He didn't get his jacket back from the angels--it's a different jacket.
Much nodding in agreement with your comments. Not convinced of MS's weight as an actor yet; so far have seen him be competent, occasionally good, and often miss an opportunity to deliver a moment with the kind of zing that his predecessors had. (I mean, it's not an accident that "Don't blink, don't even blink" became an iconic phrase--and not only because it's well-written. It's also well-delivered.)
OTOH, I think Moffat and Smith have made a brave and risky choice to do Eleven as a withholding, opaque hero. He's not human, he never was. He has watched a great many people crash and burn on his altar and he's not gonna go there anymore. What interests him is the job of universe-saving, and he needs companions for that, tant pis. 2 hearts just mean 2 organs for pumping blood (or ichor, or whatever), not a divided and conflicted soul. Or that's his story, anyway, and he's stickin to it.
The risk is that this distant, closed character will not bond so easily with viewers. There's a fine line between being mysterious and being a blank. The payoff is that eventually, if/when we do see the Eleven exposed, it packs a punch. In a way Ten did that a bit at first: he looked all happy-go-lucky and sprightly and jolly for a bit: the very opposite of Nine's towering darkness (which was a brilliant innovation for DW). It lasted until he met Sarah Jane, and she accused him of abandoning her--that was the first crack, followed by Mme de Pompadour. After that, he spiraled straight down into the abyss.
I don't expect Eleven to follow the same path. But I do like the flashes of real anger, arrogance, and impatience we are seeing in him now. And sooner or later he's going to have to stop keeping all his secrets to himself.
Meanwhile, though, the ones who have embraced Eleven so far seem mostly to be the Eleven/Amy shippers, who I fear are doomed to be disappointed.
I also dislike the outfit. Tennant's geekchic was so extreme it sort of worked, and then he had the sweeping duster (= superhero cape) which was not geeky at all. Eleven's clothes are neither ubergeeky nor classy on their own; they just look stupid to me. I liked the publicity photos of Matt Smith in a black jacket and jeans, but I suppose it made him look too young, cool, and contemporary.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 04:41 pm (UTC)Much nodding in agreement with your comments. Not convinced of MS's weight as an actor yet; so far have seen him be competent, occasionally good, and often miss an opportunity to deliver a moment with the kind of zing that his predecessors had. (I mean, it's not an accident that "Don't blink, don't even blink" became an iconic phrase--and not only because it's well-written. It's also well-delivered.)
OTOH, I think Moffat and Smith have made a brave and risky choice to do Eleven as a withholding, opaque hero. He's not human, he never was. He has watched a great many people crash and burn on his altar and he's not gonna go there anymore. What interests him is the job of universe-saving, and he needs companions for that, tant pis. 2 hearts just mean 2 organs for pumping blood (or ichor, or whatever), not a divided and conflicted soul. Or that's his story, anyway, and he's stickin to it.
The risk is that this distant, closed character will not bond so easily with viewers. There's a fine line between being mysterious and being a blank. The payoff is that eventually, if/when we do see the Eleven exposed, it packs a punch. In a way Ten did that a bit at first: he looked all happy-go-lucky and sprightly and jolly for a bit: the very opposite of Nine's towering darkness (which was a brilliant innovation for DW). It lasted until he met Sarah Jane, and she accused him of abandoning her--that was the first crack, followed by Mme de Pompadour. After that, he spiraled straight down into the abyss.
I don't expect Eleven to follow the same path. But I do like the flashes of real anger, arrogance, and impatience we are seeing in him now. And sooner or later he's going to have to stop keeping all his secrets to himself.
Meanwhile, though, the ones who have embraced Eleven so far seem mostly to be the Eleven/Amy shippers, who I fear are doomed to be disappointed.
I also dislike the outfit. Tennant's geekchic was so extreme it sort of worked, and then he had the sweeping duster (= superhero cape) which was not geeky at all. Eleven's clothes are neither ubergeeky nor classy on their own; they just look stupid to me. I liked the publicity photos of Matt Smith in a black jacket and jeans, but I suppose it made him look too young, cool, and contemporary.