Cathryn (formerly catslash) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
remindmeofthe) wrote2008-05-11 12:04 am
remindmeofthe) wrote2008-05-11 12:04 am
Entry tags:
(no subject)
GYAH. Ten hour shift that was supposed to be a nine hour shift on four hours' sleep. (Seriously, what kind of freak am I to fall asleep at three and wake up at SEVEN when my alarm is set for nine?)
But I have thoughts on Doctor Who anyway, and may I just say that it was really nice to come home from an insane ten hour shift to some Who?
Oh, man, you guys, I know, I know, I really wasn't supposed to like this episode. And, uh, there were things that were really really stupid and confusing. But, and blame the fatigue if you like, I overall had a good time.
So okay. Yeah, Jenny was a bit Mary Sue. But her origin was fairly acceptable (fuck of a lot better than "O hai, here is a daughter we never mentioned before!") and really, she did seem so much like a female Ten. The same spastic energy, the same innate drive to run head-first into dangerous situations, the same need to talk at people until they are reduced to staring in confusion . . . it's funny, because normally those would totally be stereotypical Sue traits, but it was so clearly a case of "like father, like daughter." She is basically what Ten would be if he were a small blonde woman. So I didn't mind her as a character or as a plot device, though I'm not sure I could stand her for more than one episode at a time.
And I'm just not even going to think about her physiology. It's all very Multiplicity.Did you bring Jenny a monkey? She's Gallifreyan but not, and she regenerates but doesn't change. Okay, whatever, moving on before I end up with a headache.
I love Martha. I love Martha taking a situation into her own hands, which was especially nice after she spent most of the last ep unconscious, and making it work. This is what the Doctor's companions learn from him, one after another. You control the situation. It doesn't control you. Even if the world is ending, you still have control. You just have to take it. Martha does it, Sarah Jane does it over on her show, and Jack does it on his. (Admittedly, he fucks it up more often than not, but that's not the point I'm going for here.) Martha's learned a lot about harnessing her own strength and confidence and maybe too much about not letting grief slow her down. Especially that last, and she knows it. She doesn't want to travel with the Doctor anymore because there has been far too much grief to put aside. The wonder isn't worth the cost for Martha, not after the year that wasn't. She's paid too much, and she deals with it in her way, and she's clearly worried that Donna will end up paying a similar price. (And really, the Doctor's track record in the past few years with companions isn't too encouraging. One in the wrong universe, one with memories of a hell that never happened. In a way, Rose and Martha both lost their homes. What's Donna going to lose?)
Speaking of Donna: love. Her hilariously bad method of naming Jenny aside, she continues to be made of win. She keeps pushing the Doctor, refusing to let him get lost in his Lonely God schtick, and she pays attention to detail and picks at it until the pattern she can sense finally emerges. I could have done with about eighteen fewer mentions of the numbering system, like, OKAY, we get the POINT, it's IMPORTANT, but I like Donna thinking and putting things together and being good with numbers! Oh, and her assertion that she is going to travel with the Doctor forever means her days are severely numbered. (No, I'm not spoiled. But that was about as subtle as the trillion mentions of the code changing.) Oh, Donna. I will miss you and your awesome, but I'd rather you didn't get Rosed and stick around for a series longer than you really should.
The less said about the plot, the better. The Hath were a wicked cool race, and the way they communicated was neat (I liked that the TARDIS's translation still worked for Martha, but not for the audience; the execution didn't work one hundred percent, but it was nice to see something done just a little differently). And that's about all I got. Although: the birth (rebirth?) of a planet is interesting as being the opposite of a planet disappearing.
Okay, I think my brain's done for the night, so I'm gonna wind it up by declaring that the next episode looks to be awesome. I am excited.
But I have thoughts on Doctor Who anyway, and may I just say that it was really nice to come home from an insane ten hour shift to some Who?
Oh, man, you guys, I know, I know, I really wasn't supposed to like this episode. And, uh, there were things that were really really stupid and confusing. But, and blame the fatigue if you like, I overall had a good time.
So okay. Yeah, Jenny was a bit Mary Sue. But her origin was fairly acceptable (fuck of a lot better than "O hai, here is a daughter we never mentioned before!") and really, she did seem so much like a female Ten. The same spastic energy, the same innate drive to run head-first into dangerous situations, the same need to talk at people until they are reduced to staring in confusion . . . it's funny, because normally those would totally be stereotypical Sue traits, but it was so clearly a case of "like father, like daughter." She is basically what Ten would be if he were a small blonde woman. So I didn't mind her as a character or as a plot device, though I'm not sure I could stand her for more than one episode at a time.
And I'm just not even going to think about her physiology. It's all very Multiplicity.
I love Martha. I love Martha taking a situation into her own hands, which was especially nice after she spent most of the last ep unconscious, and making it work. This is what the Doctor's companions learn from him, one after another. You control the situation. It doesn't control you. Even if the world is ending, you still have control. You just have to take it. Martha does it, Sarah Jane does it over on her show, and Jack does it on his. (Admittedly, he fucks it up more often than not, but that's not the point I'm going for here.) Martha's learned a lot about harnessing her own strength and confidence and maybe too much about not letting grief slow her down. Especially that last, and she knows it. She doesn't want to travel with the Doctor anymore because there has been far too much grief to put aside. The wonder isn't worth the cost for Martha, not after the year that wasn't. She's paid too much, and she deals with it in her way, and she's clearly worried that Donna will end up paying a similar price. (And really, the Doctor's track record in the past few years with companions isn't too encouraging. One in the wrong universe, one with memories of a hell that never happened. In a way, Rose and Martha both lost their homes. What's Donna going to lose?)
Speaking of Donna: love. Her hilariously bad method of naming Jenny aside, she continues to be made of win. She keeps pushing the Doctor, refusing to let him get lost in his Lonely God schtick, and she pays attention to detail and picks at it until the pattern she can sense finally emerges. I could have done with about eighteen fewer mentions of the numbering system, like, OKAY, we get the POINT, it's IMPORTANT, but I like Donna thinking and putting things together and being good with numbers! Oh, and her assertion that she is going to travel with the Doctor forever means her days are severely numbered. (No, I'm not spoiled. But that was about as subtle as the trillion mentions of the code changing.) Oh, Donna. I will miss you and your awesome, but I'd rather you didn't get Rosed and stick around for a series longer than you really should.
The less said about the plot, the better. The Hath were a wicked cool race, and the way they communicated was neat (I liked that the TARDIS's translation still worked for Martha, but not for the audience; the execution didn't work one hundred percent, but it was nice to see something done just a little differently). And that's about all I got. Although: the birth (rebirth?) of a planet is interesting as being the opposite of a planet disappearing.
Okay, I think my brain's done for the night, so I'm gonna wind it up by declaring that the next episode looks to be awesome. I am excited.