DW 6x02 - Day of the Moon

[caz963]

Initial - jumbled up - thoughts (before I've read anyone else's.)



We're left with even more questions than we were left with last week - and right now, I confess I'm feeling a bit cheated. Maybe that'll go away once I've calmed down, but I'll be very surprised if we get any major answers before Ep 7, or even the end of the series, which, due to the split season, is almost six months away, given that the team seems to have opted for adventuring.

Not that I'm all that surprised. I'm sure I used to be able to watch TV shows that had regular cliffhangers or overarching plot elements without getting so frustrated. I don't have a short attention span, I'm reasonably intelligent and I like puzzles. So why do I feel so ... deflated about it?

We found out who the Silence are, how long they've been here and what they've been doing... the Doctor told them to bugger off or else in no uncertain terms, so are we to assume that they do, in fact cut and run? Or is there more to come from them?

We still don't know:

• Who caused the TARDIS to explode at the end of S5
  
• Who shot and killed the 1100 year-old Doctor
  
• Why he was so resigned to his fate
  
• WTF that photo?
  
• Who the little girl is
  
• Amy - pregnant or not, and why it matters

I've probably missed something, so feel free to prod me!

And we've had... nasty things you can only see out of the corner of your eye; creepy phone calls; a creepy space-suit (seriously, I was waiting for "Are you my Mummy? - Who turned out the lights?" and a really dodgy bit of CGI in which the TARDIS catches River before she plummets to her death.

The ending. Is the girl meant to be one of Ten's by-blows or something?! He got stuck in 1969, so perhaps that was one of the ways he found to pass the time!

I dunno - I remember when I first saw the trailer for The Doctor's Daughter that I had a smiliar reaction - DNW!

I have no idea why that is.

I wish Moffat would just STOP with the -Let's make it look like Amy's in love with the Doctor and Rory thinks he's second best- thing.

(I thought the bit after Amy's disappeared when Rory is saying that she knows he'll always come for her was really sweet... until Moffat ruined it by having her calling out for the Doctor and not even mentioning her husband's name.)

Something like that might work on Torchwood, but DW isn't really the place for it, IMO. Amy and Rory are married, and I don't think a show aimed at a family audience should be trying to make us wonder if a major character could be thinking about cheating on her husband. (Or if she has already!)

Reading that back, I realise it sounds a bit harsh, but I can't think of another way to put it right now. I'm not a prude and I'm not averse to seeing those sorts of dilemmas on TV - I just don't think this is the right place for it.

Also - it's confusing my kids who, at those points, have no idea what anyone is talking about!

Things I liked:

• The "three months later" opening and reveal were well done
  
  
• The Eleven/River flirting was fun and sweet; and yay! for teh snogtiemz, but... oh, so sad when River realises that's the last time. Another first and last for them both at the same time :(
  
  
• Badass River in the shoot-out.
  
  
• That whole section in the children's home was really creepy

You know, the episode finished almost an hour ago now, and I'm having trouble remembering much else about it. Does that mean the Silence^* are eating my brain?

* Assuming it's Silence rather than Silents

So to sum up... I sort of liked it, but the suspense is going to kill me.

Comments

[vervet-monkey.livejournal.com]

The ending. Is the girl meant to be one of Ten's by-blows or something?! He got stuck in 1969, so perhaps that was one of the ways he found to pass the time!

Well that never even occurred to me! Although I think it would have killed poor Martha... I went with Amy's child, but then that would assume she had one... and how did it end up in 1969... and would mean she shot her own child which, dark!

Seemed to me to be a whole bunch of questions in that ep and not a whole lot else. Which is not necessarily (oh how I hate trying to spell that word) a bad thing... but I'm not going to be in the country for the second half of the season and given that running water and electricity are not going to be a major feature I think the suspense might kill me!

[sensiblecat.livejournal.com]

There were good moments but I don't care for the way it cheapened the Doctor's character. I'm more interested in a Doctor that would tear the world apart to help one scared, lost little girl than one that casually forgets her and goes adventuring to suit the plot.

I'm bored with Moff's mindfucks. Too many questions, not enough solid characterisation.

LOL at the Nixon tapes though!

[caz963.livejournal.com]

Good moment, yes. It does seem to be a disease of this show that the second half of two-parters are never as good as the first, doesn't it? Maybe that's inherent in the form - the first part is all build up and anticipation which the second can never live up to.

I might edit the post or write another one, but something which is worrying me (as I think it did last series) is the fact that audiences are going to start switching off in droves if things don't start to make sense soon. I read one article last week (in the Grauniad or Telegraph I think) which said that the show risks losing (or possibly even alienating) the casual viewer. I reckon it's at even greater risk after this episode, which didn't really answer amy of the questions set up last week.
I haven't had a chance to rewatch it yet, but my usual form of Moffat-itis is setting in and I feel more and more unsatisfied the more I think about it.

Also, I've seen a fair few comments/posts so far about the "ethics" of the Doctor in basically turning the human race into murderers. I need to rewatch to get it straight in my head about that.

[caz963.livejournal.com]

I admit to being a bit facetious with that one :-)

Too many questions and no real answers this week, I think. Again, with the two-part-itis where the first part is great and the second is a let down :(

[vervet-monkey.livejournal.com]

TBH I think anything goes!