In the ninth episode of the fifth series of Doctor Who, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory try to find a way not only to escape from their impending doom at the hands of the Silurians, but face the daunting task of writing the future history of the earth. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who.
Thankfully, I think there are only tiny moments of weakness in this second half of the Silurian story, as Chris Chibnall decides to take “Cold Blood” in a direction more reminiscent of the grandiose horror (and hope) of Russell T Davies’s writing. There are a few slips before this episode heads straight into YOU WERE NEVER FUCKING PREPARED territory and what might have been a disposable two-parter becomes absolutely integral to the ongoing mythology of the show.
Also, I have to say it: THE EARTH FUCKING OPENED UP AND ATE PEOPLE. Jesus christ, Doctor Who is making all of my childhood dreams come true. bless this show forever.
I think it was interesting that the opening of the second half of this story seemed to mirror the first. Given how bleak the final ten minutes of “Cold Blood” are, the first ten minutes seem whimsical in their execution. I don’t necessarily think that’s a negative thing. I appreciated that despite all that Amy had just seen, she could still have a sense of humor with Mo in the face of an impossible situation below the surface of the earth. I think that out of all the companions who have traveled with the Doctor, Amy Pond was the quickest to adapt to his style of time travel. The way she meshes with his personality is so genuine and natural. I don’t know if she’ll become my favorite companion overall, as I’m particularly fond of Donna Noble (LOVE YOU CATHERINE TATE, PLZ TEXT ME SO WE CAN BE BEST BUDDIES). After having the show basically reset after Russell T Davies left, I’m still impressed by how quickly I’ve grown to love Matt Smith and Karen Gillan as the leads for this show.
But the Doctor’s humor and wit doesn’t necessarily save all, though this episode shows him coming awfully close. I would never in a billion years have predicted the scenes between Amy, Dr. Chaudhry, and Eldane, that the Doctor would actually help organize something like this and we’d get to see it. I mean, it is entirely his style: non-violent and, as Craig Ferguson said, the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism. Hell, this might be the Doctor’s most metaphorically perfect moment, a true manifestation of precisely what he believes. (Can I also say that I love that he chose two women to make the case for all humanity? Yes, he didn’t have many people to choose from, but he chose not to involve himself in the actual negotiations either.)
Unfortunately, up above the surface, I was wrong about my prediction that Tony would kill Alaya. While I was surprised that it was Ambrose instead, there were a few moments where I didn’t really believe her acting all that much. THEY WERE SMALL, but maybe Alaya’s death scene was just written strangely and it’s not really Nia Roberts’s fault. The way that Ambrose so quickly jumps to OH I DIDN’T KNOW IT WOULD DO THAT is so disingenuous and bizarre, especially since Ambrose is so quick to justify her actions to Tony and Rory, and later to the Silurians themselves. If she’s that sure, why is her reaction to shocking Alaya so drastically different?
Not to suggest that the peacemaking scenes between the Silurians and the humans was at all uninteresting, but when a deal is struck and Eldane agrees to make a proper trade and begin the co-habitation of earth with the humans above, this episode seriously just blows me out of the water. From the damning looks of horror on Rory’s and Tony’s faces when they know that Ambrose’s actions have ruined everything, to the Doctor’s shock at seeing Tony carrying a body draped in a sheet, to Restac’s unbearably heartbreaking cries, everything I thought would happen in this episode is completely not addressed and “Cold Blood” goes in a direction that is fully surprising (and satisfying) to me.
I want to be more upset at Ambrose for not only killing Alaya in a moment of thoughtless selfishness, but for convincing Tony to activate the drill so that they’d have another bit of bargaining advantage on their side. But you know what? I don’t have a husband or a child or a grandfather mutating into a Silurian and I sure as hell have no clue what I would do in the same situation. It’s not so much that I outright forgive her for what she did, because it was still an awful, terrible decision to make. (Twice!!!!) It’s just that I don’t think I can stick myself in her shoes and know exactly what I’d do, you know? And I suppose it is quintessentially human for Ambrose to be willing to sacrifice other creatures to perpetuate her family, right?
The real hero of this episode, to me at least, is Eldane, who, despite losing Alaya, Malohkeh, and the chance for his race to finally take back the planet they were on first, can find a moment of pure and loving compassion for the humans in this situation. Maybe he listened to the Doctor when he insisted that Ambrose was merely one person and that what she did was not indicative of what all humans were like. Either way, the compromise that Eldane agrees to, to wait a thousand years before trying to come back to the surface of the Earth and co-exist with humans, to sacrifice those who side with Restac and send the rest of his race into slumber, is such a great message to end this this story with. Tony and Dr. Chaudhry also agree to stay as well, and it’s also a beautifully hopeful sign of their willingness to make this partnership in the future work. LIKE SERIOUSLY. Ok, it’s really sad in a way, since Elliot and Ambrose lose their father/grandfather, but it’s a way for both of them to demonstrate that exact triumph over brute force and cynicism that I love so much.
And then. Then. THEN. As Rory, Amy, Mo, Elliot, and Ambrose head to the TARDIS, it appears on the wall. The crack in time. (Can I capitalize that? It feels so much more important that way.) It’s the same Crack in Time from Amy’s bedroom, from the early episodes, from the brilliant Weeping Angels two-parter, and the Doctor cannot resist: If there was a Time Explosion that caused the Crack, surely there must be shrapnel, right? So he REACHES INTO THE CRACK. THE CRACK THAT CAN ERASE TIME. At that moment, as Restac crawls into the room, I thought that Ambrose might get shot, or that the Doctor would do something to either spare Restac’s life with some important, gorgeous speech, but instead, Restac fires upon the Doctor and Rory, beautiful, lovely Rory shoves the Doctor out of the way and gets hit instead.
And Rory can’t die, right? I mean, just like he says as he squirms in pain on the floor, he saw himself in the future, standing on that hill, waving at himself! So like….they can’t kill off a companion, right??? RIGHT?
When the Time Crack began to spread to Rory, I realized in furious terror that I was wrong, that not only could Rory die, but that history was about to be rewritten. Rory would be erased from history and from memory. But can’t the Doctor fix it? He can fix it, right? Sadly, and to my complete and utter shock, the Doctor merely pulls a chaotic Amy Pond into the TARDIS and locks the door and suddenly my eyes hurt and they are totally leaking all over and WHAT THE FUCK YOU CANNOT KILL RORY OFF!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE oh my god what the fuck
In a way, it was somewhat reminiscent of Donna losing her memory as well, though this SOMEHOW FELT WORSE THAN THAT. As images of Rory flashed through Amy’s mind, all of them fading to whiteness, she snaps back to her corrected reality.
Rory has never existed.
I completely lost it when they stood outside the TARDIS and Amy waved to herself arriving on the other side of the field. Completely alone. Rory was never there to begin with. The Doctor’s speech about this not being a fixed point in time, that history could be written by these people right then and there, was granted in a horrifying truth. History never included Rory Williams. OH MY CREYS.
And if that isn’t horrific enough, the Doctor pulls out that piece of shrapnel from the Crack in Time and it’s very definitively part of the TARDIS. The fucking TARDIS caused the goddamn Time Explosion.
Never. Ever. Prepared.
THOUGHTS
- “Do you understand who we are???” “Sort of. A bit. Not really.”
- “Right. No pressure there, then.”
- “Amy, I thought I’d lost you.” “What, ’cause I got sucked into the Earth? You’re so clingy.”
- MY CREYS WHY DID YOU KILL OFF RORY ;AKDJS ;AKSDF ;.ADJKLSF ;:KLJ;AKLDSDFHKLS IOU;K ?JDS;:DFLKJ
I have a lot of feelings about this episode and they are really all over the place. I actually went and typed something up before the post went up, which is a first. You guys are usually nice to me so hopefully it'll go well.
On the plot up untill the final escape: I seriously love the overall story even more everytime I watch it and it makes me happy even if the "let's sleep for 1000 years and then everything will magically be perfect" thing makes no damn sense. But relative to the rest of this show not making sense is not really a huge minus so I can't really single this episode out for that. Plus Amy's head on the table during the talks and the final hug between Nasreen and the Doctor is just 😀
Yes, it's a different kind of story and pacing than the show is used to but I love it all the same and I know I'm definitely in the minority here but I guess I'm just weird like that.
NASREEN: I do love her, please tell me there is a gif of her hugging 11 out there. Also afaik, she's the only South Asian I can think of in new Who that wasn't evil or killed off in the episode they first appear in, so that is also a plus! Though it's definitely a shame that I had to wait till season 5 to see that happen.
RORY: Okay there are two parts two this.
First: I am kind of weird about deaths on TV because I have an easier time accepting them. If a character in, say, Harry Potter is killed off I get pissed because it was obviously very carefully calculated and planned out for a long time. When it happens on a tv show there's a part of my brain that knows that sometimes an actor had to move on or a writer had a really short deadline and pulled some shit out of his ass, so I can kind of rationalize it and that keeps me from being in an epic rage about what happened. That said, I cried tons at this.
Second: WTF when it was revealed that Amy would forget him even though she could still remember all the soldier dudes that fell in the crack I went "ORLY" because that seemed like a way too convenient an inconsistency.
Also how Rory is beyond being saved when the light is barely touching him, but 11 can go and STICK HIS ARM INTO THE VOID NO PROBLEM is beyond me.
FINALLY: I really really do not like how every bad character in this story that's bringing on the downfall of the earth and a world war is female. Why are all the Silurian males very rational, likable and helpful while all the females are all "WE WILL WIPE EVERY STINKING APE FROM THE EARTH'S SURFACE AND REJOICE WHEN THE NEW WAR STARTS." Hmm?
And then you have Ambrose; the emotional mum stereotype who we can all blame for starting all this. I mean Rory had also lost someone below the surface, but he manages to calm down amazingly fast and keeps a cool head throughout the whole thing. Every human male in this story (many of whom I do like very much!) seems to accept the Doctor's authority and support his plan, it's just Ambrose that has to go and ruin it for everyone.
I doubt it was intentional but the gender dynamics of this ep is my least favourite thing in all of season 5, by far! Way back when you guys were talking about Moffat vs RTD being sexist this was the most obvious example I could think of on the show and it turns out neither wrote it.
With all that said though, when Ambrose was like "I did it all for you Elliot" and Elliot just walks away from her it did make me laugh a little because I am a terrible person.
Also: the silurian voices on classic who are delightful!
"she's the only South Asian I can think of in new Who that wasn't evil or killed off in the episode they first appear in"
my thoughts were genuinely:
Sabrina wasn't killed!
…
Sabrina is my best friend IRL. (South Asian obviously…She's Sri Lankan if you want to be more specific)
There is apparently some corner of my brain that believes my life is an episode of Doctor Who.
FML.
While the inclusion of black Britons in Doctor Who is always gratifying, the lack of British Asians – who make up more of the population – was always weird to me. Especially because I started watching New Who right after my semester living in the East End of London, right by Banglatown. It's like a milder version of the Magical White-Only New York of shows like How I Met Your Mother.
This seems to be the case in most of the British tv shows I've been checking out lately. It's odd because I'm used to seeing brown people all over british movies so I really dunno what happened here. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed though!
Also afaik, she's the only South Asian I can think of in new Who that wasn't evil or killed off in the episode they first appear in, so that is also a plus! Though it's definitely a shame that I had to wait till season 5 to see that happen.
No kidding! For most of New Who, I was sitting there thinking 'Where are all the British Asians?!' Oh wait, there was Solana from 'Planet of the Ood', Miss Chandrakala from 'The Wasp and the Unicorn' and there's Rani in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures'… THREE characters. I couldn't believe it took so long for someone like Nasreen to show up. -_-
Also the dude at Torchwood at the end of s2 and the "ethics" guy in the impossible planet/satan's pit: all cannon fodder. Basically, not a great record!
Oh yeah. It says a lot that I didn't even remember them. Of course, there's Suzie Costello…
Brief note of something that I really did like about this episode- the Silurain warriors were female. Most reptile species have the females being larger, fiercer, and more territorial. So despite the absolute stupidity of "homo reptilia" and the weirdness of "reptiles with busts", they kind of got something right! Sort of.
Otherwise, this episode isn't really memorable for me, though it to somehow be both better and worse than the first. The prominent appearance of Mo and the wonderfulness of Nasreen probably account for it. Mo's actor is just charming, and his scenes with Elliot are flat-out adorable. As for Nasreen… "Oh hello, a green man!" Future TARDIS buddy? Please? She and Tony Mack are lovely! There's at least a slight chance they could show up in the future. Also, heh at the Fifth Doctor mention. You want some celery thar, pretty boy? (Seriously, Fifth Doctor = original pretty-face doctor)
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The bad… AMBROSE. AMBROSE. Ugh. While I could sort of sympathize with her actions, why would torturing/killing Alaya ever be a good idea? Alaya made it very clear she was willing to die for her cause. As well as that stupid, stupid drill plan. Once again, the pacing is just all over the place. By the end of episode, I was just tired of everything. Admittedly, the mystery of what the Doctor yanked out of the crack (what is part of TARDIS doing in there?) did perk up my interest, but all and all, I was just happy for this two-parter to be over and done with.
As a last note: which one was Rory again? Why are we getting upset- I don't remember him. Was he the Silurian doctor? Rory doesn't sound really Silurian… another Chibnall mess-up? Seems a bit of an overreaction, though I did like that mad doctor.
Okay, before I get mugged for forgetting Rory… this was my reaction to his death.
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NOT RORYFACE. DDDD: Rory was my favorite! He was sweet, and kind, and the only one up top who was acting sensibly!
To Ambrose and Restac? Just… ugh. SUCH RAGE. His death doesn't fill me with quite the same fury and sorrow of what happened to Donna, but it gets close are times. It just feels so pointless! Stop killing things, Doctor Who! I can't remember who it is that said it, but there is so much more you can do with a character than kill them, and if you do kill them, you better make it fucking awesome. This? This was a fucking bridge-drop.
The "who was Rory?" things a throwback to when this episode first came out, and everyone down at Gallifry Base was all "Lol, Rory? Is that a person?" I apologize.
There's only one problem with your review today, Mark, and it's really baffling. Who's Rory?
Oh, come on! You know Rory! He's the one who…and then, when he…and…
Anyway, what was I saying?
I thought Rory was a girl…? It's short for Lorelei, I think. Except that's a different show.
LOL, I must have confused my pronouns…though I don't know why I mentioned Gilmore Girls in the first place!
Aaaanyhow…
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Wonderful brilliant Rory! Going off to Chilton and then to yale!
I think he's confusing this "Rory" with Jeff or something.
Jeff was in this episode?! That's what I miss by skiping the boring ones. BRB.
He's not, actually, sorry xD
Agreed. This two-parter was SO BORING I remember last year taking forever to watch because I kept pausing and doing other stuff. Not even Nasreen and her awesome can make me rewatch this thing.
Edit: OK, no idea how this got here.
Anyway, I came back to say that it's a pity I hadn't refreshed in time to see your comment. This episode is still boring!
And now I have to clean up about a dozen wet tissues that are around here. Weirdl
I know! Did I miss something? I rewatched the episode last night to make sure I was prepared and I have absolutely no recollection of anybody named Rory.
The weirdest part? What's with all these people posting empty gifs? Is it an early April Fools joke?
Yeah I don't get it. Everyone keeps talking about this Rawry bloke, there was never any Rory on this show. I usually have a pretty good memory for characters and I swear I've never heard of anyone by that name. Everyone's acting like he was really important though…it's strange.
Somewhere in the last episode I said to myself, oh I get it, they're gonna chuck the boyfriend in the crack when they get bored of writing him into scripts (because.. he was character-useful, but not really USEFUL, was he?), and that's why he isn't being bigged-up as a companion.
AHAHAH I WAS RIGHT!
Not super happy about it though. :[
The majority of this episode is spent finishing up what was started in "The Hungry Earth." To recap:
– The Doctor and Nasreen get into trouble (Doctor asks if they have celery – and I giggle like the goofy Five-fangirl that I am ^_^ – this calls for a repeat of the Five and Celery gif – even though he was here yesterday –
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– Rescue Amy, Mo and Elliot – check!
– Doctor tries to negotiate humans and Silurians sharing the planet – check!
– Ambrose accidentally-on-purpose kills Alaya – check! (honestly, the first time I saw this, I didn't buy Alaya's death. I thought that she was just knocked unconscious by the zapper-stun-gun thing. Yes, that's a technical term)
– War very nearly breaks out, only by a few lucky breaks do they avert totally disaster while Nasreen and Tony decide to stay underground with Malokeh – double check!
– The Silurian warrior class go back into hibernation – check!
Well and good, everyone. Tie a little bow on this story and send it on its way.
But NOOOO – we have to have the Crack show up at the very end!
– RORY! TEARS FOREVER!
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– And the DOCTOR REACHING INTO THE CRACK – NOOOO WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU DOING????
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– And what does he pull out? WHAT DOES HE PULL OUT???
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– a;sfguipearhg ahga ;sghupaeg akjgh jgoaerighwagjaknvdnvvierg asdhg sdghsfdg
– FOREVER KEYSMASH!
OMFG that poster! I have chills.
I have that poster on my wall, along with the rest of them.
Where did you get it? More specifically, where can I get it?
Lol, when I posted that Five gif yesterday, I hadn't rewatched Cold Blood yet. I felt awful when I rewatched it last night and the Doctor made the celery reference. I had completely forgotten that line. Yay Five!
I loved it that you posted it for "The Hungry Earth." Anytime you can work a Five reference into anything is just fine by me ^_^
I don't know what everyone's freaking out about. Who's Rory?
I'm beginning to wonder if some of us watched the wrong episode, one with this "Rory" character in it. I don't remember anyone called that in this one.
It's Part 2, and for me, I'm afriad the problems of Part 1 continue.
Having seen Ambrose's collection of weapons in Hungry Earth, it comes as no surprise when, as she's pressed harder and harder, she is prepared to use a weapon to torture and kill Alaya. The obviousness (is that a word?) of this sadly detracts from some really powerful stuff from Nia Roberts. Ambrose has had her husband(/partner?) and son taken away and her father infected by the person/creature they now hold captive. She has no reason to trust the Doctor – she tried that once and look what happend to her son and father! So she takes matters into her own hands. While her actions are terrible, they are understandable in terms of character motivation. She’s just about the best thing about this whole story! Shame the other characters – human or Silurian – don't get any character development.
While this is going on, Amy picks a lizard man's pocket while her hands are tightly restrained and together with Mo, launches a less than successful rescue mission to try and release the Doctor and Nasreen…only for them all to end up lined up for execution.
In the noble tradition of last second reprieves, a voice booms out, "STOP!" It's Eldane the Elder. No, seriously, why would you call a elder that? In fact, why bother with a name at all? `Nice Silurian` would do just as well – why pretend there are any more than 2 dimensions to this character?
What follows is an ill-considered negotiation to try and share planet Earth. The Doctor saying `the earth couldn't have better ambassadors` then Amy and Nasreen may should all very noble, but seriously: a geologist and a kissagram, and both from 1 nation, negotiating for the whole world? And all the world leaders, politicians, diplomats and officials are going to honour any agreement they make? Really?
And is if that's not questionable enough, it's perfectly obvious that the whole thing is pointless, because as soon as Restac (Nasty Silurian) discovers her sister has been killed by the `apes` the whole thing will come crashing down around their ears…or is it ankles? Maybe even the ankles aren't low enough to serve as a metaphor for how bad things are going to get.
Oh, and can someone please explain something? The Silurian warriors were activated in response to an attack by the drill which was heading towards their city. They viewed that as an attack and responded accordingly. Fine, fair enough. So why didn't anybody think to mention that the drill *wasn't* an attack, the humans didn't know the city was there and only chose the site due to the curious minerals and blue grass? Surely that would be the first thing to get clear? OK, it would still be irrelevant to the outcome, with what happens to Alaya, but it still should have been said.
The Doctor frees Elliot from suspended animation and tells Malohkeh (aka Scientist Silurian) "I rather love you". So clearly it's perfectly fine to dissect people as long as you don't harm the kids. The moral high ground goes something like, `Live dissection of sapient species to be conducted only on specimens over 18 years.`
Still, it does give us one of the best lines in the whole thing.
ELLIOT: Where am I?
MO: Well, I've got by honest with you. We're in the centre of the earth and there are lizard men!
Then the whatsit hits the fan. Nasty Silurian kills Scientist Silurian, Ambrose and her father – the only 2 remaining humans on the surface – deliver Alaya's body and the Doctor, the humans and Nice Silurian escape through the corridors.
There is some really distracting cutting in this sequence, whereby the Doctor is clearly holding the sonic differently, depending on the camera angle.
In the control centre, it's `squeaky bum time` (great line!) as the drill is heading this way, Eldane releases poison gas to get his people back into hibernation and the Doctor sets the alarm for 1000 years.
The Doctor and Amy get back to the TARDIS with Ambrose, Mo and Elliot and the adventure seems to be over, but then…
There's a crack in the wall, like the one in Amy's bedroom. The Doctor feels like he's the only one who doesn't know where they come from, and he's determined to find out. So he sticks his hand in it. And now it's getting wider like the one on the Byzantium! It's a brilliant closing scene, as Restac – dying from the gas – aims her gun at the Doctor. But then…er…sorry, I seem to be a bit hazy about this bit…er…well, I guess she must have missed or the Doctor jumped aside or something. But that's not the important bit. Amy was crying for some reason, not sure why. Well, the Doctor was sort of delaying getting back into the TARDIS with that crack threatening to eat them. Sorry, I'm not describing this very well, but it was a really brilliant scene. Anyway, the Doctor finally lets Amy inside, while he examines the `shrapnel` …which turns out to be a bit of the TARDIS! OMG, how is that possible?!
I realise I've been fairly negative about this episode, probably more than it deserves, really. It's not that bad, it's just that I'm frustrated because it had the potential to be so much better.
It seems appropriate to sum up with the words of Doctor #5 at the end of Warriors of the Deep:
There should have been another way.
I actually happen to like this episode and the two parter as a whole, though it's certainly not one of my favorites. I liked the idea that there were sentient being on the Earth before us, and the prospect of them coming back to live with humans (Though like Nasreen said, we'd better figure out a way to manage this overpopulation quick if that happens). It's not perfect by any means, and I'd like to punch Ambrose in the face, but I liked it as a whole.
That is except for Rory dying. I don't even want to look! I was just starting to love him! And it's not fair that Amy can't remember him and the Doctor having to pull her away was so horrible and she might have been able to still remember him if only the TARDIS hadn't lurched at that moment and now this is a run on sentence UGH! I can't stand it!
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Hi ya everyone. Newbie here. I found Mark due to a lovely someone who posted about this site over on LJ and i think its about time i say something and not merely hide in the shadows and stalk.
1) Mark, you are made of awesome. I totally <3 your reviews!
2) I completely agree with what you said about these two episodes being about 'the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism'. In general i found them pretty boring, but then i just reeeeaaaallllllyyy dont like the Silurians (Old or New). But i loved the overall theme. About being the best you can be. And thats really what Doctor Who is about. About doing the right thing, even when its tough, about love and trust and seeing the light in the darkest moments. (I'm just gonna leave out the creepiness for the sake of being mildly poetic -laughs-)
I really look forward to reading more of your reviews. Is it 23rd April yet???? 😀
Welcome Katrina!
Who is that Rory of which people speak?
Seriously though, now that Amy had finally realised that Rory was the bloke who she really did love deeply, honestly and truly, he was erased from her existence and she never even knows that he existed. The look on the Doctor's face at the end as she waves to her solitary future self speaks volumes, Her life has been ruined and Amy has no idea at all. It's even starting to look like the actual crack which was largely responsible for her life being ruined might end up being caused by the Doctor too. That plus the psychiatrists caused by him turning up years too late have really wrecked her life and the irony is, she doesn't know it. Poor Amy. Poor wotisname (was there somebody else?).
Don't really remember this story enough to do a real review of it, other than the last few minutes. To which I can only say: WHY ;_; RORY WE HARDLY KNEW YE.
I've seen a bunch of other reviewers wtfing about the ring, so just gonna put my reply to all here: We've seen already that the Cracks don't erase things people left behind, only the memories of those people. In the Angels two-parter, even though the angels had been taken out of time the spaceship was still crashed on the planet. So the ring would still be there, Amy just wouldn't know how she got it, or if it was even hers.
And the way that happened was just terrifying. One moment Amy's crying and hysterical, and the next she's perfectly fine. The change is so sudden that it's even more heartbreaking.
OH MY GOD, THEY KILLED RORY! YOU BASTARDS!
Okay, now that I’ve got that out of my system and we’ve had both halves of the story let’s kick off with the plot. The more I watch this episode the more I’m reminded of classic Who. In fact the original Silurian story is VERY similar to this in a lot of ways and I do wonder if this is one time that Moffat’s promoted fanboy credentials led him astray slightly. Interesting experiment, and actually covers some very good ground, but a bit clunky and definitely oddly paced as well. That being said there’s a host of great moments for all involved, the Silurians are wonderfully well realised, it’s another fantastic look at the Amy/Rory relationship from yet another different view (they really got a lot of mileage out of episodes 6-9) and it’s nice to see the humans being the bad guys for once. REALLY like that Ambrose doesn't really get let off the hook by the Doctor at the end, a slight bit of encouragement maybe but mostly just a reminder that she failed the test.
But of course it’s dominated by the last ten minutes or so. The crack showing up comes as a bit of a shock after the last two episodes let it slide and from here on it’s classic Who. The Doctor pulling something out of the crack is a great reminder that he’s not just the hero of the story but that bit… more than most sentient beings. Rory sacrificing himself for the DOCTOR rather than Amy is a very nice touch and kicks off what looks like the hand of Moff ripping apart all the sci-fi death tropes in one go. Oh he’s dead… well that’s no problem, they’ve got the body, they can bring him ba… hmm, the crack’s eating his body, ah well there’s always Amy, she can do something clever to br… oh, she can’t even remember him… oh. Oh Crap.
Talking of Amy… good GOD Karen Gillan delivers here. Rips my heart out every time I watch this scene and the comparison between this and Amy’s Choice where she could at least hold on to the hope of fixing things is gut wrenching. The Doctor having to physically drag her away, the fact she stays at the TARDIS door when she’s locked inside, litteraly fighting the Doctor to stop them leaving and finally just flat out begging him for one last, desperate miracle… Let’s just remind ourselves for a minute that this is a family show going out at 6pm on a Saturday night and they just killed not only a main character but pretty much the only support the other audience POV character had AND show real, raw grief up close and personal. I love this show…
Amy, of course, continues to get put through the ringer in ways that I don’t think we’ve seen ANY companion endure before. From the very first moment we met her, practically abandoned at home, parents gone… through the Doctor managing to land her in psychiatric care no less than four times and then abandoning her again for another two years… not only taking the full force of a very angry 11 in Beast Below but standing up to him and proving herself right… the incredible mess of the angels… the Doctor turning down her advances (which might sound silly but bear in mind there’s a LOT of insecurity beneath that confident mask and the one thing she’s likely to be sure of is her ability to pretty much get anyone she wants. Getting flat-out rejected and then being immediately taken to face the music for that slip in judgmenent can’t have done anything to help those insecurities)… captured and bitten by Vampire Cod… put through a mental minefield by the Dreamlord and then all the stuff that happens with the Silurians (sucked through the earth, glass coffin, threat of vivisection while still alive). Then she gets to see her fiance, who she only really properly let inside her defences just two episodes earlier, get killed right in front of her and be unable to even hang on to his memory. The fact she’s still standing is a minor miracle.
And on the subject of still standing being a miracle, the poor poor Doctor at the end of this episode. Not quite up there at the top of the Woobie podium (Amy's now got that locked down for all time) but a firm grasp on second place. To see the human race let him down so badly, the death of one of his companions and being completely unable to help the other hold on to his memory… not a good day this one. And then he unwraps his hankie and finds a chunk of the TARDIS… really really REALLY not a good day. Also WTF?!?!?!!!!
So how the heck to summarise this one? Umm… hmm… okay, think back to the first series for a minute and the radically different tones of the different episodes as RTD and crew played around with the format seeing what worked and what didn’t. I get the feeling that Series Fnarg has been that for Moffat and the (almost all-new) production team. They know what’s worked in the past but don’t want to rely on that as the show needs to stay fresh so there’s a lot of different tone and pace to episodes. This one feels like a throw back to classic who in a lot of ways and, while interesting and not actually a bad episode, doesn’t quite work in the modern era. It’s a bit clunky around the edges too which doesn’t help. But it’s certainly not BAD Who and was definitely an experiment worth doing.
I love your comments because I tend to always agree with them…. But who's Rory?
I… um….. ah….. hang on, I know this one….. it's the Doctor's real name isn't it?
Also, thank you 😉 It's so much fun commenting here because for once, just for ONCE, there's a Who community on the net that's not overwhelmed with negative fanboys and fangirls endlessly complaining about every last little detail and where, instead, positive attitudes are in the vast majority. It's a weird experience but I think I could get used to this 😉
At first I didn't get it. And then I cried. ;_;
Another great review, Stephen. 🙂
I've missed you, Amy Pond. And lol at the Rio bit. And I love that she's got pickpocketing skills.
You know, I really want a Doctor/companion-lite episode to tell a story from the perspective of an alien society, and to let the writers really flesh out the workings of the society. I mean, the Silurians have ranks! Basically, I just want more world-building for the aliens. And this ep gives us a big glimmer of what that could be like, but there's lots of other stuff it's doing that I'm not wholly content with what we got about the Silurians. But I really did like this moment:
So, Ambrose is pretty damn unpleasant in this episode. But I don't think it's any worse than the people in Midnight, and I do understand her fear and motivation, even if it did lead to very bad things. I just think sometimes people judge her too harshly, when it's really in the context of this ep and everyone else being mostly awesome that makes her look so bad. I know some people dislike her being one of the few "villains" of the story, and oh look, she's a hysterical female character. I get that argument, but I think the presence of Nasreen in particular, as well as Amy, balances that out such that I don't consider her irrationality itself to be evidence of Chibnall's failings.
One thing about the writing of her character that I dislike, however: I hate that we're reverting to the tired cliche of a woman rendered irrational based on her motherhood. I mean, I understand why writers decide to do this, and I think the character motivation is plausible, but I think it's kind of lazy to go that route. It's just so obvious given how overused the trope is. Step it up, Chibnall.
Furthermore, what is it with this show and mothers? When they're around (e.g. not Amy's mother), they're typically treated with little respect from the narrative (e.g. Jackie and all the useless minor mother characters), and/or made unlikeable (e.g. Francine, Sylvia, many alien villains). Admittedly, Nancy's a cool character, but she wasn't a particularly good mother, and much of her troubles stemmed from the fact that the villain was her son. Adelaide was also a cool character, but oh look, dead. It just seems like the combination of being female and having a child does not bode well for characters on new Who. Hell, even caring for children (can I say children? Offspring?) got Foster killed.
So my criticisms of Ambrose's character are somewhat different that other people's, since I think her character fails in the context of new Who consistently delivering mothers who get screwed over by the plot and/or the narrative, but that for me she doesn't necessarily fail from a general feminist standpoint, although I'm sympathetic to that argument.
Srs bznz out of the way, OMG RRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRYYYYYYYY!
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I mean, just, omg they killed Rory! Sobbing forever. Eleven trying to convince Amy to remember is just heartbreaking and WHY DOES THIS SHOW CONSTANTLY DECIDE TO MAKE MY HEART HURT! NEVAR PREPARED!!!
We don't know that Nancy was a bad mother! She was afraid that if someone knew Jamie was her son, he would be taken away from her, a legitimate fear. She might even have been in denial about Jamie being her son, preferring to believe that he actually was her brother. But in the end, it is her love for Jamie and her acceptance of the truth which save the day.
I definitely dislike the way Ambrose was written. It feels like the writer wanted us to dislike her. (Making even her own son step away from her? Come on, Chibnall!)
Yeah, I totally agree with you about Ambrose. In story, I don't really have a huge problem with her aside from my frustration with the drill story line, but as part of the larger Who picture it bugs the hell out of me.
I honestly think Nancy was as good a mother as she could possibly be under the circumstances, but somewhere along the line I became a huge fan of hers, so take that with a grain of salt.
See my above comment response, but while I love Nancy, I still feel weird about never seeing a particularly positive and successful mother on this show, even with minor characters. And it's a family show! What gives?
It is seriously odd. I would hope that it's not intentional to practically always portray motherhood and mothers in a negative manner in some way or another, but after so many instances it's difficult to ignore. I just can't wrap my mind around it.
“It is entirely his style: non-violent and, as Craig Ferguson said, the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism.”
Bless your heart Mark. You referenced it.
First, how awesome is Nasreen? I sort of wish she had been a companion at some point because she's awesome and I wish there were more backstory on her. Elliot also. Maybe he can be a companion when he's older?
Second: RORY ;endless tears; You should have heard the cursing when I saw this ep for the first time. Though honestly it still chokes me up, especially when you get to Amy's reaction.
A. This episode was incorrectly entitled Warm Planet by the BBC.
B. Though it apparently was not used in the episode, in Doctor Who Confidential a cut segment from the scene in which the Silurians are marching the Doctor and Nasreen to the court hall appears. In the dialogue, Nasreen expresses that she does not want to be executed “down here”. The Doctor commiserates, saying that the “last time I was executed it really put a blight on the day.” There are several possible events to which this could be a reference, but as this scene did not appear on screen it should not affect continuity.
C. This is a two-for-one SPECIAL TRIVIA! The Doctor uses the phrase “squeaky bum time” originally coined by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2003. Ferguson is the manager of football club Manchester United. Before Matt Smith became an actor, he planned to become a professional footballer and is still a fan of the sport, perhaps why the line was included.
D. The Silurian Council Chamber is a redress of the Temple of Peace which had previously been used as the Platform One meeting room set from DW: The End of the World, the Senate building seen in DW: Gridlock, the temple of the Sibylline Sisterhood in DW The Fires of Pompeii.
Now excuse me. Can you guys get me more trivia while I cry over Rory. Again. Like I do every time I watch this.
How about this: Eldane is played by Stephen Moore who…. wait for it folks… played Marvin the Paranoid Android in the radio version of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Well hey! That’s awesome!
E. (Partly) filmed in the same botanical garden previously used in Doctor's Daughter.
And Waters of Mars. Very photogenic, that garden.
You know how there’s apparently 20 actors in the UK? Well there’s only 5 filming locations in Doctor Who. 😛
And half of them are quarries.
Tom Baker: Oh look Rocks!
Ah, Cold Blood. I will be perfectly happy if Chris Chibnall never writes another episode again. I didn’t care much for the story; it was too dull, too predictable, too preachy for me. The messages he wanted to send out were far too heavy-handed for my tastes: ‘we must all live in harmony’, ‘respect Mother Nature’, ‘accept your differences’ etc. I felt like I was being beaten repeatedly on the head with them. Plus, I’ not too fond of the female Silurians being presented as so short-sighted and bloodthirsty that war is the only solution for them, whereas the males come across as wise and understanding; I like the basic idea of the stereotypical gender roles being reversed but it could have been slightly better thought/played out.
My criticisms end here though because, well, RORY!
WHY???
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I can’t. I really can’t. Just when Rory had started to become a separate character from Amy, just when he’d started to come into his own, he’s suddenly gone. I honestly didn’t think I would be this devastated if he left but I was; not only for Rory himself, but for how it will inevitably affect Amy and the Doctor. Amy’s breakdown after he dies is heartbreaking – Karen was wonderful in those scenes. I think the worst part of his death for me is the fact that Amy will have never known him; he’s been wiped from her life. She didn’t even get to grieve for him. And the Doctor? He will have to live with that knowledge but never be able to share it.
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"Ah, Cold Blood. I will be perfectly happy if Chris Chibnall never writes another episode again."
Agreed, so much agreed.
Is… is that first one David Tennant? First of all, HE IS NOT ALLOWED TO CRY. Second of all, where? :O
Single Father. It was interesting…. Lots of David crying, anyway. =(
Oh, almost forgot, want a real cunning bit of plotting on The Moff's part? Compare the dates when the Silurians are meant to emerge from the earth to the dates for the sun going wibbly in Beast Below… Beast happens in 3295 and the ship has been in space for, what, at least a couple of hundred years? The Silurians are meant to come out of hibernation in 3020. If the prep work had been done properly so the human race didn't freak out too badly this time round they'd be coming above ground just in time for the earth to be uninhabitable to humans but probably quite comfortable for cold blooded creatures (and if not they can just hit the snooze button for another century or two).
LOL, never thought of that! Good catch. 🙂
11 should have a meet up with Nasreen and Liz 10 once she comes out of hybernation, if Moffat knows what's good for him.
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And this is me for the last 5 minutes:
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THIS EPISODE. SO BORING. OMG. There is just nothing interesting about this episode for me. The Silurian-human peace talks in the Middle East or um… middle of the earth are so dull. Idk. The dramatic tension is all based around some negotiations or something… yeah. It just can’t hold my attention.
AND WTF? AMBROSE IS CLEARLY UNSTABLE. WHY DID SHE REPLY TO ALAYA’S TAUNTS? Did she not hear the Doctor’s Speech of Foreshadowing in the previous episode about being the best of humanity? She just makes bad decision after bad decision. Nothing interesting or likable about her at all.
One part that made me lol was when Alaya’s sister was all “I don’t negotiate with apes.” (… or terrorists, lol). I hope that was intentionally funny.
Also the Doctor’s plan will never work. A group of like 3 people in Wales running around saying that in the future reptile people will share the Earth with humans is not going to take off. Like what are they going to do, start a blog? Plenty of crazies start blogs and it doesn’t go anywhere.
So now let’s talk about Rory since he’s the only thing I really care about in this episode. He’s pretty fab, being the voice for humanity up on the surface and doing the honorable thing and taking Alaya’s body back to her people. BUT THEN HE GETS EATEN BY THE CRACK. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
DIAF, CHRIS CHIBALL/STEVEN MOFFAT. RORY WAS MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT SERIES 5. WHY YOU TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME?
Actually the thing that bothers me about the whole crack plot is that, by its nature, it actually precludes Amy from any character development. Since, as we saw in the Angels episodes, the crack literally erases people from time (this was why the Angel wasn’t in Amy’s eye anymore), Rory is erased from Amy’s memory. So since he never existed, she forgets about him and thus can’t mourn him. Wouldn’t it have been a billion times more interesting if we could have seen Amy mourn Rory and see what impact his death had on her? Instead he’s erased from time/her memory and there is no fall out once Amy forgets about Rory. And why does the engagement ring still exist? Rory now never existed so the engagement ring should have disappeared, like the Angel in Amy’s eye disappeared because the Angels fell in the crack and thus never existed.
Also, wtf?? Why can the Doctor stick his hand in the crack, nbd, but Rory gets touched by the tendrils and he’s dunzo?
Perfect gifs and comment! I guess I can accept the Doctor having some sort of immunity to the crack, but the tendrils dooming Rory doesn't make sense. Why is it hopeless if he's still there? I'm not satisfied.
My shaky reasoning is that the crack is only "active" some of the time, when it absorbs people into unbeing. Amy's been around the crack for years without being consumed, herself, and it's shown up in other places and doesn't always take people. Maybe the Doctor reaching through triggered it into activity somehow and THEN it began seeping out the Tendrils of Time Nomming?
I think you're pretty brave to try to explain this at all.
Brave? XD
IDK, there is so much about the crack I don't understand at this point but maybe they'll explain it later. All I could see here was that the crack was kind of self-containing when the Doctor reached into it but then moments later the light started moving out of the crack and that was what became dangerous to touch?
Agreed. After all, Prisoner Zero managed to come through the crack in the Eleventh Hour without being omnomed, so it must only turn 'on' sometimes. Like so much in Doctor Who, it runs on plotting.
Agreed. This two-parter was SO BORING I remember last year taking forever to watch because I kept pausing and doing other stuff. Not even Nasreen and her awesome can make me rewatch this thing.
As for their plan, maybe they meant to take a couple of them to the surface as "proof" (I hope the Doctor planned to stick around, there might have been linguistic issues).
ME TOO. I think I watched part of it, paused it, went away for about four hours, came back and was like "oh yeah, look, an episode". Not exactly a fast-paced thriller.
And why does the engagement ring still exist? Rory now never existed so the engagement ring should have disappeared, like the Angel in Amy’s eye disappeared because the Angels fell in the crack and thus never existed.
Also, wtf?? Why can the Doctor stick his hand in the crack, nbd, but Rory gets touched by the tendrils and he’s dunzo?
I will bet that the explanation for these two things is the same as the explanation for why Amy, the Doctor, and River remember the clerics who died, but not the other clerics. (Not to mention, remember the whole ANGELS CHASING THEM thing, when the Angels never existed.) They are time travellers, and thus different in how they view time/how it reacts to them.
Plus, the engagement ring was inside the TARDIS, which it outside of regular Time and Space…
…although what an engagement ring was doing there, I have no idea.
Amy had to go put it back because Rory was afraid she'd lose it on their adventures, IIRC.
But who's this Rory?
Oh. Huh. Good question. Well it's early where I am, must still be all sleepy and confused…
Silver lining: Chibnall was too busy with Camelot to write for s6, so we won't see any fast-paced action thrillers like this one for at least another year.
I was actually looking forward to Camelot, I didn't know he's involved. I guess I'll just save myself for A Game of Thrones.
haha. I saw the first episode of Camelot and it actually wasn't half bad. I mean it wasn't great either (I also saw the first episode of The Borgias which was way better), but it was entertaining enough and it has potential.
Aside from the really bad cold open and some laughable dialogue, I thought it was rather good as well.
Fly-by Game of Thrones high five!
*looks around, whispers* too bad we can't say the same about Gatiss.
And weirdly enough, I actually liked Camelot!
But um, that could be because I was distracted by the prettiness that is Jamie Campbell Bower.
Oh, has Camelot been on already? Damn, I missed it! 🙁
It officially premieres this Friday, I think. But it leaked (or a sneak preview aired or something) a couple of weeks ago, and it quickly found its way onto the internet.
I've just done a search for it and after a bit of confusion, I finally spotted the key point: It started last Friday IN THE US, not the UK. Hadn't picked up on that when I read about it previously. Oh well, I daresay it'll appear over here at some point.
I don't think I've ever agreed with you so hard.
We already kind of saw Amy's reaction to Rory's death in "Amy's Choice". I think it's more interesting to explore what Amy will be like without having never met Rory at all (while the Doctor still remembers) than to go over that same grief again.
This. Also, Amy's Choice showed us exactly what she would do if Rory died: shut the fuck down. I think if her memory wasn't erased, she'd be a rather dead weight companion for the rest of the season. And honestly, if Rory's death was all about Amy's character development, it would have felt terribly like he was fridged.
It's definitely more interesting having this situation than just repeating tragedy. The Doctor is in an interesting place, being the only one who knows that Rory is dead, or that he was ever alive, and knowing he couldn't/didn't stop it. He's failed his best friend so hard and she doesn't even know it.
" And honestly, if Rory's death was all about Amy's character development, it would have felt terribly like he was fridged. "
That's a really interesting point I amazingly hadn't considered before.
Ok, did someone go and nominate Rory for president??
Ah, here we are again. We'll do this like yesterday. Except with more gifs, because – well. T_T
– Ahahaha, I LOVE YOU AMY. "Never picked a lizard man's pocket?" First lock-picking, now this – our Amy's a little bit larcenous. I love it. 😀
– Celery! 😀
– AMBROSE YOU FUCKING HORRIBLE IDIOT. I really hate her. She's awful. So much less than the best of humanity, as the Doctor puts it.
– Amy, on the other hand, is all kinds of win. Busting out, taking charge, attempting to rescue the Doctor and Nasreen, YEAH I LOVE HER. <3 <3 <3
– I almost want to cry with relief and joy when Eleven says he's not authorized to speak on behalf of humanity. Doctor, you've learned something, I love it. Love you. <3
– Nasreen knows, as I do, that when Eleven looks at you like that and tells you to be extraordinary, there's no arguing, just doing. I couldn't argue with him either if he was telling me that.
– *deep breath*
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORYYYYYYY!
*deep breath*
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Okay, so it's not quite as good as the scene in Amy's Choice. But I'll be damned if it didn't get to me anyway, because this time it's for REAL and ROOOOOOOOOOOOOORY! *ahem* And the haters can button it about Karen Gillan's acting now, kthx, because she broke me in this scene. Oh Amy. ; ; I want to give her ALL THE HUGS. And then, even worse, she's robbed of the ability to properly grieve him. The look on Eleven's face when he realizes that she's forgotten Rory sets me bawling anew. He alone knows what she's lost, what she can't even mourn. And how fucked up is it that she's not allowed to grieve him beyond the space of a few minutes? It makes me feel even worse for both of them, somehow.
I'll miss you, Rory. 🙁 🙁 🙁
You used Jessie! Now both me and my inner child are just weeping endlessly…
omg Jessie. ;__;
Oh it's worse than that… she NEVER got to grieve. She was still begging with the Doctor to help him and trying to hold on to his memory, then the TARDIS executes its worst landing ever(tm), they both get thrown to the ground and *poof*, gone. Just… gone.
And let us not forget this is Moffat's first season in charge. Steven Moffat. The frakin' Trope Namer for "Everybody Lives!". He who goes out of his way to not kill anyone. And just when you've bought into that he turns around and pulls something like THIS. I guess feeding on fear gets boring after a while and you have to add a little agonizing pain for balance, possibly washed down with a tall glass of rich, salty tears from those you have duped.
Nightmares and fan tears, it's what Moffat's having for dinner.
THIS.
You taste these tears. Taste my sad, Moffat.
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He's a White Court vampire :'| (kudos to any who recognizes this reference)
Dresden?
Yes, exactly 😀 Hello fellow TDF fan <3
omg Harry! and Jears! and Toy Story! perfect gif choices there 🙁
Jessie!! *brb crying forever* : ` (
Boo, Seymour and Toy Story 2?! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME WITH SAD?! *weeps in corner*
You Seymoured me! Now I have to cry myself to sleep!
The thing that struck me about Rory's death is just how utterly tragic and so… Rory his final words are.
"You're so beautiful. I'm sorry!"
Excuse me while I go to this corner and sob.
Give my my heart and guts back, you just ripped 'em out!!!
*mega hugs*
I'm still not over it, Rorrry 🙁
The last ten minutes of this episode punches you in the face: Rory dies, heart breaking scene between Amy and the Doctor and then you find out that the Tardis caused the Crack in Time D: D:
My review only comes in gifs today.
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I need a drink now.
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I was bawling right along with you and your gifs until I saw the Usagi one- after that I had to giggle a little bit.
Ditto! 😀 Usagi is a non-chemical upper.
To be honest, it makes me giggle sometimes too. But that's why it's in the middle, to not ~distract from all the sadness.
Oh god these gifs…
Cheers
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These are market prices? WHAT MARKET ARE YOU SHOPPING AT?
What is that first gif from?
Black Books. It is a fantastically funny sitcom about an oftentimes drunken Irishman (the man in the gif) who runs a bookstore in London and his two friends who get up to all sorts of crazy shenanigans.
<img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/2mzd4p0.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/kretch1967/gifs/drinking%20and%20eating/tennantdrink.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
(I have an entire gif folder of people drinking. Don't know what that says about me. But yours is getting added to it!)
WHAT is that from? I am mesmerized and cannot stop watching.
No idea, quite honestly. Nobody seems to know what it's from, even the other people I've seen post it. It's a mystery gif!
Oh my giddy aunt an USAGI GIF?! Do something with Minako, Makoto, Rei, and Ami, and I'm pretty sure you win the internet and stuff.
Sadly, I don't have any handy but I will obviously have to work on that!
as horrible as it is, i started laughing at the Serena and Luna gif…and then i couldn't stop.
So I'm watching Cold Blood. Not really expecting a lot, but enjoying myself, anyway, with the complacency that is borne of being mid-series and not expecting anything too dire to befall anyone other than maybe a one-off episodic side-character like Tony or Nasreen. Punchy, but bearable. Things seem to be going okay.
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/omgeye.gif">
And then:
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/heartattack.gif">
'Cause Rory was like:
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/bangyouredead.gif">
Only worse.
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/dealwiththat.gif">
And I'm like:
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/omgno.gif">
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/DNW.gif">
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/minibarsmaller.gif">
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/smileyhorrified.jpg">
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/ffffffuuuu.jpg">
And then it's over and there's nothing to be done, even by the Doctor, and DIDN'T WE JUST GO OVER THIS IN AMY'S CHOICE? Failing to save Rory once in a dream-world is pretty bad. Failing to save Rory for a second time in the real world is DOUBLE PLUS UNGOOD. But that's all there is to it and Amy is hauled bodily into the TARDIS and everything is wrong and dead Rory further gets the shitty end of the stick by being unborn into the crack and now Amy can't even mourn him, so we must.
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/adacry.gif">
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/jurtcry.gif">
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/esthercry.gif">
In conclusion:
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/tragedy.png">
And we need puppies.
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/puppylick.gif">
<img alt="" src="http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/PiperWit/GIFS/puppybackrub.gif">
If lolspeak is the first language of the internet, them Gifspamese is the second. And you are beautifully fluent in it.
I should put that on my resume!
DOUBLE PLUS UN GOOD is the only way I can accurately describe my feelings about them killing rory. there aren't enough eloquent flowery words in the universe to do it that way, so I must emphasise how FUCKING TERRIBLE (actually 'fucking terrible' isn't half bad…) it is by using words from 19 FUCKING 84!
It's like we shut down and revert to our most basic Anglo-Saxon settings.
WHAT IN THE PISS HELL ASSDAMN FUCK.
So glad there's someone else who thinks of "double plus ungood." It's one of the first things that comes to mind when I'm annoyed, and then I always feel a little weird.
OMG PUPPIES! PUPPIES MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER!
Stop! Cuddle-Time!
(oooooOOOOOOOooooooooOOOO)
Best summing-up-the-episode-using-only-GIFs ever.
Awesome gif-review.
SLINGS AND ARROWS GIFS
OMG YAAAAAAAYYYYYYY
Gifs express what words cannot.
Also OMG AN ACGAS gif! I love you!
YOU RECOGNIZED AN ACGAS GIF! LET'S HOLD HANDS. 😀
(Tristan Farnon was my first crush when I was six years old, trufax.)
I knew there was a reason I hated photobucket. And now imageshack won't host .gifs anymore, either.
Maybe I can fix this when I get home. Except I don't see how I can edit it for new links. FFS live and learn, I guess.
Anyone know a decent free site that'll let me upload .gifs with impunity?
I used Tinypic.com when someone sucked my bandwidth, but for some reason Tinypic seemed to be more stringent about the file size limit than Photobucket is. It's also hard finding your gifs again if you don't have an account, and right now the "sign up for Tinypic" link just directs to "sign up for Photobucket." 🙁
I ended up caving and buying a Photobucket Pro account for a month.
And then a few days later someone told me that imgur.com is better.
I've tried tinypic once or twice and selected the option to email the link to myself; but after a few gifs it gets really awkward having them all as emails rather than together in a single place. 🙁
*goes to try imgur*
Adouble+ for the 1984 reference
(Re-done with .gifs that'll stick around, hopefully. Sorry if this repeats for anyone.)
So I'm watching Cold Blood. Not really expecting a lot, but enjoying myself, anyway, with the complacency that is borne of being mid-series and not expecting anything too dire to befall anyone other than maybe a one-off episodic side-character like Tony or Nasreen. Punchy, but bearable. Things seem to be going okay.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/phHrX.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
And then:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/StNmf.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
'Cause Rory was like:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/fv3vu.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
Only worse.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/oPxLs.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
And I'm like:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/aNztj.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/kQjoo.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/uHm9W.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/1764Y.jpg" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/ZnCyd.jpg" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
And then it's over and there's nothing to be done, even by the Doctor, and DIDN'T WE JUST GO OVER THIS IN AMY'S CHOICE? Failing to save Rory once in a dream-world is pretty bad. Failing to save Rory for a second time in the real world is DOUBLE PLUS UNGOOD. But that's all there is to it and Amy is hauled bodily into the TARDIS and everything is wrong and dead Rory further gets the shitty end of the stick by being unborn into the crack and now Amy can't even mourn him, so we must.
<img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/xntag3.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/qiae6.jpg" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/3477778.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
In conclusion:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/nk2kg.png" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
And we need puppies.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/d8gXB.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/icx7e.gif" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
BLEAK HOUSE!
OK, just had to say that.
Ugh, I don’t really know what to say. Was this only a two-parter so that they could fit in everything with Rory at the end? I think the story could have been handled better in a single episode, maybe one slightly longer than usual. It was so slow. I did appreciate that Chibnall gave a lot of time to side-characters in these two episodes, and there was decent emotional development, but I think Amy and Rory’s screen time suffered for it.Their presence was really only felt at the end.
Speaking of which: what the hell? Rory’s death seems like a waste as we barely got to know him, and he just “died” two episodes ago! I assume that he’s not gone for good. Since Rory and Amy were waving at their past selves, does that mean Rory’s death isn’t a fixed point in time? I hope all of the attention paid to the ring means that it will trigger vague memories of Rory in Amy while the Doctor fights to undo the effects of the Time Crack. Please? I can’t believe it, but I’m more annoyed than sad about Rory’s death, and I really liked Rory! I don’t entirely get why they couldn’t pull him away before the time strands got him completely, or why it would be harder for Amy to remember him because he’s part of her timeline; the only reason seems to be “because the writers say so.” I think it would be easier to accept if I had actually enjoyed the preceding story.
I guess I should try to say some nice things. I like the way Silurian city/civilization looked, and it was funny to see Eldane wearing a gown. If they have boobs, why not leaders who’ve been hooded? But the best part was Amy trying to remember Rory. When the Tardis jolts, and her face is completely wiped of grief as she picks herself up, I finally felt the impact of Rory’s death. After what happened to Donna, it’s really hard to see another companion forget something that was a huge part of her life. Will Amy be different now?
Bah. I wish Alaya had tongue-darted Ambrose.
I refuse to believe that Rory never existed. First of all the ring didnt dissappear (it didnt did it?) so he had to have existed to buy it. Unlike if someone went back in time to kill his parents or something. Isnt that a rule? Though I suppose that would mean that the Doctor's explaination was wrong and the Doctor cant be wrong. Can he?
I mentioned last week that the crack has worked as a portal occationally. So maybe Rory is hanging out with Pedro and some weeping angels in Crackland. Crackland would, of course, have to be like Never Never Land and preserves people (so Rory wont bleed out) and makes people forget. This is my belief and I am sticking to it.
Maybe existance is a wibbly thing around the TARDIS and since the ring was inside it, with all the time-travelly timey-wimey stuff, it wasn't affected? The Doctor can still remember Rory, after all, but only Amy's mind has been affected because Rory was in her timestream. By the ring being in the TARDIS wouldn't it kind of be in a limbo-ish place? It's not necessarily that he never existed in any space or dimension, full-stop, now; just that he never existed in Amy's world or life.
But wouldnt that still mess up her timeline. Thing that Rory had done wouldnt have happened. Or back when the head clerk let Amy his radio to go to the Crack. If he had never existed Amy wouldn't have a radio. I am of the opinion the the Crack only erases people from memory.
That's the only thing it can possibly do because they'd have to exist in order for the crack to eat them.
Well, Time-Travelers who aren't actively apart of the erased thing's life can remember, right? And the TARDIS is alive. So along with her being a separate dimension in space/time, maybe she actively protected the ring.
Blah. Stop trying to erase my dilusions.
Also it still breaks the rules. I am like a child in my suspension of disbelief and I can make up an explaination for any plothole you throw at me but if you break ~*THE RULES*~ then the only explaination is that something else is going on.
CRYING FOREVER AND EVER PERFECT GIF CHOICES AND KIND OF FFFFUUUUUUUU FOR THEM TOO OMG THAT LAST ONE
I LOVE RORY AND I LOVE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH AMY AND THEY ARE AMAZING TOGETHER!
WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHY AM I USING PRESENT TENSE, I'M NOT STILL IN DENIAL. NOT AT ALL. *clings to them in that last gif*
IF I COULD REMEMBER WHO THE HELL YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT, I WOULD APPROVE OF THEM BEING AN AMAZING COUPLE AND USING PRESENT TENSE. THIS SHOW NEEDS ANOTHER GUY BESIDES THE DOCTOR AND JEFF!
As I said yesterday, I don't like this two-parter. They're only episodes in series 5 that I don't like. Most of my dislike is because of THIS episode.
There's a few bright spots; Nasreen continues to be awesome and probably the only one that makes any sort of sense during this episode. "Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea. It's too big a leap." Seriously, I know it's a moot point because it doesn't actually happen but, there's no way any deal made by two people with no authority (and Amy probably wouldn't be sticking around to help convince people so Nasreen would basically be on her own) would have been accepted by the rest of the world. Got to love amy's exaspetayed head-on-arms-on-table, that's probably what I'd be doing in that situation.
More things to like, um, Malohkeh. He did some questionable things like vivisecting Mo and attmpting to do the same to Amy but he refused to dissect children, let Mo out when asked and actually had the sense to go and get Eldane to deal with the situation instead of letting Restac execute everyone. Eldane himself wasn't too bad, slightly patronising "Shush now Restac, go and play soldiers" aside it seemed like he genuinely wanted to find a way to share the surface.
That's pretty much it though. Like I said yesterday Ambrose ("She was our only bargaining chip." Thank you for catching up at last, bit late though) and Alaya really need to stop being awful, something Restac should probably join in with. Stop talking, stop doing things because you're just making everything worse!
Oh god, the worst part. RORY!!!! Oh god, as much as I hate this episode I can't help but tear up during that scene. If not at the actual death then at the doctor and Amy in particular's reactions. Amy's freaking out just breaks my heart, her desperate appeals to the Doctor to go back for Rory, to save him. The montage when she's trying to hold onto the memories of him, to not forget are so adorable but heartbreaking and then she can't and I just…
<img src="http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq100/nebula908/TheCrack2.jpg">
…sorry what was I talking about?
Oh right SHARD OF THE TARDIS OMFG! DNW THE TARDIS TO BLOW UP!
Why does he keep talking about this Rory guy? There's no one named that in the show.
I know, right? I think he must be watching two shows and accidentally mushed the reviews together.
It was this episode that made me realise how much I love Rory – that old 'you don't know what you've got til it's gone' thing, I guess. There I was, oh la la la la Amy's Choice, lovely … like these two together, how nice to have two companions, yaaaay etc and then WAIT! What did they just do????????????
This episode traumatised me into writing Doctor Who fixit fanfic and I hate fixit fic with a burning passion. That's how traumatised I was. I also watched 50 billion Amy/Rory fanvids, all of which dealt with his death, over and over and over again, and then I watched The Eleventh Hour and Amy's Choice over and over and over again … and I was still traumatised. *sigh* I miss Rory 🙁 Oh well … at least I can still watch Amy's Choice on endless repeat and pretend this never happened.
I have nothing else to say … nothing else in this episode matters, okay! I'm just going to go cry in a corner again now.
"This is the story of how I died"
"And one of them will die"
Fuck you RTD this is how you do it. You don't put out warnings and then chicken out. No you just kill them off without warning.
I don't think RTD put out warnings and then chickened out. I think he was going for a completely different dramatic effect. (I also think he finds some fates, like Donna's, to be equivalent to/worse than death.) Whether or not that particular effect pushes your buttons is a whole 'nother question.
Nah, it was chickening out. He put up all these dramatic prophecies and foreshadowings, and then it was all "oh no, she doesn't die, she's living happily ever after in a parallel universe" and "actually, she doesn't die, she just has her memories wiped and is back to what she was before she met the Doctor". I felt snubbed both times. RTD clearly didn't have the guts to kill a companion.
EDIT: And if he wanted to imply that Donna losing her memories is "worse than death" – then why the frack didn't he have Dalek Caan say "and his most faithful companion will suffer fate worse than death"? No, he said "one of them will die". No one died. Ergo, false advertising.
I never saw "the most faithful companion" as Donna cause I saw that as unfair to the other companions. The most faithful for me was always the Doctors guilt or some such philosophical concept.
But technically the Donna that existed before the memory wipe did die because your memories are what make you who you are. They shape your personality.
" No you just kill them off without warning."
Otherwise known as "The Whedon."
HAHAHAHA I love Joss, but his shows just TEAR APART MY HEART!
THIS. Yet another reason why NuWho under Moffat's reign is so much better than under RTD's.
why can I only give this one up vote?
Prophecies of death are supposed to have twisty meanings. RTD did it right.
This is one of the very few two-parters where the 1st part was meh (in my opinion) and the 2nd part blew my mind. I LOVE Nasreen. On a more important note, though, this was my reaction to the last 10 minutes:
TARDIS SCRAPNEL WHAT WHAT WHAT WAIT NOOOO NOT ROOORRYYYYY WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Lol, I get it now! Rory is like this thing you throw into sad sentences, like the extra "one" in long interrobangs.
Like this: ?!!?!?!?!??!one?!?!?!?!?111?!??!RORY?!?!?!?!??
…I think.
Weird thing to say, though. "TEARS" would be a more appropriate thingy there.
OK. One.
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/2zqsjgw.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
RORY! OMFG RORY NOOOOOOOOOO.
<img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/b5mbtw.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
*sniff*
We will remember youuuuuuu!
<img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/2b2k1s.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/2w4jk2e.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/102np6d.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
ALSO THE CRACK HAS BROKEN TARDIS BITS IN IT OMFG!
<img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/250l306.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
Time for the real comments. Apart from the HEAD EXPLODING arc development and the awesomeness of Nasreen, I can't really get behind this two-parter. Few of the characters are sympathetic and/or three-dimensional (let's face it, one of the most sympathetic characters in this episode VIVISECTS HUMANS). The plot is basically that, because of some science gone wrong that wakes up the Silurians, a bunch of awful people of both species hate on each other and kill each other and subsequently make some friendly overtures, and then nothing is actually resolved, except that we have learnt that women are fucking scary so don't piss them off.
WTF? No really, WTF?
However by the end of watching it I was flipping out almost as much as Amy and the Doctor, so yaaaaaay for moving the season arc forward!
So if Rory never existed, who took pictures of Prisoner Zero? Or saved Amy's life in vampires in venice?
If the Angels never existed, how did the the Byzantium crash if there was both no angels to rescue and no Angel bob to do the rescuing? And shouldn't Octavian now be alive?
OW.
It still happened. It's just that no one remembers it. Or something. I mean you can't be erased from history if you never existed in the first place.
Octavian isn't alive because when the ship lost gravity, he was dead on the ground, and had nothing to hold on to. You know…. Being dead and all. Then, he fell into the the time crack. So he too never existed.
This episode KILLS me. First off, because it has to be said: RORY. BRILLIANT, LOVELY, KINDHEARTED, LOYAL RORY. NEVER EXISTED. I'm not going to lie, I was so heartbroken the first time I saw this that when the next episode rolled around, I almost didn't watch it. I couldn't bear the thought of a universe without Rory in it. And can we just give Karen and Matt ALL THE APPLAUSE for that scene where he tries to help her remember Rory and she's failing? BRILLIANTLY ACTED.
(cont'd)
I was a little shocked that you thought Tony would be the one who killed the Silurian, though, to be honest, because my friend I watch the show with regularly and I both called Ambrose. And you're right, in her shoes, who knows what choice I'd make, but I still want to kick her and the speech Eleven gives to her gets me every time. His disappointment is palpable. "You were so much less."
And excellent use of the Craig Ferguson quote! That clip was one of the best summations of Dr. Who I've ever seen.
Seriously? Goddamn, MARK, SITE ADMINS, IT'S NOT APRIL FOOLS YET. :T
So far, my account seems intact, thankfully. No random Rory mentions anywhere in my review.
Who?
Oh, I thought he was Malo…..something. Malorory, maybe, or something like that? Rory's a cute nickname for him definitely, I liked him. Not quite sure why Mark and co are so cut up about such a minor character, but hey, we all sadgifpartied for Ross.
Who is this Rory guy you speak of, seriously. I don't remember a Rory in this episode (or in the entire show at all). Did you get some sort of alternate episode or something?
<img src="http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/2301/trollcrack.jpg">
PROBLEM DOCTOR?
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/zvondt.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii205/lassie_faire/GIF%20central/applause.gif"/>
<img src="http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq100/nebula908/Gifs/k0s.gif">
Saving this to my DW image folder so fast.
<img src=http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af309/elanor12/emmarachelclap.gif>
MATTHEW GRAY GUBLER IS NEVER ALLOWED TO BE SAD even in the background of gifs of Garcia being sad, who should also never be sad, but I swear to god when MGG is sad it is like someone kicking a puppy and I cannot handle it *reaches for tissues*
Unpopular opinion: this is my absolute least favourite episode of this show ever, omg I have so many feelings.
But I do think Karen acted Amy's grief very well.
Right there on the "Wow this is… not good" train with you. The gender-flip stuff was interesting but badly executed in a way that feels more misogynist than intellectually curious, and the side characters were really poorly developed. (I mean, to the point of Restac and Alaya basically being the same character and having that handwaved because they're sisters—that's how cardboard cutout the characters feel to me.)
Agreed. I could literally go on and on and on and on about everything I dislike about this two-parter but I feel bad being the voice of extreme negativity. (But not bad enough to prevent myself from commenting at all, apparently, lol.) I just… ugh, Rory's death should have been sad because he was my favourite of the three, but I was too busy being pissed off that he was killed in an episode that was so terrible. Plus he'd just died in Amy's Choice and we didn't have any time to a) adjust to a post-Amy's Choice Team TARDIS or b) see any difference in how Amy and Rory interacted based on Amy's Choice. And the "erased from time" thing is what really sent it over the edge for me — it doesn't make sense (how did they get to that exact point if Rory has never existed? Why is it easier for Amy to forget her fiance but not the random clerics? WHY CAN ELEVEN STICK HIS HAND IN AND BE FINE BUT RORY'S CORPSE GOES BYE-BYE?) and it felt like such an easy way to sidestep emotional impact. "Oh, well, Amy's fiance just died, but she doesn't remember him so we can get back to the fun stuff."
UGH so many feelings. The bland secondary characters didn't help at all either. Chris Chibnall please go back to Law & Order and stay there forever ty.
When you prefaced your comment with "Unpopular opinion", I thought you were going to say it was your favorite episode.
Is this universally hated then? IDK, what is unpopular about it in my experience is that while I haven't really run into anyone who says this is their favourite, most people I've met kind of casually dislike it, or at least have other episodes that are their very least favourite with this somewhere towards the bottom. But for me it is Cold Blood. I would rather watch… literally any other episode. Even Love and Monsters. Or the s3 Dalek ones. Or the s5 Dalek ones. Or The Next Doctor. Or…
This two-parter, along with the Dalek ep, are my three least favorite episodes of series 5. Not only are these two episodes pretty boring, they go on and end with killing Rory. NO! I REFUSE! GOOD DAY, SIRS! I SAID GOOD DAY. GIVE ME BACK RORY.
I don't have the gifs to convey it so just *IMAGINE* the horrible sad crying shock gifs that I would bang out if I could.
Rory.
roryroryrory.
FUCKING RORY YOU CAN'T TAKE RORY FROM ME YOU CAN'T! He swiftly became my favourite character over these last few episodes and then Moffat and Chibnall fucking TOOK HIM AWAY FUCK YOU MAN!
I will never ever forget you Rory.
"I'm sorry" were his last words. That broke my heart so much. You would not believe the amount I cried over Rory's death. It was irrational levels of sadness.
I couldn't even re watch this episode cause I knew what happened at the end. I remember REALLY LIKING IT till that point.And then they KILLED RORY. He was always so sweet and kind and he was so scared but so brave and he was so funny and ARGH YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME, MOFFAT!
Oh man, Kaybee, tell me about it! I just caught up to the episode "Doomsday;" consuming the entire storyline with Rose in a matter of weeks! I saw their chemistry grow, I KNEW that their departure was coming, and STILL it hit me like a ton of bricks!
Anyway, I can't keep the rift open between the worlds of "Reads" and "Watches" too long; I'm consuming like five supernovas and a black hole just to send you this message. I guess I'll find out what you're all talking about here soon enough. Always remember Kaybee, that I –––
BRAD! Heeeeey!
I am SO excited for the future fun times you'll have with Doctor Who!
Who d'you prefer: Eccleston or Tennant?
By the looks of it you wont catch up in time for series six with us 🙁
BECAUSE MOFFAT IS EVIL AND KILLED HIM 🙁
<img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/2akfp6c.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/2pzxvg1.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/jq6duc.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
ROOOOOOOOORY
<img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/iye69x.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
So there are other things that I should talk about in this two-parter, but I just keep getting distracted by the OH GOD NO.
<img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/2dthmc.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
Ok, attempting to compose myself here. Outside of the last 10 minutes, my feelings of vague like mixed with a sense of meh for these episodes continue. There are things I absolutely love and things I’m not quite as fond of.
Things I love:
Amy picking the doctor’s pocket to rescue Mo and escape is wonderful. Nasreen continues to be amazing and the negotiations between Eldane, Nasreen and Amy are fascinating to watch. Nasreen’s level head and realism mixed with Amy’s idealistic enthusiasm combine to make a great team. I love that there were lasting consequences for the negotiations/drama, even though they won’t be seen in 1000 years. Elliot’s acceptance of his task to spread the word was matter-of-fact and believable. In the show’s universe, I can see him growing up to make an impact for good in the work of sharing the earth- a nice example of someone who is changed for the better for meeting the Doctor. Also, I’m pretty much guaranteed to love every moment that Amy, Rory and the Doctor are on screen together…
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/35medeu.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
The acting in this episode was pretty awesome across the board, but once again Karen Gillan really had a chance to shine in one of the most tear-worthy and painful moments on the show yet. The moment where she is distracted from her attempt to remember Rory and then he’s just gone, taking with him all of that pain and sorrow and leaving behind an empty cheerfulness just kills me. And Matt Smith’s face… I just
<img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/2dcheyp.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
The loss of Rory to the crack in time and the revelation about the piece of shrapnel catapulted this episode into something very memorable.
Cont’d.
Things I’m not as fond of:
The way the Silurian males are pretty much depicted as morally good and helpful, as they had clearly been experimenting on captured humans, while the female Silurians were violent, aggressve and somewhat irrational. After a discussion on the spoiler blog, I am torn between seeing this just as a comment on militarism, and being very uncomfortable with the gender split there. I go back and forth on Ambrose, but I’m frustrated by the choice to have her come up with the drill idea directly after saying she realized that she had screwed things up and was sorry for it. It’s just stupid.
Thankfully (tearfully?) all of those nitpicks are overwhelmed by the sheer WTF OMG of the ending. I can’t imagine that anyone was expecting for us to lose Rory! And of all the tragedies that the Doctor has faced recently, I can imagine this being one of the most difficult to face because there is no escape for him while he travels with Amy. Every time he talks to her he will be faced with the knowledge that she lost the love of her life and doesn’t even remember. Poor Eleven, and poor Amy and poor Rory. You will be missed. :’(
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<img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/28sadti.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
EOMEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR
God, that gif is on level with Seymour for me.
Lol, for me Seymour means Little Shop of Horrors, so I was sort of huh? before I realized that's the name of the Futurama dog.
I still say nothing beats Lion King gifs for sadness.
Oh man, The Lion King gets me every time. I mean, I had to leave the theater when Mufasa died, because I was sobbing so hard and it NEVER GETS BETTER. I still think that all the absent/dead parents in Disney movies kind of traumatized me as a child.
Jesus that second gif is hard to watch, the last one's no easier. damn you Karen GIllan why are you so amazing?
RORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
I HATE EVERYTHING FOREVER.
In other news, really? You killed the reptile who probably has really nice and thick skin gets killed by three shocks from a taser? Really? REALLY?
I can't have any sense of hope about the deal they make with the Silurians because of 'The Beast Below'. That episode is set in the 29th century, at which time Earth has burned and been evacuated by humans. Before the Silurians wake up. So, either they're all dead, too or they're going to wake up and find the Earth is completely ruined and kill the two humans with them. And whether it's a matter of the writers forgetting their own canon (or expecting us to) or the Doctor making this deal knowing full well what state the Earth will be in in 1000 years, it's just not good.
THIS EPISODE.
Ok so we (ahem) acquire Doctor Who online, and of course, I go to bed without staying up crazy late to watch the episode thinking "surely, it'll be just fine if I watch this tomorrow night." WRONG. I wake up the next morning, check facebook, and see that my husband posted his facebook status from the previous night. All it said was:
"RORY NOOOOOOO!"
I sat there in shock. And then there was thoughts of changing locks and divorce before angrily calling him at work: "DID YOU SERIOUSLY JUST SPOIL THAT?!!!!"
Him: What I didn't say anything. That can mean anything.
ME: It's Doctor Who!!!! Clearly he's dead. THEY KILL OFF PEOPLE LEFT AND RIGHT! DAMMIT!!!!
Ugh. I'm still clearly mad about this. What I did not know, however, that it was so much worse than dying. He never existed!!!!!! Sadness forever.
I think you must mean: RORY!!! Who?
Easy typo to make!
If someone asked my favorite episode of new who i would say the Empty Child/Doctor Dances. If someone asked my what's the worst episode i would say Victory of the Daleks. This two parter is so dull it does not even register i can't even bring myself to hate it, i'm going to pretend it doesn't exist instead.
So dull that perhaps you pretend it got sucked into the crack?
While the last episode suffered from being boring but re-watchable, this episode, to me, was boring and annoying and I don't care for re-watching it at all, thank you very much. If I never have to hear the phrases "the best of humanity" and "homo reptilia" again, I will be a happy boy.
The Silurian's agreeing to hibernate for a while felt like a cop-out. Really, much like Victory of the Daleks, this entire two-parter served the purpose of merely re-introducing the Silurians.
AND NO. FUCK YOU CHIBNALL. FUCK YOU MOFFAT. YOU CANNOT FUCKING KILL RORY. NO.
Oh, hey, guess what's on the other side of that crack that ate Rory…
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THE DISCO ROOM, BABY.* Rory's partying it up 70's style with Ross Jenkins, Sacred Bob, DoctorDonna, and a shitload of Rose's abandoned drugs. It was so much fun that Rory from the future decides to go as well. There's TWO Rory's in the Disco Room. So there's no reason for any of us to ever be sad again. Okay? …OKAY?! WE DON'T HAVE TO BE SAD GUYS.
<img src=http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/zz314/zaralikescake/2ih79yq.gif>
*There are no actual Daleks in the Disco room. Forget the Daleks. Tom Baker, however, is up for debate.
(But seriously, if there's any complaint I have about the death scene which I can honestly say was written and performed very well and was absolutely harrowing, it's that it felt so tacked on and out-of-place with the rest of the episode. I mean, the only foreshadowing was Amy and Rory from the future, but it really didn't feel like enough. Maybe if the crack was introduced earlier…? I don't know. RORY NOOOOOOOOOOOO!)
It's OK – those are the Human Factor Daleks from `Evil`. They just want to do the conga and make a train across the floor. 🙂
Looking good, Four~
This episode was like a reverse of The End of Time Part II for me. For a lot of the episode, I was like this:
<img src="http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f155/Starsea/WoodyIsUnimpressed.jpg">
Amy somehow picks a pocket with her hands bound down. They can't release Elliott because the door doesn't recognise human DNA but they can turn on the lights around the Silurian warriors. Amy gets taken hostage without even a struggle or picking another pocket, all just to heighten the false dramatic tension because we all know Amy isn't going to die right now.
Okay, Chibnall, I realise that Ambrose did a bad thing, but it feels like you are trying to make me HATE her instead of sympathise with her. And I don't think the parallel between her and Restac works since Restac is even less sympathetic (except in her brief moment of grief for Alaya, which DOES make a nice parallel with Amy and Rory).
The misogyny is slightly better on rewatch with Amy and Nasreen representing the human race, but not much. Making her own son step away from her was bad enough but then making the Doctor call her the "worst of humanity"? I get it, Chibnall, she did wrong, please stop forcing it down my throat.
Oh, but then the last ten minutes of this episode came along and my face turned into this.
<img src="http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f155/Starsea/OMGSoSad.gif">
Okay, I have to say thank you first. THANK YOU for actually KILLING someone and not handwaving it as "dumped them in another dimension" or "made them forget everything and all their character development"! Even if Amy forgets, the Doctor doesn't. You see that in his face outside the TARDIS. The misery and the guilt. And just in case THAT isn't enough, THE TARDIS IS EXPLODING. Yes. This is death and it has consequences and it hurts.
Second, Karen Gillan's acting is amazing here and it hurts me every time. They actually filmed this BEFORE Amy's Choice so she couldn't do the same reaction in that episode as in this one, hence the shock and blank face. Here, she is unravelling at the edges. She's lost the one person who's always been there, the person who grounds her, who helps her see reality. And then… she forgets. And all that's left of Rory is an engagement ring.
GOD SO SAD
Oh thank god I seriously thought I was the only one who thought this about Ambrose.
Definitely not. It's even more obvious on the rewatch, sadly. 🙁
Pretty much. I was nonplussed with this entire two-parter (low point of the season, imo), but then the ending came and I was yelling at my screen.
More about the TARDIS exploding, though Rory was certainly in there. Worth the other parts of the episode for the great ending? Yeah. Could the episode have been a lot better, yeah. But there were high points in the two-parter, like the Doctor's interrogation of Alaya. And Nasreen.
And Ambrose was an idiot.
All the upvotes for the lovely GIFs and Rory mourning.
Rory? You're not going to start making up random people again, I hope. We talked about this last week. There's never been a Rory. You know that, right?
UGH! I hate those damn cracks.
Rory was there, he was awesome. He was the coolest time traveler to wear a down vest.
That's right, he's better than Marty McFly. Bring it.
I thought it was going to be Ambrose all along, but that was pretty much the only part of this I saw coming. I liked the second half of this two parter wayyy better than the first.
OH MY GOSH RORY I'VE COME TO LOVE YOU YOU CAN'T BE ERASED OH MY GOD SO SAD. One question though, is the Doctor just better at doing that memory retainy thing he tried (and failed) to help Amy do to hold onto Rory? Because he hasn't forgotten Rory. Or is it because he's a Time Lord and he has looked into the Time Vortex? Cause that could work too.
AND OH MY GOSH THE TARDIS I'VE COME TO LOVE YOU TOO HOW CAN YOU BE SPLINTERED IN A TIME CRACK???? WHAT????????????
I am not prepared.
I think that Amy doesn't remember him because he was part of her time line/life. She would have known him if she never went traveling with the Doctor. She remembered the clerics because she would never have known them in normal life. So, the Doctor remembers Rory because he isn't part of Rory's time line. I think.
Yup, I think that actually is the canon explanation for why Amy can't remember Rory after he's been eaten by crack.
Ah, okay, that makes good sense. Somehow, although I noticed this and wondered…it never ocurred to me why the clerics forgot each other but amy didn't forget them. This makes very good sense.
I was sadder for Rory's death in Amy's Choice and that was with the assumed knowledge he'd wake up because it was the dream. This time I was just ANGRY lol. "NO, YOU DO NOT GET TO KILL OFF MY FAVOURITE PART OF THIS SEASON AND THEN ERASE HIM FROM TIME IN AN EPISODE I DON'T EVEN LIKE. RAAAGE." I had spent so long defending s5 against a lot of people who weren't enjoying it as much as s1-s4, and Amy's Choice was BRILLIANT, and then… this. Chris Chibnall is my least favourite Whoniverse writer and I was dreading him having a two-parter, but this was like all my nightmares come to life lol.
Basically my feelings in a gif:
<img src=http://i.imgur.com/HVtR3.gif>
That names popped up a few times. I wonder what it's about. Is it some kind of fan term I don't know about?
I think its some sort of perfect Gary-Stu for Amy or something. He keep turning up in fics with her. Must be for everyone who thinks that cannon isn't good enough for her, I guess.
I fucking HATE Ambrose, and I don't buy her "I only wanted to protect my family" bullshit. Yeah, you want to protect your family – so you're threatening to kill the hostage who's your only bargaining chip to save your family and the rest of humanity? For fuck's sake, woman, use your brain! Ugh. I hate such blatantly irrational behaviour, either in movies/TV or in real life.
What's up with mothers in NuWho? They're either bitchy (Francine, Sylvia), shallow (Jackie), hiding the fact (Nancy – although it's sort of understandable, given the circumstances), or awfully irrational (Ambrose). Can we have just ONE mother who's portrayed in a positive light, please?
But then… but then….
TARDIS shrapnel in the crack!!!!! ASWdj adsoiAJO Weu9jLkJAWldk JALSdij!!!!!!!!
And Rory dies… and has never existed… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! :'(
I was in serious denial when I first watched this episode – I literally screamed: "But you CAN'T DO THAT!! You can't kill him AGAIN and then make it even worse by having him erased from Time!!!"
RORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY… :'( :'( :'(
Sarah Jane does a pretty good job! And Rani's mother! Oh wait…
NuWho, not SJA. 😉
I remember when Donna was portrayed as mother in a positive light…
Yeah, but that wasn't really real…
Ugh shit reading comprehension fail, nm.
Did anyone notice that Amy subconsciously knows she's supposed to be travelling with two? She says "There we are" when she sees herself up on the hill, and then she refers to the Doctor as "her boys". Makes it even sadder.
Yeah. She can't consciously grieve him, but deep down inside she knows something isn't right. 🙁
Yes, I noticed these unconscious slips too. Makes it even sadder.
"In a way, it was somewhat reminiscent of Donna losing her memory as well, though this SOMEHOW FELT WORSE THAN THAT."
I love Donna and was extremely sad after her memory was erased but this was so much worse. Rory got erased from time. = I love Rory and want one for myself.
Hmm, I never felt like the show was pointing the finger and saying "wouldn't it be better if she'd never had him" but I take your point. However, should point out that it wasn't motherhood in general that screwed her over so much as unmarried motherhood and all the social stigma she would suffer from that as someone living in the late 1930s/early 1940s.
I broadly agree with you, Starsea, and cannot concur with the idea that mothers have been portrayed negatively.
Starting with Jackie, of all the characters Doctor Who, I can't begin to accept her as being in a negative light. She's completely awesome! She is warm and funny, she is fiercely loyal and protective of her daughter, without being over-protective. Over time, she even gradually comes to accept the Doctor, and even when she would rather Rose weren't travelling with him, Jackie never really obstructs Rose. She is supportive even when she disagrees with her daughter's choices. That is the very definition of `positive Mum`.
Francine is harder, yes, and perhaps crosses the border into over-protective, but I still don't see that as negative in of itself. She is motivated by concern for her daughter and Martha herself admits to Donna in the sontaran 2-parter that a lot of what happened could probably have been avoided had she been up front and honest, and explained about the Doctor. Francine is a complex, 3-dimensional character with both positive and negative traits – if you want to call them that. To focus on the, shall we say, `less positive` aspects seems rather disingenuous.
Now, Sylvia…well OK, I'll give you that one.
Nancy is a very positive and sympathetic character, acting as a surrogate mother to the street kids of London. Only the stigma of the time – and the effect of Chula nanogenes – prevented her from openly acknowledging her actual son, Jamie. But in the end, she literally and metaphorically embraces him, despite the physical and cultural risks to herself. It doesn't get any more positive than that.
Finally, Ambrose makes some terrible choices, but on the oher hand, she is a brilliantly realised character who feels fresh and new – in this show and drama in general, at least in my experience. The negative light is far less important, in my opinion, than the strength of the character, who is the best thing about this whole story, at least until the last 5mins.
WHY DO YOU DO THESE THINGS TO ME????
*goes to cry in a corner*
Look, Timon and Pumbaa dancing!
<img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/iqhrvl.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
You are like an endless pool of appropriate and awesome gifs. ILU.
Quick fact: There's a quote from Karen Gillan saying that after this episode had aired- her mom had called her up, and was crying over the phone and had either been asking why, or telling Karen that she hadn't warned her that this (Rory getting killed and erased) was going to happened. (Hopefully I remembered enough of that correctly, but I definitely remember the crying bit)
*sniff* Oh, Rory- we had you for such a short time. And of course, this is just another source of guilt for the Doctor because he knows that they all could've gotten safely back into the TARDIS, but he had to go check out the crack, and so on and so forth.
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/el8jnc.jpg">
The person who made this should've also made one for the fandom's love for Rory.
It has a chart.
That means it must be true.
IT R SCIENTIFIC FACT. Clearly. /monocle
That graph is very very accurate.
I approve of this chart.
This graph is accurate.
The first time though the series, I was kinda indifferent about Rory. Sure, I liked him, but I really didn't start to really, really like him until the rewatch.
(There's an accurate comic somewhere, but I can't find it – for later, maybe.
Is it the one with the guy and girl watching the TV?
Yeah.
At least I don't have the other sad one because that one is beyond cruel.
Have some Rafiki being awesome.
<img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/nnwtnl.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
Haha, I have both of the sad ones, but no happy lion king.
I absolutely hated that they killed off Rory. That is so typical of these kinds of shows, though, where they don't know what to do with the love interest, so they kill them off. I was so disappointed in this series when Rory died. Ugh!!!!!
I know that it is a lovely thought that Aliens could co-habit the Earth, but it is really, really hard to imagine.
It's as though Moffat said to himself:
"Awesome fun Amy can't be tied down with a boring old fiance…I know! Tragically murder the random fiance!"
I LOVED THE RANDOM FIANCE MOFFAT!!! LOVED HIM!
And if that isn’t horrific enough, the Doctor pulls out that piece of shrapnel from the Crack in Time and it’s very definitively part of the TARDIS. The fucking TARDIS caused the goddamn Time Explosion.
Never. Ever. Prepared.
So not prepared!
In other news, I went to the Doctor Who Experience today! And it was so fun! I helped fly the TARDIS under the command of Eleven, and we got scanned by Daleks, and then I took all sorts of hilarious pictures with the TARDIS and a Cyberman and a Dalek, and I bought this totally sweet poster that I cannot link to because it is a spoiler for the next episode.
But! You guys you guys did you know that YOU CAN BUY A CRACK IN TIME POSTER AND PUT IT ON YOUR WALL TO FREAK YOURSELF OUT FOREVER AND EVER? Because you can.
Totally think I know what poster you mean cause I totally bought it :D:D
Just wanna point out in the link to the poster, some of the suggested related products are FULL OF SPOILERS.
STEER CLEAR MARK!
Ack! Didn't notice that, sorry!
HOOOOLY SHIT, MARK, DON'T CLICK THE LINK.
but yeah that poster is terrifying D:
ROOOOORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY DDDDDDDDDDDDDDX
They are a pretty big minority! I'm so used to seeing brown people in British movies so it was seriously weird for me to turn on Who and hardly see any. Especially for a show that was set in London a lot in its first four seasons.
No, you are right, British Asians are the biggest demographic after white British, if you combine the Indian and Pakistani groups. I found it stupidly bizarre that New Who went out of its way to be inclusive of multi-ethnic Britain (including a British Japanese character, which is a very small group) but hasn't even had a major British Asian character until now.
It's certainly true about the mums, but what about the dads? We've got the abusive (Chloe's, that guy from Idiot's Lantern); the separated/absent (Martha's, The Empty Child's); the dead (Pete Tyler, Donna's); and the merely unsupportive (Jethro's from Midnight, the Doctor himself in The Doctor's Daughter). Against that you've got Mo, and… um…
I think parents in general seem to get pretty bad press – unless they're also grandparents, or else they get a chance to improve during the story (e.g., Caecilius and Metella being more sympathetic at the end of The Fires of Pompeii, IIRC).
So, I don’t have much to say about the main body of this episode that I didn’t already say yesterday. Not necessarily bad, with lots of good stuff, but all together it made for a rather underwhelming and forgettable episode. That said, I do have a few more in-depth things to say.
Ambrose; she is my least favourite minor character in all of New Who. She is just such and idiot. The rational part of me knows I’m being unfair; I understand that losing your husband, son and father in one day is probably isn’t exactly going to make you feel like rainbows and sunshine, but stop and thing for a moment! Do you really think angering the technologically advanced reptile people is going to help this situation? Especially when one has already gloated to you about how she wants to start a war- a war that could potentially harm your entire race?!? I get revenge and the need to protect your family, but have some context, lady.
The most painful thing is the way Rory reacts when he discovers what she’s done, and he has to reveal it to the Doctor. He just looks so ashamed, and it’s not even his fault….he really felt that he had to make it up to the time-lord. Which brings us onto my next, and most important point;
ROOORRRY!!!
I loved this character. Loved him. He was so sweet and normal, and he acted as such a perfect foil to the Doctor’s character. He really was wonderful, and it brings joy to my heart whenever there’s a full TARDIS. Do you know how much this scene killed me? It still kills me.
And then- and then- just to make things worse, he gets wiped from existence. And Amy’s still crying, destroyed by his death, desperately trying to remember him when suddenly, bam! “What were you saying?” The most painful mood whiplash ever.
As painful as it is, though, it feels almost necessary, at least in terms of Amy’s development. Here we have a girl, who when first introduced has no mother or father, has lost all her friends because of a move, and who’s aunt barely pays attention to her. She finally finds a role model, but he disappears for twelve years. She’s always been abandoned and alone- and once again, after finding someone who loves her, he disappears. For the idea of abandonment to be complete, it needed to happen, and like the death of Sirius in Harry Potter, was necessary to the plot.
In terms of plot, and driving up the stakes, it was also essential. Wiping random red shirts from existence is one thing, but wiping one of the main characters? And having the companion cry over his body? It brings the danger of the situation to light, makes it real. Being wiped from existence in no abstract idea. Its keenly felt; and unlike a simple death, the audience will feel it every single time we realise that Amy doesn’t remember Rory.
Oh, and of course, let’s just add the angst onto the Doctor. First Donna, now – wait, who was I talking about? Who the hell is ‘Rory’?
….as for the TARDIS shard, YANP.
As painful as it is, though, it feels almost necessary, at least in terms of Amy’s development. Here we have a girl, who when first introduced has no mother or father, has lost all her friends because of a move, and who’s aunt barely pays attention to her. She finally finds a role model, but he disappears for twelve years. She’s always been abandoned and alone- and once again, after finding someone who loves her, he disappears. For the idea of abandonment to be complete, it needed to happen, and like the death of Sirius in Harry Potter, was necessary to the plot.
QFT. I just want to applaud this entire paragraph.
All I have to say about this episode (this whole two-parter really is) NO NOT RORY GODDAMMIT ASDFGHJKJHGFDFGHJ. I loved loved loved Rory. Seriously, he's my favorite male human TV character since Topher from Dollhouse and they had to go and kill him AND then HE GETS ERASED FROM EXISTENCE. I'll just be crying over here.
<img src=http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/DanaanMI/Gifs/saundersboydpartingsorrow.gif>
<img src=http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/DanaanMI/Gifs/makx6x.gif>
<img src=http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/DanaanMI/Gifs/eomer-crying.gif>
<img src=http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/DanaanMI/Gifs/4g165t.gif>
<img src=http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/DanaanMI/Gifs/501yjq.gif>
I love Topher too :"D
Excellent use of gifs.
Topher kind of reminds me of someone I don't remember.
<img src=http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad311/Chritter710/franzandsummer.gif>
Cutest. gif. ever.
Yeah, I don't think we need to say anything as we can't even remember their names. Or even their very existence!
Oh wait, that reminds me of something…
AUGH THIS EPISODE. You're like, doo de doo, random filler two-parter, and then BAM! OH NO WAIT, WE JUST KILLED OFF A MAJOR CHARACTER.
RORYYYY WHYYYY.
<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_3lVOb8wvDlE/TY__hRNHjLI/AAAAAAAABw8/Ls6yOm6RrcM/509_rory.gif">
AND HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR THE DOCTOR WHO HE DIDN'T EVEN LIKE TOO MUCH UNTIL TWO EPISODES AGO.
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_3lVOb8wvDlE/TY__dbGgunI/AAAAAAAABw4/QB9TVqT7be4/509_amyno.gif">
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_3lVOb8wvDlE/TY__bWDip5I/AAAAAAAABww/_tEaMzjVaIk/509_cantletthathappen.gif">
Amy's reaction to this kills me. It's the second time she's lost Rory now! I can't bear it. STOP MAKING US WATCH RORY DIE. And it's so much worse that Amy can't even mourn him because she doesn't remember him. "Hello, me!" NO IT SHOULD BE BOTH OF YOU ;_;
Can we have a Rory Appreciation Party?
<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_3lVOb8wvDlE/TY63R72cM9I/AAAAAAAABv0/YQxX2u-kaGs/506_punch.gif">
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_3lVOb8wvDlE/TY63VJ9q92I/AAAAAAAABv8/TPY3htPZi2o/506_rorybroom.gif">
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_3lVOb8wvDlE/TY63TspQtYI/AAAAAAAABv4/wqekbDAtu2I/506_kiss.gif">
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_3lVOb8wvDlE/TY62-40TYoI/AAAAAAAABvk/16lyQxkOuCw/506_amysboys.gif">
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_3lVOb8wvDlE/TY7VaJCiXeI/AAAAAAAABwk/cjW9IwfgcVI/507_spoon.gif">
RORY WE WILL MISS YOU. OMG SAD.
That third gif 🙁 That is the gif I was hoping someone would have, because her face in that moment kills me.
For the first part of my post, I present Rory: a love story: a quickly put-together marco
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/SwimmingTrunks/425e44c6.jpg">
Can I just say, everyone involved deserves a pat on the back. Moffat, the writers, and Arthur Davrill for making us care so much for a character while giving him only half the screentime as the rest of our main cast. The emotional journey for him is swift, and just when we're breathing a sigh of relief and settling in to one of the best Team TARDISes, THEY FUCKING PULL OUT THE RUG FROM UNDER US.
I remember when you thought Martha was going to die in 42, I responded, Silly Mark, no way a companion gets killed mid-series. WHOOPS. The stakes have been upped!
For all just how shy this episode falls from perfection, Rory's death is handled pretty damn well. It's no leaf-on-the-wind death, even though the circumstances are a little random and sudden. His death, his non-existence is directly tied to the on-going arc, and not just done for plain shock value. Even though we see Amy in immediate, intense mourning, it doesn't feel like his death is solely for her benefit, and not just because the memory of him is taken from her. He death is of his own agency, an act of compassion and loyalty to a man he started out mistrusting and being jealous off. It's selfless and brave and maybe a little stupid but not out of character for him to do. He's part of a journey, and no matter how wrecked I am that he's gone, I have no qualms about how it happened, or that it happened at all.
Rory deserves his own comment, so I'll take the next one for thoughts on the rest of the episode.
I like the message of these episodes, anti-militarian, but in a much less petty way then Ten having a bad reaction towards UNIT and tearing guns out of everyone's hands. The interrogations or Alaya are somewhat topical. The Doctor, of course, uses peaceful methods, maintaining the upper hand the whole time and remaining authoritative without using torture. Ambrose, on the other hand, uses violent, painful methods, seeking to cover for her own fear and inexperience. Neither necessarily yield positive results, but one ends up being really damaging towards the cause. On a side note, it's always kind of interesting that Doctor who sends this dual message where you're supposed to buck authority and stuff like the military where you just obey orders is bad, but then also one of the worst things you can do is not listen to the Doctor.
I think Ambrose is an interesting character, and I think she garners more hate than she should. I mean, we're not meant to like her, and she is given the role of the one that's too stupid to see that they're fucking everything up by the writers, but the hate she inspires kind of stuns me. I agree that her character seems a little iffy in the context of irrational women only inspired to action when their children are under threat, but the inclusion of her husband and her father being in danger takes away from that somewhat. I think more of those dumb movies where a man ends up doing a shit ton of crazy violent stuff to rescue his probably female child and maybe his wife too. I do wonder if the reason she rubs some people the wrong way is because she's assumed the sort of privileged, I-know-best, do-whatever-it-takes protector role that is more often seen on male characters. Kind of annoying on both, but not subject to as much vitriol (but probably more eye-rolling) when it's a guy.
Once again, observe how Eleven handles Ambrose compared to his immediate predecessor. Compare the treatment of Harriet Jones to Eleven's speech to Ambrose at the end of the episode. Instead of berating her for what she's done, yelling at her and letting her know what a disappointment she's been to humanity, he uses the moment to nudge her in the right direction. You know you've done wrong, Ambrose, you can see the consequences of your actions- learn from them, and teach that lesson to your son so that you may all be better people. Compare the reaction of "Doesn't she look tired?" to "An eye for an eye is never the answer." I'm glad you learned your lesson, Doctor, and I'm glad you're putting it to good use.
The macro is awesome, I generally agree about Ambrose, and I never thought of comparing her to Harriet Jones but it's a pretty cool contrast, so thanks for that.
But you reminded me that my ot4 dream team TARDIS with Eleven, Amy, Rory, and River can never be realized and now I'm sad.
Feel free to drop comments about whichever ep you're watching, it's nice seeing you around here. IMO it's all uphill from here!
As long as you agree to stop by Mark Reads to say: "Wow Brad, your views on this chapter are super-correct, as usual. I have never seen such masterful literary critique." Ha,ha,ha,ah-ha.
And all uphill!? Is it possible!? Are you telling me that the creativity and amazement haven't hit their peak yet!? O_O
LOL season 2 is actually my least favourite, true story! The show just gets better and better after this point if you ask me, but considering how much we agreed in the past you should take that with a grain of salt 😉
I should stop by, I'm actually planning on getting the Hunger games soon-ish so I can leave random totally out place rant-y comments there too.
Ha,ha,ha, yeah, I've been reading the older reviews. I liked the Absorbatron and scribble girl episodes, and I saw that you and a few others had a distaste for such tales. 😉
But oh man, you have full permission to interject into my Book Thief comments! Let the Hunger Games live on, Hassibah!
Hah I don't think I'm as emotionally invested as some people are in the show so those didn't make me epicly upset or anything, but I def chose not to rewatch them.
A tip though: you might want to avoid reading comments on friday and monday's posts if you can. I know the names don't mean anything to you at this point but there's some pretty big plot stuff happening on those days so it would kind of suck if you read the spoilers all the same.
cheers, dude!
…needs to get a girlfriend, though. And to delete his internet history. O_O
Delete his history? That reminds me of something…
…
… nah, probably nothing important.
RORYRORYRORYRORYRORYNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. TEARS FOREVER.
After watching this episode, a friend of mine decided that Rory fell through the crack to meet Susan Pevensie (post-LB) and commiserate together. This is now firmly head-canon for me.
yeah you'll be getting it just a few hours later than us, as far as I know! And I'm agreeing with hassibah, you need to come over to watches more often, man!
Amazing. I will try hard! I will try my best to sit on my butt and watch shows! At least your yellowish name tag on here isn't too tough to find; I was able to get in here to talk without seeing too many spoilers. All I know is someone named Rory dies, Tennant is gone, and a green Jem'Hadar from Deep Space Nine appears. 😉
Seriously, when I saw these two episodes my first thought was THE EARTH OPENED UP AND ATE SOMEONE MARK WILL BE SO HAPPY. So glad you weren't spoiled!
Guys I'm serious I'm watching the classic who serial w the Silurians and one of them talks like Sam the Eagle it is so cute.
It is the SILURIAN way!
Something isn't right here…
Something's missing… yet I can't put my finger on it…
BUMBUMBUM… oh there it is.
Time for a hug.
<img src=http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/Buyn/lassiejewlshugcry.gif>
RORYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! TEARS FALLING AS I FALL DOWN IN A SLOW CIRCLE AND DIE
I just remember that immediately after this episode aired in England, secrets started showing up on fandom_secrets on LJ about "You know, people keep talking about this Rory character and I've seen all the DW5 eps and I don't remember any Rory, what did I miss" and it was LOLtastic.
Been waiting to post this….
<img src="http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd494/Jaxx_zombie/tumblr_lf02cwP5CB1qbynzfo1_500.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
I don't know who the other guy is though… the Doctor is the top pic…. but…. that guy…. is he a spare? A hufflepuff perhaps? He looks like a Jeff, I think I'll call him Jeff.
lol we already have a Jeff! Laptop porn man from Eleventh Hour, remember?
I think he's more of a Phil. Or perhaps a Phil…er!
Oh god lol! I come here to read the reviews and comments but don't actively participate … imagine my surprise to see my own macro posted here!Oh god lol! I come here to read the reviews and comments but don't actively participate … imagine my surprise to see my own macro posted here!
(I cannot take full credit … I saw the Jeremy Brett Holmes/Watson macro and LOST MY SHIT like I have NEVER LOST IT BEFORE. Even just thinking about it makes me cry laughing. And then I thought … MUST FIND PERFECT SCREENCAPS FOR DOCTOR+RORY MACRO)
I feel so victorious right now. I didn't think anyone else would find it funny!
Who the heck is Rory???
/meme
I'm not in love with this pair of eps, but they have their moments and lines. RORRRRYYYYY!!!!!!!! 🙁
This episode and the one prior certainly have their flaws, but in my mind, it's more than made up for in the last 15 minutes. Also known as Where Shit Gets Real And Hold Onto Your Butts. This story is the equivalent of the writers going "LOL!" at the audience.
Ambrose still seriously bothers me. I can understand Ambrose going after Allaya. It's not at all right but it is understandable with what she has at stake. What I don't understand is how she didn't learn from her first screw up and deciding she might as well drill the city, after the realization how she screwed them all and even after Rory and Dad (sort of) called her out on it.. What's worse is that her dad even agrees to do it after she just killed someone. WHAT. Did you not learn not to do stupid crap after the first time?
Guys, I am really really hoping that they see Nasreen again. They left her at a great place to come back to her one day.
The lovely and wonderful SwimmingTrunks drew us an amazing picture of the current occupants of the Disco Room, namely memory-intact Donna Noble, Private Ross Jenkins, Sacred Bob, and Rory Williams. BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT DEAD AND/OR MEMORY-ERASED. They're just busy boogieing down.
<img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/SwimmingTrunks/Stuff%20for%20MarkDoes%20Stuff/9d2cff19.jpg>
Let us marvel in the greatness of SwimmingTrunks and her artwork.
Also, IT'S FAN ART NOW. That makes it real! Right? That's how this works, no?
I now will subscribe to this theory! One day the Doctor and Amy will be exploring the TARDIS and then poof! They'll all be there! Then we shall all rejoice from the return of Donna and Rory and the attractiveness of Ross and Sacred Bob. Happy ending.
I though this episode was pretty forgettable. And who's this Rory guy you mention? Did I miss something?
I don’t know if she’ll become my favorite companion overall, as I’m particularly fond of Donna Noble (LOVE YOU CATHERINE TATE, PLZ TEXT ME SO WE CAN BE BEST BUDDIES)
<3 Donna is the best. I so agree with you here.
Speaking of Donna, I used to think she had the worst fate of the new Who companions, but Rory being erased from existence tops that IMO. It's bad enough dying, but to have no one even remember you? At least Donna has her gramps and the others she helped during her stint as a companion to remember her awesomeness. Poor Rory, we hardly knew you, but we loved you.
<img src=http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad311/Chritter710/Harry%20Potter/tumblr_lbrbye0h3M1qadi39o1_500.gif>
That's weird. Why did I post the HP mourning gif? No one died in this episode, except for some Silurians, and it's their own fault for not going into hibernation when they should have. Oh right, it must be for that Silurian scientist. I liked him.
THIS! Man, I just remembered I wanted to say this in my comment and I totally didn't, but as usual, someone has it covered for me! Even if Donna doesn't remember everything herself, at least the memory of her carries on. There's only one thing left to the dead, and it was taken from Rory by the crack.
Sadness. If I could remember who this Rory was, I'd be really upset about it.
The women are what make this episode unbearable for me. For fuck's sake stop being so irrational and use your brains! Ugh~ I never looked at it from a sexist perspective but yeah, it makes sense.
This is my least favorite episode of Series 5.
I don't think we're supposed to hate Ambrose. I think all the Silurian warriors are female because the females are larger and more aggressive in many reptile species.
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