Doctor Who: Flesh and Stone
May. 2nd, 2010 12:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve11ETA: and more specific thoughts here.
I liked it, even if it felt a bit like it was out of left field. But I'm wondering if it's one of those ones that I will like less if I re-watch it. Not enough time to resolve the Angel storyline and oh by the way, introduce a brand new one at the same time. I liked the jump onto the hull, and Amy counting down, and the comfy chairs, and the oxygen farm aka forest was pretty cool. I liked that scene with Amy and the Doctor where he tells her to remember, though I'm unsure why it is important, still. He mentions the duck pond again, where there's never any ducks, and there is some stuff about time being able to be overwritten? The crack is the end of the universe and it's tearing all of reality apart. And Amy Pond is right at the thick of it, seeing as the date that is Most Important from the Readings is the day of her wedding. It is a series of good bits that imo don't quite add up to what they should.
The Doctor gets a bit shouty and angry in this one, doesn't he? He snaps at River a few times, and we can see he's frustrated and trying to understand things. Though in fairness he is facing a time-devouring crack that suggests he needs to sacrifice himself into its depths, and he did leave his companion out in the forest alone and blind with no way really to keep good on his promise to keep her safe and come back. Good thing River fixes the teleport. River doesn't have a lot to do in this episode, but she does fix the teleport. Amy has more to do in this one, and it introduces some mysteries for later about her. I wonder if Amelia's mom and dad got swallowed by the crack, and never existed.
The angels cause me some consternation. We never did figure out what the Angels wanted with bodies, why they are snapping necks now instead of displacing people in time. Unless I missed it? Why would Moffat write that line in earlier and not capitalize on it? And D rightly points out that the whole "walk like you can see" thing is a let-down. Seriously? I thought it was part of their biology and they couldn't help it, now it's if they're scared they stonify? Makes no sense! Keep your baddies consistent, Steven. And oh by the way, the Doctor blinks at the angel when it's holding Octavian. Like, they couldn't have found a take of that where he didn't blink? Eh, I don't know. I did like that scene though, but the Angels seem to work better when there are only a few skulking in the shadows; an army of them is a plotting and logistical nightmare, if nothing else.
So, the last scene comes a bit out of left field; it feels like a writing exercise that is trying to get to know a character, as opposed to the character themself. I guess I buy that Amy is scared and running away, but the scene was played for laughs, oddly. And it was kind of funny but also kind of PG13 (wonder what little kids would make of it?) and I'm just not sure I buy it at all. This is the same guy who held her hand when she was seven, and she's suddenly trying to get in his pants? No wonder he's clueless. Watching the Confidential makes me wonder if Steven isn't trying too hard to come up with New Things We haven't Done Yet-- well we did unrequited love, what about just some misplaced lust? Um, yeah. Settle down, dude.
So. It was entertaining, and had a few good character moments, as well as a few clunkers. Next week looks interesting.
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no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 04:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 04:49 am (UTC)WTH is going on??? Aaaaa!
ETA: though, he has his jacket on but also his sleeves rolled up? (EATA: rolling your sleeves up with a jacket isn't the easiest thing to do ad I'm totally overthinking this now) we don't see much of his hands so maybe the jacket just pulls the sleeves back a little more. Still, um, WTH is going on?
no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 04:57 am (UTC)(It may have been less 'rolled up' and more 'pushed back for emphasis,' but the observation still stands.)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 12:05 pm (UTC)I loved how the Doctor showed just how frantic and distressed he was. Not glib at all about everything that was happening.
Does Moffat have a thing for sharp teeth? I mean, prisoner zero, the Angels when they open their mouths, the characters from next week. Is it some kind of hint or just a coincidence?
no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 03:32 pm (UTC)I loved how the Doctor showed just how frantic and distressed he was. Not glib at all about everything that was happening.
Yeah, like he knew he kind of walked himself into a corner and isn't quite sure how to get out of it. He's a very extemporaneous problem-solver! Good thing that mode generally works out for TV heroes ;D
Sharp teeth... I think Moffat has a thing for stuff that scares little children, and sharp teeth do it. you'll notice he also has a thing for the dark; first the Vashta Nerada and now the Angels turning off the lights... man, going up to bed last night in the dark I was actually creeped out a bit about Angels jumping out at me!
no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 04:07 pm (UTC)And you've made me think about how the archetypes of things that scare humans go quite a bit far back in history. Teeth....darkness...the other.