Doctor Who 5x05 - Floors and You
May. 3rd, 2010 06:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bodlonWhen last we left our intrepid heroes, etc...
So the thing about 5x05 that stands out to me most is how intensely quotable the whole thing is. Oh sure, I could quibble a bit about apertures and light in the corridor scene (all of us who called it last week with the whole jumping thing get gold stars) but I won't because otherwise it's really enjoyable.
I mean, really. Good with time, tree Borgs, we have no need of comfy chairs, etc? This is so very one of Moffat's strengths. Love it.
He's also showing off a little bit in how he handles several smaller details to make a larger thing by the end. He's quite good at subplot, though I think the team overall has chosen to be rather heavy-handed with "O HAY LOOK AT TEH SUBPLOT!" action. Family shows need not be wholly bereft of subtlety.
That said, Amy's countdown thing was so fantastically played. Karen Gillan is fucking fantastic. Later on, as she's nearly sobbing as she tries to walk through the forest? She's just so good.
Five eps in I think we've established that Eleven takes "rude and not ginger" to new and phenomenal levels. The whole 'how's life, get a life' thing with Angel Bob is super snarky. He shushes people, tells them off, and sometimes gets intensely shouty. The overall impression is that he's got so very much in his head that he's got to do a lot of the work outside of it. He solves problems by laying them out aloud, he's prone to near non sequitur and double entendre. He's always doing wordplay.
- "And I'll tell you something else. NEVER LET ME TALK."
- "There's a plan?" "I don't know, I haven't finished talking."
It's like he's never really rude for the sake of rude. He's just sort of rude because he's manic and perpetually geeked out on new information. Just shy of overstimulated. Or, maybe, always overstimulated but used to it. Respect the thing indeed.
The twist of "don't blink" becoming "don't open your eyes" felt kind of textbook. I'm still a little bit skeptical of these angels, if only because some of that makes them terrifying is their simplicity. It makes them so alien. Too many rules starts to feel like bad storytelling. It's good, but it's just a little uneven, like they're trying too hard. On the other hand, the angels are almost worse when we can see them move because it's so very wrong.
Also, so help me, during this whole episode I couldn't stop thinking about Paul Cornell's novel, British Summertime, and the angels in that. Two very different sets of aliens, mind you, but when there was something in Amy's eye, I might have shouted "HOLY SHIT!" and laughed.
- CRACKWATCH! It pays off.
- River Song, catty precog.
I'm really not buying the Doctor not catching Amy's come-ons. He's too savvy in 5x01 to be that clueless. I do buy the whole process from Amy's side, though. ESPECIALLY after 5x01. I suppose he could be bluffing in hopes she'll drop it.
Though, you know, how much am I loving that she takes him home to show him the dress BEFORE she propositions him? Amy Pond's a bit naughty, isn't she?
- Late June is clearly going to be terrifying for us all.
- "What if time could run out?" "Time can be rewritten" "Time can be unwritten" Is it me, or is Tenth Doctor Crazy Hubris peeking out there just a tad?
- Oh, Bishop Octavian. I'm so sorry. Except that's very Ten, isn't it. Eleven's more...well, accepting. His ethic is more about standing tall and facing the inescapable thing with dignity. Noble sacrifice.
SO. River Song.
She was better in this one. Much more human in her capabilities and way less smug. Which leads me to believe -- especially given other details -- that the River we saw in "The Time of Angels" was acting as directed by prior instruction rather than on her own recognizance. Like she'd been given a set of instructions.
Given what she says, it's a safe bet that the Pandorica opening has already happened in River's timeline. Meaning, I think, that she kills the Doctor, and almost certainly with Amy present. However, I also think the opening of the Pandorica will be the big reset button for S5, or that it will be the thing to offset that murder. That, I don't think River knows, but it's almost certainly got something to do with why things seem out of joint in S5.
I'm also starting to think that the Blue Box Journal wasn't written by River. This is pre-"Silence in the Library" and it's still quite old looking. I think the Doctor keeps it as a journal, then gives it to her at the right moment, way back in her past, a la The Time Traveler's Wife.
Oh, and I want to know more about Storm Cage.
So the thing about 5x05 that stands out to me most is how intensely quotable the whole thing is. Oh sure, I could quibble a bit about apertures and light in the corridor scene (all of us who called it last week with the whole jumping thing get gold stars) but I won't because otherwise it's really enjoyable.
I mean, really. Good with time, tree Borgs, we have no need of comfy chairs, etc? This is so very one of Moffat's strengths. Love it.
He's also showing off a little bit in how he handles several smaller details to make a larger thing by the end. He's quite good at subplot, though I think the team overall has chosen to be rather heavy-handed with "O HAY LOOK AT TEH SUBPLOT!" action. Family shows need not be wholly bereft of subtlety.
That said, Amy's countdown thing was so fantastically played. Karen Gillan is fucking fantastic. Later on, as she's nearly sobbing as she tries to walk through the forest? She's just so good.
Five eps in I think we've established that Eleven takes "rude and not ginger" to new and phenomenal levels. The whole 'how's life, get a life' thing with Angel Bob is super snarky. He shushes people, tells them off, and sometimes gets intensely shouty. The overall impression is that he's got so very much in his head that he's got to do a lot of the work outside of it. He solves problems by laying them out aloud, he's prone to near non sequitur and double entendre. He's always doing wordplay.
- "And I'll tell you something else. NEVER LET ME TALK."
- "There's a plan?" "I don't know, I haven't finished talking."
It's like he's never really rude for the sake of rude. He's just sort of rude because he's manic and perpetually geeked out on new information. Just shy of overstimulated. Or, maybe, always overstimulated but used to it. Respect the thing indeed.
The twist of "don't blink" becoming "don't open your eyes" felt kind of textbook. I'm still a little bit skeptical of these angels, if only because some of that makes them terrifying is their simplicity. It makes them so alien. Too many rules starts to feel like bad storytelling. It's good, but it's just a little uneven, like they're trying too hard. On the other hand, the angels are almost worse when we can see them move because it's so very wrong.
Also, so help me, during this whole episode I couldn't stop thinking about Paul Cornell's novel, British Summertime, and the angels in that. Two very different sets of aliens, mind you, but when there was something in Amy's eye, I might have shouted "HOLY SHIT!" and laughed.
- CRACKWATCH! It pays off.
- River Song, catty precog.
I'm really not buying the Doctor not catching Amy's come-ons. He's too savvy in 5x01 to be that clueless. I do buy the whole process from Amy's side, though. ESPECIALLY after 5x01. I suppose he could be bluffing in hopes she'll drop it.
Though, you know, how much am I loving that she takes him home to show him the dress BEFORE she propositions him? Amy Pond's a bit naughty, isn't she?
- Late June is clearly going to be terrifying for us all.
- "What if time could run out?" "Time can be rewritten" "Time can be unwritten" Is it me, or is Tenth Doctor Crazy Hubris peeking out there just a tad?
- Oh, Bishop Octavian. I'm so sorry. Except that's very Ten, isn't it. Eleven's more...well, accepting. His ethic is more about standing tall and facing the inescapable thing with dignity. Noble sacrifice.
SO. River Song.
She was better in this one. Much more human in her capabilities and way less smug. Which leads me to believe -- especially given other details -- that the River we saw in "The Time of Angels" was acting as directed by prior instruction rather than on her own recognizance. Like she'd been given a set of instructions.
Given what she says, it's a safe bet that the Pandorica opening has already happened in River's timeline. Meaning, I think, that she kills the Doctor, and almost certainly with Amy present. However, I also think the opening of the Pandorica will be the big reset button for S5, or that it will be the thing to offset that murder. That, I don't think River knows, but it's almost certainly got something to do with why things seem out of joint in S5.
I'm also starting to think that the Blue Box Journal wasn't written by River. This is pre-"Silence in the Library" and it's still quite old looking. I think the Doctor keeps it as a journal, then gives it to her at the right moment, way back in her past, a la The Time Traveler's Wife.
Oh, and I want to know more about Storm Cage.
