mrv3000 | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

I actually liked this better than I thought I would given that there's "vampires" in the title. Not surprising, of course, was that the vampires were ALIENS. Because everything in DW is aliens.

It wasn't a new story to New Who - we've seen this before, even as early as The Unquiet Dead. Switch zombies for vampires and you've got the plot. But it was still entertaining enough for me, probably because I'm finally getting a bit more interested in the character dynamics. And I laughed a few times too. (Not sure it would hold up on a second viewing, but...eh.)

Rory is pretty much The Sane One, isn't he? Come to think of it, I imagine he, rather than Amy, fills a better audience insert everyman/woman.

I'm starting to puzzle over Amy. It's like her personality is being molded to fit the situations in each episode rather than her personality being its own thing. A reactionary thing instead of a driving force. Shame, really.

Eleven...I still am not getting a clear picture of Eleven either. He seems a bit unintentionally all over the place yet. (Minor irk: what was up with constantly putting his face 2cm away from the fish woman?? Was it supposed to be intense? UST-y? I kept wanting to grab his face and yell "PERSONAL SPACE! GET SOME!")

BUT! I did find the Eleven-Amy-Rory scenario interesting. The sum was greater than the parts.

Plus Lucian Msamati guest starred. Awesome. :)

Edit: OH! I had to laugh. One big fannish complaint during the RTD years was the Anvil of Foreshadowing Doom. S5 hasn't even tried to be subtle about its foreshadowing. WHAT'S THIS? A CRACK, YOU SAY? THE THING THAT APPEARS OR IS TALKED ABOUT IN EVERY EPISODE? That's not foreshadowing, that's a flasher. XD

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Eleven has no personal space ever. It's kind of His Thing.

Eleven has no personal space ever. It's kind of His Thing.

SO TRUE

And I really kind of love that about him. From anyone else I'd be irritated, but with Eleven I just find it endearing. I think part of it has to do with the way he's looking at the person when he does it, like that person is something so incredibly fascinating that he has to completely concentrate on him. Plus, it's a great bit of body language on MS's part.

*POKES HIM WITH A BROOM*

LOL, yes, if RTD dropped anvils, this crack was a herd of pianos. (Herd? I don't know.) I was honestly surprised that it turned out to be the season arc, it seemed like something that should have been figured out by the mid-season.

I get what you're saying about Amy... For all that she has *A* story, her actual story getting shown sort of takes the backseat, and I feel frustrated about it the same way I did with Martha's storyline. With both Amy and Martha I liked how they were introduced, I liked the facets of their characters that have to exist and that we're told about... but the aspects that are actually shown are not exactly the story I thought I'd be seeing. In this ep there was Obligatory Companioning and Obligatory Character Dynamic Tension with the addition of Rory, but I would have liked it to be part of a more strongly developed exploration of Amy's various issues- and since there was a alien plot device of transformation in changelessness, I think that could have worked well somehow with Amy being both the curious child she got stuck as and the cynical adult she was forced to be, as we saw in the first ep.

this crack was a herd of pianos. (Herd? I don't know.)

I like a crash of pianos. XD

I was honestly surprised that it turned out to be the season arc, it seemed like something that should have been figured out by the mid-season.

Not when you can ignore it and move on! XD

I think that could have worked well somehow with Amy being both the curious child she got stuck as and the cynical adult she was forced to be,

It's funny you should say that - I was waiting for exactly that to come from parts of this episode. And then it didn't.

Rory is probably my favorite part of this episode, along with Eleven & Amy's squee-fest over the Vampires (it's like the non-shippy version of the Doctor & Rose's squee-fest over the werewolf in T&C), and THESE GLORIOUS MOMENTS:

But it has one moment for me that is my Number 2 favorite quote from Doctor Who:

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

"You know what's dangerous about you?

It's not that you make people take risks, it's that you make them want to impress you. Y-you make it so they don't want to let you down.

You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around!"

(This is where I absolutely, completely fell in love with Rory.)

I love this quote because it's so true and so off. Everyone wants to impress the Doctor, be extraordinary for the Doctor. Now, some may not stand for his moments of douchebaggery or whatever, but it doesn't stop them from trying to be their best for him, sometimes with dire consequences. And he does make them dangerous to themselves because of it. Does the Doctor mean to do it? No, of course he doesn't, but what I loved in this scene is that Eleven is does know how dangerous he makes people to himself, but can't bring himself to correct Rory. I love so much Eleven's understated angst.

And it had this moment, which is one of my favorite Eleven moments of S5:

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

"Rory! That's a relief. I thought I'd burst out of the wrong cake. Again. That reminds me, there's a girl outside in a bikini. Could someone let her in, give her a jumper? Lucy. Lovely girl.

Now, then. Rory. We need to talk about your fiancee. She tried to kiss me. Tell you what, though. You're a lucky man - she's a great kisser.

…Funny how you can say something in your head and it sounds fine…"

This scene is pure hilarity. Eleven is just perfect here in his nonchalance/obliviousness about the whole matter and poor Rory has just had one of the best nights of his life turned into one of the worst. Eleven's completely well-intentioned in his bid to reunite our errant Ponds, but as always, his way about it is less than discreet and less than tactful. Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill just play off of each other so beautifully that any scene with them together is gold.

I really like this episode. A lot. Like, I know it has it's flaws and all, but I love it anyways.

Edited 2011-01-21 02:50 (UTC)

It's not that you make people take risks, it's that you make them want to impress you. Y-you make it so they don't want to let you down.

You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around!"

I thought that was a brilliant bit of meta-y dialog. That's pretty much when I voted for Rory as The Sane One. :D

And that cake thing! HA! That was pretty funny!

It should be interesting to see Rory join in the adventures. It's an interesting addition to the crew.

It should be interesting to see Rory join in the adventures. It's an interesting addition to the crew.

He's definitely a great addition. I'm really hoping the writers in S6 recognize this and his development doesn't get shafted in favor of Amy's speshulness & friendship with the Doctor. I think the Eleven & Amy dynamic REALLY benefits from the addition of Rory. I think that Eleven could handle one companion like Nine & Ten did, but not so much with Amy. There needs to be a third one there to balance the dynamic out.

Edited 2011-01-21 03:03 (UTC)

So far it does seem like a good balance.

RORY!!! <3 <3 <3

Rory/Arthur Darvill is my favorite thing about series 5.

I love so many things about S5, but Rory just makes me flail with happiness.

And Arthur Darvill is made of so much win that it's hard to comprehend sometimes.

Rory is absolutely the Sane One and it wasn't really until he showed up that I realized how much Amy and Eleven needed a straight man around to reel them in. People complain about how Ten and Rose were in s2, but Amy and Eleven are much the same. I also think the addition of Rory only served to emphasize for me all the things that I was finding lacking in Amy Pond -- like you said, Rory is much more of an Everyman than Amy is, and he winds up stepping into the slot of companion that I'm used to via Rose, Martha and Donna. I definitely felt like having him around brought back some much-needed balance to the show.

The unfortunate part is that having the companion-type I ~know and love~ around just brought out even more that Amy wasn't fulfilling that role for me, and this is when I started to be less and less interested in her as a character. Like you said, it feels like she reacts to the plot differently depending on the plot, rather than the plot bending to fit Amy. I also found most of her interaction with Rory here sort of irritating. As much as I like the scene where Rory confronts the Doctor, it bothers me that there is no similar scene between Rory and Amy. Amy doesn't own her mistakes and Rory doesn't bring them up with her.

One thing I liked is that often Rose, Martha and Donna would ground the Doctor in their own way. The stepping-in-front-of-the-Doctor's-big-ass-gun moments. I can't quite think of moments that Amy has done that, really. Not yet at least. But for Rory it's pretty much the first thing he does.

Maybe it ties into the whole parent-child relationship they're going for between them?

But I also was hoping for a bit more depth happening between Amy and Rory. There's a whole lot of potential there.

Yeah, exactly. The companion as I know it is the character who grounds the Doctor and humanizes him, the one who sees the trees and not the forest, etc. Amy... doesn't really do that. I think it's really telling that when the girl gets attacked in the alleyway, Rory runs over to help the girl and Amy takes off after the vampire. Amy doesn't seem to have the same compassionate streak that Rose, Martha and Donna all had. (See also: that chick crying over her dead fiance in VOTD, and Amy just sort of blinks at her.) I would be okay with this if I felt like the narrative was aware of it, but I'm not totally convinced it's intentional. Maybe I am just not smart enough for Moffat's ~subtle characterisation~.

I liked Amy's Choice a lot, which is your next episode. It was my favourite of s5 and I think it struck the best balance between plot servicing character rather than character servicing plot, and I thought it gave more insight into Amy/Rory and what we're supposed to think about them as a couple.

XD There's hardly anything subtle about the characters. Or the plots. Or the arc. So far S5 is very WYSIWYG writing which isn't a bad thing, just not something full of hidden mysteries.

Edited 2011-01-21 14:36 (UTC)

How dare you Michelle, Moffat's characterization is comprised of carefully-hidden gems buried within the text that only the smartest specialest viewers can find.

I kind of think even Moffat would laugh at that. XD

RORY!! The Vampires of Venice was and remains one of my favourite episodes of S5. It is among the small handful of episodes from S5 I have actually watched more than once?? IDK I GUESS I HAVE BEEN HARBORING A THING FOR VAMPIRES FOR A WHILE.

No, I think I just found Eleven so hilarious in it and Rory so endearing. It was definitely around this time though that my love for Amy derailed so far off the track.

IDK I GUESS I HAVE BEEN HARBORING A THING FOR VAMPIRES FOR A WHILE.

If only we had seen it coming! XD

No, I think I just found Eleven so hilarious in it and Rory so endearing. It was definitely around this time though that my love for Amy derailed so far off the track.

I still have yet to really warm up to anyone, but on the other hand, I don't hate anyone either.

Eleven works so much better with multiple companions - and so does Amy. Both of them need someone to work off of.

And definitely, Rory is the sane one. His dynamic with Eleven is absolutely fantastic. Wish I could say that about Amy, but I can't. But I honestly don't think he would work well as a single companion. He needs someone a little ~~stoopid~~ less sane to bounce off of.

I think this is part of why I'm having a hard time figuring out Eleven.

I don't think Rory would WANT to be a single companion, honestly; he seems to only really be there because Amy is. He's way more of a reluctant companion than we've had in recent years.

I just realized I "MEANT" to say "He would not work well as a single companion..."

That will teach me to proofread before I post!

The next line kinda references that fact...

The only thing that baffled me about this one is that Who does already have vampires, and they ARE aliens. Thirty-story aliens that fly freely in space yet somehow still managed to turn three measly humans (IDEK IT'S TERRANCE DICKS HE'S ON CRACK OKAY?), granted, but still.

Then again, it's not as if giant sentient prawns make any less sense...

Then again, it's not as if giant sentient prawns make any less sense...

*DIES*

Only in DW. Seriously. XD

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only