Doctor Who 5x01

[jedi_of_urth]

Okay so I'm finally getting around to watching season 5 of Doctor Who, which means all of you get to hear me thoughts on the subject that isn't just responding to other people's thoughts. Yes I'm incredibly spoiled, but this is the first time I will see it in action.


I think I give this one a B or B-. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that good either.

The changed credits hurt my heart, and the changed TARDIS (inside and out) hurt my soul. This isn't *my* DW anymore, in case there was any doubt.

Amy is alright, but I have no string feelings towards her just yet. I already think Rory is adorable, but then I liked Mickey from the start too.

And Eleven...I don't know. So far it's like watching Ten without any of the emotional drama. And I *like* my emotional drama; RTD COME BACK TO ME and make people cry. ...why do I have the feeling I'm going to be crying out for RTD a lot? I never really doubted that Eleven was the Doctor, regenerations may break my heart but I don't really have trouble with the concept that the more or less same man is still walking around (whatever Ten says).

But that's just it, when Nine regenerated the story was structured to give it meaning, this time it seems like a minor inconvenience with no messy consequences or feeling on the matter. Sure it works to just get on with the story, but it's an empty story. When in the end Eleven sort of tells Amy that he's lonely the depth behind him saying that has been lost, especially if you hadn't been watching the previous seasons.

Also, did Moff intend this to be scary? Because it really really wasn't.

So, decent episode, better than I expected, but still not great.

Comments

[anti-social-ite.livejournal.com]

ooh, exciting. i'm watching season 5 atm as well, so will look forward to your reaction posts.

i actually watched this episode when it first aired, and nothing else, so i guess it just didn't thrill me much - i don't even remember much about it. :)

[jedi_of_urth]

Cool, we'll pretend in out little club that it's s5 time.

Thrilling, not really. Interesting...kind of...maybe. But I didn't feel any extra push to race through more of it aside from he drive that sent me to watch this finally in the first place. It was an episode, it was (kind of) Doctor Who so I was okay with it.

[sunnytyler001.livejournal.com]

Moffat is ok... BUT RTD IS OUR FAVOURITE BELOVED EVIL GENIUS.
*sighs*

[jedi_of_urth]

RTD WHY DID YOU LEAVE US?!?!?!?!

[sunnytyler001.livejournal.com]

To torture us more, obviously :(

[anti-social-ite.livejournal.com]

THIS. :)

[moon-blitz.livejournal.com]

Well, we seem to have really different opinions, since I loved this episode...for pretty much all the reasons you dislike it. But I do agree with the "Amy is alright" part, since she never really grew on me throughout the season. RORY, on the other hand, is much more interesting.

And no, I don't think this episode was supposed to be scary. New Doctor often means new fans, and this episode was mostly about introducing old and new fans alike to the new Doctor and the new format.

Feel free to argue with me. I enjoy a good discussion.

[jedi_of_urth]

Like I said I didn't *dislike* the episode so much as...miss *my* Doctor Who. On it's own I don't know that I would have been pulled in enough to continue, and as is I think I made the right choice to wait until I could watch them in close succession. It wasn't bad, it's just not the show I love anymore and I knew it wasn't going to be so on it's own that's not a condemnation.

It's just that RTD's style of storytelling seemed to have the exact read on how to play my heartstrings so I would laugh or cry or swoon pretty much as the show lead me around (except JE, still not really dealing with that) and Moff's style doesn't do that. When the Doctor pops out of the TARDIS to sweeping music I laugh because I find it laughable, not in the wink and a nudge joke with the audience and certainly not heroic, but in a eye rolling at the PTB way of humor.

Again, that doesn't mean it's bad, it's just not the DW I fell in love with. It's gone back to a more Old School tone; and I enjoy Old School sometimes, but having had the better I don't like going back (and any metaphor for the Doctor over the last few seasons you can see in that is probably correct).

[moon-blitz.livejournal.com]

I found RTD's stories too full of drama/shock/awe at times, so I'm enjoying the change. And since change is an integral part of Doctor Who, I decided when Nine regenerated into Ten to accept that fact and go with it. Nine was "my" Doctor, so I don't feel the loss of Ten becoming Eleven as much as someone does who had Ten as "their" Doctor.

I really hope you start to warm up to Eleven though, since he lends a different sort of manner to the Doctor that wasn't there during RTD's era.

And don't talk to me about JE either.

[jedi_of_urth]

Nine was my first real Doctor, and I would have loved him to be "my Doctor" for way longer, but I really didn't have trouble seeing Ten as the same man because both of them are RTD's Doctor and they felt the same even if they weren't quite they had the same basic...level of character connection for me to enjoy. In fairness, I suppose Ten is my Doctor these days, but I don't really separate Nine and Ten; it's just not Ten himself that I miss, it's feeling like he's the same man I've cared about for the last several years.

When Nine regenerated I wasn't exactly welcoming to Ten at first, but it didn't take too long for me to see him as the same character, I'm hoping Eleven can do the same and I know it *can* be done, I just don't know yet if it will.

(I have a sneaking suspicion we have different JE issues too.)

[moon-blitz.livejournal.com]

While there are time when I really like Ten, there are moments when I dislike him for being too over-dramatic or emotional or something. While I did love Eleven right off the bat, to me, he just kept improving as the season went along. Amy...not so much, although she had her moments.

Re JE: I'm pissed off about what happened to Donna. I suspect you're pissed off about how the Ten/Rose relation was handled/ended.

[jedi_of_urth]

Eleven is like...Jonas on SG-1 for lack of a better example. He's an okay character, in fact I mostly like him, but I LOVE Daniel to insane degrees and Jonas just can't replace that feeling. Ten's emotional side was part of why I love him, and I see the same thing in Nine, he just fights it back a bit more but it's all there; I'm not positive I see the same thing in Eleven.

I'm not happy with what happened to Donna, but I feel the tragedy of it all worked for me so I can deal with it, while the Doctor/Rose resolution I felt was a betrayal of the story I thought I'd been watching for four seasons. I can cry over Donna, but the Rose stuff makes me throw things.