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dbskylerThis reaction post will contain squee, meanderings about River Song and two-week-old spoilers.
So I'm slow on the uptake, but I didn't even realize that this episode was the crash of the Byzantium that River referred to back in "Silence in the Library" untilpersiflage_1 pointed it out to me. Which is on the one hand way cool, and on the other hand a bit problematic for my viewpoint on that scene. See, I'd always assumed that the picnic at Asgard and the crash of the Byzantium must be events that happened to Ten since River a) recognizes Ten as the Doctor and b) knows that Ten is "early days" in his knowledge of her. However, we now have unequivocal proof that the crash happens to Eleven. So, it is now plausible that River just knew that Ten must be the Doctor without having actually met him before (after all, it's a pretty safe assumption for her to make, and also she apparently has pictures). She therefore must not know the order of the incarnations, and must think it possible that Ten came after Eleven, even though she somehow still knows it's one of his "early days" incarnations. That would suggest that she doesn't necessarily meet Ten at all other than in "Silence/Forest," and also suggest that she doesn't do a whole lot of meeting up with Eleven either. Just which incarnation does she consider "her" Doctor, anyway?
I feel that it's presently an unanswerable question as to whether Ten met up with River again or not (unless of course it's answered next week . . . ). Either way, it's interesting to see Eleven's reaction to River in this episode. He definitely doesn't seem particularly close to her, and in fact seems mostly annoyed that she's shown up again -- it's very much a follow-on from his attitude in "Silence / Forest," in fact. He's resigned to the fact that she knows all this stuff about him but doesn't seem very happy about it, or happy about the way she uses him as a taxi service (not that I blame him on that one). In fact, the way he acts towards her reminded me of the way he used to treat the Time Lords when they would interfere in his life -- doing what's immediately asked and then trying to get out of there, until he's drawn into the current crisis.
That one line -- "he doesn't know who and what you are yet" -- was very provocative. Who and what could River be? My first wild thought was that she's the Rani or someone like that, but it doesn't make sense for her to be a Time Lord, because surely the Doctor would sense that. (And she can't be a fobwatched Time Lord because whatever this mystery is, River herself knows what it is.) Also, her character isn't like the Rani's character. Is she a time agent, like Jack? Is she a criminal? What was she in prison for? How many incarnations of the Doctor has she met by this time? I don't think she knows his name yet, but that's just a guess on my part.
I was a little disappointed that Amy brought up the theory about River being his wife, because I personally detest that theory and really, really hope that it doesn't turn out to be true. I just don't like the idea that the only way River could have a special relationship with the Doctor is because he married her. It reinforces an assumption that the ultimate goal of a companion is to get married (either to the Doctor or to, say, random scientists about to leave for the Amazon), and I don't like that assumption, for both personal and feminist reasons. I want River to know the Doctor's name because a) he trusts her that much and b) she helps him to resolve whatever situation caused him to have to hide his name in the first place. I want that line of the Doctor's -- "there's only one reason why I would ever tell my name" -- to refer to something huge, not just getting married. I mean, why would getting married be the one time he can tell his name? (Okay, my own biases are showing here, but if I can't air my personal biases in my personal journal, where else can I air them?)
Anyway, the whole Doctor/River thing is very interesting, and I'm looking forward to next week, and I also hope River comes back again in the future. Or rather, I hope that we get to see at least some of when she comes back again in the future, since the fact of her coming back again seems pretty much assured, unless of course time gets rewritten because of some big crack in the universe or something.
And speaking of cracks, for some reason BBC America didn't show the "next time" trailer after their broadcast, but inexplicably did show it when I re-watched the episode through my cable system's "on demand" service (which I used for re-watching since a) it has fewer commercials than my recording and b) I like to think that someone somewhere is making note of how many people request the program). Anyway, I just saw the "next time" trailer and holy crack in the wall, Batman! Wow! I was not expecting that the Doctor would be coming face-to-face with the crack so soon, but apparently so. Also apparently the "don't blink" gets turned around to "don't open your eyes." That's going to be interesting. Very interesting. Very, very interesting. It will be even more interesting to see if I manage to wait the whole week for part 2, or go searching for it on the internet. Stay tuned to find out!
Well, I've been blathering on for awhile now and have managed to not even review the episode yet. So, a few quick thoughts about what I loved about it:
-- the way that River sends a message to the Doctor. The whole "it will end up in a museum" idea was very creative, and I also loved what it says about the Doctor's character that he goes to museums to laugh at what they get wrong and also keep score ("that's one of mine"), and it's especially wonderful that River knows this about him. Plus she sent a message in Old High Gallifreyan, as seen in "The Five Doctors!" Classic Who reference for the win! It even looked like Old High Gallifreyan (i.e., like the Greek alphabet and not like those geometric circle things).
-- the way the Doctor calls Amy "Pond." It just . . . goes with his tweed coat, somehow. Anyway, I've decided I really like it. In fact, I really liked Matt Smith's performance throughout this episode, which was a huge relief after the last two episodes. I want to like him, I really really do!
-- The labyrinth being full of Weeping Angels. When I saw a preview of this week's episode and saw all the statues, I assumed they were all Weeping Angels, so was actually very disappointed when it looked like they were just camouflage for the one real Angel. That moment when the Doctor and River realize that they're all Weeping Angels was both genuinely creepy and also a big "yay!" moment for me. (Okay, yes, I wanted them to be surrounded by killer statues, what can I say.) By the way, I also loved how the Doctor and River realized the truth at the same time, and both knew that the other had realized the truth without either of them saying anything. It was a nice "connection" moment between them that helps to sell the idea that they do become close at some point even though right now the Doctor is mostly annoyed by her, and she is mostly amused by him.
-- Amy figuring out how to save herself from the Angel-coming-out-of-the-looped-tape all by herself. Another example of how she's very capable, and I love that in a companion.
-- Amy trying to get the Doctor to leave her to die, and the Doctor refusing to leave, and then the Doctor biting her on the hand! That was a wonderful moment.
-- The Doctor's speech about how there's one thing you don't put in a trap -- him! Also, I have to give props to Matt Smith, because that's the kind of line that can come across as incredibly hokey if it's not sold correctly, but he delivered it very, very well, and I was all "Damn straight! Go Doctor!" at that moment. It wasn't even a problem that the moment was similar to his moment in "Eleventh Hour" when he said "Basically . . . run." I think that perhaps Eleven can say things like that every episode and manage to get away with it. We'll see.
Finally, I was just very happy to get a good episode -- in fact, a really good one. I hope next week's part 2 is just as strong!
So I'm slow on the uptake, but I didn't even realize that this episode was the crash of the Byzantium that River referred to back in "Silence in the Library" until
persiflage_1 pointed it out to me. Which is on the one hand way cool, and on the other hand a bit problematic for my viewpoint on that scene. See, I'd always assumed that the picnic at Asgard and the crash of the Byzantium must be events that happened to Ten since River a) recognizes Ten as the Doctor and b) knows that Ten is "early days" in his knowledge of her. However, we now have unequivocal proof that the crash happens to Eleven. So, it is now plausible that River just knew that Ten must be the Doctor without having actually met him before (after all, it's a pretty safe assumption for her to make, and also she apparently has pictures). She therefore must not know the order of the incarnations, and must think it possible that Ten came after Eleven, even though she somehow still knows it's one of his "early days" incarnations. That would suggest that she doesn't necessarily meet Ten at all other than in "Silence/Forest," and also suggest that she doesn't do a whole lot of meeting up with Eleven either. Just which incarnation does she consider "her" Doctor, anyway? I feel that it's presently an unanswerable question as to whether Ten met up with River again or not (unless of course it's answered next week . . . ). Either way, it's interesting to see Eleven's reaction to River in this episode. He definitely doesn't seem particularly close to her, and in fact seems mostly annoyed that she's shown up again -- it's very much a follow-on from his attitude in "Silence / Forest," in fact. He's resigned to the fact that she knows all this stuff about him but doesn't seem very happy about it, or happy about the way she uses him as a taxi service (not that I blame him on that one). In fact, the way he acts towards her reminded me of the way he used to treat the Time Lords when they would interfere in his life -- doing what's immediately asked and then trying to get out of there, until he's drawn into the current crisis.
That one line -- "he doesn't know who and what you are yet" -- was very provocative. Who and what could River be? My first wild thought was that she's the Rani or someone like that, but it doesn't make sense for her to be a Time Lord, because surely the Doctor would sense that. (And she can't be a fobwatched Time Lord because whatever this mystery is, River herself knows what it is.) Also, her character isn't like the Rani's character. Is she a time agent, like Jack? Is she a criminal? What was she in prison for? How many incarnations of the Doctor has she met by this time? I don't think she knows his name yet, but that's just a guess on my part.
I was a little disappointed that Amy brought up the theory about River being his wife, because I personally detest that theory and really, really hope that it doesn't turn out to be true. I just don't like the idea that the only way River could have a special relationship with the Doctor is because he married her. It reinforces an assumption that the ultimate goal of a companion is to get married (either to the Doctor or to, say, random scientists about to leave for the Amazon), and I don't like that assumption, for both personal and feminist reasons. I want River to know the Doctor's name because a) he trusts her that much and b) she helps him to resolve whatever situation caused him to have to hide his name in the first place. I want that line of the Doctor's -- "there's only one reason why I would ever tell my name" -- to refer to something huge, not just getting married. I mean, why would getting married be the one time he can tell his name? (Okay, my own biases are showing here, but if I can't air my personal biases in my personal journal, where else can I air them?)
Anyway, the whole Doctor/River thing is very interesting, and I'm looking forward to next week, and I also hope River comes back again in the future. Or rather, I hope that we get to see at least some of when she comes back again in the future, since the fact of her coming back again seems pretty much assured, unless of course time gets rewritten because of some big crack in the universe or something.
And speaking of cracks, for some reason BBC America didn't show the "next time" trailer after their broadcast, but inexplicably did show it when I re-watched the episode through my cable system's "on demand" service (which I used for re-watching since a) it has fewer commercials than my recording and b) I like to think that someone somewhere is making note of how many people request the program). Anyway, I just saw the "next time" trailer and holy crack in the wall, Batman! Wow! I was not expecting that the Doctor would be coming face-to-face with the crack so soon, but apparently so. Also apparently the "don't blink" gets turned around to "don't open your eyes." That's going to be interesting. Very interesting. Very, very interesting. It will be even more interesting to see if I manage to wait the whole week for part 2, or go searching for it on the internet. Stay tuned to find out!
Well, I've been blathering on for awhile now and have managed to not even review the episode yet. So, a few quick thoughts about what I loved about it:
-- the way that River sends a message to the Doctor. The whole "it will end up in a museum" idea was very creative, and I also loved what it says about the Doctor's character that he goes to museums to laugh at what they get wrong and also keep score ("that's one of mine"), and it's especially wonderful that River knows this about him. Plus she sent a message in Old High Gallifreyan, as seen in "The Five Doctors!" Classic Who reference for the win! It even looked like Old High Gallifreyan (i.e., like the Greek alphabet and not like those geometric circle things).
-- the way the Doctor calls Amy "Pond." It just . . . goes with his tweed coat, somehow. Anyway, I've decided I really like it. In fact, I really liked Matt Smith's performance throughout this episode, which was a huge relief after the last two episodes. I want to like him, I really really do!
-- The labyrinth being full of Weeping Angels. When I saw a preview of this week's episode and saw all the statues, I assumed they were all Weeping Angels, so was actually very disappointed when it looked like they were just camouflage for the one real Angel. That moment when the Doctor and River realize that they're all Weeping Angels was both genuinely creepy and also a big "yay!" moment for me. (Okay, yes, I wanted them to be surrounded by killer statues, what can I say.) By the way, I also loved how the Doctor and River realized the truth at the same time, and both knew that the other had realized the truth without either of them saying anything. It was a nice "connection" moment between them that helps to sell the idea that they do become close at some point even though right now the Doctor is mostly annoyed by her, and she is mostly amused by him.
-- Amy figuring out how to save herself from the Angel-coming-out-of-the-looped-tape all by herself. Another example of how she's very capable, and I love that in a companion.
-- Amy trying to get the Doctor to leave her to die, and the Doctor refusing to leave, and then the Doctor biting her on the hand! That was a wonderful moment.
-- The Doctor's speech about how there's one thing you don't put in a trap -- him! Also, I have to give props to Matt Smith, because that's the kind of line that can come across as incredibly hokey if it's not sold correctly, but he delivered it very, very well, and I was all "Damn straight! Go Doctor!" at that moment. It wasn't even a problem that the moment was similar to his moment in "Eleventh Hour" when he said "Basically . . . run." I think that perhaps Eleven can say things like that every episode and manage to get away with it. We'll see.
Finally, I was just very happy to get a good episode -- in fact, a really good one. I hope next week's part 2 is just as strong!