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"Flesh and Stone" reaction post
Okay, I already did a mini-reaction yesterday, but today is the full-on version.
That was awesome.
First, it was great to once again get a really good episode, something that was interesting and exciting and had lots of great dialogue in it. The Doctor: "We all plunge to our deaths. See, I thought about it." I really liked Matt Smith's performance in this, and there were great moments between him and Amy, him and River, him and Angel Bob, and him and the bishop. Really interesting that one of this Doctor's defining characteristics seems to be sudden bursts of anger, as if he's been holding his temper for a long time but suddenly can't any longer. In "Victory of the Daleks" his outburst felt forced to me, but this time I believed it.
I would normally talk now about the plot, but forget the plot; really what this episode was all about was the crack-in-the-universe arc for this series. Back in my review for "Victory of the Daleks," I complained about the poor plot in that episode and in "Beast Below," and I said:
I'm starting to think that Moffat is only exceptional at plot when he's doing one Doctor Who story a year. Or maybe he's putting all of his plotting finesse into the overall arc? It better be one hell of a payoff then to make up for the sloppy writing we're getting along the way.
Well, if this episode is anything to go by, then oh my yes, it's going to be one hell of a payoff.
What do we know?
-- crack in the universe is happening
-- crack can be stopped by throwing in a major event in space and time. Exhibit A of one example of said event: the Doctor.
-- River kills "the best man she's ever known." Furthermore, the Doctor is told he doesn't want to know who she killed, and is also told not to trust her. Those are some pretty big pointers towards her killing the Doctor -- possibly by throwing him into some big crack in the universe? We do know that she meets up with him again "soon." Fortunately for us and Matt Smith's contract, we also know that time can be rewritten.
And then there's that moment when the Doctor goes back to comfort Amy, taking her hands and telling her to trust him, and to remember what he told her when she was seven. Or at least, that's the way I originally saw that scene. But after reading the posts of people who are far more observant than I am, I have had it pointed out to me that the Doctor appears to be wearing his coat in that scene, and he earlier lost his coat to a Weeping Angel. The speculation is that this is a later version of the Doctor who has crossed his own timeline in order to deliver this cryptic message to Amy. Well, I've gone back and re-watched that scene, and let me tell you, that is so the Doctor crossing his timeline! The expressions on his face, the way he treats Amy -- kissing her on the forehead when thirty seconds ago he gave her a pat -- the urgency with which he delivers the message, as if it's incredibly important to the fate of the universe -- what wonderful give-away clues that weren't give-aways at all until pointed out! How very well written, and very well played.
And now I'm going to have to watch out not just for cracks, but the Doctor. How is this going to play out? How is he going to rewrite time? Did the earlier version of the Doctor know that the later version was there? (It's hinted at in his line: "If anything happens to her, I'm going to hold you all personally responsible -- twice!") Did the two of them have a long conversation before the Doctor joined up with everyone in the forest? Is this about stopping the crack? Is it about saving the Doctor's life? Or is it about both, or neither?
Why does Amy have to remember? Apparently it's the remembering itself that's important, not what the Doctor said to her (because after all, he could just say whatever it was again). Amy as a time-traveler remembers things even when time has been changed; does she have to remember the Doctor? If so, then why does she have to remember him from when she was a child? And what does this all have to do with the sound of the TARDIS materializing when Amelia was seven? Because I bet it does have something to do with it. Also, why is it so incredibly important that Amy trust the Doctor?
As I said, I think we're getting one hell of a payoff. Also, I already think this is the best damn arc Doctor Who has ever had. Forget "Bad Wolf," "Torchwood," "Vote Saxon" and "There's something on your back;" move over "Key to Time." This is how you do an arc.
I am so, so, so excited. And even willing to sit through a few more bad episodes on the way if I have to. (Hope I don't have to, though.)
That was awesome.
First, it was great to once again get a really good episode, something that was interesting and exciting and had lots of great dialogue in it. The Doctor: "We all plunge to our deaths. See, I thought about it." I really liked Matt Smith's performance in this, and there were great moments between him and Amy, him and River, him and Angel Bob, and him and the bishop. Really interesting that one of this Doctor's defining characteristics seems to be sudden bursts of anger, as if he's been holding his temper for a long time but suddenly can't any longer. In "Victory of the Daleks" his outburst felt forced to me, but this time I believed it.
I would normally talk now about the plot, but forget the plot; really what this episode was all about was the crack-in-the-universe arc for this series. Back in my review for "Victory of the Daleks," I complained about the poor plot in that episode and in "Beast Below," and I said:
I'm starting to think that Moffat is only exceptional at plot when he's doing one Doctor Who story a year. Or maybe he's putting all of his plotting finesse into the overall arc? It better be one hell of a payoff then to make up for the sloppy writing we're getting along the way.
Well, if this episode is anything to go by, then oh my yes, it's going to be one hell of a payoff.
What do we know?
-- crack in the universe is happening
-- crack can be stopped by throwing in a major event in space and time. Exhibit A of one example of said event: the Doctor.
-- River kills "the best man she's ever known." Furthermore, the Doctor is told he doesn't want to know who she killed, and is also told not to trust her. Those are some pretty big pointers towards her killing the Doctor -- possibly by throwing him into some big crack in the universe? We do know that she meets up with him again "soon." Fortunately for us and Matt Smith's contract, we also know that time can be rewritten.
And then there's that moment when the Doctor goes back to comfort Amy, taking her hands and telling her to trust him, and to remember what he told her when she was seven. Or at least, that's the way I originally saw that scene. But after reading the posts of people who are far more observant than I am, I have had it pointed out to me that the Doctor appears to be wearing his coat in that scene, and he earlier lost his coat to a Weeping Angel. The speculation is that this is a later version of the Doctor who has crossed his own timeline in order to deliver this cryptic message to Amy. Well, I've gone back and re-watched that scene, and let me tell you, that is so the Doctor crossing his timeline! The expressions on his face, the way he treats Amy -- kissing her on the forehead when thirty seconds ago he gave her a pat -- the urgency with which he delivers the message, as if it's incredibly important to the fate of the universe -- what wonderful give-away clues that weren't give-aways at all until pointed out! How very well written, and very well played.
And now I'm going to have to watch out not just for cracks, but the Doctor. How is this going to play out? How is he going to rewrite time? Did the earlier version of the Doctor know that the later version was there? (It's hinted at in his line: "If anything happens to her, I'm going to hold you all personally responsible -- twice!") Did the two of them have a long conversation before the Doctor joined up with everyone in the forest? Is this about stopping the crack? Is it about saving the Doctor's life? Or is it about both, or neither?
Why does Amy have to remember? Apparently it's the remembering itself that's important, not what the Doctor said to her (because after all, he could just say whatever it was again). Amy as a time-traveler remembers things even when time has been changed; does she have to remember the Doctor? If so, then why does she have to remember him from when she was a child? And what does this all have to do with the sound of the TARDIS materializing when Amelia was seven? Because I bet it does have something to do with it. Also, why is it so incredibly important that Amy trust the Doctor?
As I said, I think we're getting one hell of a payoff. Also, I already think this is the best damn arc Doctor Who has ever had. Forget "Bad Wolf," "Torchwood," "Vote Saxon" and "There's something on your back;" move over "Key to Time." This is how you do an arc.
I am so, so, so excited. And even willing to sit through a few more bad episodes on the way if I have to. (Hope I don't have to, though.)
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I'm generally terribly unobservant until someone else points out these things, but the scene where the Doctor comes back to comfort Amy seemed precious and somewhat out of place even to me on the first viewing. Matt did a terrific job of playing that as a very different, tender and desperate mood.
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.... and then for him to suddenly just appear again?
Normally I don't buy into theories like this but this one doesn't have quite as convoluted evidence as some others I've heard over the years. I'm getting excited.
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