRLFRIEND EXTREMELY DISTRACTING. It was grand. Possibly not very true to eighties technology levels, but grand nonetheless.
And then came 'Vincent and the Doctor', and I settled unenthusiastically in front of the television, and, to my surprise, I adored it.
And then 'The Lodger', which was good fun, and then 'The Pandorica Opens', which I thought was fantastic, and yes, Doctor Who, yes, keep this up!
- As I've said, I think that Matt Smith is a fabulous Doctor. I came into Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston, who I thought was excellent. In the David Tennant era, I came to rather dislike the Doctor and became disillusioned with Doctor Who until the fourth series, when Donna firmly installed herself in my heart and made me care again. Even then, though, I was only really watching for the companion; now that Smith has brought his endearingly clumsy, scatterbrained, deeply uncool approach to the role, I'm watching for the Doctor himself.
- Unfortunately, I'm not at all sure about Amy Pond, which I think is part of what's preventing me from returning to the enormous fannish love I held for Doctor Who back in 2005; I adored the relationship between the Ninth Doctor and Rose, but in this series I have trouble caring about Amy. I feel that her character changes to accommodate the plot of the episode. The series is almost over, and I still don't feel I really have a sense of her personality. Is she compassionate or completely unable to take anything seriously, even when people are dying? An inability to take things seriously is a perfectly valid characterisation, but it should at least be consistent. Does she care about Rory? Does she take him for granted? Does she see him as an obstacle to the life she wants? Put Amy in any hypothetical situation, and I wouldn't be able to tell you how she would react. I can't love her if I don't know who she is.
- RIVER IS GREAT. I didn't really take to her in the 'Silence of the Library' two-parter, possibly in part because Moffat's habit of shoving characters he didn't create out of the way in favour of showing off those he did annoys me (PARTICULARLY WHEN DONNA NOBLE IS INVOLVED. You don't sideline Donna Noble! Why would you sideline Donna Noble?), but in this series she has been excellent. I think someone on my flist suggested that she might be a future incarnation of the Doctor, which is unlikely to be canon but a rather delightful idea.
- I am very fond of Rory. He is terribly sweet. I wish we'd been able to see more of his interactions with the Doctor, because they seem to have a closeness that we haven't really had a chance to see developing. My main reaction to the ending of 'The Pandorica Opens' was a great big 'nooooooooooo' at the realisation that Rory wasn't real. (And then Auton-Rory tried to fight his true identity! Bless him.)
- Actually, after 'The Pandorica Opens', I don't know what to believe. Were the events of that episode and those events only fabricated from Amy's childhood memories, or is the situation larger than that? Did Rory really exist? Did Amy really grow up? I assumed at first, when the Doctor asked Amy whether it bothered her that her life didn't make any sense, that he was referring to the fact that it made no sense after Rory had been stripped out of it, but perhaps it's something more sinister even than that. There have certainly been implications throughout the series that there is something Not Quite Right with Amy.
- In 'The Lodger', when Craig and Sophie accosted the Doctor as he was trying to sneak off without interrupting their snogging, was anyone else expecting them to propose a threesome? Was - was anyone else a tiny bit disappointed when they didn't?
- My housemate and I have decided that the next series is going to be about River Song and Donna Noble saving the universe together, whilst the Doctor is trapped in the Pandorica. Every episode ends with a shot of the Doctor in his prison, saying, '...hello?'
A few nights ago, I dreamt an episode of Ashes to Ashes with FLYING MOTORBIKES and RIVER SONG PILOTING ONE OF THE FLYING MOTORBIKES and RORY WILLIAMS ALSO BEING THERE IN SOME CAPACITY and ALEX REMINISCING ABOUT HER FIRST GIRLFRIEND and GENE FINDING THE INFORMATION THAT ALEX HAD A GIRLFRIEND EXTREMELY DISTRACTING. It was grand. Possibly not very true to eighties technology levels, but grand nonetheless.
Doctor Who/Kawata Shoujo
"Hey umm Mr. Alien," Amy, Rory, and the Doctor turned. Rin was there looking at the trio about to get back into the TARDIS.
"Oh, hello Rin," the Doctor said. "Umm, shouldn't you be at your friend's funeral?"
"I'll go soon," the girl asked calmly. "Anyway, I had a question before you go."
"Alright."
"You're aliens right? I mean...for real?"
"Uhh, just him," Rory said point at the doctor.
"Yeah, he and I are from Scotland," Amy said.
"Oh. Okay, but you're an alien right? And that's your spaceship."
"Yes, yes it is," The Doctor said. He was still smiling that same smile he had when he realized where he was. Nervous, unwilling to reach his eyes, slightly afraid.
"So you have all sorts of fancy stuff in there?"
"Yes."
"Do you have anything in there that could fix this place?" She said calmly.
The Doctor's mouth opened and closed. He tried for a second to look at Amy and Rory but he didn't dare, he knew what their faces would look like, but he wasn't the kind of person who could just look away, so he had no choice. No choice but to look into Rin's eyes. What could he say? 'No?' That would be easy wouldn't it? But it would also be a lie. 'Yes, but it wouldn't work on humans?' Better, and Amy and Rory would believe it but he still wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
The truth came to his mind in the voice of the Dream Lord, no...HIS own voice. "Yes Rin, I have all sorts of gadgets and cures in my little box to fix almost all of you children and even though you are all brave, kind, lovely, and the best that humanity could ever hope to be I will never give them to you. Because you're not supposed to have them. Because you're all supposed to be like this. Because, even though no one in the world deserves it more than you, I'm going to get into my little box and fly away. Never to see you again after coming here, upsetting your peaceful lives, letting one of you brilliant, wonderful, shining children die and making one of the greatest teacher's I've ever had the honor to know kill himself. I can help you all, but I'm not going to...just because."
"I mean, you can fly up and fix the weather station right?" Rin pointed with her knee at the top of the roof where the little antenna covered station that monitored the weather was. It had been smashed in the attack.
"We'd have to send away for it to be repaired and it would take months before we got a replacement, and then another month to install it. Can you fix it?"
The Doctor just stood there looking at Rin for what seemed to be a long time. Then, without saying a word, he nodded, hugged the small child, and went back into the TARDIS.
Amy and Rory looked at each other, waved goodbye to Rin, and entered the blue box. Rin watched calmly as the TARDIS vanished, then she went to rejoin the others.
Yamaku is a wonderful school. It has excellent facilities, a caring and well educated staff, a hospital nearby, and every day, they have perfect weather. Beautiful sunny days with clear skies, light spring rains that seem to just be over the gardens, white christmases with not too much snow, and fall afternoons that seem to be out of a Robert Frost poem.
Some people wonder exactly why the weather is so good. Some say the spirits like the place, some say it's karma, Rin says it's the result of aliens and the weird antenna they put on top of the school.
Re: Doctor Who/Kawata Shoujo
OH, RIN. I was about to say 'hang on, I don't think Rin would ask - ' and then it turned out that I had made the same misinterpretation as the Doctor. I love that he gave a great big speech before the misunderstanding came to light, and that Rin was entirely unmoved.