Brief Thoughts on Recent Doctor Who
Apr. 21st, 2013 10:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
earlgreytea68I was underwhelmed by "Cold War." Which isn't surprising, because I always find Gatiss uneven, whether it's "Doctor Who" or "Sherlock." As far as I could tell, it was basically "The Hunt for Red October," with a second-string Sean Connery bearded captain guy and a second-string Sam Neill sidekick guy.
I loved "Hide," though. Loved it. First of all, I thought it was *terrifying.* I was watching it alone at night and that was a bad idea, I was freaking myself out over every noise in the house. I thought it was extremely well done. I also liked the secondary characters, they grabbed me immediately. And I thought the idea that the ghost was stuck in a world where time was moving more slowly was a really interesting one. The rest of the plot was maybe a bit iffy, but the basics of it--the big, drafty house and the thunderstorm and the creepy lighting and a misty forest and the cloister bell ringing in the TARDIS--were just such solid classics that they proved why cliches exist in the first place (in my opinion).
And, also, it was *heartwarming.* I mean, it gave me that warm fuzzy feeling that the best DW episodes can give you. The twist that it was a love story instead of a ghost story, I just loved that so much. It was just perfect DW to me.
I have noticed all the Rose references that seem to be scattered all throughout this season of DW, from "Hungry Like the Wolf" last episode to the heavy-handed "lovers separated by a parallel universe" plot in "Hide" (oh, pocket universes, whatever). I guess it's probably intentional? Honestly, I hated that whole "Journey's End" sequence of episodes with Rose so much that I've been trying to ignore the whole Rose thing. I prefer to try to pretend that Rose's DW story ended with "Doomsday," which I know many people don't agree with, and that's fine, but, anyway, I'm not going to do a ton of speculating about all the Rose stuff, because I'm honestly not all that enthused about revisiting that whole thing again, since it was such a disaster for me the last time we revisited the Rose story. But I digress, because on to the new companion...
AND OMG I LOVE HER SO MUCH. I just continue to adore her. I love how she's palpably *scared* a lot of the time. I mean, she's brave, and she gets things done, but you can tell she thinks most of the things she's doing are insane, and I love her so much for that. I loved her stunned moment of reaction in "Cold War" after the people died. I love how *normal* she seems, in a way I so totally identify with. Like, her being awkward with the wet umbrella? I've been there and done that and I love that you can be traveling space and time with an alien and still have such a normal, everyday problem.
And I loved all the playing around with companionship in the episode. I loved the Doctor calling Emma Alec's companion and Emma quickly correcting him to assistant, which Rose Tyler once bristled about being called. I loved Emma warning Clara that the Doctor has a sliver of ice in his heart (because I love that about the Doctor) and the Doctor later saying that all monsters need a companion. It was the kind of episode that just felt like it had an extra layer that "Cold War" and the Rings of Whatever didn't have.
And the curiosity of why the TARDIS doesn't like Clara...I admit I *am* interested in what's going on there. (And I liked that Emma was like, "She's just an ordinary girl." Because isn't that the message of DW? That we can be ordinary and still extraordinary, all at once?)
I loved "Hide," though. Loved it. First of all, I thought it was *terrifying.* I was watching it alone at night and that was a bad idea, I was freaking myself out over every noise in the house. I thought it was extremely well done. I also liked the secondary characters, they grabbed me immediately. And I thought the idea that the ghost was stuck in a world where time was moving more slowly was a really interesting one. The rest of the plot was maybe a bit iffy, but the basics of it--the big, drafty house and the thunderstorm and the creepy lighting and a misty forest and the cloister bell ringing in the TARDIS--were just such solid classics that they proved why cliches exist in the first place (in my opinion).
And, also, it was *heartwarming.* I mean, it gave me that warm fuzzy feeling that the best DW episodes can give you. The twist that it was a love story instead of a ghost story, I just loved that so much. It was just perfect DW to me.
I have noticed all the Rose references that seem to be scattered all throughout this season of DW, from "Hungry Like the Wolf" last episode to the heavy-handed "lovers separated by a parallel universe" plot in "Hide" (oh, pocket universes, whatever). I guess it's probably intentional? Honestly, I hated that whole "Journey's End" sequence of episodes with Rose so much that I've been trying to ignore the whole Rose thing. I prefer to try to pretend that Rose's DW story ended with "Doomsday," which I know many people don't agree with, and that's fine, but, anyway, I'm not going to do a ton of speculating about all the Rose stuff, because I'm honestly not all that enthused about revisiting that whole thing again, since it was such a disaster for me the last time we revisited the Rose story. But I digress, because on to the new companion...
AND OMG I LOVE HER SO MUCH. I just continue to adore her. I love how she's palpably *scared* a lot of the time. I mean, she's brave, and she gets things done, but you can tell she thinks most of the things she's doing are insane, and I love her so much for that. I loved her stunned moment of reaction in "Cold War" after the people died. I love how *normal* she seems, in a way I so totally identify with. Like, her being awkward with the wet umbrella? I've been there and done that and I love that you can be traveling space and time with an alien and still have such a normal, everyday problem.
And I loved all the playing around with companionship in the episode. I loved the Doctor calling Emma Alec's companion and Emma quickly correcting him to assistant, which Rose Tyler once bristled about being called. I loved Emma warning Clara that the Doctor has a sliver of ice in his heart (because I love that about the Doctor) and the Doctor later saying that all monsters need a companion. It was the kind of episode that just felt like it had an extra layer that "Cold War" and the Rings of Whatever didn't have.
And the curiosity of why the TARDIS doesn't like Clara...I admit I *am* interested in what's going on there. (And I liked that Emma was like, "She's just an ordinary girl." Because isn't that the message of DW? That we can be ordinary and still extraordinary, all at once?)
