I don't know if it was scary but it certainly had me say "what the fuck writers?!" It's like they're just writing shit as it comes to them and throwing in plot points for future stories.

 

Another good episode tonight, although

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I didn't sympathise very much with Old!Amy, despite the quality of Karen Gillan's acting - I just kept thinking "Rory waited 2000 years for you to wake up, you've had to do 36; suck it up woman!" And yes, I know she wasn't supposed to be all that likeable...

Didn't see the specific ending coming though - the basic scenario of

Spoiler

Old!Amy

being left behind, sure, but not how and why. Nicely done.

Ninja-edit:

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Amy sure got smart in those 36 years, didn't she? Building a sonic probe from scratch? Hmm.

Anyway, enough of that. I've realised that for someone who calls themself a fan of Doctor Who, I'm shamefully un-educated on Classic Who (I've seen The Unearthly Child and Pyramids of Mars, and that's pretty much it). Anybody care to recommend some to watch, beyond just sitting down and ploughing my way through the entire show?

 

Looks like they spent a decent amount of the budget on this episode.

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Now we have Amy being called The Girl Who Waited in yet another Amy-centric episode. Not only that, but she now has her own sonic screwdriver. Oh sorry, sonic "probe". Of course, The Doctor is all to blame and for least the first twenty minutes he's completely useless.

Not sure how many times Amy is going to say the words "thirty six years" in this episode but someone ought to set a over/under. Didn't Rory spend over 2,000 years waiting for Amy? Don't see him bitching about it much.

Rory of course blames The Doctor, despite it being his fault that Amy pressed the red button in the first place.

Once again, Rory is made to be the hero while The Doctor is made out to be some glorified taxi driver who has no idea what he's doing.

I thought I was watching Doctor Who, not Companion Who.

The Doctor comes up with the solution to get both Amy's into the same timestream, but then it's all up to Rory to save the day.

Of course, The Doctor is an asshole for not wanting the entire universe to be destroyed.

On another note, the "villains" in this episode was completely meh.

Inquisition sums it up nicely for this episode:

One other thing:

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Didn't part of the premise of this episode happen with Rose? The episode where she meets her younger self, creating a paradox.

 

Actually, I think this was the cheap episode, in the same vein as Love and Monsters, Blink etc - pretty much no cast outside the main trio (although apparently Imelda Staunton/Umbridge was the voice of the Interface), a closed set, even Matt Smith didn't spend much time on screen.

 

I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with everyone and say that this is the type of episode that makes me love this show. Alien environments, great acting, and a premise that's completely impossible in any other show.

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I did wonder why Rory never pointed out he waited 2000 years for her - but then again, if he did, it wouldn't be in his character.

 

I was making comments about the episode as I went along. Matt Smith is still paid a set amount each episode, so it doesn't matter how much he shows up. Special effects might not have cost much.

 

Here comes my patent pending Optimistic view of the episode.

I liked it.

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I half expected Rory to tell the doctor to take him back in time so he could stay with Amy and live out the next 36 years with her.

This was a companion episode and there is nothing wrong with that. The doctor is partially defined by the companions he takes with him. He takes a married couple, with so much character developement, they deserve a episode or two per season where its just about them.

Plus, it finally showed Amy's resourceful side. Sure she has come through in a pinch with quick epiphanies before, but now they clearly show that she is a genious when she needs to be.

So far this episode has presented a brainy red head with the ability to stand up for herself, and still maintain a reasonable emotional core that I can identify with.

Plus I'm always up for a little well earned Rory uplifting.

Tl;dr
It was good, Inq can suckle on Tom bakers scrotum if he dislikes this series so much.

 

An excellent return to form, this episode.

It wasn't perfect - but nothing ever is.

I considered about halfway through that the Doctor would

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sacrifice Old Amy

but thought it far more likely she would sacrifice herself. I enjoyed how it went down.

Rory remains a champ, as always:

"This isn't fair. You're turning me into you."

This was an interesting exchange:

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The Doctor: "Sometimes knowing your own future is what enables you to change it. Especially if you're bloody-minded, contradictory and completely unpredictable."

The Doctor might as well have been talking about himself. And given his pending death at Lake Silencio...

"If anyone can defeat destiny... it's your wife."

I'm calling Amy saving the Doctor... somehow?

 

Once again my glimpses of the future are ignored by the dumb and the indolent, but don't worry, mortals; I haven't forsaken you... yet.

Some more emotionally moving stuff, if you actually have emotions. Some more ignoring the Doctor completely in favour of the useless mortals. Maybe Steven Moffat has an inferiority complex, what with all the impudence.

The preview looks good, but I'm well on my way to assuming that next week's episode will be as weak and unimpressive as last week's. Also, it's a good thing they completely forgot about finding their long lost daughter again, because that whole plot line lasted what, two episodes? I suppose it releases them from any sort of bonding parental obligations that you might expect to stem from creating a new being, not that any of you will ever incur those expectations.

I just wish I could lower my expectations. Maybe then I could stomach mindless drivel.

And as usual, you considered writing quality beneath you.

HOW COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED.

Everything you like about this is the cancer that is killing television.

Yes, this was a "companion episode". The problem with this is that they've ALL become "companion episodes"; there's TOO MUCH character development. You want to give them "an episode or two" for character development? Fine. I have no problem with that. I take exception to the fact that every episode save one is about how Amy and Rory (or their magical little sprog) save the day. That's not one or two, in case your inability to count is affecting you.

Just in case you've forgotten, the title of the programme I am trying to watch is 'Doctor Who'. It used to be about a mysterious man who travels through space and time, righting wrongs and being an altogether cool guy, with help from his glamourous assistant(s).

For some reason, this character has been eliminated from the show in favour of a husband and wife whose daughter is going through a little teenage rebellious stage at the moment. And that's fine - if it was advertised as such.

It seems to me that we're seeing the revival of the John Nathan-Turner style of Doctor Who. Big name stars as guests, with a focus not on the acting or the story, but on the sex appeal of the assistant. The best example of this was back in 1982 when Peter Davison (he was the guy who was with David Tennant in "Time Crash", QuaziJoe. I don't want you to have an aneurysm trying to figure it out) regenerated into Colin Baker.

Davison, in as powerful a death performance as David Tennant, was upstaged not by better acting, but a pair of breasts - specifically Nicola Bryant's. Of course, barring a series of accidents on Wikipedia, you QuaziJoe-types have never heard of most of those people.

If only I could bring back intelligent writing and logical poetics by doing so, I would gladly sacrifice my mental (and oral) health for the sake of bringing not just myself but everyone a Doctor Who of sufficient quality that we all can enjoy.

Unfortunately, you seem to be handling the scrotum suckling and cum drinking for everyone, and I wouldn't want to take your job in such a lucrative employment market.

TL;DR, I'm not going to bother telling you again because I fear the message is too intellectually difficult for you to comprehend, but stop being the gaping, cum leaking cunt of a 12-year old girl with Down's syndrome.

Edit for Joe: I'm going to say it's that fleshy construct Doctor.

 

Aye, perhaps. That just seems a touch too obvious for me. We'll see.

Your complaints, Inq, about the current run being too companion-orientated are valid, however I think the Doctor is doing a lot more behind the scenes that will look good upon reflection come the season finale.

Such as, in this current episode, I reckon he knew more than he was letting on about the facility - or more specifically the Temporal Engines that he nabbed a nice schematic of. He's playing a long game, given his impending death.

Still, yes, I'd prefer the Doctor getting more screen time. But I don't consider this a bad season (save for last week's episode. That was sloppy).

 

I liked this episode, especially the ending with darked side of the Doctor (though I agree with his line of thought in this situation).

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Sacrificing Old!Amy from his point of view was just rewriting the past, like he normally do, just this time he had an unique chance to make it in his own time stream. Rory on the other hand probably thinks of this like killing the person.

Also, I was recently thinking about the death of the Doctor and who will kill him. River is possible, but what if it will be the person who right now wants to stop it? What if it will be Amy? This episode showed that she can start hate the Doctor given proper motivation, but it's also possible that she will do this because he asks her.

And there is also the last person anyone suspect right now - Rory and his mysterious 2000 years of waiting. Now that would be a twist if he was behind Silence somehow.

 

Ya'know, while you may have had a good point somewhere in there, if you think Tennant's regeneration was a high point of the series, then what you're looking for in this show is completely different than what I am looking for.

 

That episode was good Sci-fi. I'll give it that.

I'm halfway between Inq and Joe on this. This isn't a bad season, on the whole. The Spring season was good and all, but I think the largest problem is in the Monster-of-the-Week episode format that Doctor Who's taken on ever since it came back in 2005.

Sure, it was probably the best move RTD could have managed to get the show up and running again (as doing long and complicated story arcs with unfamiliar characters is sure to ruin a fledgling series), but it's been 6 fucking years.

Especially given that part of the reason Moffat split the seasons in two parts (aside from costs), was to focus on the story and make two sets of openers and finales, and to condense the drama, the way this season's being handled is giving me pause. Sure, this last episode was written quite well, and it presented a very good Sci-Fi plot. I enjoyed it, for that.

But let's look at all the unnecessary episodes we've had this season- The Black Spot was a waste of an episode, and so was last week's alien spawn bullshit. Next week is as filler as they come. I mean, I appreciate the need to have filler episodes in between episodes where shit actually happens, but it's just so uninspired. Uninspired, and boring as all hell. They could well take a leaf out of classic Who, and instead have focused episode arcs that tell a larger story, instead of THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO, every single week having a different theme and occasionally sticking in a two parter. Three parters and four parters are cool too. Go watch City of Death or any of the really good Classic Who arcs if you doubt me.

Let's Kill Hitler presented a good idea, but ultimately didn't have to be the season opener. It could have achieved much more later on in the season, or even in Series 7 next year. Wasted potential, in that episode.

As Joe said- it's pretty much a sure thing that the Doctor is doing his own thing in the background, investigating his death. I just wish it wasn't in the background. Too much important shit is happening off screen. WHAT'S THE POINT OF HAVING THIS GREAT CONFLICT IF WE'RE HIDING IT ALL THE TIME.

Here's hoping the finale can blow my socks off, because otherwise, my disappointment in Moffat's going to get much worse.

 

Individually Amy and Rory are decent. It is when they are together that is the problem. River just multiplied that problem by 100.

They really need to get rid of her.

 

A nice interview with Rory, I mean with Arthur Darvill. And there is a game for everyone - drink every time he says "you know".

 

I'm not saying his regeneration was a high point of the series.

I'm saying that his performance, the acting was superb. It was powerful and moving. That's what a good performance is all about. Man, even when I praise something, people whine.

 

The regeneration was overacted and overwritten. Whatever good acting that may have existed was completely let down by the writing.

 

To the writing, If you have to be honest, the writing has never been air tight. It's Doctor who. They ret con something 1 episode later with the introduction of something that was completely impossible for a majority of the series.

It has been that way since the show began, and it will probably stay that way long after Smith is gone.

And no I have not watched every single Doctor Who episode since its early Creation. I'm fine learning about the character from the 2005 Series and what little I glean from wiki.

I watch it for the ability to get lost in the episode. Even though the episode can be completely illogical the characters and plot of a good Doctor who episode pull you in like very few shows out there.

I mean, kid with a gas mask. What the fuck was that. But everytime he said "Are you my mummy" my heart beat like a fat man on stairs.

If people are going to whine and bitch everytime the show does something new that they don't like, they should stick with watching Survivor. Atleast they never move away from their formula.

You spend a lot of your free time thinking about me.

I shall endeavor in the future to start to fully read your posts. So as to, partake more completely in this banter we share.

Till next time friend.

 

Spoiler

So, about how Rory waited 2000 years, is that still canon or what? Because if Rory waited that long but Amy only waited 36 years, I think that's kind of bitchy for her to react that way after he waited that long for her

Spoiler just in case.