More thoughts on The Time of Angels

[eve11]

So, I am curious. Last week we had a giant improbable and never-explained WTF moment in the whole "stopping the Dalek bomb with love" plot point, and it really just didn't work very well at all. But this week we have another whole giant improbable WTF and not-well-explained moment in that oh yeah, "that which takes the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel." Just as much out of the blue and not explained, the image on the TV gets imbued with an Angel soul (somehow) and steps out of its picture to become an Angel. Think about it. This makes no sense, really. But this scene actually seemed to work, at least better than last week's, if fan reactions on lj are any account (my reaction included. I am quite prepared to handwave that moment because I thought it was a cool, creepy scene).

Why does the first giant handwave fall flat and the second one get a pass? Does it have to do with tone and pacing? Or the fact that the biology of these monsters is already so ridiculous and improbable that we can just add new talents without suspending that much more disbelief? I think maybe it is actually a case of writing the improbable to obtain the "right" emotional response. If the "magic" ability tells a better story, then we forgive it, and as an audience we are quite good at judging what a good story entails.

Thoughts?

Comments

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Oh, and another thought I just had, because I can't help comparing Moffat's nonsense-but-it-works plot elements with not only things like the Dalek bomb, but also, say, the Cure for Every Disease Ever thing at the end of "New Earth," which still really annoys me every time I think about it. And it suddenly occurs to me that there is another big, important difference: Moffat is using his don't-make-much-sense-when-you-think-about-them ideas to set up an interesting story, not to resolve one. And that's much, much easier to accept, IMO.

[eve11]

Oh yeah, auntiemeesh and I were just talking this week about how LAME that was from "New Earth". "I'm the Doctor, I cure the world's diseases with Kool-aid!" Bleh.

I like the "interesting premise to set up a story as opposed to resolve one" idea; now that I think of it it does describe a big difference :)

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

i must concur with the crucialness of "...not to resolve one." well spotted, astrogirl2.

[infiniteviking]

Gaaaaaah, that New Earth thing.... *headdesks forever* You've got a great point there with the tension vs resolution thing. The tension might be caused by mysterious and unexplainable stuff, but if the resolution is, our disbelief is unsuspended. Which is fascinating to think about in terms of storytelling and human nature.