Did I tell you I watch A LOT of TV?
In which I have thinky thoughts about Doctor Who, Torchwood and Burn Notice. Spoilers for the latest epsiodes of all three series.
First of all, Doctor Who: I loved the latest episode. It was very very well done and it was finally an emotionally engaging episode. This is something I’ve had a problem with since Moffat took over: everything was entirely too plot driven at the expense of the characters. Since it came back form the hiatus the show has definitely gotten much much better.
Of course everyone is still yelling “sexism!” because Old Amy gave up her life for Rory. Or Rory chose Young Amy over the badass older version. But I think that’s just being willfully blind: this was Amy’s choice and it wasn’t made for Rory. She made it for herself. Old Amy had been stuck in that facility for 36 years and she kept on fighting and surviving. Why? I’m going to quote Moffat’s other show, Sherlock, here: “Bitterness is a paralytic. Love is a much stronger motivator.” Old Amy travelling by herself after being rescued like she said she planned to - she wouldn’t have been happy, not really. She’d just become more bitter and truly alone. I think she comes to that realization and that’s why she chooses to die. She chooses to let herself have a happier life. Because even if she survived at the expense of Young Amy she wouldn’t have been able to let go of all the resentment she’s accumulated. She’d have resented Rory as well. This was Amy’s choice, even if we were led to think it was Rory’s. She was Amy and Rory loved her just as much as Young Amy, so if she begged to be let in, Rory would have opened that door. He and The Doctor might be similar in many ways, but Rory’s a better man. It will be interesting to see where this set up leads.
But all of that doesn’t excuse The Doctor for closing that door. In the past few episodes we’ve seen a Doctor that is willfully lying to his companions. He knows this will hurt them, and yet he still does it. We’ve seen him do something similar before (when he mind-wiped Donna) and he’s a bit of arsehole - usually forced by circumstances, but this? I’m not sure I like this Doctor anymore.
I’ve also seen people saying that they’d like to get back to the arc-based episodes. But this is an arc-related episode, just as much as Night Terrors. If you don’t think so, then you haven’t been paying attention. I think someone will have to make a similar choice again in the finale. Whether it’s Amy and Rory regarding Melody/River or The Doctor and his older self who dies on that beach in the premiere, it remains to be seen.
Torchwood: Miracle Day. Oh boy. This was full of classic RTD writing. The man is brilliant incoming up with interesting concepts. What happens when everyone in the world stops dying and but doesn’t stop getting sick? It’s very high-concept and there were a lot interesting angles that could have been explored there. Instead we got this over-long series with a plot based on a deux ex machina that made absolutely no sense. It had its great moments, and unlike most people I loved Esther and Rex and his unapologetic aresholishness. My favourite was the episode with Jack’s flashbacks to the 1920s. Overall the series developed the characters really well: Jack and Gwen (I’m finally starting to love Gwen) as well as new characters. They change and evolve and I liked watching them do it. I like that they didn’t even try to redeem Oswald and Jilly. This being Torchwood, the good guys never survive. I wish they didn’t have to kill Vera and Esther. They were both badass, and I would have watched them in their own spin-off.
However the plot moved along to slowly and the resolution did not come naturally from what has been established before in this series. Let’s just say I have a lot of issues with The Blessing. The whole crack in the Earth thing makes absolutely no sense at all whatsoever. Why wasn’t it a volcano? And didn’t we establish in The Runaway Bride that there’s a Rachnoss ship at the center of the Earth? But what bugs me most of is that Jack’s immortality just DOES.NOT.WORK.LIKE.THAT. He even lampshades it at the beginning of the second-to-last episode. He’s a fixed point in time. When he dies, he just reverts to the state he was before the Daleks first killed him in Parting of the Ways. His blood isn’t special. Why didn’t The Blessing just give everyone 51st century pheromones and have everyone humping each other? Rex being immortal now feels like a set up so that you can have Torchwood: USA and Jack and Gwen can go back to Wales. I did like the parallels they drew between Rex and Jack. Jack is now The Doctor for Rex (“I wish I’d never met you, World War II”). And I’d love to read that fic where Jack and Rex actually fall in love after another couple of decades when Rex has to realize being immortal isn’t easy and how lonely it is. And Rex has been fighting Jack’s flirtiness all series (a bit too hard) and has been established as heterosexual, but immortality changes one’s perspectives. *ducks from the rabid Ianto fans*
Burn Notice is the middle of season 5 and they’ve been doing the same schtick for five seasons straight and I’m not bored and I’m not complaining. I’m not sure how they’re managing to keep things interesting but they’re doing a fantastic job at it. The mid-season finale was very interstng. I could see the something was off about the psychologist guy, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. Very nice twist ending there. I really love the character development and the exploration of Michael/Fi they’re doing this season. I’d like to see some more development for Sam, though. He’s been there from the start, but he could use a bit more spotlight. Overall, I get the feeling that the writers really know where they want to take this. I suppose knowing they have one more season besides this one helps with plotting things out in advance.
TL;DR: Doctor Who is good again, Torchwood was meh, Burn Notice is awesome. And I’m very very excited for the new seasons of Criminal Minds and Fringe.
First of all, Doctor Who: I loved the latest episode. It was very very well done and it was finally an emotionally engaging episode. This is something I’ve had a problem with since Moffat took over: everything was entirely too plot driven at the expense of the characters. Since it came back form the hiatus the show has definitely gotten much much better.
Of course everyone is still yelling “sexism!” because Old Amy gave up her life for Rory. Or Rory chose Young Amy over the badass older version. But I think that’s just being willfully blind: this was Amy’s choice and it wasn’t made for Rory. She made it for herself. Old Amy had been stuck in that facility for 36 years and she kept on fighting and surviving. Why? I’m going to quote Moffat’s other show, Sherlock, here: “Bitterness is a paralytic. Love is a much stronger motivator.” Old Amy travelling by herself after being rescued like she said she planned to - she wouldn’t have been happy, not really. She’d just become more bitter and truly alone. I think she comes to that realization and that’s why she chooses to die. She chooses to let herself have a happier life. Because even if she survived at the expense of Young Amy she wouldn’t have been able to let go of all the resentment she’s accumulated. She’d have resented Rory as well. This was Amy’s choice, even if we were led to think it was Rory’s. She was Amy and Rory loved her just as much as Young Amy, so if she begged to be let in, Rory would have opened that door. He and The Doctor might be similar in many ways, but Rory’s a better man. It will be interesting to see where this set up leads.
But all of that doesn’t excuse The Doctor for closing that door. In the past few episodes we’ve seen a Doctor that is willfully lying to his companions. He knows this will hurt them, and yet he still does it. We’ve seen him do something similar before (when he mind-wiped Donna) and he’s a bit of arsehole - usually forced by circumstances, but this? I’m not sure I like this Doctor anymore.
I’ve also seen people saying that they’d like to get back to the arc-based episodes. But this is an arc-related episode, just as much as Night Terrors. If you don’t think so, then you haven’t been paying attention. I think someone will have to make a similar choice again in the finale. Whether it’s Amy and Rory regarding Melody/River or The Doctor and his older self who dies on that beach in the premiere, it remains to be seen.
Torchwood: Miracle Day. Oh boy. This was full of classic RTD writing. The man is brilliant incoming up with interesting concepts. What happens when everyone in the world stops dying and but doesn’t stop getting sick? It’s very high-concept and there were a lot interesting angles that could have been explored there. Instead we got this over-long series with a plot based on a deux ex machina that made absolutely no sense. It had its great moments, and unlike most people I loved Esther and Rex and his unapologetic aresholishness. My favourite was the episode with Jack’s flashbacks to the 1920s. Overall the series developed the characters really well: Jack and Gwen (I’m finally starting to love Gwen) as well as new characters. They change and evolve and I liked watching them do it. I like that they didn’t even try to redeem Oswald and Jilly. This being Torchwood, the good guys never survive. I wish they didn’t have to kill Vera and Esther. They were both badass, and I would have watched them in their own spin-off.
However the plot moved along to slowly and the resolution did not come naturally from what has been established before in this series. Let’s just say I have a lot of issues with The Blessing. The whole crack in the Earth thing makes absolutely no sense at all whatsoever. Why wasn’t it a volcano? And didn’t we establish in The Runaway Bride that there’s a Rachnoss ship at the center of the Earth? But what bugs me most of is that Jack’s immortality just DOES.NOT.WORK.LIKE.THAT. He even lampshades it at the beginning of the second-to-last episode. He’s a fixed point in time. When he dies, he just reverts to the state he was before the Daleks first killed him in Parting of the Ways. His blood isn’t special. Why didn’t The Blessing just give everyone 51st century pheromones and have everyone humping each other? Rex being immortal now feels like a set up so that you can have Torchwood: USA and Jack and Gwen can go back to Wales. I did like the parallels they drew between Rex and Jack. Jack is now The Doctor for Rex (“I wish I’d never met you, World War II”). And I’d love to read that fic where Jack and Rex actually fall in love after another couple of decades when Rex has to realize being immortal isn’t easy and how lonely it is. And Rex has been fighting Jack’s flirtiness all series (a bit too hard) and has been established as heterosexual, but immortality changes one’s perspectives. *ducks from the rabid Ianto fans*
Burn Notice is the middle of season 5 and they’ve been doing the same schtick for five seasons straight and I’m not bored and I’m not complaining. I’m not sure how they’re managing to keep things interesting but they’re doing a fantastic job at it. The mid-season finale was very interstng. I could see the something was off about the psychologist guy, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. Very nice twist ending there. I really love the character development and the exploration of Michael/Fi they’re doing this season. I’d like to see some more development for Sam, though. He’s been there from the start, but he could use a bit more spotlight. Overall, I get the feeling that the writers really know where they want to take this. I suppose knowing they have one more season besides this one helps with plotting things out in advance.
TL;DR: Doctor Who is good again, Torchwood was meh, Burn Notice is awesome. And I’m very very excited for the new seasons of Criminal Minds and Fringe.