DW 6x05 - The Rebel Flesh
May. 21st, 2011 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963Well. That was an improvement on Fear Her wasn't it?
As the first of a two-parter, The Rebel Flesh could afford to be a bit on the slow side in terms of pacing; I'm not sure it wasn't a bit too slow in the first ten to fifteen minutes, but then that could be because the normal forty-five minute format is usually pretty frenetic by comparison.
The premise raises a lot of interesting moral issues, which is one of the things I've always liked about DW. It can be silly and exciting and bonkers all at the same time, and it doesn't shy away from addressing serious issues, in spite of it's being a "family" show. And here we're dealing with what constitutes life? The gangers are perfect copies of their human progenitors, replete with all their experiences and memories, so who's to say they're not "real"? I mean we're supposed to believe that Handy - a clone with all the Doctor's memories and knowledge - is real, so how are the gangers different? Which, to be fair, is the Doctor's stance.
The gangers were pretty creepy-looking, but the kids managed not to dive behind the sofa!
It's obvious that the Doctor knows something about the Flesh that he's not saying.
I really liked the sub-plot about Rory's sympathy for Jennifer. For one thing, it's about time Amy started to realise how lucky she is. Even Moffat said, in the DWC that all he's really known from Amy is scorn so he must be a bit flattered to have a woman looking up to him and needing him in a way that Amy seems not to.
But for me, the most interesting part of it was something that nobody mentioned in the DWC at all, which is that Rory remembers the 2000 years he spent as Auton!Rory, as someone who had physical form and all the memories of a real person... and yet wasn't. So it makes perfect sense that he'd be able to understand the gangers' point of view and to sympathise with them.
There's been a lot of speculation about there being a cloned Doctor this series; wondering if the Doctor we saw killed in TIA was a clone or if the bearded Doctor was - and here he is, finally. And amazingly, his clothes were cloned, too! ;-)
This going to be a tough storyline to resolve, I think. We're meant to sympathise with the gangers to an extent (IMO) and for the humans to "win", the gangers are going to have to die, or be transported elsewhere or something... and clearly, while the Last of the Time Lords isn't always that wild about being the only one left, I doubt he's going to be wild about the idea of having an unhinged double running about the universe either. And if he's an exact double - which I imagine we're meant to infer after having learned that Buzz's ganger had a heart - then how is he to be disposed of?
Maybe he clones the TARDIS and runs off - and the Doctor, Amy and Rory spend the rest of the series chasing him, finally catching up with him in Utah where he's shot by whoever it was in that spacesuit.
So yeah, I enjoyed this one. A solid and intriguing story, atmospheric locations, moral dilemmas and moar Rory - and a plot that makes sense while I'm watching it :-)
Only two more to go before the mid-series break :(
As the first of a two-parter, The Rebel Flesh could afford to be a bit on the slow side in terms of pacing; I'm not sure it wasn't a bit too slow in the first ten to fifteen minutes, but then that could be because the normal forty-five minute format is usually pretty frenetic by comparison.
The premise raises a lot of interesting moral issues, which is one of the things I've always liked about DW. It can be silly and exciting and bonkers all at the same time, and it doesn't shy away from addressing serious issues, in spite of it's being a "family" show. And here we're dealing with what constitutes life? The gangers are perfect copies of their human progenitors, replete with all their experiences and memories, so who's to say they're not "real"? I mean we're supposed to believe that Handy - a clone with all the Doctor's memories and knowledge - is real, so how are the gangers different? Which, to be fair, is the Doctor's stance.
The gangers were pretty creepy-looking, but the kids managed not to dive behind the sofa!
It's obvious that the Doctor knows something about the Flesh that he's not saying.
I really liked the sub-plot about Rory's sympathy for Jennifer. For one thing, it's about time Amy started to realise how lucky she is. Even Moffat said, in the DWC that all he's really known from Amy is scorn so he must be a bit flattered to have a woman looking up to him and needing him in a way that Amy seems not to.
But for me, the most interesting part of it was something that nobody mentioned in the DWC at all, which is that Rory remembers the 2000 years he spent as Auton!Rory, as someone who had physical form and all the memories of a real person... and yet wasn't. So it makes perfect sense that he'd be able to understand the gangers' point of view and to sympathise with them.
There's been a lot of speculation about there being a cloned Doctor this series; wondering if the Doctor we saw killed in TIA was a clone or if the bearded Doctor was - and here he is, finally. And amazingly, his clothes were cloned, too! ;-)
This going to be a tough storyline to resolve, I think. We're meant to sympathise with the gangers to an extent (IMO) and for the humans to "win", the gangers are going to have to die, or be transported elsewhere or something... and clearly, while the Last of the Time Lords isn't always that wild about being the only one left, I doubt he's going to be wild about the idea of having an unhinged double running about the universe either. And if he's an exact double - which I imagine we're meant to infer after having learned that Buzz's ganger had a heart - then how is he to be disposed of?
Maybe he clones the TARDIS and runs off - and the Doctor, Amy and Rory spend the rest of the series chasing him, finally catching up with him in Utah where he's shot by whoever it was in that spacesuit.
So yeah, I enjoyed this one. A solid and intriguing story, atmospheric locations, moral dilemmas and moar Rory - and a plot that makes sense while I'm watching it :-)
Only two more to go before the mid-series break :(
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no subject
Date: 2011-05-22 12:21 pm (UTC)I liked it. I didn't think it was very well done - I've certainly seen these issues explored far better before - but it was interesting, and I enjoyed it, and I want to know what happens next week.
But for me, the most interesting part of it was something that nobody mentioned in the DWC at all, which is that Rory remembers the 2000 years he spent as Auton!Rory, as someone who had physical form and all the memories of a real person... and yet wasn't.
YES. And: that means that Rory is twice as old as the Doctor. Why don't they explore that? Or at least mention it???
no subject
Date: 2011-05-22 03:35 pm (UTC)There was a mention, back in TIA I think of that fact - Eleven said something about having been present at the Fall of Rome and Rory said, "So was I" - and I think the Doctor then asked Rory whether he remembered his time as an Auton. While there wasn't a bit thing made of it, it was definitely there, so it's not been forgotten.
It was nice to have a "ooh - can't want to find out what happens" thought without a "but I probably won't be any the wiser" one following it! ;-)
I know you're allergic to Moffat, but you did watch Neil Gaiman's episode last week? I thought it was lovely.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-22 04:06 pm (UTC)Yes, I watched it, and I thought it was lovely too!!
(Did you see
no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 05:25 am (UTC)I'll go out on a limb here and say it's River in the suit, since that would also tie up another loose end, i.e the whole thing about her ending up in prison for killing, oh how was it phrased, "the best man I ever knew"?.