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sevenswellsSo, I finally got around to finish watching the last episode of season 5 of Doctor Who today.
Well.
I have mixed feelings.
Overall, I felt a bit... underwhelmed by this fifth season. The general plot, in my opinion, was less exciting, had less adventure than the previous seasons. Dare I say it? I felt downright bored at times. I also missed the sci-fi. Stuff happening in space, blinking lights, new civilizations and concepts, there really was a gaping hole there. I loved the rebooted Doctor Who series instantly because it's the kind of stuff I usually *don't* like, hardcore sci-fi, and it still managed to keep me interested. Good sci-fi is supposed to give a different perspective on some society issues, sometimes ask metaphysical/ethical questions about what it means to be human, that kind of stuff, and the first four seasons did that very well, even in the weakest/kitschest episodes; I could always get some moral, interesting point of views, shiny new ideas or precious, touching, very human moments out of any of them. So, yeah, I would have liked more of that. It's okay that they tried to develop the relationships instead, but now that was my main problem: I didn't care for the relationships between the characters at all.
Don't get me wrong; I love Matt Smith's Doctor. Smith is probably the best actor of them all, portraying a very complex Doctor, maybe the most complex of them all too. I also loved River Song, despite her presence being very fleeting. But I still can't bring myself to care about Amy or Rory. I still don't get them as characters. I don't understand their respective personalities or motivations, they just give me this general impression of "meh". They're okay. They're kind of cute, generally speaking. But they're also kind of useless (hello, I'm the girl with the unpopular opinions, nice to meet you!)
Some episodes were spectacularly bad. I mean, I can cope with a fair amount of stupid and kitsch, but the double episode with the lizard-men made me downright angry. It was like a lesson in how bad sci-fi can be, and all of it was so vacant, so moronic: I couldn't find a single thing I liked about that double episode and it made me want to punch something, especially Rory's death, which was not only the most stupid death you could give to any character ever (except maybe being killed by curtains, yes JK Rowling I'm looking at you), but it also made me realize that I seriously didn't care if he died, which usually is not a good thing.
So yeah, that fifth season didn't really do it for me, despite all the respect I have for Moffat as a writer. Even the double episode with the return of the weeping angels was a bit of a disappointment. It was like Moffat kind of jossed himself over on that one, giving the angels more characteristics and powers and motivations (like, now you're not supposed to look them in the eyes, the "image of an angel becomes an angel" is quite new too and not really justified, now they're actually breaking people's necks), and somehow that made them far less scary and more... average sci-fi/horror monsters, instead of that really awesome and new concept that was first presented in Blink.
I kept watching until the end of this fifth season because I liked Eleven, which is the exact opposite of why I kept watching the seasons with Tennant: liked the stories and the concepts, didn't like the Doctor. Although after watching the End of Time and Waters of Mars, I'd like to rewrite that opinion.
You see, I said I didn't like Ten. I couldn't relate to him as a character, and his range of emotions to me seemed to go from angry to very angry, completed with eyeroll and shouting (which also lead me to believe Tennant was a terrible actor). Ten had flaws I couldn't abide and it seemed he never really put himself in question. He went through his adventures shouting and rolling his eyes, and raging and raging, ruining lives and ditching companions, and it looked like he would never get punished for all of it; he just had to pull a sad face and say "I'm sorry, I'm very sorry" all the time.
And then I got to those final episodes.
My first shock came from Tennant, the actor.
I had just one very clear very angry thought throughout those episodes: "WHY? WHY ARE YOU GETTING THIS GOOD ONLY NOW?"
He was showing such a wide range of emotions, with such nuances and intensity that he took my breath away. And I'm dead sure he wasn't that good before, so I don't know what happened, but it's extremely frustrating that it happened so late. Nevertheless, better late than never, because I used to think I wouldn't regret the moment Ten would go away and regenerate as Eleven, and I actually looooove being proved wrong in matters such as these.
In three episodes, I finally came to like him as a character. I think Waters of Mars is actually my favourite episode ever. Ooooh but it was brilliant. It was everything I like about any story ever. My motto as an author is that characters who fuck up make the best stories, especially when they mean well, and that episode showed Ten fucking up intensely even though he also meant intensely well; bottom line: FUCKING FANTASTIC STORY. Everything was perfect, from the interpretation to the general dramatization to that moment where he utters that horrible, glorious, amazing line about the "Time Lord victorious" (I think I fangasmed a bit over that one) and then the ending which shows the Doctor as a haunted, scared, terribly human and pitiful character, repeating "I went too far, I went too far" to the Ood's ghostly, ominous image, going back inside the Tardis like a criminal on the run -- OH MY GOD THAT WAS PURE, UNDILUTED TRAGEDY, oooooh yeah THAT'S the stuff. It was like something Whedon, at his most sadistic and cruel, could have written, and I mean that in the best possible way of course.
The End of Time was a majestic conclusion to those three seasons in Ten's company, and the utterly pathetic "But I don't want to go", just before his regeneration really broke my heart to a thousand pieces. Well done, Tennant; I honestly didn't think you had it in you, and I was fucking blown away.
So! Favourite Doctor so far: still Christopher Eccleston's Nine, I think I will never be able to get over him; favourite episodes: Waters of Mars, Family of Blood; favourite companion: Donna Noble of course, hands down.
Finally, in conclusion:
Another Sherlock rec post coming up soon, and at any rate, come hell or high water, on Sunday, you'll have porn!
Well.
I have mixed feelings.
Overall, I felt a bit... underwhelmed by this fifth season. The general plot, in my opinion, was less exciting, had less adventure than the previous seasons. Dare I say it? I felt downright bored at times. I also missed the sci-fi. Stuff happening in space, blinking lights, new civilizations and concepts, there really was a gaping hole there. I loved the rebooted Doctor Who series instantly because it's the kind of stuff I usually *don't* like, hardcore sci-fi, and it still managed to keep me interested. Good sci-fi is supposed to give a different perspective on some society issues, sometimes ask metaphysical/ethical questions about what it means to be human, that kind of stuff, and the first four seasons did that very well, even in the weakest/kitschest episodes; I could always get some moral, interesting point of views, shiny new ideas or precious, touching, very human moments out of any of them. So, yeah, I would have liked more of that. It's okay that they tried to develop the relationships instead, but now that was my main problem: I didn't care for the relationships between the characters at all.
Don't get me wrong; I love Matt Smith's Doctor. Smith is probably the best actor of them all, portraying a very complex Doctor, maybe the most complex of them all too. I also loved River Song, despite her presence being very fleeting. But I still can't bring myself to care about Amy or Rory. I still don't get them as characters. I don't understand their respective personalities or motivations, they just give me this general impression of "meh". They're okay. They're kind of cute, generally speaking. But they're also kind of useless (hello, I'm the girl with the unpopular opinions, nice to meet you!)
Some episodes were spectacularly bad. I mean, I can cope with a fair amount of stupid and kitsch, but the double episode with the lizard-men made me downright angry. It was like a lesson in how bad sci-fi can be, and all of it was so vacant, so moronic: I couldn't find a single thing I liked about that double episode and it made me want to punch something, especially Rory's death, which was not only the most stupid death you could give to any character ever (except maybe being killed by curtains, yes JK Rowling I'm looking at you), but it also made me realize that I seriously didn't care if he died, which usually is not a good thing.
So yeah, that fifth season didn't really do it for me, despite all the respect I have for Moffat as a writer. Even the double episode with the return of the weeping angels was a bit of a disappointment. It was like Moffat kind of jossed himself over on that one, giving the angels more characteristics and powers and motivations (like, now you're not supposed to look them in the eyes, the "image of an angel becomes an angel" is quite new too and not really justified, now they're actually breaking people's necks), and somehow that made them far less scary and more... average sci-fi/horror monsters, instead of that really awesome and new concept that was first presented in Blink.
I kept watching until the end of this fifth season because I liked Eleven, which is the exact opposite of why I kept watching the seasons with Tennant: liked the stories and the concepts, didn't like the Doctor. Although after watching the End of Time and Waters of Mars, I'd like to rewrite that opinion.
You see, I said I didn't like Ten. I couldn't relate to him as a character, and his range of emotions to me seemed to go from angry to very angry, completed with eyeroll and shouting (which also lead me to believe Tennant was a terrible actor). Ten had flaws I couldn't abide and it seemed he never really put himself in question. He went through his adventures shouting and rolling his eyes, and raging and raging, ruining lives and ditching companions, and it looked like he would never get punished for all of it; he just had to pull a sad face and say "I'm sorry, I'm very sorry" all the time.
And then I got to those final episodes.
My first shock came from Tennant, the actor.
I had just one very clear very angry thought throughout those episodes: "WHY? WHY ARE YOU GETTING THIS GOOD ONLY NOW?"
He was showing such a wide range of emotions, with such nuances and intensity that he took my breath away. And I'm dead sure he wasn't that good before, so I don't know what happened, but it's extremely frustrating that it happened so late. Nevertheless, better late than never, because I used to think I wouldn't regret the moment Ten would go away and regenerate as Eleven, and I actually looooove being proved wrong in matters such as these.
In three episodes, I finally came to like him as a character. I think Waters of Mars is actually my favourite episode ever. Ooooh but it was brilliant. It was everything I like about any story ever. My motto as an author is that characters who fuck up make the best stories, especially when they mean well, and that episode showed Ten fucking up intensely even though he also meant intensely well; bottom line: FUCKING FANTASTIC STORY. Everything was perfect, from the interpretation to the general dramatization to that moment where he utters that horrible, glorious, amazing line about the "Time Lord victorious" (I think I fangasmed a bit over that one) and then the ending which shows the Doctor as a haunted, scared, terribly human and pitiful character, repeating "I went too far, I went too far" to the Ood's ghostly, ominous image, going back inside the Tardis like a criminal on the run -- OH MY GOD THAT WAS PURE, UNDILUTED TRAGEDY, oooooh yeah THAT'S the stuff. It was like something Whedon, at his most sadistic and cruel, could have written, and I mean that in the best possible way of course.
The End of Time was a majestic conclusion to those three seasons in Ten's company, and the utterly pathetic "But I don't want to go", just before his regeneration really broke my heart to a thousand pieces. Well done, Tennant; I honestly didn't think you had it in you, and I was fucking blown away.
So! Favourite Doctor so far: still Christopher Eccleston's Nine, I think I will never be able to get over him; favourite episodes: Waters of Mars, Family of Blood; favourite companion: Donna Noble of course, hands down.
Finally, in conclusion:
Another Sherlock rec post coming up soon, and at any rate, come hell or high water, on Sunday, you'll have porn!
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no subject
Date: 2011-06-03 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-03 05:15 am (UTC)I actually like Amy and Rory quite a bit--especially Rory, man, he's some kind of saint. But God, that episode with the lizard-people made me SO ANGRY. The worst part, IMO, was that it was a two-parter. If it'd been just one bad episode I could have dealt with it, oh, they can't be all winners. But that it was a two-parter was just insulting. First off, there was absolutely no need for it to be two parts--everything would have fit just fine in one part--and second, it was terrible! SO IT WASTED TWICE AS MUCH OF MY TIME AS IT NEEDED TO! UUUUGGGHHH.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-03 10:02 pm (UTC)Yeah, that's one of the reasons he bothers me as a character. He's sometimes a bit too much of a saint, without much motivation, or sometimes it's a bit out of character. I won't linger on it too much, but I really don't get his love story with Amy; sometimes it really looks every bit like a failed relationship with too much unresolved issues, and then all of a sudden it gets intense in an "I could never live without you" kinda way, but without much justification. NGL, I'm still puzzled over why these two are together at all.
Anyway, yeah, THAT FUCKING DOUBLE EPISODE! I had the same reaction, at the end of the first part I was like: "Wait, are you telling me there is MORE of this bullshit? AAARRRRRHHH!!!" That scene where the lizard woman provokes the gratuitously annoying woman into tazing her to death was SO BAD, SO BAD it was embarrassing! Haven't started season 6 yet but I hope it doesn't have episodes as bad as this.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-04 04:05 am (UTC)However, season 6 does seem to have some kind of overreliance on two-parters. Like, dude. Get it together. YOU DON'T NEED TWO HOURS TO TELL A FUCKING STORY. JESUS, LOOK AT WHAT THE TWILIGHT ZONE USED TO ACCOMPLISH IN 23 MINUTES.