2x04 "The Girl in the Fireplace" discussion post

[_thirty2flavors]

Whoops! Apologies for the late post. So, onwards with Girl in the Fireplace.

Comments

[kilodalton]

Was she a fair portrayal of a real person?

In real life, she was a top advisor to the King, pretty much was responsible for personally selecting the architecture style that we still in Paris to this day, and basically ran the Seven Years War - even hand picking the minister in charge of operations.

In the episode, she's described as "actress, courtesan, fantastic gardener"

...

...

...

Yup, seems fair. =P

[_thirty2flavors]

I like the basic idea of the space ship/France juxtaposition and I think it does look pretty neat. This episode is super gorgeous visually -- the sets, the costumes, David Tennant and Sophia Myles, etc. The clockwork drones are okay but I don't really find them intimidating and I don't get how they have a reputation for being frightening. They're clockwork! Just stick a pebble in there! Or like... shove them over. They have like a 3 inch blade and they're pretty slow and not very sturdy. IDK, I don't get it

[_thirty2flavors]

It really is a shame because while i doubt GITF would ever be a favourite, I think it would work a lot better. Rose spends most of this episode being left out of the adventure and waiting around for the Doctor to come back -- not very Rose IMO, but certainly fits with "the girl who waited". And Mickey is such a non-entity and mostly spends time paling around with and/or teasing Rose, he might as well be Rory

[jedi_of_urth]

This is actually a really good point. It would have been thematically appropriate with Eleven who has this sort of relationship with several people (if we pretend it's a theme and not just lazy repetitive writing), and it would have offered some interesting opportunities for Amy to be on the other side of events (...and Rory to just be there). It could have even been used to counterpoint Amy's arc both in her eyes and Eleven's, for them to accept the ways he'd kind of screwed with her childhood but they still had a chance to make it right

[_thirty2flavors]

ALSO FOR SERIOUS

JUST SEND ROSE AND/OR MICKEY THROUGH THE MIRROR TO SAVE THE DAY AND GO PICK THEM UP IN THE TARDIS BRO

IT'S NOT HARD

[fauxkaren]

1. I think that the idea of robots going around murdering people and using their body parts to fix a space ship is really creepy. Too bad the episode doesn't really draw attention to that fact. I like the aesthetic idea of 18th century France being smushed up against the future. But yeah... idk. I don't think the robots are scary. I didn't think the reveal was especially good. It's all very meh

[_thirty2flavors]

But I just pretend that this is a series 5 episode featuring Rory, Amy and Eleven and it's like 50% better even though I still think the plot is kind of weak and the Eleven/Reinette relationship is shallow.

The comment thread up above made me imagine a GITF set in s5 where Reinette and Amy are intentionally paralleled and stuff and ugh weeping 4 what could have been tbh.

[fauxkaren]

There is a lot about Moffat Who that makes me want to cry about what might have been. There are just ALL these themes about memory and remembering and identity that never goes anyway. I mean, aside from the obvious Amy remembering the Doctor back into existence you have the bomb person using fake memories to become human. You have the fact that people forget the Silence creatures after looking at them. You have the fact that Oswin tells us to remember her (and also the fact that she didn't remember that she had been converted). You have the Daleks forgetting the Doctor.

AND LIKE IT NEVER REALLY COMES TOGETHER.

ARGH.

There could be all these really great stories about memories constructing identity, but noooooooooooooo.

[sue_denimme]

Worth everything for "Mr. Thick-Thick-Thickety-Thick-Face". And Arthur.

All I'm saying.