![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Doctor Who Musings
So I finally saw the Silurians 2-parter, as I have yet to watch last week's episode until today and haven't really been bothered by it (this should tell you something about my level of enthusiasm for this show).
So. Rory's dead. Forgotten, never to be heard from/of again, barring some resurrection or Harry Potter-esque ghost-like final send-off. Also, a human tortured another person to death. And did I mention Van Gogh's coming up?
...And all I have is, meh.
Let's start with what I liked:
Rory is officially not Mickey--if death doesn't differentiate the characters, nothing will.
Also, the Doctor finding a bit of the TARDIS in the crack was fantastic. A bit anti-climactic, but still exciting and intriguing. The finale should be good.
Now, on to the criticism.
Let's start with the two-parter:
The first half, The Hungry Earth, was actually quite good. Mysterious situation, good pacing, scary, good set-up. Even good characterization. Not enough Rory for what's coming up, but that's minor. I'd give it an A.
Then we get to Cold Blood, and hoo boy, are there issues with this episode.
First we've got the stock characters. Not all of them fall into this trap, but then there's the kind and fair negotiator, the 'kindly' scientist, the illogical warmonger, the over-emotional mother, the kindly dad, the protective dad, the precocious kid--okay, I actually liked the kid, but you get the point. Nearly every move these characters make feels pre-scripted, expected, and, well, boring. Which is unfortunate, as Overemotional Mom and Warrior played the most pivotal roles in the plot.
Next is the moral dissonance. Why is the Doctor putting everything on the humans? Granddad's been poisoned by a Silurian, three people have been kidnapped and experimented on. Hell, the Silurians use slurs to describe humans, Warmonger Warrior is a Silurian, and the 'kindly' scientist alone dissected a conscious person and stole the lives of children by growing them unconscious in a small lab (the Doctor thinks this is nifty). This could have added a very interesting layer to the horrible and disturbing behavior of the mother, but instead it's never acknowledged. The Doctor even tells the scientist how much he likes him, and if the Doctor doesn't see any of this dark dark gray, why should the viewer?
Next is the Doctor choosing humans over the Silurians, or at least that's how the ending felt to me. I'm sort of used to the Doctor doing this by now, but it still just feels weird for a Time Lord who values all life.
Then there's Amy's typically bizarre characterization, in which she's cavalier in the face of danger to breaking-the-third-wall extremes. I'm getting used to this too, but it's still hard to believe and, after the emotional realism of RTD's era, jarring.
Finally, this is a nit-pick, but what on earth happened to the wedding ring? The Doctor sees it, but we never see him snatch it up, so does he just leave it laying there? Are we meant to wonder? Does Amy pick it up eventually? That was just weird.
And now we come to... The ending. Rory's death.
Let me preface this by my own personal meter of whether a death scene worked for me: did I feel it? Did I cry? Because I cry at everything. I cried at Doomsday, Exit Wounds, Father's Day, Dalek, Children of Earth, Girl in the Fireplace, Amy's Choice, and even Forest of the Dead. I cry at elephants who haven't seen one another for 20 years cuddling as best they can through the bars (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXKxgLvIS6Y&playnext_from=TL&videos=QyOkrG_HH9I - heartbreaking in a heartwarming way; watch it!). But Rory's death?
My expression is best summed up by this: :/
It wasn't the acting, because with the exception of some of Rory's death-acting, that was fantastic. And the scene wasn't exactly bad--the Doctor physically dragging Amy away from Rory? That was amazing, and tragic, and it said so much about both of them. That, and just that, almost got me in tears.
First, there were a number of small issues. The direction was poor and, in some cases, ineffective, such as in the cutting of the Doctor and Amy's final scene in the TARDIS (why would you cut away from the Doctor's anguished face and calm everything down so quickly, why?). The pacing felt rushed, and coming so soon after Amy's Choice, the death just didn't pack the punch it could have--especially since Amy's Choice did it better. The murder itself was a standard plot device, with the dying enemy firing a final vengeful shot at the main character and someone else jumping in the path of the bullet. The show did this in season 4. Torchwood did this. Every show has done this. This is not an interesting death scene unless you add something new, and rather boring final dialogue is not all that new. I suppose you could consider the all-erasing crack new, but that came after Rory was already gone and, well, that whole thing is problematic in and of itself.
And that brings us to my big issues. Namely...
I guess I just don't get why. Why kill Rory?
Shock value? Differentiating from RTD's era? Upping the stakes? To make Doctor Who all dark and gritty by killing a main character/a companion's loved one? To make the threat of the crack more real? To add a touch of tragedy? I suppose it does make the consequences of the big finale more tangible, but even that doesn't quite seem enough.
It's certainly not for character development, because it just negated any that Amy has had.
I suppose Rory's death will come back (to do otherwise would just be bad writing) so possibly I shouldn't be judging it yet, but that doesn't change the fact that the it just didn't work, for me, in and of itself.
Bizarrely, it felt like a cop-out, and a sexist one at that. Because by killing Rory and then erasing his existence, it's not just the show that doesn't have to deal with real grief.
It's Amy that doesn't have to deal with real grief.
Amy never has to change. Never has to grow. The fact that we barely know her character doesn't quite matter anymore because she's just been rewritten, and she gets to continue to be a companion seemingly without baggage.
In Amy's Choice it's implied that Amy can't live without Rory. Given the circumstances of that episode (dream-world, immediate shock, might not be real anyway), I believed it and didn't mind all that much. But coming so soon after that episode, the implication is that the poor woman can't live without her man, and, hey, she doesn't have to! Life is an adventure all over again.
This isn't just poor, questionable, and potentially insulting characterization. This is poor and questionable plotting, because if the characters' situations are so static, why should I care?
I don't know, either the quality has truly suffered, or maybe this just isn't my show anymore. Maybe there's some sort of character thread I'm not getting. Maybe the heart and soul are still there, and I just can't connect anymore.
But for me, with the possible exception of the Doctor, the characters now seem like plot devices rather than people, and the emotional core is just missing. Doctor Who has been such a huge part of my life for years now, and this leaves me frustrated and a bit sad.
It's not that I hate Moffat's Doctor Who. I don't care enough to hate it.
While I'm entertained during any given episode, afterward, I'm left, well, indifferent. And after an ending like this one, I should be sad or grateful or intrigued or excited or angry or scribbling fanfic like mad. The very last thing I should be is indifferent.
So. Rory's dead. Forgotten, never to be heard from/of again, barring some resurrection or Harry Potter-esque ghost-like final send-off. Also, a human tortured another person to death. And did I mention Van Gogh's coming up?
...And all I have is, meh.
Let's start with what I liked:
Rory is officially not Mickey--if death doesn't differentiate the characters, nothing will.
Also, the Doctor finding a bit of the TARDIS in the crack was fantastic. A bit anti-climactic, but still exciting and intriguing. The finale should be good.
Now, on to the criticism.
Let's start with the two-parter:
The first half, The Hungry Earth, was actually quite good. Mysterious situation, good pacing, scary, good set-up. Even good characterization. Not enough Rory for what's coming up, but that's minor. I'd give it an A.
Then we get to Cold Blood, and hoo boy, are there issues with this episode.
First we've got the stock characters. Not all of them fall into this trap, but then there's the kind and fair negotiator, the 'kindly' scientist, the illogical warmonger, the over-emotional mother, the kindly dad, the protective dad, the precocious kid--okay, I actually liked the kid, but you get the point. Nearly every move these characters make feels pre-scripted, expected, and, well, boring. Which is unfortunate, as Overemotional Mom and Warrior played the most pivotal roles in the plot.
Next is the moral dissonance. Why is the Doctor putting everything on the humans? Granddad's been poisoned by a Silurian, three people have been kidnapped and experimented on. Hell, the Silurians use slurs to describe humans, Warmonger Warrior is a Silurian, and the 'kindly' scientist alone dissected a conscious person and stole the lives of children by growing them unconscious in a small lab (the Doctor thinks this is nifty). This could have added a very interesting layer to the horrible and disturbing behavior of the mother, but instead it's never acknowledged. The Doctor even tells the scientist how much he likes him, and if the Doctor doesn't see any of this dark dark gray, why should the viewer?
Next is the Doctor choosing humans over the Silurians, or at least that's how the ending felt to me. I'm sort of used to the Doctor doing this by now, but it still just feels weird for a Time Lord who values all life.
Then there's Amy's typically bizarre characterization, in which she's cavalier in the face of danger to breaking-the-third-wall extremes. I'm getting used to this too, but it's still hard to believe and, after the emotional realism of RTD's era, jarring.
Finally, this is a nit-pick, but what on earth happened to the wedding ring? The Doctor sees it, but we never see him snatch it up, so does he just leave it laying there? Are we meant to wonder? Does Amy pick it up eventually? That was just weird.
And now we come to... The ending. Rory's death.
Let me preface this by my own personal meter of whether a death scene worked for me: did I feel it? Did I cry? Because I cry at everything. I cried at Doomsday, Exit Wounds, Father's Day, Dalek, Children of Earth, Girl in the Fireplace, Amy's Choice, and even Forest of the Dead. I cry at elephants who haven't seen one another for 20 years cuddling as best they can through the bars (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXKxgLvIS6Y&playnext_from=TL&videos=QyOkrG_HH9I - heartbreaking in a heartwarming way; watch it!). But Rory's death?
My expression is best summed up by this: :/
It wasn't the acting, because with the exception of some of Rory's death-acting, that was fantastic. And the scene wasn't exactly bad--the Doctor physically dragging Amy away from Rory? That was amazing, and tragic, and it said so much about both of them. That, and just that, almost got me in tears.
First, there were a number of small issues. The direction was poor and, in some cases, ineffective, such as in the cutting of the Doctor and Amy's final scene in the TARDIS (why would you cut away from the Doctor's anguished face and calm everything down so quickly, why?). The pacing felt rushed, and coming so soon after Amy's Choice, the death just didn't pack the punch it could have--especially since Amy's Choice did it better. The murder itself was a standard plot device, with the dying enemy firing a final vengeful shot at the main character and someone else jumping in the path of the bullet. The show did this in season 4. Torchwood did this. Every show has done this. This is not an interesting death scene unless you add something new, and rather boring final dialogue is not all that new. I suppose you could consider the all-erasing crack new, but that came after Rory was already gone and, well, that whole thing is problematic in and of itself.
And that brings us to my big issues. Namely...
I guess I just don't get why. Why kill Rory?
Shock value? Differentiating from RTD's era? Upping the stakes? To make Doctor Who all dark and gritty by killing a main character/a companion's loved one? To make the threat of the crack more real? To add a touch of tragedy? I suppose it does make the consequences of the big finale more tangible, but even that doesn't quite seem enough.
It's certainly not for character development, because it just negated any that Amy has had.
I suppose Rory's death will come back (to do otherwise would just be bad writing) so possibly I shouldn't be judging it yet, but that doesn't change the fact that the it just didn't work, for me, in and of itself.
Bizarrely, it felt like a cop-out, and a sexist one at that. Because by killing Rory and then erasing his existence, it's not just the show that doesn't have to deal with real grief.
It's Amy that doesn't have to deal with real grief.
Amy never has to change. Never has to grow. The fact that we barely know her character doesn't quite matter anymore because she's just been rewritten, and she gets to continue to be a companion seemingly without baggage.
In Amy's Choice it's implied that Amy can't live without Rory. Given the circumstances of that episode (dream-world, immediate shock, might not be real anyway), I believed it and didn't mind all that much. But coming so soon after that episode, the implication is that the poor woman can't live without her man, and, hey, she doesn't have to! Life is an adventure all over again.
This isn't just poor, questionable, and potentially insulting characterization. This is poor and questionable plotting, because if the characters' situations are so static, why should I care?
I don't know, either the quality has truly suffered, or maybe this just isn't my show anymore. Maybe there's some sort of character thread I'm not getting. Maybe the heart and soul are still there, and I just can't connect anymore.
But for me, with the possible exception of the Doctor, the characters now seem like plot devices rather than people, and the emotional core is just missing. Doctor Who has been such a huge part of my life for years now, and this leaves me frustrated and a bit sad.
It's not that I hate Moffat's Doctor Who. I don't care enough to hate it.
While I'm entertained during any given episode, afterward, I'm left, well, indifferent. And after an ending like this one, I should be sad or grateful or intrigued or excited or angry or scribbling fanfic like mad. The very last thing I should be is indifferent.