poorly constructed doctor who feelings ahoy
Things I like
- The actors. I think Matt, Karen and Arthur have all given brilliant performances this season and I love the team that they make. I admit that when Rory first joined The Doctor and Amy in the TARDIS back in series 5, I was a bit disappointed, because I really enjoy the Doctor/Amy dynamic (romantic or platonic). But Rory has grown on me quickly and I do love him now. With all my heart. (See my opinions concerning Alex Kingston below.)
- The Silence and The Doctor dying. As monsters the Silence are brilliant. It's so creepy and well-planned that I can only applaud. I also appreciate the time jumping they've incorporated into The Doctor's death and I'm really looking forward to having that explained properly.
- Episode 4 "The Doctor's Wife". I loved this episode. I loved it. I loved it like I love cheese and Arthur Darvill. Neil Gaiman's script and concept was brilliant, Suranne Jones as the TARDIS was adorable and heart-breaking, Matt Smith's performance was captivating. No hyperbole, never hyperbole. Perfect episode. Just talking about it makes me want to watch it again.
- River Song/Melody Pond/Alex Kingston. Now, before you all lynch me, let me explain. I agree that on paper the plot is very.. plotty. The concept of River and The Doctor meeting in the wrong order and apparently falling in love is beautiful. River Song is a BAMF character and I couldn't be happier that we have such a strong female in the show. But for me it's simply an issue with the way Alex Kingston portrays her. When she delivers her lines, I can't help but to receive it as oddly smug and stilted and inorganic. To me, River hasn't been humanised enough, and I like her better every single time she shows some fear or humility or sadness. Alex Kingston is a good actress and I've enjoyed seeing her other projects, but here she just doesn't do it for me. I can't take her as an actual character, because all I see is an unrealistic caricature. And I'm perfectly willing to admit that I am in the minority here and that my opinion, if possible, is "wrong". I'm genuinely happy (and slightly envious) for anyone who disagrees with me, because right now the show relies heavily on River's character and the fact that I am not enjoying River/Alex takes a huge toll on my enjoyment of the whole series.
- Rory Williams dying. In every. Bloody. Episode. It's just... I can't understand it. Why? After the first death (back in series 5!) it was just downhill. By the time we got to "The Curse of the Black Spot" I was just rolling my eyes at the screen. Let's face it, it's just cheap. I'm surprised they didn't call "Let's Kill Hitler" "Let's Kill Rory".
- The plots for many of the episodes. I haven't bothered to watch "The Curse of the Black Spot", "The Rebel Flesh" and "The Almost People" more than once, because they simply didn't excite me like Doctor Who at its best does. "The Impossible Astronaut" and "The Day of the Moon" were good, but that was because they gave us so much information about the Silence and Amy and the future Doctor. The setting was really very arbitrary. (Though I understand they wanted to draw in the American audience. I do.)
- Amy's pregnancy plot. First it was all right, I was a bit iffy about how they were going to handle it without coming off as soapy. But then, when it turned out that Amy had in fact been switched and treated like a petri dish, I was fucking furious. I admit, it was a good shock to the audience (and Madame Kovarian is one creepy mofo), but the rhetoric behind it is skeevy at its best. For me it boils down to the fact that Amy didn't have a say over her own body. She didn't get to decide how she wanted to handle possibly having a child and she didn't get to be fucking conscious during the pregnancy, only awakening just before giving birth. Just... No. It's gross and not in a good way. Shut it down.
- The Doctor's characterisation in "A Good Man Goes to War". I amend, not all of it. I really enjoyed Matt Smith's work in a lot of the scenes. His delivery of "I'm angry. That's new. I'm really not sure what's going to happen now." isamazing. It wow'ed me when I first heard it and it still does. It perfectly portrays the underlying mercilessness and cruelty The Doctor is capable of and I love it. But towards the end of the episode, his behaviour changes and he does the stupidest thing in the whole series. When the Flesh baby melts and Amy is in shock and hurt and utterly devastated, he simply flirts with River a bit and then flits off in the TARDIS without an explanation. OH HELL NO. Of course The Doctor at this point already realises that Melody is going to be fine and Amy and Rory will realise it soon after. But the fact is that heleaves with a smile, when Amy is still crying and still thinking that she has lost her child for good. He flits off and leaves all the explanations to River. Fuck that noise, no. You don't do that. You just don't. Just thinking about it still makes me angry.
- An apology from The Doctor for leaving so rashly. (See above...)
- A well-written, light-hearted episode. (Possibly the one with James Corden? I liked him a lot in the last series.)
- The new companion to not be Young!River, Old!River, Middle aged!River or any other version of River. I realise that this is somewhat improbable, but seeing as I am not very invested in the River/Melody -plot, I think you'll understand why.
- Really, for me it'd be great, if the show-runners could change their mind a bit and not have the River-thing drag over to the next series. Just because... If River becomes the new companion, I seriously think my avid Doctor Who days are over. It's not even out of any active hate or dislike, it's just simply not a plot I have any interest in. At least in it's current form. If they find a way to make it interesting, then great. But as it is, it's been going on since series four, really, and I'm just so "meh" on the whole thing.
- And frankly, what I really want, is for Amy and Rory to find peace and happiness. I don't want anyone losing their memory or ending up in an alternate universe. I just want them to get back to Earth and live happily ever after. I know. Not very interesting, but I love those two so much and I just want them to be happy. Is that so wrong?