I’m in love with a fairy tale: ‘The Big Bang’ reaction post, the tl;dr version. Plus some ramblings.

[elisi]

First of all, I love this season for giving me something I’ve not had since BtVS and AtS went off air: A TV show not just rich, but so saturated with meta, layers, themes, parallels, foreshadowing, symbolism, mirroring, etc. etc. that I hardly know where to start. Hence the fact that this is a long, rambly and somewhat incoherent stab at three

Comments

[promethia_tenk]

Haha! I return. To business!

Rory was the obvious one to kill off. (Amy, the Doctor and River all had to survive.) Except we’d already seen him die twice and killing him off a third time would be overkill. (Pardon the pun.)
Is it wrong that I like watching him die because it just leads to such good acting from Matt and Karen? I would kill him off a thousand times if I knew I would get a different and equally good reaction each time. Yeah, I'm a bad person.

And this thing of getting everything I wanted and more... I’m not sure what to do. Except that it feels GREAT!
At times like these, I recommend eating almond ice cream, and then walking around lustfully in the fresh air, listening to Puccini, and taking deep, greedy breaths. *nods*

We have poor Rory, still holding on to Amy, as tragic as can be except that we just saw her alive in the future... and then the Doctor appears, with a fez on his head and a mop under his arm and we appear to be watching a comedy.I love that Moffat does this constantly and unapologetically--jumps

[promethia_tenk]

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Rusty years, and Donna was made of too much win to describe, but there was a focus on the Doctor that was unhealthy. Both Rose and Donna pledged ‘forever’, and Martha’s choice was impeded by her unrequited love. And poor Sarah Jane (“You were my life”). I’m not saying that ‘forever’ is a bad choice - it is River’s choice after all
I think I have to disagree here. Well, ok, not with all of it, but "forever" always gives me the heebie-jeebies. Even when Donna said it. Especially when Donna said it, because she should have known better. Maybe it bothers me because there really is nothing else so impossible for a human being, and yet it's something we're so quick to jump on and swear to and cling to. So much of my respect for River is bound up in the fact that she doesn't seem to expect forever: "When you run with the Doctor, it feels like it will never end . . ." It's more like she'll take the moment, whatever moment, she's given, and cherish it for what it is. And I have great hopes that Amy and

[promethia_tenk]

It’s interesting that the whole arc of this season is about a girl remembering (and that this saves the Doctor), when in S4 it was all about one woman saving the world and then forgetting (her memories deadly to herself). Just thought I’d mention.
Nice connection. And once again, Moffat is rewriting the past. Not in a spiteful way, really, but just so he can fix us. Power of imagination, that is. Power of stories. Ways to overcome. (PERSONAL HERO, JUST SAYIN'.)

The ‘need’ has been switched 180 degrees - the Doctor doesn’t need Amy, she needs (needed) him. He doesn’t ask her along because he’s lonely - or rather, that’s not the main reason. He asks her because she’s intriguing. Ditto River - she makes him curious, interested, wanting to know more. The focus is not on him, but on the way he affects them.
My little Time Lord is growing up! *sniff* I'm so proud!

And indeed, it was strong enough and more besides. But I rather like that her arc (the arc of the season) was for the Doctor to earn back the trust he broke.So many

[promethia_tenk]

Doctor Who is a fairy tale, told to a whole country. A fairy tale for the age of television, and more powerful for that maybe? A story that today’s children are having told to them, just like their parents and grandparents had.
I envy the British their cultural experience of Doctor Who. There is power in that. But then, we all have our national myths. Heck, my whole country is built on a national myth. Power of stories.

But. The Big Bang gave us this. I’m not sure ‘content’ is quite the word for what the Doctor was feeling as he left little Amelia and stepped into the crack, never to have existed at all, but on some level, I think, he was at peace with his choice. (“I don’t belong here anymore.”)
Wow. wow

Moffat to us: “It has never been more important that you trust me.”
Audience: “But you don’t always tell me the truth.” (Rory died, Amy died, the Doctor was erased...)
Moffat: "If I always told you the truth I wouldn't need you to trust me.”I had to think about this in relation to what you quoted about Torchwood CoE. Because

[angearia]

Re-posting:

And upon watching I thought I was wrong about River, but then realized by the end that no that's right, it was just that all the companions were needed to save the Doctor. Rory freed the Doctor from the Pandorica, and then River and Amy brought the Doctor back from the beyond side of the crack, Amy through her memory of the Doctor's tale and River by using her journal of the her history with the Doctor for "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."

So much fun and excitement! And Eleven dancing hahahahah!

[elisi]

And upon watching I thought I was wrong about River, but then realized by the end that no that's right, it was just that all the companions were needed to save the Doctor.
*nods a lot* In context with the show of the previous 4 seasons it's very important, because Ten became stuck in a downwards spiral, being very lonely and distrustful. So to have one of the major themes of S5 be trust, and the buiding and importance of it, is just incredible. Like many have said, it's like RTD took the Doctor apart, and Moffat is putting him back together.

So much fun and excitement! And Eleven dancing hahahahah!
I KNOW!!! It's THE BEST DANCE EVER! And he dances with the children and everyone is happy and Amy and Rory run away with him and I can only draw big pink, sparkly hearts around them all! ♥ ♥ ♥

[indy1776]

I’ve read this over half a dozen times in the past few months, and realised I should say “thank you.” You articulated a large number of the reasons I love S5.

I’d only watched a handful of Ten’s episodes before “Eleventh Hour” aired here in the US, but Eleven hooked me from the beginning of the episode. Something about him just struck me. Moffat, somehow, gave me what I needed that DW hadn’t before. Maybe it’s the regaining trust arc, maybe it’s the storytelling, maybe it’s that Amy gets the best of both worlds-- I don’t know. But whatever it is, it’s the reason Eleven’s my Doctor. (I have seen the rest of New Who, and like it. But there’s something special about this series.)

I used to be more critical of it (I’m critical even of things I love), but you changed my mind on some points. S5 is a coherent whole, far more than I originally thought.

I think I’m rambling here, so I’ll stop.

So: again, thank you.

[elisi]

I’ve read this over half a dozen times in the past few months, and realised I should say “thank you.” You articulated a large number of the reasons I love S5.
Really? *beams* Thank you so much for telling me! :)

I have seen the rest of New Who, and like it. But there’s something special about this series.
*nods a lot* I, too, have tried in vain to pinpoint what that elusive *something* is, that tips the scales, but I haven't been able to yet. (And it's not like I didn't love the show before. S5 is just... magical! Yes, that's it. It's magic!)

I used to be more critical of it (I’m critical even of things I love), but you changed my mind on some points. S5 is a coherent whole, far more than I originally thought.
Now that is by far the best compliment you could ever give me! \o/

I think I’m rambling here, so I’ll stop.
Oh never stop rambling - I sure don't! ;)

By which I mean: Thank you for commenting!

[indy1776]

Yes, really. I tend to reread it when I need a reminder, or when I've accidently read one too many negative reviews/comments/whatnot. There's another meta out there that compares Moffat's world to Tolkien's and it fills in a bit more of the puzzle (Tolkien's Silmarillion is my primary fandom), but I doubt I'll ever figure out the entirity of why I love it so much.

And it's not like I didn't love the show before.

If it hadn't been for S5, I would have never watched the show aside from those few episodes. Even my sister couldn't get me into it, and we have very similar tastes.

S5 is just... magical! Yes, that's it. It's magic!

I'll go with that!

Oh never stop rambling - I sure don't! ;)

:D Yeah, but yours at least makes sense. Mine didn't. :P

I will say this: TBB made me fall in love with River. I'd liked her before, but that scene with the Dalek… She's now one of my favorite characters.

[elisi]

Yes, really. I tend to reread it when I need a reminder, or when I've accidently read one too many negative reviews/comments/whatnot.
This makes me terribly happy! (I am a total Pollyanna, in case you hadn't noticed. *g*)

There's another meta out there that compares Moffat's world to Tolkien's and it fills in a bit more of the puzzle
That sounds fascinating. Do you have a link? (I've only read The Silmarillion once, but found it very impressive. Also I'd kill to see the story of Beren and Lúthien on screen.)

but I doubt I'll ever figure out the entirity of why I love it so much.
This is why I keep coming back to 'magic' as the best explanation... ;)

If it hadn't been for S5, I would have never watched the show aside from those few episodes. Even my sister couldn't get me into it, and we have very similar tastes.
It's a curious thing. I have friends from other fandoms, where we loved exactly the same things, but with Doctor Who half like RTD and the other likes Moffat...

:D Yeah, but yours at least makes sense. Mine didn't. :POh