Agreed! Seriously, I'm still super glad RTD is gone, but I feel like Moffat's writing is telling me more about how some Doctor Who fan really wants to leave his mark on the show and show off his cleverness than it is about any of the characters or events in the show, if that makes sense. (Not that I think there is anything wrong with writers wanting to leave their mark and share ideas they think are cool/funny/scary, of course--I mean that the way Moffat does it overpowers the actual show.)
I'd be more forgiving if he was, y'know... actually clever about it. There have been quite a few moments where I've been miles ahead of the Doctor as far as the Big Reveal goes, which is kind of worrisome. :P But I get what you're saying--I can see it happening with Sherlock, too. He's so desperate to leave his mark that he's pissing all over everything just to make sure we understand that it's his project, now.
Did you see the unfilmed little scene from the last episode, meant to tie up the lose ends with Brian? It's exactly what happened in Blink. What's most irritating about it is that it's a letter from Rory about how Amy and him are trapped but ok. And, btw, you have a grand...son. This dude we've never met. That's about all the news he's bothered to give him.
WHAT ABOUT RIVER? He doesn't get to know that he has a biological granddaughter why? It's ok for him to have an adopted grandson who's older than him, though. Nothing, nothing makes sense...
I wasn't as conistent about watching DW when RTD was running it but my dominant impression was that he made up stuff he thought would look cool also. Only he'd make it work for the first 10 minutes and then utterly destroy it in every way possible.
I did. It mostly just pissed me off because it ruined my headcanon, because it's like, oh, apparently this time there's actually a rule that can't be broken or something. Even though Moffat's been flouting his own mythos left and right. Blargh.
I think RTD was a slow downward slide into craziness that really got bad towards the end. I was just thinking that the ways in which they both used the memory-wipe trope kind of encapsulate their styles pretty well: RTD used it once to completely nullify all of the fantastic character development Donna had gone through, which made it a huge epic tear-jerking tragedy. Moffat uses it in smaller doses all the time to arrest character development before it happens so he can continue to be wacky without repercussions. RTD doesn't care if it doesn't make sense as long as it manipulates our emotions; Moffat doesn't care if it doesn't make sense as long as we don't change the channel. :\
And Moffat tends to make even less sense than RTD nowadays. At least with Donna there was a reason her memories were wiped, but Amy also has many moments where she simply doesn't remember things. How many times did she assert how the Doctor has never let her down, only a few episodes after Demon's Run and the Doctor failing to find her daughter. If Rory stepped in just then and reminded her, what would she say? Oh yeah. But... that doesn't count. For reasons.
I think the way he doesn't do character development is even worse because his view of the show is that it's about the companion's story. But, as you say, the companion doesn't HAVE a story to tell.
True. Moffat's definitely lazier/more apathetic when it comes to any kind of emotional consistency with his characters. And it's extra insulting because he's clearly expecting his audience to neither notice nor care that he can't be bothered.
I have a hard time believing that's his view of the show at all. What story?!
It just makes me so sad as I was so excited to see the guy who wrote Blink take the helm. But then the angels were snapping necks and I'm like okay... so they don't always send people back in time. Oh wait apparently they do... and Amy was so unbelievable in her little emotional outburst with Rory. She's a woman - women tend to talk about their problems. And Rory would have pushed her to open up about what was wrong as I understand the character. I wonder what Brian would have thought if they'd said to him "By the way, Remember Mels our old friend? Well she's actually our daughter who's now River Song." That would have been interesting to see.
Same here. I really thought things were going to be better, not just a different brand of frustrating. Moffat needs someone to rein him in.
There is a really awesome tumblr post that outlines all the established rules about the angels from "Blink" and how subsequent episodes just completely flouted those rules.
I totally agree about telling Brian about River. For that matter, what the hell happened to Amy's parents? It was my understanding that they were back, because they were there for her wedding, but we haven't seen them since. I guess it would be inconvenient to actually have to, y'know, deal with more characters who care about Amy and Rory and the repercussions that their traveling would have on those people.
Well that gets me too.. history was erased and yet there are still legends of the last centurian? So Rory is a robot or isn't a robot depending on the day? That would have made more sense for Amy not being able to have kids. It's stupid
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There were so many missed opportunities to draw parallels between Rory and the Doctor that didn't just pertain to the dumb love triangle they kept waving at us. Like, if Rory remembers his 2000 years as a centurion, wouldn't that make him technically older than the Doctor? Couldn't they connect over that? Instead of only really being linked by Amy and their mutual desire to see her never, ever change or grow as a person? Bah.
And I am so with you re: Amy. I thought she was cool until she basically assaulted the Doctor (but it's hilarious because it's a girl doing it, of course), and given how eager she was to cheat on Rory, I never actually bought their supposed Epic Lurve despite their sudden, random attempts to sell it.
Personally, I'd just love to see a companion who doesn't fit Moffat's one and only Young Female Character mold, but there's no way that's going to happen.
I'm coming around to the view that Moffat doesn't 'get' the Doctor as a character. RTD tried to address the personal implications all that death, all that time, and all those goodbyes had on him - perhaps it was ott at time, but the Doctor is an ott guy
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Granted, a large part of my beef with RTD was the stupidforkingTimeWar. I thought it unnecessarily limited the scope of the show and hated that it turned the Doctor into a shell-shocked, unstable wreck. So my issue is less with how the Time War changed the Doctor and more with the fact that there was a Time War at all (especially since at the end of the day, the only actual consequence was There's No Gallifrey Anymore And The Doctor Is Emo Now; it's not as if the Daleks were successfully wiped out).
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WHAT ABOUT RIVER? He doesn't get to know that he has a biological granddaughter why? It's ok for him to have an adopted grandson who's older than him, though. Nothing, nothing makes sense...
I wasn't as conistent about watching DW when RTD was running it but my dominant impression was that he made up stuff he thought would look cool also. Only he'd make it work for the first 10 minutes and then utterly destroy it in every way possible.
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I think RTD was a slow downward slide into craziness that really got bad towards the end. I was just thinking that the ways in which they both used the memory-wipe trope kind of encapsulate their styles pretty well: RTD used it once to completely nullify all of the fantastic character development Donna had gone through, which made it a huge epic tear-jerking tragedy. Moffat uses it in smaller doses all the time to arrest character development before it happens so he can continue to be wacky without repercussions. RTD doesn't care if it doesn't make sense as long as it manipulates our emotions; Moffat doesn't care if it doesn't make sense as long as we don't change the channel. :\
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I think the way he doesn't do character development is even worse because his view of the show is that it's about the companion's story. But, as you say, the companion doesn't HAVE a story to tell.
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I have a hard time believing that's his view of the show at all. What story?!
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She's a woman - women tend to talk about their problems. And Rory would have pushed her to open up about what was wrong as I understand the character.
I wonder what Brian would have thought if they'd said to him "By the way, Remember Mels our old friend? Well she's actually our daughter who's now River Song." That would have been interesting to see.
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There is a really awesome tumblr post that outlines all the established rules about the angels from "Blink" and how subsequent episodes just completely flouted those rules.
I totally agree about telling Brian about River. For that matter, what the hell happened to Amy's parents? It was my understanding that they were back, because they were there for her wedding, but we haven't seen them since. I guess it would be inconvenient to actually have to, y'know, deal with more characters who care about Amy and Rory and the repercussions that their traveling would have on those people.
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And I am so with you re: Amy. I thought she was cool until she basically assaulted the Doctor (but it's hilarious because it's a girl doing it, of course), and given how eager she was to cheat on Rory, I never actually bought their supposed Epic Lurve despite their sudden, random attempts to sell it.
Personally, I'd just love to see a companion who doesn't fit Moffat's one and only Young Female Character mold, but there's no way that's going to happen.
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I have never actually seen any McCoy era. >_>
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