Amy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
such_heights) wrote2011-09-17 08:35 pm
such_heights) wrote2011-09-17 08:35 pm
Entry tags:
Doctor Who 6x11
First, the bad:
+ Rita got killed off? Are you serious? For reasons tied to her faith? Really? Ugh, that was really disappointing given I kind of had high hopes for her given that she's been the only non-white character to show up in ages, wtf. ESPECIALLY given that David Walliams mole dude survived for no discernible reason given he spent the most time in his nightmare room and never once had a 'praise him' moment.
+ I don't know who this 'Amy Williams' person is and am mentally sticking my fingers in my ears and pretending I didn't hear anything.
Everything else:
+ Until Rita died I was really enjoying the plot of the week, and the setting was gorgeous.
+ I liked that the Weeping Angels were fairly irrelevant to the plot, except for showing how scared Amy still was of them - continuity! We remember it sometimes! - and showing that after everything she still believes in the Doctor. Which -- oh, Amy. I think there's a lot of interesting things going on with that idea, because how can she? But I suspect that for Amy the idea of giving up that faith has been even worse than clinging onto it in spite of all evidence that she shouldn't. ;_;
+ Rory's line early on about travelling in the TARDIS in the past tense. I guess they've been talking about this, and that deep down, Rory was already gone since the end of last week's episode. ;_;
+ But really, it was all about the last ten minutes. I guessed a few days ago that Amy and Rory would leave the TARDIS at the end of this episode, but that really didn't help. Oh my god everything hurts. And I'm glad for them really, glad that they can start to pull some kind of life again, but oh god. And the scene flickering between Amy and Amelia was completely heartwrenching.
+ And then Amy mentioned her daughter, because apparently I wasn't crying enough yet.
+ I do still think everything is going to be okay, though, however distraught I feel now. I think everything is going to get seriously shaken up in the final episode, and that the Ponds are going to get their baby back. But in the meantime, I'm going to go put the kettle on and soothe my broken heart. AMYYYYY.
+ Rita got killed off? Are you serious? For reasons tied to her faith? Really? Ugh, that was really disappointing given I kind of had high hopes for her given that she's been the only non-white character to show up in ages, wtf. ESPECIALLY given that David Walliams mole dude survived for no discernible reason given he spent the most time in his nightmare room and never once had a 'praise him' moment.
+ I don't know who this 'Amy Williams' person is and am mentally sticking my fingers in my ears and pretending I didn't hear anything.
Everything else:
+ Until Rita died I was really enjoying the plot of the week, and the setting was gorgeous.
+ I liked that the Weeping Angels were fairly irrelevant to the plot, except for showing how scared Amy still was of them - continuity! We remember it sometimes! - and showing that after everything she still believes in the Doctor. Which -- oh, Amy. I think there's a lot of interesting things going on with that idea, because how can she? But I suspect that for Amy the idea of giving up that faith has been even worse than clinging onto it in spite of all evidence that she shouldn't. ;_;
+ Rory's line early on about travelling in the TARDIS in the past tense. I guess they've been talking about this, and that deep down, Rory was already gone since the end of last week's episode. ;_;
+ But really, it was all about the last ten minutes. I guessed a few days ago that Amy and Rory would leave the TARDIS at the end of this episode, but that really didn't help. Oh my god everything hurts. And I'm glad for them really, glad that they can start to pull some kind of life again, but oh god. And the scene flickering between Amy and Amelia was completely heartwrenching.
+ And then Amy mentioned her daughter, because apparently I wasn't crying enough yet.
+ I do still think everything is going to be okay, though, however distraught I feel now. I think everything is going to get seriously shaken up in the final episode, and that the Ponds are going to get their baby back. But in the meantime, I'm going to go put the kettle on and soothe my broken heart. AMYYYYY.
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Yesssss, I must agree. And I was frustrated that there wasn't more to her reaction shown in the episode.
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But yeah, I was hoping Rita would make it. :/
Maybe the actress could be the next companion, and Rita just could've been one of her 'strangely familiar' cousins.
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Ugh, I'm going to make a lot of tea and drink it in my TARDIS mug and maybe stop sniffling in a few hours or something.
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Until you dial it back, and watch the Seventh Doctor serial "Curse of Fenric"
Then, and only then, will your realise exactly what the Doctor did, and why he did it, and why it's even more gut-wrenching that you can imagine.
Also: NIMON
This entire ep was a contemporary love-letter to Old-School Who, and as a result I'm having to concentrate hard to avoid descending into kayboardsmash mode
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she's been the only non-white character to show up in ages
Well, don't forget Mels--who conveniently got shot almost as soon as she entered! And then the all-important character of the black pirate who was the first to be killed on the ship! Plus, Peterson the Secret Service agent who existed to be humiliated by the Doctor. It's really been a winning season on the racefail front. *end sarcasm*
Apologies if the above is not squeeful enough--I actually really enjoyed the episode, for the most part, and the last ten minutes were awesome. It was a great example of using the (literal) monster of the week to further the character relationships. And I adored the way Amy reacted to the Doctor's decision to leave--she didn't get a choice about that, but she did choose how to respond to it, just like we do in real life, and her smart, brave, honest, dishonest Amy-ness was wonderful.
I don't quite see how the Ponds can raise Melody at this point, but I'm convinced River will show up and invite them to her wedding, and the end with shake everything up and it will be fabulous!
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Also I am V SULKY about death of Rita, she was so lovely and I was so endeared, esp because, heh, how many characters of South Asian descent have there been on Doctor Who? Ever? What, threeish?
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RITAAAA. Ugh, so sad. And yeah, I can think of a few minor characters but mostly Rita and Nasreen. Alas.
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And basically I agree with everything you said! Much as I'm sad about the end of the episode, it was a very graceful exit and by far the least gutting we've had on New Who to date, which I'm grateful for. Especially because we know it's not forever-forever, though I suspect the Ponds won't be travelling full-time in the TARDIS any more. :(
I am suspicious that time will be rewritten such that they get their baby back, but I would also settle for them having a proper relationship with adult River.
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Rita-as-written was great and actor who played her was absolute aces. I felt like I really knew her character even though she had relatively little screen-time to work with. They could have killed off the mole dude in some dramatically ouch-y way and left Rita alone to be a companion later on. ((SIGH))
I mean, the mole guy believed in finding the nearest powerful person/group and toadying up, right? Just give in. So what if they'd had his death come after he decides that the Doctor is the nearest powerful person and starts believing in him? That would have been a perfectly cool way to set off the Doctor's realization. And it would address the way that peoples' faith in the Doctor isn't something he's really in control of: yes, he invites humans along with the promise of time and space, but plenty of people put their trust in him just because of what he is as a Timelord with all the intelligence/power that implies and who he is, as a charismatic person.
The Doctor was trying to guilt-trip himself and make it all about his overt manipulations, but I think it would have been uber-cool to show his frustration/terror over not being completely in control of whether or not people choose to trust him. It would have played against his narrative of companions like Amy having little to no agency. It would have gotten mole!dude the role of Victim of the Week. And RITA! Rita could have been a companion! Someone who clearly sees from the onset that he's not perfect/miraculous, sees his "god complex," and chooses to have adventures anyway.
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I had such a violent reaction to that line that my friend paused the show to make sure I was okay. I'm with you.
I have too many feelings about this episode. I think I have more feelings now than I even realize, and I know it's going to take a few more watches, including at least one after seeing the next two episodes, before I can process everything.
I knew Rita was dead from the beginning. She was too perfect, like all of the Christmas special companions.
I'm ill over the ending, even though it's what I want, for my Ponds to be safe.
POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONDS.
I'm going to go stare at that GIF of Karen's face for awhile. *rocks*
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Yeah, the 'Williams' thing - I understand what they were trying to get at there, to draw a distinction between Amelia-the-child and Amy-the-adult, but it just didn't work because that isn't her name. There are lots of less jarring ways the Doctor could have said the same thing.
The Ponds are safe, which is lovely, but Amy's not happy yet so I am still very very sad. :( But Karen's face cures many ills, good plan!
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Exactly. That isn't her name. It hasn't ever been. And there's no reason for it to be so now.
Amy's not happy yet so I am still very very sad.
I don't know why I didn't see it 'til you said this, but I didn't. That's why it makes me ill, duh. (I'm going to chalk my thickness up to a difficult week. Real life sadness and such.) I need them to be safe AND happy, not just safe. Thank you.
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This is it, yes. A bad choice by the writers, totally threw me out of the moment.
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I did love the episode concept and obviously we're not done with Amy and Rory yet since we still have that baby to find and resolve but I am looking forward to more River!
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As soon as Rita started looking like an ideal companion, I suspected she was doomed. I liked this episode, and thought it was good, but it could have been great without the obvious race!fail. The only mitigating factor was that Rita chose to go out on her own terms, but that was cold comfort indeed.
How many episodes does this season have left? Two? Three? There are so many dangling plot threads to be addressed in the finale!
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There were parts of this episode I really liked though, above all the Doctor's speech to Amy-Amelia toward the end (if I ignore the "Amy Williams" bit).