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Entry tags:
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DW 5x13 - The Big Bang
Um. Well, I’m not sure what to make of that, actually. I enjoyed it, but – it left me feeling a bit flat, and I’m trying to work out why.
The comedy element was great – Matt popping up with the fez and the mop; the destruction of the fez, Amy yelling that the Doctor was late for her wedding and then his spazzy Dad-Dancing.
I was so glad to see Amelia again; Caitlin Blackwood is a very talented little girl.
River continues to be awesome. How badass was she with that Dalek? And you have to love that whole “what on earth have you got on your head?” bit. I’m also pleased that she’ll be back next series – even before I watched the DWC, I realized that if we are, as Moff promised, to see her story play out and find out who she really is, she’ll have to come back, so that’s all good.
RORY!! Yes – he’s back, he’s alive and he’s Mr Pond! I hope he sticks around for the next series; it’ll be interesting to have a proper couple on board the TARDIS, and will reinforce that whole avuncular thing that Eleven’s got going on with his companions.
The best scene of the episode was undoubtedly that of Eleven sitting by Amelia’s bedside, talking to her as she sleeps. Matt Smith absolutely nailed it there as he spoke about the silly old man who ‘borrowed’ the TARDIS and ran away… the times we never had… in your dreams, they’ll still be there… the Doctor and Amy Pond… and the days that never came - was truly wibble-inducing.
The plotty stuff all tied up nicely – we meet jacket!Doctor, finally, and discover how he’s travelling around and why, we find out what the Doctor told Amy when she was seven, what happened to her family - and the cracks are closed – with him on the other side. I’m still not sure how he rescued River though – I’ll have to check that out when I rewatch it.
We didn’t find out who or what was behind it all, but the Doctor as good as told us that that will be the theme for the next series – which Moff confirmed later in the DWC. I’ve got no complaints about that either – it would have made things pretty crowded for a 55 minute episode if we’d had to have all that resolved as well.
So, given that I liked all those things, why do I still feel dissatisfied? The only reason I can come up with at the moment is because the tone was so different to that of the previous episode, which was a bloody good set up. I’ve just said in a comment to my earlier post that at the end of episode 12, things were very dark; the TARDIS was exploding, the universe was ending, the stars were going out… and then suddenly, “oh look, it’s a mad man with a mop!” Don’t get me wrong – I liked that bit, and again, Matt played it beautifully – I was just using it to illustrate the point I’m trying to make.
And while I know that the importance of memory has been hammered home time and time again this series, I don’t quite understand how Amy’s memory of the Doctor enabled him to come back. We’ve heard that time can be rewritten several times and also last week that remembering something that’s gone means it can come back… I’m just not sure how.
But I suppose that’s a bit nit-picky, because let’s face it, this is Doctor Who and not a documentary!
To my mind then, this finale suffered from a bit of Rusty-itis in that the second part didn’t really live up to the promise of the first. And surely, the concept was madder than anything Rusty ever did – I mean, he never blew up the TARDIS and had the universe disappear from existence as a result! And instead of “the year that never was”, we have… er… “the lifetimes that never were” or something like that.
So yes, while I loved bits of it – quite a few bits of it, actually - I think it’s an example of the whole not quite equalling the sum of its parts.
Then again, I suppose the “everybody lives” theme is much more in keeping with Moff’s vision of DW as the fairytale for kids – both big and small.
Oh – and are we getting a repeat of VotD with an alien on the Orient Express at Christmas, or was that just a throwaway line? (I’m inclined to think the latter.)
Let’s hope that Amy will have grown into a nicer person next series; and I’m delighted that we’ll be getting more Eleven and Rory, because they’re great together.
And there we have it. The first series of Rusty-less Doctor Who. My favourite episodes were by writers other than Steven Moffat – Simon Nye and Richard Curtis, both of whom I hope can be induced to write for DW again.
One question - does the destruction of reality and Big Bang 2 which created a universe in which the Doctor never existed mean that all of DW from 1963 until now never happened? Or does the fact that Amy remembers Eleven mean that all of him, from One to Ten, have been re-incorportated into history?
At the end, Eleven distinctly says to River that the writing is back in her diary, and that he hasn't read it. So if the Doctor HAS been returned to our history - does that mean that everyone can suddenly remember the Daleks and the Cybermen and the Slitheen and the Sycorax and all the other stuff that happened over the past five years?
Verdict – liked it for the most part. Eleven, Rory, River – all great, but could have done without Amy.
Oh, and I think they should either dispense with the DWCs next time around, or cut them down to 20 minutes or so. I generally watch them, but there have been a few this series that have felt rather pointless – this one and the one for the Venice episode in particular come to mind, but most of the others have felt over-long. There have been some really good ones in the past – I remember being engrossed by the one for Midnight for example, but they’ve just not worked all that well this time around, IMO. Maybe they should just do some sort of “making of” programme at the end of the series next time, or do some one-offs, rather than one per episode.
The comedy element was great – Matt popping up with the fez and the mop; the destruction of the fez, Amy yelling that the Doctor was late for her wedding and then his spazzy Dad-Dancing.
I was so glad to see Amelia again; Caitlin Blackwood is a very talented little girl.
River continues to be awesome. How badass was she with that Dalek? And you have to love that whole “what on earth have you got on your head?” bit. I’m also pleased that she’ll be back next series – even before I watched the DWC, I realized that if we are, as Moff promised, to see her story play out and find out who she really is, she’ll have to come back, so that’s all good.
RORY!! Yes – he’s back, he’s alive and he’s Mr Pond! I hope he sticks around for the next series; it’ll be interesting to have a proper couple on board the TARDIS, and will reinforce that whole avuncular thing that Eleven’s got going on with his companions.
The best scene of the episode was undoubtedly that of Eleven sitting by Amelia’s bedside, talking to her as she sleeps. Matt Smith absolutely nailed it there as he spoke about the silly old man who ‘borrowed’ the TARDIS and ran away… the times we never had… in your dreams, they’ll still be there… the Doctor and Amy Pond… and the days that never came - was truly wibble-inducing.
The plotty stuff all tied up nicely – we meet jacket!Doctor, finally, and discover how he’s travelling around and why, we find out what the Doctor told Amy when she was seven, what happened to her family - and the cracks are closed – with him on the other side. I’m still not sure how he rescued River though – I’ll have to check that out when I rewatch it.
We didn’t find out who or what was behind it all, but the Doctor as good as told us that that will be the theme for the next series – which Moff confirmed later in the DWC. I’ve got no complaints about that either – it would have made things pretty crowded for a 55 minute episode if we’d had to have all that resolved as well.
So, given that I liked all those things, why do I still feel dissatisfied? The only reason I can come up with at the moment is because the tone was so different to that of the previous episode, which was a bloody good set up. I’ve just said in a comment to my earlier post that at the end of episode 12, things were very dark; the TARDIS was exploding, the universe was ending, the stars were going out… and then suddenly, “oh look, it’s a mad man with a mop!” Don’t get me wrong – I liked that bit, and again, Matt played it beautifully – I was just using it to illustrate the point I’m trying to make.
And while I know that the importance of memory has been hammered home time and time again this series, I don’t quite understand how Amy’s memory of the Doctor enabled him to come back. We’ve heard that time can be rewritten several times and also last week that remembering something that’s gone means it can come back… I’m just not sure how.
But I suppose that’s a bit nit-picky, because let’s face it, this is Doctor Who and not a documentary!
To my mind then, this finale suffered from a bit of Rusty-itis in that the second part didn’t really live up to the promise of the first. And surely, the concept was madder than anything Rusty ever did – I mean, he never blew up the TARDIS and had the universe disappear from existence as a result! And instead of “the year that never was”, we have… er… “the lifetimes that never were” or something like that.
So yes, while I loved bits of it – quite a few bits of it, actually - I think it’s an example of the whole not quite equalling the sum of its parts.
Then again, I suppose the “everybody lives” theme is much more in keeping with Moff’s vision of DW as the fairytale for kids – both big and small.
Oh – and are we getting a repeat of VotD with an alien on the Orient Express at Christmas, or was that just a throwaway line? (I’m inclined to think the latter.)
Let’s hope that Amy will have grown into a nicer person next series; and I’m delighted that we’ll be getting more Eleven and Rory, because they’re great together.
And there we have it. The first series of Rusty-less Doctor Who. My favourite episodes were by writers other than Steven Moffat – Simon Nye and Richard Curtis, both of whom I hope can be induced to write for DW again.
One question - does the destruction of reality and Big Bang 2 which created a universe in which the Doctor never existed mean that all of DW from 1963 until now never happened? Or does the fact that Amy remembers Eleven mean that all of him, from One to Ten, have been re-incorportated into history?
At the end, Eleven distinctly says to River that the writing is back in her diary, and that he hasn't read it. So if the Doctor HAS been returned to our history - does that mean that everyone can suddenly remember the Daleks and the Cybermen and the Slitheen and the Sycorax and all the other stuff that happened over the past five years?
Verdict – liked it for the most part. Eleven, Rory, River – all great, but could have done without Amy.
Oh, and I think they should either dispense with the DWCs next time around, or cut them down to 20 minutes or so. I generally watch them, but there have been a few this series that have felt rather pointless – this one and the one for the Venice episode in particular come to mind, but most of the others have felt over-long. There have been some really good ones in the past – I remember being engrossed by the one for Midnight for example, but they’ve just not worked all that well this time around, IMO. Maybe they should just do some sort of “making of” programme at the end of the series next time, or do some one-offs, rather than one per episode.
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And yes, the good bits didn't add up to anything more than reasonable.
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Just before the TARDIS exploded, it put River into a few-second time loop until the Doctor came and rescued her from it.
does the destruction of reality and Big Bang 2 which created a universe in which the Doctor never existed mean that all of DW from 1963 until now never happened? Or does the fact that Amy remembers Eleven mean that all of him, from One to Ten, have been re-incorportated into history?
It could work both ways, I think? The Doctor said that the atoms of the original universe that were trapped in the Pandorica with Amy, would be enough to restore all the original universe, and, I assume, everything that happened in it. (As suggested with the words reappearing in River's diary at the end.) OTOH, since 7-year-old Amelia met the Doctor only once, then IMHO only what she knew of him, either from real life or from her dreams, would be restored. TBH I was wondering if Moffat was going to do a retcon. He did, and he didn't, it just depends on how we choose to see it. So well played, sir, well played.
I did find a major plot hole with Amy though; if she were already nearly dead when she were put in the Pandorica, and the Pandorica holds its prisoner in stasis, then theoretically she should still have been nearly dead when she was released from it. Unless we're to handwave it away by saying the Pandorica has mystical healing powers. (ETA: Well, yes, it does. Which--um, well, how
deus ex machinaconvenient.) Which--well, stasis means everything's suspended.Also, with River, if the Doctor couldn't exist in real life again until Amy remembered him, how could River know to give her (empty) diary to Amy?
I suppose the “everybody lives” theme is much more in keeping with Moff’s vision of DW as the fairytale for kids – both big and small.
and We’ve heard that time can be rewritten several times and also last week that remembering something that’s gone means it can come back… I’m just not sure how.
On one hand, nothing is truly gone as long as we remember it. OTOH, in real life it's still gone: it can't physically return, we can't restore it to life again just by remembering it, as much as we might want to. The implication of Moffat's message, that it can be fully restored just by remembering--I wish it worked that way in real life, but it doesn't. So I must be too cynical for Moffat's Who.
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And I really can't stand Amy, although she did come off slightly better in the finale than she has for the last 12 episodes. I have to say that, since I've started watching the show, this is the only time I find myself not excited about next season.
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God, yes.
I think there has been a fairly even spread of "fors" and "against" this series, although just lately, I think that the people who are less than happy have been a bit quieter. Possibly, a number of them have become so disilluioned that they've stopped watching or at least stopped writing about it. I've had problems with the series - I've posted a fair bit, but here (http://caz963.livejournal.com/367922.html) is the one I wrote mid-season where I made observations on what I think are the differences in style between RTD and Moff.
I think there's a big element of "emperor's new clothes" in certain areas of the fandom right now; there's always been a contingent that were desperate to love S5 purely because it wasn't Rusty at the helm any more. I've tried to be fair and considered in what I've said. It's taken me a long time - weeks - to warm to Matt, whereas with Nine and Ten (especially Ten!) they were the Doctor from the get-go. Amy, I still don't like, for a number of reasons (which you'll know if you read my DW posts) including that I didn't like having her shoved in my face as teh most awesomest companion EVAH when she's done nothing to deserve that, IMO. Rory, I liked straight away - he was more like the "everyman" character the companion is supposed to be and while he might not have been a particularly complex character, he was warm and real. I'm delighted he's going to be part of team-TARDIS for a bit longer - I hope he sticks around as long as Amy does because then I'll be able to ignore her more successfully.
The series is over and I'm not nearly as sad as I've been in past years. I'll be looking forward to watching at Christmas, and pleased to see it back next year, but I'm not going to be tearing my hair out while I wait.
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Isn't it interesting that one of the plot devices that Rusty used that was so derided has been used by Moff here without such an outcry? The power of stories and memory and names brought the Doctor back at the end of S3 - and here we've got something very similar although on a less grand scale; instead of a psychic network we've got... er... Amy Pond. Messiah!Doctor never bothered me becasue there was enough going on in the rest of that mini-arc to make up for it.
I'm still trying to figure out why I'm so disappointed. I'm sure part of it is that, whatever he came up with, Moff was never going to be able to come up with something that was going to satisfy all the speculation that's been going on. But that said, what did we get? Resolution by way of a Vortex Manipulator and a Sonic Screwdriver. Even if I hadn't been breaking my brain along with everyone else, I think that would still have been a bit of a let-down!
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Isn't it interesting that one of the plot devices that Rusty used that was so derided has been used by Moff here without such an outcry?
Yep. Moff did one better than RTD in that arena, too. Not only did Moff use the deus ex machina and the reset button, he used the "it was all a dream" device too. I'm giving him full credit because I'm not sure which was a dream and which wasn't. It hurts too much to figure out. :-)
I realized halfway through this season that the themes of stories, memories and names directly hailed back to S3. (Even the "eye of the storm" bit which allowed Earth to survive the destruction of the universe.) We watched "Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords" the other day. TBH the psychic network actually made sense. I think the backlash was due to the overt Jesus!Doctor resurrection more than anything. There were other in-story ways to restore the Doctor that wouldn't have required that imagery. But I suppose RTD couldn't resist.
How different is Amy Pond, really, compared to Rose or Donna? They all held the universe in their heads in one way or another. Just that Rose and Donna ended up paying for it, while Amy got a fairytale ending. I can't help but think it's the happy ending that counted for most of the fans who loved the finale, judging from the reviews I've read.
Sorry I'm rambling. I'll run off now.
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I have been pondering the implications of rebooting the universe, particularly from the POV of the Doctor not being around until Amy believed him back to life.
I am worried about the implications of a literal reboot, too. Not so much that it might erase 45 years of TV history (although that is a worry) but that history won't know the Doctor either.
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Basically, although i loved the comedy, hey fez! and if anyone is ever going to play Tommy Cooper in a film, it must be Matt - it seemed out of place in this episode. I just feel it would have been so much stronger if they had played it straight, like Ep 12.
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