Doctor Who Series Six Ep. 1 "The Impossible Astronaut"
Watched it on BBCA Saturday night. Rewatching a download. Comments follow.
-I love Amy and Rory's house. Well, what we see of it. It's adorable.
-What's the point of keeping River in the Stormcage if she keeps getting out??? It's been posited that she put herself in there as penance, which is an intriguing theory, but... I dunno.
-I love that you can completely see and feel the difference between the Doctor in the first ten minutes (the age, the gravity, the grief) and the rest of the episode (the exuberance, the joy, the endless curiosity).
-The bit with the wine. Heeh.
-I totally thought the first time we see Canton (Mark Sheppard's dad, btw) that he was just going to be a figure on the hill (like Amy and Rory in "The Hungry Earth") and it was going to be the Doctor's goodbye to the Brig.
(I haven't watched "My Sarah Jane" yet. I don't know if I can... I'm going to cry so hard.)
-...Did the Doctor leave that boat there? I could swear it wasn't there before Rory pointed it out...
-I'm liking River more and more as we get to know her. A lot of people seem to feel opposite; they liked her at first and liked her less with each meeting, but I think she gets more kickass each time we see her.
-"I'm the King of OK! No, that's a terrible title. Rory The Roman! Now there's a good title."
-"Rory, is everyone cross with me for some reason?"
"I'll go check."
-"We've told him all we can. We can't even tell him we've seen his future self. He's interacted with his own past. He could rip a whole in the universe."
"Except he's done it before!"
"And in fairness, the universe did blow up."
-"I'm being extremely clever up here and there's no one to stand around looking impressed! What's the point in having you all?"
-"Time isn't a strait line! It's all.. bumpy wumpy, there's loads of boring stuff like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays! Big temporal tipping points where anything is possible. The TARDIS can't resist them, like a moth to flame. She loves a party, so I give her 1969."
-Ooh, Angry Confused "you're hiding things from me!" Doctor.
-Fish fingers and custard matter! (And apparently aren't half bad...)
-God, Mark Sheppard is like, King of The Geeks, these days. He's pretty much been in everything by now.
-River messing with the TARDIS controls behind the Doctor's back is pissing some people off, but it actually really amuses me.
-Ooops! Oval Office! ;p
-The Doctor's "Go on" motion while he's taking notes when Nixon and Canton catch him! Squee! And then's his dawning realization that they're staring at him. :D
-Yeah, the TARDIS suddenly materializing is glorious.
-"Fellows, the guns, really? I just walked into the highest security office in the United States, parked a big blue box on the rug, and you think you can just shoot me?"
"They're Americans!"
-"Who are they? And what is that box?"
"It's a Police Box! Can't you read? I'm your new undercover agent, on loan from Scotland Yard, codename: The Doctor. These are my top opperatives: The Legs, The Nose, and Mrs. Robinson."
"I hate you."
"No you don't."
-"Clever, eh?"
"Love it."
"Do not compliment the intruder!"
-How does the Secret Service man behind Amy who's looking in the same direction as her, not see the alien and also freak out?
-Come on Rory, protest to the SS man that she's your wife and you want to make sure she's ok!
-Come on Doctor, even if they gave you a fez River would just destroy it again.
-Everything in the bathroom is branded with the Presidential Seal... is that how it is in the real White House?
-Ok, the scene in the bathroom is honestly terrifying. copperbadge said the alien reminded him of Dementors, which I totally didn't think about til he said so, but I can kind of see it... but this thing is way creepier. Poor White House Staff lady.
-"Joy. Her name was Joy." Totally thought at first that he meant he killed her because he enjoyed it. I've just read that some fans have named this particular alien Killjoy. *groan*
-Will Amy's phone retain the image, or will it be gone the next time she thinks to look at her pictures? Or will that be the key to their figuring out what's going on?
-Does the alien know Amy can't remember him when she can't see him? How does he expect her to do as he tells her if she can't remember that he told her to do something? Also, his insistence that she tell the Doctor makes me think that maybe they're not as bad as we're being lead to believe, perhaps they are simply misunderstood. Though, as mentioned earlier, terrifying.
-"Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you!"
-Canton's bewilderment at the inside of the TARDIS and Rory: "You ok? Coping?" Poor Rory has to babysit the bewildered ex-fed. Heeh.
-"So, we're in a box that's bigger on the inside and travels in time and space?"
"Yeah, basically."
"How long have Scotland Yard had this?"
-"Why would anyone try to trap us?"
"Let's see if anyone tries to kill us and work backwards."
-That whatever it is table thing with all the cables is gross.
-"Don't worry, I'm quite the screamer. Now there's a spoiler for you!" o.O
-I do like that we're seeing more flirtation between the Doctor and River. He's very obviously becoming Interested, probably despite his better judgement.
-No River, don't go off alone! That's a great way to get killed! ...except we already know how you die, because it happend two seasons ago.
-Oh God, aliens in the tunnel so creepy.
-And now Rory has to babysit River. Poor Rory. He's such a good guy. He's so resigned to doing as he's told. ;p
-Where did the aliens go???
-When Amy said she felt sick earlier, I had an awful thought of "oh god, they're doing a pregnancy arc" but then I thought "this is Doctor Who, they wouldn't do something like that! besides, they've already had Amy be pregnant in "Amy's Choice!" no way they'll do it again!" (Side note: I hate it in TV/Movies when the first sign a female character is pregnant is that she's sick. We get sick for other reasons, you know!) And then River said she felt sick too, so I figured it had to be because of the aliens messing with their heads.
-River and Rory's whole conversation outside the maintenance hatch. Rory's realization of the parallels between River and Amy. River's expectation that one day she'll meet the Doctor and he won't know who she is and the fact that we've already seen that happen. (Which I told Dom, and he was like, "huh.") This conversation actually makes "The Silence in The Library" all the sadder to think about. At the time that aired, we didn't know River. She'd obviously met Ten at some point before that, but I guess we never saw it. I wonder why she was more fascinated than sad at finally meeting the Doctor who didn't know her. I mean, aside from Moffat and Kingston still just getting to know River at that point; have they come up with a character backstory reason for it now? Anyway, this conversation is awfully close to heartbreaking.
-I wonder how much of River's swashbuckling, adventure seeking crazy is because of the Doctor's influence on her life? What are they going to do about the apparent fact that this character needs to age backward? With Jack's immortality they threw in a line about his not being able to die but he was still aging (and becoming The Face of Boe). How many kickass curly-haired blondes are they going to have to find?
-OMG THE SHIP FROM "THE LODGER". Totally seemed like a throwaway fun plot before shit got serious at the end of last season, and yet here it is again! I've been saving this thought for when we got to the ship, but is anyone else betting that the little girl asking for help is the ship's avatar again? And all those tunnels are part of the ship, just like the second floor of Craig's house? Are the aliens trying to capture the ship? Are they the crew/passengers?
-The aliens don't seem to attack you if you're not looking at them. This reinforces my thought that they might be misunderstood (even though that one killed Joy...).
-Why doesn't the ship kill River when she touches the control? I mean, good that it doesn't, but... hrm.
-Oh, was I wrong, did the aliens just attack Rory? :(
-Canton wanted to get married, so he got kicked out the FBI. Another thing I just kind of laughed at and forgot about on first viewing, but now I'm seeing a ton of theories about who his intended was. A Russian (possibly spy), a black girl, another man (a Russian black man?)... Sometimes I wonder if remember fandom overanalyzes...
-And then he just changes the subject!
-Amy's confused trying to remember what she wanted to tell the Doctor makes me think her pregnancy reveal has to be something the aliens planted in her head. God, I hope it is. (Although, making Amy think she's pregnant when she's not twice is pretty cruel, Moff.) That doubling over in pain doesn't seem like a real pregnancy symptom, and why would she have to wait until they were alone and in pretty clear danger to tell him? I think she made a split-second decision not to tell him about his death after all.
-Ok, clearly that is an adult in the space suit. I am sticking with my the little girl is the ship-avatar theory. And I think Amy's shot missed.
So, when I watched this Saturday night, it seemed way too short and seemed to end very suddenly. Kim mentioned Sunday that it seemed to short and wondered if anything had been cut, and at the beginning of this rewatch there were a few very small things that I didn't remember from the first viewing, but not enough to really impact timing on American TV... At the end of the first viewing, I was feeling distinctly underwhelmed and dissatisfied. Watching it straight through without commercial breaks was a lot more satisfying though.
I watched it at Dom's because I was staying with him that night and I can actually figure out how his DVR works (I can't even get my roommates' TV to work half the time, it has too many remotes and attached gadgets). He hasn't seen any Doctor Who before, even though both Dan and I are hugely into it. We're going to get him into it at some point, but this definitely isn't a good introductory episode... I'm kind of tempted to just start him off on "The Eleventh Hour" because that really is a fantastic introduction point, with everything all new and pretty... and I did just rewatch the entire New Who, and I don't feel like doing it all again so soon... but, well, Eccleston and Tennant and Rose and Jack and Martha and Donna and Sarah Jane and Mickey and Sally Sparrow and Nurse Redfern and Tim and The Face of Boe and Wilf and Jackie and Pete...
I guess we'll get to them all eventually... Is it Saturday yet?
-I love Amy and Rory's house. Well, what we see of it. It's adorable.
-What's the point of keeping River in the Stormcage if she keeps getting out??? It's been posited that she put herself in there as penance, which is an intriguing theory, but... I dunno.
-I love that you can completely see and feel the difference between the Doctor in the first ten minutes (the age, the gravity, the grief) and the rest of the episode (the exuberance, the joy, the endless curiosity).
-The bit with the wine. Heeh.
-I totally thought the first time we see Canton (Mark Sheppard's dad, btw) that he was just going to be a figure on the hill (like Amy and Rory in "The Hungry Earth") and it was going to be the Doctor's goodbye to the Brig.
(I haven't watched "My Sarah Jane" yet. I don't know if I can... I'm going to cry so hard.)
-...Did the Doctor leave that boat there? I could swear it wasn't there before Rory pointed it out...
-I'm liking River more and more as we get to know her. A lot of people seem to feel opposite; they liked her at first and liked her less with each meeting, but I think she gets more kickass each time we see her.
-"I'm the King of OK! No, that's a terrible title. Rory The Roman! Now there's a good title."
-"Rory, is everyone cross with me for some reason?"
"I'll go check."
-"We've told him all we can. We can't even tell him we've seen his future self. He's interacted with his own past. He could rip a whole in the universe."
"Except he's done it before!"
"And in fairness, the universe did blow up."
-"I'm being extremely clever up here and there's no one to stand around looking impressed! What's the point in having you all?"
-"Time isn't a strait line! It's all.. bumpy wumpy, there's loads of boring stuff like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays! Big temporal tipping points where anything is possible. The TARDIS can't resist them, like a moth to flame. She loves a party, so I give her 1969."
-Ooh, Angry Confused "you're hiding things from me!" Doctor.
-Fish fingers and custard matter! (And apparently aren't half bad...)
-God, Mark Sheppard is like, King of The Geeks, these days. He's pretty much been in everything by now.
-River messing with the TARDIS controls behind the Doctor's back is pissing some people off, but it actually really amuses me.
-Ooops! Oval Office! ;p
-The Doctor's "Go on" motion while he's taking notes when Nixon and Canton catch him! Squee! And then's his dawning realization that they're staring at him. :D
-Yeah, the TARDIS suddenly materializing is glorious.
-"Fellows, the guns, really? I just walked into the highest security office in the United States, parked a big blue box on the rug, and you think you can just shoot me?"
"They're Americans!"
-"Who are they? And what is that box?"
"It's a Police Box! Can't you read? I'm your new undercover agent, on loan from Scotland Yard, codename: The Doctor. These are my top opperatives: The Legs, The Nose, and Mrs. Robinson."
"I hate you."
"No you don't."
-"Clever, eh?"
"Love it."
"Do not compliment the intruder!"
-How does the Secret Service man behind Amy who's looking in the same direction as her, not see the alien and also freak out?
-Come on Rory, protest to the SS man that she's your wife and you want to make sure she's ok!
-Come on Doctor, even if they gave you a fez River would just destroy it again.
-Everything in the bathroom is branded with the Presidential Seal... is that how it is in the real White House?
-Ok, the scene in the bathroom is honestly terrifying. copperbadge said the alien reminded him of Dementors, which I totally didn't think about til he said so, but I can kind of see it... but this thing is way creepier. Poor White House Staff lady.
-"Joy. Her name was Joy." Totally thought at first that he meant he killed her because he enjoyed it. I've just read that some fans have named this particular alien Killjoy. *groan*
-Will Amy's phone retain the image, or will it be gone the next time she thinks to look at her pictures? Or will that be the key to their figuring out what's going on?
-Does the alien know Amy can't remember him when she can't see him? How does he expect her to do as he tells her if she can't remember that he told her to do something? Also, his insistence that she tell the Doctor makes me think that maybe they're not as bad as we're being lead to believe, perhaps they are simply misunderstood. Though, as mentioned earlier, terrifying.
-"Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you!"
-Canton's bewilderment at the inside of the TARDIS and Rory: "You ok? Coping?" Poor Rory has to babysit the bewildered ex-fed. Heeh.
-"So, we're in a box that's bigger on the inside and travels in time and space?"
"Yeah, basically."
"How long have Scotland Yard had this?"
-"Why would anyone try to trap us?"
"Let's see if anyone tries to kill us and work backwards."
-That whatever it is table thing with all the cables is gross.
-"Don't worry, I'm quite the screamer. Now there's a spoiler for you!" o.O
-I do like that we're seeing more flirtation between the Doctor and River. He's very obviously becoming Interested, probably despite his better judgement.
-No River, don't go off alone! That's a great way to get killed! ...except we already know how you die, because it happend two seasons ago.
-Oh God, aliens in the tunnel so creepy.
-And now Rory has to babysit River. Poor Rory. He's such a good guy. He's so resigned to doing as he's told. ;p
-Where did the aliens go???
-When Amy said she felt sick earlier, I had an awful thought of "oh god, they're doing a pregnancy arc" but then I thought "this is Doctor Who, they wouldn't do something like that! besides, they've already had Amy be pregnant in "Amy's Choice!" no way they'll do it again!" (Side note: I hate it in TV/Movies when the first sign a female character is pregnant is that she's sick. We get sick for other reasons, you know!) And then River said she felt sick too, so I figured it had to be because of the aliens messing with their heads.
-River and Rory's whole conversation outside the maintenance hatch. Rory's realization of the parallels between River and Amy. River's expectation that one day she'll meet the Doctor and he won't know who she is and the fact that we've already seen that happen. (Which I told Dom, and he was like, "huh.") This conversation actually makes "The Silence in The Library" all the sadder to think about. At the time that aired, we didn't know River. She'd obviously met Ten at some point before that, but I guess we never saw it. I wonder why she was more fascinated than sad at finally meeting the Doctor who didn't know her. I mean, aside from Moffat and Kingston still just getting to know River at that point; have they come up with a character backstory reason for it now? Anyway, this conversation is awfully close to heartbreaking.
-I wonder how much of River's swashbuckling, adventure seeking crazy is because of the Doctor's influence on her life? What are they going to do about the apparent fact that this character needs to age backward? With Jack's immortality they threw in a line about his not being able to die but he was still aging (and becoming The Face of Boe). How many kickass curly-haired blondes are they going to have to find?
-OMG THE SHIP FROM "THE LODGER". Totally seemed like a throwaway fun plot before shit got serious at the end of last season, and yet here it is again! I've been saving this thought for when we got to the ship, but is anyone else betting that the little girl asking for help is the ship's avatar again? And all those tunnels are part of the ship, just like the second floor of Craig's house? Are the aliens trying to capture the ship? Are they the crew/passengers?
-The aliens don't seem to attack you if you're not looking at them. This reinforces my thought that they might be misunderstood (even though that one killed Joy...).
-Why doesn't the ship kill River when she touches the control? I mean, good that it doesn't, but... hrm.
-Oh, was I wrong, did the aliens just attack Rory? :(
-Canton wanted to get married, so he got kicked out the FBI. Another thing I just kind of laughed at and forgot about on first viewing, but now I'm seeing a ton of theories about who his intended was. A Russian (possibly spy), a black girl, another man (a Russian black man?)... Sometimes I wonder if remember fandom overanalyzes...
-And then he just changes the subject!
-Amy's confused trying to remember what she wanted to tell the Doctor makes me think her pregnancy reveal has to be something the aliens planted in her head. God, I hope it is. (Although, making Amy think she's pregnant when she's not twice is pretty cruel, Moff.) That doubling over in pain doesn't seem like a real pregnancy symptom, and why would she have to wait until they were alone and in pretty clear danger to tell him? I think she made a split-second decision not to tell him about his death after all.
-Ok, clearly that is an adult in the space suit. I am sticking with my the little girl is the ship-avatar theory. And I think Amy's shot missed.
So, when I watched this Saturday night, it seemed way too short and seemed to end very suddenly. Kim mentioned Sunday that it seemed to short and wondered if anything had been cut, and at the beginning of this rewatch there were a few very small things that I didn't remember from the first viewing, but not enough to really impact timing on American TV... At the end of the first viewing, I was feeling distinctly underwhelmed and dissatisfied. Watching it straight through without commercial breaks was a lot more satisfying though.
I watched it at Dom's because I was staying with him that night and I can actually figure out how his DVR works (I can't even get my roommates' TV to work half the time, it has too many remotes and attached gadgets). He hasn't seen any Doctor Who before, even though both Dan and I are hugely into it. We're going to get him into it at some point, but this definitely isn't a good introductory episode... I'm kind of tempted to just start him off on "The Eleventh Hour" because that really is a fantastic introduction point, with everything all new and pretty... and I did just rewatch the entire New Who, and I don't feel like doing it all again so soon... but, well, Eccleston and Tennant and Rose and Jack and Martha and Donna and Sarah Jane and Mickey and Sally Sparrow and Nurse Redfern and Tim and The Face of Boe and Wilf and Jackie and Pete...
I guess we'll get to them all eventually... Is it Saturday yet?