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Apr. 18th, 2010 12:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sebastienneOnce again, this week, I am much more excited by Ashes to Ashes than by Doctor Who.
I mean, yes, there was a dogfight in space and a sweetCylon lifelike deep-cover android and tea-serving daleks who bizarrely reminded me of talkie toaster... but once again Gatiss' episode seemed full of good ideas that didn't *quite* come off right in the execution (cf The Idiot's Lantern). I think maybe he was trying to cram in too many good ideas, so none of them had any time to grab me and there were some glaring nonsense moments, like nobody in London having blackout curtains or defusing a bomb with the power of unrequited love wtf.
Whereas Ashes.. I am so, so, compelled! I don't know if they're pulling a LOST on us or if they've been planning it all along, but I am completely wrapped up in this. Now, two weeks running, we've had a tiny bit of long-sought Gene-Hunt-validation giving characters a Bowie zoom-in. Which I'm assuming will roll on through to Chris next week. And as for what it means... explanations range from the metaphysical to the mundane. But Keats did recognise the name of a 90s serial-killer, so I'm going for metaphysical. They can't all be from the 2000s, though, or Shaz would never have claimed eternal socialism and an avoidance of unjust wars as characteristics of Labour (unless she's got a very deep sense of irony indeed). And 6-6-20? Is one of those entirely transparent *hooks* that we have no way of working out with our current information, and only exists to keep us compelled. It's working exceptionally well. Much better than the R* of the Daleks for the nth time.
I mean, yes, there was a dogfight in space and a sweet
Whereas Ashes.. I am so, so, compelled! I don't know if they're pulling a LOST on us or if they've been planning it all along, but I am completely wrapped up in this. Now, two weeks running, we've had a tiny bit of long-sought Gene-Hunt-validation giving characters a Bowie zoom-in. Which I'm assuming will roll on through to Chris next week. And as for what it means... explanations range from the metaphysical to the mundane. But Keats did recognise the name of a 90s serial-killer, so I'm going for metaphysical. They can't all be from the 2000s, though, or Shaz would never have claimed eternal socialism and an avoidance of unjust wars as characteristics of Labour (unless she's got a very deep sense of irony indeed). And 6-6-20? Is one of those entirely transparent *hooks* that we have no way of working out with our current information, and only exists to keep us compelled. It's working exceptionally well. Much better than the R* of the Daleks for the nth time.
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Date: 2010-04-18 12:11 pm (UTC)A2A remains awesome; the actor playing Keats is doing very well, as I experience an overwhelming urge to punch him inna chops whenever he comes on screen...
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Date: 2010-04-18 01:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 01:26 pm (UTC)1) Someone (possibly Gatiss or Moffat) decided "I want to see a Star Wars dogfight in Who", and then contrived circumstances to make it happen.
2) Moffat (probably) seems to have decided that "the Doctor is PAIN and Amy is REDEMPTION and LOVE", and the climax of each of the last two episodes has revolved around driving that home in a slightly clumsy overly-obvious way.
3) Deus Ex Amelia. Again, twice in a row.
4) The Arc Object, unless it's a decoy, is being pushed in a similarly overly-obvious way to the pain/redemption.
The Doctor is perpetually late this series - I'd wager that that is crack-induced.
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Date: 2010-04-18 02:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 02:01 pm (UTC)3) Deus Ex Amelia. Again, twice in a row."
See, I see those as very positive developments. They haven't necessarily been handled perfectly, but neither do I think they've come off as clumsy.
After everything the Doctor's been through and everything he's done, it would be surprising not to see him change and become at least a little... twisted in a way. It's not anything RTD bothered with really until the very end of his run and even then didn't actually do anything real with it.
The way that the Doctor's mind is clouded when he sees the Daleks, the way that his immediate response to human emotion and feeling is that of pain and loss is... well... it makes the Doctor come across as real - as affected by his experiences. And not in the crazy-mad Master way that RTD used.
Deus Ex Amelia is far better than Deus Ex Screwdriver/Doctor and is handled much better than the very occasional Deus Ex Companion that RTD employed. There is nothing intrinsically special about Amy, there is nothing magical, and that is why her solutions make so much more sense and have much more of an impact for me. She's not just pulling these things out of her arse, or Just Being There TM. She's complementing the Doctor - she has no clue what to do, but taking the cue from the Doctor works it out and helps him. (And actually, yeah, she doesn't just come in and solve things - she learns from the Doctor and gives her perspective...)
1) I can entirely agree with. But as a minus I feel it is made entirely redundant by STAR WARS DOGFIGHT WITH SPITFIRES.
Thing that probably annoyed me most is that Gatiss didn't seem to know what to do with Amy for most of the episode and instead of her having a good reason to disappear or whatever she just... was... there... And Matt Smith/Matt Smith via Gatiss was channelling Tennant too much and not in any good way.
Still, a middling episode this series is way above a middling episode of the previous ones so... I'm not complaining!
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Date: 2010-04-18 03:07 pm (UTC)But - and I can't believe you haven't focussed on this as the proof that MS is the true heir of Troughton, Pertwee, and Baker (the golden years for me) - the Jammy Dodger was pure genius and just what old-school Dr Who is all about, imho
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Date: 2010-04-18 06:57 pm (UTC)For about five seconds, I thought they were going to defuse the bomb with secretly fancing Amy/ dirty sex thoughts. Which wouldn't have made more sense, but it would have been more original.
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Date: 2010-04-18 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 07:50 pm (UTC)I skipped your bit on A2A as seeing your cut text was the final push to make me get round to watching Life on Mars, I'm 4 episodes in and I don;t want to go to work tomorrow!
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Date: 2010-04-19 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-19 11:30 pm (UTC)