Doctor Who: Cold Blood
May. 29th, 2010 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethThat was... an episode entirely overshadowed by its last few minutes.
The Silurian story ended the way Silurian stories always do. The person we all thought would kill Alaya killed Alaya. I think I like the story in how she did it though - torture because she'd give in if tortured, death by accident. There are people, including one who once held a knife to my throat, who really really really need the lesson about unintended consequences. (Or, possibly, are little homicidal maniacs, but that's a whole other problem.)
I like how the Silurians have names and personalities. Modern makeup very much helps with that. Also I like their costumes.
I didn't really find the story gripping or moving or all of that, because of knowing how it would go too well. Also it seemed to happen without the regular characters, or, when they were there, despite them. Amy's pickpocketing was mildly implausible, but her rescue plan was just kind of sad and ineffectual. Or sometimes it does nothing because one of them is really really stupid. Rory, dearheart, you know that thing where your plan was to put people down there one at a time to watch the scary thing? Why did you think that was a good plan? Because (a) if the scary thing needs watching you need someone around while the first person blinks and (b) as the Doctor made clear and as you heard out of their own mouths it's the other humans who need watching. It just makes him look stupid. It's not the optimist's mistake because treating hostage as Scary Thing, and it's not the pessimist mistake because not doubting humanity enough. And it isn't precisely necessary. You could leave it out and have the rest happen. Tony would have to be standing in front of someone when he was demanding a cure, but apart from that, his illness gets Rory's attention and leaves Ambrose free to do her really stupid plan, so Rory doesn't have to be stupid first.
It niggles because I'd like him to be smarter. He spends the whole episode not doing anything successful, and then, there's the ending. It's sort of sad.
And there's the thing where I still get the impression the one off characters got all the emotions and actions and choices and consequences and Rory and Amy were just... there. Up until that last minute.
And that ending... okay, you know I said not gripping? Right up until Rory jumped in the way. Then it was hold your breath time. And moving in a blinky shock way. Couldn't hardly believe it, went so fast. And that's sort of just right, because jumping in the way of guns tends to do that.
The bit with the light was somewhat confusing. I mean, the Doctor just stuck his arm in it, and yet, it making Rory glow unexisted him. Wouldn't just one or the other make sense?
It's important in a plot and plan way. Dead people get ate by the light too. That means killing the Doctor wouldn't save history. Bit of a big problem there. Er, not that I'm saying planning to kill him would be a helpful thing ever. Just, you know, wouldn't even work.
Which is also confusing. Is it unexisting people in graveyards? The earth that eats the dead, with Rory standing in the grave: I see what you did there CC. Not subtle. Ominous and creepy though, points for that. But is the light going around history unexisting every corpse it touches? Did that place full of Angels, the one with the walls full of the dead, get unexisted? All the history of the dead all wiped out? That would be awesome bad. Giant mega bad. Very bad with extra badness.
Granted 'time running out' is apocalyptically bad, but you usually expect the dead to have no more worries. This would even mess up the dead. Not cool.
And then the shrapnel. The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know... and it's a piece of TARDIS wedged in the explosion crack. It isn't Amy it's following around at all, it's the TARDIS.
Oh very very very dear.
... yes, damage to human companions, momentarily moving, damage to the TARDIS? OH NOES!!!
... I must specify I think of her as an unusually quiet person, but still, possibly too much fan there...
If I got the feeling this was the end of Rory's story I'd be really fed up. It's worse than what happened to Donna. Everyone forgets, he never happened, no more Rory. But... well... there's a box full of ring that was kept in sight quite a lot there. It doesn't feel over.
The shock of Amy going from all upset to bouncy and sad about someone else's work was just... that's not how it worked. We saw last time how it would work. She'd be really sad!
But now we get to be sad because she doesn't know she should be.
Except the feeling of unfinished gets in the way of the sad.
Yeah, I totally spent more words on the last couple of minutes than the whole double episode of plot. :eyeroll:
I want to see how it works out. I want to see how the Doctor fixes it.
If Rory was just dead and lying there all corpsified and gross and maybe buried and stuff then he'd feel ended-dead. But even with him not being there in the last scene, him fading into the light makes him feel more... jedi dead. You know? Like he's going to be a character again later.
If he isn't I'll get very annoyed about it later.
So my reactions are sort of hanging on for the rest of the story.
The Silurian story ended the way Silurian stories always do. The person we all thought would kill Alaya killed Alaya. I think I like the story in how she did it though - torture because she'd give in if tortured, death by accident. There are people, including one who once held a knife to my throat, who really really really need the lesson about unintended consequences. (Or, possibly, are little homicidal maniacs, but that's a whole other problem.)
I like how the Silurians have names and personalities. Modern makeup very much helps with that. Also I like their costumes.
I didn't really find the story gripping or moving or all of that, because of knowing how it would go too well. Also it seemed to happen without the regular characters, or, when they were there, despite them. Amy's pickpocketing was mildly implausible, but her rescue plan was just kind of sad and ineffectual. Or sometimes it does nothing because one of them is really really stupid. Rory, dearheart, you know that thing where your plan was to put people down there one at a time to watch the scary thing? Why did you think that was a good plan? Because (a) if the scary thing needs watching you need someone around while the first person blinks and (b) as the Doctor made clear and as you heard out of their own mouths it's the other humans who need watching. It just makes him look stupid. It's not the optimist's mistake because treating hostage as Scary Thing, and it's not the pessimist mistake because not doubting humanity enough. And it isn't precisely necessary. You could leave it out and have the rest happen. Tony would have to be standing in front of someone when he was demanding a cure, but apart from that, his illness gets Rory's attention and leaves Ambrose free to do her really stupid plan, so Rory doesn't have to be stupid first.
It niggles because I'd like him to be smarter. He spends the whole episode not doing anything successful, and then, there's the ending. It's sort of sad.
And there's the thing where I still get the impression the one off characters got all the emotions and actions and choices and consequences and Rory and Amy were just... there. Up until that last minute.
And that ending... okay, you know I said not gripping? Right up until Rory jumped in the way. Then it was hold your breath time. And moving in a blinky shock way. Couldn't hardly believe it, went so fast. And that's sort of just right, because jumping in the way of guns tends to do that.
The bit with the light was somewhat confusing. I mean, the Doctor just stuck his arm in it, and yet, it making Rory glow unexisted him. Wouldn't just one or the other make sense?
It's important in a plot and plan way. Dead people get ate by the light too. That means killing the Doctor wouldn't save history. Bit of a big problem there. Er, not that I'm saying planning to kill him would be a helpful thing ever. Just, you know, wouldn't even work.
Which is also confusing. Is it unexisting people in graveyards? The earth that eats the dead, with Rory standing in the grave: I see what you did there CC. Not subtle. Ominous and creepy though, points for that. But is the light going around history unexisting every corpse it touches? Did that place full of Angels, the one with the walls full of the dead, get unexisted? All the history of the dead all wiped out? That would be awesome bad. Giant mega bad. Very bad with extra badness.
Granted 'time running out' is apocalyptically bad, but you usually expect the dead to have no more worries. This would even mess up the dead. Not cool.
And then the shrapnel. The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know... and it's a piece of TARDIS wedged in the explosion crack. It isn't Amy it's following around at all, it's the TARDIS.
Oh very very very dear.
... yes, damage to human companions, momentarily moving, damage to the TARDIS? OH NOES!!!
... I must specify I think of her as an unusually quiet person, but still, possibly too much fan there...
If I got the feeling this was the end of Rory's story I'd be really fed up. It's worse than what happened to Donna. Everyone forgets, he never happened, no more Rory. But... well... there's a box full of ring that was kept in sight quite a lot there. It doesn't feel over.
The shock of Amy going from all upset to bouncy and sad about someone else's work was just... that's not how it worked. We saw last time how it would work. She'd be really sad!
But now we get to be sad because she doesn't know she should be.
Except the feeling of unfinished gets in the way of the sad.
Yeah, I totally spent more words on the last couple of minutes than the whole double episode of plot. :eyeroll:
I want to see how it works out. I want to see how the Doctor fixes it.
If Rory was just dead and lying there all corpsified and gross and maybe buried and stuff then he'd feel ended-dead. But even with him not being there in the last scene, him fading into the light makes him feel more... jedi dead. You know? Like he's going to be a character again later.
If he isn't I'll get very annoyed about it later.
So my reactions are sort of hanging on for the rest of the story.