quick reactions to "Closing Time"

[dbskyler]

-- That was probably the least interesting use of the Cybermen since "Revenge of the Cybermen" in 1975. Very disappointing, especially given that Moffat had managed to make them incredibly scary again in "The Pandorica Opens."

-- Bitey!!! I loved him. Okay I admit it, I was very excited as soon as I realized we were getting a Cybermat in the episode. I'd missed them. (Is this their first appearance in New Who? I can't remember.) Anyway, yes, I very much enjoyed Bitey, especially his teeth and the way he went for the neck. He did help make up for the plodding Cybermen.

-- The best thing about putting Craig from "The Lodger" in a Cyberman suit is I really wasn't sure if he was going to be okay. In general you kind of assume that the Doctor and his companions are going to survive any danger you see them in, but Craig was fair game for being killed. (And okay, yes, they did kill off Rory too, and, um, also the Doctor, but those were shocks because those deaths broke with our expectations.) This time, I was honestly frightened for Craig because I didn't know if he was going to become a Cyberman, and I didn't want him to. Yay for the power of a baby's cries! (And yeah, it was a little sappy, but it worked for me because it was a baby. I think there really is something primal about responding to that. Hey, if baby cries can cause mothers to spontaneously lactate, why can't they cause fathers to spontaneously throw off Cyberman conditioning?)

-- All that stuff with the Doctor going to his death was so sad! Oh, Doctor. Although I do have to wonder why the date was "tomorrow," especially as he seemed to have been gallivanting around in time and space for the last 200 years. He knows the date of his death, but can't he get to it whenever he wants to? How does he know that his personal time has run out?

-- Speaking of gallivanting around in time and space, he was saying goodbye to old friends on his final tour? It's like a reprise of what Ten did before regenerating, except we didn't get to see most of it. Fanfic, please!

-- He got the hat and the envelopes from Craig. Oh, and then what he said to the kids: "I'm the Doctor. I was here to help." It makes me want to cry, it really does.

-- Then: River! With evil, nasty eyepatch lady! I was trying to figure out if River had become friends with the Doctor by that point. It looked like she'd started to write in her diary, and she was investigating the Doctor's death in order to try to prevent it? So I'm guessing a fair amount of time had gone by, with maybe a visit or two.

And now we are back to the beginning, and next week we FINALLY get the answer to what happened during "The Impossible Astronaut!" Whoo hoo, can't wait!

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I did choke on Eleven telling the kids "I'm the Doctor, I was here to help", but until River at the end, I found it kind of dull and plodding.

And I wouldn't bet on everything being resolved next week.

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the plot was dull overall. I enjoyed the bits around the plot, but not the plot itself.

Wait, we're not getting resolution next week?? I'll be okay with one loose thread (like last season's "what is the silence"), but we better get the Doctor's death resolved! (Don't tell me if you know whether we do or not.)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I felt the Cybermen were totally wasted.

Actually I have no idea whatsoever - it's just that there's so much to resolve, I can't see Moffat fitting it all into a mere 45 (or even 50!) minutes!

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Yeah, good point. I hope he manages to resolve most of it, though! At least we do know the answers to some of it, like "who was in the spacesuit?" and "why did River kill the Doctor?" All we really need the answer to is that pesky little question of how the Doctor is going to get out of this.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Actually the person in the space suit isn't explained at all. If it's River in the suit when it emerges from the lake, how come there's a *young girl* (apparently a younger version of River) in it when they're in the warehouse with Canton??

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Yeah, all that stuff with River's childhood might remain unexplained. I'd still like to know how she got from New York in 1969 to Leadworth in, what, early 1990s?

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Yes! Especially since she says she regenerated into a toddler!