Doctor Who 04x10
Jun. 14th, 2008 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
karenorRTD has restored my faith in humanity Doctor Who. Tonight's episode was fabulous, for many reasons, and NOT just because pretty much anything compared to last week would be. It might be a bit hard for me to articulate precisely why, but I'll give it the ole college try.
Ok, first of all. It was damn scary. Not this sort of perfunctory, well I really should be scared like in SitL (and once the monster was revealed, totally not even a bit scary anymore). We have an unknown, unseen terror, that keeps changing, and is basically driving those poor passengers crazy. We have an increasingly frustrated Doctor, which leads to an increasingly helpless Doctor, and eventually an incapacitated Doctor. Incapacitated, so we're here going WTF are you going to do withOUT him? And HE? He's about to be murdered and he can't do anything, but repeat and get... drained. Helpless Doctor in pain equals scary and sad and intense and me freaking out.
Secondly... I love when DW deals with more... adult themes. And by this I don't mean sexy bits (alas, grrr. family show and all), but i mean stuff like the psychology of human nature. What happens when you put 10 people in a box and shake it around and put an annoying and frightening monster in there that happens NOT to look like anything evil? I wonder if kids can fully appreciate the intensity. Do they get bored? Even so, I love when the show takes on these sorts of themes, not worried about whether or not it's... flashy enough to entertain the kiddies.
I really love the Doctor in this. And not just for the hotness, which I actually didn't notice (in particular) until later in the episode (testament to how good it was). I love how he wants to just talk in the beginning, and 'talk' it was leads to his later (almost) destruction. How all the things he usually does, taking charge of the situation, figuring stuff out, is what leads them all to DIStrust him. How, while he has every right to be arrogant, he isn't really trying to be, but it comes off that way, because he can't think of a better explanation than "I'm clever." He's right and wrong. Murder = bad, but they had to kill it, in the end. I'm actually sort of pleased the decision was taken out of his hands. Not that he probably won't still carry the guilt.
A Donna-lite ep? Well, I didn't think I'd like such a thing, but they pulled it off. And instead of just ignoring the 'there's no companion' thing, you really felt her absence. There was no one to back him up, no one to defend him. No one who understood him, for HIM to turn to. And the people that were as clever as her (or him), were too busy turning on him to really be all that much help.
The tone of it. I really like how it was set up as a sort of comedy. With the titles of passing clicks and stuff. And then it quickly became srs business. OMG the DOCTOR might DIE business. And ultimately? Was she really harming them? Well, she was the Doctor, but before then... All they had to do was stay away and wait to be rescued, but they couldn't. They were too freaked out. So they turned on the most sensible of them. And gah how my heart broke for him at the end. Over and again, the Doctor's faith in humanity is tested, innit? I mean, yeah, ultimately, the hostess sort of redeems them all... but not really. They were thinking murder, with no (yet) just cause. But when there was, the (almost) least likely of them did what needed to be done and threw herself on the grenade.
What's the ultimate message in that? I dunno. But yikes I wanted to hug the poor Doctor (thank God Donna did, they really needed that endcap to the ep). And ok, so I sorta wanted to make out with him too, only a little more than usual. Ahem. Anyway.
Recurring themes: alien trying to propagate itself (in theory) using humans. Mention of The Medusa Cascade. Rose on a monitor! Love that she got several shots out this ep, btw. Erm... The Doctor's name (minor in this case, but still), a celestial body being "lost" (the assistant's research project). That's all I've got for the mo' but it was chock full of stuff. What does it all mean? How much, if any of it, will ACTUALLY get paid off? I suppose we'll see.
Um. David Tennant is a fabulous actor. He just IS. I really don't think anyone but him could pull off the range needed for this ep, and the subtleties of the Doctor's 'possesion.' Oh how I love that man of mine. /Beetle Juice.
And that kiddies, is all I can think of for now. I know, weak review. But I'm distracted, and busy and blah, etc.
Ok, first of all. It was damn scary. Not this sort of perfunctory, well I really should be scared like in SitL (and once the monster was revealed, totally not even a bit scary anymore). We have an unknown, unseen terror, that keeps changing, and is basically driving those poor passengers crazy. We have an increasingly frustrated Doctor, which leads to an increasingly helpless Doctor, and eventually an incapacitated Doctor. Incapacitated, so we're here going WTF are you going to do withOUT him? And HE? He's about to be murdered and he can't do anything, but repeat and get... drained. Helpless Doctor in pain equals scary and sad and intense and me freaking out.
Secondly... I love when DW deals with more... adult themes. And by this I don't mean sexy bits (alas, grrr. family show and all), but i mean stuff like the psychology of human nature. What happens when you put 10 people in a box and shake it around and put an annoying and frightening monster in there that happens NOT to look like anything evil? I wonder if kids can fully appreciate the intensity. Do they get bored? Even so, I love when the show takes on these sorts of themes, not worried about whether or not it's... flashy enough to entertain the kiddies.
I really love the Doctor in this. And not just for the hotness, which I actually didn't notice (in particular) until later in the episode (testament to how good it was). I love how he wants to just talk in the beginning, and 'talk' it was leads to his later (almost) destruction. How all the things he usually does, taking charge of the situation, figuring stuff out, is what leads them all to DIStrust him. How, while he has every right to be arrogant, he isn't really trying to be, but it comes off that way, because he can't think of a better explanation than "I'm clever." He's right and wrong. Murder = bad, but they had to kill it, in the end. I'm actually sort of pleased the decision was taken out of his hands. Not that he probably won't still carry the guilt.
A Donna-lite ep? Well, I didn't think I'd like such a thing, but they pulled it off. And instead of just ignoring the 'there's no companion' thing, you really felt her absence. There was no one to back him up, no one to defend him. No one who understood him, for HIM to turn to. And the people that were as clever as her (or him), were too busy turning on him to really be all that much help.
The tone of it. I really like how it was set up as a sort of comedy. With the titles of passing clicks and stuff. And then it quickly became srs business. OMG the DOCTOR might DIE business. And ultimately? Was she really harming them? Well, she was the Doctor, but before then... All they had to do was stay away and wait to be rescued, but they couldn't. They were too freaked out. So they turned on the most sensible of them. And gah how my heart broke for him at the end. Over and again, the Doctor's faith in humanity is tested, innit? I mean, yeah, ultimately, the hostess sort of redeems them all... but not really. They were thinking murder, with no (yet) just cause. But when there was, the (almost) least likely of them did what needed to be done and threw herself on the grenade.
What's the ultimate message in that? I dunno. But yikes I wanted to hug the poor Doctor (thank God Donna did, they really needed that endcap to the ep). And ok, so I sorta wanted to make out with him too, only a little more than usual. Ahem. Anyway.
Recurring themes: alien trying to propagate itself (in theory) using humans. Mention of The Medusa Cascade. Rose on a monitor! Love that she got several shots out this ep, btw. Erm... The Doctor's name (minor in this case, but still), a celestial body being "lost" (the assistant's research project). That's all I've got for the mo' but it was chock full of stuff. What does it all mean? How much, if any of it, will ACTUALLY get paid off? I suppose we'll see.
Um. David Tennant is a fabulous actor. He just IS. I really don't think anyone but him could pull off the range needed for this ep, and the subtleties of the Doctor's 'possesion.' Oh how I love that man of mine. /Beetle Juice.
And that kiddies, is all I can think of for now. I know, weak review. But I'm distracted, and busy and blah, etc.
