five days until the Pandorica opens!

[dbskyler]

*bounce* *bounce* *bounce* *bounce* *bounce*

We had another national holiday here in the States, which put the BBC America schedule back an extra week, so yes, FOUR weeks behind now. But I am getting really, really, really excited for part one of the finale which is finally, finally finally coming up this Saturday!

So far, I know exactly two things about the finale:



1) River will be back; and
2) there will be fezzes. Or at least, one fez. A rather fetching red one.



And that's it! That is all I know! So unless #2 turns out to be an unexpectedly huge plot point, I have been successful in sticking to the U.S. broadcast schedule without getting spoiled. Of course, I might still get spoiled somehow in the next two weeks, but hopefully not. And after all, the rest of you guys are all well past the finale now and on to other things. How about that World Cup, huh?

Meanwhile, I saw "The Lodger" last weekend and I really enjoyed it. It was just a lot of fun to watch, and what a moment when we saw the TARDIS disappear! The "what the hell is at the top of the stairs?" mystery was effective at carrying the story along, and the humor of watching the Doctor try to be a "normal bloke" was wonderfully realized in both the script and the acting. I also appreciated watching Matt Smith play soccer football, which he apparently is very good at in real life (which showed).

I'm not so sure about the head-banging telepathy, though; that seemed like a bit of needless slapstick. But that was really my only complaint. I've read that some people didn't appreciate how many deaths there were while the Doctor was off playing footie and generally hanging around, but the Doctor has never been omniscient, and to me it seemed that he really didn't realize that people were dying whenever the time started going wonky until the very end. I think he was assuming that no one ever went up there, and I agree that if he thought there was imminent danger to people he would have been far more confrontational right from the start.

While some past episodes seem as if they were originally written for David Tennant's Doctor, this one came across to me as if it had been written for Matt Smith's Doctor. (And yes, that's despite the fact that it's loosely based on a Tenth Doctor comic.) Certainly the Eleventh Doctor is particularly good at being eccentric, and this episode really played to his strengths. The love story was very sweet and not overdone at all, and while I didn't quite get what the ship and its hologrammatic pilot were doing there in the first place, I didn't really need to; the ending was still very satisfying. Just as "Amy's Choice" showed us that domestic life isn't that bad, this episode showed us that hanging on the couch at home can save the solar system. Yay!

I did notice that there were some Doctors missing in the flashback, but I'm not sure if that's significant or not. Maybe they're just getting tired of showing everyone every time there's a "previous Doctors" flashback? Although it was interesting that the Ninth and Tenth Doctors were shown out of order . . . is that crack-related, or just a random insignificant thing?

As for the end . . . Amy found the ring! Does she remember Rory? Will she remember Rory? Will Rory come back? And the crack! The crack is back and looking ominous . . . and it's apparently following the Doctor around, not Amy, since it was in the apartment and Amy wasn't. Or perhaps it's just generally appearing everywhere?

And now back to the finale countdown, as I sit on my couch at home . . . :D



*bounce* *bounce* *bounce* *bounce* *bounce*

Comments

[pitry.livejournal.com]

Does this mean we'll have you back full time in 2 weeks? :)

(shall not respond to anything out of fear of spoilerage)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Well, some of my recent absence has been due to RL issues, but yes, I will definitely be around LJ a whole lot more once I've safely caught up!

[pitry.livejournal.com]

*hugs for RL issues*

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Thanks! *hugs back*

[taiamu.livejournal.com]

I will just say that the finale is made of win! Enjoy. :)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Whoo-hoo! Good to know -- looking forward to it! :D

[shadowturquoise.livejournal.com]

So far, I know exactly two things about the finale

Oh wow! I am so impressed you've made it so far! Especially with the spoilery icons so many people are freely using. I'm just as excited about you seeing it as I was when I saw them. I managed to remain unspoiled and it was absolutely worth it. You've got some good surprises coming.

I also appreciated watching Matt Smith play soccer
I'm not a sports fan, and by that point I was so sick of hearing about the World Cup that if he had just been a spectator I'd have fast forwarded through the game in the park. But I really loved how "alien" Eleven is. That is something I've really missed in NuWho and I'm glad it is back.


I'm not so sure about the head-banging telepathy, though; that seemed like a bit of needless slapstick.
Yeah, I wasn't fond of that either. There were some moms on my flist that were upset that it would cause kids on the playground to go around head-banging each other and get really hurt. As much as they like to see kids emulate the show you'd have thought they would have considered that.

While some past episodes seem as if they were originally written for David Tennant's Doctor. . .
OK, you've got me curious. Which ones and why? I really haven't given that much thought and I'd love to see your observations.

The crack is back and looking ominous . . . and it's apparently following the Doctor around, not Amy, since it was in the apartment and Amy wasn't. Or perhaps it's just generally appearing everywhere?
It's everywhere. Remember the Fish woman said that her people were running from the Silence and jumped through a crack to get away from it. That some cracks led to other worlds and some led to nothing. Also Prisoner Zero escaped by coming through a crack.

As for the end . . . Amy found the ring! Does she remember Rory? Will she remember Rory? Will Rory come back? And the crack!
Spoilers! ;-)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! I am so impressed you've made it so far!

I'm kind of impressed, too. I was spoiled for "Stolen Earth" by this point in S4 -- although that was Graham Norton's fault -- and I got spoiled for Torchwood's "Children of Earth," too. Fortunately, my past spoiler experiences have proved useful in helping me figure out what to avoid this time around!

Especially with the spoilery icons so many people are freely using.

I think I've just been lucky with the icons -- or perhaps I've seen spoilery icons without realizing that they're spoilery? Nothing has stuck in my head, anyway, other than the fez. Of course, I've been avoiding a lot of communities, so I am seeing a lot fewer icons than usual.

I really loved how "alien" Eleven is. That is something I've really missed in NuWho and I'm glad it is back.

I agree. I think he's the most alien Doctor we've had since the Fourth Doctor, and it's one of my favorite things about Eleven.

While some past episodes seem as if they were originally written for David Tennant's Doctor. . .
OK, you've got me curious. Which ones and why?

Both "Victory of the Daleks" and "Vampires of Venice" had lines that would have been in-jokes for David Tennant -- "Paisley boy" in VotD (DT grew up near Paisley) and a reference to Casanova in VoV (DT played Casanova in an earlier show for RTD). So that's part of it. But there's also been a general feeling that certain scenes were written to David's strengths -- I got that feeling in "Beast Below," for instance, for the "no one talks to me today" scene. In fact, it wasn't until "Amy's Choice" that I felt the scripts had been written with Matt Smith in mind. Now there's two possible reasons for that -- first, it could be that the earliest scripts were started before it was known that David would no longer be playing the Doctor; or second, it could be that I as a viewer finally let go of David as the Doctor by the later episodes. But the in-joke lines do strike me as being suspiciously in-jokey, so while I confess it could be partially me, I don't think it's all me.

It's everywhere. Remember the Fish woman said that her people were running from the Silence and jumped through a crack to get away from it. That some cracks led to other worlds and some led to nothing. Also Prisoner Zero escaped by coming through a crack.

Good points. Yes. Hmmm. So sometimes the crack transports you, and sometimes it erases you. And sometimes it allows you to stick your hand in and grab TARDIS shrapnel . . . ack, I'm no good at this speculation stuff. I'll just have to wait and find out!

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Given how far in advance Moffat and co knew that DT was leaving, I don't see how any of the episodes could have been *deliberately* written with Tennant in mind. I do think it's possible some of the writers didn't try very hard to differentiate between Tennant's and Smith's Doctors (which is an entirely different issue).

As for the jokes - those work as in-jokes for Who, without necessarily needing to be specifically in-jokes for DT - after all, most Who fans will know DT and RTD worked together on Casanova. And Moffat was born in Paisley...

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

True, "Paisley boy" could be a Moffat in-joke. Or neither could be in-jokes at all.

I know DT gave them a lot of lead time, but I thought scripts had a lot of lead time, too. For instance, Moffat used "Eleventh Hour" in the auditions for casting Eleven. But he may have written that early out of necessity.

I've heard writers say that they just write "the Doctor" without thinking of the specific actor (in fact, I think both RTD and Moffat have said this), but it seems that there must be at least a subconscious feeling of how a given actor might play a scene while you're writing it. I know that as a fanfic writer and reader, I'm very aware of which incarnation of the Doctor is being portrayed, and in fact I get annoyed by stories that are supposedly about Eleven, say, or Nine, but that have dialogue that comes across to me as Ten instead. So perhaps it is a differentiation issue; and after all, the first writers didn't have any way of knowing what Matt would be like in the role.

Or else maybe it's me getting used to Matt . . . certainly possible!

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Nope, the scripts are never written that far in advance of the filming - so the assigned writers should've known from the outset that they were writing for Matt not David.

[tempestas-inu.livejournal.com]

*bounces with you*

Even though I've seen the episodes, I've been getting really excited to see the finale on my own TV screen. I commend you for managing to only get those two itty bitty spoilers (the first one isn't much of a spoiler at all too, considering River was in the preview). I could've never lasted this long without somehow getting massively spoiled, which is part of the reason I watched it with the Brits, so that there wouldn't be any time to allow me to get spoiled (and even then I managed to get spoiled about a semi-big tidbit, man I'm hopeless). Augh, hopefully BBCA doesn't get this behind again.

I really liked the Lodger too. Fun breather episode (except the creepy part), and it was a great showcase of Eleven's traits. He's so odd and utterly fails at social skills, but its part of his charm... added to the fact he doesn't really give a damn either. But as alien as he may be, I like that a big thing with Eleven is taking care of other people, like the matchmaking (with Amy and Rory as much as Craig and Sophie), or helping Sophie pursue her dreams, or taking care of ailing Craig.

I found the headbutt to be humorous, but yeah, unnecessary... nice past Doctor eye candy though, I liked the shot of Three. Someone said they thought the whole scene was making fun of the more intimate mind-meld of Girl in the Fireplace fame.

as for the finale...... sit back and enjoy the ride

*bounces some more*

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Yes, there's something about watching it on TV. It's just better. That, and the excitement of anticipation, knowing that the new episode is coming, has helped me through this delayed viewing schedule. Not that I wouldn't prefer it to be less delayed! Oh well, hopefully it will be better next year (not that I expect it will).

River isn't really a spoiler, I agree. We've known she'd be around for the finale since "Flesh and Stone," haven't we? And if something is in the preview, I don't consider it a spoiler anyway.

it was a great showcase of Eleven's traits. He's so odd and utterly fails at social skills, but its part of his charm... added to the fact he doesn't really give a damn either. But as alien as he may be, I like that a big thing with Eleven is taking care of other people

Great observations on Eleven. Yes, he is a caretaker, isn't he? I really like that aspect of him. As for the shots of past Doctors, I always squee when they give us that. This series has had multiple episodes that have shown us brief glimpses of past Doctors, which has been really nice.

as for the finale...... sit back and enjoy the ride

I plan to! Oooh, I'm so excited that people thought it was good!

[pitry.livejournal.com]

I plan to! Oooh, I'm so excited that people thought it was good!

Hey, even *I* liked it :D

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Well then, now I know it's good! :D

[pitry.livejournal.com]

(or maybe, you should start worrying that it;s terrible :P :P :P)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Can't be as bad as "Last of the Time Lords"! ;P

[thisbluespirit]

Aw, glad you're enjoying things. I can't remember where I felt we'd moved away from Ten, but I did also get that - I think it may be that with a new Doctor coming up, until they've seen him, the writers would be more generic 'Doctor' and maybe Matt's confidence in playing that in his own way increased over the series. He said something like that in the last DWM, I seem to think. But I get what you mean. He plays it fast, not unlike Ten, so it took a while before he finally stepped clear as Eleven, despite having definite characteristics and doing a great turn from Day 1.

(This icon is of my favourite gratuitous past Doctor refs of the lot. A Hartnell library ticket! I don't squeak with joy easily, but that did it, and I had to go find an icon. :lol:)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Yes, it could well be Matt's confidence, too. Or perhaps a combination of my acceptance, the writers' writing, and his confidence. No matter what, I do finally feel that we have all now officially moved on!

Hee, I remember seeing that icon before I saw the episode, and I got excited by it and tried to imagine the scene it would be in. I thought of the Doctor being asked to identify himself and presenting the library card to some authority figure who would then scoff at the idea that it was him, with the Doctor responding, "Oh, sorry -- it's an old photo."

Then I thought my version was funnier than what they actually did, and I was disappointed. But yes, it was still great to see Hartnell!