Last Night (New 11/River Short)
One of the DVD-exclusive shorts has exploded on Tumblr and as much as I expected to dislike it, I'm slightly in love. Thoughts on it and on Doctor/River under the cut. Spoilers! I don't think I can embed it, so watch it here.
First off, I'm quite glad that this means the River arc will be wrapped up before Matt leaves, since now we have proof of when the Singing Towers date happens. I really was not expecting that ending and I will own up to whimpering and then crying. Adds a whole new meaning to the phrase "last night," doesn't it?
How funny was Alex? Matt didn't have too much to do, but Alex was adorable. (Although you'd think with three Rivers in the TARDIS, two Amys would have been more than doable...)
Sadly, I will admit that Series 6 damaged River and 11/River for me, possibly irreparably. I really, really wanted to support it pre-Series 6 and up until 6x07--I really support the Doctor moving on after Rose, and I fully believe that it's possible to have more than one love. I just wish their relationship was written better.
One thing that's really bothered me about River in general is that she's entirely without flaws. Like most of Moffat's women, she's some sort of perfect fantasy creature. She knows Old High Gallifreyan. She's part Time Lord. She's the Doctor's wife, for God's sake (I wonder how Sexy feels about that one--bigamy!). I heard some people saying that "she was raised to kill him!" was a flaw, but... no, because that was never something she had a choice in. She was brainwashed, for one, and it was out of her control. And never mind that--that's not a flaw; that's a plot device.
River's only ever been written by Moffat, save for that brief scene in "Closing Time", which was probably written by the man himself--who knows? That's another thing that bothers me about River and the Series 6 arc in general. No one else was allowed to touch it. The cracks, those recurred in almost every Series 5 episode. I don't even know what happened in Series 6. It's like Moffat was off in one room writing the arc and told the rest of the writers to do whatever they wanted. (That said, I much preferred the standalone episodes to the arc this year.) There was absolutely no mention of River or the Silence when it wasn't an arc episode. As much as people don't like the mentions of Rose following Series 2, you at least knew that Rose meant something to the Doctor; she was a presence in his life even after she left it. Whereas with River, it's like the Doctor forgets about her as soon as she leaves the TARDIS.
River's writing this season really started to make me uncomfortable. First, it was the "I live for the days when I see him." speech. The idea that her whole life revolves around the Doctor is so wildly uncomfortable for me and that speech was a red flag. Then came him meeting her as a baby (young and impressionable girl, indeed) and another red flag cropped up besides that first one. Then came the Doctor marrying her after saying "I don't want to marry you." Another few red flags. Not only that, he was marrying her to get him to do something he wanted. Emotional blackmail! Many, many red flags, waving furiously! Then came the line about her nights belonging to him. In other words, a sexual relationship is totally fair payback for spending your life in prison... oh, dear, I cannot even see my laptop past the red flags!
It's not to say I don't adore River. I truly and absolutely do. Alex Kingston is phenomenal and I just adore her in the role. River as a character is kickass; I just wish she had more flaws and a life outside of the Doctor. And I think Matt and Alex have great chemistry. I love River as a character. I love the Doctor/River relationship for its tragic potential and the occasional flirty banter. What I hate is the way Moffat writes it, and the way this arc is just overtaking everything. (The "by no one more than me." line is still bothering me months later. Never mind Rose; that discounts people like Sarah Jane, Jack, Martha--everyone else who was in love with the Doctor!) Moffat wants this relationship to be the be all and end all of Doctor Who, and if anything, I'm incredibly glad that we now have confirmation that the Singing Towers will happen before the end of Matt's run.
One of these days I'm going to try and write fic to rectify some of the problems I have with River and Doctor/River. One of these days. In a different writer's hands, I could have OTPed it just as hard as I do Doctor/Rose. But as it is, it's a ship that can get to me emotionally (my tears upon watching the video are proof of that), but that drives me crazy analytically.
First off, I'm quite glad that this means the River arc will be wrapped up before Matt leaves, since now we have proof of when the Singing Towers date happens. I really was not expecting that ending and I will own up to whimpering and then crying. Adds a whole new meaning to the phrase "last night," doesn't it?
How funny was Alex? Matt didn't have too much to do, but Alex was adorable. (Although you'd think with three Rivers in the TARDIS, two Amys would have been more than doable...)
Sadly, I will admit that Series 6 damaged River and 11/River for me, possibly irreparably. I really, really wanted to support it pre-Series 6 and up until 6x07--I really support the Doctor moving on after Rose, and I fully believe that it's possible to have more than one love. I just wish their relationship was written better.
One thing that's really bothered me about River in general is that she's entirely without flaws. Like most of Moffat's women, she's some sort of perfect fantasy creature. She knows Old High Gallifreyan. She's part Time Lord. She's the Doctor's wife, for God's sake (I wonder how Sexy feels about that one--bigamy!). I heard some people saying that "she was raised to kill him!" was a flaw, but... no, because that was never something she had a choice in. She was brainwashed, for one, and it was out of her control. And never mind that--that's not a flaw; that's a plot device.
River's only ever been written by Moffat, save for that brief scene in "Closing Time", which was probably written by the man himself--who knows? That's another thing that bothers me about River and the Series 6 arc in general. No one else was allowed to touch it. The cracks, those recurred in almost every Series 5 episode. I don't even know what happened in Series 6. It's like Moffat was off in one room writing the arc and told the rest of the writers to do whatever they wanted. (That said, I much preferred the standalone episodes to the arc this year.) There was absolutely no mention of River or the Silence when it wasn't an arc episode. As much as people don't like the mentions of Rose following Series 2, you at least knew that Rose meant something to the Doctor; she was a presence in his life even after she left it. Whereas with River, it's like the Doctor forgets about her as soon as she leaves the TARDIS.
River's writing this season really started to make me uncomfortable. First, it was the "I live for the days when I see him." speech. The idea that her whole life revolves around the Doctor is so wildly uncomfortable for me and that speech was a red flag. Then came him meeting her as a baby (young and impressionable girl, indeed) and another red flag cropped up besides that first one. Then came the Doctor marrying her after saying "I don't want to marry you." Another few red flags. Not only that, he was marrying her to get him to do something he wanted. Emotional blackmail! Many, many red flags, waving furiously! Then came the line about her nights belonging to him. In other words, a sexual relationship is totally fair payback for spending your life in prison... oh, dear, I cannot even see my laptop past the red flags!
It's not to say I don't adore River. I truly and absolutely do. Alex Kingston is phenomenal and I just adore her in the role. River as a character is kickass; I just wish she had more flaws and a life outside of the Doctor. And I think Matt and Alex have great chemistry. I love River as a character. I love the Doctor/River relationship for its tragic potential and the occasional flirty banter. What I hate is the way Moffat writes it, and the way this arc is just overtaking everything. (The "by no one more than me." line is still bothering me months later. Never mind Rose; that discounts people like Sarah Jane, Jack, Martha--everyone else who was in love with the Doctor!) Moffat wants this relationship to be the be all and end all of Doctor Who, and if anything, I'm incredibly glad that we now have confirmation that the Singing Towers will happen before the end of Matt's run.
One of these days I'm going to try and write fic to rectify some of the problems I have with River and Doctor/River. One of these days. In a different writer's hands, I could have OTPed it just as hard as I do Doctor/Rose. But as it is, it's a ship that can get to me emotionally (my tears upon watching the video are proof of that), but that drives me crazy analytically.