Go Go Dalek Rangers!!
Jan. 2nd, 2011 03:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mercy_angel_09So I finally got around to watching all of series (season) five of Doctor Who. I love how utterly adorkable Matt Smith is. I kind of want to cuddle him - bowtie and fez included. I think Amy is great as a companion, capable of holding her own and despite initial "meh" feelings towards her I really grew to appreciate her in the last episodes of the season. I also love Rory. He's a great foil to the Doctor and he's so in love with Amy I get all "b'aaaaaaaaw" when I see him.
As to the content of the season, I would have to say the strongest episode is "Vincent and the Doctor" which is a well done episode about depression and the impact that the Doctor has on the lives of those he meets. Surprisingly the episode doesn't get overly preachy about depression, and is wrapped up quite nicely by the Doctor at the end.
Amy: We didn't make a difference at all.
The Doctor: I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey. (hugs Amy) The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.
With a subject like depression and suicide, especially in a children's show, you walk the fine line of being overly preachy and making it ridiculous, however writer Richard Curtis handles it well and in the corresponding episode of "Confidential" remarks that it's never too soon to teach children that depression is an illness and deserves compassion and patience. Yes, we got that from the same guy who wrote Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. Make of it what you will.
I don't know if there were any really weak episodes, but if I had to pick the weakest episode of the season I would have to go with "The Beast Below" because of when it was placed. Amy, in terms of relating to the Doctor, comes off as a bit of a Mary Sue because of how quickly she understands how lonely he is. However as the series continues you realize that Amy is also very much alone in the town where she grew up (except for Rory who just adores her, and thankfully by the end of "Amy's Choice" you realize that she genuinely loves him too), it makes her able to the Doctor a lot easier than Rose, who is implied to have close friends and of course her mother and Mickey. I feel that if "The Beast Below" had aired more towards the middle of the season, Amy would have come off less as a Mary Sue and writer's pet. However the episode itself isn't bad, but probably would have been stronger if it aired later.
So the Weeping Angels still scare the crap out of me, and I feel like now should be a good time to mention that my mother's nickname for me is "Angel" and that I collect angel figurines. Most of which are in my bedroom. As you can imagine, I didn't sleep well. (Well, part of that was the weird Slayers/Doctor Who dreams that didn't make any sense. XD) The Daleks now look like a super sentai team (hence this entry's title of "Go Go Dalek Rangers!!"). The penultimate episode features the who's who of Who monsters (sorry, couldn't resist) and even pausing the frame in Confidential I couldn't name everyone. But I didn't do half bad, though.
Anyway I think series (season) six is going to be awesome - mostly because we're finally going to learn more about River Song and her story. We also get to see more of Amy and Rory (and really, you can't have one without the other now, as I do believe they are the first married couple to be companions of the Doctor - Martha and Mickey getting married after their stints as companion don't count). I wonder if they're going to have another companion when Amy and Rory decide to settle down (or should I say when Amy decides to settle down?) or if River will step into the full time position of being the Doctor's companion? (I'm trying not to think about the fact that Alex Kingston is almost twenty years Matt Smith's senior and the nature of River and the Doctor's relationship.)
I suppose I could ramble some more about it, but I have to admit, despite a jerky start I feel that Matt Smith has really come into the role of the Doctor and Amy, as a companion, is well suited. Hopefully we'll get to see some more of Rory in season six as well. I suppose I'm stuck waiting until next fall until I can see it - given that I don't get BBC America and I don't think that BBC's streaming works in the US. *sigh* Oh well.
As to the content of the season, I would have to say the strongest episode is "Vincent and the Doctor" which is a well done episode about depression and the impact that the Doctor has on the lives of those he meets. Surprisingly the episode doesn't get overly preachy about depression, and is wrapped up quite nicely by the Doctor at the end.
Amy: We didn't make a difference at all.
The Doctor: I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey. (hugs Amy) The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.
With a subject like depression and suicide, especially in a children's show, you walk the fine line of being overly preachy and making it ridiculous, however writer Richard Curtis handles it well and in the corresponding episode of "Confidential" remarks that it's never too soon to teach children that depression is an illness and deserves compassion and patience. Yes, we got that from the same guy who wrote Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. Make of it what you will.
I don't know if there were any really weak episodes, but if I had to pick the weakest episode of the season I would have to go with "The Beast Below" because of when it was placed. Amy, in terms of relating to the Doctor, comes off as a bit of a Mary Sue because of how quickly she understands how lonely he is. However as the series continues you realize that Amy is also very much alone in the town where she grew up (except for Rory who just adores her, and thankfully by the end of "Amy's Choice" you realize that she genuinely loves him too), it makes her able to the Doctor a lot easier than Rose, who is implied to have close friends and of course her mother and Mickey. I feel that if "The Beast Below" had aired more towards the middle of the season, Amy would have come off less as a Mary Sue and writer's pet. However the episode itself isn't bad, but probably would have been stronger if it aired later.
So the Weeping Angels still scare the crap out of me, and I feel like now should be a good time to mention that my mother's nickname for me is "Angel" and that I collect angel figurines. Most of which are in my bedroom. As you can imagine, I didn't sleep well. (Well, part of that was the weird Slayers/Doctor Who dreams that didn't make any sense. XD) The Daleks now look like a super sentai team (hence this entry's title of "Go Go Dalek Rangers!!"). The penultimate episode features the who's who of Who monsters (sorry, couldn't resist) and even pausing the frame in Confidential I couldn't name everyone. But I didn't do half bad, though.
Anyway I think series (season) six is going to be awesome - mostly because we're finally going to learn more about River Song and her story. We also get to see more of Amy and Rory (and really, you can't have one without the other now, as I do believe they are the first married couple to be companions of the Doctor - Martha and Mickey getting married after their stints as companion don't count). I wonder if they're going to have another companion when Amy and Rory decide to settle down (or should I say when Amy decides to settle down?) or if River will step into the full time position of being the Doctor's companion? (I'm trying not to think about the fact that Alex Kingston is almost twenty years Matt Smith's senior and the nature of River and the Doctor's relationship.)
I suppose I could ramble some more about it, but I have to admit, despite a jerky start I feel that Matt Smith has really come into the role of the Doctor and Amy, as a companion, is well suited. Hopefully we'll get to see some more of Rory in season six as well. I suppose I'm stuck waiting until next fall until I can see it - given that I don't get BBC America and I don't think that BBC's streaming works in the US. *sigh* Oh well.
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Date: 2011-01-02 11:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-03 01:54 am (UTC)Really, I think that once you get further into the series, especially with the once Rory's joined as a companion, Amy gets a lot better. And River. More about River, who apparently is going to become much more significant in the next season. If anything, you need to watch "Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" and "Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang" because they're relevant to River's storyline.