Almost People reaction post
Jun. 7th, 2011 10:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dbskylerFinally got a chance to see "The Almost People," so here is what I thought of it:
Well, it was better than "Rebel Flesh," but not by much. I still had a lot of trouble caring about the factory workers. I still can't tell you most of their names. I got Jennifer and Miranda, and, um, Adam's Dad, and that's it. And yes, I know Adam's name, but not the name of his father. You know, that what's-his-face guy whom I was supposed to care deeply about as he lay there dying. Except I never quite caught his name, let alone anything else about him, so it was kind of hard to care.
This is obviously a huge problem with the script. As for the rest of the problems, I'm torn on whether they were script problems or director problems. I suspect they were a little of both.
Additional problem 1: I lost track of which Doctor was which very early on. Okay, as I found out later, they switched, but since I had already lost track of who I was supposed to think was who, the revelation about the switch didn't mean a thing to me. I can't help but think this was not what was intended. If you want to make a big deal about how real Doctor is wearing different shoes from Flesh Doctor, maybe you should show us the shoes more than just the one time? Just a thought. Or better yet, have them wearing different jackets instead, as that would be immediately obvious in every single scene.
Additional problem 2: I don't understand the justification for the switch. Why is Amy's perspective so important? How does that tie into the fact that she herself is a ganger? I just don't get it. Mostly it seemed like a technobabble explanation for a "hey, wouldn't it be cool if they switched?" plot device.
Additional problem 3: Jennifer. She's the new character whom we learn the most about (i.e., we learn something, unlike most everyone else), but she comes off to me as a huge mass of contradictions. How is frightened Jennifer from "Rebel Flesh" the same person as "red wellies made me strong" Jennifer from "Almost People"? Was there a transition there that I missed somehow?
Additional problem 4: Revelations that aren't revelations. As soon as we saw that Jennifer was registering as not human on the computer, it was obvious that she was a ganger. So then the "OMG, you were both gangers!" moment lost all its value. Why did they do that? It would've been far better if they'd let the audience find that out at the same time Rory does. It might've actually made me sit up in my seat a little, instead of the yawning reaction they got instead.
Additional problem 5: By the end, I had completely lost track (yet again) of who was alive, who was dead, who was real, and who was a ganger. This is obviously related to not knowing who they all were in the first place, the big problem from part one, but it's a problem that it's still a problem in part two. Even now, when I try to think back, I can't tell you what happened to everyone. For example, what about jokey woman? When's the last time we saw her, or her ganger? I honestly don't know.
Things that were good (because I actually thought there were a few good things this time):
-- Matt Smith. He was outstanding. It was a real pleasure to see him play off himself.
-- The ganger!Amy revelation at the end. I wasn't expecting it, and it was interesting. It also, I presume, explains the TARDIS' pregnant/not pregnant readings -- real Amy is pregnant, while the ganger wasn't pregnant. Although I must admit that I still mourn for Schrodinger pregnancy, as that would've been far cooler.
(Also, by the way, I've seen some people talk about how jarring it was to have a whole episode on the rights of gangers, and then watch the Doctor just dissolve Amy's ganger. I have to agree, although I'm assuming that Amy's ganger wasn't self-aware. Still, with all that business about the rotting ganger flesh, it seemed like a strange thing. Is this yet another issue with the writing, or will it come up next episode?)
So now, thoughts on next time:
-- I guess real Amy has been missing since the beginning of "Impossible Astronaut"? But then who took her, and why? And why replace her with a ganger?
-- After watching the episode through twice (which I was able to do without turning it off in boredom, unlike part one, yay), I have come to the conclusion that Amy told the real Doctor about seeing his death (thinking, of course, that it was Flesh Doctor at the time). That's interesting. Very, very interesting.
-- I still hope that the Doctor we saw die isn't the Flesh Doctor, just because I still think that would be a cheat. Of course, I don't want Real Doctor to permanently die, either. I want a cool, timey-wimey escape clause. Come on, Moffat, if anyone can do it, you can!
-- I suspect that we won't find out about the Doctor's death in the next episode. However, we apparently are going to find out about River in the next episode. I really, really hope it's good!
Reminder: The U.S. is now a week behind the UK, so I have NOT seen the next episode. So please, no spoilers for it in the comments! Thank you. : )
Well, it was better than "Rebel Flesh," but not by much. I still had a lot of trouble caring about the factory workers. I still can't tell you most of their names. I got Jennifer and Miranda, and, um, Adam's Dad, and that's it. And yes, I know Adam's name, but not the name of his father. You know, that what's-his-face guy whom I was supposed to care deeply about as he lay there dying. Except I never quite caught his name, let alone anything else about him, so it was kind of hard to care.
This is obviously a huge problem with the script. As for the rest of the problems, I'm torn on whether they were script problems or director problems. I suspect they were a little of both.
Additional problem 1: I lost track of which Doctor was which very early on. Okay, as I found out later, they switched, but since I had already lost track of who I was supposed to think was who, the revelation about the switch didn't mean a thing to me. I can't help but think this was not what was intended. If you want to make a big deal about how real Doctor is wearing different shoes from Flesh Doctor, maybe you should show us the shoes more than just the one time? Just a thought. Or better yet, have them wearing different jackets instead, as that would be immediately obvious in every single scene.
Additional problem 2: I don't understand the justification for the switch. Why is Amy's perspective so important? How does that tie into the fact that she herself is a ganger? I just don't get it. Mostly it seemed like a technobabble explanation for a "hey, wouldn't it be cool if they switched?" plot device.
Additional problem 3: Jennifer. She's the new character whom we learn the most about (i.e., we learn something, unlike most everyone else), but she comes off to me as a huge mass of contradictions. How is frightened Jennifer from "Rebel Flesh" the same person as "red wellies made me strong" Jennifer from "Almost People"? Was there a transition there that I missed somehow?
Additional problem 4: Revelations that aren't revelations. As soon as we saw that Jennifer was registering as not human on the computer, it was obvious that she was a ganger. So then the "OMG, you were both gangers!" moment lost all its value. Why did they do that? It would've been far better if they'd let the audience find that out at the same time Rory does. It might've actually made me sit up in my seat a little, instead of the yawning reaction they got instead.
Additional problem 5: By the end, I had completely lost track (yet again) of who was alive, who was dead, who was real, and who was a ganger. This is obviously related to not knowing who they all were in the first place, the big problem from part one, but it's a problem that it's still a problem in part two. Even now, when I try to think back, I can't tell you what happened to everyone. For example, what about jokey woman? When's the last time we saw her, or her ganger? I honestly don't know.
Things that were good (because I actually thought there were a few good things this time):
-- Matt Smith. He was outstanding. It was a real pleasure to see him play off himself.
-- The ganger!Amy revelation at the end. I wasn't expecting it, and it was interesting. It also, I presume, explains the TARDIS' pregnant/not pregnant readings -- real Amy is pregnant, while the ganger wasn't pregnant. Although I must admit that I still mourn for Schrodinger pregnancy, as that would've been far cooler.
(Also, by the way, I've seen some people talk about how jarring it was to have a whole episode on the rights of gangers, and then watch the Doctor just dissolve Amy's ganger. I have to agree, although I'm assuming that Amy's ganger wasn't self-aware. Still, with all that business about the rotting ganger flesh, it seemed like a strange thing. Is this yet another issue with the writing, or will it come up next episode?)
So now, thoughts on next time:
-- I guess real Amy has been missing since the beginning of "Impossible Astronaut"? But then who took her, and why? And why replace her with a ganger?
-- After watching the episode through twice (which I was able to do without turning it off in boredom, unlike part one, yay), I have come to the conclusion that Amy told the real Doctor about seeing his death (thinking, of course, that it was Flesh Doctor at the time). That's interesting. Very, very interesting.
-- I still hope that the Doctor we saw die isn't the Flesh Doctor, just because I still think that would be a cheat. Of course, I don't want Real Doctor to permanently die, either. I want a cool, timey-wimey escape clause. Come on, Moffat, if anyone can do it, you can!
-- I suspect that we won't find out about the Doctor's death in the next episode. However, we apparently are going to find out about River in the next episode. I really, really hope it's good!
Reminder: The U.S. is now a week behind the UK, so I have NOT seen the next episode. So please, no spoilers for it in the comments! Thank you. : )
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-08 05:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-08 05:54 am (UTC)Arrgh, this episode! I swear, I needed a score card. Or a far better script.
But yes, I did at least get that Flesh Miranda and Flesh Doctor sacrificed themselves at the end to hold the door closed against
that monster from "The Lazarus Experiment"Jennifer.(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-08 06:01 am (UTC)There were five people in the factor Miranda Cleaves (the foreman), Jennifer, Buzzer (whose independent ganger was killed by Miranda), Jimmy (Adam's dad) and Dicken.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-08 06:13 am (UTC)Dicken? Who's Dicken? Can you give me a hint? Did he say anything? Do anything? Die in any particular way? I'm drawing a complete blank.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-08 07:20 am (UTC)In the meantime, above from left to right, Miranda Cleaves, Amy, Jimmy (Adam's dad), Dicken, and Buzzer (whose indepedent ganger was the first to be killed - by Miranda).
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-08 10:19 pm (UTC)ganger Buzzer -- killed by real Miranda
real Buzzer -- killed by ganger Jennifer
ganger Jennifer -- one killed by ganger Jennifer, and the other killed by ganger Doctor
real Jennifer -- kllled by ganger Jennifer
ganger Dicken -- survived
real Dicken -- sacrificed himself to go lock the other door (and he was sneezing guy! I kept mixing him up with Adam's Dad)
ganger Adam's Dad -- survived
real Adam's Dad -- killed by acid
ganger Miranda -- sacrificed herself
real Miranda -- survived
ganger Doctor -- sacrificed himself
real Doctor -- survived
Still, it shouldn't have been that hard to keep track. I can still tell you what happened to everyone in "Silence of the Library / Forest of the Dead," and it's been at least a year since I've seen it.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-09 05:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-08 04:27 pm (UTC)Quickly - the Doctor switched because he needed to know if Amy's ganger was self-aware or not. Was ganger!Amy being controlled by real Amy, or was it independent. The solution the Doctor came up with was to switch places with his own ganger. By switching places with his ganger, he can observe her carefully, from two perspectives. He can also see how she responds to ganger!Doctor. Presumably, if ganger!Amy was self-aware, she would have been more sympathetic to the gangers in general.
After watching both episodes, I think most of the problem was with the director. The script itself wasn't too bad, but I daresay the director spent so much effort on getting the (very difficult) technical issues taken care of, the story was left a bit cold, or flat.
More later, probably :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-08 10:33 pm (UTC)Hmm. That would be a good reason. I didn't get that from the episode at all (not even after having just re-watched it), but I like it.
I think most of the problem was with the director
I think you're right. Well, there were places where a better script would've helped -- I still maintain that we needed some character-defining dialogue for each member of the guest cast right off the bat -- but the direction made things worse. It was very easy to lose track of who people were, where they were, etc. The thing with not showing us the Doctor's shoes was definitely the director's fault, although I also think the script set it up to be a problem. If you want the audience to always think they know who is real Doctor and who is ganger Doctor, which seems to be what was intended, then give them an obvious difference in their clothing that will be apparent in every scene. Shoes are just not going to cut it. In fact, even when we were shown the shoes, I wasn't sure which were the Doctor's shoes and which were the borrowed ones. But I would've noticed a missing jacket.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-09 05:54 am (UTC)And yes, she does tell the real Doctor that he invites her to his death.
And it was the real Doctor who was rough with Amy in the hall, during the same scene. It's chilling!
Overall, I worship Matt's performance in these episodes. I mean, I normally worship Matt's performance anyway, but he's so very good here -- even when he's not getting much help from the director.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-09 06:32 am (UTC)(Although I do have to concede that the director had six actors playing twelve characters, many of whom appeared in scenes with each other, so it must have been a horrendously difficult episode to shoot from a technical standpoint. That part, at least, was done well.)
And it was the real Doctor who was rough with Amy in the hall, during the same scene. It's chilling!
I figured that out the second time through. It is chilling! The whole Flesh being telepathic thing was odd, though, as they connected with the Doctor, but apparently not with each other. I'll be curious to see if there's more on that in the next episode.
Matt's performance in this was stellar, I agree.